Think of a brand as the idea and image that is sealed in the minds of the customers around you. Branding has the role of influencing and informative customers both emotional (this product makes me feel special) and practical way (this product is made of eco materials) of your product or service. Simply put, branding is the process of projecting a durable trace of a product or service in the minds of consumers. More precisely, it is the sum of all the ideas and impressions of society about your business activity.
Branding is a simple strategy that is used mostly by marketing specialists. It aims to distinguish a product or company from others while creating an economic value for the customer and its owner. Successful branding is achieved through advertising campaigns with a specific theme and feeling. Branding aims to help your business to establish a strong presence on the market. At the same time, it helps with the attraction of new but also to keep the old loyal customers. A good brand has the ability to inspire future and current employees.
The brand is one of the most important elements for a business. It builds the people’s idea of your company. Without a meaningful customer recruitment approach, you will encounter barriers to sales, regardless of the quality you offer. The need for a brand does not arise from quality problems but from information. A product does not have the ability to demonstrate value or to describe itself to a person who is shopping online for example. That’s where the brand comes in. It can contribute in a million ways to your business by giving me an additional context showing people why they have to buy from you.
The brand is based on the values, beliefs, and mission of a company. This helps to create deeper relationships and attitudes within people who are willing to buy what you sell. If you establish such a position and relationship, you can increase your sales more efficiently.
So you want to get engaged with branding? But you do not have a clear idea of what things you should avoid when building your footprint on the world? Do not worry, because that’s exactly why I wrote this short article. With the information in it, I will try to give you maximum clarity about branding and what are the most common deadly sins related to it.
Sin #1 – Having the wrong label for your brand
You will not be the only one who will you hear and pronounce the name of your business. The label of your service or product strongly reflects and affects its popularity and the speed at which people can remember it. Just like the title of a book, the name of your brand should be fascinating and inspiring from the first moment people get to know it.
Be very careful when choosing the name. Concentrate on making it easy to pronounce and fast to remember. Avoid labels that can act confusingly or offensive to some, albeit a small part of society. Obligatory check how it sounds translated into different languages because it should not lose its meaning. A quick translation with Google Translate can be of incredible help in avoiding future errors.
The name is of the utmost importance in this list because it allows you to predict how strangers will hear, understand and pronounce your business, regardless of its size. If you are careful enough and choose the right one, you will create plenty of opportunities and you will be able to see how it will only affect your sales.
Sin #2 – Not researching what your competitors are up to
Often during my work, I feel the need for inspiration. At such times, it has always helped me to explore competition, their approaches to work, and how the most successful of them have achieved their high results.
Absolutely always learns from alien actions and mistakes. I advise you to actively monitor your competition and future audience. Try to find useful data that covers all aspects of a market and try to turn them into a personal strategy. It may sound rather abstract and difficult, but it’s elementary, my dear Watson. You need to collect information on several key issues, which are:
- Who and what people are buying?
- Which are the companies they sell?
- What are the market trends?
In the 21st Century with the popularity of the Internet, it is super easy and quick to do a survey. If you miss the study and you are deprived of detailed information, it will be detrimental to the results of your branding. If you miss the survey, you will not reach the right people, and it will be impossible to turn them into clients.
Sin #3 – Going all in without a proper plan
Both branding and marketing play a major role in your business approach. Branding creates and uses rules for your visual presentation on the market. This includes the colors, images, language, and tone of your presence in the world. Marketing, on the other hand, is focused on what message you are emitting. Put more simply, branding is the way your company looks and what feeling it radiates, and marketing is what it says. Marketing definitely does not define your brand but serves as a way for transporting your corporate identity to the audiences across the world.
Company identity is nothing more than a simple tool. Once you have a finished concept for it, you should think and plan how you will use it to reach the potential customers you need. You must prepare a robust strategy and plan for how you will achieve it, what media you will use, and what it is worth investing in your valuable time and resources.
Getting up with ideas about how to sell and having a corporate identity is not enough for the recipe for success. If you do not have an action plan ready, you can never reach the required audience in the right and effective way.
Rational individuals always try to think a few moves ahead, while trying to create a concrete action plan. Believe me, if you constantly plan, test and analyze your brand and marketing you will not do a mistake. The only thing you can do wrong is not to do it at all, because even if you fail to accomplish your ultimate goal, you will still achieve results and you will be able to create and learn a valuable lesson for the future.
Sin #4 – Being non-consistent between all channels
This error is most often noticed when the owners of a brand get bored of its vision and emotional radiation. At these times, they often start trying to improvise. In this way, the only thing they achieve is the bold throwing out of the window of the already built and established.
if you look different each time, do you think it is possible for people to have a good impression on you? How will you give them a chance to get to know your character goals and principles? The trust of the people in your environment is built with persistence. Especially with the consistency of the message you are sending. The amount of information you send is also important. Remember that the successful brand sends only one message, not 100 different.
One of the most important rules of branding is to be constant. Everything starts with the visual elements of your company matching each channel you use. This includes the website, social networks, printed materials, and advertisements. Brands that are constant in their presentation are three to four times as likely to test a strong visibility.
To avoid this misguided mistake, it is important to design and always follow your brand guideline. It will help you build strong professional broadcasting in all visual aspects of your brand, regardless of the media you use.
Sin #5 – Branding on a blurry mind
Look at which segment of the market you are aiming for and how you can overcome your competition in this sector. For example, let’s say you’re having a home delivery service and your focus is on always using organic products. All your goals and actions should be a common denominator to build a brand that people know.
Be careful not to attach your brand to the wrong group of society. Customers always control the brand. Yes and as the leader of your business, your word will always be the last, but you will definitely not be on the driving seat permanently. This is the reason why the communication of business with customers is of great importance. You can not be the favorite to all for all. My advice to you is not to throw away for such a purpose, but concentrate on one thing and be invincible in it.
Too often I find companies that either do not have a clear goal or focus on what and how they do, instead of how they do it. Not knowing who you are, what are the views and goals of your brand can deter you from reaching the potential and opportunities you have.
Sin #6 – Being a part of the herd
Do not be a sheep and do not do what everyone else does. Originality in the business world is very important. What I am trying to tell you is that you should never be led by fashion trends, because they are born and die within moments. Try you, your work and market to be independent of trends.
If you do this sin, the results may be fatal. It will cause your brand to be built on clichés. If by any chance this tactic works, it certainly will not be for a long time. People love the comfort of the familiar but rarely support the banal.
Sin #7 – Being lazy and not committed to branding
There are many companies that treat branding as something that is transient in nature or a quick way to make sales. Branding is not meant to drive additional sales directly and is more geared toward building additional value, which in turn will cause sales and revenue growth in the future. Branding is a long way to success and often does not result in immediate satisfaction. This expectation of immediate results hinders most traders and leads to such sinful branding decisions.
Branding is a constant process. There is no way you can achieve a stable marketplace if you do not exercise it permanently. If you think this process will reap your quick success you are mistaken, my friend.
The results of it are delayed. And if you stop doing it? You will stop sending your mission to the world and this will surely lead to the end of your brand.
Wrapping Up
Your brand tells the story of your business and its promise to its customers. People will see it the way you want, if you are steady, honest enough, and try to avoid the above-mentioned deadly mistakes.
Armed with this knowledge, begin to think about how it will look, sound and express your brand. Make sure to create something that suits your messages, your market, your goals, and your ideas. Do not look at copying the rest, build a marketing plan, and stay constant in your pursuit. This way you will succeed regardless of obstacles along the way. Regardless of the industry and no matter if you have a big or small business, having a brand strategy is what will allow you to climb to the tops of your market.
I hope I’ve managed to give more clarity to why branding is important. If you’re trying to do it, do not do it throughout your fingers. The more time and attention you give your brand, the greater the opportunities it will have for growth in the future.
This is one of the main steps in building a business, and if not in the position to deal with it yourself, just look for a professional to do it for you. Looking for outside help is not a problem as long as you are ready to invest for a brighter future.
