Branding Mistakes The Small Businesses and Startups Do

Branding is the soul of marketing, and when dealing with any kind of packaging, you have to consider the branding style and the colors that will best make the product stand out even when stacked alongside competitor products. The need to nail the branding part of marketing is one of the most time-consuming processes because there’s never any room for a mistake; therefore, you have to nail it on the first attempt, but mistakes always happen. The following are some of the branding mistakes that startups and small businesses commit.

Skipping Professional Help

You could have the best flexible packaging for custom logo, but if the execution of the branding is done by amateurs, there’s very little that the company will benefit from that. Branding is not something you delegate just to anyone within the office; it has to be done by professionals, qualified graphic designers who understand how branding works and can create unique elements that are in line with the identity of the company. It will cost you a lot to hire professionals but leaving the work to an unqualified person will cost a lot more in the end.

Conflating Branding and Logo Design

Branding is not necessarily all about having a logo design. This is the mistake many businesses make, forgetting that branding is like an umbrella, the identity of the company based on the seen and the unseen. It is the feeling people get when they walk through your doors, and the memories evoke every time the name of the company is mentioned. That’s what branding is all about. So don’t focus too much on the colors or the brand design because that is simply an avatar.

Relying on Trends

Falling for trends is the worst mistake you can make when it comes to branding your company. It is easy to be dazzled by the newest form and styles of branding, and that could quickly get you the publicity you crave, but once that trend dies and moves on to the next, you’ll be left stranded with an identity that looks eerily similar to 100 other businesses around you. This will make it hard for consumers to really discern what it is you really stand for since most of the time, they’ll be too confused to even tell you apart from others.

Forgetting About Copy

Another important aspect of branding is the copy. Symbols and images are half the message; you also need to add some copy, the short descriptive and witty phrases that accompany logos. These phrases display the core messages, the mission statement, the tag lines, and all the other information that you may feel are necessary for the clientele. When you combine a good copy with good branding, that’s when the identity of your company truly comes forth in a way that can be defined in the minds of all that experience it.

Trying Too Hard

It is easy to get influenced by what you see out there, and you end up getting caught in that cycle where you try the most to replicate what other people are doing. This is what can be described as trying too hard, and it can have a bad look on your brand because clients always know. The best thing you can do for your brand is to let it develop organically and naturally on its own without tying it up to a trend or what your next-door competitor is doing. Keep things simple and avoid trying to incorporate too many things at the same time. People can smell desperation and inauthenticity from a mile away.

Using the Wrong Colors

Appearances do matter at the end of the day, and no matter how cool and trendy the logo you have selected may look, if you use the wrong combination of colors, then everything will go down the drain because no one will be able to stand it. There are some colors that should never be placed together in the same logo. When selecting colors, first consider how close they are to what you are all about. Once you have decided on the chore color, find other related colors that will match well with it, then play around with the design until you find the best fit.

Lacking a Marketing Plan

Being prepared for everything is the true definition of having a plan. It would serve you no purpose to embark on branding without first putting in place a marketing plan that will help push the brand to the public. Many people focus too much on crafting the best brand they can muster then quickly realize that they didn’t’ set up a method of publicizing the brand to the people that matter, the consumers. This is a rookie mistake that’s common in many startups. Before starting the branding process, first, ensure you have a marketing plan in place that will quickly be put into play the moment the brand is developed.

Conclusion

A business cannot survive without a good form of branding; this is the identity that the business assumes, and for this to be successful, you have to invest in a good team of graphic designers and copywriters who will add flesh to all your ideas. You can browse online for branding resources to get a clear picture of what’s required to make a successful brand.