Protecting Your Brand Identity from Day One
Strong branding is something that can help launch a new business to success. Without it, companies can struggle to stand out from their competitors.
Branding for small businesses, and large, should be a central focus- especially when first starting.
Here are some of the most common mistakes new companies make when building their brand and some tips for staying on the right path.
If you want to learn more about what a leading professional branding and marketing agency can do for your business, reach out to PGN today.
Branding VS Marketing: Knowing the Difference
In a nutshell, branding is your company’s identity, and marketing is how you communicate your brand and services with your customers.
Marketing strategies can be used to drive sales, but branding is what lets people know who you are as a business.
High-quality branding benefits your marketing tactics because it helps people identify you quickly and easily and better understand your message.
5 New Business Brand Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
1: Diving Into Branding Without Clear Marketing Strategies
Branding and marketing may not be the same thing, but they tie very closely together.
If you launch a new business with good-looking branding that doesn’t share the same tone as your marketing, it can confuse and alienate current and potential customers.
Trying to design your brand without marketing in mind can lead to a lot of wasted time and effort- especially as a new business.
That said, you should prioritize finalizing all branding before launching any marketing tactic.
How to Avoid This Branding Mistake
Before you think about branding, consider what tone and message you want to send as a business.
Think about what type of marketing you want to use and what message you want to communicate, then use it as inspiration for your branding.
2: Thinking a Logo is All You Need
There is no denying that a logo has a unique value in terms of branding and is a crucial part of building brand identity. That said, it is not enough on its own.
Logos work well for social media profiles and other quick views. Still, without cohesive branding across a website, through marketing campaigns (email, newsletter, posted ads), and in client communications- it is little more than an image.
How to Avoid This Branding Mistake
Once you have your logo, use it as a point of inspiration for further branding. It is a good idea to tie color schemes and other visual choices to the logo for a stronger overall image.
3: Underestimating the Importance of the Target Audience
One of the things that matters most to a new business is connecting with its customers. When new businesses forget about their target audience when designing their brand concepts, they make this a lot harder than it needs to be.
How to Avoid This Branding Mistake
Make sure there are conversations happening about who your audience is and what they respond to. The more your branding appeals to your target consumers, the more likely they are to pay attention to your business and its marketing efforts.
4: Being Inconsistent with Branding in Marketing Efforts
Marketing campaigns can go down many routes, and a mistake new businesses often make is forgetting to keep the branding consistent across different channels and ads.
Larger businesses struggle with this too sometimes as their company grows and changes, but customers don’t have the inside scoop and can only go off of what they see. The more consistent a brand identity is, the more easily it can gain trust and recognition.
How to Avoid This Branding Mistake
Create a style guide complete with brand concepts for all marketing plans. Make this your brand bible, and refer to it whenever you plan a new ad or campaign.
Compare any new efforts with existing ones to ensure an identifiable connection and flow.
5: Forgetting or Failing to Use Polished Visuals for All Branding and Marketing Campaigns
A common mistake new businesses make when the design branding is using low-quality images, unprofessional videography, and unpolished visuals.
One of any business’s core values should be delivering high quality in everything they do. If someone doesn’t take the time and effort to pick and polish strong, clear images for their brand campaigns, how can customers trust them to put in effort for them?
How to Avoid This Branding Mistake
Pay attention to the quality of the visuals you use. If you don’t have the budget for professional photography and videography, look for alternative graphics you can use instead until you have money to invest in your photo and video branding.
A Few Top Branding Tips for Small Business Owners Just Starting Out
- Bring personality into your branding: From the business name to the colors on your website- every branding choice has the power to tell people more about who you are and how you operate. Showing personality helps to build trust and get people talking- and makes your company unique.
- Test the waters and get feedback first: Come up with a few ideas and get honest feedback from an audience whose opinion matters- a.k.a. your target customers and people likely to need or want your services.
- Remember that brands evolve: Being consistent matters, but that doesn’t mean you stay the same forever. Brands must adapt and evolve with their audience and competitors without losing what makes them, them.
- Seek help from branding professionals: Budget is always a focus as a new business owner, but some things are worth the investment. You can find high-quality, cost-effective branding solutions through dedicated agencies such as PGN.
Final Thoughts
Branding is more than a marketing tactic. It is the first impression of your company and plays a central role in immediately telling people who you are as a business.
Investing time and money in creating strong branding as a new business is a crucial step for success in the long run.
At PGN, we know first-hand how crucial branding is in the early days of a business. Competition is fierce in most industries these days, and the companies most likely to succeed are the ones that are smart about brand identity from the start.
If you want some extra guidance on branding and marketing as a new business owner, give our team a call- or check out our blog for plenty of great branding tips and insights straight from professionals!
