I know what you’re thinking. If they’re on their way to making 6-Figures in their businesses, how could they possibly be making any mistakes?
After downloading tons and tons of freebies from Facebook ads, to get me in their sales funnels, and engaging with a ton of brands as of late, I’ve noticed that even brands who are amazing with their marketing drop the ball sometimes. All this means is that we’re all human, we all make mistakes, and we can all learn from them. I was taking all kinds of notes because I’m guilty of some of these things.
Consistency
I’m speaking from a visual branding standpoint on this first one. So, say you see this brand on Facebook with this ultra luxurious ad, and the copy + visuals speak to your inner core. You willingly hand over your email address and anxiously await for the freebie pot of gold to hit your inbox.
When it hits your inbox you open it up, and it looks…NOTHING like the beautiful ad that lured you in the first place. It has blurry, poor quality graphics and some of the links within the document don’t work. You double check the email address, to make sure you downloaded the right freebie. You visit the website and it’s impeccably designed…so, what. is. this? lol
Listen folks, even though you’re giving away a freebie, make sure your brand is consistent even down to the last freebie or lead magnet. I don’t care if it’s a 1 page PDF. The visual experience should be the same throughout your brand. Your lead magnet often times is the first time people are introduced to your brand, so make sure it’s consistent through and through. This is especially important if you’re offering high priced coaching or consulting packages. If you’re making 6-figures, hell even 5-figures, you should be able to comfortably invest in visual branding for your business.
Customer Service
Yep. I recently encountered this. I am a stickler for amazing service and people forget that the customer service aspect of your business is also part of the branding experience. I recently reached out to a brand, and I was interested in learning more about the service they provided. I had done my research, and just had one specific question, before I met up with them. Long story short, it was pulling teeth to get a simple answer after being dragged through a wormhole of foolishness. I decided to just look for another place to spend my money, because they made it very hard for me to give them my money.
I don’t care how bad ass your website is designed, who designed your logo, and what a monster lead generating magnet it is. If you can’t take care of the clients on the other end, your brand will suffer greatly. The visuals are important but the customer service is just as important.
User Experience or UX
The User Experience is the experience a client has when interacting with one of your products. It could be your website, your email funnel, or your courses. I downloaded yet another freebie from a facebook ad. I know what you’re thinking. I like freebies, but I feel like a freebie is like a first date. Based on the experience I have, I get to decide if I want to take things further. Anyway, I entered my email address to unlock this freebie, and I thought it was going to end up in my email inbox after I confirmed the subscription..
It asked me for my email address THREE MORE TIMES in various places before I finally got the damn freebie lol. I was hot ya’ll. I was jumping through virtual hoops to get this freebie. Fix it jesus. Mend it Moses! I was so confused, mad and annoyed. All the emotions.
Make sure you are testing all of your funnels and courses before you launch them. Make sure your website is easy to navigate. Make sure all of the links are working. I don’t know how many times I’ve tried clicking on something and the link was broken. Don’t do this y’all. Do some user testing before you launch things.
Poor Quality Graphics
I feel strongly about this. lol I am judging you. I know you’re in a Facebook group and everyone told you about their favorite designer on Fiverr, or you just insist on designing your own. You might have found a unicorn on Fiverr and that’s great, but If you’re a 5 or 6-figure brand, it’s time to move on from Fiverr and DIY if your graphics are suffering. If you’re going to DIY your graphics, please take the time to learn different ways to export your graphics, without them looking grainy. If you insist on DIY’ing your graphics, learn different design + typography techniques, to improve the overall look and feel of your graphics. I have a FREE 5 Day Course that will teach you the ins and outs of designing your own graphics.
If you’re offering premium services, everything about your brand should scream premium. When I shop at Nordstrom, the entire shopping experience is top notch + premium. Even the bathrooms are bougie. Be like Nordstrom.
Following Trends
I am so guilty of this myself. Facebook Groups are hot, so everyone has a facebook group. Ebooks are hot, so let’s make an eBook. Courses are hot, so you need a course. Periscope was the new thing, so everybody had to get on Pericope. This is exhausting. Every week, you’re launching or hopping on something new. Baby, what is you doing?
Find that one thing that you do well, and focus on that. Also listen to your audience and see how they like to consume content. Maybe they would prefer to engage with you on your website instead of a facebook group. Maybe they would prefer a course instead of an ebook.
So now what?
Think about if I actually had great experiences after downloading some of these freebies. Some of the people I got these lead magnets from had AMAZING information and were offering some pretty steep coaching + consulting services.
I was ready to give one of them all of my money, but you know what, a lot of these things turned me off from wanting to do business with them. If I felt this way, imagine how many other people had the same experience. This could be the difference between becoming a 6-figure brand. There could be thousands of dollars left on the table, by overlooking these small simple things. Getting graphics professionally designed or investing is user testing, is a small price to pay if the return is even bigger.
Have you made any of these branding mistakes? I know I have and some, I’m a repeat offender. If this is you, let me know in comments below what you did to resolve these issues.
