3 big reasons to brand your service-based business

When you’re selling services, rather than consumer-facing products, it might feel like branding isn’t such a priority. But branding isn’t about things. It’s about people — your clients — and making connections with them.

So, no matter what kind of business you own, if you sell to people, then you’ll greatly benefit from building and developing your brand.

Need more convincing? Well, here are 3 big reasons to focus more on branding your service-based business and give it the attention it deserves.

1. You want to establish your visibility

This is a common reason that why my clients come to me for help with their branding. Often, they’ve been in business for a while, they know they have a good, viable business model, and they want to expand their reach and grow their presence — particularly online.

A big part of growing visibility is to have a recognisable and relatable image that your business presents to the world. You want your audience to feel more and more familiar with your business, as you continue to market it. But if you’re not presenting a consistent visual identity and consistent message (communicated in a consistent voice), you’re making it a lot harder for them to recognise what your brand is all about.

Imagine if you’re always talking about a particular topic on Instagram, but something entirely different on your blog. Or your Pinterest pins are all blue with a handwritten typeface, but when someone clicks one they end up on a landing page that’s orange without any handwritten typefaces at all.

That’s the sort of thing that leads to confusion or even distrust. Suddenly, what interest you might have built with someone is lost.

Without a strong vision for your brand and how it should look and feel, your visibility efforts can end up going in all directions and turn out mismatched when you try to view them together. Taking the time to properly define your brand helps you avoid that.

Also read: How using consistent branding will grow your business

2. You want to improve your client experience

When you sell products, there’s something tangible that people can see and touch. When you sell services however, you’re selling an experience. Something that doesn’t actually exist until the client has chosen to go ahead and use it.

So, the experience you create around your business is everything! It’s the key to building a loyal client base of people who love what you do.

When you decide to present your business in a certain way — by defining the kind of brand you want to build — you start being more intentional with your client touchpoints. Your website, the documents you send out, emails or any other channels of communication you use… they all come together to create a particular experience. One that (hopefully!) aligns with your vision AND the expectations of your ideal clients.

I define your brand as the relationship between your business and its audience. That means your ideal clients are a huge part of the brand you build. When you understand that, you’ll find you always have their best interests in mind, and set out to design a client experience that serves them in the way they need.

Also read: Why branding is the key to building lasting client relationships

3. You want to raise the value perception of your services

People only make a purchase when they feel like the offer is worth more than the monetary cost. With services, prices can vary considerably between different businesses. Take logo design! You can spend $50, $5000… even $50,000 or more if you wanted.

The difference is the perceived value of the result. And branding can help to shape the perception that your audience has of the value of your services. Good branding helps to communicate your professionalism. It can make you look more established.

Of course, I’m not suggesting you use design “tricks” to mislead your audience. Your brand should always be based on authenticity. But it’s important to remember that people WILL judge based on what they can see. If they search for your business online, what will they find? What sort of impression does it leave?

The more well-designed and thoughtfully put-together your branding looks, the better the perception of what you offer. The quality of your services and how much they are worth.

Whether you’re looking to increase your prices, or just want to make the value of what you do undeniable, it’s well worth investing some time into developing your brand.

Also read: How to communicate value and sell high-ticket services

Last thoughts

Now, these aren’t the only reasons why you would want to brand your service-based business. Branding has such a lot of benefits that I hope you’re always focuses on improving the brand you’re building. But if any of these reasons align with your current goals, then you’ve got some added incentive now!

A key part of establishing your brand starts with defining 3 very important foundational pillars. Clarify what these pillars are for your brand and you’ll be well on your way to creating branding that perfectly suits your business. For help, check out the free branding guide here.