When you start your first network marketing business the first thing you need to do is create a strong following.
Branding is the term used to describe the process of making a distinctive and durable perception in the minds of your consumers. Once a brand identity has been established, it becomes a persistent and unique identity for that business that intertwines its personality, quality, and origin.
Although most consumers associate the benefits of branding with large companies, network marketing businesses should be using these tools as well. Keep reading to find out how creating benefits of branding can help grow your business.
1. It Creates Brand Recognition
Psychologists have shown that branding has a big influence not only on your customers but on nonbuyers as well. If you make people familiar with your brand, it induces them to like it.
This means that if a person has encountered your company identity enough times they will become willing to recommend you even if they haven’t had a personal experience with your products.
By seeing your ads around on local buses, viewing shared social media posts, having a pen with your company’s logo on your desk, or reading about you in the local news, you can spread the word about your company everywhere.
Then, when someone asks a friend or colleague if they know anyone that sells your products, they will point in your direction.
2. It Helps You Gain Loyal Customers
If someone has a positive experience with a brand that is memorable, they will be more likely to purchase that product or service over and over again instead of switching to a competing brand.
This is especially true for network marketing businesses since your customers will be able to order your product elsewhere from another representative. Yourself and your brand are what you are selling.
One of the benefits of branding is if your customers have bonded with your brand’s identity, they will be more likely to buy the same product from you again, as well as expand to buy more of your offerings. They have no reason to look elsewhere.
Another benefit of branding is that it helps to create and anchor this kind of loyalty. If you consider how far some customers are willing to go to support their favorite brands, then you will understand the power of having a strong brand presence.
3. Gives Your Business a Presence
A strong brand has an image that is established in the marketplace. People typically associate this kind of branding with big businesses with large budgets for advertising and promotion.
But, one of the benefits of branding is, if you can create an effective campaign for your business, you can make your company seem much bigger than it really is. This image of size shows the world that you are established and aren’t going anywhere, helping to build trust with potential customers.
With a solid presence, customers will be reassured that if they fall in love with your products, you will be around for years to provide them.
4. Displays the Quality of Your Products
Most people associate a strong brand image with the quality of the business. They see the brand as a big part of the product or service you are selling. One of the biggest benefits of branding is that it can help to demonstrate the quality and value of your products.
If you hand someone any two products, one generic and the other branded, then they are going to automatically assume that the branded one is higher quality. Generic products are viewed as a copy of branded products and are therefore seen as not as good.
That is why one of the benefits of branding your business is that it will make potential customers think your product is higher quality. This trend increases over time as your company gains more stability in the marketplace.
Of course, if the products you are selling are not high quality, then it can be difficult to create effective branding. No image can replace the integrity of your products and if you distribute items of poor quality, it will bring you bad publicity.
Any amount of negative attention can deal a damaging blow to your business, especially is the rumors persist for a long time. Be very careful that you only make claims that are true about your products to nurture loyalty for your brand.
5. Makes You Look Reliable and Experienced
In order for the benefits of branding to take effect fully, the strategy needs to be around for a long time.
This means that branded businesses are more likely to be viewed as experts at their products and services. This translates to more reliability and trustworthiness in the eyes of a customer.
Once you have established your brand thoroughly it will have a value of its own. Your customers will know that you want to maintain that image and therefore they will think that you would be hesitant to put your name on poor quality products.
That means that they will be more likely to try new products you introduce making it much easier to grow your business.
6. Branding Gives Your Business a Competitive Edge
Branding takes the commodity you sell and lifts it to a new level. Instead of worrying about price, consumers of brands are eager to pay for what the perceive has value.
A perfect example of this is bottled water. Many people will never purchase it, choosing instead to go to a water fountain. Other people, on the other hand, will buy brand name water like Voss or Dasani because they perceive it as tasting better or being purer. The third group of people will buy store brand water bottles that source their water from a local spring.
All three groups are getting water, but there are paying three very different prices for the same thing. This is because of good branding. The reason this is one of the biggest benefits of branding is that it can lead potential customers to dismiss evidence that they may ordinarily use to make a decision on a purchase.
7. It Gives You an Easy Way to Introduce New Products
When you have established your brand well, you will be able to translate that respect into any new products that you decide to sell or services you are starting to offer. It also helps if your business has a physical location and you decide to open another one.
If your brand name has value, the process of growing it will be much easier. Customers will have heard of you and will be ready to purchase from the get-go.
8. It Gives Your Brand Better Equity
Although as a network marketer, you will never sell your business, it is still important to build equity into your brand. This is because you never know what the future holds.
You may need to shut down your business at some point. Perhaps you are moving, going back to school, having a baby, or become ill. If those situations cause you to shut down sales for a period of time, it can be difficult to get up and running again.
But, if you have built up your brand, then your customers will remember you when you come back to the marketplace and your reputation will follow you across the country. That is why equity is one of the best benefits of branding.
9. It Increases Consumer Confidence
If a customer feels pressured to make a purchase and they are unfamiliar with the options in the marketplace, they will often choose the brand name option over the generic one. They do this because they believe it will work better and are not willing to take the risk.
By building up your brand’s perception as having value, you will grow your customer base even if they aren’t intimately familiar with that particular product. People will trust the name to get the job done.
10. It Saves Your Time and Money in the Future
Every time you release a new product you don’t want to have to rewrite your brand’s story and build from scratch. It takes a lot of time to develop the images, fonts, and logos that represent your brand. It can also be very expensive.
By creating a solid brand image that you apply to all your products, you don’t have to individually market each one. Instead, you can focus on growing your consumer confidence so that your buyers are ready to purchase your whole line.
4 Tips for Improving Your Branding
Network marketing businesses can reap the same rewards as the large companies by investing in the creation of a strong brand identity.
Fortunately, it will not take millions of dollars to get you there. Here are a few tips to help you gain the benefits of branding.
1. Establish a Visual Framework Unique to Your Organization
Having the right visuals in place will help potential customers recognize your brand. Your logo is the best place to start when doing this. It should be memorable, unique, and have a visual appeal that relates to your business, industry, or products.
There are plenty of tips out there for creating the right logo, but it begins with deciding what you want to communicate. If you are in the hair industry then you may want to design it around a pair of scissors. Or, if you are a trainer for athletes then you may want to use a sporty font for your company name.
But to be successful, your visual branding needs to expand beyond your logo. It should also be applied to your website, letterhead (if you have it), website, corporate media, and product packaging.
You want your customers to be able to recognize a piece of marketing material that comes from your company, even if it doesn’t have the logo on it. You need to consider how these types of visuals affect your potential customers and how you can use visual assets to make your company stand out from the competition.
The best way to do this is by setting brand style guidelines. This could be as simple as selecting a color scheme, font, and logo for your company. Or, if your business has a lot of written materials, your style guide may need to include much more information.
Things like when to use contractions, how to refer to customers, and wording to avoid can be selected in advance. That way, when you issue a new press release or product, you will be able to maintain the image of your brand easily.
2. Use Your Social Media Presence
Social media is very important for network marketing. While people may not visit your website every day, they will most likely be logging into their Facebook and Twitter pages often.
If you can maximize your exposure on these platforms then you can extend the reach of your brand. This helps you to create a following of advocates for your products.
3. Seek Earned Media Opportunities
Every brand has a unique story. If you can shape yours to be of interest to news organizations then you can earn some free marketing.
Look for customers who might be willing to tell the world how much your product has affected their lives. Get them to tell people why they enjoy your products so much. That way, potential customers will trust your business more than if the news came from a promotional outlet.
4. Create Exciting Content
Generic content is no good. In the competitive area of network marketing, you need to gain viewer’s attention from the start. Get them excited about your brand. Show your customers that you are an expert in your field and grab their attention.
More About the Benefits of Branding
If you are trying to grow your network marketing business, the benefits of branding can’t be ignored. That is why you should look for any help you can get.
At Yoobly, we offer education, consulting, and support for network marketers. Whether you are new to this realm and looking for direction, or if you are an established marketer trying to get to the next level, we have a package for you.
Contact us today for help with your business!