Why Investing in Your Startup’s Brand is Key to Growth

I’m Hannah Brice, a Brand Messaging Specialist of Upmarketry. I help startups and small businesses talk about their product or service in a way that matters and commands attention, enabling them to secure the investment, attract the talent, and generate the sales they need to thrive.

Starting a business is an ambitious endeavor. You invest money, time, and energy into something that could either skyrocket or crash and burn—it all depends on how you handle the early stages of your startup. It can be tempting to put all of your resources into marketing and advertising, as that‘s what drives customers to your business. However, all of that will be wasted unless you‘ve invested in your brand first. Here‘s why.

What is your brand?

Your brand is the foundation of your business. It encompasses the visual elements such as your logo, colour palette, and font, as well as intangible elements like your company values, tone of voice, and mission statement. It also includes your crucial messaging, the words you use to explain your product or service in a way that matters to your target audience and convinces them to buy from you.

This is what sets you apart from other businesses in the same industry and helps customers remember who you are and what you stand for.

Get all of these elements right and use them consistently, and your customers will build a powerful affiliation with your business.

The benefits of investing in your brand

You’re probably thinking to yourself “I don’t need to spend much money on my brand. I can get a logo on Fiverr for a couple of pounds or dollars and I can write a bit of copy or rely on AI!” 

Well, please take heed…although it‘s fair to say that you know your business better than anyone else, this can actually present some real problems, rather than advantages, when creating your brand.:

• You take too much control over the process and end up creating a logo that you think is clever when actually it looks cheap and tacky. Result? You’ve made your company look cheap and tacky too.
• You are so close to the business that you cannot help but use jargon or complicated language to explain what you do. Result? No one else understands you and you sell nothing.
• You don’t know what tone of voice means so you skip that crucial bit. Result? All your sales and marketing end up making your business sound robotic.
• You don’t undertake research to understand your target audience groups so you market to everyone, Result? It costs you a fortune with no ROI.
• Because you don’t understand your target audience, you don’t choose values that matter to them. Instead, you copy those of companies you admire which bear no relevance to your own business. Result? Your target audience has no clue what you stand for.

Do any of these sound familiar? Please stop before you waste time, effort and ad spend, and seek help from a branding specialist.

Aside from avoiding the costly mistakes I’ve listed above, investing in your brand also has many other benefits.

A strong brand attracts attention

When you’re just starting out, you need to get the word out about your business and establish yourself as a leader in your industry. To do this, you need an eye-catching brand with a powerful message that resonates with customers. Visually appealing logos and marketing materials, as well as compelling stories about what makes your product or service unique will draw people’s attention and help them remember who you are and what you offer.

A strong brand promotes trustworthiness

When you have demonstrated that you understand your audience and have aligned your messaging and brand accordingly, your customers will feel that they can trust you. As a result, they are more likely to purchase from you at least once and even recommend you to friends or family members who may be searching for similar products or services.

A strong brand boosts recognition

Having a strong brand helps build recognition with potential customers who may not have heard of you before seeing one of your ads or posts online. The messaging is effective, the colors in your logo and imagery are powerful, and you are focusing on a subject matter that is important to them. Tick, tick, TICK! This builds credibility and familiarity, which can lead to more sales down the line as people become aware of what you offer and how it could benefit them.

Ultimately, investing in your startup‘s brand will help create an emotional connection with potential customers, which leads to increased loyalty and long–term growth for your business.

How to invest in your brand

You’re still reading so we’ve convinced you of the benefits of investing in your brand. Hurrah! 

The best way to start investing in your brand is to carry out an exercise to understand your ideal customers. At Upmarketry, we do this as standard in our branding packages to ensure that what we create for you is going to work.

The next step is to pull together information about your competitors, your reasons for setting up the business, how you do things differently, and more. Upmarketry has a handy questionnaire to squeeze out the key points from its clients to make this process as effective and painless(!) as possible.

From there, we’re in a position to build a Brand Bible containing all of your brand’s assets, including values, mission and vision, tone of voice and that crucial messaging.

It’s at that point that the designers get involved to create a logo, colour palette and font for your business that will help you stand out and attract your audience at the same time. It’s a process but it works!

To find out more, visit our site or contact me directly. 

Investing in your startup’s brand may not seem like the most effective route to growth at first glance; however, it pays off enormously in the long run. If you want your startup to experience the benefits of a powerful brand, reach out to Upmarketry. We’re experts in building world-class brands for startups and can help you create a strong foundation for growth.