4 Reasons Branding Is More Important Than Ever Before

Right now, many businesses are wondering whether they need to continue their branding efforts. The pandemic and the economic disruption associated with it have left many businesses cutting costs, including advertising costs. Now is the time to continue branding your business as never before. 

Consider Apple. It brands itself constantly, pushing out new content and sharing information with interested users so that they can continue to make decisions in favor of the popular company. Other brands have learned to reinvent themselves, pivot their strategies, and increase their overall success. Take a look at Amazon: during the recession of 2008, Amazon pivoted its business strategy, driving its market share ever higher and delivering more services for its customers than ever. Now, it has become a media giant that people cannot imagine getting many of their goods without.

While your business may not be an enormous conglomerate, you can still benefit from consistent branding efforts. Consider these reasons why branding your business is more important than ever before.

Branding Keeps Your Business Top-of-Mind

When you run consistent campaigns, it will help your brand stay top-of-mind with your customers. A branding campaign shares who you are and what you have to offer in a way that your customers can relate to on a regular basis. For example, you might put out ads that show the people who work in your office or offer insight into the products that you provide. These campaigns aren't based around specific sales or promotions. Instead, they help share more information about your brand as a whole. 

Consistent advertising helps keep up your momentum. Consumers get used to seeing your brand. You become familiar. By creating a campaign dedicated to branding alone, you help bring steady business through your doors. Many times, consumers don't need your business the first time they see an ad. Consistent branding, however, keeps your brand top-of-mind so that when consumers do have a need, they know they can choose your business. 

Branding Creates Recognition

Through branding, you establish your business's identity. Consumers don't just want to know what you have to offer. They want to know what sets you apart from other businesses in your industry.

In order to make sure that your brand stands out from the crowd, you need consistent messaging. Go back to Apple: most people recognize the "Think Different" tagline from the early 2000s. Your branding ad could include your brand's colors, your tagline, and the specific elements that make you stand out from the crowd. 

Branding Facilitates Deeper Connections with Customers

Your branding campaign builds a vital connection with your audience. When consumers connect with your brand on an emotional level, they're more likely to purchase from you. Developing deeper connections with your customers creates brand loyalty. Consumers who feel an emotional connection with your brand will often have a much higher lifetime value than those who do not. 

Branding Shares Your Purpose

Brand purpose is your "why." It explains why you do what you do and what's important to you. Now, more than ever, consumers are aligning with brands that have a strong sense of purpose and shared values. An average 71% of consumers will pay more for a brand that supports a cause they believe in. TOMS shoes, for example, has established its brand on that concept, committing to giving back shoes to needy individuals for every pair purchased through the company.

Your brand doesn't have to make a sweeping commitment to charity in order for your "why" to matter. Maybe you support sustainability or focus on hiring practices that support minorities and women. Perhaps you maintain an eco-friendly company that helps protect the environment. Maybe you just create amazing products that answer serious problems for your consumers: products they can count on to deliver, rather than products that offer empty promises. Branding helps share your sense of purpose with consumers and gives them a stronger idea of why they should support your business. 

Right now, your business needs to build a solid, distinguishable brand that consumers can rely on. Many consumers are spending more cautiously than usual, and they want to support businesses that share their core values.

As you work with a media partner, you will find new ways to build your brand and put that message in front of your target audience, increasing their recognition of your brand and encouraging them to learn more about what you have to offer. Over time, your branding efforts will increase your ROI and help you meet your marketing goals.