Most companies don’t know how long branding takes. The truth is that branding isn’t a “one and done” type of activity.
Branding does not create an “overnight sensation.” As the cliched saying goes, “Rome wasn’t built in a day, ” and similarly, a brand is not built overnight (and it certainly isn’t built just because you have a logo!).
When you embark on branding, it’s a long-term investment.
It is a lifestyle choice because it influences all future decisions. But it takes time.
Often companies don’t take the time because they don’t understand the importance of branding. They are not planning ahead and end up with a reactive approach to branding. They only pay attention to their brand when they need to respond to problems such as a publicity nightmare, low sales, declining conversions, or even a hacked website. Problems come later when they think, “Let’s work on our brand.” Unfortunately, there is no line item for this work in the budget, and the time has not been allocated. They have not thought, “Every year, we need to spend ‘X’ amount of time on building our brand.”
So…you might be asking…well, how much time should you allocate to branding?
The answer lies within your priorities.
The first thing to do is identify which part of your business needs the most help, and this will point to which aspect of branding you could most benefit from. While we, of course, believe all facets of branding are important, some elements are not as time-sensitive as others.
For example, you might find that your message may be more important than updating your logo or social media pages to increase sales right now. Or, you might find that your website needs a revamp because most of your business is conducted online, and your marketing efforts are negatively impacted.
The solution to the question of time is identifying and working on the top priorities now and being prepared to work on the others over time. Either way, making a conscious effort to allocate time and be proactive will always yield better results than a reactive approach.
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