What does your brand say?
Is it saying the same thing to everyone?
Just like nobody trusts a two-faced or contradictory person, consumers do not trust an inconsistent brand. This is why you need to ensure brand consistency across every single client interaction, and no more so than in your messaging. This particularly includes your website and your social media.
KEY INSIGHTS
- Just like people distrust someone who is contradictory, consumers distrust inconsistent brands.
- Consistent messaging, visuals, and tone across platforms and marketing channels foster trust and help build long-term relationships with customers.
- Inconsistent branding results in customer confusion, weakened brand recognition, and a perception of unprofessionalism.
- A unified, recognizable brand experience strengthens visibility, engagement, and audience perception. Twelve12 Orange County branding and marketing agency can help.
Brand Consistency Explained
What is brand consistency? It is the practice of syncing a brand, business, or other creator’s messaging and marketing content so that it cultivates a genuine brand experience for consumers and closely corresponds with its core identity and goals.
Brand consistency aligns your messaging, communication tone, visuals, content, and user experience across all the channels you use, from your website to social media, in-store experience, email marketing, and customer service. It ensures that your organization and its representative values are cohesive and recognizable across all channels – this not only builds solid brand recognition but also supports the growth of customer relationships for trust and loyalty via a well-crafted narrative with which your target audience resonates.
Why Brand Consistency Matters
Brand consistency is the backbone of your business’s identity – particularly in a saturated market where literally millions of websites and content creators exist and strive to stand out. It is pivotal for:
- influencing and shaping audience perception of your business and product/service
- increasing visibility and website trafficgenerating high-value leads
- encouraging audience loyalty and engagement
- ensuring recognition, differentiation, and memorability
- fostering trust and credibility
- optimizing opportunities for monetization
- enabling success in the long-term
How is inconsistent branding damaging your brand?
The dangers of inconsistent branding can’t be minimized. It damages businesses by:
- confusing customers
- weakening brand recognition
- eroding trust
- compromising credibility
The results of this include diminished customer experience, lost customer loyalty, missed sales opportunities, and the perception that the brand/business is unprofessional, of lower quality. It ultimately harms the brand’s potential for profitability and long-term growth.
Common branding mistakes include:
- Failure to have clear brand guidelines
- Inflexibility in design, messaging, and execution
- Having different teams develop digital ads
- Inconsistent online listings (name, address, phone number, email address)
- Not “walking the talk” on your stated brand values
- Not having a dynamic content marketing strategy (e.g. blogs)
- Not having an appropriate, active social media presence
- Neglecting or ignoring the human user experience
- Pivoting too often
What are Some Elements of Brand Consistency?
- Visual identity – logo, fonts, color palette, images
- Messaging – consistent voice and tone, repeated key messages
- Customer experience – maintain communication
- Centralized content creation
- Putting PEOPLE first
Tips for Consistent Branding on Social Media
The importance of consistent branding across channels is impossible to overstate – especially between your website and social media. You need to link your social channels (selected with your offering and your target audience in mind) via your website and share links back to your site (home, landing pages, onsite blog articles) from your social posts.
- Define the brand – giving clarity to your values, mission, and goals
- Define your audience – and place yourself on the social media channels they actively use
- Set a tone of voice – e.g. casual, formal, friendly, fun, sophisticated
- Create a style guide – color palette, fonts, logo, slogan, profile image, bio – and ensure this is consistent across channels
- Use consistent profile elements
- Engage and be authentic
- Converse on social media rather than broadcasting
- Audit your approach regularly
Final Thoughts
The impact of inconsistent branding and its potential ramifications for your business can’t be understated. The best branding agency near you has the skills and expertise to make sure you get it right.
Need help?
Twelve12 is a leading Orange County branding agency offering a wide range of branding and digital marketing services to clients in Southern California and beyond. Let us help you improve your brand and avoid the digital marketing mistakes that could be catastrophic for your business.