The key for your brand to get recognised and attain long-term trust is consistency. It starts with the basics, from visual palette to tone of voice. Renowned brands like Google, Starbucks, and Apple, didn`t achieve their status by chance, they are leaders in brand consistency.
Let us delve deeper to discover why brand consistency is so vital, and get knowledgeable about various ways to preserve it across every single marketing touchpoint.
What is Brand Consistency & Why It`s So Important?
Simply put, brand consistency is when you manage to produce a combined, tuned brand voice across all marketing resources. Your brand must portray a unique identity which your clients are noticing, recognising, and returning to because they trust it. Starting from websites to emails, brochures, posters, and social media platforms.
Brand consistency must be thought of as the glue that holds your unified message together, from a billboard downtown to a simple TikTok. Maintaining consistency boosts the audience`s confidence to familiarise themselves with your campaigns more easily, as they will understand who you are, what you represent, what you stand for, and how you can assist them.
Brand Consistency – 4 Essential Elements
A successful brand knows that every element of its marketing is intertwined with their distinct character, which means that each key component must be united.
1. Visuals
Call them graphics, or illustrations if you like, but these basic simple elements are crucial to get recognised immediately. Picture the Starbucks siren, McDonalds` golden arches, or the four central colours on every single Google product. They are the first thing we connect with.
Thus your colour scheme, logo, brand images, layout, and design fundamentals you utilise must all portray your brand`s distinctiveness, and should never diverge across all your assets.
2. Voice Tone
Communication plays a huge role in how your audience perceives your organisation. Is your brand promoting motivation and aspiration like Nike? Or maybe it prefers to keep things simple and straightforward, free of any jargon, like Apple?
Find your dimension and agree on the path to pursue, since the way you talk to your targeted niche and the setting of your tone of voice are key, and it must be mirrored in every communication, from a multi-page brochure to an Instagram post.
3. Brand Messaging
Every brand element you create should be influenced by the core values which lay at the heart of your organisation.
Remember, to transform your clients from occasional customers into full-blown advocates or testimonials of your brand, the latter must promise an enticing vision, and start yielding results while reaching goals as proof. All this then must be reflected in your marketing materials.
4. Social Media
Nowadays it is common sense really, if you are not online, making yourself seen and heard regularly across the cyberworld, you are simply losing ground against your direct competitors. Therefore, we strongly recommend embracing social media so that at least you ensure that you are competing on a level playing field.
Having said that, imagine that the internet is your three-dimensional portal, a virtual display of your brand, voicing your identity and message to a worldwide audience. Currently, it is estimated that around 75% of consumers use social media to decide which brand to engage with. It is imperative then to utilise this powerful tool well, making sure that whatever is uploaded on these platforms reflects your brand and is consistent throughout, from a YouTube video to a Facebook post.
This method will place your brand into the audience`s hearts and minds.
How to Differentiate Your Company with Brand Consistency While Boosting Audience`s Trust
Help your crowd understand why your brand is different from others, what makes it stand out, and why they should choose you over others.
Appreciate that in an increasingly competitive landscape, a clear consistent brand presence ensures your targeted market notices your unique proposition no matter on which platform they are on.
Brand consistency is a hallmark of trust as modern clients expect a seamless experience with the brands they engage with, which will translate into a strong lasting relationship. On the other hand, if each interaction is even slightly different with your consumers, it will make it much harder for them to understand your brand and what you stand for.
What Happens if a Brand Lacks Consistency?
Not to dramatise, but inconsistency is a silent brand killer. Failing to maintain a standard unified presence across various channels, could:
- Corrode trust between your brand and audience
- Affect turning occasional customers into loyal ones, as it will be more difficult or limited
- Bear negatively on the stature and perception of your brand
- Confuse and irritate consumers, leading to a meagre customer experience
- Diminish the chances of long-term profitability
- Influence your capability to consistently recruit top prospects
Inconsistency can severely tamper with a brand`s marketing efforts, making it more difficult to grow a loyal audience and regular clients. One big mistake which continues to echo in marketing history, and as an example for you to check out, is the infamous Coca-Cola`s `New Coke` campaign. So, let us make sure that your brand message stays aligned.
Learn How to Measure Brand Consistency
While there is no set metric for how to measure brand consistency, however, there exist some steps you can follow to track this:
- Running a brand audit – spotting any deviations which swerved from your original guidelines, while introducing measures to fix them
- Tracking the usage of your approved assets and templates – this will show you how much marketers are using your brand consistency software and services
- Monitor the views of your brand`s centre of activity – providing a window on how often your team is reflecting on the guidelines which lay at the heart of your branding
In Conclusion
As one last tip, modern technology provides tools such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) which can also assist in creating and maintaining brand consistency. To mention one popular form – chatbots on websites.
By now we can appreciate that brand`s consistency is the fulcrum of a successful company. It is a must that a unified message and your brand identity resound across all your business` active touchpoints.