Irrespective of whether you are a brand or not, as a business do you not crave a deeper connection with your customers? While there’s no denying this it takes a lot more than what we just measure out through our periscope. Therefore, we have summed up the 8 biggest personal branding mistakes that you must begin avoiding to stop hurting your business.
Creating a personal brand that can reflect and truly share who you really are and what you stand for requires thoughtful craftsmanship.
Is your brand capable of appealing to your target audience? Are they able to trust your genuineness? Do they stay or get repelled? What are they talking about you?
There’s so much more than just having a fancy website and a logo for branding. They are not enough to define your brand. As a matter of fact, the process of creating a true personal brand which is trusted as well as loved is intimidating. We end up making mistakes that instead of helping, they begin to harm our business. Hence at Big Brand Tree, we have made it our goal to help you build your own unique personal brand. As a brand owner, you must avoid the following eight mistakes to set yourself apart from other companies and competitors.
Set Yourself Apart—Avoid These 8 Biggest Mistakes
1. Thinking I don’t Need a Brand
Whether you like it or not, everybody desires to be associated with brand(s). Consequently, this makes developing your business as a brand all the way more necessary. Never consider having a website and a logo is the end of branding. It is just a beginning because post developing your website and a logo every communication and experience that you have to offer to your clients or potential customers have to be brand perfect. They will eventually shape your brand. Define your brand with clarity. Create positive brand communication and experience because otherwise, all your marketing efforts in pursuit of growing your business will go in vain.
2. Copycat Branding—The easy way out
Certainly getting inspiration from top brands or your top competitors is ok but imitating them is not. Ultimately it will win you the title of copycat brand. Remember to get inspiration and then to innovate. Until you don’t take steps to differentiate yourself you won’t be able to make space of your own brand. Accentuate what makes you unique, unmatched, and why you are a better choice than your competitor. Subsequently, other businesses will start taking inspiration from your brand. Create your own signature, products, and message to claim your own spot.
3. I don’t Have to be Authentic
Are you just dressing up to be something that you are not? Are you utilizing all unauthentic means and ways just to attract customers? Are you just pretending?
Deep down if you find the answer to these questions is yes, you are taking a dress-up approach. Remember, no one can pretend for long. Today, authenticity is more important than ever before in marketing. If your messages, marketing, and your all other efforts to acquire customers are honest and transparent, you can easily build trust. Above all, a brand must be genuine. Your efforts as well as your brand messages should always be consistent and aligned to your brand personality.
4. Keeping Consistency Aside
Consistency attracts more followers because nobody likes a brand that changes its promises or brand messages with every communication. The best example that we can mention right now is Apple (Inc.). You should be very clear in every communication because it will reflect your true values, principles, and personality. Whether you are writing a blog post, eBook, social media post, or ads, they should all provide a consistent brand message.
5. Not Generating Own Unique Content
The definition of marketing changed with the evolution of the internet. It is no more limited to traditional methods. Hence, content marketing!
The world is hyperactive on the internet and so are your target customers. They expect to see you active there. Moreover, content marketing helps you develop leadership in your industry. The more you share your stories and thoughts, the more visible you become to your fans. It strengthens your relationship with your followers as you gain more trust.
Your content should be unique to your brand so that your fans can experience your brand’s personality and voice. Try sharing articles, stories, blogs, tips, checklists, guides, etc., with consistency for content marketing efforts.
6. No Specific Niche of Your Personal Brand
Although, it might be tempting to capture as much of the market as you can but it is significant to define your own niche and consequently your target market.
Do not confuse your customers as your brand will face a hard time attracting the right kind of customers who you want to serve the most. Display what you do best and target the respective market. Don’t jump into a different niche which is not your expertise just because you see opportunities there.
7. No Love and Care for Your Tribe
Identify your tribe! They are a group of people who have developed an unconditional love for you. They are connected to you. In other words, they are your raving fans. You must take consistent efforts to grow your bond deeper with them. They act as your brand advocates because they are the ones who will tell the world how amazing your brand is.
Give your tribe special attention and treatment. Love them, give them offers, or share advance notice to them for upcoming offers.
8. No Ethics, Quality, or Professionalism
The internet reveals all as it keeps everything about you on its timeline. Including your glory as well as your mistakes.
When a prospective customer researches about you before buying out your service or product, they might find out your bad reviews or customer stories. Pay special attention to how you communicate with your customers and how you handle a customer who approaches you with a problem. Watch your appearance, your language, and everything that goes into the public domain such as social media.
Make yourself humble. Display that your brand is built on ethics and professionalism is one of your principles which you are never going to compromise.
To sum up, your brand image is not just your website and logo. Keep these into the core of your branding strategy. Eventually, you will feel good about your efforts when you are building your brand. It is a wise decision to regularly check your existing strategy and efforts so that you don’t end up hurting your brand.
Help your brand grow! Don’t harm it.
Do share your take and any mistakes that you realized and corrected while crafting your own brand.
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