On the outside, your brand may seem like it consists only of elements such as logos and colours, but your brand is actually the entire identity of your business - it gives your business a personality and a way to be remembered.

So what is branding? Put simply, it’s the process of creating a unique identity for your business, in the minds of your target audience. Numerous aspects go into it, but at its core, branding consists of a company's name and logo, visual identity design, mission, values, and tone of voice.

There are numerous benefits that a strong brand can bring to your business. Here are just a few:

1. One of the most obvious reasons that businesses need branding is to help them be more easily recognised. For instance, most of us remember that Nike’s tagline is “Just Do It”. If you have strong branding for your business, people will take note of it much more than they would a business without it. 

2. Trust is another important factor - with branding, you have more to show for your business. Branding helps you show potential customers that you’re a credible business, who has invested in their brand identity. 

3. Branding hugely improves advertisement success - if you’re advertising without solid branding, you’ll miss out on a lot of great opportunities to create an effective campaign. Blending the two will help increase recognition of your brand.

4. Branding creates employee perks - a company with great branding will have an easier time getting employees to feel part of something more than just a job. Plus, things like branded apparel and merchandise can help your employees to feel part of a team.

5. Good branding humanises your business and makes it easier to appeal to people’s emotions, creating a connection between the company and its consumers. It allows you to build relationships with your audience, which in turn creates loyal customers.

With up to 28 million e-commerce stores, and the likes of Amazon accounting for 50% of all online sales, it takes something special to stand out from the crowd. Someone might see your brand for only a moment, but if it sticks out positively, there’s a good chance they won’t forget it. Business branding can do wonders for engaging and converting people into life-long consumers.

Now that you understand the power of branding, we ask you to consider whether your business branding is good enough to stand out in today’s digital market. If not, what steps can you take to improve it?