5 Most Common Branding Mistakes

5 Most Common Branding Mistakes

Successfully branding one’s business is the holy grail of 21st century’s business. The end goal to this game lies in becoming more than a logo on a product. It is about turning your business into an idea. Still, this can be a slippery slope and, if you’re not careful enough, you can easily get sidetracked. You can either send the wrong signal to your target demographic or even entirely miss your audience. With this in mind, here are some of the most common branding mistakes you should avoid.

Not Defining Your Target Demographic

Some businesses hate restricting their target audience to a specific group. The main reason for this is the belief that by narrowing down their scope, they’re going to neglect everyone else. Unfortunately, this kind of thinking seldom works out, since trying to appeal to everyone usually results in reaching no one. In order to avoid such practices, the first thing you should do is clearly identify your target demographic. Think about their age, gender, location, lifestyle and profession, and this will help you figure out how to approach them the best. With the existence of Google Analytics, this is even easier to do in the digital world. Truly knowing your client is the first step towards building a successful relationship with them.

 

Image source: Pixabay

Inconsistent Business Identity

Over the course of the years, a number of world’s most iconic businesses has changed. However, these were usually things like packaging, logos or even company colors. What they didn’t change is their business identity and values. Imagine if De Beers suddenly started advertising a line of cheap affordable jewelry or if Coca-Cola excluded family values and nostalgia from their marketing efforts. It doesn’t take a branding expert to figure out that, if something works, it shouldn’t be tampered with. After all, staying faithful to these doctrines for decades made these companies into what they are today. Apparently, not only ‘diamonds are forever’.

Image source: Pixabay

Betting on a Single Horse

One of the first things every horse racing enthusiast learns is that betting on a single horse can be quite risky. Sure, the reward is greater but your chances of actually winning are significantly lower. A lot of new businesses make a mistake of investing everything they have in one product/service. While this means they don’t have to divide their effort and resources, it also means that if that single card they are playing on fails, everything goes to shambles. Still, in some industries, it may be possible to both have your cake and eat it too. For example, companies trading in gift cards have several well-defined target audiences to appeal to, which makes their job easier. Needless to say, this results in considerably greater ROI.

Image source: Pixabay

Pictures Speak Louder than Words

It is in our nature as human beings that we are highly visual. An eye-catching logo is something that is bound to make your company recognizable. The same goes for company colors, but here the choice is situationally determined. For example, while eerie black may be perfect for a fashion collection, it would be highly inappropriate for a chain of toy stores. Another example of this is a fact that infographics are much more effective than a plain text or even old-fashioned diagrams. Appealing to your target demographic through them might be a smart choice, but they are just the tip of the iceberg of all your possibilities.

Image source: Pixabay

Overestimating Uniqueness

Before this gets misinterpreted, being different is not a negative thing, but it is not necessarily a positive one either. Sure, it makes you stand out from the competition, but you have to ask yourself: ‘In what way are you standing out exactly?’ If you have a better method of doing something, then by all means, you should exploit this advantage. On the other hand, just trying hard to be different may not have an impact on your sales or your success rate. Thinking outside of the box is great, but sometimes, the box is there for a reason.

Image source: Pixabay

Conclusion

Finally, all the above mentioned is just the tip of the iceberg of all the things you should avoid. Like any other marketing discipline, the world of branding is filled with hidden hazards. Luckily, the first step in avoiding a trap is knowing that there’s one present and following just these few head-ups may tip the odds in your favor. Sometimes, this is all it takes to make a difference between success and failure.

October 03, 2016