Having worked with a multitude of startups and small businesses, I have seen time and time again how core branding requirements for the company are completely neglected. The teams have a lot on their plate and resources are always in a crunch. Sales and marketing are a key focus because they bring in new customers. But “branding” is considered something fluffy and less important. This happens because they aren’t clear about how good “branding” actually comes about. It’s not about simply picking out random swatches of colour or design or fluffy language.

Branding means to articulate the core of the business. What are the key selling points and benefits to the customer? How can they be best expressed through the written copy, design, UX and all other business aspects to drive awareness, interest, demand and thus sales. This is why startups need branding.

“Your brand is what other people in the room say about you when you are not in the room” – Jeff Bezos, Amazon

Why Do Startups Need Branding?

For the Business to Customer Connect

Despite a lot of material available online, I still see startup websites which don’t convey the fundamental business proposition clearly. Or they highlight the wrong selling points. Or their copy doesn’t resonate with the visitors.

This happens because the basic connect between the business and customer is missing. Referred to as ‘positioning’ in marketing jargon. The business isn’t positioned properly and so the potential customers fail to see adequate value in it.

A few simple branding exercises can improve this significantly. There are many such exercises online. Here is my free branding guide that curates them for you. It provides you a step by step method to put your branding guidelines in place.

While it helps to have an experienced resource working on this. But even if you can’t afford it, you can still conduct these exercises with your team. It would help.

Digital Media is design & content heavy

Before the rise of digital media, there wasn’t so much pressure and need on the business to churn out content. And not just written content but also creative images and videos. To keep some semblance of coherence and consistency for the potential customer who will connect with you on multiple channels – you need at least a basic voice guide, design thumb rules and other guidelines in place.

Brand Recall

The above two points are hard, tangible benefits. This third point is one of the major soft benefits of having a distinct brand identity. Recall value. People simply remember you more if you are able to create a really memorable experience. And I have always advocated for a consistent customer experience over specific happy interactions. Putting your basic branding in place allows you to create a more consistent experience quickly.

These are the key reasons why startups need branding.

Here I have put up a free guide book that will help you set up your basic branding quickly: