In today’s hyper-competitive world, where consumers have more choices than ever before, branding is critical. It can help you stand out from the competition, build a loyal customer base, and it quite literally can make a business successful.
Most businesses understand the importance of branding, but branding itself feels more like a theory than something they know how to actively engage in.
To help with that, we talked with Anne Gillaspie, Master Brand Strategist and Owner of strategic branding agency Fix & Form.
In her work over the past decade, Gillaspie has helped brands strategically improve or create new, impactful branding, including by delivering outstanding experiences using a human-centric approach to branding.
If you ask some people what branding is, they might think of a brand name, or a business with a memorable logo. But it’s about much more than that.
“Branding is wrapped up best in all of the sensory words that you experience when interacting with a brand,” said Gillaspie.
“How does it look, feel, taste, sound, move, and what emotions does it invoke in the recipient. All things incorporated in this interaction are considered a brand experience which comes from intentional branding.”
An effective brand is one that is memorable and helps attract customers and purchases your way — including both new customers and returning customers. Knowing whether or not you have an impactful brand, however, can be a challenge in and of itself.
“The best way for a business to know their brand is effective and impactful is by word of mouth and referrals,” shared Gillaspie. “Immediate feedback during and after a brand experience is delivered is a wonderful hint, but this doesn’t always happen.
“Reading reviews and referrals are the best tool to understand what was delivered and if it matched the intentions. When a consumer doesn’t know exactly what made a brand experience different can be a sign of weaker branding.”
As you’re working to build your business, it’s easy to let something like branding— which is a big task and may seem non-urgent— to fall by the wayside. Some business owners either try to quickly rush to slap something together that’s “good enough” and don’t dive deep enough, or they fail to make an intentional branding effort beyond creating a logo and calling it a day.
This is a major risk, because lack of effort in branding is (perhaps unsurprisingly) the biggest culprit behind weak or ineffective brands.
“Simply not put time and energy into brand work, the psychology behind a brand, can lead to a poor or ineffective brand experience,” said Gillaspie.
“Many businesses start quickly and in the first two years grow and become established haphazardly, allowing the consumer or marketplace to brand their experience versus putting in the work to be intentional with what you want to sell and deliver.”
While your logo shouldn’t be the only branding that you engage in, the logo and the visuals on your website do matter— and they matter a ton.
Gillaspie stressed that visuals played an extremely important part in company branding:
“Once the foundational brand identity is crafted with a strategist, the visual brand design should be carefully crafted to match the words, feelings, and vibe intended. Everywhere the brand shows up whether online or physically, should be cohesive and impactful.”
The visuals you use may be some of the first things customers notice, and they say a lot about your brand. It’s important to make sure that they’re saying the right things, and that customers are able to remember them.
That said, Gillaspie also stressed that one of the biggest mistakes that SMBs make is thinking that branding is only about a logo:
“When starting with just a logo, most of the intentionality and mission/vision/value and the meat of the brand is skipped, the logo is just another image on the internet. An agency team can breathe life into the business, really making it a living brand that connects with people in meaningful ways. Branding starts well before a logo is designed.”
Brand voice— which is the consistent way that your business communicates externally— is a distinctive part of branding. Some brands like Wendys have even developed famous brand voices that elevate them to social media stardom.
The key word here, of course, is consistent.
Here’s what Gillaspie said about brand voice:
“Brand voice is important for everyone from your social media intern to your CEO. All people interacting with and delivering the brand experience should understand the brand voice and know what words to use when working in it.
Brand voice can be established as part of a foundational brand workshop series, where we use probing questions to learn more about what feelings need to be conveyed in the experience and the sale of the products/services. How does the consumer need to feel to receive a positive brand experience? Why would they want to trust you to work with you and buy from you?
Once you understand answers to some of these questions, you can then back into identifying descriptive words to establish a brand voice like: Intelligent, accommodating, grounded, savvy, visionary, and so on.”
There’s a lot that goes into branding— so where should SMBs start?
“Ask yourself what the motive is for starting this brand and why now,” Gillaspie said when asked about first steps for SMBs.
“What does starting this brand mean to the founders? Why does the marketplace need to receive this new brand? What is missing for this brand to fill in the gap for? How will this brand stand out? What should consumers love and crave about this brand? How should a consumer feel after interacting with this brand?”
By asking these questions, you can get started on actually developing the brand itself, including brand voice, visuals, and USP, copy, and taglines.
Some businesses have leveraged social media to not only promote their business and deliver customer service, but to strengthen the brand itself.
Gillaspie, however, has a word of caution about social media marketing:
“I tell clients that social media can and should wait if proper budget and resources are not available to make it a consistent program. We can establish a solid brand with this piece. Social Media is a marketing tool.
Just like email marketing, paid advertising, networking, and newsletter outreach. All of these pieces, and more, can be developed down the road as we go, but initially are not a solid part of a brand foundation setup and shouldn’t be stressed over.”
Social media is a long-term play, and making strategic moves about what you can consistently invest in and sustain is an important consideration to keep in mind.
Many SMBs that are first getting started would love to work with a branding agency — but it’s not always the right time and it may not quite be in their budget.
It’s important to note that experienced brand strategists can help you at any point in the process, so whether you have an existing brand that needs some improvement or you’re starting from scratch, when you need help with the vision and/or implementation and have the budget, they’ll be ready.
This is what Gillaspie said when asked about when SMBs should consider working with a branding expert or agency:
“When a business has been established for a couple of years and skipped the branding setup, they have time and budget to finally dedicate toward doing the deep dive brand strategy work and can work with an agency for a brand refresh to grow, evolve, and really get to that next level.
Or, when a new brand concept is kicking off with some sort of initial startup financing allowing the founders to do the initial brand identity work with an agency for intentional business startup with impeccable visual brand design, website, and content marketing to launch with power and momentum.
A business should see an agency team who is approachable, available, eager, and affordable within their budget. Connecting with key people on the agency team on a personal level is very important for branding work.”
There are plenty of elements that go into building a strong business, and branding is just one. That said, it’s an important one— especially as you’re looking to scale, increase your client base, and build solid brand awareness and recognition.
Branding plays a vital role in many business’s long term success, and it includes brand voice, visuals, and the overall customer experience. If you’re ever feeling stuck, consulting with a branding expert can help, but starting with some market research, audience research, and a solid understanding of what you can offer your customers is a good place to start.
Want more tips about starting and running SMBs? Check out our blog for more!
