Why Your Brand Image is Important

There are certain brands which are instantly recognizable. Companies such as Nike, Coca Cola, Adidas, and Apple spend vast amounts of money on how their business is portrayed to their customers. Their positive brand image is a result of having a successful brand identity. A company’s brand identity is made up of many different factors including the business name, the design of the logo and tone of voice. Why do these big corporations spend such large sums of money promoting and developing their brands? Because they know how important it is for their sales and share of the market.

While you’re not yet a large corporation with an international audience, that doesn’t mean you don’t need to worry about your own business identity. There are several benefits to having a strong brand identity.

First Impressions Count

We’ve all heard the expression, first impressions count, and this certainly applies in business. There are a number of things that can influence a customer’s first impression of your business. How your employees are dressed, the design of your website, how clean your establishment is, and other superficial details for example.

Instant Recognition

Can you recognize a can of Coca Cola from a distance? Can you pick out a pair of Nike trainers when you walk in a store? These companies have instantly recognizable logos that have stood the test of time. However, that’s not all which is important. Other elements that can make up your brand image include reliability, quality, and speed.

Experience and Reliability

If your business has a strong brand image, it creates an impression that your business has been around for a long time. If your business is branded, it’s going to be viewed as more experienced, reliable and trustworthy than an unbranded one.

Helps You Stand Out

There’s a considerable amount of competition in the business world, and you need to make your business stand out from the crowd. If you’re able to spend money developing your brand identity, you’ll be in a better position to compete with your larger competitors and gain more business.

What Elements are Required for a Strong Brand Identity?

Now you know the benefits of a strong brand image you might be wondering how to build your brand. A number of elements are required in order to build a successful brand identity. They include:

• Recognizable Logo: Design and create your logo to reflect your brand values and attributes.
• Unique Website: This is where you get to showcase your products or services and gain the trust of your customers.
• Fully Optimized for Mobile Users: An increasing number of people use their smartphones for researching purchases online. It’s smart business sense to make sure your website is fully optimized.
• Create Unique and Engaging Content: The content you publish on your website must be informative and useful as well as delivering value.
• SEO Friendly: This is how you make sure your website features on the first page of search results.
• Social Media: Social media is now one of the most important forms of marketing. Work on posting consistently, being attractive and engaging.

Brand image is important, however big your business might be. Start thinking about it early, and it’ll become second nature.