“Brand consistency” is one of the 4 must-have elements of a strong brand because when companies fail at providing a consistent brand experience, it has a negative impact on revenue.
Customers want to buy from brands they know, but inconsistent branding leads to reduced brand recognition and mistrust.
In this post, we are going to cover how you can maintain a consistent brand image from your visual identity to your social media profiles, and beyond, so you can reap the rewards of being seen as dependable.
Let’s jump in.
1. Logos & Images
Develop creative guidelines for your brand and use those guidelines religiously across all marketing and communication touchpoints with your customers.
Those touchpoints include your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, email newsletter, display ads, event collateral, etc. Everything from your website’s favicon to your billboard advertisements should be an easily recognizable representation of your brand.
Also, keep it simple. Don’t exceed three main fonts and stick with 1-5 primary colors. Don’t go crazy. When it comes to branding, less is more.
According to Google, 85% of adults are simultaneously consuming content on multiple devices. Make sure your logo and imagery are mobile-friendly!
Additionally, more than 211 million pieces of content are distributed every minute. With such information overflow and an endless array of digital noise and mass distribution, it is important to maintain a strong level of consistency with your images and messages.
Three days after reading content, people only recall 10% of the information they consume, but if that information is accompanied by images, they remember 65%.
An example of the importance of a brand is Hootsuite’s recent acquisition of AdEspresso. Instead of eliminating AdEspresso’s branding altogether, Hootsuite simply co-branded AdEspresso’s logo.
Hootsuite recognized maintaining AdEspresso’s brand was imperative to the success of the acquisition.
By supporting the brand, Hootsuite can help AdEspresso reassure customers there wouldn’t be a complete overhaul of changes, only significant improvements.
2. Social Handles
Using the same handle across all of your social channels is an easy way to build recognition and promote engagement with your brand.
Obviously, if the handle you want is already in use, you’ll need to get creative. But, remember less is more. If you have a long company name, you can use a shortened version for your social channels.
For example, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts becomes @YBCA.
Many people take to social media to reach out to brands for comments, testimonials, and support.
So, be sure your social handles are easy to remember to boost engagement!
3. Theme: Tone of Voice & Message
Every business should have a unifying theme.
This theme should be “a big idea that captures the essence of the company and what makes it important and memorable.”
It should also relate back to their overall promise.
Take AdEspresso for instance.
They have a vivacious, fun, Italian caricature style going on. The employees on their website hold espresso cups in their photos. And they make excellent use of puns when sharing their message.
They promise a great, user-friendly, fun experience with their platform. This theme also helps take away the fears that many novice digital advertisers may have. AdEspresso is a software that takes complex multi-variate Facebook ad testing and makes it simple enough for a beginner to use.
Establish a theme that highlights your businesses’ personality. You don’t need to be cute, but if you’re going to be – be consistently cute.
4. Value Proposition
A value proposition is a statement that explains how you uniquely solve your customer’s problems while highlighting specific benefits as to why prospects should buy from you as opposed to your competition.
Establishing a clear value proposition will help you set the tone of voice for the rest of your content.
Here are some good examples of companies with clear value propositions:
- Walmart – competitive pricing
- Apple – simplicity, style and innovation
- Hubspot – adopting the Inbound marketing methodology
- Hootsuite – making social media management simple
Tips to help establish your value proposition:
- Research who your customers are
- Understand their pain points and how to solve a particular problem
- Know your competitors and their brand positioning
- Focus on the benefits of your product/service
When you create a clear value proposition, you make it easier for potential customers to relate to your brand.
5. Authenticity
In our digital world of endless resources, consumers are savvy. They often take the time to do due diligence, especially when making non-impulsive buying decisions.
Inauthentic tones don’t go very far – consumers are quick to sniff it out. And with social media as a megaphone for anyone looking to make a statement, brands need to be very careful.
Take United Airlines for instance. Known for their “fly the friendly skies” theme, they took a major publicity hit after a bloodied and battered doctor (and paying customer) was dragged off a flight by airline personnel.
Even though United’s CEO, Oscar Munoz, apologized for the behavior of his employees, the irreparable damage had already been done.
Following the incident, United experienced a sharp dip in stock prices as the backlash continued. Case in point: If you want to brand yourself as friendly, don’t beat up your customers.
Remember “word of mouth” is stronger than ever with the help of social media. Be true to your brand and respect your customers because they are your biggest brand asset.
Consistent branding is the vessel helping keep your business afloat amidst the sea of endless data and content streaming across our eyes on a daily, hourly, and minute-by-minute basis.
All in all, if you stay true to your core message, values and principles, while remaining consistent, and market it effectively, your brand will shine.
This is an article provided by our partners network. It does not reflect the views or opinions of our editorial team and management.
Contributed content
Founder Dinis Guarda
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