Introduction

Branding. It's important, yet often overlooked in a business' strategy. A well-crafted brand is the cornerstone of any business and helps define its identity in a crowded marketplace. Whether you're a small business looking to stand out or a larger corporation trying to establish your image, here are seven mistakes people make when it comes to branding.

1. Branding is not just a logo.

A logo is simply one part of your brand, and it's important that you don't confuse it for the whole thing. Sure, you might have a great logo and color scheme, but if you don't have a solid brand story behind that visual identity, it won't be nearly as effective in communicating your brand to people. Branding is about creating an emotional connection with your customers and building trust through consistency. Your brand story should live throughout every touchpoint with customers—your website design, your social media content, even your product packaging—and all those things need to work together to tell the same story over and over again

Brand storytelling is often overlooked when companies are busy making sure they have everything else figured out first (like their website design), but it's important to remember that every piece of content on your site should be an extension of this story—and not just another way to sell something!

2. Branding is not a slogan or tagline.

When we talk about branding, we're referring to more than just a catchy phrase or an icon that represents your business. Branding is away of speaking and interacting with the world—and it's vital to the success of any company.

We get it: branding can seem intimidating at first glance.But if you think of your brand to communicate who you are and what you standfor, it'll become much easier—and much more fun!

We've all seen it: the company with a tagline that's supposed to be witty, or clever, but ends up just being confusing and kind ofannoying 

"Let's get cheesy!"

"We're the 'burb on the block!"

"We're not just an ordinary company."

The thing is, branding isn't about coming up with a slogan or tagline—it's about creating an overall impression of your company in themind of your customer. It's about how you make people feel when they think of you, and what they expect from you next.

It's why we say things like "There's more to us than meets the eye," because it implies that there's something deeper going on here; something more complex than just selling widgets. It also implies that there's something unique about our business model (because if everyone sold widgets, then there wouldn't be anything special about ours). And it gives people a sense of trust in us—they know that when they buy from us (or even just visit our website), they're going to get something different from what everyone else is offering.

That's what branding does: It helps people know who you are and what you stand for before they even interact with your product or service.

3. Branding is not a brand style guide.

This mistake is so common, it almost seems like a rite of passage for new companies. They'll get all excited about their branding, and then they'll try to make it into a style guide.

A style guide is for the people who are writing your website copy or creating product descriptions. It's for the people who are building your website and making sure it looks consistent with your brand, not for your customers!

If you want to make sure that your company's brand looks consistent in everything from product descriptions to emails, then you need to hire a designer who knows how to create an identity system—a set of rules thats how how each piece of your brand should look and behave on its own. This means that when someone starts working on a project for your company, they can look at the identity system and know immediately what fonts and colors are appropriate for that particular project.

4. Branding is not your online presence.

A lot of companies get this wrong, which is understandable—branding is the most important part of your business! But it's not the same thing as what people see when they visit your website or social media pages.

When you think about it, branding really boils down to one thing: communicating a consistent message about who you are and what you do.It's not just something that looks good on paper; it's also something that makes people want to buy from you (or at least stay interested in learning more).

So when it comes time to put together your marketing strategy, don't forget that branding isn't just what makes your company look pretty; it also helps you connect with customers on an emotional level.

5. Branding isn’t just about looking good.

It's a common mistake to believe that your logo, or color scheme, or font choice is branding.

Your brand isn't what you say it is—it's what your customer says it is.

Branding isn't just about the product: it's also about the experience of using your product. It's about how people feel when they hear your name, see your logo, interact with your website, and so on.

That's why branding is more than just pretty pictures—it's all the things that go into making a customer feel like they can trust you and believe in what you have to offer.

6. Branding is not just an advertising campaign.

Branding is so much more than that! Branding is about building a relationship with your customer base and ensuring that they have the best experience possible with your company. This means providing them with the information and tools they need to make an informed decision about whether your product or service is something they need. It can also mean giving them a way to communicate their feedback, concerns, and ideas directly with you.

In short: branding isn't just what you put on the outside of your business—it's how you interact with your customers both inside and outside of it!

7. Branding is not just for the big companies.

‍

When you're starting out, it can be easy to think that branding is only for big companies with deep pockets. After all, they have the resources and the budget to spend on high-profile marketing campaigns. But branding is important for any business that wants to grow and be successful.It's not just about telling people who you are; it's about telling people why they should buy from you. And if you don't know who your target audience is or what makes them want to buy from you, how can you expect to market effectively?

The best way to get started with your branding efforts is to identify what sets your business apart from the competition—what makes it special. What do your customers love about working with you? Do they appreciate the personal attention? The convenience? The quality of service? Whatever it is, that's where you should focus your efforts.

‍

Conclusion:

Overall, branding may seem like a mystical and nebulous task, but it all starts with the fundamentals. If you have a doubt about whatyour company is really selling, how your potential clients identify themselves or if you have been neglecting to do some research on your target market, then you might as well give up now. You're only setting yourself up for failure ifyou don't take these things into consideration.

‍