Having an established business doesn’t automatically mean that you have an established brand. Due to the complexities of branding, businesses that think they can piece together their brand identity as they go, often suffer the consequences quite quickly.
Your brand – and branding – needs to be approached with great intentionality so that you can strategically guide the perceptions that people form about your business. And achieve your business goals!
Whether you’re tackling your branding yourself – or you’ve wisely delegated it to the professionals – here are the 5 most common branding mistakes you want to avoid.
1. Being Inconsistent
Inconsistent branding dilutes brand recognition and creates confusion. When your brand differs significantly across platforms and touchpoints it comes across as haphazard and suspicious. Varying messages, a mismatched visual identity, and differing tones gives the impression that your entire business must be unbalanced too.
Consistency is critical for your business to grow with distinction. Your brand elements (such as your logo usage, colour palette, typography, brand identity and messaging framework) need to be clearly determined at the beginning of your business or, ASAP.
2. Failure To Differentiate Yourself
It can be tempting to choose your branding based on what your competitors are doing. You may think “if it’s working for them, it’ll work for me.” With branding, this is simply not the case. Today’s consumers value authentic brands and coming across as insincere can hinder your brand reputation significantly.
Without a strong visual identity your brand will be easily overlooked. Without a clearly defined unique selling proposition (USP) your business won’t stand out in a crowded market, and it will be unable to connect with your target audience at any meaningful level.
3. Insufficient Market Research
Ineffective branding often results from a lack of understanding of the needs, motivations, and preferences of your target audience. Your branding efforts need to be based on brand strategies that are founded on thorough market research and the development of client avatars.
Avoid misguided branding decisions by staying up to date with market trends and remaining aware of the competitive landscape.
4. Overcomplicated Brand Messaging
The success of your business depends on your ability to capture the attention of your audience – despite the noise. Inconsistent or overcomplicated brand messages cause your business to be ignored, or go unnoticed, by your target audience.
Clear and compelling messages, focusing primarily on the benefits of your product or service, increase the likelihood of brand recall and, they help to inspire the consumer action you’re after.
5. Not Evaluating Your Branding Efforts Failing to assess the results of your branding activities means missing out on key opportunities for improvement. If you are intentional about soliciting customer feedback and tracking your brand metrics, you’ll be able to keep your branding in line with your business goals and ensure that you get the results that you need.
Get The Branding ROI You Deserve
By avoiding these 5 mistakes, and intentionally building a unique brand, you will enjoy a greater return on investment for all your branding efforts.
If this all seems too much for you, Design Studio Perth is ready to partner with you in meeting all your branding needs. Reach out to us today so that you can grow with distinction!
