The Importance of Building a Strong Brand
Marketing experts are constantly expressing how important it is for businesses to create and build a strong brand that customers can identify with and trust in. On first impressions, you might think this is only true for a large multinational business that has millions of customers and thousands of employees, but this thinking could not be further from the truth. Whether it’s a large multinational company or a small budding start-up, creating a strong brand is essential.
But what do we mean by ‘brand’ exactly? To put it simply, the brand of a business is a combination of all of the elements that create the impression of how a customer will perceive that company. It is the logo, website, the company’s values, products, marketing, social media presence, image and can include their customer service too.
On that note, let’s discuss why it is so important to have a very strong brand, even as a small business:
A strong brand is easily recognised.
Think about how easy it is to recognise a well-branded product, let’s say an Apple laptop or Nike trainers for example. With either of these brand names, a consumer does not have to think twice about the purchase, as they immediately know what the product is going to deliver. With Apple, the customer knows that they’re getting a reliable, modern laptop that is durable, fast and has all of the latest features. Likewise, when choosing a Nike product, customers know that they’re getting a high quality product from one of the biggest names in the industry.
A strong brand creates trust.
As humans, we instinctively trust a well-known brand much quicker than we would a brand that we had never heard of before. This can be due to having a positive experience with this brand before or hearing recommendations from other people who have had experience with the brand. The trust factor is there when it comes to big brand names, and once that’s established, companies can expect to see their sales go through the roof.
A strong brand makes a company memorable in the eyes of customers.
Just imagine you sell a great product; let’s say a pair of sunglasses for example. Your customers love them and keep on getting lovely compliments about them, and are constantly recommending your products to their friends. Although this is great and what you want to happen, these people will not turn into customers unless your brand is strong and memorable. In fact, they will simply forget the name of your company and maybe even choose one of your competitors to buy from.
A strong brand creates value for your business.
Once you have built up a strong brand for your business, you can expect it to have a massively positive impact on the value of your company over time. And the more recognisable and popular your brand is the better it will be for the value of your business. In short, establishing a strong brand will mean that your products will be sold at a higher retail value and your company will be worth more when, and if, you decide to sell it.
These are just some of the many reasons why it is so important for businesses of all sizes and natures to have a strong brand. Consumer traits are changing all of the time, but a strong brand remains to be one of the best ways for a company to truly connect with its customers.