Why is Branding Important When Advertising Your Business?

What do customers want and why is branding important? A concern that lies at the core of every business strategy. You can break down any element of a marketing campaign, but it’ll always come back to the wants and needs of the consumer. Every bit of data is ultimately analysing what makes the customer tick. 

Branding is essential when advertising your business because it can create authenticity and brand loyalty. According to a survey conducted by Stackla on 2,000 people in the U.K., Australia, and the U.S., 86% claimed authenticity as the most significant factor in brand loyalty. 

In this article, we’ll look further into the importance of establishing your brand’s authority and how to do it.

What are the reasons why branding is important to business?

We should start by defining what we mean when we speak of branding. 

Branding is important to business because it can draw the attention of a particular target audience. Thanks to branding, customers can recognise companies and associate them with a distinct style, particularly a visual style, through their logos, colours, typography, and other visual elements.

Think of Nike. For most people, the sleek tick symbol comes to mind every time they hear that name. Another example is McDonald’s. One may imagine the Golden Arches upon hearing McDonald’s every time. Or, if you hear someone mentioning Mars Bar, you may think of the unique font of their name’s lettering. 

These are all examples of brands that have become so ingrained in our minds that we collectively recognise them worldwide. As such, we’re more likely to purchase their products. 

We know and trust these brands. That’s because we believe they’re authentic. They make billions of pounds a year based entirely on the power of their reputation and the symbols that represent them. 

Small Biz Genius found that 89% of consumers will remain loyal to a brand if they feel their values are matched. Edelman revealed that 81% of customers claim that brand trust is necessary for selecting a product or service. A study by 8 Ways Media discovered that it takes 0.05 of a second to make a first impression.

Not only do those statistics show us how important it is to make an excellent first impression and maintain it, but that failing to establish a trusted relationship will profoundly impact the likelihood of conversion. Customers want authentic, trusted companies that catch their eye in less than a second. Is it any wonder branding is so critical to the success of a business’s advertising?

Apart from what has been stated in the introduction, branding is important to a business because of the following reasons:  

Branding allows your business to show authority

The rich landscape of choices customers have nowadays is endless. Thanks to the internet and the power of eCommerce, people have a never-ending list of options when it comes to who they shop with. Your job is proving that your brand is the best choice.

It means establishing yourself as an authority within that niche. If your company has the highest level of expertise in your field, why would they choose to go to someone else?

Branding helps you build trust

The majority of customers feel they have to trust a brand before they can shop with them. Since trust can be applied to such a broad spectrum, you want to exude an overall image of trustworthiness. If the consumer knows they can rely on you, they’ll be more willing to part with their money. 

Branding ensures your brand stay competitive

Businesses come and go, especially small companies and startups competing against the big players. You don’t want to be one of the names that fall into obscurity. Your brand should be long-lasting. It can’t reach that point if it never becomes recognisable in the first place. Nor will it find longevity if it can’t maintain that reputation for the long haul. 

Branding can increase your brand’s popularity

There’s a good chance you’re fighting against a large pool of other brands trying to capture the lion’s share of the market. Some of these may be small, and some could be global conglomerates.

To beat them, you have to rise above the rest. Think of branding as your shining beacon, grabbing and holding the attention of your target audience. You want them to see you. 

Branding helps you generate sustainable profit

The end goal is to generate growing and sustainable profit. In an article by Forbes, it was found that a branding strategy that was maintained across multiple platforms increased revenue by a full 23%. If you want to generate profit, you have to be consistent in your brand efforts. 

Why branding is important to customers

Branding is important to customers because it helps them decide who to trust and buy from. Companies must position themselves to help a customer solve a problem or add more value to their life by offering reliable and trustworthy products or services.

Many successful companies are good at branding, and many customers don’t realise that their purchase decisions are heavily manipulated by branding. These companies understand that first impressions are crucial to their branding success.

Whether it’s an impression of luxury, affordability, durability, health, happiness, or attractiveness, it’s all based on appearances. The brain processes those visual elements within a fraction of a second. However, not everything is based on those first moments. 

Pam Moore found that it takes between 5 and 7 interactions before a brand sticks in a customer’s mind. That in itself is a lesson in the importance of consistency. Beyond that, it shows that choosing one brand over another isn’t a fly-by-the-pants choice. Continuous exposure of a company’s marketing strategy will be the final arbiter on the matter.  

How branding is important for startups

Branding is essential for startups because they need to get their names known and compete with more experienced and successful players. With fewer resources, startups must use their budget wisely and market themselves as creatively as possible when introducing themselves to the world. 

It’s not easy being a startup because the lack of resources is one of the biggest challenges yet. Let’s use Bumble as a good example.

Bumble is a US-based dating app that grew rapidly despite its being against giants like Tinder, Plenty of Fish, and OkCupid. Not only did it have those contenders to deal with, but it didn’t get in on the ground floor the way its competitors did. 

They started with a simple central theme: women make the first move. Already, you have an attention grabber. How many men on dating sites have spoken about how difficult it can be to get a message back? How many women have claimed they receive so many messages at once that they couldn’t possibly respond to them all, much less maintain that many conversations. 

Bumble is eliminating two common problems from the jump, which sets it apart from more prominent apps. In addition, it appeals to its target audience; women can have more security and control, men can benefit from knowing a woman is interested from the beginning. It’s a clean solution to some very messy challenges. 

But branding is more than just an idea. Bumble had to convey that message to their audience and solidify that impression in their minds.

Their targets were women, both single and looking for romance, and those just looking for friendships with other women. How did they use visual strategy to catch their eye? They use:

Colours promote different emotions

They started with colour, namely with a mixed shade between yellow and orange. Already, they were off to a great start. Based on the psychology of the way we process colour, they were aiming for two impressions that women would establish subconsciously:

It isn’t hard to see why combining these two colours would be beneficial for a dating app aimed at women. It gives them a positive impression, encourages taking risks, but also focuses on feeling safe. 

A logo represents a company’s identity

Their logo, a minimalist representation of a honeycomb, is also brilliant. What do we think of when seeing a honeycomb? Bumblebees, which gives us a direct tie into their name. Sweetness, thanks to honey. Warmth, such as spring and summer, when bees are out and about. 

Most interesting might be the idea of a Queen Bee. What are their target audience other than queen bees?

Recently, they did adapt their logo. It’s the same general image, but the edges are more rounded, with the lines in the middle going from six thin ones to three thick ones. The overall impression is softer, more tender-looking, and less harsh. 

Those small changes in the logo were brilliant. There’s no way to make a beehive feminine on its own. But by creatively applying elements that are more common in feminine imagery, softening the overall visual style, it speaks to the brand’s core concept.

Bumble is successful thanks to branding

This branding has been used across all platforms, mainly social media, which makes up the bulk of their marketing strategy. All in all, it isn’t hard to see why it was so successful; Bumble has more than 100 million users today, worldwide. 

What launched as a startup is now a powerhouse in the dating app game. They relied primarily on branding to accomplish this feat. Bumble has shown that knowing your audience and fitting your brand to that data leads to success despite facing stiff competition in an already established market. 

How a brand strategy helps your advertising campaign

A brand strategy helps your advertising campaign by showing you your business’s direction and what your branding is all about. If you don’t have a branding strategy firmly in place before you launch an ad campaign, that ad won’t stick in consumers’ minds.

Before you begin advertising, you need to have established your brand. You should have your colours, typography, and overall style selected. Also, you’ll need a logo and any promotional materials you intend to use. All ads should fit your established style guide to avoid any confusion or contradictions. 

As it’s central to your company’s success, hiring a firm to create your branding package is recommended. You can provide them with the details of your product and what you see as the heart of your brand. From there, these designers can find the best way to convey that image to your customers. 

This service goes beyond simply making a logo. They can build a complete blueprint to guide you through the complex and heavily saturated market as it’s today. Because so many companies are potentially global, thanks to the internet and the possibilities presented through eCommerce, the additional help is a massive benefit. 

These design firms can also help you plan the implementation of your branding to your advertising efforts. They’ll show you how you get from Point A to Point B most efficiently and effectively.

It should be clear by now why branding is important to a business of any size. You’re presenting an image meant to both attract and maintain a customer’s interest. From there, you establish brand loyalty, bringing them back again and again.

We all know how crucial retention is in the successful growth and longevity of a company. That remains true whether you have one employee or one thousand. 

Final thoughts

No matter where your marketing takes you, your first step will always be creating effective branding that will be used across every platform. The more your target audience sees that brand image, the more they’ll remember your company. When they choose where to purchase a product or service, you’ll be at the forefront of their thoughts. 

Branding does more than build profit; it builds relationships that’ll carry your business into the future.