3 Surprising Things About Branding That Prevent You From Growth

Posted by Cucumber Helen |

Branding is a discipline. As you are, most likely, well-aware, branding is not about the looks – it’s about the narrative. But what if you already have the looks and the narrative, but the brand is still not “sticking” in your customers’ minds? Does this mean that you need a brand refresh?

Not necessarily.

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Let’s look at these 3 surprising and dangerous branding blind spots, that could be preventing your brand and your business from growing.

1. Poor Branding Strategy

One of the most common mistakes small businesses make is jumping to design their brand materials before having their branding strategy in place. It’s totally understandable that when you start a business you have so many things on your plate that you can’t think of every little detail that needs to be implemented. That being said, as your business grows, this part needs to be reviewed and re-aligned if necessary.

Let’s see if your branding strategy needs tweaking: 

  1. You know exactly what your company stands for (why do you exist?).
  2. You know why your customers buy from you (how are you different?).
  3. You have 3-5 values for your company and you actually are living them.

If you answered “yes” to all of the above, then you are on the right track – congratulations!

2. Weak Branding Execution

You will be surprised to know that some companies that decide to rebrand may not need the actual rebrand. Oftentimes, we blame the logo, the colours and the fonts for poor brand recognition. We say – if my brand was more beautiful and more unique, then my potential customers would definitely notice me and buy from me.

While, naturally, we believe in beautiful, unique branding, we also noticed (over the last, almost, 10 years in business) that sometimes, the brand itself is not the problem, the execution is where the issue lies.

What do I mean by branding execution? 

Let’s see if this may be your case. Here are a few signs that your branding may not be the thing to blame for poor sales performance:

  1. You already have a brand book that outlines your company’s mission, vision, purpose.
  2. You have your fonts, colours and visual direction identified.
  3. You have a slogan and a tagline that reflect what your company stands for.
  4. Your “about us” page on your website reflects your values accurately.
  5. Your logo was done professionally and it doesn’t look that outdated if you compare it to your competition (even though you may not love it completely, as you’ve gotten used to it over the years).

If you answered yes to all of the questions above, you may just need to review your branding execution, not the actual brand itself.

Here are a few tell-tale signs that your branding execution might be the reason why your brand doesn’t “stick.”

  1. When you look at your social media feed (e.g. Instagram), there are no brand identifiers clearly visible (i.e. this feed might as well belong to your competition, you can’t tell the difference).
  2. Your website doesn’t excite you enough (i.e. when you look at your website copy and your brand book, there’s a huge disconnect in how you present your company).
  3. You struggle with creating engaging marketing campaigns (i.e. you are not sure how you can engage your target audience, so they participate in your giveaways or promos).
  4. You simply don’t know what else to talk about on your blog or your social media – it feels you’ve said it all already over the years.

3. Inconsistent Marketing

This one tags along with the point above – branding execution. If you have a poor branding execution strategy, the chances are you also have inconsistent marketing efforts.

Let’s check if I am wrong: 

Do you feel like you are publishing content consistently (for at least 3 months), but are not getting any results? How about the four points above? Do you see yourself in them?

Conclusion:

Outcome #One // Your brand has to go. 

If your branding execution is solid and your brand strategy is clear, and your marketing is consistent, but your customers are still not getting onboard, then perhaps it is time for you to refresh your brand indeed. It’s time to reconsider if the brand promise you are putting out there is still relevant to your target demographic. Brand refresh it is!

Outcome #Two // Your brand just needs some TLC. 

If your brand strategy is clear and still relevant, but your brand execution or marketing are lagging behind, then your brand just needs some lovin’. Refresh your marketing instead and you will see how your amazing brand will be revived to its original glory in no time!

Are you on a branding crossroad of your own? Give us a shout or stop by our marketing agency in Vancouver – we always have chocolate.