Is Branding Worth It?

Someone on Reddit asked:

How do small businesses measure the ROI of investing in brand colours, typography, and visual identity?

Say a small business finally hires someone to pick a proper color palette, clean fonts, and a cohesive look for everything. Cool, it looks nicer — but how do you actually know if it’s worth the money?

Are there clever ways to track this beyond just “it looks better”? Like, do people notice it in sales, engagement, repeat customers, or even social shares? Would love to hear stories or examples from anyone who’s actually put numbers next to design choices.

The truth is, branding isn't measured the same way as revenue, traffic, conversion, retention, etc.

The same way you can't tell if a job interview or a first date went well because of your haircut, the color of your shirt, or the perfume you wore?

There aren't any metrics for that.

Still, you want to put your best foot forward.

Because you know that people notice you before they interact with you.

Whether you like it or not, how you present yourself matters.

So you present yourself in a way that says, "I'm a serious person. You can trust me."

The same goes for a business.

Your brand is how people recognize you in the wild.

It’s what makes you familiar, professional, and consistent.

It's a long game.

You don’t measure it with views, you measure it like a reputation.

How do you measure a reputation?

Not with clicks.

You feel it in trust.

You see it in loyalty.

You hear it in the way people talk about you.

But, the best brand won't save a crappy business.

You still have to deliver a great product/service/experience to your audience.

Stop expecting instant results.

Build something that compounds.

Create a brand.