7 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Building Your Online Brand

Your online brand is one of the most important assets of marketing. It promotes your business through different advertising means and distinctive design. Not only does it leave a memorable impression of your business in the minds of potential consumers, it also sets expectations for them. 

That said, branding mistakes are easy to make and can be detrimental to your business since your online brand is one of the most important marketing assets. This article will look at 7 common mistakes you should avoid when building your online brand. 

1. Not clearly defining your target audience

Your business needs a clearly defined target audience to market products and services to. Without knowing who you’re selling to, you’ll encounter trouble when creating strategies to push new products and introduce services to your catalogue. 

A good start to your online brand building is to conduct research and determine who your potential customers are. By bringing your business online, this may potentially create new audiences for your business so it is crucial to define your new target audience before you start your online brand building. 

• What is the age range of your target market?
• Are you selling to a specific demographic?
• What geographical areas will you be selling your product to?

These are just some of the questions that you should ask yourself when starting out. Ensure that your brand appeals to and resonates with your target market.

2. Not centering your brand’s purpose

Your brand’s purpose should be the driving force for all marketing material. Losing your brand’s purpose during your online brand building stage will result in brand misalignment. 

This may potentially alienate your existing loyal customers. Keep in mind the purpose of why your business exists in the first place. When bringing your branding online, the central purpose of your brand should guide and remind your customers why you offer these products and services. This helps to build their trust in your brand which is beneficial in the long run. 

3. Using complicated and low resolution images

In an era when every piece of information can be obtained quickly, visuals are just as important as what you offer. Avoid using complicated visuals and low-res product images that would drive potential customers away. 

Powerful brands have been built with memorable visuals created specifically for Top-Of-Mind Awareness (TOMA) so that they will be remembered by potential customers. 

4. Failing to stand out

Bringing your business to the internet significantly increases the number of business competitors you will face. Failing to build a unique brand may result in potential customers losing interest or not being interested in the first place. 

Stand out, define your focus and develop your brand’s personality with customised graphics and impressive copywriting. In a world filled with monotonous brands, uniqueness and authenticity is a breath of fresh air.

5. Losing your online persona

The success of a branding strategy relies predominantly on communication. Whether or not you’ve communicated your brand message and presence effectively will determine your brand’s reception to your target market. 

You’ve already determined who it is you’re trying to sell to, the next step is to know how to converse and connect with them, only then can you convince them to buy what you’re selling. 

Once your brand launches online, open communication channels through social media and enquiry forms on your website. Make sure you respond to each message with a consistent tone to manage how your online persona is perceived by your customers.

6. Not consulting a social media specialist

Contrary to what most companies believe, social media isn’t as simple as posting weekly updates. There are a variety of social media platforms to post your contents and each platform requires a different strategy. 

To give an example, your millennial-majority Instagram audience will focus on visual contents. This makes it difficult for you to appeal to your LinkedIn audiences using the approach.

Fortunately for you, good social media specialists possess the know-how to appeal to every target demographic in every available platform. Additionally, they may even have good ideas on how to provide content that matches your brand!

7. Not documenting your brand strategy

An online branding strategy, as the name suggests, requires careful planning and thinking. As such, everything that’s ever been discussed, suggested and implemented should be recorded. 

In the event a campaign you run succeeds and you wish to replicate it, you’ll need to have documentation of everything that was done to make it a success. This includes meeting minutes, brainstorming sessions and research history, to name a few. 

Without a properly-documented brand strategy, you’ll end up missing out on useful information and statistics. Data is useful in tracking your brand image and campaigns online. It can be the basis for making adjustments and improvements to your branding strategy or large-scale changes if necessary.  

Avoid mistakes & build your online brand’s strategies with Verz Design

Verz Design has helped over 3,000 active clients from a variety of industries. With our branding consultation services , you can rest assured that your business’ market and brand strategies are in good hands! Contact us for a free consultation and we’ll let you know if your business is eligible for the Enterprise Development Grant.

The EDG is a government grant aimed at helping SMEs adopt capability boosting initatives supporting up to 70% of the qualitying project cost. At Verz Design we undertake projects under the 3 pillars covered by EDG – Core Capabilities, Innovation and Productivity & Market Access.

Looking to improve your business’ online branding? Verz has your back! Give us a ring at 6841 1680 or email us at [email protected] for a free consultation!