As a business owner executive, you’ve probably read about the importance of having a well-thought-out brand for your business, and the benefits that a strong brand can bring to a business of every size and nature. A well-executed brand attaches a personality and voice to the core of your business and its services, while increasing your company’s recognition in your industry – thereby leading to sales and customer retention.  If you’re like me, you probably put a lot of thought into your company logo and all of the marketing elements that go with it – and how those things represent your business. However, while a great logo is important, it’s not just a box you can check off and move on. It’s just as important to develop your organizational messaging and establish your plan for maintaining brand consistency in all of your communication efforts. While branding begins with creating your business identity (such as your logo and your website), brand consistency includes the other varied assets that convey that identity to your clients and customers. Ensuring that your visual brand and your messages are clear and consistent in all communication channels are important for many reasons, including the following:

It creates continued recognition across all communication platforms and design elements

The more people are exposed to your brand, the more they start to identify and associate your business with your product or service type, or your industry.  Seeing or hearing a brand’s messaging in several places can increase a person’s recall and increase their likeliness for ongoing recognition, and interest. Applied and active consistency can also help optimize your organic search rankings and allow you to better leverage online search functions and key words to promote your business.

 

It builds trust and customer loyalty

A strong brand gives your business an identity and builds on human interest. A structured brand will convey professionalism and promote stability, which in turn creates trust. When people have a clear understanding of what a company brand represents, they are more likely to engage and become loyal followers and users of that brand. This can not only make it easier to create growth within your prospective customer base, but to enhance current customer loyalty as well.

 

It can set you apart and make you an expert

While it can be difficult to distinguish your products or services from those of a competitor, a well-developed brand can help you stand out among your competitors and, through your brand story, allow you to showcase your uniqueness. With the trust of your customers, brand consistency can also improve your business’s credibility and position within your industry. When your brand gains familiarity, it affords you the opportunity to be seen as a leader and an expert in the products or services you provide.

 

It keeps everyone on the same page

Clear direction in branding efforts helps set parameters and provides a structure that your whole company can easily embrace and follow. Relying on your internal team – those who know your business culture inside and out – to promote brand consistency from within can make it easy to carry it outside of your organization. If everyone follows protocols and approved brand standards, you can be sure that the team is adequately promoting your mission and values and providing a strong representation of your business.  Organizational buy-in and participation also enables company decision makers to make informed decisions regarding positioning and content creation and to evaluate when something is working well…or isn’t working at all and needs refinement.

 

Successful consistency in branding and messaging comes from establishing your niche and highlighting your strengths, and through listening to what your customers, employees and the public are saying about you.  Where branding helps you establish your relevance, consistency in branding takes your marketing efforts to the next level. Efficient and ongoing brand delivery will reinforce your messages, help establish trust and make your company stand out and be remembered.

-Lori

 

As originally printed in the Sacramento Business Journal on 04/26/2018.

https://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2018/04/26/biz-smarts-why-maintaining-brand-consistency-is.html