4 Common Branding Mistakes Businesses Make (And How To Correct Them)

Branding is challenging for most business owners, and one of the reasons most businesses don’t achieve the success they desire is because they don’t create their brand identity correctly. Not all branding is effective, and some of it is even detrimental.

Branding is more than just a logo and other visual elements of a business. And companies can have the best logo but still not have an effective brand. A brand is successful only when every touchpoint a customer has with the construction business remarkably represents that brand. Consumers make the brand based on how they feel about you, and branding is how you create that feeling.

In this post, we wanted to share some common branding mistakes businesses make so that you don’t have to suffer making them yourself.

#1 Being inconsistent.

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A company needs to ensure its branding is consistent across all marketing materials. This includes everything from the logo, tagline, website, and all other marketing collateral. Always refer to your brand guidelines to ensure that all of your digital pages and posts are aligned branding-wise.

Inconsistency in the form of mixing the identity of two different brands. - If your company has multiple brands, you're going to need to put a lot of time and effort into making sure they all work together well. This means having a clear plan for each brand's image and then making sure that your actions match up with those images.

Inconsistencies across digital channels. - Social media is a great way to connect with people, but you have to make sure you're presenting your audience with the correct information and following any brand guidelines. Even the contents in your website and social media posts - the message you relay to your audience and following brand guidelines can help correct them.

#2 Not understanding the target market.

Many construction companies are not aware of the importance of having a clearly-defined target market.

• Audience demographic information helps companies develop engaging content that their customers or clients want to read. If you understand what type of customer you want to target, you will know how to brand your product in a way that appeals most to them. This is key for the successful branding of your company.
• You can also use psychographics to understand more about the target market - what platforms do they use? what are their likes and dislikes? It would be difficult to find clients/customers in a saturated industry. It is important to research the target market as it is part of the brand strategy process and understanding their pain points and providing the solutions - not only providing the aesthetic visuals of the brand.

Understanding your competition is essential, but it's equally important to know customer personas and consumer trends. For example, if your business caters to young couples in their 20s and 30s who have just bought their first homes, you will be missing out on many possible customers if your branding looks outdated.

#3 Not taking enough time in deciding for their brand.

Another common mistake businesses make when it comes to branding is going overboard by incorporating too many elements at once. This could mean adding too many design details to a logo or creating a tagline that is two sentences long. While it can be tempting to add as much as possible to your branding, resist the urge.

Keep in mind that your branding goal is to guide your customer down a clear path and convince them that they want to take the next step in the buying process. Brands should be consumer-centric. It's important to look at your product through the eyes of your customers and focus on their needs. You want your customers to recognize your brand, but that recognition turns into a headache when you add too much information. Adding too many elements to your branding can lead to confusion and could hurt your brand.

#4 Not researching on competition and industry.

Some brands are so recognizable that you don't need to tell people what they are or do. You've probably seen plenty of these brands, and you may even know the names without being able to remember where you've seen them. They're the ones that have successfully set themselves apart from the rest in whatever field they are in because their branding is just on point.

When developing the branding for your business, you can check what your competitors are doing. However, we strongly suggest that you think of something genuinely original unique to your business. If you simply copy what everyone else is doing in your industry, you will only be a "me too" business—a generic construction company with no brand identity.

Don’t have time to do it yourself? Luckily, you can have us, and we’re ready to help you out. You may reach out to us, and let’s talk about how we can develop a brand that connects to your target audience and generates leads for your business.