When starting a new business, you must think of your branding when doing so. Established businesses, when re-branding often will find themselves making these common branding mistakes. Branding is not just your logo or colors but encompasses the totality of your business and what it is known for. So here are some branding mistakes you are going to want to avoid.
No plan or strategy – This is where your branding all begins. You must have a strategy for everything you do. It starts with identifying what your brand is all about. Defining your objectives. Some questions to ask to help you define your brand are
- What adjectives describe your business.
- Describe your customers – get specific
- What makes you different/how are you going to stand out
- How are you going to make your customers feel – when they use your product or service
Poor logo design – even though branding goes beyond your logo, having a well-designed logo is very important. This is what you want your customers to recognize, impart what your business is all about and leave them with a positive feeling. Often those who offer cheap, miss the mark in capturing your business brand in an effective way. There are DIY logo design sites, but they are limiting and not unique. There is nothing worse than seeing your logo image used for another business.
To niche or not to niche – do you focus on the correct audience? Many don’t and make the mistake of thinking everybody is their customer. As an example, the audience of a fast food restaurant is not the same as a fine dining restaurant. Those who regularly spend money at fast food restaurants are not the same people who regularly spend money at fine dining restaurants. They key here is “regularly”. You want to appeal to those within your target.
Inconsistency – we see this a lot. All your marketing channels should be named the same. They should all use the same logo image. All colors used should be the same as your website and logo. The fonts also should be the same. You want to be sure that everything you do or say remains consistent with what your brand is all about. If your product or service is for retirees, you would not use pictures of younger people. You want to build trust and if your inconsistent then customers will lose that feeling of trust.
Lack of customer service – customer service can make or break a brand. Customer service is how your customers interact with your brand. It is what gives them the impression of what you are all about. If you offer fast service, then do not deliver on that then your customers are not experiencing your brand as you want them to. If you have better customer service than your competition, this is one way to set yourself apart from the others who offer what you do.
These are the branding mistakes we see most often. What branding mistakes have you made? Share with us your story.