Branding: Best Practices and Mistakes to Avoid

Business owners and entrepreneurs can make costly mistakes.

One of the most common mistakes businesses make is being consistent in branding.

Example: A flooring company has billboard ads and banner ads on search engines. They also advertise in local newspapers and they have their web site.

They do a great job of advertising across markets, but the look, feel, even the coloring of each ad is different. The company has a logo, but they don’t use it in every ad, and some ads have colors that clash with their logo colors.

Make sure your ad colors compliment your logo, and always use your logo.

 I would say to always use the same font as well, but definitely do not use multiple fonts in the same marketing piece. Be consistent, branding is vitally important whether you have a small business, are an entrepreneur, or even if you have a coaching practice.

Have your logo displayed on all advertising. Hire someone to develop a new logo for you if you don’t like what you currently have. Don’t keep a bad logo because you are afraid of rebranding.

Do you not have a logo because “nobody can create what I want”? What’s behind that? Are you a bit of a perfectionist? Maybe you need to let it go. Give the designer free reign to develop something. And don’t automatically say no to everything. Get the opinions of employees, friends, even customers before you say no.

Once you have your logo, keep the colors the same and use complimentary colors on everything you do. Coloring is as much a part of branding as the logo. The more you make everything the same, the more people will start to recognize your particular brand.

Branding is essential to any business.

The top three things an entrepreneur should know about branding are:

1. Be consistent. If you have a logo, put it on everything you do. Your logo should be on your web site, your business cards, brochures, and your underwear. If you don’t dream about your logo when you sleep, it’s not on enough stuff.
2. Be consistent. Us the same colors for everything. If your logo is black and red, black and red should be the main colors on your web site, brochure, etc. If that is not the case, start to redesign everything now. As disappointing as that may sound, it will be easier to do it now than later.
3. Be consistent. If you have a professionally designed web site, you should have a professionally designed business card. The look and feel of all your marketing materials must be the same. Your branding won’t work if your web site looks fun and child-like while your business card looks like it’s from a professional, 3-piece suit company.

Did I repeat myself there?

Start your branding with a professionally designed logo. Make sure the colors and look convey how you want your business to be perceived (fun, professional, casual, child-like, etc.). Once you have the logo down, everything else will be easier.

Dr. Ty Belknap, Port Bell SEO

Contact us if you need help branding or rebranding your company.