I understand if your a business owner or solopreneur and you are feeling a bit sceptical about the true power of having a brand. Maybe to you brand identity or branding comes across as a bit of con, a ruse created by brand designers so that we can effectively charge more. It’s not by the way but I do understand how it can across a bit like that. You’ve probably heard me and so many other brand designer going on about it, but to you it’s all starting to sound like an over sold promise.
Plus it just seems impossible to understand how a brand design can actually help boost your revenue? Plus what’s the real difference if you just pick a good brand look and be done with it?Well, unfortunately a big one. I hear ya, branding is probably a topic and concept that has been mulled over so many times!
But I’m here to shade some much need clarity on the matter. I’ll be openly and honestly talking to you today about why branding is crucial for small business and is still a much need requirement than a luxury. By the end of this episode you’ll realise how having a brand is always going to be far better than not.
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If you have business you have a brand
How we small business can feel and think about branding
I know that us small business owners can feel like branding is made only for the established businesses like Nike and CocoCola. This can make us feel exempt from it because our businesses resembles nothing like theirs. We tend to drawn conclusions that only big business need it or can afford it. Or that because your a personal brand it’s not relevant or essential to you.
Why you need a really have and need a intentional brand
But when in actual fact all businesses need a brand. If you’ve got a business, then you’ve got a brand. Whether you’ve been intentional about it or not. If we think of branding as really reputation, then of course big and small businesses all have one. Every time a customer interacts with your business you’re creating an impression. Brand strategy and design essentially helps mould that reputation however you want to be seen. So really it’s down to you, you can either let your impression be created haphazardly or you can take charge. Obviously the best option is working with a professional but if you don’t have the funds. Then taking the time to do the research so that you are being mindful of how you present yourself is better than not doing anything.
Why brand identity can be a strange concept to invest in
Remember that, yes you can shape your brands intentionally. However, you don’t own your brands, you are more custodians of it. Your brands lives in the mind of your customers and what they think of you. This is why you may find it difficult to actually understand if you can’t own a brand how can a brand designer really build one for you. Well their’s a lot research, analysing and understand who and what your people want. Observing what’s already out there, and using all this to understand where best to position a business.
A brand design will be crafted with certain design elements to create a specific type of impression you want. A very simple example would be implementing the colour blue, colour can effect mood and the light tones of blue can make people feel calmer.
But it’s not just colour we can mould, you can pull your customers in with every brand touch point. Design can really impact your perception, the best brands are the ones that make you’re people feel something, that emotional pull. To achieve this you can’t just wing it with trendy designs. Ok, so a good looking website could make you look sort of professional but, that’s a facade or weak shell, that is bound to crack at some point. Your brand should be there strong working hard to increase know, like trust with your ideal customers. To do that you need substance, not just a fancy looking design. To gain that substance you need to gather some much need brand strategy.
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What are Brand Identity Advantages?
It’s true that some small business owner are naturally charismatic and are great at making a good impression online without needing to put a great deal of effort or thought into it. Maybe you can relate or maybe your more the introverted type. Either way just think how much more memorable and successful you could be if you present a good impression all the time. If you could show up and consistently have a clear message. It take 5 to 7 impressions for a person to remember your brand. Therefore it’s important your reinforcing the right and consistent brand perception every time, to avoid confusion.
I understand that spending money on a a brand identity may feel like a difficult decision. Because although a brand helps improve your revenue, it’s doesn’t directly generate leads. For example compared to when you spend money on marketing for example Facebook Ads you can clearly see the scope, the target audience, the reach, how many days it will run etc. This money your putting in you can clearly see the return you should receive. And how many potential people who will see it. Where as a brand identity is a slight more intangible. It does increase revenue but it’s difficult to clearly see how it does, but I’m going to try and share.
A brand identity advantages are the elements that help you increase revenue, did you know that a customer makes a purchasing decision based on more gut feeling rather than on rational thought. This is because the decision-making process takes place in the limbic part of our brain, this area can not comprehend language. So really we form our purchasing decisions on gut instincts. What a intentional brand can does, is it can help you evoke a specific feeling from your said customers, to increase the chance of them purchasing from you.
There’s also a studies that show 77% of customers prefer buying from business that align with their values. Within the brand strategy process you have to identity your audience and understand what values are most important to them and what do they need or want for you. By doing research we get a better idea on the brand values that helps your customers feel at home, and make you more relatable in their minds.
But a key thing is trust, a customer needs to trusty you in order to purchase. There are different ways a brand can and does help you build that trust. The main thing to remember is that trust doesn’t happen over night. But a brand helps build trust through presenting themselves in a professional and established manner. If your a bit scruffy and inconsistent these can raise warning signs in your potential customers heads. Plus consistency is a big contributing factor to build on the trust as well as making sure every experience your customer has with your brand is a good one.
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Wrapping things on why you need a brand identity.
By having a brand identity whether investing or DIYing one, basically being more intentional. You making sure that you are creating and presenting a specific impression you want to show. It’s similar to as people wear certain things, buy certain brands all in order to present ourselves in a specific way. Similarly to branding, you doing this so you can attract the people you want to work with, the people you want to help serve. Once you get a solid understanding around who these people, and what they want. You can use that knowledge to build a brand that they are going to love and feel at home. Once a customer knows who you are, likes who you are they can beginning to trust who you are. And well on there way to purchasing a product or service you are offering.
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Start being intentional about your brand today!
Overall a brand identity isn’t something just for the big players. It’s a business tool that every small business owner should be taking full advantage of! So stop seeing it as a luxury investment for you to look good, it’s a important step to form a brand look and feel that you want to present to your people. A brand identity is not a too good to be true told it’s not the only thing you’ll need in business to succeed but it is the foundation to your business should be build and grow on. It’s time to either invest in your brand identity or start DIYing your own. If your unsure how to start building your brand strategy I’ve got you covered go listen to Episode 3 on The BrandMade Podcast where I go through 5 simple brand strategy steps.
