10 Branding Mistakes You’re Probably Making (And How to Fix Them Fast)
You’ve likely heard that “branding can make or break your business”, and it’s true, but really, branding can make your business feel real, interesting, and relevant to your target customer, or it can do the opposite. Strong branding not only increases brand recognition in a competitive marketplace but also builds trust with potential customers and turns existing customers into loyal advocates. Industry giants like Apple and Nike attribute their success to having a powerful, recognizable brand.
The thing is, establishing a branding strategy and setting brand guidelines isn’t a “one-and-done” process, and as your business evolves, so does your brand. Over the years, we have seen businesses make branding mistakes that could have been avoided by doing market research or choosing the right branding agency.
We’ve compiled a list of 10 common branding mistakes businesses consistently make and offer strategies for avoiding them.
Mistake: Failing to Understand Branding and How It Can Harm Your Business
Branding is an art and a science, and some business stakeholders prioritize the art of branding over the science. Before creating your brand strategy, you need to establish the core mission and value of the business and let those factors guide your branding decisions.
Branding decisions should be backed up with market and competitive research. The data you gather will help you better understand your target audience and how your business compares to its competitors. Without the proper data to inform branding decisions, you could be making choices that don’t align with the values and preferences of your customers. We’ll dive deeper into market and competitive research in the next section.
Let’s use color and brand typography as examples of how branding combines art and science. Color can influence how people feel about a brand on a subconscious level. In North America, blue hues are associated with dependability and security, while orange is associated with creativity and energy. Selecting colors that don’t align with your brand or target audience could send the wrong message to potential customers.
Typography can also impact how people connect and engage with your business. Two of the biggest considerations when considering how to select fonts for your business are legibility and visual appeal. If the typography isn’t legible or arranged correctly people won’t understand the message you are trying to communicate. It’s important to \match the visual appeal of the font with the perception you are trying to convey. Some fonts convey a more serious, formal tone while others covey a more elegant and sophisticated tone.
It's important to understand why branding matters for your business and how all its pieces work together to share a clear message with your customers. Once you’ve got that down, become your brand's biggest advocate and ensure everything you do reflects a consistent message, no matter where or how your customers interact with you.
2. Mistake: Skipping Research and Data, Key to Branding Success
Market and competitive research is crucial when making decisions that affect your brand. Businesses should avoid making changes to their brand unless they can justify it through data.
Let’s look at an example. In 2010, the clothing retail chain Gap received heavy backlash from customers after changing its logo. The backlash forced the company to return to the old logo after only a few days. This situation could have been avoided if Gap had invested in research to determine how the change would impact their customers and how they felt about the brand.
The best way to secure market research data is through surveys, interviews, existing research studies, and social listening. Start compiling this data using your existing customer base then expand into the broader market. For competitive data, create a running list of your competitors along with their product or service offerings, marketing strategy, pricing, and any brand identity signifiers (voice, brand story, imagery, etc).
Simply doing research before making changes to your brand could keep your business from making a mistake that costs you time and money.
3. Mistake: Inconsistent Branding and the Lack of Clear Brand Guidelines
This is a mistake we see a lot of businesses make and it is something that can be easily resolved over time with proper training and oversight. Brand guidelines should be viewed as an investment that is valued like any other business asset. Once brand guidelines are in place, leadership has to advocate for their usage and educate employees on the importance of following them.
Ensure all employees can easily access the guidelines and all relevant assets including logos, typography, and colors. Provide quarterly reminders to existing employees to reinforce proper brand guideline usage. For new employees, you can add this as part of their onboarding process.
Branding goes beyond a physical store or website, it extends down to every aspect of the business. From business cards to flyers, you must consider every touch point your business has with its customers and ensure it meets brand guidelines.
4. Mistake: Ignoring Consumer Sentiments and Values in Your Branding
Over the past few years, consumers have increasingly scrutinized the business practices and ethics of the companies they buy from. Diversity, sustainability, and gender equality are some issues that consumers are pushing businesses to take a stand on, and if they don’t consumers will form their own conclusions. It is important to know what your customers value and the issues that matter to them.
According to Statista, nearly 54% of U.S. consumers felt more loyal to brands speaking up about societal issues. This percentage increases among younger consumers. Be proactive and start finding ways to make your business more inclusive through branding.
Consider reviewing your imagery to ensure it reflects people from diverse backgrounds, translating marketing materials into multiple languages, and optimizing your website’s design to ensure it is accessible to people with disabilities.
5. Mistake: Choosing the Wrong Branding Agency and How It Can Derail Your Business
If you don’t have an in-house team to build or refresh your brand strategy, then outsourcing the work to a branding agency is your best option. Branding isn’t a skill you can learn overnight and as a business owner you have so many other responsibilities that designing a logo and developing a brand voice isn’t something you should add to your to-do list.
Working with a branding agency that understands your brand vision and has a proven record of success is the fastest way to gain years of branding experience when you have limited resources.
Be sure to allocate enough time to research and meet with several different agencies to find the right fit. Ask for case studies, portfolios, and references so you can review examples of their work and the type of relationships they built with other clients. The worst thing you can do is rush into a partnership with someone who doesn’t understand your vision or can’t deliver on their promises.
6. Mistake: Chasing Branding Trends That Don’t Align with Your Brand Identity
It is always good to be on the lookout for the latest consumer and design trends. Whether that be the newest social commerce platform or the resurgence of ‘70s graphic design styles, these trends could align with your brand and delight your customers.
However, not every trend will make sense for your brand, and trying to follow the newest trends can diminish brand identity. Trends are often fleeting, and brands that constantly chase them can come off as hollow, lacking a genuine personality and long-term vision. Prioritize authenticity when deciding whether or not to incorporate a trend into your brand. Ask yourself whether or not the trend is something that your customers can relate to and if you can utilize the trend without compromising your existing brand.
7. Mistake: Not Conducting Regular Brand Audits to Maintain a Strong Brand Identity
As your business evolves, your brand’s look and feel should evolve too. Branding is not something that you “set and forget”. It needs to be evaluated and improved upon regularly to ensure that it still aligns with your mission and the values of your customers. It is recommended that you perform a yearly brand audit to examine the current state of your market, review customer feedback, and analyze competitor strategies to determine if you should update certain aspects of your brand or rebrand your entire business.
The brand audit is the perfect opportunity to identify outdated language or jargon that is no longer relevant to your customers or update visuals to ensure your brand is inclusive and diverse. Most annual brand audits will result in little to no changes but they can also serve as a refresher to the entire company on your brand guidelines and allow you to check that your branding is being used properly across existing business assets (website, social media, marketing materials, etc).
8. Mistake: Failing to Maintain a Consistent Brand Voice
Businesses should choose one brand voice and use it consistently across all their platforms. Using more than one type of brand voice can be confusing to customers and undercut the message you are trying to communicate. For example, if you use an edgy tone of voice on social media but the tone of voice on your website is more formal, it could turn off potential customers and decrease their trust in your business.
Additionally, your brand voice should align with your industry and the products or services you offer. Businesses that offer medical or legal services typically use a more professional or informative tone of voice, while e-commerce brands tend to use fun and free-spirited tones.
Sometimes businesses can go against standard norms when selecting their brand voice but you should ensure that your target audience is receptive to it and be mindful of situations where your tone could come across as insensitive or condescending.
9. Mistake: Overtly Copying Competitors and Losing Your Brand's Uniqueness
One purpose of branding is to stand out from your competitors. However, many businesses focus on copying or mimicking their competitors instead of finding ways to differentiate themselves. It is important to keep an eye on your competitors but don’t let all their business decisions impact yours.
A unique selling proposition (USP) is your strategy for telling customers why they should choose your products or services over competitors. This should be woven into your brand strategy and followed like a “north star” that guides and differentiates the brand among your target audience. Learn more about USPs in Shopify’s blog article, “Win Sales With a Unique Selling Proposition”.
10. Mistake: Inconsistent Branding Across Platforms Confuses Customers
Your branding should be consistently applied across all your platforms (physical locations, web pages, social media pages, business directories, etc.) and customer touchpoints, much like how a building’s exterior, lobby, and office spaces are designed to reflect the same brand and feel. This consistency helps establish brand recognition and builds trust with your customers.
Just like a building needs to follow specific architectural guidelines, different platforms have their own requirements for logo sizes and color options. Make sure to follow these guidelines without compromising your brand’s identity. Consider performing a quarterly audit of all your digital platforms to ensure everything is aligned.
And don’t forget, branding extends beyond your online presence. Just like the atmosphere in your physical space, customer service interactions and client meetings should also reflect your brand and meet your standards.
Steer clear of branding mistakes that can cost you time and money, and make your brand blend in with the crowd.
Your brand isn’t just a logo—it's the heartbeat of your business, the thing that makes you stand out in a sea of competition. It doesn’t matter if you’re kicking off a new brand or breathing new life into an existing one—it’s essential to first get clear on what your business stands for. What’s your mission? What do you value? And how does your brand capture all that? Don’t guess—invest in research and data to steer your decisions. Your brand should reflect the values your customers expect, and data helps you get there. Plus, don’t wait until something goes wrong—regular brand audits help you spot areas for improvement and make sure everything from your website to your marketing materials is on point and consistent.
