Over the years your business has spent time, money and effort to build a dependable and recognisable brand. But despite every effort to protect and control your brand identity, inconsistencies continue to creep into regular interactions and touchpoints you have with your customers.

These 7 tips are designed to help you implement greater consistency in your branding efforts, whether you are launching a new one or simply if you need a framework to help get your brand back on track.

But first, why is brand consistency so important for businesses?

The design and elements of your brand that your customers hear, see and experience all make up your brand identity and brand voice.

“Brands that are consistently presented are 3-4 times more likely to experience brand visibility.” [1]

An increase in exposure and visibility will make your business more recognisable and stand out from your competition and ultimately boost your bottom line. Customers get to know you through your consistent brand voice and aesthetic, and this builds loyalty and begins to shape perceptions of your brand. Consistent brand messages and positive customer experiences build trust and confidence in your business.

This consistency backs up your words with actions – it makes your brand feel more dependable and means your customers are more likely to remain loyal and refer you to others. If brand consistency leads to an increase in customer loyalty and referrals, your customer base will increase and so will the revenue you generate.

Here are 7 tips to help you achieve better brand consistency:

TIP #1
Promote your brand components

Your brand guideline tells you everything from your brand story, to how to position your logo, to what your brand colours are. It is your brand consistency checklist. Promote it internally with staff and provide it to external suppliers who work with your brand.

It should cover all your offline marketing, and your digital or online brand requirements. In addition to this, you should have a ‘writing style guide’ that employees use when doing everything from preparing presentations, to writing customer letters to publishing LinkedIn posts. Make sure processes are in place to monitor the quality and consistency of touchpoints that customers see.

TIP #2
Get everyone on board

Your entire company should know the brand promise and company values. Together, these help to set your brand tone and key brand messages and used consistently, they will help to deliver a consistent customer experience. Always pay special attention to internal branding and corporate culture.

All branded templates, documents, processes and systems should be consistent with your brand. Don’t miss the opportunity to teach inductees about your brand during the onboarding process and encourage “brand champions” throughout your business. These are employees who can identify brand compliance issues and can provide one-on-one brand training.

TIP #3
Use your brand toolkit

Work with your internal marketing team or a creative marketing agency such as Consortium, to produce logos, brand colours, branded templates and corporate graphics that reflect your brand identity and that all employees have access to and can use every day.

TIP #4
Your content must reflect your brand

Approach content with your brand in mind. Select the right topics for your content marketing calendar. Make sure your marketing strategy and content plan, includes web marketing, webinars, blogs, videos and social media topics, and that they reflect your brand’s values and personality, and are aligned with the business objectives. Look for opportunities to create content that makes sense for your brand. Train your media spokesperson and any ‘thought leaders’ to produce content that is on-brand, and any employees engaging and networking on social media.

TIP #5
Maintain consistency across channels

Align your offline and online branding efforts and always make sure your tone is consistent and on-brand. LinkedIn may be a more professional social platform, but your Twitter and Facebook content should not sound like it’s coming from a different brand altogether. Your website copy, blogs, customer letter, bid proposals, etc. should all reflect a consistent tone.

TIP #6
Align your brand with key influencers, platforms and channels

They must reflect your brand and business strategy and match your prospects’ and customers’ preferences. Before aligning your business with an industry newcomer or flocking to follow the latest trend, evaluate and determine whether the offering makes sense for your business or not. Always align strategic marketing decisions with your strategic business objectives.

TIP #7
Get your sales team on board

How much of your marketing content is your sales team using: all, most of it or none at all? Sales and marketing should review the content together to develop a framework or dialogue kit that reflects the brand and that assists sales representatives in closing more deals. Of course, aligning marketing and sales is not always easy to achieve, but it is the ultimate goal and will achieve greater brand consistency with what is a crucial customer touchpoint.

In summary, a consistent and successful brand is driven from the top down and experienced from the bottom up, and brand consistency isn’t just something a lasting brand strives for, or something you try once in a while to change things up. Consistency is an essential element to any brand’s growth and longevity.

If you require any brand guidance, from a brand audit to a brand refresh, or if you need help to create consistent messaging between your business and your visual identity or between sales and marketing, please get in touch with Lara Squires.

[1] “Lucidpress: The state of brand consistency – Earning customer trust in 2020 and beyond.”

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BrandingBusiness DevelopmentContent MarketingDesignMarketing Strategy