You might be familiar with the phrase ‘consistency is key.’ But do you know what consistency is, when it comes to building a successful brand? And how you do you make your brand more consistent and more successful?
What is consistency?
Just so we’re all on the same page, let’s first define consistency. The Oxford English dictionary defines consistency as ‘consistent behavior or treatment’.
Now, if you apply this definition to a brand, it essentially means that your brand behaves in a consistent manner. Whatever message you’re putting out there, whatever product you’re launching or service you’re providing, your brand needs to look and feel consistent. This is absolutely crucial in establishing a unique brand identity that will set you apart from your competitors.
How do you achieve a consistent brand identity?
In order to achieve this, you need to do two things.
Firstly, you need to know what your brand is about. What is your ‘why’? What is your motivation and your purpose behind the brand? You need to be crystal-clear about this. If there’s any confusion – if your brand lacks clarity or you don’t have a vision on where you’d like to take it – this will be apparent in the way your brand looks. A diluted identity leads to a diluted look, and weak customer engagement.
If you’re at this stage, don’t worry. Usually, the answers are already there – you’ve created a business because you had a particular motivation to do so, which you may not have had time to reflect on. We can help you discover what that ‘why’ is, define your mission statement and get clear on your vision, with one of our legendary workshops.
Secondly, you need to create a uniform identity for your brand. This includes anything from a consistent colour palette, to a new website, to the tone of voice that you’re using. If you want to be really professional and avoid any brand inconsistencies, it’s crucial that you get a Brand Guidebook for your business. Once you’ve got this, you can use it to ensure that anything you’re creating (whether that’s a social media post, a brochure, or a new email marketing campaign) communicates a consistent message of what your brand is about. If you want to find out more on what’s included in a Brand Guidebook, see our blog post.
Brand consistency in practice
Let us share a quick example of successful brand consistency, using the work we’ve done for one of our clients GL Integrity Financial Planning.
To achieve a consistent and unique brand look and feel that can’t be mistaken with anyone else, we’ve used the same tone of voice and visual identity to power their website…
… and their Instagram account.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BldFWZ1BNRw/?taken-by=gl_integrity
Without a consistent brand identity, you’re selling yourself short, and this probably reflects in the amount of leads you’re converting. If you want to take steps towards a more consistent and, therefore, a more successful brand, get in touch with us today to see how we can help.