Branding is defined as the process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product in the consumers' mind, mainly through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme. Branding aims to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers.
Achieving this takes into consideration the many elements that are essential to uniquely identifying a business.
Listed below are 6 Mistakes that you can work to avoid to make sure your brand identity maintains his integrity.
1.) Not establishing brand guidelines
When creating a brand identity, you want to make sure that you establish guidelines that cover the following elements (and any others that are relevant to your field). Here are a few points to consider.
Logo ( full logo, icon, submark)
Brand colors
Fonts and typography
Taglines
Imagery
MascotsThe tone and feel used in your branded materials
2.) Not understanding the power of your brand
From a customer-relationship perspective, having a strong brand is a necessity to stand out amongst the competition. You want to have that kind of immediate, definitive relationship, so that when your potential customers think of a certain product or service, you are the first that comes to mind. Defining your brand, in regards to SEO is highly recommended as well. Google prioritizes brand listings in it's organic search results. This can create increased traffic to your business website and social media pages. Awareness is always highly valued in business.
3.) Making your brand complicated
Consider the Ford logo. Starting from 1903, the logo has undergone several different changes. The most current look was developed in 1976 and it has stayed consistent since then. While the layout of the font has varied slightly, overall the entire feel of the brand has stayed consistent. They hadn't undergone many massive changes.
A small business can take this into consideration with their own brands. When starting your branding process, it can be tempting to add more than is necessary. Your logo doesn’t need to involve an overwhelming amount of different colors, and it doesn’t need to have many individual graphic elements to represent the different arms of your company. Clean, simple elements are preferred, as it will make your brand develop more memorability and build on that connection with your consumers.
4.) Applying vague branding
Steer clear of generic marketing language, such as "best-selling", "best in the business", "award winning", which can sometimes sound overused and repetitive. It is best to keep your language clear, and utilize your concise logo and imagery to market your brand. Consider Airbnb's home page. The value proposition is quite clear and apparent, "Book unique homes and experiences." The communication is straightforward on what they would like for their consumers to do when encountering their website for booking.
Consider this same thing, when creating your value proposition for your brand. What do you want for your customer's to experience? What value do you offer them?
5.) Not staying consistent with your brand guidelines
So now, you have found a branding consultant / graphic designer and you have worked on and received your brand guidelines for placement of your logo and how the different elements of your brand can work together. But, a few months later, you decide you want to add totally different color schemes and elements into your marketing campaigns. It can be done, but after establishing a look and feel for your brand, deviating from those guidelines can cause brand confusion for your audience. It also dilutes the strength of your initial launch. It's always good to practice consistency when it comes to your brand.
6.) Not policing and staying in control of your brand usage
Stay proactive concerning the uses of your brand elements. When another business publishes your logo in an article, make sure they understand how it should be presented. This ensures that your audience will continue to recognize you, no matter what platform you presented on. Brand viability and visibility is essential, so ensuring that your brand is properly being published correctly is necessary.
Overall, the process of creating and maintaining a brand, can have its challenges, but by paying attention to these tips, you can make sure that your small business is on the way to establishing great connections to your consumers. Consider reaching out to Macon Designs to discuss and explore the vision for your brand.