Establishing Brand Consistency
If your brand identity is the lyrics to your song, then your platforms the speakers that project it. You want to guarantee that everyone in your audience hears the song correctly, at the same frequency, tune and volume. You don’t want your message to distort because one or more of your platforms strays away from the intended standard. Remember: Your audience will encounter your brand at differing touchpoints, whether searching your account on social media or clicking your website on the search engine results page.
Each of your media outlets should reflect the others while adapting to take advantage of the unique facets they offer. Social media content may be brief and engaging, while website content may be long-form and informational. Whatever the format, you can carry the same tone of voice in all your messaging efforts. Language is flexible, so a simple turn of phrase can be the difference between your brand presenting as formal versus approachable.
Design elements add another layer of consideration. Each platform you use should make your brand visually identifiable. Your brand identity should have a presence that shines just as bright as the message. Fonts, color palettes and imagery guidelines should maintain your brand’s look and feel. Visual consistency ensures all roads lead to easy brand recognition.
Determining Brand Identity Guidelines
Whether you’re starting up or trying to redefine your content direction, establishing brand guidelines can be challenging. One way to maintain a standard for messaging and visuals is to create an audience persona. Think about who consumes your content, then envision that person as you craft content. Whether they are a forever-online teen or an older individual interested in a niche service, this image will help you speak to them.
A persona helps give you focus on your brand identity by tailoring your content to individual platforms. This activity aligns well with Paradigm’s brand positioning. As we create a brand persona, you should also craft one for your audiences. For instance, the audiences between social media platforms can be easily distinguished. Facebook content may attract older audience members, Instagram may draw in a younger crowd and LinkedIn is likely to engage fellow professionals in your industry. However, you cannot target everyone. Inevitably, some people will be uninterested in your brand offerings. The best thing you can do is cater your platform to the audience who frequents it and expand outward.
Maintaining Brand Identity
Another way to brand across platforms is to stay focused on strategy. Content planning provides ample opportunities to revisit your content with fresh eyes. Blog topics, social media concepts and website messaging can easily stray away from a cohesive brand identity. Reviews give you a chance to alter your content to remain on brand. When considering a strategy, keep in mind that channels and frequencies may also shape brand perception. Performance metrics show you what performs well and what’s worth revisiting as you continue creating across multiple platforms.
Your story shouldn’t remain stagnant. It should remain fluid, adapting the same brand identity in every business effort. Weave your story across all platforms with Paradigm at your side. Contact our team to start developing your brand strategy today.
