From Our Sponsor: Mistakes to Avoid When Building Your Small Business Brand

When you think about a distinctive brand, you probably have a few popular and well-known companies that come to mind such as Nike, Coca-Cola, or McDonald’s. As a small business owner, you might not have the same resources and funds as the larger businesses when it comes to branding, which can leave you feeling overwhelmed and at a loss when it comes to what to do to create a strong brand of your own. The good news is that you don’t need to invest thousands in a branding strategy to stand out. Understanding common mistakes that small businesses make when branding and how to avoid them is a great place to start. 

Doing it All Yourself

Many small business owners underestimate just what goes into creating a brand. Many believe that all they need to do is create a logo and choose some colors for a website, but the truth is that your brand is much more than just what’s on the surface. Doing it all yourself can sometimes leave a lot of room for error, but the good news is that there are experts and branding companies out there that work with smaller businesses for a reasonable price. You can find helpful resources on digital branding from Main & Rose here. 

Skipping Brand Guidelines

You know that your business needs a strong brand, but what exactly does that involve? When you create a strong brand identity, you need to have clear, defined guidelines that cover all of the basic elements plus any others that are relevant to your business and industry. For example, you’ll need to define a brand logo and other logos that are used by your company for individual product lines, your brand colors and how and when they appear, brand fonts and typography, brand images, brand voice and more. 

Overcomplicating Your Brand

Sometimes, a very simple brand can often be the most effective option. If you think about the brands that are the most well-known in the world today, most of them don’t have a huge number of things going on or different colors. When building a brand, you might be tempted to keep adding more things to it, but the truth is that less is more

Being Inconsistent

Finally, your branding needs to be as consistent as possible across all channels. This will ensure that you are successfully building a strong brand that is memorable and recognizable. One of the main reasons to create strong brand guidelines is so that you have something to use whenever your branding appears in any setting, and deviating from your brand guidelines means that your branding is likely to lose some of its power by essentially introducing a new brand image to your customers rather than presenting them with the one that they know and recognize. 

Building your own brand as a small business owner can be daunting, but the good news is that you have many tools available to help you build a strong brand on a budget. Keeping these common mistakes in mind and taking steps to avoid them will help you build the brand you want for your business. 

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