MATTHEW BEEBE, [email protected] "Your brand is what other people say about you when you're not in the room." - Jeff Bezos 1. Better Sales Outreach Decision makers get bombarded with offers from salespeople every week, and it is no surprise that they do not take every call or answer every email. Which calls and emails do they respond to? The ones from the companies that they have heard of! This kind of brand awareness does not happen overnight, but it is never too late to start putting your brand out there. Once people know who you are and what you do, it is much easier for them to be interested in how you might be able to help them. 2. Increased Trade Show Attendance and Organic Search Traffic Walk into any major trade show and you will immediately be overwhelmed by the sheer number of companies on the show floor. With thousands of booths all crammed into a convention center, how do people know which companies they want to visit? The answer is simple — familiarity. We are most comfortable interacting with companies that we know, and less likely to interact with companies we have never heard of. Similarly, when doing a Google search, people will click on links for companies that they are aware of and avoid the links from companies that they are not aware of. 3. Product Announcements This is a blunt statement, but if your company has a weak brand, almost no one will care when you launch a new product. Conversely, strong brands have an almost cult-like following when they launch new products — even if it is just a minor improvement on an existing product (looking at you, Apple). The best way to get people excited about your new products is to build trust with them beforehand through strong branding.