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Contributing Author: Cassandra Lynne
The entire point of any effort to brand a business is to make sure that target customers understand the offerings and personality of the company — and, of course, encourage them to buy!
Branding includes everything a business communicates to the world, including:
- Company name
- Graphic elements such as the logo and defining colors
- Web design and content
- Business collateral, including business cards, invoices and envelopes
- Social media posts
- Advertising
- Other forms of messaging
Getting sidetracked or otherwise off course with branding efforts happens to even the best entrepreneurs.
After all, not everyone’s a marketing guru! In fact, aside from business owners peddling marketing prowess, the expertise of most entrepreneurs lie elsewhere.
To avoid harming your brand with confusing or misdirected promotional efforts, heed these 4 common branding blunders:
1.) Naming snafu
Choosing a good name for your company is the first step to your branding campaign.
Make sure your company name accurately reflects your products and corporate personality. It should also be attractive to your target customer, memorable and easy to talk about.
Before choosing a company name, make sure an easy-to-remember domain name for it is available.
2.) Amateur brand designs
Entrepreneurs and start-up business leaders often resist doling out seed money for professional design services, but the cost of not using a pro for critical branding elements such as logo design can become painful.
Most experienced designers understand color theory and graphic design basics, which means they can create an appealing and polished brand scheme for your business that evokes confidence and elicits customer trust and can be executed in various formats (print, web, large, small) for a consistent presentation.
When considering this investment, ask yourself if a do-it-yourself logo can send the message you want your customers to get about your offerings.
3.) Inconsistent graphics
Using different versions of your business logo or different colors — even if the design or tone is off just slightly — can seriously harm your brand equity and recognition potential because repetition is key to achieving customer recall.
Conveying a consistent tone and feel is powerful for creating strong and positive brands.
Some ways to ensure your marketing tactics are cohesive include hiring a web designer to develop a compelling web presence for your brand, using a professional background for Twitter (with your logo and the same colors and design themes that appear on your website) and investing in professional printing services for business cards and stationary that feature your logo and mimic the design of your website and other materials.
4.) Conflicting messages
If you carefully plan your messaging strategy before developing social media posts and issuing statements or general information about your company, you’re more likely to communicate consistent messages that reinforce your true vision and intended market position.
Without a plan, you may end up contradicting yourself and confusing your customers about what you value and can realistically offer them.
A branding company can help you develop compelling materials that support your primary messaging across platforms, including print, web and live or event-based communications.
About the Contributing Author:
Are you craving more Marketing Advice to keep you on the right track while building your business? Check out additional posts below on Marketing from Woman in Leadership contributing authors.
