Aiming for brand consistency is one of the easiest and most effective branding strategies out there. If you’re not doing this in your business don’t worry, this article shows you how. Click here for more info!
What is your company’s brand experience?
Is it wild and exciting with varied design elements and on the edge of what’s trending?
If so, you may want to reconsider your approach and shift it to brand consistency instead.
Of course, brand consistency is harder to achieve than it once was. With so many different ways to market one’s business or product, there are just too many opportunities for missteps.
And pretty soon you can easily end up with a mess of confusing and distracting communications that detract from the brand you’ve worked so hard to establish.
So How Do You Create Brand Consistency?
Don’t worry. It’s not as hard as it sounds.
There are procedures you can put in place to ensure a consistent brand presence in all your brand communications – both online and offline.
Below are seven ways to develop consistent branding.
1. Create a Branding Style Guide
There are no specific rules in creating a branding style guide. What you essentially want is a go-to source for all the people in your company to clarify what’s considered fair and acceptable use of your brand and branding.
Your guide will be unique to you depending on your product or service. But here’s the basic information you should have:
• Your company name, mission statement and slogan.
• All versions of your logo design and when, where and for what each rendition is used.
• Detailed information about the color schemes you use and how they relate to your brand.
• Explanation of how your imagery and photo styles should appear to your audience. (For example, warm/cool, saturation levels, feelings they should evoke, etc.)
• What fonts and overall writing style dominate in your blog content, emails, press releases, sales copy and agreements, etc.
• Very detailed rules about capitalization of letters in the brand name and material, as well as specific circumstances for using trademarks, slogans, disclaimers, affiliations, etc.
• Any examples of what the company considers poor use of the brand, including an employee’s inappropriate language while signed into company online profiles.
Your marketing team and all other employees should receive both a paper copy and have cloud access to the guide.
2. Think Consistency When It Comes to Content
Once you’ve created your guide, continue to refer to it when planning all your content marketing.
You can do this more effectively by executing the following:
1. Make a shared folder on your company network to provide employees access to approved visual content.
2. Create social media cover photos for employees participating in employee advocacy programs.
3. Have a branded slide deck theme ready for your webcast videos and webinars.
4. Provide both document and social sharing templates to help your team maintain a consistent brand look and feel online.
You may also want to assign a single department – or even person – to manage all orders for print and promotional materials. That way, you can ensure proper use of your logo in all of these materials.
3. Keep Your Web Branding Consistent
Consistency breeds familiarity. And familiarity means recognition. Your website design should present similar elements all throughout the page, but with different content and graphics. Repeating certain styles creates a theme on the site and builds comfort with users.
Be sure to consider page colors, textures, typefaces, and icons/elements related to the brand.
For example, if you have a logo that serves as a “mascot” of sorts, then repeat it throughout the site. Especially in any part with fixed navigation.
Of course, you don’t need to create a mascot to build consistency. There are plenty of other ways.
Study some of your favorite sites to get ideas for creating consistent branding for your own project.
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4. Ensure Consistency across All Channels
It’s crucial to keep a consistent tone and personality when communicating your brand both offline and through your website, social media profiles and any other online channels.
For instance, if your brand has a playful tone, then this should carry across all your platforms. Even LinkedIn. While LinkedIn will be a little more on the professional side, it shouldn’t feel like a completely different brand than what’s on Facebook and Twitter.
5. Include Signage and Other Graphics
If you have a brick and mortar location, be sure that all of its components fall in line with your brand as well.
People may find your business on the internet, but when they come to physically look for you, they will be able to more easily locate you if there are recognizable elements of your brand there.
All of your signage – including banners, display solutions, vinyl wraps and floor, window or wall decals – should speak your brand. Check in with a site like Image360 to get started with customized signage.
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6. Let Your Online Marketing Efforts Include Offline Events
If your company is exhibiting at a trade show (yet another reason to have that signage in #5), let your online audience know about it. Or if you’re receiving an award or participating in a community event, tell the online world.
Being recognized as a primary contributor or leader in your industry or community goes a long way toward brand-building efforts. So promote yourself through social media and blog posts, as well as through visual social media like Instagram and Snapchat.
And be sure to add your brand name or logo to any visual or written content that you share.
7. Live by the Mantra – Consistency is Not Boring!
Sure, people have short attention spans these days.
And while it might seem exciting to change things up and play with different design elements and voices, it’s not going to serve your business in the long-term.
Top brands like Apple, Virgin Records, and Coke regard brand consistency as one of the top secrets to longevity and success. And they’ve all been at it a long time.
If it’s worked for them, it can certainly work for you.
How Recognizable Is Your Brand?
Now that you know the importance of brand consistency, there’s no time like the present to start incorporating the above tips. You’ll be amazed at the difference it will make.
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