If you think starting a business is hard, making your brand memorable is harder. Most startups during the early stages of development obsess on developing their products or services, but fail short on their branding.

Many entrepreneurs and business managers ignore that aside from the “solution” they are offering, it is also important to create a solid branding. It is crucial to research and define their target customers, craft a seamless customer experience, and create a brand identity that will benefit consumers before just pushing it to the marketplace.

What is branding?

“Your brand is what people say about you after you leave the room.”

–Jeff Bezos, Amazon

Branding often appears like a buzzword for most people. You can think about a brand like a characteristic of a person (in this case, a startup). Just like a person, a brand has its own characteristics as well:

• Identity
• Voice
• Values
• Personality
• Beliefs
• Story
• Character
• Attitude
• Soul

A brand is not simply a name, a logo  or a combination of colors of a company. Although those mentioned are included in a brand, it is the representation of who your company is. 

Branding is the image and reputation your company has, as Bezos said, “after you leave the room.” It is the perception of the totality of touchpoints in a business –from awareness to retention.

Good branding is what remains in people’s memories after your business has interacted with them. When you are successful in conveying your messages to your audience, you have achieved great branding.

Here are some of the reasons why startups need branding.

Branding gives a unique identity on startups

Branding is an organisation personified. It is important for a startup to have its own personality, beliefs, story, values, and personality.

Companies are more likely to promote and choose a brand that represents their business methods and core values. Having a clear vision of your startup can ensure success of the startup in the long run.

You can highlight your personality and having great branding can help you gain loyal clientele as well as solid competitive advantage among your competitors. You may put a spotlight on your unique selling points and how you can help solve the problems of your customers.

Branding gets traction and sets you apart from competition

Branding enables you to gain traction and can set you apart from your competitors. Great branding can highlight your difference from similar features to other companies who roughly offer roughly the same product or service. By conveying your core business values to your customers, you establish a genuine connection to your audience and gain their trust. 

For instance, you are looking for a company offering remote IT services. Will you partner with an unknown organisation? For sure, you will look for a reliable IT outsourcing company who has a credible reputation.

Here are some things you can do to gain traction for your startup:

• Take advantage of email marketing
• Partner with high profile brands
• Consistently track your market performance
• Consistently create and promote original content to create brand awareness
• Think out of the box
• Attend events where you can showcase your startup
• Think out of the box

Branding ensures your customers you are here to stay

An established branding gives out a message that you are there to stay for a long time. This makes your business reliable and recognisable in the industry. Your branding is more than your collaterals, it is also about maintaining consistent messaging and communications to your customers.

How you can ensure you are here to stay:

• Establish emotional connection between your brand and your audience.
• Make sure you are reflecting your original values even with the evolution of your brand.
• Consistently be on the lookout for ways to stand out.
• Focus on developing the brand experience and customer experience of your startup.
• Drive brand awareness across platforms –website, social media, etc.

Branding helps you resolve concerns of your consumers

As a startup, you have a mission to solve a problem or problems of your customers. You may utilise social media to know their concerns and worries based on reviews and comments related to the problems you are trying to solve.

Consumers also recommend brands who give them a positive and seamless customer experience. Here are some of the ways you can alleviate the problems of your customers:

• Create and publish content that will help your customers solve issues by themselves.
• Make sure to share relevant content across social media platforms
• Communicate with your customers across all channels
• Make your posts shareable so you can have amplified reach on consumers which helps in your brand awareness. 

These are just some of the reasons why startups need branding. If you have a startup that needs assistance in creating a solid brand strategy and marketing, turn to your reliable, handpicked dedicated digital marketing and analytics specialist at Flexisource IT.

Flexisource IT is your innovation partner devoted to assisting you in your branding and digital marketing efforts and to boosting the digital presence of your startup. When you’re looking to hire a digital marketing team, don’t outsource it, Flexisource IT!