7 Small Business Branding Mistakes That Send Your Customers Running
DISCOVER THE MOST common branding and marketing pitfalls as a new(ISH) business owner!
Have you recently ventured out from the corporate world to start your own business? Or perhaps you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or small business owner and are niching down or pivoting your business model? Whatever trajectory you’re on, you have an audience! They might be small and mighty, but they’re there, watching and waiting for you to guide them. Your obvious goal is to convert them into paying clients or customers, right?
In order to convert them, you have to know WHO they are and HOW to speak to them. Moreover, you need to know who YOU are, WHAT your business actually IS, and have laser-focus on HOW you will spread your message. So without further ado, let’s dive into 7 things you might already be doing that are confusing your target market…
Mistake #1
using different iterations of your business name from location to location
Nobody trusts a business owner who appears to be having an identity crisis! If your business name is Boss Lady Accounting (totally made up name!), then your website URL should be exactly that → www.bossladyaccounting.com. It shouldn’t be www.ladybossaccounting.com or www.accountingbosses.com.
Before you solidify your biz name, make sure your URL is or will become available. It’s simply a lost opportunity to not have your URL match your biz name. Heck, if you’ve really got your ducks in a row then it’s worth investigating domain names before solidifying your business name. Why not approach it from a holistic point of view?
Furthermore, your social media handles and Facebook business page or group names should all match or at least be an iteration of your business name. It’s ok to have some spin-off iteration of your business as it applies to, say, a Facebook group or page name. Consider hyphenating your group/page’s name to include your business name at the end. Using the Boss Lady Accounting example, a Facebook group or page name that is titled “Savvy Lady Accounting” is pretty confusing and doesn’t make your audience aware of the connection to your specific business. Shifting the nomenclature to something like, “Savvy Money Makers - by Boss Lady Accounting,” or “Boss Lady Accounting’s Savvy Money Makers,” not only gives your page or group it’s own unique identity, but also circles back on the specific connection to YOUR business.
Mistake #2
using different LOGOS from location to location
(Not to be confused with using primary and secondary professional logo iterations.)
Just to be clear, this no-no applies to using completely different versions of a logo…Say, a couple different DIY’d versions. It’s completely OK to DIY your logo and branding if you’re just getting started, but the trick is to stay consistent!
One of the best aspects of working with a professional graphic designer is that you should be getting multiple iterations of the same logo style. I repeat…The same logo style. If you’re using a square iteration of your logo in one location, say, on social media…But then a horizontal iteration on your website, then it should be 100% clear that both logo versions represent your business. This is the key to strong branding—Consistency!
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Attract your ideal audience with these branding tips.
Mistake #3
using too many different bio photos or headshots in your marketing
Had a great photoshoot recently and want to show off more than just one headshot? Do it. My little eye (and yours!) can spy photos that are “on brand,” as in, matching photos from the same photoshoot.
Our eyes spot the subtle similarities of lighting, hairstyle, clothing, and overall styling. Our brains translate this visual message as being cohesive and professional. As a member of your target audience, I’m not confused by seeing you look slightly different from one social media location to the next. I might not know you personally, but I know what you look like and I can recognize you.
Just as with using the same “style” of your logo, the same goes for your headshots. We’re scrolling through dozens (let’s be honest—Hundreds!) of posts a day on social media. If you’re trying to capture my attention and get me “in your tribe,” the easiest way to confuse me is to look completely different from one platform to the next. I’m not going to recognize your message and will therefore scroll right past, not even realizing the value of the amazing content you’re sharing—All because I don’t recognize you!
Of course not everyone can afford to hire a professional photographer and that’s 100% OK. There are some simple DIY tactics to looking “on-brand” on a budget:
Take multiple photos at the same time. Don’t just snap one selfie and call it a day! That lacks professionalism, quite frankly, and makes your audience think you don’t care. Have a friend, a spouse or even a selfie-stick do the shutter pressing for you. Knock out several photos in one sitting, that way you’ll have many to choose from and cycle through, yet they’ll all “match.”
Take photos the same time of day. Natural light is the best light. But whatever time of day you are able to snap some headshots, keep it consistent. Similar lighting in your photos is a simple way of making your photos appear cohesive.
Stick with the same hairstyle. Don’t be a blonde on Facebook and a red head on Instagram. If I follow you in all. the. places. then I should be able to recognize you from one platform to the next.
Dress in the same style from photo to photo. That’s not to say you should wear a uniform! Have fun with it, but if glam squad is your deal, then that’s the look you should keep up with across all channels. If you’re super casual and laid back, then keep that vibe across the board. Don’t be a buttoned-up Facebooker, yet a ripped jeans + concert-T-wearing Instagrammer. You’re whole vibe should match that of your brand! Remember, it’s always about consistency.
Mistake #4
using a different “voice” from location to location
AKA - copy, text... YOUR WORDS on your website, your social media, your email list.
Position your brand’s voice the same way across the board. Don’t talk all millennial to me on your IG and then get all professional and corporate in your emails. Stay consistent! Talk to me the same way you would if we met in person. Remember that websites and blog posts that are written from a more “conversational point of view” actually rank higher than corporate-y formal copy.
Mistake #5
changing your services and offerings on the daily, weekly, or even the monthly
Listen. I get it. Online entrepreneurship (if that’s your thing) moves QUICK! Adapt to the algorithm or get left behind.
However, you should adapt by revising your marketing strategy not by revising your products or services. If you’re a brick n mortar biz owner, this might already be obvious to you. But you wouldn’t open a floral shop one day, sell a few flowers and then decide you’d get more customers if you sold books, right? Many service-based biz owners pivot so frequently because it’s so easy to do in an online world.
But think of it from the florist customer’s perspective...If they’re walking by your shop one day expecting to buy a bouquet of roses, but find themselves staring at shelves of new release books, they’re going to think the shop owner had a major identity crisis!
Establish your industry first and foremost BEFORE you start building your business plans and MOST DEFINITELY before you visit branding and marketing.
Narrow in on your industry, stick to your script, and just Put. In. The. Work.
Mistake #6
inconsistently pricing your offers
Nothing confuses a potential customer more than seeing different pricing associated with your services or products across the interwebs. To that point, your service offerings should be obvious once someone lands on your website or any of your social media touchpoints.
I challenge you to take a deep dive into ALL of your social media channels and review your service or product listings. If I land on your Instagram page, is it obvious to me as a first-time viewer what it is you actually offer? If I’m viewing your website for the first time, is it completely apparent at first glance what it is you DO?
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve chatted with a potential client only to have them direct me to their website, which leaves me having to ask them what they do. Don’t get lost in the details…Remember to focus on the whole before the pieces.
Mistake #7
getting caught up in logo design and branding before you actually have your business plan together
Nothing screams “cart before the horse” like deciding you want to start a business and then immediately diving head first into a logo and brand design. It pains me to say that as a logo and brand identity designer... trust me!
And if I’m being totally honest, I know about this first-hand because I’ve done this before. I’ve taken on branding projects where there were several red flags that “the business” was more of a romanticized fantasy than a developed business WITH a business plan. And, sure, it was fun to create some fictional brand, but that’s exactly what it was—Fictional—because there were no business building blocks in place prior to design. It was all for nothing.
As a business owner, if you dive in too soon with branding, you’re either left with branding that doesn’t match the needs of your market—OR—worse, you end up pivoting your target market to fit your premature branding, when it should be done the other way around.
Branding needs to be intentional!
You need to know WHO your ideal customer is, envisioning them as one person, with likes and dislikes, with a job, with a skillset, with a certain style and who has a life that abides by their schedule. You need to be clear on what resonates with that ONE person? You can’t start with a logo or branding until you have that “customer avatar” all sorted out.
If there’s only ONE thing you remember from this post, it’s that your business is NOT for YOU, it’s for your AUDIENCE! I know, It’s a tough pill to swallow, but the best way to put your needs above your customers’ (which you know by now is a no-no) is by creating a logo and brand identity design that meets your OWN needs and NOT your target markets’. Hands down.
Remember that nobody is perfect and even if you realize you’re committing some of the above faux pas, don’t fret. Just remember to stay “consistently consistent.”
#ProgressOverPerfection, friends.
