Just like every human, every distinct business has its own identity and own presence in the mind of the customers. The branding process helps businesses create a voice for the businesses that enhance recognition among the target customers and creates a sense of trust. A brand can be a representation of customers’ values, as around 90% of the customers express their loyalty to the brand that represents their values.
Want to know more about branding and why it is essential for customers? This blog will help you understand why branding is important for customers.
What is Branding?
Figure 1: Elements of a Brand’s Identity
Many people still do not know what a B2B marketing agency is. One of their tasks is to look at the branding. Going beyond the brand colors, logos, and stories, branding allows businesses to sell experiences to customers so that they can resonate with the brand. So, it is evident that customers play an important role for companies to employ the right branding strategies.
For example, branding helps B2B companies gain more customers as B2B SaaS conversion helps in turning potential customers into paid customers.
Branding elements that help in constructing the identity of the brand include:
- Brand Name: Brand’s name and logo must be unique, which helps customers get acquainted with the brand.
- Color Scheme: brand colors must resonate with the target customers, which can elevate the consumers
- Brand Story: All the brands have different stories. While resonating with the customers, businesses tried to create a compelling brand story.
- Imagery: The way brands show themselves in commercials is a part of their imagery. This builds up major parts of customers’ perceptions.
What is the Difference between Branding and Marketing?
Although marketing and branding focus on delivering constant marketing messages to the target customers, there are some key differences between branding and marketing. Here, let us understand the difference between branding and marketing.
| Factors | Branding | Marketing |
| Process | Branding helps in creating a distinct personality for a brand. | Marketing helps to advance and dispense products or services. |
| Focus | Loyalty of customers. | Focuses on marketing campaigns and strategies. |
| Objective | Creates a brand identity. | Engages customers and converts them into buyers. |
| Measurement | Brand perception and brand awareness are two ways of measuring the effectiveness of branding. | Marketing outcomes are calculated using techniques like ROI and analytical data. |
| Outcome | This is a continuous process. | This is a targeted effort to specifically address their needs. |
Table 1: The comparison between branding and Marketing
Why Does Branding Matter to Consumers?
Before making any purchase decisions, consumers focus on choosing the brand because brands create familiarity among consumers. If the brand is familiar, customers will be more likely to buy new products. Around 59% of the customers would love to purchase new articles from known brands.
Here are some reasons why branding matters to consumers:
Branding is a Sign of Trust and Credibility
If a business is consistent with its branding, using the same colors, logos, and patterns everywhere, it is more likely that the brand will become familiar among the customers. Therefore, customers will become more confident about making purchase decisions.
How do Customers Recognize Brands?
It is more likely that customers will recognize a brand if there is enough visual or auditory trigger. For example, if a brand uses a distinct shade of red as its brand theme color, customers will resonate with the brand whenever they see the same color. Besides that, sounds like jingles and brand communication methods also make a brand more recognizable.
Emotional Resonance
People only consider interacting with the brands if they are emotionally connected with the brand.
What is the Consumers’ Part in Creating a Brand?
Consumers play a crucial role in shaping a brand’s public identity. Since branding massively contributes to B2B SaaS conversion, businesses obtain huge numbers of paid consumers. Here’s how they contribute to forming the identity of a brand:
Consumer Perception
How a business’s brand is going to be portrayed in public depends massively on how customers look at it. Apprehending what target customers want is very important to make the brand resonate with them.
Social Media Engagement
Public reception of brands is also crucial. If your target customers like your brand, they are likely to advocate for it on social media platforms. Therefore, you will gain new target demographics where you can run your ad campaigns.
A B2B marketing agency uses social media marketing as a key player in supporting the objectives of branding. Approximately 77% of the customers wish to shop from brands they follow on online platforms.
Reviews on Online Marketplaces
If your brand receives positive reviews on online marketplaces, it acts as social evidence. Furthermore, this impacts on purchase decisions of potential customers.
How can Businesses Establish a Brand that Resonates?
Establishing a brand that values customer opinion is a priority to increase its recognition among customers. Here are the methods that can be undertaken by brands to validate customers.
Setting Clear Brand Purposes
To deliver a clear focus on the customer, brands need to set their purposes with clarity. In-depth market research and determination of target demographics would allow brands to gain more exposure to the right customers. For example, in B2B SaaS conversion, the potential customers can only be entirely converted to buyers if the brand has a specific purpose.
Consistency in Maintaining Brand Identity
The elements of your brand identity, like the brand logo, color scheme, and brand imagery, need to be consistent across all platforms. This will not confuse customers.
Prioritization of Real Customer Inputs
To make your brand successful, you have to take the real customer reviews into account as they will point out the rights and wrongs in your branding effort. If you make changes in your branding strategy as per their inputs, their needs will be satisfied. As a result, the brand will experience enhanced brand loyalty.
Final Words
Branding for businesses is of high importance because it helps to create loyal customers. The participation of customers matters in branding because they help in building trust and public perception. A purposeful brand always uses different channels to reach its target demographic.
Make your Brand Visible!
Want to make your brand purposeful? Consult with a B2B marketing agency that can make your brand visible in the marketplace and create more customer engagement.