What is Branding? 7 Reasons to Build A Strong Brand

Austin Armstrong • July 25, 2022

What is branding? When most are asked that, the answer I get usually lines up with “a logo, a graphic element, or graphic brand guidelines.” While it is true that these are some components of branding, there is a lot more to it.


When thinking about your brand, you want to consider the entire customer experience. This is way more than just walking into the store and buying a product. The customer experience entails your logo, website, social media posts and engagements, and the way you treat or talk to your customers. To summarize, your brand is how your customer perceives you.


Before you spend a penny on advertising or marketing, you must have a dialed-in brand strategy. Many businesses make the mistake by advertising before building up their brand and brand experience. It’s like attempting to make a 4-hour road trip with no fuel. You can try, but you will not be successful.


Here’s 7 reasons why you need to focus on branding:


Promotes Recognition

When your brand is easy to recognize, people feel more at ease or more comfortable when buying your products. A great example of brand recognition is Apple. Their brand is so great, that it has gotten to the point where if you don't have an iPhone, you are considered "weird" by teenagers! Take the time to build some brand recognition strategies to help build customer loyalty, like Apple has. 


Sets You Apart From Your Competition

In today’s market, it is important to have something unique about your brand that sets you apart from your competition. This is especially true if you are competing nationally or globally. The bigger the scale, the more reason you need to have a certain uniqueness to your brand.

 

Tells People About Your Business DNA

This goes hand in hand with your brand experience, ranging from using your website or talking on the phone to staff to the design elements on your logo. You must make sure that your brand story is uniform across all these points.

 

Strong Brands Produce Referrals

Think about this: what brand(s) do you like that you have told others about? That is an example of a strong brand. If it was not a strong brand, and if it was a weak brand, you wouldn’t even remember their name!

 

Your Brand Personifies You and Your Promise To Your Customers

Keep in mind that the essence of a brand is how the customer perceives you. Your brand, your staff, and everything tied to your brand, all represent you! Make sure to deliver on your promise and think about what they say about you and your promise.

 

Helps You Connect with Your Customers On An Emotional Level

95% of purchases are due to an emotional experience. Having a good brand will connect with people at that emotional level which will lead to them feeling good when they buy your product.

 

A Strong Brand Provides Value To Your Business

Strong branding can provide your business with more value than your physical assets. For example, think about Apple. Apple is worth much more than their products, factories, development, etc. Their brand is the centerpiece of why their value is so much greater than their physical value.


Conclusion

Brand strategy is built on a big, strong idea that your business has the capabilities to deliver upon. In this, you need to instill brand vision into everybody involved with your business. When everybody at every level of the business has the same vision for your business, it is easy to capitalize on your brand promise and develop brand loyalty (customer loyalty) from delivering your promise!


At Crossbridge, we have a full team of designers and writers ready to craft your brand story. We will help your brand be memorable, unique, and demand attention from the market! If you are ready to take the next step toward becoming a name people recognize, contact us here!

Meet the Author

Austin Armstrong

Austin Armstrong serves as a Marketing Strategist and Content Creator for Crossbridge. Specializing in Digital Marketing, Email Marketing, and Search Engine Optimization, the content generated by Austin serves the broader vision and overall strategy for each company. Austin works closely with Crossbridge's clients to ensure their success in their advertising and marketing efforts. Austin's passion can be seen in each project he undertakes.

Custom Calendar Printing: The 2026 Marketing Strategy That Lasts All Year

By David Garman • November 24, 2025
As the end of the year approaches, businesses, organizations, and non-profits need a marketing strategy that truly endures. Look beyond temporary holiday cards or fleeting digital ads. Crossbridge, alongside our specialized printing division, Orrville Printing, offers expert calendar printing services that deliver unparalleled year-long visibility. A high-quality, full-color custom calendar serves as an impressive Christmas gift or New Year’s gift, providing continuous brand recognition and sincere customer appreciation. The Strategic Value of a Printed Calendar In a digital age, a physical, well-designed calendar holds a unique strategic value. It remains visible on a client’s desk or wall for 365 days, acting as a constant, subtle promotion for your organization. This is the ultimate form of year-long business attention. By providing this useful item, you secure a crucial touchpoint and position your brand front-of-mind every single day of 2026. This is far more than a seasonal giveaway; it’s an active marketing strategy that guarantees your name, logo, and contact information are seen while simultaneously expressing genuine customer appreciation. Print Design Services That Tell Your Unique Story Creating a truly memorable calendar requires design excellence and high-quality production. Crossbridge offers comprehensive print design services tailored to ensure your calendar is not just a schedule, but a stunning visual asset. Our integrated creative team manages every step: Unique Photography: Our professional photographer excels at capturing unique, high-quality images. We can feature your facilities, products, community involvement, or custom scenes designed to complement each month and perfectly represent your brand's story. Expert Graphic Design: Our designers create beautiful, custom seasonal graphics and layouts for every month's image. We ensure the final product is both aesthetically pleasing and aligned with your organizational tone. Seamless Branding: We expertly integrate your logo, contact information, and key dates into the design. This maximizes brand recognition without sacrificing the calendar’s practical use. Orrville Printing’s commitment to full-color, high-quality calendar printing ensures the final product is durable and reflects the professionalism of your organization. The Ideal Gift for Brand Recognition Presenting a custom calendar as a Christmas gift or New Year's gift maximizes its impact. This strategic timing ensures your gift is immediately put to use as clients plan for the year ahead, giving you a competitive advantage before the year even begins. This tangible gift significantly enhances customer appreciation, fosters loyalty, and guarantees valuable exposure for your brand. Choose a marketing solution that goes the distance. Let Crossbridge and Orrville Printing provide the expert print design services needed to craft this powerful piece of your 2026 marketing strategy.  Contact Crossbridge and Orrville Printing today to design and print your 2026 custom business calendars and guarantee year-long business attention.

Responsive Web Development: Ensuring Your Website Works Flawlessly on Every Device

September 5, 2025
In today’s multi-device world, your website’s success hinges on its ability to adapt. At Crossbridge, we specialize in responsive web development. Our responsive web design is a crucial service that ensures your website provides a seamless experience for every user, on every device. As a professional responsive web design agency, we understand that your website's content must be easily viewable, and its functionality must be perfect, regardless of the screen size or dimensions it's seen on. Our developers are experts at making sure your site looks and feels flawless on computers, mobile devices, tablets, and more. Why Responsive Web Design is Now a Necessity Think about how you use the internet. You might check a website on your desktop at work, browse on your tablet at home, or quickly look up information on your smartphone. If a website forces you to zoom in, scroll horizontally, or deals with images that are too large to load, you'll likely leave. This user frustration leads to high bounce rates and lost opportunities. A well-executed responsive web design strategy is what prevents this. It’s an approach to building websites that fluidly adjusts its layout, images, and content to fit the user’s screen. This professional standard ensures that your message and brand remain consistent and accessible, no matter the device. Our Approach to Responsive Web Development Our team of expert developers and designers goes beyond the basics to deliver a truly optimized website. We implement flexible grids, scalable images, and modern code that intelligently detects the user’s screen and dimension. This means your website is not simply a smaller version of its desktop self; it is a fully optimized, intuitive experience.  For our clients, this means that every image is clearly visible, every button is clickable, and all content is legible. We ensure that your website loads quickly on mobile connections, a critical factor for both user satisfaction and search engine rankings. We ensure that your websites are always built to the highest standard for optimal functionality on any platform. The Business Advantage of Responsive Design The benefits of responsive web design extend far beyond aesthetics. Google's mobile-first indexing prioritizes websites that are optimized for mobile devices, meaning a responsive site is essential for strong SEO performance. A positive user experience leads to higher engagement and, ultimately, more conversions. When your website is easy to use on a phone, potential customers are more likely to stay, browse, and take the action you want them to. As a dedicated responsive web design agency, Crossbridge ensures your website is a powerful asset that works for you, everywhere. Our developers are committed to building a superior online experience that reflects the quality of your business. Let Crossbridge ensure your website is optimized for every device. Contact us today to learn how our responsive web development can enhance your business's digital footprint and success.

The In-House Marketer vs. The Crossbridge Partnership: A Clearer Path to Success

By David Garman • August 14, 2025
For any business leader, the decision to hire an in-house marketer or partner with a marketing agency is a critical one. While an internal hire might seem like a straightforward solution, the reality is that the demands of modern SEO services, content creation, and comprehensive marketing often require a diverse range of skills. At Crossbridge, we offer a specialized team that acts as your dedicated marketing partner, a well-oiled machine ready to tackle your needs with precision and expertise. The Challenge of a One-Person Team Hiring an in-house marketing manager often means you get an individual with a single area of expertise. That person, while talented, may not be proficient in the various roles a full-service agency provides. You must also account for significant overhead costs, including recruitment fees, training, insurance, and benefits like vacation and parental leave. This single individual may also lack access to the cutting-edge technology and resources that a dedicated digital marketing agency uses daily, from advanced web design platforms to sophisticated marketing analytics software. The average marketing manager in Ohio takes home around $80,000 a year, and that cost only covers one person with a limited skill set. When you need a multifaceted approach to grow your business, a single hire quickly becomes a bottleneck. The Crossbridge Advantage: A Team of Specialists Choosing Crossbridge gives you access to an entire team of specialists for a fraction of the cost. Our staff includes SEO experts, seasoned content creators, PPC gurus, and award-winning graphic designers. We also have project managers who keep everything molded together, ensuring a seamless and efficient process for you. We offer fresh, neutral perspectives, providing suggestions based on expertise and experience across various industries, from e-commerce and retail to ministry-oriented clients. You get a neutral outlook that tells you what works in marketing and what does not. This scalability means you only pay for the services you need, allowing your budget to work harder and achieving a fast turnaround on your ROI. We operate with transparency—no hidden fees—and our team communicates with you at every step, allowing you to remain in full control of your business needs and outcomes. A Clear Path to Measurable Success Let's look at the numbers. Hiring a full-time marketing manager could cost upwards of $80,000 a year, yet they would still lack the diverse skills and resources of a full-service team. In contrast, a comprehensive Crossbridge package that includes Google Ads management, consistent content creation, and a thorough digital SEO audit might come in at a much lower cost annually. This allows you to deploy a highly effective strategy with a specialized team for a fraction of the price. We don't just ask you to trust us; we offer measurable metrics so you can determine if our solutions are bringing your investment to fruition. We are not just your marketing agency; we are your partners in business. We are driven by what will bring you traffic, improved marketing, and higher conversions because when you succeed, so do we. Let us bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be. Let’s cross that bridge together. Contact us today for a consultation to dissect your goals and receive a proposal on how we can drive your business forward.