You've probably heard this one before: Consumers nowadays are in control of their purchasing decisions more than ever before, thanks to online platforms that allow them to share their experiences with products & services in real-time. What's more important than having an online presence at all times? The answer is simple: having a consistent one that speaks directly to the needs of your customers.
What is brand consistency?
Your brand is much more than a logo and a slogan. It's the sum of all your marketing efforts, from the way you speak to consumers on social media to the colour scheme of your packaging.
Consistency is essential when creating an effective and recognizable brand identity, which ultimately helps consumers understand who you are and what you stand for as an organization. If a consumer sees your product in multiple locations or encounters it in different formats—such as online or at retail stores—then it's important that each appearance reflects your company's brand values and personality consistently across all platforms.
Implementing brand consistency in your business will help you stand out from your competitors and ensure that your target audience takes you seriously.
For example, if there is no visual consistency between various online profiles—different social media accounts, website pages, etc—then how could consumers know whether or not something posted by one person on behalf of your organization would actually be legitimate?
Brand consistency
attracts new consumers
builds trust & credibility
builds a loyal customer base
helps you stand out from competitors
builds brand equity (the value of your brand)
builds reputation
MADE WITH LOVE by GAB (branding package by Amelia Berry Design)
Your logo represents your brand. It should be simple, clear, concise–and most importantly, memorable.
Your logo should be unique enough to stand out from other logos, but not so unique that it’s hard to remember or interpret. Your logo also needs to adapt to a variety of different formats, like website banners and print ads. In fact, it will need several versions for different uses: a primary version for the key identifier for the business, a secondary version (an icon or sub-mark, used for smaller applications), and a stacked version for cases when your primary logo is ineligible.
Logos should be
simple, clear & concise
memorable
unique
adaptable
consistent
scalable
Use the same fonts on everything
Your logo is a cornerstone of your brand identity, so it should be easy to read from a distance. You may choose a script font that’s elegant and stylish, but if the letters are too small or crammed together, it will lose its impact when you need people to see your brand name.
Be consistent with your brand typefaces across all platforms—including signs, business cards, office stationery, and website design—so that your customers can recognize your brand wherever they encounter it. This helps build brand recognition and trust and lets people know what brand they're looking at whether online or offline.
MADE WITH LOVE by GAB (marketing collateral by Amelia Berry Design)
The colour palette that you choose for your brand will affect how consumers perceive your business
When you create a brand, your colours will help to convey the personality of your business. Your colour palette should reflect the overall story that you want to tell about your company and its products or services. A consistent colour palette will give consumers a sense of familiarity with your brand and make them feel comfortable when they come across it again in the future.
Use a colour palette that reflects your brand personality, for example:
Green is connected with endurance, nature, and balance
Pink is connected with creativity, femininity, and imagination
Purple is connected with wisdom, luxury, and inclusiveness.
Images are a powerful way to communicate with customers, so reinforce your brand messaging with visual consistency
In addition to using consistent images on your website, social media posts, and advertising, you should also use them in your packaging, product branding, and marketing materials.
Your promotional materials should include the same branding as well.
A consistent brand builds trust and credibility among consumers
Consistency is one of the most important things when it comes to branding your business. It helps consumers find, remember and trust your brand. If consumers can't remember you from one place to another, they may not stay loyal to your brand in the long run.
Consistent branding helps build credibility with consumers–which makes them want to come back and buy from you, again and again!
Make sure your brand is consistent across all of these channels to ensure that your brand remains a trustworthy and reliable source for customers. The more you can align your business with a single, unified vision, the better experience you'll provide for customers.
Your website: This is where most people will encounter your company for the first time, so it's important that it reflects everything else about your business in an appealing way.
Social media: It's easy to have multiple accounts on different platforms (like Facebook and Twitter), but this can make things confusing for people who want to learn more about you or interact with you as a company. If possible, combine all channels into one main account where everything is kept updated consistently so there's no confusion between platforms when trying to find information about what's happening at each location or post by customer service reps (if applicable).
Marketing materials/advertising: Whether it's printed material used at events like conventions or advertisements placed online or offline in magazines/papers etc., these things should reflect how customers would expect them to look if they were visiting one of those locations themselves—and not just what might be aesthetically pleasing because someone felt like making changes just because they could! If something looks weirdly different than other places then there's probably some reason why.
Remember to use consistent branding everywhere!
on your website
on your social media posts
on your advertising
on your packaging
on your marketing materials
on your product branding
on your promotional materials
Achieving brand consistency isn’t easy, but it’s well worth the effort. To keep your branding consistent:
Maintain a consistent voice and aesthetic across all channels. This includes not just social media platforms, but also your website and other marketing materials. If you have multiple people working on your content strategy, make sure they have the same guidelines for how to create their work so that it feels like it comes from one source (you).
Keep a consistent message across all channels as well. For example, if you want to be known for great customer service or fast shipping times or something else—make sure that message is reflected across everything from product descriptions to social media posts to emails sent out after someone makes a purchase from you.
Now that you know the importance of brand consistency and have some ideas on how to achieve it, it's time to get started. The sooner you start thinking about your brand identity and how best to use it in all aspects of your business, the better off you'll be.
When you work with Amelia Berry Design + Illustration, we will guide you through our proven branding process to rebuild your brand intentionally and get results that match your brand personality.
If have any questions, contact Amelia Berry Design for a chat!