Customers will get to know your business through how you brand it. Branding encompasses everything from the logo, to how you communicate with your customers. With a clear brand identity, your businesses will stand in a strong position amongst the competition. In essence, your brand uniquely reflects what your business stands for by expressing its strengths and qualities in everything that it does.
Branding has been used as a marketing strategy for all businesses large and small. Often, a lot of work to communicate the brand happens at the early start up stage. Then, when the business starts operating, it can adopt the personality that it has been assigned. Field service businesses, such as landscaping, cleaning, and plumbing for example, can use branding as their secret weapon to success. This is because of the numerous benefits that branding offers, such as:
1. To connect emotionally with customers
Your branding encompasses a variety of elements and practices, such as the perceived value you create for your customers. These values are essential in making consumers want to do business with you. If they become regular customers, you want to be able to connect with them emotionally somehow to help foster brand loyalty. (1)
One way to connect emotionally with customers in the field service industry is by creating things that remind them of you. For example, a landscaping business, might want to use specialist landscaping software to add personal branding elements to a digital self-serve client hub, invoicing, and all external communications. In creating a consistent brand across all online channels, customers will begin to make an emotional connection which is well known to score better than logic when making purchase decisions. (1)
2. It helps to stand out from the competition
Branding makes your product or service different from the rest. So, when people purchase from you, they have chosen your brand because they are connected to it in some way. By branding your service business you are effectively telling customers why they should purchase from you and not anyone else. (2)
By communicating your promises and intent through branding, you give customers reasons to come to you. Branding can also help your business build credibility, and customers prefer being associated with companies they can trust. (1)
3. Build trust among customers
When purchasing a product or looking for a service, most people look for a specific brand. A lack of one can be interpreted as something that is not trustworthy and which people do not seek out from the rest. (3)
A clear and professional brand helps your business look credible and established. Through your branding strategies, you also tell customers what to expect from your business. When you deliver these promises, then you help build their trust in you. Since branding is a way for businesses to improve themselves, prospects recognize the effort and are known to trust your services more. (3)
Infographic created by Chicago Tag & Label, a custom label printing company
4. Improving your advertising strategy
Branding is essential for a successful advertising campaign. This is because when advertising, you need cohesiveness in representing the values of your business. Therefore, ensure that your brand reflects your business’ identity in an authentic way. This helps with recognition of your business and people wanting to interact with its different elements. (3)
How to get it right
When creating a brand, you need to ensure that it’s strong enough and meets all your business values. To help you out, ensure that you:
- Make your brand relatable to your target audience so they can instantly get it right without too much thought.
- Share your service business’ uniqueness and relay to your clients why it’s beneficial to get a specific service from your company.
- The brand should reflect the promises made to the target audience.
- Showcase your company’s mission or a statement that outlines the purpose of the company.
(4)
After adopting these guidelines in your branding strategy, the next step would be ensuring your employees have a clear understanding of the brand. They should also know how to use it to represent your business when interacting with your customers. (5)
Conclusion
Branding is essential in your service business as it reflects the values and quality of services that you offer. By branding your business, you increase its credibility and build trust among your customers. Additionally, it increases the success of your advertising strategies by creating cohesiveness. However, branding can be challenging; therefore, ensure you follow the proper steps to make it authentic and believable, so that people can genuinely connect with it.
References
- “Six Reasons Branding Is More Important Than Ever Before”, Source: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/313369
- “Why Is Branding so Important For Your Business? [+ Real Life Examples]”, Source: https://www.thebrandingjournal.com/2016/06/why-is-branding-important-business/
- “The Importance Of Branding In Business”, Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2021/03/24/the-importance-of-branding-in-business/?sh=555fab8e67f7
- “Why Branding Is Important in Marketing”, Source: https://www.thebalancesmb.com/why-is-branding-important-when-it-comes-to-your-marketing-2294845
- “TIPS FOR BRANDING YOUR SERVICE BUSINESS”, Source: https://academy.getjobber.com/resources/articles/tips-for-branding-your-service-business/