Your brand is more than just a logo – it’s who you are. It embodies your story, what you do, what you provide and much more. That’s why consistency within your branding is crucial to building awareness and establishing trust in your company.
Not sure how to develop brand consistency? Here’s a few tips:
1. Create a Style Guide
-
Logo: Your logo is often the core of your branding, so it’s key to ensure it’s being used correctly. Specify the colors that should be used, and maintain a sharable folder with the latest files.
-
Colors: Everyone providing marketing materials for your organization should be using the same color palette. Provide the exact specifications for the colors (including hex codes) that can be used for displays, online media, printed brochures, etc.
-
Font: Share guidelines for the size, spacing and weight for fonts, as well as the specific typefaces you approve of. Limit the number of fonts to a primary and secondary font to prevent confusion.
-
Imagery: Create guidelines for the types of images that can be used for your brand. It’s also beneficial to generate a folder that contains photos and images that people can use for their different campaigns.
-
Tone and Voice: Establishing the company’s tone and voice for copy ahead of time can ensure that all messaging and written materials align with the brand stye.
2. Leverage Templates
-
Design Templates: Your creative team can establish standardized templates for all types of print materials (brochures, business cards, flyers, posters, one pagers, etc.), online materials (social posts, website look and feel, etc.) and signs (displays, trade show banners, billboards, etc.).
-
Layouts: The template should be reproducible. This ensures that all the templates follow the same layout structure.
3. Shared Folders
-
Asset Library: An online, cloud-based shareable library of assets is a must. Make sure that the right people have access so they can do their job effectively. That being said, only approved individuals should have the ability to change documents and images.
4. Training
-
Get the Team Up to Speed: Perform regular training sessions for your team. Go over the brand guidelines and answer any questions they may have. Consider holding design workshops to help everyone understand the different design principles and how to correctly use brand assets.
5. Approvals
-
Quality Control: Anything that’s going to be printed or said about your company that could affect brand identity should be reviewed by stakeholders and the design team.
-
Perform Regular Reviews: On a regular basis, audit all online and printed materials to verify that they match brand guidelines.
6. Partner with Reliable Vendors
-
Trusted Vendors: If you partner with a reliable vendor, its team can work closely with you to ensure that your online and printed materials match your brand guidelines. Establish open communication lines between your company and the partner. Working with a third party can be tricky, but partnering on big projects can be rewarding for everyone, especially if you have strong brand documents at your side.
7. Create a Consistent Message
-
Messaging Across Platforms: No matter what outlet you’re using, the messaging should be consistent, ensuring new and returning customers can easily identify you.
-
Taglines and Slogans: All slogans, taglines and other messaging should be consistent across all materials, including online assets.
8. Get Feedback
-
Talk to Your Customers: Regularly survey your customers to get an idea of what they think of your brand or messaging. Does it match what you’re trying to do? If not, make adjustments based on the feedback you receive.
9. Stay Up to Date on Trends
-
What’s Trending: Your brand should change with the times. If your messaging or imagery is outdated, then update it to reflect modern trends. Keep abreast of what’s going on in the market and with your competitors. You should also monitor your own internal changes and revise your messaging as needed.
Need an extra bit of help establishing brand consistency for your business? Give us a call – we’re happy to be your partner in creating a strong, consistent brand identity!
