Branding is one of the most powerful tools a company has to attract customers, talent, and transformative partnerships. Yet, despite its importance, a huge number of firms fail to get it right.
Companies can lack a clear brand identity, messaging can be inconsistent, they can neglect customer feedback, and fail to adapt to market challenges.
This ultimately leads to confusion, lost market share, and a tainted reputation.
If you're the founder of a startup this is something you need to avoid at all costs. This article with 33 branding stats will show you exactly why.
50% of consumers are more likely to buy from brands they recognise. The brand is familiar to them, they associate it with positive experiences, perceive its products or services as high quality, and trust it, leading to a sense of certainty and potential, long-term loyalty.
Unshockingly, 55% of brand first impressions are visual.
With 75% of consumers recognising a brand by its logo, it's crucial to focus on a design that is simple, memorable, relevant, and timeless.
Using a simple colour palette is particularly effective. Either too many or conflicting colours can deter potential customers. Simple colours can increase the chances of consumers recognising a brand by as much as 80%.
85% of organisations have brand guidelines in place for these very reasons.
Branding isn't only about what a company looks like or the messages it conveys, but the actions it takes, with 72% of people wanting brands to positively contribute to society.
This why 60% of consumers act, both positively and negatively, based on a brand’s actions. They can refer your company to others or protest against it.
When a brand acts ethically and earns consumer trust, 88% become loyal after three or more purchases.
Other than appeasing consumers, strong branding also has a huge impact on talent retention, with strong employer brands see a 28% reduction in turnover.
This is particularly crucial with 92% of candidates admitting they would leave their current jobs for a role at a company with an excellent reputation.
If brands fail to convince talent that they are the best employer, replacing those that depart can cost them up to 50% of an employee’s wage.
Besides, when companies invest in employer branding, they are three times more likely to make a quality hire.
As such, 78% of leading global employers say their employer brand is a top priority.
68% of talent acquisition leaders agree that social media is one of the most effective tools for spreading awareness about their employer brand.
But, more often than not, the best performing content comes from employees, receiving 8 times more engagement than content shared by a brand.
This content is also reshared 24 times more frequently, highlighting the growing importance of executive branding, which more and more companies now prioritise.
In the B2B world, brands also see a 33% increase in purchase intent from ad exposure on LinkedIn.
44% of a company’s market value is directly linked to the reputation of its CEO. They have the most authority, determine the direction of their business, and can easily influence various audiences.
If today's fast-moving digital world, if CEOs are not vocal, audiences, including consumers, can gain a false impression that the CEO doesn't care about real-world issues, isn't motivated to do the best for their business and industry, or has something to hide. This is why 4 in 5 consumers trust social CEOs more.
Hence, 65% of consumers will decide whether or not to purchase from a brand based on what a companies CEO and other employees do or say.
CEOs also have investors to worry about, which is why companies with social CEOs benefit from a 46% higher stock price growth rate than those without.
With this in mind, 80% of firms believe that their CEO understands just how important executive branding is.
While branding is crucial, balance is key. Too much product promotion can cause 46% of customers to unfollow a brand on social media.
In fact, 15% of customers get irritated if a brand posts more than six times daily. The brand can come across as desperate, tokenistic, and even unprofessional, depending on the types of content it shares.
20% of customers would unfollow a brand if it posted boring or repetitive content, which is why it’s imperative to experiment on occasion. Playing it too safe with branding can be costly.
As AI transforms how companies operate across nearly all industries, marketers are vastly improving branding efficiencies. In fact, marketers can now save 2.5 hours per day with AI.
72% of marketers use AI for personalisation. The technology can analyse vast customer data to understand preferences and behaviours, enabling brands to deliver tailored experiences.
60% of marketers see AI tools as a helpful assistant in their jobs, such as by producing campaign copy.
Over 73% of consumers agree or strongly agree that they’re comfortable with brands using AI to deliver faster customer service on social media.
Meanwhile, 26% of consumers say they would be distrustful of brands that post AI-generated content. With this in mind, it's crucial that brands conduct thorough audience research to determine whether AI use is welcomed, disclose it, and, at best, use it sparingly.
With all things considered, 60% of companies reported that being consistent in branding added 10% to 20% more to their revenue growth. For startups, this can be make a considerable difference in their ability to quickly scale.
This is why as a general rule of thumb, experts suggest that B2B companies, in particular, should spend 2-5% of their revenue on marketing.
That said, only 20% of businesses consider branding to be their top marketing spend. Usually, this because branding initiatives take time to bed in, whereas a company may face short-term goals that must be met elsewhere.
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