How Branding Can Improve Your Bottom Line
Useful. Leading-edge. Trustworthy. Personalized. What does your brand say about you and your products or services? Whether you’re a heavy equipment manufacturer or a dealership that sells trucks or construction equipment, effective branding can significantly improve your bottom line.
How does branding affect your sales?
Your logo is not your brand.
The most recognizable logo in the world doesn’t do you any good unless it’s synonymous with a positive reputation and good value – the sorts of things that encourage people to actually buy from you. Your logo is just a visual representation. Your brand is a composite picture that comes to mind when someone sees your logo or hears your name.
Lack of branding can hurt your bottom line in the most basic way.
If no one knows who you are or where to find your products, they’re surely not going to buy from you. This is easy to rectify because these days you can use a broad-based mix of traditional advertising and digital marketing techniques to build general awareness and also directly target even the narrowest niche group of prospective customers.
Negative branding can shrink your bottom line, too.
You might have the best equipment on earth, but if people can’t easily get the information they need about your products, or you haven’t built a foundation of trust, or they just don’t like dealing with you, your sales will reflect that. Reputation and relationships are paramount for today’s customers.
If you’re a manufacturer, your dealers also represent your brand — in the most personal way, because they’re the ones that interact with customers. If you’re one of those dealers, you’re not only representing one or more OEM brands, you have to establish your own unique business brand to attract customers.
That’s an important distinction because even buyers looking for a particular make of equipment don’t have to buy from you.
Great branding can increase sales and profitability.
Effective branding differentiates you from the competition. It reflects the quality and range of your products, customization options, accessibility of parts, service, and other support — the facts that interest prospects. It also reflects perceptions like how well you understand each customer’s needs 
and whether you have the knowledge, skill, and desire to go the extra mile to help their business thrive.
It’s that combination of facts and emotional feelings that define your brand and ultimately generate sales.
But branding goes farther to improve your bottom line. Initial sales may represent your biggest tickets, but repeat sales drive profitability, too. You know it’s far more cost-effective to keep existing customers than it is to recruit new ones. And your business needs both to grow.
The right branding keeps customers coming back — for parts, service, accessories, advice, that next big piece of equipment. Up-selling and cross-selling can substantially boost your bottom line.
Building name familiarity is fundamental. Traditional advertising sets the stage, laying a foundation and keeping your name top of mind within the industry. Digital marketing allows you to engage individually with prospects and existing customers, just as you would on the phone, or in person.
Anticipating their questions and answering them, and demonstrating through photos, stories, and short videos how they can get the best results using your equipment, create a comprehensive, positive impression of your company and products.
That’s branding. When you convince your audience that you’re the must-have choice, closing the sale is just a formality.
