Bad brands are banned!

There’s no question that branding is an important factor when it comes to how people perceive your business. Good branding carries good connotations – people have a lot more trust in a brand that looks reputable.

It takes milliseconds for people to form an opinion on a brand or product, so to build up a customer base, your brand needs to be the best capture trust, not turn away your prospects. In this article, we’re going to explore how much branding affects your business, why it’s so important to have branding that connects your business with its customers, and some key qualities you might want to look out for in your own branding.

Brand perception

Brand perception is the attitude people have toward a product or service, based on their personal experiences. It’s the customer who curates their own opinion of your brand, and how they perceive it can change their behaviours – including whether they buy from you, or choose not to.

Measuring the effects of branding

By understanding your audience’s perceptions of your business, you can improve your image and drive sales through the roof. How do you do this? See if any of these points help:

• Surveys – poll your customers and get answers direct from the source (It’s often the starting point for large Identity Agency rebrands)!
• Data – see how your business has evolved over time!
• Social Listening – see how well you’re doing from looking at social media platforms!

Generally, the more a company allocates to their branding budget, the more successful they are. That’s because high-quality branding suggests things about the business – they are professional, and therefore a good investment for a customer. Many purchase decisions rely heavily on branding, so it’s a good idea to see if you need to change tactics with branding.

For smaller businesses, branding is even more important. It has been shown time and time again that customers associate great branding with more professional organisations. As creative agencies, we can’t change your products or services, but we can make them much easier to sell through clear brand design.

How branding affects consumer behaviour

There are many different ways in which branding impacts consumer behaviour:

1. Consumer Perception – People change the way they think about a business depending on how good quality the branding is.
2. Purchasing Decisions – If people have a favourable view of a company, they’re more likely to purchase from them.
3. Peer Influence – People will recommend your company to their friends, family and people they interact with if they had a good experience there.
4. Status and Prestige – Your company’s image will improve due to effective branding: your audience will form their own opinions of your business no matter what, so make sure they’re positive!
5. Trust and Loyalty – Similarly to status and prestige, your audience will build up trust and loyalty with you if the branding is consistently strong and aligned with your company.

Done!

Okay, we’ve finished! This article was all about branding, the effect it can have on your business and why you should stick to high-quality branding, even if it’s a little bit more expensive than a freelancer you can find on Fiverr.

Here at the Identity Agency, we offer branding services alongside our other packages – have a look at our previous work and see if you’d like our help on your next project!