Have you ever played the logo game? Some of the world’s biggest brands are recognisable from simply a colour, an outline or a font. Now, that may only be a small % of the world’s top brands, but the bottom line is clear. Consistency is key when it comes to brand image and awareness. Streamlining your brand allows better recognition, and in turn creating subconscious brand loyalty as you become a recognisable entity.
Set Brand Guidelines
You need to decide how you want your brand to be perceived. What do you sell? What is your purpose? Who is your target audience? Setting a font, a colour palette, and a consistent voice in all of your external communication sets a standard of what consumers are to expect from you.
Sticking to these guidelines in your social media posts, website, mailers and all alike, you are setting the tone for the first impression and what they can expect from you.
Equally, it’s important when building your brand pack that you write out what you don’t want. Do you want to make sure your brand logo is never pink? Make it clear!
Hone Your Tone
How you look visually is important, but so is how you sound. More traditional brands may decide they want their written communication to always be in full written English; whereas other brands who are known from being from a specific geographical area decide they want their written communication to mirror their brand values. For example, a Yorkshire food brand may decide that Yorkshire slang like ‘Now then’ helps customers get a feel for who they are.
By focusing in on your chosen tone, you can include this in your brand package and make sure this is transferrable to your workforce or agencies, so everything that is written for you is in line with your brand guidelines, never compromising so your consumers can trust that you are who you say you are and recognise you a mile off.
Social Brand Strategy
Think about who, how, what, and where. What platforms fit your brand to be targeting? Who do you want to see your content? How do you want people to engage with you and what do you want them to see?
From Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok and the rest, there is a platform to target to all business needs. Whether you are B2C or B2B, a mixture of these platforms utilised correctly can skyrocket engagement and sales organically, not to mention the power of paid social advertising in the right place at the right time!
Words To Remember
Is there a catchphrase or a commonly known saying you’re known for? Do you want there to be? Thinking about big brands, we often know them for this before we think about their product. From Nike’s ‘Just do it’ to McDonalds’ ‘I’m Lovin it’, there is something to be said for everyone. Maybe you’ve won an award; it’s worth slipping ‘Award Winning’ where you can to build brand trust. Think about how you want to be remembered and utilise this to help create a brand to remember.
