The importance of branding can’t be stressed enough. Knowing the dos and don’ts of branding, on the other hand, helps every brand owner to save a lot of time and money. The Dos of branding include;

Simplicity.
Less is more. Your logo, tagline and other brand identifiers should be simple and unique. Often times, details are lost in the vagueness of logos or even the tagline. As a brand owner, all that’s needed is a simple, short and precise tagline that captures the soul of the brand and a logo that’s simple and the true representation of your brand.

Consistency.
Making changes on some aspects of your brand is fine but don’t overdo it. The customer needs to feel secure with your brand. But if you keep changing, say, the logo, it becomes hard for potential and old customers to find your products or even identify your brand among many others. Consistency also stretches to the quality of products and services. Customers are your best marketing agents, and so, if the quality of your products and/or services is compromised or keeps changing, then their views and feedback about the same will change. As a brand owner, you don’t want to be the brand that no customer can identify with. And customer loyalty can only be built or ensured by being consistent.

Ease.
Let it be! After you’ve done everything you can to develop a great brand, sit back and give time, time. Short cuts might be more appealing or even a great idea but they are like quick sand and they will definitely sink your brand to the bottom. Haste, haste is no blessing. So, take your time, diligently and patiently building your brand and the right customers will come to you.

The above guiding principles can only work effectively if the don’ts discussed hereunder are adhered to. Indeed, you’ll find that it not only builds an even greater brand but also ensures that the vision and strategic plan of the brand is not compromised.

So, the most crucial Don’ts of branding are;

Wrong influencers.
Often times brands choose influencers based on the wrong reasons and that becomes detrimental to the brand. The influencer ought to share the brand’s vision or at least the ethos of the business. That way, they know how to best represent your brand without costing it. Vet them carefully before choosing them to represent your brand.

Vague Taglines.
Keep it short and simple. If the tagline doesn’t portray your business’ goal on its own, then that implies that you don’t have a particular target group in mind. If that tagline can’t be remembered, maybe, it’s time for it to be revised. We’ve written a detailed post about taglines, you can read it here.

Large logos.
Again, keep it simple. An abstract logo might be appealing but your potential customer might not have the time to decipher the message your logo is trying to portray, so you might want to make it clear and relatively small in size. Remember It’s a logo, not a billboard poster.

Forget about the hashtag bandwagons.
Trendy hashtags might get your brand noticed, but that could also be, in a negative way. So you have to choose what your brand sides with, very carefully or your brand might get cancelled.

Your brand speaks for your business long before your product does. And so, you need to ensure that every single touch point of your brand is on point or at least good enough to send the intended message to your intended customers. By following the guiding principles discussed above, and avoiding the common mistakes, you should be, on your way to building an excellent brand.

Blog Post by Golda Abesiga (On behalf of Nymy Media)