Customers will remember your branding and is one of the most important factors when they choose which products or services to pay for. Your brand image will stay in their minds and will be the first thing they think of when they reach the decision stage of the sales funnel. You want to make a good impression so that your target audience will always choose you. However, things become complicated when you try to enter a new market in a different country. Some of the jokes are not as witty or funny at all and some of the taglines completely miss the mark. These common branding mistakes confuse your target market and make it difficult for your products and services to sell.
It helps to know the following common branding mistakes so that you can avoid them and improve your marketing strategies and slogans.
Not Enough Research
One of the most common branding mistakes that many companies make is that they didn’t do enough research. They make assumptions about the market they’re trying to enter and implement similar strategies they use for their own market. They fall into misconceptions that lead to confusing and sometimes misleading campaigns. Thorough market research allows you to gain insights about your new target audience that has a different culture than your home country. The knowledge you gain enables you to create effective sales and marketing strategies that convert at a high rate. You’ll be able to make slogans, taglines, and content that cater to the audience you’re trying to reach.
Poor Planning
Insufficient planning can lead to disastrous results for your brand. Your team will underestimate costs, overspend, misjudge the size of your audience, miss opportunities, communicate your value proposition poorly, and other similar problems. These will result in a weak and underwhelming entry strategy and campaign. This will hinder your company’s growth in a new market. You’ll lose potential customers, and your clumsy approach will have a negative effect on your reputation and sales figures. Planning and research go hand in hand when it comes to launching a brand into a new market. Once you understand your target market, you can plan everything from your budget to your marketing campaigns.
Misunderstanding the Local Market
When you consider incorporating a business in the Philippines or other countries, you should understand the local market. Expanding your brand into a new country means that you’ll encounter different consumer habits and experiences, and a distinct culture. Adapting to the local culture is a must for your endeavor to become profitable. Research plays another important role in understanding the local market. Learn more about the cultural nuances, sense of humor, and types of content that get the most traction. Doing so enables you to customize campaigns that connect with your target local audience. This approach improves your chances of converting them.
Lack of Communication
One of the common branding mistakes that many companies make is poor or lack of communication. The foreign team doesn’t communicate with their local counterparts enough. This leads to miscommunication and confusion when brainstorming for a campaign or its implementation. Emails, phone calls, and posts might end up lost in translation. Negotiating styles might differ, or worse, clash that leads to infighting. These create problems for any organization that wants to expand its reach. These internal problems will seep into the way you interact with customers and the quality of the products and services you release.
Underestimating the Cost
Many companies launch a new brand in a different country thinking they have allotted enough resources for it to succeed. However, they often underestimate the costs. They budgeted for office space, shipping, the initial sales and marketing campaign, and other fixed expenses. However, they failed to foresee additional costs such as market research, consultancy fees, data collection, compliance and regulatory dues, hiring and training a local team, and others. They run the risk of constricting their cash flow which results in limited operations that reduce their competitiveness. It’s important to conduct a thorough risk assessment and financial feasibility of entering a new country. This approach allows you to prepare more than enough resources to meet the needs of your brand.
Wrong Local Partners
You’ll need to collaborate with locals to achieve the goals you established. They have first-hand knowledge of the market you want to enter. However, you might find the wrong local partners. These create problems for your company because their values might not be the same as yours. This will have a negative effect on your brand image if they conduct themselves poorly. They might also divert from your plans or deliver low quality services. These are the risks your company is exposed to when you hire the wrong local partners. Before hiring, look for reviews and seek referrals so that you find the right team to partner with when you try to launch your brand in a new country.
No Patience
Impatience is one of the common branding mistakes that many companies make. Your plans and campaigns won’t deliver the results you need immediately. It takes time to determine if your strategies work. It might take months from improving brand awareness to move a potential customer to the decision stage and then finally make a purchase. Changing course quickly or leaving a market might erode the trust you want to develop with your local team and target audience. Both actions are also costly.
Not Listening to Your Local Team
Your local team has insights and details about their country you might have missed. They understand the sense of humor, psychology, emotions, tastes, and trends. These pieces of information allow you to customize your strategies and campaigns. However, some companies don’t listen to their local teams enough. This is a costly mistake that might lose them customers and make it difficult to enter a new market.
There’s always risk when it comes to expanding your brand into a new market. Identifying these common branding mistakes provides you with opportunities to learn from them and develop strategies that allow your company to avoid them. Focus on your branding strategies and let us at Manila Bookkeepers make it easier for you to establish a business entity in the Philippines. Our experienced team offers first-rate services. Check out our services page to learn more about what we can do for you.
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