7 benefits of strong branding

Brand image identifies your business, product, or service and can make or break how consumers perceive you. When your customers purchase a product or service from you, they aren’t just buying what you're selling but what your brand stands for as well. It’s vital to create a strong brand identity that conveys exactly what you want.

1. Increases brand recognition

One important benefit of strong branding is brand recognition, which is how well people can remember your company’s brand and identify your products. Any company should strive to accomplish this as it’s a matter of consumers being able to tell the difference between you and a competitor. Take Starbucks for example, the company uses a distinctive style in its social media content that’s instantly recognizable without even reading the text.

As a result of strong branding, consumers can instantly recognize that a post is from Starbucks while scrolling through feeds. Instant recognition is a huge benefit when you consider that users may be scrolling through hundreds of posts in a single session. The average attention span in general is eight seconds, but on social media it can be as little as two seconds which means brands need their posts to stand out and immediately form a connection.

2. Improves customer loyalty

Another benefit of branding the right way is increased brand loyalty. A distinctive brand identity makes it easier for consumers to recognize your brand and it creates a positive emotional connection with your target audience, therefore increasing customer loyalty.

It’s long known that loyal customers spend more money on your product and turn into repeat customers. These customers are satisfied with your products or services and ultimately perceive you as a strong brand, naturally creating brand ambassadors.

3. Higher advertising effectiveness

Higher advertising effectiveness refers to how likely your customers will convert after seeing an ad for your product. When your brand is well-established, new product releases will excite your customers and increase the effectiveness of your advertisements (more purchases). For example, Canon frequently uses its online community to advertise new products to loyal customers.

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Because the company has invested in building a strong brand, customers have trust and confidence in the quality of their products which makes simple announcements highly effective advertisements. In this example, several Canon customers pre-ordered products as a result of seeing the announcement in the brand’s online community.

4. Word-of-mouth marketing

Strong brands benefit from word-of-mouth marketing, where your customers share your brand with friends, family, and even strangers with no incentive. You see this a lot with brands who have high quality products — your products essentially speak for themselves as customers who like your product or use it successfully will likely tell other people about it. In fact, happy customers tell an average of nine people about a positive experience with a brand.

5. Engaged employees and more applicants

When you think about who is impacted by a strong brand, you probably think of your consumers first and foremost. But, there’s another crew of stakeholders for whom strong branding matters: your current and future employees. A strong brand that powerfully conveys its mission, values, and personality helps recruit and retain the best and brightest in the workforce.

A study by CareerArc found that 91% of job seekers consider online reviews before applying. A strong brand doesn’t just attract talent, it also maintains it. If you continue to internally deliver on your brand promises, promote a compelling mission, and build your brand reputation, employees will stay engaged and at your company longer. Happy employees can also turn into some of your best brand advocates.

6. Defense against negative exposure

When you’ve effectively built a strong brand, an occasional slip-up or mistake is more likely to be forgiven by your consumers. And as we mentioned - strong branding leads to increased brand loyalty. Loyal customers will typically be the first to jump to your defense when it comes to bad news, negative reviews, or a crisis. This can be especially helpful when it comes to misinformation spreading about your brand.

7. Reduces price sensitivity

Strong branding provides a competitive edge in the market — it means customers will be more likely to try your new products, buy something because it has your logo on it, or choose your product from a list of options. A strong brand also means you can charge more. Millward Brown found that successful brands command a price that’s 14% higher than the average brand. 

Samsung is a great example of this, as the company dominates the foldable phone market with 72% of the market share while the closest competitor sits at only 9% market share. The brand’s premium Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Flip retail at $1,800 and $1,000 respectively, but consumers are willing to pay extra over cheaper devices starting as low as $700.

According to Medium, a key reason behind Samsung’s dominance is that they’ve established their foldable phones as the future of computing. The company’s advertisements coincide with this idea, telling users to “unfold your world” and that nothing unfolds like their devices, setting their products apart from competitors.

Consumers want to buy from companies they like, know, and trust, and they’re willing to pay more when they do — a benefit that companies with strong branding enjoy. Because these brands have invested in strong brand equity, they can apply a price premium that consumers are happy to pay.

Building a strong brand identity can help you stand out, build loyalty, and protect your brand. If you’re not sure where to start when it comes to building a strong brand, Khoros Social Media Management software can help you establish a strong presence on popular social platforms and you can also utilize a Khoros Community to create a shared space for your loyal customers.

Contact us today to discover how Khoros can help you build a strong brand for lasting success.