Never fall a victim to any of these branding mistakes

While committing mistakes is a part of growing up process, it’s a learning curve too.

When big businesses commit a mistake they already have a series of successful products, good sales numbers and a decent brand value to fall back on. Startups do not have such a luxury and any mistakes including branding ones could hurt their business potential severely.

Here are some essential branding mistakes best avoided for startups:

Not maintaining a target market

A common mistake many startups commit is to overlook their target market and try disruptive selling. As a startup if you do not have a long-term vision for your brand and plan to adopt a wait and watch mode, it may sometimes be too late. No matter how big or small your brand or product, always have a target market identified from the very start.

The worst thing a startup wants is to have no brand loyalty resulting in a brand which nobody can connect with. A target audience will always ensure you have brand loyal customers who are be able to connect with the brand and its future endeavor.

Ignoring originality

Brand creation is the core of giving a new business an identity and making it stand apart from the rivals and competitors. As a startup not offering adequate importance to originality in ideas for brand promotion can act as a roadblock. If you are likely to follow the same route as other brands without any original idea, the chances of making a breakthrough gets limited. Startups that embrace originality when it comes to brand promotion helps make them unique and different helping with brand establishment.

Deviating from brand identity

A good brand always maintains its brand identity. Startups often do not have fixed guidelines that cover all essential elements of a brand. Everything, right from the use of logo, to the brand colors and taglines, the fonts and images used should all be consistent with the broader picture of brand identity.

For example, if a brand has shortlisted two colors for its online promotions and suddenly switches to a third color, it means losing out on any brand equity. Startups may need to alter their marketing plans but the brand and the underlying brand identity should not be tweaked.

Unprofessional use of social media

Ignoring social media followers or picking up a fight with a potential customer or an existing one are sure shot branding mistakes committed by many startups. Ensure social media guidelines and etiquette are followed by your social media management team for a friendly and approachable brand development process.

Duplicating the rivals

At times the rival companies may come up with a smart and innovative idea. The worst thing a startup can do is to blindly follow the same trend and duplicate the rival organization. Trust your branding and marketing strategies and do not hop on and off compared to any rival or competitor.

Branding and marketing can make or break a business hence a balance needs to be maintained between taking calculating risks and avoiding common mistakes. Please share your views on the same.