Every now and then, we might do an online search about branding just to check on its current trends. Branding is a powerful tool that marketers should not take for granted. It can either make or break your company’s success, which is why you need to be extra careful when it comes to developing your brand image. Below are some of the biggest mistakes that can put your work in jeopardy.
Define your brand strategy first
Start with your brand strategy first before anything else. A good brand strategy will set the tone of your entire marketing campaign and serve as a guide for future refinements. Branding is not just about coming up with catchy taglines and logos; it’s about identifying your products, services, markets, and audiences first before communicating what makes you stand out from the rest. Branding is a long-term process that companies should embrace rather than run away from because it is going to play a significant role in their success or failure in the industry.
Not investing in a quality brand Identity
Your brand identity is one of the first things your customers will see and it sets the tone for what they can expect from your company. The brand identity, although it includes your logo, goes beyond this; it includes every single detail that highlights your company’s unique identity. Building a brand identity is a long-term process that companies should embrace rather than run away from because it is going to play a significant role in their success or failure in connecting with customers.
Creating a brand that isn’t differentiated from its competition
A mistake that is made by many companies when they are building their brand is not differentiating themselves from the competition. It’s very important to make sure you build a brand that stands out from all others in your industry because if it doesn’t, there’s a good chance you’ll be seen as just another company who offers similar products or services as everyone else. You can’t afford to blend into this crowd and must stand out in some way, whether it is through the quality of your product/service or by using an effective marketing strategy.
Not knowing your audience intimately
Truly knowing your audience is the key to getting people to buy your product. You can’t expect people to follow something or even pay attention if you don’t know what they want.
Brent Nolan of Brand Agency, Blunt Agency says “The brand that knows their audience better than their competition ultimately wins”
Not connecting with the right audience
It isn’t enough to make a product or service and assume people will find it. You must be proactive about connecting with the audience, even if means going outside your comfort zone. Making assumptions about who your audience is can be damaging to your business. It risks wasting time trying to connect with the wrong people, or worse yet, not connecting at all.
Make sure you have taken time to learn about your customers before you start making assumptions about who might fit into that audience.
Losing focus
Find your niche and remaining focused is powerful for brands. Too often we see brands diversify and expand into new markets or create new unrelated products to keep up with trends that may or may not be beneficial to the brand.
Every business wants more sales, but quality of the overall brand experience should never suffer as a result.
Brand experience is not what it should be.
Ensure your brand experience is always a priority and you are conscious of the customer journey. If your brand experience does not align with customer expectations it’s the quickest way to fail.
Not defending and safeguarding oneself
Once your brand has established a marketing position defend and safeguard it. You are going to invest considerable time and money in building your brand, ensure you have the appropriate IP protection and trademarks in place. Brand infringement can have a devastating impact on businesses.
Nobody wants to head down the path of legal action, but not having any IP protection at all is always going to be detrimental to your brand.
Being inconsistent with your branding
Once you have developed your brand, ensure the marketing material is consistent across all platforms. Your print collateral should look similar to your website and social media pages. Branding elements that are inconsistent will confuse customers and they will be unsure of who you are or what you represent.
Ignoring the signs it’s time to evolve, refresh or rebrand
Brands grow, age, and sometimes die. To remain relevant to your customers, you may need to refresh or rebrand your business. Knowing when it’s time to evolve is sometimes difficult, which is why you need to stay up-to-date on emerging trends and changing customer preferences. So remember: just because it’s always been that way doesn’t mean it has to stay that way.
If you’ve identified areas of your branding that no longer meet your business objectives, or if your brand is feeling tired and dated, then now is probably the time to explore a new branding direction. Branding should be about bringing customers closer to the heart of your business.
Your brand promise isn’t worth the paper it’s written on
At the heart of your business is your brand promise. It’s critical brands understand and remember this. Your Brand Promise should be evident in everything you do related to your branding efforts.
That means every advertisement, brochure, business card and website should communicate what you are promising your brand’s audience.
But it doesn’t stop there … your brand promise must also extend into the way employees are trained so they understand how their day-to-day activities contribute to the brand promise.
galleriesnow
m-brain
pinkfong
oi67.tinypic
blog.khymos
ands
canadianheritage.gc
climatecasechart
paulthetall
q-chem
businesscomputingworld
ubc-bg
agritrop.cirad
discover-ukrainefo
blogging.nitecruzr
supportaweicloud
medals
harvardlpr
e-fellows
sunsiteformatik.rwth-aachen
help.blockstream
visitbarbados
perdu
foodauthority.nsw
aduni
scriptsource
mdemulher.abril
plugindigital
yale-nus
mooney.house
footprintcoalition
heiligenlexikon
fredblog.stlouisfed
highscope
hds
ldhi.libraryfc
alalastyle
fragilex
bellacaledonia
hrwiki
workoutlabs
pts
74
pubs.nrc-cnrc.gc
tmisource
tradgames
alexandria.tue
ncdj
layertennis
villalegre.cl
sarawaktourism
musipedia
pmindia.nic
oshermaps
gtz
thepotteries
unclematts
begro
healthjoy
fds.oup
worldofwatches
universaldesign
stateofinbound
weeklywire
wikispooks
enopin.nifc
squirrly
nifplay
giffgaff
sph.hku.hk
advancedrenamer
sir-apfelot
mfw4a
yedpay
jessesword
cancerdiscovery.aacrjournals
worldtaekwondo
workmall
foodal
englishchess
doc.trolltech
bpando
rugby365
eic.ecropa
epdf.tips
snapgene
legoeducation
goldenrice
pkgs
his
comuni-italiani
seinfeldscripts
www2.latech
oalj.dol
homegeco
energy.stanford
ateliermasomi
davidcopperfield
serve
norse-mythology
dankildee.house
palaeontologyonline
jak-linux
backstage.soundcloud
warren-wilson
ufv
community-2.webtv
satimagingcorp
mherrera
getibble
yearsoflivingdangerously
losangsamten
filmquarterly
fnm
dubizzle
mdarchives.state.md
soultrain
spikeybits
doctorwhotv
csnne
release
curacaochronicle
loudermilk.house
andregorz
mommyskitchen
searchengineguide
misa.vn
essentialretail
human3rror
hunterboots
law.howard
motorsport
atimeoutformommy
augur
onsetcomp
wiltshirefarmfoods
blog.btrax
kontent
lfg
wickedthemusical
transcare.ucsf
kendricklamar
pheed
emmiol
conversationswithtyler
bridgew
equitynet
racketboy
culinarylore
needforspeed
slimfast
sbooth
pintsizedbaker
sbigroup
about.udemy
designonline
wcotsweb.ancestry
memecenter
biprogy
doc.amnesty
leggo
blocs.mesvilawebt
blog.icann
wiserm.nih
adstransparencyogle
kubota
neutronbytes
denx
costofwar
sanjuan.ar
book.pythontips
acmg
waterforpeople
byliner
yorkshiredales
burgess-shalem.on
sketchrunner
ams.ceu
iris.uniroma1
gallery51
talesofthecocktail
wettbewerbszentrale
spitfireaudio
mspace.lib.umanitoba
x-cart
furbo
mobileactive
giellatekno.uit.no
geourl
mccollcenter
homeshop18
my.sfwmd
deportes.elpais
intereconomia
themorningsun
tadeuzagallo
goldsmithssu
carscoop.blogspot
china-gadgets
www2formatik-berlin
tei.ox
blognic
parksconservancy
arts
coolasscinema
pom.sagepub
moneys.mt
cannabuzz.app
lta.reuters
saudinf
med.mun
smartmobs
ateaseweb
iucnrle
imagesogle
gandhiserve
bailiwick.lib.uiowa
upf
exchange.telstra
e-tangata
mediaeducationlab
madir-music
t-mobile
ofdt
libertyfund
info-poland.buffalo
regionalstudies
avalon-arts
k12academics
multiplayer
famisafe.wondershare
k12insight
ejolt
makeagif
shareholder
vm
eatingdisorderhope
bhigr
shanemacgowan
palsolidarity
heakodanik.ee
pyside
peterstraub
booksogle.ec
mollybrown
blogpertuxkart
theirishaesthete
searchscape
uslchampionship
oaxacaculture
marijnhaverbeke
backyardgardener
12factor
sires.house
www6.ocn.ne
bulbapp
tokuma
sover
pptvhd36
tollwood
internationalpublishers
hub.witness
socy.umd
community.ui
tochinavi
couponingtodisney
retro.ign
nearmap
tonywublog
saarc-sec
archivo.eluniversal.mx
featuresecrimson
copyrightlumbia
diynatural
www2.arnes.si
sisbib.unmsm.pe
prod-static-ngop-pbl.s3.amazonaws
southernenvironment
blokhaus
inamay
iledefrance-mobilites
cultdeadcow
europeanjournaloftaxonomy
childrenandarmedconflict.un
plymouth.wickedlocal
myverifly
inta
alexcox
tiendeo
kellscraft
travelinglifestyle
dublin
laurel-and-hardy
mobotix
faunaeur
rjb
law.fordham
tumbleweedhouses
fiercecio
plexxi
slovari.yandex
bradford
itcportal
theindustry.fashion
nativeadvertisinginstitute
nioo.knaw
newsroom.t-mobile
ev.energy
moht
dev.eclipse
solesavy
consumermediallcles.wordpress
annecarlini
leo
sevilla
sd11nate
google-opensource.blogspot
barbadosadvocate
terravision
medias24
blog.muchmusic
docs.lib.noaa
ifthenpay
vaneck
sipic
bonterra
floooh.github
eacts
appliedclinicaltrialsonline
newelementary
carrefour
efytimes
curtainup
theindustryobserverebrag
infocobuild
qatar-tribune
acmcountry
nuclear.mutantstargoat
us.amorepacific
dnews
naturalbalanceinc
johnlocke
karjalainen
astore.amazon
erecipe.woman.excite
ocsarts
thaienquirer
blog.blogtalkradio
craftbrewingbusiness
voicesfromwar
epicmix
mapsogle.sh
electionreturns.pa
elephant.art
safetywing
palais.mc
fightchronicdisease
dailymedicalinfo
realt.by
tanks-encyclopedia
artyzm
iprhelpdesk
bostonhistory
bigeastcoastbias
pjharvey
aijac
americancinemathequecalendar
poj.peeters-leuven
startupnorth
senat
fleetcor
language-museum
rodneybrooks
twitchmetrics
justlia
augsburgfortress
cookeatpaleo
targetjobs
view
iapsfo
dpsnews.utah
optmyzr
www1.drf
pbr
openarchive.icomos
sablecard
company.shopltk
vendian
betterbuys
cobo
desiretoinspire
ncnk
eleganceandenchantment
catalyzex
dusablemuseum
internationaldataspaces
ftp.isc
nkcf
vis.sciencemag
europhysicsnews
hoxe.vigo
ifcj
rixc
constellationr
eatlivetravelwrite
soundtrackyourbrand
superteacherworksheets
colta
booksogle
boerse.ard
ftpnsrv
socalhiker
grainews
tvpworld
abtosoftware
museeyslparis
jacc
filmfreakcentral
listsfradead
woodyboater
cyclicdefrost
mdsattacks
eng.taiwan.tw
zerys
improovy
machinist.salon
louisiana
princess.disney
dabangasudan
new.paho
lrde.epita
russianrasianet
blogecurrent
crosswordtournament
bayerischerbauernverband
nag
unlp.ar
morrisonhotelgallery
pulse.ncpolicywatch
animefeminist
r6
airqualitynews
chargemap
bairrkeley
mvariety
hardballtalk.nbcsports
toledo
heyreverb
ibizabus
italica.rai
mapsri
m.meetme
savant
connare
fintual
codecheckfo
pianote
bloomberglinea
stoicstudio
branch.climateaction.tech
ark
hipjpn
literacyworldwide
users.zetnet
f1technical
filespport.epson
octaviabutler
sosmath
bonuscard
paultaylor
rollrecovery
downstate
ideophone
garageband
stackedit
opus.bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg
labs.vmware
oxfordmedicine
library.uiuc
hariprasadchaurasia
crypticrock
airportwatch
thedailymuse
thenbs
alpbach
discoverspace
kinesis.money
aapa
nguoi-viet
efn.no
hispanicheritage
radioproject
taler
ncsfreedom
hellolovelystudio
thelibrary
vaccinetracker.ecdcropa
bcps
photoguide
driving.timesonline
casinapioiv.va
onestat
disruptordaily
joinbindle
confessionsofaplateaddict.blogspot
gramophone
petpartners
entrata
dworakpeckc
hello.vrchat
youdidwhatwithyourweiner
legiondhonneur
tarantinofo
twain.lib.virginia
bjc.oxfordjournals
rjb.csic
trudvsem
motorsportweek
lawlinois
datos
muse
galaxymage
acnc
mariushosting
endpoint.microsoft
edb.utexas
diary
smithfund
geev
fuse.wikichip
azgfd
sfu-kras
alcademics
firstderm
theemotionmachine
interfacejournal
myuncommonsliceofsuburbia
mlwerke
liberties
mrvar.fdv.uni-lj.si
citedelarchitecture
clubmadrid
instawork
soyinfocenter
chicaandjo
fedcsis
theindianalawyer
wealthdaily
lisp-lang
ego4u
vanwilsonfo
cameronmcefee
holliepoetry
paradiski
cultivateop
copyright.universityofcalifornia
interactions
huaweicentral
250bpm
skysafariastronomy
challenger
greenleaf
shopdepre
onesearch.library.utoronto
no-free-lunch
disneyjunior.disney
bloomingtonmn
researchld
glcom
oneworld
home.pacbell
brainmuseum
stat.data.abs
mobility.siemens
thirteenthoughts
nzdf.mil
janeresture
edu.kde
austria
roskam.house
healthvault
obnug
forbes
getv
concentric
orbilat
radfordneal.wordpress
nacdonline
thebl
yamada-denki
hospitalitytech
oum.ox
ovc.ojp
roundup-tracker
autovisie
bioinformatics.stackexchange
thisisfakediy
universaldesignstudio
yikesinc
openmedia
phonestory
immersal
koeblergerhard
thegoodscentscompany
jornaldebrasilia
abillion
edwardianpromenade
looktohimandberadiant
sudradio
mhec.state.md
msp360
rescript-lang
www2l
jonasdevlieghere
libweb5.princeton
port
co2online
blogs.smh
dhigroupinc
qubit
www2.forsvaret
french.xinhuanet
presidentemlin
staging.hosted.ap
belarus.by
transportfocus
oanlit
daghammarskjold
kitchingroupeme.cmu
advances.realtimerendering
ieee
disabilitylinois
page.sannet.ne
nzbirds
freenet-homepage
bitss
datagroup
baotintuc.vn
kylegilman
eretzyisroel
discourse.diasporafoundation
afterlight
iuhoosiers
forums.lightstreamer
jewishjournal
bloodshotrecords
warbirdforum
juniperhills
blogs.elca
valeant
bdo
pagepeeker
businessverr
rocaumbert
econm
newwaysministry
audible
get.opensuse
jmcolberg
clevelandmetroschools
fmso.leavenworth.army.mil
thameswater
cnpd.public
plasteranddisaster
ldapadministrator
myoldmac
azdor
dinosauria
bdaily
elextensions
mcnallyjackson
nagios
vidvox
aru
rack.github
nagoyatv
bushlibrary.tamu
braininfo.rprcshington
act.everytown
dlt.ri
chezpim
tvpop
majal
sharpgis
joshuaredman
quanticdream
antoniak
mcabber
geomesa
bav.admin
governor.sc
home.no
zenger.news
essilorluxottica
timeoutmarket
calver
thenewpornographers
sfelections
cjbuzau
shouji.tenaa.cn
ibp
infinitemlmsoftware
payfast
laoliva
pistachioproject
allwinnertech
prod1.agileticketing
statkart.no
sice.oas
01net
mysqltutorial
newcastleherald
davidscott.house
weblogger
librarynstantcontact
apfc
jilawwwlorado
secondinversion
dickinsoncountynews
usembassy-china.cn
kanazawa21
popcenter
digitalcommons.odu
xenophongroup
moolenaar.house
turnerpublishing
kapor
monkzone
bnc.ox
kent.dl.sourceforge
gracecathedral
kooora
canimmunize
nsidr
victimsofcommunism
instant
oceantrackingnetwork
vcreporter
i2c-bus
rpgamers
dma.ucla
kreml
brad
joemygod
pragmaticprogrammer
releases.llvm
german-foreign-policy
wikis.fu-berlin
blogimgo.ne
web-jpn
trucker
oceanwide-expeditions
novembermusic
vandale
simpson.house
metadium
nwbc
frdb
partner.bybit
uchicagolaw.typepad
herpaperroute
darrp.noaa
mirrors.apple2
jobs.smartrecruiters
houseofhawthornes
ispsystem
overthecap
asmr.zowa.app
hiphilangsci
msmt
mischooldata
anglican
doug-long
oag.dc
omni.app
sonyclassical
greenwichfilm
bigshinyrobot
metrocouncil
acclaimmag
app.getpocket
pulpbuzz.wordpress
bimbobakeriesusa
everestthemes
semainedelacritique
sinarharian.my
kimovil
usabilitygeek
orchardproject
digital.lib.lehigh
nli
jbic
photographyserved
thedailystampede
newappsblog
uhsinc
garthbrooks
occamstypewriter
gmw.cn
sidewithlove
breather
killersnails
anilist
printemps
watfordfc
eclass.uoa
mirafloresb.pe
skrillex
drodrik.scholar.harvard
discussions.citrix
hella
assaabloydss
hpmorpodcast
dallara
sci-hub.st
streetgangs
genderhealth
streamingmediaightcovegallery
4dayweek
assistededitingtelligentassistance
usnewsdeserts
getupnote
pmt.sourceforge
ily
siefar
epic.gsfc.nasa
aircargoweek
rockmnation
hints.macworld
fueradeseries
hermetic
autorevue
rhelblog.redhat
gametheory
capex
chemji
soledadpenades
alaska
rusa
aquaticcommons
sjmusart
comicscomicsmag
usnc
ineb.bo
javapractices
crsadmin
hrcp-web
thekavanaughreport
gwar
planradar
hbcpnetbase
leodemoura.github
pt.uefa
mltframework
wabetainfo
ijmr
jkcf
church-footwear
adobeindd
flakmag
visitacostadelsol
protect-public.hhs
gadsdentimes
senado.ar
3dvf
litvinenkoinquiry
peoplefensenews
ipoque
digitalcommons.law.lsu
callcap
pininfarina
tun
bolsamania
turtlebot
evergladesplan
timetowrite.blogs
phingfo
d279m997dpfwgl.cloudfront
ohvec
californiawatch
stratolaunch
argyll-bute
onclive
lynchburg
www2.apwa
watchafl
realsaltlake
primamedia
fires.globalforestwatch
rochesterastronomy
waldorfastoria3.hilton
villanovau
us.wordcamp
halgatewood
ubuntugeek
novakdjokovicfoundation
vocaloid.wikia
growveg
support.lexmark
amendments-rules.house
jpbound
qtsoftware
treknature
uvm
ex-astris-scientia
kunsthallezurich
clubfonograma
bendigoadvertiser
sciencesmaths-paris
fisheriesireland
delas.ig
littleosbook.github
climatecrocks
ordinarytraveler
energy-community
corpblox
researchbspot
en.natmus
animemusicvideos
umu.diva-portal
fox21online
softbankbb
escolaeducacao
dta
peoplepower21
tcoffee
fox25boston
gaming-age
oilandgasuk
spbrealty
aspm.faa
coastal
whimsysoul
dcc.fc.up.pt
mswia
entertainmenttoday
prague
orissapost
open.gl
texasgop
americanbarfoundation
baltimorestyle
telusplanet
wisdompage
breraaf
humanlogic
kevita
verbslorado
rossierc
carl-abrc
cisb
waxpoetics
hzz.hr
vk.ovg.ox
upfromthedeep
thequinhotel
forum.lazaruseepascal
jgs.lyellcollection
wwfint.awsassets.panda
johnnycupcakes
au.eonline
fluxbb
chargify
library.ucr
qgdigitalpublishing
lms.mrc
stellarium-labs
marrymetampabay
physiciandirectoryighamandwomens
cakeml
freedominfo
mineaction
canalrivertrust
emaze
tractis
adblockultimate
city.matsusaka.mie
linguistics.ucsb
clips4sale
csusa
ecommonsc
worldtrailsnetwork
emblems.arts.gla
theapricity
boyanslat
nomads.ncep.noaa
pharmacypracticenews
dhh.louisiana
intrahealth
asra
forumslphiforums
macotakara
journal-neo
wallpapercave
vueweekly
washingtonspeakers
actualidad.terra
brotherlygame
farmlogs
telegrafi
weplaydots
blois
pm.stackexchange
paperturn-view
devbootcamp
suabotelife
fvrl
internetmarketingmontana
sss.ias
iwatchnews
honestreporting
dinosaurs.about
minkarta.lantmateriet
city.cleveland.oh
mobilecommercedaily
slightfuture
www-public.jcu
marktechpost
adahome
newsredoglake
p3ptoolbox
artsair.wordpress
signpost
cloudcomputing-news
bandatnendongnai.vn
heraldlive
dgi.gub.uy
pauta.cl
georgiahistory
english.pnn.ps
repository.asu
chrgj
amshq
gulli
cartilagefreecaptain.sbnation
allpeoplequilt
inex
gamemoir
delcamp
portland.craigslist
addall
bigblueball
knowindia
igsoc
nui
liebenzell
incommon
gabrielgambetta
smartbox
boutiquerugs
dbo
snapology
urbanarts
nationalcathedral
ciesinlumbia
