We're not here to lecture you. If you're reading this, you probably already know that how your business is perceived (aka your brand) is one of the most crucial assets your business has — which is why you're not wanting to muck it up.
But, as with anything, there are pitfalls that can easily trip us up along the way.
That's what we're going to talk about: the lessons learned from cautionary tales and how to sidestep those costly blunders so you can make your brand and business do what it's supposed to do — snowball its trajectory into abundance.
Let's get into it.
11 Lessons Learned from Branding Mistakes
1. Consistently Be Consist.
Everything from your logo design, to the words on your website, to the tone in your social media posts and your engagement after a purchase, if not consistent and cohesive, can cost you big time. When your logo design varies across different platforms or your messaging lacks a cohesive tone or you're customer experience is lacking, it becomes challenging for your people to truly see, hear and connect with you.
How to Sidestep this Mistake:
Create rules for your brand that help to ensure that you are consistently applying the essence of your brand across all channels. This may be a lot so start small; think of your brand and business as though it were a human being and use that insight to direct how it moves and expresses itself:
- What do they sound like when they talk and how are you making sure that voice is consistent across every effort?
- What's important to them and is it clear in what your brand is saying in its social posts, ads, website, etc.?
- What would they wear? (Using your brand color palette.)
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2. Be of Your People
Hate to say it, but it's true: your brand and business are not about you.
At all.
It's about your people.
They are the hero of your brand's story.
Everything you do is for and revolves around them.
Failing to understand your people, or target audience, can lead to a failed brand.
Your brand is the expert support and guide that your audience looks to for solving their problem(s). By using market research and knowing your customers' needs, you can develop a brand and business that effectively engage and excite your people.
How to Sidestep this Mistake:
Map out a customer feedback loop so that every time you make a sale or fulfill a service you know exactly how your people felt, what they loved, what you can improve upon, and what you can innovate for the future.
- Set it and forget it:
- Create an email autoresponder — Some systems like Wix do this for you automatically when you have your website and store hosted by it, but if you're using Hubspot or another platform, you'll need to create an email that automatically responds to anyone who buys from you.
- Build a feedback survey — Create it using Google Forms (for free because we're all on a budget out here), and then link that form within your autoresponder email.
- Learn From Your People — Watch the responses in your form results and see what resonates most with your people. See what you can incorporate to make things better and better over time at a pace that works for how your business operates.
3. Thinking Your Logo is Your Brand
Your logo is part of the face of your brand, and making poor logo design choices can harm your business' reputation. It takes an average 10 seconds for us to decide how we feel about a brand during our first engagement. This is why confusing color combinations and super complicated logo designs makes it difficult to be understood and remembered — ultimately hindering how your people see and perceive you.
On top of that, a logo that can't go from being on a T-shirt to a tiny keychain will also limit your brand's visibility and impact since it can only be shown in very specific ways and only on specific mediums.
How to Sidestep this Mistake:
Honestly? If you can swing it or save up for it, invest in a professional brand design that represents your business' essence and can be easily recognized and scaled across various platforms (i.e. is your logo hard to read on packaging because it's got too many letters, words, or symbols on it to be sized down without losing quality? Do you have layout variations so that your logo can be easily recognized regardless of off its horizontal or vertical? etc).
- If this isn't the right time for an investment like this, and you're not a creative yourself, get a designer friend/family member or creatively inclined colleague to help you keep things clean and clear.
- A bit of a creative yourself? Use Canva to help get your brand logo started and even fine-tuned. Then create adaptable versions of it so that it can easily be shown on large marketing items like bags to smaller pieces like tokens, etc.
- Tech savvy and loving using AI for marketing? Or maybe you want to try it out for the first time to see how it goes? Fiverr's free logo maker is a fun place to start.
4. Overcomplicating... Well, Everything.
Complex logos and brand designs are a double-edged sword. On one hand, you want a look and feel that pops and gives the people all the visuals that they expect and instantly fall in love with.
On the flipside, these same complex designs tend to spark a slew of challenges when it comes to translating itself across platforms and mediums, thus getting your business lost and easily forgotten.
How to Sidestep this Mistake:
Simplicity is key.
Period.
I know we just talked about this, but it's literally that crucial.
Focus on creating a design that is clean, clear, and easily understood regardless of what it's being displayed on or for. Here's a good preliminary checklist to run your brand designs through:
- How is the scalability of your logo? Can it be easily understood for packaging materials, product labels, vendor collateral and more without losing its impact?
- Think of iconic logos like Nike's swoosh or Apple's bitten apple. Is your logo and brand design as clean and clear so it can be just as instantly recognizable?
- Is your brand mark or logo easy to read? Can people quickly make out what it is and what it means?
5. No Versatility
We talked about overcomplicating, but that doesn't mean there should be a lack of versatility.
It's actually the opposite.
Your logos (yes, plural) and brand visual vibe should be one that is easily adaptable. Let's not let a lack of versatility limit your brand's potential — invest in a design that can seize opportunities for you by being able to shine on your new product's glass bottle or excite your people on merchandise you're launching soon.
How to Sidestep this Mistake:
Again, say it with us now: simplicity is key.
Refer to your brand framework (i.e. values, vibe, voice, etc.) and then use that to get into what colors and design rules align with those.
For example, if your brand framework has focuses like...
- A dark and moody business for bitters that go into craft cocktails, you'd want your versatility to stick to more serious colors with 1-3 variations or combinations and 1-2 brand patterns that you can easily transpose onto products, packaging, website design and social content.
- A bubbly and bright juice production company could have more color palette variations and patterns that can be assigned to a different array of purposes that are paired with the key benefits of their juices, thus reinforcing their visual vibe while clearly showing how they impact people's lives for the better.
6. Messaging is Meh
Not that you have to be bouncing off the walls with energy and enthusiasm or obnoxiously in your face, but your brand's voice and word choice will always get better results when it sounds:
- As human as possible
- Like the embodiment of your brand (refer to your brand voice/tone and if you don't have one, you can easily put one together here)
- Authentically energetic vs faking it
Bad brand messaging can be detrimental to your small business. When we confuse our people, we lose them. So let's not do them with messaging that doesn't attract, engage and delight.
How to Sidestep this Mistake:
In the words of now problematic Aladdin's Genie: Beeeee yourself. That's the key. You are unique. Use it to your advantage and share your perspective on how you do things, how you do it differently and why.
The key is you. So dig into your take on things and use those gems to set your messaging apart. The more you lean into your perspective and flare, the more you'll attract the people you were meant to engage.
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7. Tone and Voice is All Over the Place
This goes back to being consistent, but specifically when it comes to brand voice. When you go back and forth between tones and voices in how you talk on your website, to in person as a vendor at an event, to your blog, and everything else in between, it'll be harder for your people to know which version they should trust — let alone be able to truly connect with.
How to Sidestep this Mistake:
Keep things clear and consistent by studying your audience. Check out their responses and add what resonates most with them into how you voice and express your brand.
Keep things simple and easily understood by focusing on clean and clear word choices that can be quickly understood vs confusing and requiring more explanation. Think caveman. That simple. All while being authentic, human, and reflective of your brand's essence.
9. No Clear Positioning or Differentiator
To stand out, having a clear cut positioning statement is IT. We've seen how clients and other small businesses are skiddish about looking at competitors. That's fair. Comparing against someone else and how they do things can be seriously uncomfortable.
But it's necessary.
This is how you can identify how you're different and OWN it. Think of it this way, we can all eat right? So the goal isn't to outdo or undermine another business or brand; the goal is to simply know your context in the market and use your uniqueness to dial up what makes you different. We may have similarities as human beings but we're not all the same. Use that to brighten and polish up your shine so it gets bigger, faster.
How to Sidestep this Mistake:
Take note of what those in your space are doing, not to copy, but to make it easier to highlight YOUR unique qualities and craft a compelling value proposition to your people.
Last thing: failing to show your uniqueness can leave your people feeling disengaged and uninterested. Because then you're just like everybody else why should your people pay attention to you? By crafting a captivating brand narrative that resonates with your people, you will create a strong emotional tie and easily build brand loyalty, faster.
10. Copying Competitors
Don't you fall into the trap of mimicking your competitors; you'll lose what makes you, well, you. It's good practice to keep a pulse on what others in your space are doing, but you never want to lose yourself in others.
By imitating what others are doing, you miss out on playing up your brand's individuality. With how fast everything moves and is vying for everyone's attention, your originality is going to be one of the biggest drivers of your business' success.
How to Sidestep this Mistake:
So, rather than copying what others are doing, focus on what sets you apart and use that to create a truly standout brand presence that your audience can't miss.
By using a solid research method to keep tabs on your competitors with a sole focus on you and how to identify and expand on what makes you different, you'll be able to keep the competitive anxiety at bay and make business moves with more confidence.
11. Lack of Storytelling
This one can be hard. Not everyone is a natural writer or storyteller. Some of us simply suck at it, and that's honestly ok.
However, you also cannot deny the need for a brand story — it's pretty much the heartbeat of your business, the soul that breathes life into what you offer. Storytelling is not just about words on a page; it's about creating an emotional connection, painting a vivid picture that captures the essence of who you are and why you do what you do.
Your story should evoke emotional affinity, spark curiosity, and leave a lasting impression that sets you apart. Whether it's the journey of how you started it all, the values that drive your mission, or the impact you make on the people you serve, storytelling is the thread that weaves your brand into the fabric of your audience's lives.
How to Sidestep this Mistake:
Don't underestimate the power of a well-told story. It has the ability to captivate, inspire, and ultimately convert casual observers into loyal advocates.
Here's how you can design your brand's story yourself:
- Read Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen
- Do our Brand Framework Workbook (which includes the StoryBrand method)
- Hire a copywriter from Fiverr, Upwork or another platform to help you get your story streamlined and compelling.
By avoiding these common pitfalls, you can keep your brand and business clear on what it is, how it solves problems and its invaluable impact on the community of people you're trying to resonate with.
Remember, your brand is not just a logo or some colors or even your website; it is the essence of your business that sets you apart. Invest in developing a strong and cohesive identity, and you will reap in the rewards of increased recognition, fan loyalty, and profit growth.
