Consistency is key

It might sound like a cliché but in marketing and advertising, consistency is key to an effective brand identity. Portraying a reliable and cohesive image builds trust between you and your customers, allowing them to develop a relationship with the personality you portray. Whether your finding your brand voice, creating a dynamic company image or communicating to your tribe, pick your path and stick to it.

Paint a picture

Graphic design is a fantastic resource to create a visual representation of your business’ personality and values. If you’re portraying a fun, bubbly persona, embrace bold colours in your logo, collateral and social media networks. Once you pick the imagery and a colour scheme that paint a picture of your brand, streamline it across your media. A cohesive image ensures your business is easily recognisable in the congested world of advertisement. You can mix up colours on your social media feeds and plan your posts ahead of time with apps like Planolyor UNUM. Group your social media tiles in colour blocks and post strategically to create a dynamic, visual story.

Find your voice

Your voice as an organisation should represent your core values and persona. How you communicate this voice is reflective of who your audience are. Conducting research into target markets before launching your brand is essential to ensuring your tone is appropriate, effective and remains consistent across all platforms. Consider the persona you’re seeking to convey. Are you striving to be friendly, approachable, witty or formal? Once you establish a desired tone, communicate it internally and get your staff on-board with protocol. Whether you are releasing email digital marketing, posting on social networks, composing brochures or meeting with a customer, a consistent voice ensures a coherent brand identity.

Timing

Strategically timing your business’ activities ensures your customers can predict your next move and know when to pay attention. If you publish blogs on your website, do so on a consistent timeline. Your loyal followers will know when to jump online to read your latest insights, taking pressure of promoting the new content. Take a leaf out of Apple’s book, the technology empire regularly releases its iPhones in September. Devoted customers can plan their finances ahead of release dates and get their hands on the latest model immediately.

Response

When your tribe reaches out to you with feedback it is essential to have a planned protocol for response. When possible, assign a specific individual the task of replying to all messages. This ensures the customer communicates with one, fully informed person and doesn’t have to frustratingly repeat their concerns. When responding to complaints consider strategies to make amends and ensure each complaint follows this procedure. Do you simply apologise, offer refunds or a complimentary product or service? Remember people talk! If one unsatisfied customer receives a refund, their friends and family will expect the same courtesy. Similarly, if you wish to reward your customer’s positive feedback with something extra, communicate this to your staff to ensure all feedback receives a consistent response.

When your customers and followers know what to expect from your business, they develop trust in your values and a relationship with your personality. Remaining consistent across your visual and written communication allows your messages to be easily recognisable across all platforms and establishes a coherent brand identity. Establishing timeframes for releasing content keeps your tribe in the loop so they know when to pay attention. Determining protocol for replying to feedback ensures equal treatment, preventing any further discrepancies. Wild and Free Media are specialised in evaluating all domains of your business and bringing them together to create the bigger picture. Our team of marketing gurus, communication specialists and graphic designers will work with you to put your best foot forward. Holla at hey@wildandfreemedia to hear what we can do for you!