We’ve all heard that consistency is key, but what does that mean for a brand? In short, if your brand isn’t consistent across all of its marketing efforts, you’re probably doing more harm than good! Your brand’s consistency is part of what builds awareness and develops relationships with your customers.
But what exactly is consistency and how can it be implemented across all of your marketing channels?
Create guidelines. The first step is setting branding guidelines. The guidelines ensure all messages and assets are on-brand and consistent. The most common guidelines usually include colors, voice, logos, typography, and photography. Starbucks recently released a high-level guide to their brand’s guidelines and the results are definitely inspiring.
Protect your logo. How often has your logo been stretched, given new colors, or pixelated? Unless you have numerous sizes and formats of your logo, your team may be tempted to make do with the one they have, leading to some disastrous results. Create a web location www.company.com/marketing and put all the logo sizes and variations you want to be used right there.
Keep your tone the same. Don’t make the mistake of having one tone on social media and another in your print advertising! This leads to confusion and can make your customers feel uncertain about who your brand really is. Stay consistent in all your messaging and make sure that your channels mesh seamlessly together.
Stay away from trends. Just because everyone is doing it, doesn’t mean your brand should too. Shy away from jumping into trends and fads just because others are. Only participate in items that make sense for your brand. Just because some brands are jumping on a bandwagon, doesn’t mean you should too.
Keep on track. As tempting as it is to procrastinate your marketing, it’s never a good idea. Many businesses fall into the bad habit of only marketing occasionally and/or randomly. Stay consistent in your customer’s lives with various forms of marketing throughout a sale cycle. This takes effort but it’s worth it. If you fall off the face of the earth for a few months, your customers might have completely forgotten about you by the time you return!
Be Bold. In any communication, there’s a temptation to put everything in…. too many messages, too many competing elements. Keep it simple. Make the one thing you need to focus on the big bold item, and let the rest just work simply.
Curious about how TAG can help you remain consistent in your marketing? Contact your TAG representative today!
