Branding is essential to growing a business, but how do you know you’re doing it right? I’m sharing my 6 biggest branding mistakes and how to you can avoid them.

So, are you making any of these branding mistakes? If so, I’ve got you covered with my expert solution.

Let’s get your branding on track!

1. Ditching Your Branding and Going Rogue

I know it can be tempting when a gorgeous new font is trending, or your mood changes and you’re really into a look that is dramatically different from your current branding. But ditching your branding all together without a plan can be disastrous for your brand. Followers will be confused by the change and will get a sense that your business is in SOS mode.

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If you’re looking for a change, try subtle changes like color tweaks, a streamlined logo and new brand photos. See my post on How to Prepare for Your Brand Photo Shoot.

2. Not Being Consistent Across All Platforms

If your branding on Instagram looks completely different than it does on Pinterest and Facebook, you’re not going to build brand recognition. Even if you don’t regularly use all of the social media platforms, it’s important that all of your profiles use the same brand colors, logos and that they all are communicating your brand message in a uniform way.

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Review all of your social media accounts and update the profile image and cover image to reflect your branding. If you have old posts that are no longer relevant to your branding, archive them.

3. Not Utilizing Your Branding Assets

If you’re ignoring the assets that were created for your brand, what might the reason be? Are you unsure how to use the assets? Do you not like the assets you have? Most of my clients are confused about how they should use the branding assets I create for them, which is why I create a Style Guide at the end of each project.

If you have a color palette for your brand but you’re only using one or two of the colors, think about why this might be and how you can start integrating all of your branding assets into your marketing.

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Keep a branding board for your brand printed and taped to your work area. This will remind you to stay on brand with everything you do.

4. Not Being Relatable To Your Audience

Perfection is so last year. Real is the new word of the year and even brands like CVS and Aerie are striving to be authentic in their branding.

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Instead of only sharing the good things that are happening to you, try sharing the things that you’re struggling with. When I shared my story about how my business almost failed, I heard from so many people that could relate and were inspired by my story.

5. Showing Up Only When You Want to Sell

This is a huge mistake that brands who are struggling to grow make. It’s really important that you engage with your audience by adding value with tips, advice, support, blog posts, free downloads, comments on other posts and most importantly sharing your brand story. Showing up just to sell a product or service never works.

Read my post on the ultimate way to tell your brand story.

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Follow the 80/20 rule which is to make 80% of the content you share NOT about promoting your service or product directly. An example of this could be sharing an interesting post from a news site on your Facebook business page or offering a free tip on your Instagram page. Then 20% of your posts should be directly about your business – go ahead and promote it!

6. Using Cheap Branding

Using sites like Fiverr and 99designs that offer dirt cheap logos will do nothing to help your business, if anything it will actually hurt your business. If you only have a tiny budget for your business, stick with a brand design that is clean, simple and minimal. It will be easier down the road to refresh your brand if it’s very basic to start with.

Read my post about how to tell if your logo is hurting your business.

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Consider investing in hiring a designer to create a custom brand for you or look for a premium premade brand that reflects the vision you have in your head.

Visit my Brand Shop to see my collection of one-of-a-kind premade brands.

Conclusion

Branding can be a tricky thing for business owners. Getting it right can be a matter of a business failing or succeeding. I hope these tips have helped clarify some of the mistakes that can be made with branding.

I’m over here rooting for you and your beautiful business!

What do you think of this article? Do you have any questions for me? Ask me in the comments box below!