It was a lazy Sunday when my phone buzzed; I found a text message from a good friend; the text read she was confused with her company branding strategy and needed help. I dialed her number to schedule a meeting to explain a few branding principles..
When I finally met her, I also explained how branding mistakes could stunt the growth of the company and sabotage its image and impact.
So sharing with you here are the top branding mistakes to avoid.
Limiting Your Brand Name
Concentrating on your present business alone, when selecting your brand name is not a good idea.
Devout some time to brainstorming before you select a brand name. Select a name for the company that can fit in if you plan to expand and diversify your business in the long run. It’s better to avoid tongue twisters and go for names people can easily remember.
Visual Inconsistency
If you fail to develop a consistent look for your brand across all platforms, you are making a big mistake.
Make sure the logo is well planned and is simple yet unique so that it can showcase your brand clearly and is pleasant to the onlooker. Colour schemes, visuals and imagery, voice and messaging, fonts and typography are a few things that need attention. It may all seem very simple but a small mistake in selecting the right colour palette can disinterest clients to further read your web page. You need to pay attention to all these aspects while you create a bespoke web design.
In fact, colour has the power to raise your brand recognition up to 80%.
Professional brand strategists and consultants can help you in developing the best brand logo which suits you perfectly along with other aspects of branding. A consistent look all throughout your website and other social media handles will make it easier for clients to recognize you, build trust in you, and relate to you.
Don’t Follow, Lead
Think out-of-the-box. Have a sorted-out vision and mission for your brand. Choose a niche and cater to those needs of the customers that have not been answered or deliver something no one else can. A small twist to already existing products can make a great difference.
It is always tempting to follow suit when an idea clicks and becomes popular. But a new idea working for another brand may not suit your brand.
Stay focused on a goal and do not get distracted. One must always keep their eyes on the prize and not waste valuable time and resources on invaluable returns. Focus on what will grab the clients’ attention, what will grow your company, what will procure profits instead of focusing on irrelevant stuff.
Give yourself the freedom to evolve and embrace new ideas. Do not be too rigid with your beliefs but explore because you may end up being better at something you’ve never ever thought of.
Also, feel free to think globally even if your product is a local one.
Failing to Touch the Client’s Heart
If you think branding is limited to the brand name, logo, packaging, promotions, and ads you are wrong. They can build a positive response among the customers, but branding ultimately is successful when the customers feel or associate a positive emotion with your product or service each time they think of it.
So your focus needs to be on customer experience. Give them quality and resolve their issues in the shortest time possible. Get whatever it takes to be there for your clients at any time – be it 24-hour online chat, emails, messaging, or customer care contact numbers – be reachable anywhere, anytime.
Irrelevant Content
You may be in love with a certain type of content; they may sound good and interesting. But if they fail to describe your brand clearly for what it is, using it is one of the biggest mistakes.
Vague content will only ruin your image. Every brand needs different content based on the image it wishes to build and the product it sells.
Unless your content is relevant you cannot hold on to your clients. The best bet is to be original and precise. Be specific about your products and services, have clarity why you offer it, understand who your audience is, and accordingly build your content.
Never forget what makes your brand distinct. Avoid mistakes but when made, learn from them. Do not let failure get in your way in achieving something absolutely brilliant.
My friend left, feeling encouraged. She was ready to take the next step in building up her brand and undo the mistakes that impacted her brand negatively.
Do you want to avoid the mistakes she made?
With Personal and Corporate Branding Strategies, we can Brand your Style with the right projection.
