5 Of The Most Common Branding Mistakes – And How You Can Avoid Them - Pennink Productions
by Liz Seyi Digital marketing managerBranding
is one of those things that, for many organisations, can seem simultaneously
elusive and immediately identifiable. It’s the sometimes apparently
intangible thing that can have a very tangible impact on your business’s
prospects – so it really is crucial that you take it seriously.
The
power of branding – as well as the consequences of getting one’s branding
approach wrong – is why it will always have an important role among the leading
Internet marketing consulting services.
But
what errors could your organisation be committing right now that are
eroding or diminishing its efforts to set out a potent brand? We thought we’d
take a quick look at some of the most frequent ones and what your firm can do
to steer well clear of them.
1. Being too personal on social media
It’s
not a bad thing to show a bit of humanity in how you communicate your brand
values across the major social media platforms on which you are active. After
all, showing that approachable ‘human face’ of your company – especially when
you are a smaller firm anyway – can be one of the most important parts of your
branding approach.
If
you’re using your company’s branded Twitter account to get involved in
political squabbles or any other conversations that are largely negative, this
is one of the biggest ‘no-nos’ when it comes to managing your brand online.
Remember
that anyone communicating with your target audiences through your branded
social media accounts is representing your brand, not themselves. They – and
you – should act accordingly.
2. Not bothering to develop a brand identity at all
If
we were to say words like “Apple” and “Coca-Cola” to you, the chances are that
you would be immediately put in mind of certain strong values these brands are
associated with.
Granted,
your own company is probably not Apple or Coca-Cola. But not even taking the
time to develop a clear brand identity for your organisation – thinking,
perhaps, that it’s only for the “big boys” – is one of the worst mistakes a
firm can make.
The
fact is, having a distinctive and recognisable personality as a brand will
definitely go a long way in helping your company to succeed – provided
that you have the right branding strategy, of course. With branding,
familiarity doesn’t breed contempt – it breeds trust.
3. Placing too much emphasis on quantity
Your
brand’s social media followers are rapidly gathering in number – that’s great
news! Or is it? Alas, even gaining a lot of followers quickly isn’t
necessarily an indication that you are gaining people who are likely to become
committed customers of your brand.
Indeed,
one of the benefits of branding in general is that it reminds you of the importance
of pursuing a particular target audience. Your firm shouldn’t be trying to
appeal to literally everyone, because no brand can do that. So, when you
are choosing between quantity and quality, the latter should be your number one
priority.
4. Having a confusing or inconsistent logo
The
logo that you ultimately go with for your brand will say a lot about
what your brand stands for; there are good reasons why logo design is key to
our own Internet marketing consulting services. It’s one of the first visual
elements of your brand that a given member of your target audience will see,
and they will keep on seeing it. It’s a very long way from an afterthought.
Don’t
treat your brand logo as an afterthought. Such things as your logo’s
colours, typography and spacing aren’t minor details that you are free to vary
whenever you like. They need to be as consistent as the McDonald’s Golden
Arches and the Nike Swoosh, in how they are communicated across your brand’s
various channels over time.
5. Making spelling and grammatical errors
Of
course, a misspelling or grammatical mistake is a mistake that goes beyond
branding; it’s just sloppy. But it’s also unquestionably something that can
erode your brand reputation, especially if it’s something your organisation is
in a habit of doing across its marketing.
Yes,
mistakes can happen, but you won’t want your brand to be associated with
carelessness. So, be sure to proofread, proofread and proofread again, to avoid
those glaring mistakes seeing the light of day on your website, blog, or other
marketing materials.
Branding is something to be taken seriously!
Hopefully,
the above will have made clear to you that branding isn’t an ‘extra’ or ‘nice
to have’; it’s fundamental to every aspect of how your organisation presents itself
to its target audiences. So, you need to be working doubly hard to ensure you
don’t commit mistakes like those we have cited.
For
a more in-depth discussion about what we can do for your own firm’s branding
approach, please don’t hesitate to contact PENNInk Productions about our Internet
marketing consulting services.
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Created on Mar 28th 2022 02:21. Viewed 125 times.