Most businesses were started in hopes of providing a product, service, or opportunity for a certain audience. So, when businesses begin to market their offerings, where does branding fit into the equation?
While a quality product is the cornerstone of a successful business, a brand is the structure that supports and displays that product to the world, cultivating your audience as a result. The inner workings of your business may be where the actual selling takes place, but branding is essential to attracting the clientele you need to make those sales.
Together, a great product, a selling plan, and a distinguished brand to market it create the perfect combination. Yes it’s possible to sell products without a brand backing them, but, when you think about the most successful businesses, those that come to mind probably have built a powerful brand that makes them memorable.
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A Brand Helps You Find Your Audience
Ideas for businesses most often arise from the desire to solve a specific problem for a certain group of people. Most successful businesses have a narrowly defined target audience and are not attempting to appeal to everyone. But sometimes, it can be hard to determine who you most want to reach with what you’re selling.
That’s your branding’s time to shine. A brand is a method to convey the story of your business, visually and verbally. Branding gives your company the opportunity to share the personality and values behind it, and this draws people with those same values to you. This is important not only for gaining an audience but also for retaining it in the long run – 89% of shoppers stay loyal to brands that share their values.
If you’re focused on simply selling a product and not building a brand to back it up, your messaging is likely very sales-heavy. Consumers are constantly being sold to. Instead of fixating on what you can get from them, the purpose of brand-building is to focus on what you can bring to the table. After you’ve built a foundation of trust with your audience, they will be more likely to hit “Buy Now” on your next offer.
Avoid Being Price-Shopped
Every product on the market has competition. When you think about your own shopping behaviors, what factors help you to decide which company you end up buying from? If there is nothing else differentiating the large number of products you have to consider, you’ll probably end up deferring to price.
This is why creating your brand is an opportunity to stand out from the pack. Aside from grabbing the viewer’s attention, a brand gives you the ability to form a reputation over time. As your business develops, consumers will soon become familiar with what it stands for and what standard they can hold it to in terms of quality, customer service, and caliber. All of these elements tie into your brand’s identity, and make it easier for people to choose you over competitors when the time comes to make a purchase decision, even if your prices are higher.
Branding Sets You Up For Long-Term Success
Selling products in the short-term may be a necessary aspiration to launch your business, but branding has the ability to set your business up for long term success.
Brands tend to shift and change over time, just like people. If you focus solely on selling products and neglect your brand, you’ll likely have less flexibility when you eventually want to pivot. Businesses that have created brands with devoted followings don’t have a hard time changing things up or heading in a new direction.
For example, MVMT Watches was founded in 2013. The company quickly gained a great reputation for its chic wristwatches as a result of both a quality product and modern lifestyle branding. After finding success in the watch industry, MVMT decided to take on selling fashionable eyewear. Because their brand had already gained a reputation and the trust of their audience to maintain superior innovation and trend-setting style, they had the freedom to expand their offerings to other accessories without needing to start from scratch.
The importance of a great product for your business cannot be stressed enough, and outsourcing the work of creative branding allows you to focus on the business of selling.
