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Photo: Alexander Storozhuk, founder of PRNEWS.IO | Source: Courtesy Photo

PRNEWS.IO Founder Reveals Five Brand Awareness Mistakes To Avoid

Every business owner wants to increase brand awareness. Here's a look at five common branding mistakes and how you can avoid them.


Branding and creating brand awareness are among the most challenging aspects of marketing. At the same time, they are very effective tools for building a loyal audience and ensuring your company is the most recognizable entity and top of mind for prospective customers. This means they will often choose your products or services ahead of competitive offerings when the need arises.

There are common mistakes business owners and marketers make that often ruin their chances of increasing brand awareness. Here’s a look at five common mistakes and how you can avoid them:

 

1. Poorly defined branding elements

Without first defining your visual identity, your brand awareness efforts will never have the desired effect. Some companies make the mistake of trying to promote a brand before visual elements have been clearly defined. This makes it hard to target customers and build a recognizable brand, even after they’ve interacted with your company before.

Consider all the elements that go into your visual identity. Ideally, this includse a logo, a slogan or tagline, specific colors, fonts, and graphics, and a ‘voice’ or ‘tone’ that customers can easily recognize. In some instances, a mascot or spokesperson can be included. Define all of these element before launching your brand awareness campaign.

 

2. Missing brand clarity

Branding offers businesses the most potent way to communicate and connect with customers. When you are not clear about what you want to communicate, effective branding cannot be achieved. Vague branding is counter-productive. Using catchphrases such as superior, exceptional, and best-selling doesn’t really work. While catchy, they are often overused. In fact, most consumers are so used to these words they mean almost nothing to them.

Photo: Nik MacMillan, Unsplash
Photo: Nik MacMillan, YFS Magazine

You have to do better than the average marketer if you want to build brand awareness. Your slogan or tagline should tell your target audience something about your brand that differentiates it from the others. You should be able to communicate what you offer and your values.

 

3. Failing to dig deep

Marketing to everyone is one of the easiest ways to fail. This is another branding mistake many marketers make. While the goal is to make a brand as popular as possible, there is a need to dig deep and target the right people.

When creating brand awareness, it is better to focus on a target audience. Dig deep to identify the people that should matter to your brand. These are individuals who will benefit from your products and services. This will not only improve efficiency, but will save you a lot of money in the long run.

 

4. Poor content strategy

Content marketing is still one of the best ways to connect with consumers and keep your brand relevant. Without a comprehensive content strategy, your branding efforts will not get optimal results. Publish valuable content on a regular basis –– a nearly impossible feat without a clear content strategy.

Content strategy starts with planning. Content calendars with 30-day intervals are often effective. A solid strategy will help you to be consistent and can increase brand awareness.

 

5. Rebranding too frequently

Rebranding may become necessary from time to time. This doesn’t mean you have to do it frequently. Rebranding is only meant to keep your brand fresh and innovative. Doing it often, however, will dilute your brand. Frequent rebranding will even confuse loyal customers.

Rebranding should take a long time to happen. Don’t overhaul everything at once, as that will essentially mean starting your brand awareness journey all over again. A minor tweak at a time will give your brand a fresh look while keeping the brand image and equity intact.

 

Build a better brand

Brand awareness is important for many reasons. It is one of the most effective ways to gain brand recognition. There are common brand awareness mistakes to avoid. I’ve outlined the major ones and hope this brief guide will help you make the right branding decisions and reap the full benefits of increased brand awareness.

 

Alexander Storozhuk is a serial entrepreneur who has launched several online tools in the marketing and PR industry, and founder of PRNEWS.IO, a service that helps customers increase worldwide online media visibility. Alexander has also launched a knowledge-sharing house that consists of workshops and learning courses with a focus on journalism evolution, open education, and professional development.

 

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