Brand Risk, Reputation, and Safety: Hidden Dangers of Cheap Branding Services: Part 2
What if trying to save money ended up costing your business everything?
It’s understandable that most small businesses don’t have a lot of extra cash lying around. So when they go to build their brand, they end up cutting corners in order to save money.
However, the problem with using cheap branding services is that you get what you pay for. Keep reading to discover some of the hidden dangers of these cheap services!
No Guidelines
One of the most important considerations for branding is consistency. Visual elements like logos, colors, images, fonts, headers and footers, and more must all be in perfect alignment.
Creating a consistent brand means creating consistent visuals and consistent messaging. And, to be frank, cheap branding services typically lack the vision necessary to make those elements coherent and consistent.
Without solid branding guidelines, everything falls apart. Customers will be confused as to what your brand really is and how they can recognize it.
Conversely, a really solid branding service can create iconic logos and taglines that will outlast us all. If you want to be the next “Coca-Cola” in terms of marketing, be sure to not cut too many corners!
When Ads Go Bad
One of the best ways to bring more customers to your website is to use ads. However, cheap branding services may create ads that do more harm than good!
For example, sometimes ads are not speaking to their audience in a connecting manner. They can be bland and uninspiring. Online ads may not even link to a page that is relevant to the ad itself. In other words, interested customers click on one thing and they get something else entirely.
It takes only a few seconds for a consumer to make up their mind about your company. If your brand safety is at risk due to misleading ads, then you may have already lost prospective customers.
Bad Ad Placement
We talked about the problem of misleading ads. However, one problem that is even worse is an ad that is in the wrong place.
That’s because the old adage that “there’s no such thing as bad advertising” is completely false. When customers see your ads associated with things like extremist websites, they will think your company holds those same extreme values.
If you’re not careful, this can undo years of creating and following a company mission statement. But cheaper branding services may not be so careful and may advertise your business anywhere and everywhere.
Poor Customer Service
Sometimes, a marketing service helps with your customer service. And in this case, relying on cheap services is truly dangerous!
Customer service is the first point of contact many customers have with your company. And there’s a fine line between saving customers’ time and wasting it.
For example, many businesses now use chatbots to make messaging easier for customers. But badly-programmed bots may leave customers feeling frustrated and ignored by your business.
Long story short? If your marketing service will be helping with customer service, make sure you hire the very best.
Too Much Complexity
Think about the most iconic brands you know. Nike, for instance, is a stylized swoop and three words: “just do it.”
This is because the best branding is short and to the point. Unfortunately, bad branding services have usually not gotten this message!
When your taglines are too long and your logo has too many colors, customers are not going to think your brand is deep and complex. Instead, they’ll look at all that “complexity” and just see confusion!
You want branding services that can do a little bit of everything while still understanding “enough is enough.” That simplicity mixed with vision is the “secret sauce” of good marketing.
Too “Old School”
Most marketing happens online now. Why? Because that’s where most of your customers are!
However, the online world moves really fast. And one of the worst things a branding service can do is rely too much on “old school” cool.
For example, that super-complex webpage might have wowed everyone back in 2001. Now, when most customers will find your site via smartphone, it just looks busy and tacky.
Speaking of smartphones, you’ll want to make sure all your websites are rocking responsive design. Otherwise, they will look terrible on mobile devices and seriously turn your customers off!
If you want marketing that is hot and trendy, you need to hire a team that isn’t “yesterday’s news.”
Buzzword Bingo
At the most basic level, branding comes down to the words that describe your business. However, this “basic” step is actually really hard for cheaper branding services to take!
For example, a lot of marketing out there relies on meaningless buzzwords. How often do you see a business describe themselves as “the greatest” or an individual describe themselves as a “guru” or “thought leader?”
These words have been used and re-used until they stopped having any real meaning. Nonetheless, cut-rate branding services will still use these bad buzzwords because they cannot think of anything else!
And make no mistake, customers can see tired and overused branding from a mile away. It’s tough to convince them that your business is a true innovator if your marketing team couldn’t come up with anything new to say!
Online Data Breaches
The scariest phrase to most modern businesses is only two words: “data breach.”
No matter how much data is actually infected, a breach can cause serious damage to your brand reputation. Customers see you as vulnerable and they see their relationship with you as being dangerous.
Cheap branding services are cheap because they cut corners. These services may deal with individuals and institutions that increase your risk of a data breach.
Remember that a breach is a cat that you can never fully put back in the bag. It’s worth paying a bit more for a branding service that’s actually worth your money.
Branding Services: The Bottom Line
Now you know the perils of hiring cheap branding services. But do you know where you can find a branding service that will really transform your business?
Here at the MAD Group, we specialize in taking small businesses and making them the next big thing. To see what we can do for your business, check out our branding services today!