The most common mistake company owners are making is they don’t appreciate enough the process of building a brand, strategic brand development, and overall elements from the very beginning. Besides, it happens quite often they oversee the role of marketing and its importance in developing the company and brand promotion. Sometimes they use lack of time as an excuse to dedicate enough because they are dealing with product development or any other business segment. While sometimes finances could be the cause, company owners don’t want to budget brand development and marketing. Many other mistakes could also happen and the goal of this blog post is exactly the most crucial mistakes to avoid when developing your brand.
While someone in this world has a brilliant business idea, someone on this planet, our country perhaps, is working on something similar right now. To avoid making tons of mistakes, and stand out from others, a brand should be exposed in the first plan so as to become recognizable as soon as possible. The question is how to achieve that? By building a brand in an efficient and effective way. We will cover the 6 most common mistakes to avoid when building a brand.
Mistake #1: Brand identity without a solid basis
This is one of the worst mistakes new brands usually make when they go to the market without a developed brand identity strategy. Companies without a clear vision and idea about their own identity and goals they want to achieve will not be able to connect with potential consumers on a deeper level. If the clients or consumers cannot define, understand brand identity, they move to brands they understand and like. For any business, it is important to establish a solid basis and clearly communicate its message, values, and appearance. This could be achieved if they dedicate themselves to 5 key elements for building a brand identity and create a recognizable brand everyone will like.
Mistake #2: Insufficiently striking visual identity
We are all visual types and enjoy seeing a striking, appealing, and well-shaped design presenting our brand. Otherwise, if the logo design and design of other elements are not striking enough, consumers will not remember the brand or there’s a chance to mix it with another one. On the other hand, if the competition has a recognizable design and is aware of the importance of colors in creating the visual brand identity, the consumers will stick to them.
Visual identity is crucial for creating a first good impression, so the logo, brand colors, social media visuals, look of the site and branding of the stores can have a key role in creating a good impression on clients. If we take a look at some of the most popular brands nowadays (Apple, Google, Nike, Mercedes), we can realize the visual presentation is a huge part of their popularity.
Mistake #3: Website that lacks functionality and optimization
Website is extremely important for any business. 89% of consumers search and get to new brands by browsing on the internet. This is especially significant for brand awareness, you can read about it in one of our previous posts.
Website is much more than a company’s ID, providing the most important info on the brand. Website is a presentation, source of info, sometimes a webshop where we can buy our favorite products. But if the site is not functional enough, if its loading speed is slow, navigation is complicated and not functional, plus if it is not responsive (for mobile devices and tablets) – it must be fixed as soon as possible if the company counts on a quality online presence.
Based on the studies, the following seven elements should be incorporated into the website if we want a successful and functional web presentation.
- Logo
- Menu
- Search
- Social media icons
- Original, high res photos
- Footer
Mistake#4: Brand inconsistency
Constant changes related to brand appearance are not recommendable as consumers get used to certain distinguishable elements over time, like logos, fonts, or colors. It doesn’t mean you should never consider redesign or rebranding. Our advice is to be careful with changes. Crucial changes should not be motivated by trivial things such as not enough likes on social media posts. When it comes to changes and improvements of a visual identity, it is important to create a good strategy with help of professionals.
Mistake #5: We can do it alone
It is only logical for a business owner to keep pace and be familiar with all business segments – starting with brand creation, production, distribution, etc. but, none of us is capable of doing everything alone, as we don’t have enough knowledge in all fields related to business. In other words, if someone is good at marketing, finances, social media – should focus on it and give over creating and building a brand with all its elements to experts as they will bring the best solutions for the brand and the company in general. If only one person is trying to work on all tasks, it will impact the business growth. It is much more efficient to delegate and split responsibilities, so both success and failure are equally split.
Mistake #6: Everyone is our target audience
This is one of the most frequent mistakes, especially in small companies selling consumer goods. They think their target audience and products should be literally sold to everyone. Though it might sound like the right attitude, as quantity is not equal to quality. When it comes to brands, it is important to research all related to the market and narrow the audience accordingly. The narrower the audience is, the most likely is to increase sales. Otherwise, the product will be sold to anyone and lost in the jungle of similar products.
Priorities
Do you make any of these mistakes? Have you recognized yourself in our text? If the answer is yes, and you make at least 3 out of six mistakes, then it’s time for crucial changes. The best way to avoid mistakes is to dedicate time, money, and resources to creating a strong brand identity, that will stand out from others. Set your priorities, make a plan, phases, and segments, and most importantly, hire the experts for branding. Titan Agency can help you reach your goals. Contact us and find out how we can help you in creating a brand worthy of your business.
