Branding can be a daunting piece of your business. I get it, it’s hard to navigate the many moving parts, keep track of everything, and organize your elements. Hey, even as a branding designer, I struggle with this in my business! There are common branding mistakes I see business owners make every day, and today, I’m telling you how to fix them.

Lack of Consistency 

Consistency is an important part of presenting professional and polished branding for a business of any size and in any industry. One of the common branding mistakes I see often is approaching branding without consistency. When a business shares content that looks and feels one way, and then presents itself completely differently on another platform in another post, it’s confusing for your audience.

The key to creating and sharing consistent content is to invest in quality branding and to use it appropriately across all of your business and marketing activities. That means that businesses should use a consistent color palette, fonts, brand voice, and imagery style everywhere from social media and websites to print materials. 

Messaging That Doesn’t Align With Your Benefits

At the end of the day, no matter what the product or service is that your business provides, marketing and advertising should communicate the benefits of that product or service for your audience. While your brand should certainly be infused with your business’ personality and characteristics, ultimately, your audience has to see why they need what you can give them.

That’s why I consider one of the most common branding mistakes to be sharing brand messaging that doesn’t align with your benefits. You can post the catchiest, most interesting Instagram captions – but if they don’t reflect the benefits of investing in your business, it’s not serving you. 

The same goes for the colors, fonts, and images your brand uses. If they don’t mirror your value and what your business brings to the table, it’s time to revisit your approach. 

Using The Wrong Images

The type of images you use in your branding says a lot about your business. One of the common branding mistakes I see businesses make all the time is using the wrong type of images. 

Different imagery elicits different responses and feelings from viewers–So, consider how you want your audience to respond to the images you share. Are you aiming to inspire or motivate them? Do you want them to stop and think, reflect, or take action? Keep this in mind as you’re picking images for your branding.

Be sure to also consider the colors, tones, and shooting style used in your imagery. They should all be consistent with the overall style of your branding. For example, if your colors are cool and calming blues and greens, a red image is definitely going to be a contrast. 

Not Memorable Creating a Memorable Brand

We all encounter brands all day every day. From the shows and commercials, we see on TV to the businesses we scroll past on social media, we see hundreds. However, some brands are more memorable than others. They resonate with us and catch our attention. One of the most common branding mistakes I’ve observed is when businesses don’t make sure their brand is memorable.

Your branding doesn’t have to be bold and loud to be memorable. The key to being memorable is ensuring your branding is remembered to your target audience: your messaging and visuals should appeal to their wants, needs, and values. 

How can you make sure your branding gets noticed by the people you want to remember it? Take the time to learn about your ideal customer and what’s important to them. Then, invest in professional branding that is designed to reflect how your business can serve those people. 

Your Branding isn’t True to You

I know when you see competing brands or ones that inspire you marketing themselves successfully, it might be tempting to try to recreate what they’re doing… or even copy them a bit. The problem with that? (Other than the whole copycat part) Their branding wasn’t designed to market your business.

Sure, that popular Instagram account with hundreds of thousands of followers is doing a great job building an audience and selling their products. But is their ideal audience the same as yours? Are their values similar to yours, and do you have the same business goals? Probably not. Using branding that worked for someone else doesn’t mean it will work for you.

Your branding should promote what your business does, what it stands for, and who you are. If you have a fun and creative business, dry and dull text and muted colors probably won’t be you. Or, if your services are a bit more professional and serious, colorful designs and casual copy may not feel natural. 

Your branding will best serve your business when it’s customized to exactly what you do and who you want to serve.

Are you building a brand that thrives, attracts your ideal customer, and successfully promotes your business? We can help you assess where your branding is on point and where there’s room for improvement and growth.

Try The Brand Audit to discover how to elevate your branding and make sure it’s accomplishing what it can and should for your business!