3 Tips to Keep Your Brand Consistent

Consistency is one of the most important things you can do when it comes to branding. Showing up on brand will build loyalty and trust in your audience. They feel they know you and what to expect from you. You need to be consistent in your visuals, your message, your language, and the content you create. Here are some tips on building consistency in everything your business does.

1. Be Clear on Your Brand

If you want your brand to connect with your ideal audience, then you need to know who they are, in detail. Knowing your ideal client—and also knowing your own business goals and values—will help you build a brand that attracts them. Once you have a good understanding of your clients and your values, you can start to develop a “personality” for your brand. Is your brand fun, colorful, and youthful? Or is it educational, reliable, nurturing, etc.?

2. Develop A Brand Guide

The next step in keeping consistent is essentially documenting everything about your brand. This is called a Brand Guide, or Brand Guidelines. Most large corporations have one of these that is shared with every employee. A typical brand guide will cover all of the visuals (logos, submarks, colors, fonts, patterns, photo style, etc.) but the larger, more complex ones can even include mission/vision statements and specific language to be used when communicating with customers. These guides are great for reference when creating content, writing emails, or calling clients. You can also share them with employees, vendors, and anyone else who represents your brand. 

Here are some examples of brand guides: 

https://issuu.com/headlenio/docs/ac_brand_guide

https://issuu.com/marianaaspru/docs/tg_style_guide_rgb_final_pages

https://issuu.com/oliwiadomorosla/docs/glossier_brand_book__single_pages_

https://issuu.com/seanpowhamthian/docs/brand_manual

https://issuu.com/sabinoalejandrohernandezarmas/docs/aiesec_blue_book_2018

https://issuu.com/corinnealexandra/docs/bas-brandguide

3. Pay Attention to Messaging and Tone

Once you know your brand and have created a Brand Guide, you can then look at every email, blog, marketing piece, or social media post and ask yourself if it’s cohesive with your brand. Make sure the overall message is the same in every location. Is your tone consistent? Are you a serious brand that shares cat videos on Facebook? That will confuse your audience and may make them distract you. Always keep in mind who you’re talking to and how you want them to see you. It all needs to feel as if it is coming from the same person.

As you can see, it’s not that hard to keep your branding consistent. Preparation (and a little bit of intention) goes a long way in setting you up for success. 

Note: I’ll be launching something new in April: Brand Clarity Sessions. These are 2-hour one-on-one workshops designed to help you get crystal-clear on your brand so you can move past your frustration and start connecting with your ideal clients. If you need clarity on your brand, reach out and we’ll get you on the schedule.