Edward Boatman • Feb 13th
Your brand isn’t just a logo or a color palette — it’s the reason customers trust you, remember you, and choose you over competitors. But, it’s also the first thing cut from marketing budgets in favor of lead gen or short-term wins. That’s a tricky scenario that, in time, will catch up with you.
Think about the last time you hesitated before buying from an unknown company. Maybe the website had some broken links or felt kinda off. There was no credibility, no consistency, no clear story. How did it make you feel? Do you trust it enough to buy from there again?
Your buyers feel the same way. A weak brand forces you to fight for every sale. A strong brand? It does the heavy lifting, shortening sales cycles, increasing conversions, and turning customers into advocates.
So, how do you build a brand that works for you instead of against you? Let’s break it down.
A “brand,” in its most basic form, is the mental picture that forms when a customer thinks of your business. One of the most basic ways to positively shape this mental picture is to create a visually appealing, memorable, and cohesive visual identity for your business. If your business is fortunate enough to create a positive picture in the minds of consumers, then you’ll be afforded many positive benefits which we’ll cover in detail below.
Remember, creating digital brand guidelines will help to stay aligned with your goals. So, what advantages do strong brands provide an organization?
So, what advantages do strong brands provide an organization?
When it comes to most products and services, customers want three things: fast, reliable, and a good price. But even if you can easily offer all of these things, you still need to put effort into your overall brand messaging. Why? The right branding increases brand awareness, and when people know you, they’re more likely to buy from you. Having uniquely memorable branding means one-time customers could turn into life-time customers.
Some of the largest brands in the world have been successful because they’re so recognizable. From the iconic Nike swoosh to the multicolored Google logo, there are countless examples of brands that people recognize as soon as they see the colors or logo. In fact, some are so iconic, no words are needed.
When you make your brand unique and easy to recognize, you become a fixture in the minds of your customers.
A strong corporate brand does more than just increase recognition. It also encourages existing customers to stay with you. Need proof? Think about the concept of the “store brand” versus “name brand” products. Though the contents may be very similar (or in some cases even identical), study after study has shown, consumers are drawn to brand names, simply because more was invested in the branding and marketing of big-name products. Familiarity is comforting, and customers will buy what they know and what makes them comfortable. Time and again.
People who continue to come back to your brand are often willing to spend more, and you don’t have to worry about investing money to attract new customers. While marketing is still important even with customer loyalty, loyal customers are a key cog in your business.
Loyal customers can also contribute to word of mouth marketing. When people have positive experiences with your brand and products, they’re more likely to recommend your products to friends and family.
Source: LinkedIn
With a base of customers who recognize and trust your brand, you effectively have an entire band of beta testers at your fingertips, ready to try out new product launches. That means you can test certain products and services with your already-repeated customers. If something turns out to be a flop, an existing customer (who’s familiar with your brand) is much more likely to be forgiving. Odds are, even if you have a new product launch bomb, it won’t break you. It might have a very minimal impact on your bottom line.
Existing customers who know your brand intimately also tend to provide the most valuable feedback. If you launch a product and it’s not up to customer standards, you can use that feedback to shape your product and offer more value to your customers. When you design your products based on the feedback and pain points your customers offer, you’re also creating a better customer experience.
At this point, the Millennial generation makes up more than a third of the workforce, giving the cohort a good bit of leverage in terms of corporate culture. And as they continue to dominate, they’ve brought a demand for major change with them.
Unlike generational predecessors the Gen-Xers and Baby Boomers, Millennials as a majority demand positive brand empowerment and to work for companies with missions that matter. From this standpoint, the benefits of building a great brand could even spill over into retaining better employees.
Retaining quality employees is great for your bottom line, but it can also have brand-boosting effects in the long run. As people spend more time representing your brand and creating brand-focused content, they become more familiar with your brand. These experienced employees have a better understanding of your brand guidelines and values, and they can offer valuable feedback based on the experience they have representing your brand.
Especially in the wake of COVID-19, online influencers have become more important than ever in terms of keeping brands up. Influencers are people who make a living off of their online presence and following. If your brand is mission-driven, focused, clear, engaging, and positive, and you are able to express that through consistent and powerful branding, you’re much more likely to attract the right influencers.
Some of the largest influencers have several million followers; others have a smaller number of followers but are highly targeted to specific niches. One can help you cast a wide net of visibility but may not be as specific to your brand niche whereas the other might contain your exact buyers, just fewer of them.
Source: LinkedIn
A great example of this is Dave Gerhardt, a B2B Marketing influencer with a little over 176K LinkedIn followers and a thriving 6,500 member B2B Marketing community called Exit Five. If your target market is B2B marketers, he is the premier influencer you must be involved with. Marketing in his community positions brands as premier solutions and, appearing on his podcast has single-handedly launched more than one career.
Everyone knows the old adage you are the average of the five people who are closest to you. Just like with personal relationships, corporate branding and reputation is directly tied to the companies brands have business relationships with.
If your brand stands out from the crowd, is bold and is pushing in the right direction, you’re more likely to have other companies with similar outlooks interested in partnering. This can create synergy that elevates both of your brands in the eyes of interested customers.
For decades, cognitive psychologists have conducted studies that demonstrate the stronger your brand is, the more likely social brand awareness becomes. And it makes sense, too. The more eyes on you, the more likely you’ll sell.
Increased customer loyalty is one of several ways effective product branding can impact your bottom line. Loyal customers are more valuable to your business because they make multiple purchases and tend to spend more money. Plus, loyal customers are more likely to recommend your brand to friends and family who can also make purchases.
It’s no wonder that companies who focus on improving their brands experience more satisfying stakeholder relationships. It’s often easier to retain advertising, services and quality partnerships. Given that a great brand image also typically brings the best employees, it’s clear that sometimes image is indeed everything!
Want to see some real-world examples of strong branding? Here are a few companies who invested early on in branding, and it ended up making all the difference!
Snapchat first entered the social media market at a time that was dominated by Facebook. Its little yellow logo was a breath of fresh air and represented something “new.” Fast forward several years, and that iconic yellow still stands out and represents innovation, coolness and a younger generation.
Source: Hearst Bay Area
Nike entered one of the most competitive markets around, with very little advantage over the competition. But they focused on contracting with athletes (initially even going into debt to do so), before there was a direct association of athletes with good reputations, leading to industry dominance. The Nike branding — from the iconic swoosh logo to the “Just Do It” slogan — is a big reason the brand has been so recognizable for decades. One unique aspect of Nike’s branding is the use of various colors rather than sticking to one particular color palette.
Source: Krows Digital
The indoor-at-home-cycling brand made a name for itself when it launched a Kickstarter campaign nearly a decade ago and never looked back. Targeting busy, health-conscious professionals who appreciate instructor-led classes but want to eliminate the time-suck of getting to and from a gym, the brand made waves with positivity and strong marketing.
Source: Peloton
Their cult-following is made up of more than 1M subscribers and over 3M members to date, who all live and breathe by the little black “P” bike-wheel logo. Add to that an ambitious 100M subscriber goal, and the brand doesn’t seem to be going anywhere but up!
When you’re driving down the road at night looking for something to eat, the Golden Arches immediately draw your attention. Even if you don’t enjoy the food, McDonald’s is one of the most iconic brands thanks to its logo and combination of colors. Even the menu item names represent the strong branding of McDonald’s, with several items beginning with the classic “Mc” prefix.
Source: McDonald’s
A strong brand isn’t just a marketing asset, it’s a growth engine. Your brand builds trust, creates consistency, and turns prospects into lifelong customers. But maintaining that brand across teams, channels, and assets? That’s where things can fall apart if you don’t have a solid digital asset management solution in place.
Without a central source of truth, brand elements get lost in Slack threads, outdated logos sneak into presentations, and your carefully crafted identity starts to unravel. Lingo helps with that, keeping everything in sync. From digital asset management, to crystal-clear brand guidelines, Lingo makes it easy for teams to access, share, and use your brand’s visuals and messaging, exactly how they were meant to be used.
Ready to make your brand work harder for you? See how Lingo can help. Start a trial today.