You often hear how brand consistency is very important. But why? What is the big fuss about?
Being consistent with your brand goes way deeper than just using the correct logo, fonts, and colours. It is being consistent in the message and promises towards your audience. Your brand after all is there to help build awareness, trust, and loyalty towards your company.
It is this awareness and trust that ultimately drives them to buy from you. The only way this can happen is if they can recognize you. Consistency in the way you look ensures that they remember and recognize you. Only then can they start to get to know you, and ultimately trust you.
Creating this awareness of your brand is not a once-off thing, but a process that takes anywhere from 15 to 20 interactions with your brand before they’ll be aware without a doubt about your business. So often I get clients who show up on social media once or twice and think that sales should have started rolling in by now. You need to get in front of them constantly in order for them just to take notice of you, let alone buy from you.
Getting in front of them with your message is called marketing and communication. You can consider the branding the “glue” that puts the message and marketing efforts into context. It tells them who the message is from and what they stand for.
How do you get brand consistency?
Develop brand guidelines
Most large organizations have brand or corporate identity guidelines. This stipulates everything regarding the visual system of the company. What it looks like in print and digital use. In larger companies, it can also include the language or way of talking to internal and external stakeholders.
Even though your business might not be as big, it is important to start with a simple style guide and mood board, ensuring that you start in a consistent way. As your business grows, you can always add to this to ensure that new members of your team know how to keep the brand and the way it interacts with stakeholders consistent.
Make assets available
One of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen companies make is not to make the guidelines and assets available to employees and external companies like printers etc. Ensuring that they have the guidelines and correct formats of all the assets available (for print and online use), will ensure that the brand can easily be applied consistently without any excuses.
Brand assets include:
- Brand Name
- Logo
- Tagline
- Mascot
- Typography
- Typeface
- Slogans
- Shapes
- Textures/Patterns
- Jingles
- Advertising style
Plan your content calendar
Too often do you see brands that post content online that aren’t really relevant or in line with their brand. This happens when they post for the sake of posting. Ensuring that your brand voice stays consistent, what you post is just as important as how and where you post. Planning your content ahead of time will ensure that the message your audience receives stays consistent and that they don’t end up receiving a bunch of non-related messages. Instead, they should end up with messages that all work together in coveying the same bigger message.
Customer’s brand experience
Your messages should stay consistent across different platforms, regardless if they are printed or digital. No matter where someone makes contact with your business, they should have the same experience across them. Take for example a product like Coca-Cola. No matter where in the world you interact with them, you will recognize their brand, advertising in the more or less (adapted to the country and culture) the same tone of voice, and always know exactly how it will taste.
Having a brand consistency is not something that happens by accident. Nor is it something that will happen by itself. Having a consistent brand comes from precise planning and execution. This will not only make attracting your ideal clients easier but staying consistently top of mind much easier.
If you don’t have a brand guideline, drop me a line and let me help you get your brand on a consistent road to success!
Are you ready to up level your Business?
If you’re ready to have a consistent and strategic brand that connects with your audience, let’s connect.
