What is Branding?

Branding is that singular perception that a potential customer has of your organization in terms of your products, services, and the experiences that you offer. Customers perceive individual brands differently. 

Branding includes your name and visual representations of your organization, such as the color palette you select, packaging materials you use, and symbols you incorporate. It also includes the mood you convey through the tone of voice you use to communicate with your customers and the experiences people associate with your brand.

For example, people associate Amazon, currently the world’s most valuable brand, with personalized and on-demand services, which it offers courtesy of its flagship products like Amazon Echo, Prime, and Alexa.

All this is down to the company's efforts to concentrate on what its customers want instead of what the competition is doing. 

Branding Influences Buyers Positively

Generally, 82 percent of consumers will buy from a brand based on its mission or purpose. However, the rate at which that happens will depend on your target customers' perceptions of you and how well you fulfill that purpose. 

The more valuable people perceive your brand to be, the more positive experiences they associate with it, enabling you to charge premium prices for your brand products and services. It’s precisely for this reason that iPhones are considerably more expensive than other smartphone brands. The buyers are willing to pay what it takes because they associate the brand with class and excellent quality.

Tips for Branding in 2023

Creating authentic branded content is another excellent strategy to improve your marketing and sales efforts. Studies show that 82 percent of consumers feel more positive about a brand after reading branded content. So, having relevant content for each stage of your customer’s buying journey will significantly improve brand recognition and conversion rates. 

You should pay close attention to what your competition is doing and what’s trendy during the period you are rebranding. Currently, many consumers are attracted to brands that invoke a sense of nostalgia and take them back to when the times were good. Others prefer eclectic designs or minimal designs that have the most impact.

Understanding Your Buyer Persona

You need to understand your target audience. Who are you selling to? Where do they come from? What do they do? What are their likes and dislikes?

First, identify your ideal customers and how your products or services serve their needs. Only then can you know how to frame your brand message to address them and portray the values they prioritize.

You could benefit from HubSpot’s buyer persona templates at this branding stage. This will help to segment your audience to create tailored content and experiences for each segment.

Determine Your Purpose

Why are you in business?

This is where your mission statement comes in. Remember, people buy with the company’s purpose in mind. 

So, defining your mission and expressing what your business offers to the world will be instrumental in helping you successfully brand yourself. When branding your company, you can align that statement with your target audience's values.

Define Your Value Proposition

Your value proposition is statement that explains what your product or service's benefits are. It must be clear, concise, customer-oriented, and conversational while conveying the desired emotions. 

To define your value proposition, you must understand your product or service, its features, and its benefits. Once you have all these facts at your fingertips, you must identify your benefits' unique aspects and how they specifically solve your target audience's needs. Knowing these things will be instrumental in helping you craft your branding message.

Create Branding Assets

Your brand assets include your preferred color palettes, typography such as fonts, and visual components like logos. 

Find Your Voice

Finding your brand voice depends on whether you took the time to research your ideal customer, your purpose, and what you offer. A brand voice can be assertive, friendly, helpful, motivational, humorous, etc. No matter which voice you choose, it must be consistent across the board.