Consistency is not just great for creating good habits, it’s a tool that can be used to invest in yours and your businesses future. There is a lot of information available suggesting that in the world of branding, consistency is key but have you ever wondered why it is so highly regarded? Let’s have a look at some of the many reasons consistency can be one of your biggest branding assets.
Being Recognisable
Being recognisable has is benefits. Customer loyalty, increased and sustained following, brand value and enhanced creditability are just some of the reasons. By developing a recognisable and sturdy brand, it makes business easier down the track as well, from simple things as generation of organic and genuine interest to the easier introduction of new products and services. You can let your brand be your biggest backer for investments as you have a reputable and recognisable product or business to do the talking for you.
You want to be one of the recognised brands that comes to mind when people are shopping for a new product or thinking of enlisting new services. Customers are more drawn to familiarity rather than the unfamiliar, even if the unfamiliar has a better deal or service. It also gives you a competitive edge over competition, and with further recognition your brand presence will elevate itself which enhances your edge.
Why should you invest in your brand
Being consistent leads to you being more recognisable, which has many benefits as discussed above. Never underestimate the power of a cohesive brand. Not only does it convey to potential customers that you are organised and have thorough thought processes and developed ideas, it also demonstrates you invest the time, money and effort into your own business, which to someone who wants to invest in their own business, speaks a lot.
By being able to create a sense of consistency it also gives the customer a sense of reassurance that what they see or purchase today will be of the same nature, quality and consistency in the future. That’s not to say you brand shouldn’t evolve or have a brand refresh over time, that’s important as your brand should evolve with your business, its saying that it should always be recognisable in some respect as you.
Why should you have one person or business do it for you
It’s very simple, the more people – especially when unrelated to each other’s work – that are designing, writing and developing content for you, the less you can control the consistency.
For example: you might have the majority of your work in set fonts but you need an advert done for a newspaper and they offer free graphic design services, you think wow that will save me $30, but then you find out they don’t have the correct fonts and want you to purchase them for use, so you ask for them to be substituted. This may seem fine for one advert, but once you substitute once I guarantee that you will become more relaxed about it and continue to do it when the opportunity presents itself to save, but in the big picture, you no longer have brand consistency.
The more you stray from your brand (in a negative way) the less recognisable you become and the less cohesive your business looks, even on a sub-conscious level to your customers. This is also an example of being inconsistent in the development of your brand, instead of developing your branding further in a consistent and recognisable way.
Three tips for creating a consistent brand
- As discussed, have one person or business managing your branding. For example, if you find yourself outsourcing graphic design to one person, and the creation of your sale video to another, it’s not necessarily a case of merging those together, but if you need an introduction slide or assets developed for your videographer, then get your graphic designer to design them and supply them. What may take a bit of extra time on consideration and planning can help lead to a much more consistent brand.
- Spend the time developing your brand image, if you are happy with it you are more likely to work towards maintaining your identity.
- Branding isn’t only about looks, your branding is a mixture of elements from the design of the look and feel, the content development and phrasing to the style of imagery you use.
You need to consider all these things, and make sure you are consistent with all of them. For example, if your business has developed a quirky, upbeat style of writing for social media then you need to continue that through your website, advertising and beyond.
Its these key considerations that will help customers develop familiarity and a sense of loyalty towards you and your brand.
The ultimate benefit of consistent branding is the trust gained from the customer
