When establishing your business, you need a convenient location, a workable business plan, and a good grasp of the industry to help you build a brand strategy that best suits your business and its objectives for your target audience.
But for a good business strategy to be successful, it must include getting a unique name that promises the excellent services your company will provide to its clients. Giving your company the appropriate name can raise client expectations and make them want to try out your brand.
However, the wrong name can cause your company to fall to ruin. And having seen far too many entrepreneurs succumb to one or two of these naming disasters, we’ve compiled a list of common naming blunders to avoid when naming your company.
It doesn’t matter if you choose to brainstorm or use a reliable business naming service; following our simple list would enable you to pick out the best company name that’s guaranteed to boost your recognition in any niche, whether in the local or international markets. With that said, let’s get into it.
4 Critical Blunders to Avoid When Naming Your Startup
- Lengthy Brand Names
Avoid names that are very lengthy and difficult to remember since consumers would struggle to pronounce or recall them. Not to mention that, unlike short and simple brand names, long words can restrict visitors’ easy access to your company’s website when used as your domain name.
Almost every high-performing brand, like Tesla and Fitbit, uses short, distinctive names. And this shows that shorter, more straightforward names capture clients’ attention more than longer, more intricate ones.
If you give your organization a lengthy, boring name, many of your clients will need help remembering it. And they’d be less inclined to promote it to their friends, coworkers, and family.
But if you must use a long, complex name, consider abbreviating it, as BMW did. Because 80% of customers forget branded items within three days, it wouldn’t help to give your company a lengthy name that’ll be even harder to remember.
- Negative Name Translations
The advantage of maintaining a robust online presence for your company is that it allows you to communicate with clients worldwide. However, having an international identity has its drawbacks.
For one, it exposes your company’s name to individuals from various cultures and diverse linguistic backgrounds, and some of them may find your name objectionable or downright insulting in their native language.
Take it from us; your potential clients will not be motivated to patronize your services if they despise your company name. Spanish-speaking customers demonstrated this when they rejected Mazda’s Laputa and Nokia’s Lumia, two products from popular brands since both of their names could be translated as “prostitute” in Spanish.
Make sure to expand your linguistic research to more than one language. Ensure that you only choose a brand name after thoroughly researching and verifying that your chosen name has a positive meaning in the major languages spoken across the world and, most especially, in the primary language spoken by your target market.
Using this approach will help you ensure that the name you pick will be acceptable and inviting to people worldwide.
- Names Broaching Delicate Issues
While it may seem that intelligent branding and marketing can avoid this, most companies with renowned brand names make the error of diving face-first into all socio-political trends. And believe us when we say it’s incredibly easy to demolish a large portion of your client bases like Coca-Cola and Gillette.
This is because people are highly concerned about particular social, health, and environmental issues and are more inclined to support a company that shares its beliefs. Individuals who oppose the causes you support and find your messaging distasteful will be reluctant to purchase your products or use your services.
As a business person, you must know that while getting a catchy name is the greatest way to attract customers to your business, it will mean extremely little if your brand has a poor image in their minds.
So, as you’re working on coming up with a unique, pleasant, and intriguing company name, be sure to stay aware and avoid any political issues that may arise.
- Choosing a Business Name Solely Based on Your feelings
We’ve all experienced that strong emotional attachment that comes with building something, whether it’s an idea, a product, or a service.
And, just as every parent takes special care to name their child, you need to invest your energy, time, and resources to create an exciting brand name that’ll give your business the best chance of market success.
However, don’t let your emotions influence your decisions. It is a terrible mistake to choose a name based on your personal preferences rather than what your target audience needs. A business name chosen solely based on how you feel about it rather than thorough research will limit your company’s growth.
Let’s take a look at Google’s initial name, Backrub. Although it sounded like a great business name to Sergey Brin and Larry Page, unlike Google, Backrub sounded dull and bland and was a poor representation of their business.
And, just as Sergey and Larry finally embraced “Google,” a word that captured their brand’s goals, services, and identity, you should consider your chosen name in relation to your company’s ideals as well as the preferences of your target market.
Your customers should be your primary focus when naming. So, test your name on a small segment of your core audience, and if they like it, go ahead and use it. If they dislike it, go back and choose another name they’d love.
Prioritize Your Customers
Although it can sometimes appear simple, many business owners continue to focus on their company’s financial success and fail to recognize that their primary goal is to serve their target market.
So even after naming your company, consider your client’s demands and preferences in your other business operations. This is an unparalleled method of maintaining consumers for your business.
Grant Polachek is the head of branding for Squadhelp.com, 3X Inc 5000 startup and disruptive naming agency. Squadhelp has reviewed more than 1 million names and curated a collection of the best available names on the web today. We are also the world’s leading crowdsource naming platform, supporting clients from early-stage startups to Fortune 500 companies.
