Do You Make These 7 Branding Mistakes as a Financial Advisor?

There are plenty of bases to cover before your company can be successful. You have to address issues like production, ad budgets, profit margins, sales channels, and capital acquisition. Once you find solutions to these problems, you can begin focusing on generating revenue and growing your business.Well, almost. There’s one more very important question to answer: How do you start a business without a solid brand?

Branding is an aspect that is often ignored or underemphasized by business owners. As a result, they often make mistakes which erode their position in the marketplace and adversely affect their bottom line. Here are seven of the most common branding blunders:

1. Failing to identify your core competencies. It’s hard to convince customers to patronize your business if you don’t know what you’re good at. Without any information about why you’re the best choice, you’re just another product on a shelf or business listing in the phone directory. But you can’t just make something up; if you make claims that you can’t follow through with (such as the “fastest,” healthiest,” or “easiest”), the public will find out pretty quickly.

2. Trying to be all things to all people. It’s tempting to try and fulfill the needs of every potential customer, especially when you’re just starting out and need the revenue. But attempting to appease everybody in the market will only stretch your resources thin, drive you crazy, and ultimately disappoint some customers. Instead, focus on your niche market and where your expertise lies.

3. Changing (branding) horses in midstream. Many business owners succumb to the temptation to change their branding message or focus to try and attract the customer base they want at any give time. While allowing your company itself to evolve is perfectly acceptable, frequent branding changes will create confusion among consumers and ultimately weaken your overall brand. As the old saying goes: The moment you begin getting sick of your branding efforts is usually the point when customers are just starting to accept them.

4. Adopting a “me too” approach. If you want to get into an industry that’s hot, great. But simply offering another choice that mirrors already-established products or services probably won’t be enough to sustain your business over the long-term. You have to establish a brand presence that’s unique and centered around your core competencies and business philosophy – because that’s what consumers will respond to.

5. Not engaging your customers. Branding is more than just drawing a logo or thinking of a clever tagline; it’s about building a relationship with your customer. People are more likely to become dedicated to your business if they can identify with it on a deeper level. To do this, you can use social media, loyalty programs, community events, and other methods to help customers feel like they are a part of something bigger.

6. Using too much jargon. Saying that your business offers “value-added, comprehensive turnkey solutions to all of your logistics needs by strategically partnering your legacy infrastructure with industry best practices” will leave potential customers befuddled. Buzzwords and catchphrases should only be used in moderation (or not at all) in your branding statements and messages. In other words: Keep it simple.

7. Breaking your promises. This can be the death knell of any business. If you brand yourself as an environmentally-friendly company but don’t adopt any green practices (or worse, you harm the environment), your customers will declare you corpus non grata. The public will tolerate many things, but not the idea that they are being lied to.

Successful branding creates a strong bond between customers and companies. But a weak brand increases the chances that your business will get lost in the crowd. So pay attention to your branding and make sure that it is accomplishing your company’s goals.

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