Why Everything You Think You Know About Branding is BS.

Have you ever looked at your outdated logo or website and thought “I need to rebrand!”?

If this is you, you’re NOT the only one. Many businesses lack the know-how surrounding branding and what exactly it is and isn’t. So, before you go blowing up your business from top to bottom, let’s clear a few (really important) things up.

Your brand belongs to your customers. 

Yes, you read that right. Your brand is a living, breathing entity molded by the consumers who experience it at every point in their buyer journey. It’s what they say about you and how they think about you when you’re not around. 

Your brand is born before you even have that first conversation.

Thanks to the internet, someone can hop online and start making immediate judgments about you and your business before you ever had a personal interaction with them. They can scour your reviews, social media accounts, website, etc., and have a pretty good idea of who you are and what your business is all about. In fact, a survey shows that 73 percent of consumers cite customer experience as an important factor in their purchasing decisions.

Your logo isn’t as important as you think.

Don’t get me wrong, your logo is a big part of your business’ identity, should look professional, and be in alignment with your product or service and audience. But no potential customer ever said, “I think I’ll buy from them – they’ve got a great logo!” Or “Wow, their tagline is amazeballs  – they’ve got my business!” It’s the overall messaging and social proof that’s going to drive the sale - not a snazzy, overpriced logo.

You more than likely don’t need a full-on rebrand. 

If I had a dollar for each time I heard someone say they need to rebrand, when they just simply need a visual refresh, I’d be on the beach in Tahiti, sipping a Mai Tai, and not writing this blog. It’s natural that every two to four years, you’re going to want to refresh your branding visuals. Start with new brand photography and a new website template. Then if those changes still aren’t up to par, move on to an updated color palette and a slight logo modification.

You can change the conversation about your brand.

The key to creating a brand that your customers will love (and keep buying from) is evaluation and feedback. How can you possibly know what aspects of your business need to be improved if you never ask? You should conduct a quick survey every year (at the minimum) to know what you’re doing right and what needs improvement.

The fact is that no amount of marketing can fix a failing brand. You simply can’t throw more money to get more new customers. Your branding ecosystem depends on you and your willingness to adapt and change. Your brand starts with a person’s very first Google search – and it’s up to you where it ends.

What do you find the most confusing about branding? Leave them in the comments! 👇