What is Branding?

The way people perceive your business is crucial to the success of that business. Branding is the process by which you foster how people come to see you and consequently come to identify your company. To attract customers, get sales, and increase your overall exposure, you have to have a branding plan in place. In this day and age, there is no getting around it. The question is, is your company doing the right things and taking the right steps to get that brand message out there? In this article, we take a look at why branding is important as well as the various elements associated with the process of branding your business.

Branding is a “feeling”

Beyond just what your logo looks like or what your tagline says, branding is also intimately tied with a feeling people have regarding your business. When they see assets tied to your brand when they read messaging reflective of that brand, what is their initial reaction — what, in other words, is that gut feeling that they get which spurs them to think about your brand in a certain way?

This is why when people do talk about branding, they are not isolating that concept to one idea or a single piece of marketing material; they are rather, describing a comprehensive process designed to get people thinking about your company in a specific way.

Why is branding important…

• Differentiates you from the competition. Regardless of industry or business type, you are going to be facing competition in your market. With a strategic branding plan in place, you can gain ground and come to differentiate yourself from that competition. A huge part of branding should be highlighting those things that make you unique. What elevates you above the competitors? Make this a central facet of your branding strategy.
• You can create brand recognition. The words branding and recognizable go hand in hand. The purpose of branding is to make it so that when people see and/or hear certain things, they immediately connect that to your business. So from your website to your logo, to the predominant colors used, you want to make sure that consumers associate these things with you specifically.
• Helps to create a brand experience. When customers buy from you, they are expecting a certain type of experience. Their expectations are largely the result of your brand strategy. The way that you engage with customers and consequently interact with them is a critical part of your overall brand. They will then anticipate this same style of service in the future. This is all about creating a consistent brand experience.
• Help turn leads into actual customers. A powerful branding strategy will ultimately attract customers to you. And when they do come to you, your branding will also be that which helps you more effectively connect with consumers. This, in turn, is going to enable you to transform those consumers into actual paying customers. There is an emotional element tied to branding — this emotional element can be a huge driver as far as generating sales.

The elements of your brand

What exactly does a brand consist of? Various pieces go into creating the comprehensive puzzle that is your brand. Below are a few of those key pieces:

• Brand values. The essential values associated with your brand can be found in pieces such as your mission and vision statement. Before getting started on any branding strategy, you want to hammer these out and have them ready to go. These pieces are at the heart of who you are as a company and what you stand for.
• Brand guidelines. Some people may refer to this as the brand bible. It will generally include things such as your overall brand style guidelines, your customer service philosophy, decision-making approach, and so forth. There is no set template for creating branding guidelines; you just want to make sure you include the most important parts of what your brand feels like, looks like, and sounds like.
• Logo. Of course, your logo is going to be a huge component of your brand. When it comes to brand identification, the logo is perhaps the biggest contributor in terms of helping people come to know what your brand looks like. This is why you don’t want to skimp on logo design. Hiring this out to a graphic arts professional is the smart move here if you don’t have a graphic designer on staff.
• Website. Your website is also going to be a central component of what your brand is all about and what it looks like. It needs to engage users; it needs to get them to want to learn more about what your brand is and who you are. In your brand guide, it’s usually a good idea to address this topic of your website as far as site guidelines and overall design.

The key when it comes to any sort of branding strategy is going to be to nail down these essential elements and then build your brand out from there. Remember, your brand represents who you are, and so of course, you are going to want to show your company in the best light possible.

Starting with solid brand guidelines is important. What is also important is to have a marketing strategy in place as well. You can have the best branding elements in the world, but if you are not effectively marketing your brand, no one is going to know about it.