Branding is everywhere. For a company, branding identifies its routes and the way that it defines itself as a business to its employees and its customers. This helps to portray the brand’s core values and reach its target audience. There are so many branding mistakes that entrepreneurs continuously make such as not being transparent with their products or production line, or failing to differentiate their brand from others.
The biggest mistake for any business is to have a poorly defined brand identity, which actually happens more often than not. Think of it this way, if a person goes for a job interview they will dress well, act professional, outline key experiences that make you right for the job etc. This is creating a persona that is going to make that person a better fit for the role. Well, a brand is the same, a brand needs to put its best foot forward to reach its customers. It can do this by showing off its best features for its audience as this will be the first impression to its customers.
In this article, we will discuss key factors in creating a successful brand and the benefits of having a successful brand identity.
Table of Contents
Benefits Of A Successful Brand Identity:
Strong Branding Makes A Brand Memorable:
Whilst many consumers research their favourite brands, there are so many who just pick up what they recognise. This is the power of branding, and why so many large organisations capitalise on brand recognition.
Brand Recognition Builds Trust:
Many consumers connect through a brand emotively, meaning that if a consumer shares the same values and beliefs as the brand, they are more inclined to use that brand leading to higher sales.
Brand Identification Filters Out Wrong Leads:
A strong brand identity will help you acquire better-qualified leads naturally. This is a great way of saving time by not chasing after the small fish but by targeting the right customers who align their values with yours.
Top 5 Tips On Building A Successful Brand Identity:
Define The Brand
Look at what the company offers in terms of the service or its products. By identifying the market space the company occupies, it is easier to then find what your customer’s concerns and needs are. This will then enable the brand to connect to its customers by differentiating itself from its competitors and meeting their needs.
Personify The Brand
Everyone has their own characteristics which are built up from beliefs, values, appearance and much more. The personality determines how to react in certain situations and what we say. When a company personifies its brand, its key to think in the same way as we would characterise ourselves. A great example of personifying a brand is M&M’s who personified their candy to encourage consumers to remember the brand through animated characters voiced by famous people.
Don’t Mimic The Look Of Bigger Brands
The growing trend of helping independent brands find their way is huge, especially in 2021. With this being said, It is extremely beneficial to carve your own identity which can leverage status and attract its own customers. Creating a brand own identity will help align its values with its customers.
Be Innovative – Stand Up For Your Beliefs
If you are a start-up and have the freedom, to be honest, bold and innovative then go ahead. Stand up for the businesses beliefs and values. This will give you further differentiation between the brand and its competitors. Big brands are built up in layers meaning that it is not as flexible in what they can do and how the way they react with the needs of their clients.
Build Long Term Relationships With Customers
This ties well with aligning the brand’s value with the clients. Be honest about the product or service, create trust with honest branding by not exaggerating on anything. Don’t raise expectations for your product or service which result in broken promises as customers will just go elsewhere. The brand should stick to its values and beliefs and make an honest brand.
Branding Mistakes:
Failing To differentiate:
Failing to differentiate a brand from its competitors is going to cause several issues. In order for a brands message to reach the right customers, it must be unique. Customers need to identify a difference otherwise they will just go to a competitor who is the cheapest.
Not Hiring A Professional:
Whilst many people are lucky to have experience in graphic design, copywriting, psychology and other areas of branding, many aren’t. This requires a lot of work and can be done successfully when starting up, however, if a brand is struggling to reach its customers it is always best to hire a professional. Whether this is a branding agency in Manchester or an international branding firm based in LA, It’s important to choose the professional team right for your brand.
Lack of Consistency Across All Channels:
If a brand is present on multiple channels such as social media, TV, events, blog etc, then it is important to be consistent with the branding as they all need to be the same. If one channel is different from the other, then customers will be confused, which could result in a lost customer.
Other Thoughts:
It is clear to see that branding is a vital part of any business or start-up, there are many ways of defining the brand and how that brand can reach its clients. Follow these tips and avoid these mistakes and you will start to see the brand pick up sales and bring you a more qualified and targeted line of customers.
