11 Branding Mistakes to Avoid [2023 Edition]

Why do you think people go to McDonald’s or Burger King when they want to eat a burger? Is it because they make the best hamburgers? Or is it because you immediately think of these companies when you think of burgers?

The truth is, these companies have become synonymous with the word “hamburger”, and all thanks to their brilliant branding campaigns.

Of course, they did not turn into such noticeable brands overnight. It took years of hard work, creativity, and a few mistakes along the way. (Yes, even big companies like McDonald’s have had their share of mistakes!)

Since it’s impossible to avoid branding mistakes sometimes, let’s take a look at how you can minimize them, so they don’t hurt your business.

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11 Branding Mistakes to Avoid in 2023

1. No Defined Brand Strategy
2. Inconsistent Branding
3. Lack of Brand Guidelines
4. Not Defining Your Target Audience
5. Copying Competitors
6. Using Confusing Images
7. Writing a Weak Copy
8. Contradictory Tone of Voice
9. Making Changes Too Soon
10. Starting Out Without Defining Your Business Values
11. Leaving Your Brand Unmaintained

1. No Defined Brand Strategy

You should not start a war without a clear strategy, and the same goes for a brand. A well-established brand identity means that you know the values and vision of your brand.

This also implies that you have delved very deeply into your niche, and have obtained a full understanding of the market, your competitors, and its overall landscape.

In simpler terms, here are some actionable tips towards defining your brand strategy:

• Do industry research
• Perform competitor analysis
• Create buyer personas
• Define your business goals

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2. Inconsistent Branding

One of the biggest branding mistakes you can make is to be inconsistent. It would be quite confusing to your audience, if your website has one appearance and style, but your social media profiles have a completely different vibe.

Such inconsistencies can not only turn people away from your brand, or make them perceive it as not too serious, it can also lower your credibility, and the chances to turn people into your customers.

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3. Lack of Brand Guidelines

Speaking of consistency, brand guidelines are the glue that can help you hold your branding together through establishing clear rules.

Brand guidelines include a lot of things, like your tone of voice, font and typography, images and visuals, logo placement, writing style, etc.

The best course of action to avoid unsuccessful branding is to create an internal branding style guide. You can then use that to make sure there aren’t any irregularities or weird changes, and when you are in doubt, you have something to fall back on.

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4. Not Defining Your Target Audience

Another one in the list of common branding mistakes is forgetting to define your target audience. You see, if you do not know your audience, you risk reaching the wrong people, and that could result in a lack of sales.

In order to find your target audience, you need to establish their demographics, psychographics, and a few other factors. Think about the interests of your target customers, their age, location, income, pain points, and so on.

All this information will help you craft better advertising messages, reach them with personalized offers, and spark a more meaningful conversation.

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5. Copying Competitors

Trying to copy what your competitors are doing, instead of thinking of something creative for your own brand, is not a good business practice.

Furthermore, people will recognize the similarities, and acknowledge that you are just a copycat.

Additionally, doing so will not help develop your brand identity, and will position your company as generic, and uninspiring.

Of course, it is easy to be tempted to copy someone else’s strategy, especially if they are successful, but do resist that urge, as it will not do you any good in the long run.

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6. Using Confusing Images

Visuals are really important. It is even more important to use the proper imagery to represent your brand.

Again, consistency and relevancy is essential here. Otherwise, your followers might get confused, and confusion is bad for business.

This means you should pick such icons, colors, fonts, and images that viewers are already familiar with, so that they don’t just become confused by the messages you are trying to convey.

Also, be careful when selecting your visuals, as they should align with your brand’s values, products, vision, etc.

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7. Writing a Weak Copy

Nothing can match the power of words. One of the most crucial branding mistakes to avoid is writing a weak copy, or not giving your copy enough respect.

You must understand that the copy you write can greatly increase your chances of converting customers, as well as engaging existing ones.

Text is a great tool to tell your story, develop your brand identity, and persuade your readers to do business with you. Ultimately, never underestimate the power of a great copy, as you will only lose if you do so.

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8. Contradictory Tone of Voice

The tone of voice is an element of branding that companies often forget about. Yet, it is equally important for your overall brand presence as an inconsistent brand voice can be just as ineffective, and irritating, as the other mistakes mentioned.

Whether you pick a serious, humorous, or any other type of tone of voice, make sure you keep it consistent across all channels of communication. The goal is to make customers feel like they are interacting with the same person or company at all times.

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9. Making Changes Too Soon

Once you have an established brand, you might start thinking about rebranding at some point in the future. Of course, there is nothing wrong with changing things up a bit, it is even good from time to time. You do not want to become boring or stale.

However, a common branding mistake is acting too quickly, which is something that can hurt your business. After all, when you are known for your logo, slogans, designs, voice, and so on, people might react badly to a sudden change.

This is not even taking into account whether or not your new look or messages could be worse than the old ones. They might even be better and more suitable, however, the idea here is that people typically require time to adapt to changes.

It is always better to take a more balanced approach, and introduce new ideas little by little.

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10. Starting Out Without Defining Your Business Values

Something most established brands share is that they all have strong business values. This is closely related to branding, since knowing the purpose of your business helps to craft and develop a better branding presence.

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11. Leaving Your Brand Unmaintained

A brand is not something that you do once, and then forget about it. Maintaining as well as updating your brand is as important as the initial effort you make to create it. This is, perhaps, one of the biggest branding mistakes.

Even the greatest, most successful brands need to innovate from time to time, in order to keep up with the trends, and stay relevant. As we mentioned in one of the previous steps, though, be careful not to update your brand too suddenly, or too often. Balance is key.

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Summary

It is inevitable to make some mistakes when developing your brand. What’s important though is to be aware of what might go wrong, and what to do when it does. This will help you to avoid branding mistakes that could potentially ruin your entire business.

Perhaps the biggest mistake you can make in terms of branding, though, is thinking that branding is not crucial. It is.

More often than not, it is your brand’s identity that makes the sales, and that draws in customers. Make no mistake about it – you can only grow so much without proper branding.