Establishing your foot in the market is a tough task. When you want to grow your market but fail to do so you begin to lose hope. Like you, there are several other entrepreneurs that want to know how to frame a strategy that works.
As they say “A Brand is not just a logo, website or a business card, it is an experience”. Well, I totally agree with these lines. Branding and its complexities are very wide. You should know what precautions you should take while building a brand name. If people like you, they will listen to you, if they trust you they would be happy to be your customer. This is the magic of branding.
Trusting is a very important factor in building a brand as it helps in people knowing you and it develops trust in them. Being an entrepreneur, building a brand is not easy. It takes a lot of skill, hard work, and a little luck.You have to be careful at every step you take and have to be a little cautious.
Starting an online business begins with filling a need and building credibility. There are some factors that go into making your online business a smashing success and some inaccuracies which you should avoid while constructing a brand. I have listed out 10 mistakes which definitely you should avoid.
No Plan of Action
Before you get an idea to build a brand you must have a plan of action and formal business plans to make your brand a success. Planning beforehand to build a brand helps in the growth of business. Making a strategy and proper approach is essential to take your brand to the heights. The plan should be proper with well-driven proofs, to make it a hit. Give your brand some time to organize and plan an array to make it your success story.
Zero in too much on little things
Steve Tobak, founder of Invisor Consulting, a business strategy firm, and author of Real Leaders Don’t Follow: Being Extraordinary in the Age of the Entrepreneur says “First, you need to get the business off the ground”.
Focusing on little things such as how your logo of the brand looks, how your business card looks, or other such little things which are not required to give your emphasis on. Try to focus on larger perspective rather than giving a thought to this stuff.
Giving bigger thought to money
Well, money is just a number when it comes to building a brand. You should focus on building a high-quality brand rather than focusing on making money. Do not think about branding as a way to put your name out there by just focusing on being famous or making money. Initially, you don’t have to focus on making money. Slowly and steadily you will reach success by keeping quality and making goodwill as the main factor.
Be a copyist to other Brands
If you are starting a new company, you tended to copy or mimic other brands business by taking their ideas or using it as a medium to their own business. Well, I would say a big no no to this. As while creating a brand you have to be original and new. These things attract your customer first.
Customers are very intelligent, they know, who to choose and which brand will give them more benefit. You really have to bring out your original and fresh idea while building your brand. The success of others should not be viewed as a blueprint because what works for one company, won’t necessarily work for others.
Not checking Results
It is possible to become so focused on building a brand name, that you sometimes forget to check in and see the results. Utilize analytics tools to find out how you appear to others. This can save your time and money when you quit using techniques that aren’t successful. Focusing on the outcome and the results will make your brand more upright.
Lack a clear vision
“A question all startups should ask themselves is, ‘what do I want to be when I grow up?’ Aspirations drive decisions organizationally. You need to be clear and definite when you are planning your brand and where you want to take it in future. A clear mindset and vision help you to achieve that what you are hankering for. If a startup can’t envision where they want to go, they can’t make smart decisions to get there.
Fail to choose a good Brand name
You have to be a bit clever when you are choosing a good brand name. A unique brand name helps in deciding your next step. And when a customer doesn’t know about your brand but knows just your brand name i.e. he only knows you by your name. If the name is unique he wants to inquire it further. So, it is the foremost thing which you should focus on. Your brand name should be quirky, extraordinary, noteworthy and more such types of adjectives.
No backup Plan
When you are starting a new plan, be it a business, project, new home, new job or anything; you need to have a backup plan.
As we have discussed it earlier that why you need to have a proper plan before starting up with a new brand and how it helps you further. If a plan fails, be ready with a backup plan which you consider as the next best option.
Neglecting to invest in Brand Development
It is impractical to say that startup companies have a huge amount of money to invest in advertising, marketing, and publicity. Well, let’s be real, developing a brand story and pushing it out are two different things. Startups should make their focal point on the former one rather than the latter one. In developing a brand, it involves more than just marketing which includes sales, advertising, decision-making and more.
Fail to Google yourself
Google is the first search engine, everyone uses first. Have you tried to Google yourself recently? Well, you should do! A large mass of people uses Google as their first search engine and any new thing they hear, they first try to Google it and type in your brand name to inquire more about your company and other details. Now, being on the top of the search list you can create a huge impact on them.
One only tries to open the first link. By keeping on top of the highest search result hits, you can be one step ahead, and ensure that there is no embarrassing or incorrect content connected to your brand name.
Business online presence is important to build up your brand. So why would you compromise your company’s integrity by making avoidable mistakes? By now, you should have got that there is no specific formula to build a brand but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t certain thing that business can do to help the process.
Here, I want to share the potent line of Steve Forbes which says “Your brand is the single most important investment you can make in your business”
Some of the brands that have failed a big time by not avoiding these mistakes!!
Mc Donald
The year’s most upsetting new mascot happened to come from one of the world’s biggest marketers – and was aimed at children! “Say hello to our friend, Happy!” said McDonald’s of its toothy new Happy Meal mascot. Instead, many ran screaming.
Mac Donald’s have been around since 1950’s, slinging hamburgers, fries, milkshakes, Happy Meals; a brightly-colored oasis for busy parents, kids, families, and workers-on-the-go to get something to eat. 40% of Mc donald’s profit comes from happy meals. The trouble was that nobody goes to McDonald’s for sophistication, they go for convenience.
Samsung
The Samsung story is not new to anyone. Samsung had an explosive year. You know you have a disaster in your hand when it started affecting customer safety and that what happened with Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7. Due to overheating many devices got burned and leading to customer’s life in danger. Nobody could have thought that a mobile phone could lead to this.
Crystal Pepsi
In 1992, PepsiCo attempted to enter the flourishing “new-age beverages” market with its clear, caffeine-free Crystal Pepsi. The company promoted the product as a healthy and pure diet beverage. While sales over the first year were a strong $470 million, many of the purchases were likely due to curiosity. Not only were consumers not convinced by Pepsi’s health angle, but many cola-drinkers expected a darker beverage. Many customers also felt it tasted just like an original Pepsi.
These brands are of top quality and even then they’ve failed or not worked extremely well. By either doing some silly mistakes or not tried to cope up with the competition or just being very ordinary.
By taking these brands as an example, you should avoid these dumb moves. Buying a vanity toll-free number is a proven way to build your brand.
