Invoices are one of the most important documents for business owners. They ensure that you get paid for your goods or services. They’re used when it’s time to file your taxes. And, they can help boost your brand.
As Amanda Abella perfectly stated in a previous Due post, “The reality is if you want to make money you also need to spend time building your brand.”
The Importance of Branding
Branding, as defined by Entrepreneur, is the “marketing practice of creating a name, symbol or design that identifies and differentiates a product from other products.”
A strong brand is how others perceive you, which in turn, will impact your business in the following ways:
- Clearly shares your business’s message, values, and goals.
- Develops your reputation and increases recognition so that customers will remember you. For example, having a memorable logo will help you stand out from your competitors.
- Builds trust. A professional appearance legitimizes your business, which makes you more credible and trustworthy.
- Generates new business through referrals, word-of-mouth recommendations, and demonstrating that you’re a leader within your industry.
- Inspires employees who are proud to work for a company that they share values with.
- Supports your advertising and marketing efforts since it helps you narrow down your audience and what channels to promote your business.
How to Brand Your Invoices
An effective branding strategy involves a unified approach. In other words, you should be constantly branding your business wherever you can, such as your social channels, emails, and even your invoices.
Thanks to platforms like Due, it’s easier than ever to generate customized invoices that boost your brand’s awareness, as well improve your bottom line:
- When you create a well-designed and professional invoice that is free of errors, you set yourself apart from other businesses, which should help make your bill a top priority to get paid.
- Demonstrates the value that you have brought the client. For example, including an itemized list of services that you provided shows the client exactly what they paid for.
- Colors, fonts, and a logo not only different your business, they make you appear more professional. Additionally, they influence the client to pay your invoice on time. We’ve found that you are 3x more likely to get paid if you add a company logo to your invoice. Furthermore, almost 85 percent of consumers cite color as the primary reason they buy a particular product, and 80 percent of people believe color increases brand recognition. Make sure that your invoices appearance matches your website, social channels, and other content so that’s consistent and recognizable across the board.
- In the comment section, thank the client for the opportunity and share what you learned from working with them, ask for their feedback or if there are any additional projects, and include a link to a helpful resource. These tactics help you learn more about the client, secure future work, and prove that you’re an authority figure within your industry.
Why Branding Your Invoices Can Make a Huge Difference to Your Bottom Line was originally published on the Invoicing Blog by John Rampton.
