The Impact of Brand on a Consumer Purchase Decision

We’ve been writing and speaking a lot about attribution and the purchase decision as it relates to content production. Brand recognition plays a significant role; perhaps more than you think! As you continue to build awareness of your brand on the web, keep in mind that – while the content may not immediately lead to a conversion – it can lead to brand recognition. As your presence increases and your brand becomes a trusted resource, driving the prospect through to conversion becomes easier over time.

What is a Brand?

Heidi Cohen has a great article where she shares 30 different definitions of what a brand is. My definition is somewhat of an overlap of many of the opinions.

A brand is the identity that your company, product, or service has over time. It incorporates both the visual and communicated aspects as defined by the enterprise, as well as the perceived identity from others outside the company. The visual aspects include logos, graphics, colors, sounds, and video. The communicated aspects include emotion, culture, personality, experience, and conscience of the corporation and the people within it.

Here are some key statistics on the influence of brand on consumer purchase decisions:

• Advocacy – 38% of people recommend a brand they like or follow on social media.
• Brand – 21% of consumers say they pruchased a new product because it was from a brand they like.
• Conversions – 38% of moms are more likely to buy products from brands that other women Like on Facebook.
• Email Marketing – 64% of respondents will open an email if they trust the brand.
• Search – 16% increase in brand recall when a recognized brand appeared in search results.
• Social Media – 77% of brand conversations on social media are people looking for advice, information, or help.
• Word of Mouth – brands that inspire higher emotional intensity receive 3 times the word-of-mouth marketing.

With brand holding so much weight over the purchase decision, a key takeaway for any organization is that the perception of your company has incredible influence. That means that even the most impactful marketing strategy deployed across all channels will be derailed by terrible customer service or an incident that tarnishes the perception of the organization.