Branding has become increasingly important in today’s culture. 

Have you ever wondered why businesses fold up overnight? Or why consumers shift their attention to a competitor?  One single misconduct could send your business packing. It’s not just about what you sell or even what great features and benefits it has, it’s also about how people perceive your business and connect with its message. In most cases, it is the perception of the brand that has increased the value of the product or service.

When positioning your brand, there are best practices to follow and there are also things to avoid doing for the sustainability of your brand. The following could do more harm than good in your branding procedures;

• Targeting Everybody:  It is common for new businesses to say “Everybody is our potential customer. We are for everyone.”  Not knowing who your target audience is one big mistake. If you try to please everyone, you will end up pleasing nobody significantly. However, seasoned and successful businesses understand that targeting their marketing to the ideal customer or client instead of aiming to please everybody is a better strategy for marketing success.

• Wrong Hiring:  If you want to be taken seriously and appear as a professional business,  make sure to hire qualified designers, writers, photographers, stylists, business coaches, branding specialists, web designers and so on. Do not take shortcuts on DIY or cheap branding. It will only waste your time, cause unnecessary frustrations, and will inevitably cost you money in the long run.

• Listening to All Opinions:  The opinions you should listen to are those of your ideal customer, trusted business professionals, and yourself. Listening to too many opinions can prevent you from going with your own unique ideas and prevent your brand from being bold. Opinions of people outside your industry may put your brand in trouble.

• Thinking you have “Settled” in Market:  Your brand needs to keep up with the changes of the times, the technology, the industry, and your ideal customer or client. Simply because you’ve already worked on your brand previously does not mean you won’t have to do it again. A lot of brands become complacent when they have a number of customers. They believe they can get away with little things but it is not so. Think of your brand as living and evolving with the times.

• Complicated Logo and Brand Identity: Brands often underestimate how far their identity goes. Your logo, colors, fonts, social media and promotional materials go a long way in creating lasting impressions on the minds of your target customers. Trying to cram all the brand elements into one design will not result in a clean, polished, professional logo. Think about logos that you really like – that you find memorable. What do they have in common? It is never too late to rebrand.

If you want to deliver a rockstar-worthy brand experience and grow your business and your audience then continuing to improve your brand is an important aspect of your marketing strategy and investment in your business.