At REDKOR Brands, we’ve been helping companies build lasting brands for 24+ years… and in that time we’ve seen certain fundamental branding mistakes made over and over again.
We’ve done a round-up of these mistakes for you so you can make sure your brand isn’t guilty of them too. If you want the best ROI for your marketing dollars, more sales, and better customer retention, avoid these top 3 mistakes:
1. Assuming your brand is just your logo and colors. A brand is everything: your communication, key ideas, messaging, and more. When you want the best ROI, it’s important to establish your brand foundation before diving into more day-to-day marketing details like email, social media, and more. A great brand provides you the key ideas that drive all of your messaging and campaigns to ensure everything is aligned and moving your business in the same direction.
2. Forgetting your audience. Instead, design your brand look and messaging with them in mind. If your product is mostly purchased by 30-65 year old females, you MUST know how they think. You need to know the words they use to describe what they’re looking for and what’s important to them. Do you research, and make sure your 25-year-old female designer and 50-year-old male manager aren’t just going with what they think is best. Getting info from your audience can be challenging, but it’s always worth the time, effort, and investment.
3. Choosing a brand just because it looks good. A great brand is more than a nice decoration. Your brand needs to mean something. It needs to tell a story that goes beyond the latest fad in color or design because it’s the foundation of your entire company.
BONUS #4: Treating your brand as a “flavor of the week” kind of deal. Your brand and messaging must be consistent and continuous. This is a bonus mistake because we see this one way too often to stop at #3!
The truth is that every vendor, partner, and employee has a new idea. But you can’t be swayed by every shiny new idea if you want the best results. It’s critical that you establish your branding and messaging and then stick to it in everything you do. It’s the only way to start building brand equity and loyalty! Having a comprehensive brand standards guidebook makes it simple to get everyone you work with (whether they’re a new employee or a long-term vendor partner) on the same page.
In the course of helping more than 500 businesses establish lasting brands, we’ve developed a proven system that protects companies from these mistakes. If you’d like to see what our standard Brand & Messaging Playbook looks like, send us a quick note at rushford@redkorbrands.com and we’ll set up a time!
