The 6 Biggest Branding Mistakes New Startup Tech Companies Make

Startups are especially prone to making these significant branding mistakes.

In a startup tech company, your business is going to live or die on the brand you build. Your brand is the visible and interactive identity of your entire company, responsible for forming first impressions, instilling memories, and eventually forming relationships with your customers. If you choose the wrong set of brand standards, or fail in the execution of your brand, even a great product can’t save you—after all, if no one can remember where they bought a product or who made it, what future business can you hope to gain from their satisfaction?

These are some of the biggest branding mistakes I see new startups making:

Not having brand standards. Believe it or not, I’ve encountered multiple companies in the midst of an identity crisis. When asked what the brand is like, or what qualities best describe the company, they’re speechless. The biggest branding problem you can have is no branding whatsoever.
Copying a competitor. You may be tempted to copy a competitor’s branding—after all, they were successful with it, right? Plus, it will spare you the effort of designing a new brand from scratch. Unfortunately, this defeats one of the main purposes of branding: differentiating your company.
Neglecting the target audience. Did you create a brand based on what your target audience wanted to see, or what you instinctively thought would work best? Your target audience should be your primary consideration.
Failing to document the brand. You know what your brand is like, but do your employees? You need to have your brand standards formally documented, to keep things consistent over time.
Focusing on branding only in marketing. Branding is about more than just marketing and advertising; it’s who you are as a business. It should permeate your work culture, and be present in all customer-facing initiatives.
Branding inconsistently. If you only follow your brand standards half the time, you aren’t going to be effective.

Hopefully, if you can avoid these mistakes, you can create a better, more consistent brand across all channels, and both attract and retain more customers as a result. There’s no such thing as a right or wrong brand—so long as you create a brand based on research, and hold your company to the standards you create.

About the Author

Jose Vasquez is a serial entrepreneur and tech specialist dedicated to helping startup tech companies grow and succeed. As the founder of Build. Brand. Blast., Jose has worked with dozens of enterprises to find direction, gain momentum, and achieve results.