Did you know that great branding can help your company make more money? I promise, I’m not joking! Great branding can take weeks, if not years to develop. Though, these five points can quickly make a huge difference in increasing sales.

When you think about the brands you enjoy purchasing, what do they have in common? There are five key points I look for in great branding; good visual aesthetics, clear messaging, trustworthiness, relatability, and memorability.

So let’s look at the common problems with each of these points and how to fix it.

1. Great Branding Helps You Look Good

When I was a kid, my parents told me to never judge a book by its cover. Well, no offence Mom and Dad, but online consumers do make snap judgments based on appearance. People enjoy buying things that look good! Especially when all other factors (price, accessibility, and quality) are equal.

Common Branding Problem:

Of course nobody wants to look bad, though not everyone is a design savant. I have spent many hours on market research (my boyfriend calls it online shopping). When a website doesn’t look good, I am hesitant to make a purchase. Even reputable companies can lose out on sales if customers don’t like their website.

How to Fix It:

Using consistent fonts and complementary colors are a great way to start. Text should be easy to read, whether it’s a product description or text over a hero image. Make sure your images aesthetically make sense and are high quality. A blurry image can leave your audience feeling like your company does not care about quality. 

2. Great Branding Helps You Communicate Clearly

Too many times I have been exploring online and click on a link, then *insert dramatic music here* I end up in Bewildered-Ville (also known as the land of the confused). In other words, I got LOST! At least that’s how I felt. What I clicked on and where I ended up were somehow disconnected. Something got lost in communication.

Common Branding Problem:

Communicating a concise offer can be difficult for many businesses. Often many companies forget the buyer’s journey. The mindset your audience is in when they interact with you is important. Paid or organic traffic, customers want something when they visit, even if it is to satisfy their curiosity. They need to know why you exist and sometimes, even more importantly, who you exist for. A lot of companies make the mistake of trying to be a one size fits all solution. Unfortunately, it can end up diluting the power of their brand message.

How to Fix It:

Clearly define what you do. Develop a Unique Selling Proposition (USP). A great USP will explain how you solve a problem for a specific buyer persona. Use this messaging across all touch points, to create clarity in your offerings. 

3. Great Branding Helps You Build Trust

Don’t you prefer to buy from people and businesses you trust? Many times I have opted to pay a little more for the EXACT SAME product because I trust another company more. I was happy to pay for the peace of mind it provided. Don’t miss out on sales because people don’t trust buying from your website or business.

Common Branding Problem:

Some companies use inconsistent colors, fonts, and imagery across their marketing. This can create an unharmonious experience. From the customer’s point of view,if it doesn’t look good and it doesn’t feel good, it must not be good. Inconsistent language and policies can also confuse customers, especially when they don’t know which version to trust.  

How to Fix It:

Use only two or three fonts that are easy to read. Use Hex Codes to make sure the specific shades of color used are consistent across the company. Also, for product based companies, return policies can have a huge impact on trust. Develop a customer focused return policy. This lets people know you stand by your product, making you more trustworthy.

4. Great Branding Helps You Resonate with Consumers

Every once in a blue moon, I happen upon a company that I actually resonate with. Whether it’s in store or online, I feel a sense of connection, as if these are my people and they actually understand me. In this ever changing world, people want to feel like they belong. They want to feel understood. 

Common Branding Problem:

Too many companies forget to explain how their product actually improves your life. The features of a product end up outshining the customer’s needs. These businesses use language that seems to focus on the greatness of their product. Or worse yet, focus entirely on their company.

How to Fix It:

Focus on the end result and benefits. How does a feature make your customer’s life easier? People don’t buy things without reason, so give them a reason! An easy way to do this is to think about your target customer’s pain point and how you help to alleviate it. 

5. Great Branding Helps You Leave an Impression

Consumer’s attention spans are now less than that of a goldfish. Yup, that’s right! Making a quick impression is now more important than ever. Having only 5-7 seconds to capture attention can be a little intimidating. You don’t want to miss out on sales because you weren’t able to impress your audience.

Common Branding Problem:

Many websites have conflicting messages on a single page. Too many things going on can leave your audience feeling confused. Not a great impression!

Slow load speed can leave visitors with a bad taste in their mouth. Information is now more accessible than ever. People are not very incentivised to wait for your page to load. This can lead to your competitors getting the sale. 

Unclear website navigation is another way to make a bad impression. Visitors should not feel like your website is a maze. Broken links and 404 pages are also never fun to find.

How to Fix It:

Make sure each element and page has a purpose. Important elements should be larger and have prominent placement. Test load speed on your entire website, anything over 7 seconds on any page is undesirable. Make sure all site navigation works correctly and it is easy for your customer to find what they want. 

Conclusion

While these are only a few ways you can improve your branding, they are a great start! Hopefully they will help you make more money with your business. It seems obvious that all brands want to have great branding. However, looking good, communicating clearly, building trust, resonating with consumers, and leaving a good impression is easier said than done. 

When it comes to branding, I always like to remember one of my favorite quotes by Maya Aneglou, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” So, at the end of the day I feel the most important thing in branding is how people feel when they think of your brand.