You have a brand you love, but something isn’t working. How do you get to the bottom of it? Start by making sure you’re not hurting your business with these branding fails.
1) No analytics.
If you’re not looking at your analytics—and tweaking your strategy accordingly–your branding and your inbound marketing strategy will continue to suffer There’s no excuse, either. All the major digital marketing tools you’ll use (social, email marketing, etc.) have built-in analytics features you can check out for no cost.
2) No integration.
Whether you’re talking about how your brand comes across in an email, how much engagement it sees on social, or how you talk to your customers when they call, none of your branding strategies exist in a vacuum. Your messaging, goals, and values should be consistent— and connected—across all your channels, or none of them will work well for your brand.
3) Your eggs are in one basket.
I can’t count how many times I’ve seen a client with an awesome email marketing strategy, but little or no social media presence (or vice versa). Your audience will notice if you are silent on social, or if you never send them an email [even though they gave you their address for updates years ago]. Remember: don’t just copy/paste. Different platforms = different strategies.
4) You set it and forget it.
You’ve got to engage with your customers to keep your brand afloat. The whole point of your brand is to attract and engage your ideal buyer with your business. So if people are clicking your site, using your app, or responding to your mail only to hear the sound of crickets, they’re going to be gone as fast as they arrived. A little engagement goes a long way. A “like” of their post on your page, or a response to their comment, shows people you’re paying attention— and that their input (not just their money) is valuable to you.
5) You’re chained to the desk(top).
If you are only designing your branding for people on a desktop computer, your marketing strategy has gone the way of the dodo (and your brand may soon follow). Don’t worry, it’s an easy fix! Making your online presence mobile-responsive is a huge step in the right direction, and will bump your engagement up, too. What’s not to like?
6) Be bold.
I know a freelance writer who spent hours writing the copy on her website only to be told it was flat and uninteresting. The problem? She wasn’t “mean” enough. What does that mean? She was coddling her customers and didn’t have a sense of urgency. Don’t make the same mistake in your branding. Yes, you want to respect your customers. But make it clear what their problems and pain points are, so it’s equally clear why they need you— and why you’ll solve their problem when others can’t (or won’t).
7) Too loose? Too tight?
You should be flexible and adaptable (keep it loose) when it comes to your branding strategy. But you don’t want to compromise the integrity of your brand by making too many changes too fast (keep it tight). In general, keep the big things about your branding strategy the same [look and feel, brand standards, target audience, values] no matter what the trends are. But tweak the little things [wording of campaigns, type of campaigns, offers, advertising medium] and figure out what works and what doesn’t
8) Unplug.
Many of our clients are shocked to learn that direct mail—remember mail?—is still a viable option for their marketing. Not only that, many customers (of all ages) prefer it. You have many customers that want to unplug and step away from their computer. Send them a postcard, an in-store coupon, or a birthday card, and watch your engagement grow.
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to have great branding (unless you work for NASA, in which case that might help). You just need to be vigilant, clear, and consistent when it comes to making the most of your marketing. Be sure to avoid the branding fails listed above and you’ll be on your way! For more information about ROI Amplified’s Branding Services click this link –> Brand Amplification.
