In my previous marketing post “Why small to media size companies often hate when marketing firms use the word ‘branding.'” I talked about how clients often roll their eyes when an ad firm or marketing consultant talk about branding.
My approach “Sales to Live. Branding for Life” lets clients understand my efforts treat sales with urgency for business survival (Sales to Live). Now I want to talk about the second half (Branding for Life) and why branding is important in context. Even more important in the long run.
Branding for life.
How we make clients understand the need for branding is showing them, like putting your money in a good stock investment or retirement account early that over the longer term, you’ll reap an benefit that will pay off exponentially. And why you have to “invest early by branding early. Here’s why.
Hawking sales and price great in the short term, but without communicating additional value, eventually it’s a losing game. Just ask the many of the small business who signed up to sell their products at discount on Groupon. Sales shot up, but from price minded, non-loyal customers, who want everything for nothing, often complain and quickly move on to the next company with a better price. So congratulations, you’re literally a one-night stand.
What’s missing? Value.
- Value from branding allows you to charge higher prices – more revenue, higher margins.
- Value from branding makes people feel strong enough about your product or service to tell others – free publicity and endorsements.
- Value from branding allows you to fend off new competitors by making customers feel you are the comfortable, safe choice. That makes it an uphill battle for competitive upstarts.
- Value from branding literally shows up on your bottom line. Retained brand value is called “Goodwill” which you can also sell when or if you sell your company.
That’s a lot of value. And as a marketer, that’s why you need to communicate that value to clients when you talk about branding.