The brandscape is rife with snares for marketers who are spread too thin to notice when elements of their communications are off target—or worse—send a crippling message.
Here’s a sampling of the top 5 offenders we’ve recently noticed and how to fight them:
1. Giving cheap swag with your name on it.
There’s a pen on my desk that was a gift from a local company. While the pen looks quite nice, the roller ball is scratchy and the ink flow is rough. Every time I use it, the brand name emblazoned on it reinforces who gave it to me. It leaves a negative feeling that has been repeated numerous times.
Branders: throw that junk away, then buy smarter. It’s better to give away fewer, better-quality items than to hand out schlock.
2. Being unresponsive to your own social media.
Many companies seem to think (and I’ve heard it said) that social media is for pushing out messages. No. Social media is meant to be a social conversation. Those who don’t monitor their socials for being tagged or receiving comments—both positive and negative—are leaving someone’s outstretched hand un-shaken.
Branders: set up notifications for your owned social channels. Set up Google alerts on your company. Pay attention and respond quickly so your audiences feel valued and heard.
Don't allow brand missteps to be a poor reflection on you.
3. Not following up on leads and inquiries.
Shocking. Yet I’ve heard this complaint many times: a prospective customer calls or emails but never hears anything back. I’ve even seen marketing emails that were responded to—and still no follow up from the sales person when the prospect replied.
There’s no excuse.
While many industries currently have plentiful work, or even more work than they can handle, that’s their good fortune. But tides can change. No one wants a reputation that they don’t care and are unresponsive.
Branders: you’ve spent money to drive inquiries. Make sure that investment pays off. Be sure multiple people are monitoring all your inbound channels for efficient response. The phones, the website forms and the info@YourCompanyName emails all need prompt attention.
4. Partnering with misaligned brands.
It can be tempting to collaborate with other brands or influencers who have great popularity. But these unions are a train wreck waiting to happen if values or image don't align with those of your own brand. A mismatch can confuse—or worse, alienate—your audience if the partners are controversial or could go off the rails in a rant.
Branders: apply the yardstick of your company’s values, mission and vision against those attributes of the brand you’re considering as a partner. Review your brand standards document and the customer personas you’ve developed. Don’t try to force a match that doesn’t exist.
5. Not thinking mobile first with your website.
When is the last time you looked at the analytics on your website to see what people are doing on your website—and on what device they’re doing it? Though some types of customers or clients in certain industries naturally come to your website through their desktop, you may be surprised to see how many are interacting with you on their phones. Forms go untested for use on a phone. Images look wonky. Navigation that looks great on a desktop is challenging elsewhere.
Branders: Look at your bounce rates. Monitor how people are using your site and start implementing the changes that make user experience great. Start designing based on how things will look on a phone or tablet first, then translate that to a desktop experience.
A strong brand image requires meticulous attention to detail.
Branders: you must take the lead in your organizations to make sure the image you’ve worked so hard to build is protected. Conducting regular audits of communications, as well as internal processes with sales, IT, operations and others will ensure your brand is poised to prevail.
For more ideas on brand bad practices to avoid like the plague, read our article A Dear John Letter to my (former) favorite brand. If you need help with innovation or a fresh marketing strategy, call Martha direct at 785.969.6203 or
Photo credit from Unsplash: Mirror and paint can—Mick Haupt • Girl with mirror—Vince Fleming.
