I don’t know who needs to hear this (if you’re reading this, maybe it’s you!), but just because you don’t need new customers right now, doesn’t mean you don’t need branding!

I see a lot of business owners fall into this trap…

In the beginning stages of business, their branding is a core focus. They’ll work hard to establish and grow their brand in order to attract an audience and ultimately gain new clients. 

And when they start to see some traction and their business starts growing, they’ll slowlyyyy start shifting their focus away from their brand and brand strategy as a whole.

“I already have clients/customers, so I’m good!”

They may not say those words out loud, but it’s essentially what goes through their mind. Their brand suddenly becomes not that important because they have the followers and they have the clients. Truth be told, I’ve been there myself a time or two… or seven… and I do branding for a living!

But I’m here to tell you, friend, that your brand and your brand strategy isn't just for when you’re starting your business or when you need new clients. 

In fact, I would confidently say that your brand is really even more important for the future and longevity of your business!

Your brand is for the people who are sitting in your audience that have yet to make a move. It’s for the people who are just watching right now. It’s for those who don’t even know you exist yet!

And no, your branding doesn’t just mean your logo!

Your branding involves key components that create your strategy as a whole and tells people who you are, what you do, who you serve and how you’re different.

All of those pieces combined inform your marketing activities, which can range from social media posts, blog posts (just like this one!), email, paid ads and more. 

In my humble opinion, brand strategy should come before anything else that you do and should continue to be a guide as your business grows. I explain more of the why behind that in this blog post.

For this post specifically, I want to dive into this misconception of only needing branding when you need more customers, because if you’re holding that mindset, it could be extremely detrimental to you in the future. 

5 Reasons Branding Matters Even If You Don’t Need More Customers

If you’re at the stage of your business where you really don’t “need” more customers or new clients, as in you are maxed out and satisfied with your client load, that is a GREAT thing and an awesome spot to be in!

But if I know anything about business, it’s that things could change at the drop of a hat and you constantly need to be prepared for any scenario. 

I’m not saying that all of your clients or customers are going to disappear tomorrow. I’m simply saying that prioritizing your branding, regardless of the phase of your business, is SO important!

Here’s why:

Maintain Brand Awareness (aka stay top of mind)

You know when you open your Instagram app and you see all of the story bubbles at the top? Usually the bubbles that you see first are the people you interact with the most. 

But every now and then, the app will throw us for a loop and show us someone that we haven’t heard from in weeks… maybe even months. 

When this happens, you more than likely have the subconscious thought of, “I totally forgot about them!”

And that ⤴️ is the exact opposite of what you want people to say about you. 

As a business owner with a full client load or a heavy amount of customers, I know it can be hard to stay on top of allllll the things.

As you get busier, your to-do list gets longer and showing up on socials, sending weekly emails or keeping your website up to date with fresh content probably falls to the bottom of the list. 

I 100% hear you and I understand that it can be hard to manage it all! But when you neglect your brand like this, you start to fall off of people's radar. 

“Out of sight, out of mind” is a REAL thing, which is why it’s so important to consistently show up in front of your audience with your core brand message.

I’m not saying you have to show up on Instagram stories daily – that’s just one way to do it. 

Creating a consistent marketing rhythm that works for you and keeps your brand top of mind for your audience is key!

Build Brand Loyalty
Did you know that repeat customers spend 67% more than new customers?! 🤯

That stat alone makes me want to be more intentional about building brand loyalty! The cool part is that your brand strategy as a whole helps you create this. 

Building a strong brand with a clear purpose and mission and conveying that consistently through all that you do will over time create a sense of loyalty among your customers – especially those who strongly identify and connect with your brand.

When this loyalty starts to happen, your CURRENT customers want to stick around, which leads to repeat buyers and positive referrals. Not only does this help you retain current customers, but it also makes others want to buy from you or work with you even more. 

This means that your pipeline can stay healthy so even if a current client or customer drops off, you have others waiting in line ready to make their move. 

Sets You Apart From Others in Your Industry
At its core, a huge point of branding is the fact that it sets you apart from others in your industry that do the exact same or very similar thing as you. 

If you happen to work in a saturated industry (and spoiler alert: many of us do. Myself included!), your branding can be the thing that makes someone want to work with you instead of someone else. 

When you treat branding and marketing as a top priority during all phases of your business, you continue to set yourself apart from others in your industry and attract those who want to work with YOU specifically.

Even if your books are full, people are more than likely willing to wait until they can work with you if you are the right fit for them!

This is when you start to be in demand as a business owner and that’s a HUGE accomplishment – but again, you can only get there if you keep branding and brand strategy at the forefront of what you do. 

Additionally, you have to consider the fact that others in your industry are likely everchanging and upleveling, which means that if you don’t do the same, the perception that people have of your brand could be negative which would lead to the exact opposite of what you want. 

Attract Ideal Potential Clients for the Future
As mentioned earlier, if there’s one thing I know about being a business owner, it’s that things can change at the drop of a hat. 

One minute you can be on the entrepreneur high of your life, feeling like you are absolutely killing it with ideal clients and work you love. 

The next you can find yourself in the lowest of lows, feeling confused and wondering how you got here. 

It’s a true rollercoaster ride and I’m not going to claim that branding can save you from all of those twists and turns, but prioritizing your branding and having a clear brand strategy can 100% attract more of the RIGHT people to your brand or business and help you build a solid list of people who want to work with you.

In fact, I recently had a client that straight up told me that they believe that due to their lack of branding, they’ve accidentally fallen upon a group of clients that they don’t particularly align with. 

But because they were in the middle of an entrepreneurship low (meaning fewer clients than usual), they said yes to working with less than ideal clients simply because having clients was better than none at all in the moment. 

This has led to a massive frustration for my client because now they’re in a situation where boundaries are being crossed, their client wants discounted prices and they simply aren’t respecting what my client brings to the table.

When my client explained this to me, it made me that much more passionate about making sure that other business owners don’t fall into this trap – and one of the best ways to make sure this doesn’t happen is to develop clear and strategic branding from the very start. 

When you do, you can have the ability to say “NO!” to clients who aren’t a good fit and trust that the right people will come along. 

Your branding and your brand strategy will without a doubt attract a certain level of person that 100% aligns with you and as an added bonus, they are typically the ones who will be more than willing to pay premium prices!

Employee Attraction and Retention
Lastly, your branding and brand strategy can also attract and retain your employees.

People are much more motivated to work for companies with positive brand representation because they know that the company stands for something and this generates a culture that people enjoy. 

Generally speaking, people want to work somewhere that feels like more than just a job.” They want to feel a deeper sense of purpose and unity with their workplace and a strong brand can help create that. 

When this happens with your employees, it will also directly impact the way that your audience interacts with your brand and the way customers want to do business with you. 

Overall, even if you don’t need new customers right NOW, your branding and brand strategy can help you maintain and grow your business for the long haul. 

Branding and brand strategy isn’t a one time thing that you set and forget. It’s truly the thing that guides everything you do and helps you make decisions that are aligned with your brand and business. 

So, if you’ve been putting off branding because you think you don’t need it due to a booming business, I hear you - but I hope this has changed your perspective a bit and you can see how branding is truly an essential part to your business as a whole. 

If getting started with branding feels confusing for you, I’m here to help!

In this blog post I break down the what, why and how of brand strategy specifically, but if you’re in search of more hands-on help for this part of your business I'm here.

Your designer friend always,