Five Warning Signs You Need To Work On Your Brand

Your customers don’t understand what you’re offering

Does your target audience understand what your business is offering?

You might have an incredibly talented team and an extremely unique solution to your audience’s problem but can they see that in your brand?

Your brand is what you make it out to be and if people don’t understand what you are then you won’t be able to get them on board.

You might have started out alright. Your branding might have hit the mark perfectly but more often than not what we offer evolves over time. You might have expanded your business or changed up your services.

If you have changed some aspect of what you offer have you updated your branding to go with it?

If you haven’t then it’s time to show and tell people that there’s something new to look at. Show them everything you have to offer and show them why they need to work with you right away.

Be clear, be concise, and be irresistible so your audience can understand exactly what exceptional services you have to offer.

People aren’t finding your business

One of the biggest challenges some Waterford businesses face when it comes to branding is that their audience doesn’t know they exist.

This can be down to a few issues including poor brand awareness. You have to invest a lot of time into marketing and putting your brand out there. If you don’t then you’re just going to get hidden in a sea of competition.

It’s definitely a warning sign that you’re struggling with your branding if your target audience isn’t finding you online. If they’re not aware of your business then your branding isn’t standing out next to your competitors.

Before you start trying to increase your brand awareness by investing in a marketing strategy and promotional techniques you should take a moment to make sure you’re targeting the right people.

Another reason why people aren’t finding your business could be because you’re not targeting the right kinds of customers.

Learn exactly who your customers are, where they are and what they want before you start spending time and money building up your awareness.

Your brand identity isn’t unique

Being unique is one of the most important factors for great branding.

Does your branding differentiate you from your competitors? Does your packaging make you stand out? How about your website, does it follow the same structure as everybody else or is there a certain individual spark to it?

If you’re losing business to your competitors then maybe think about your branding and how unique it is. You want to stand out and be chosen over your competition so use your branding to show your audience why they should choose to work with you.

You might have had a unique branding at one stage but as time goes on industries tend to suffer from a hive mind condition. They all have the same colour palettes, the same website layout and similar brand voices. A new bold colour scheme, an updated logo and a catchy tagline might be everything you need to stand out.

The best way to figure out where you stand against your competition is to do a competitive analysis. This is the perfect strategy to help you identify opportunities to differentiate yourself from them.

Remember, if you don’t differentiate from your competitors then you’ll end up fighting over the price. Your audience might start choosing the cheaper option if you don’t give them a reason to pick you.

There’s no consistency with your brand

Authenticity is key to winning over the hearts of your audience. Nobody likes a chameleon and they’d prefer to see your brand for who you really are than who you’re pretending to be.

This is why consistency is key when it comes to your branding.

If you tell people different things and they all contradict each other your branding won’t stick. They won’t remember you and their perception of you will be a confused, muddled mess. They also might take what you say as fake and decide they don’t want to do business with a brand like yours.

Consistency used to be a lot easier to control but now with social media at the reigns of a lot of marketing strategies it’s not quite as straightforward as you might think.

There are so many different types of social media platforms and if you’re on a high majority of them then your brand voice and messaging needs to be consistent throughout.

Make sure that everyone on your team understands your brand’s personality, inside and out.

The best way to do this is to write up clear brand guidelines for your social media managers (and other staff members) to follow. This will keep your posts consistent with your company’s voice and you won’t confuse or mislead your audience.

You’re not getting any job applications

The last warning sign you should look out for is whether you’re having trouble attracting new talent to your business.

This is often something people overlook as a branding challenge but it’s a very important one.

If your potential employees are all running to your competitors then you might not be communicating your brand in the way you think.

Does your brand inspire potential employees to be part of something big, something meaningful?

If not then you might be in a bit of trouble.

Today’s recruitment world is full of millennials and Gen Zs who are looking for more than just a steady job and a paycheck. They’re looking for a purpose and a positive working environment.

So when you’re filling out your job descriptions on Indeed ask yourself if your potential employees will understand your vision and goals from what you’re putting out there. Will they feel motivated to join your workforce and be proud to get a job with you?

If not then you might have to go back to the drawing board and think about what your future employees really want out of a job.