Clicks to Cash: How consistent branding can improve your sales
Why Consistency Matters?
Consistency is a key element in a business’ success. Of course, there are other important factors but consistency is what will create name recognition. Consistency is what will build your tribe so you can develop a trusting relationship. Consistency is what will showcase your expertise to new followers.
For example, if you go out to dinner at your favorite restaurant and you fall in love with your entrée. A few weeks later you take a friend to the same restaurant, order the same meal, but it tastes different and you send it back to the kitchen. Their lack of consistency in how your meal was tastes will now leave doubt in your head about that particular dish and possibly about the whole restaurant in general.
Doubt in a customer’s mind generally means you have to rebuild that trust again to show that they should continue doing business with you. It’s not impossible to earn their trust again but you’re basically starting from square one. Working your business consistently and focusing on superb content and excellent customer service will help to keep your clients happy and trusting in you.
Have you ever had this occur:
You opt-in to an email list that has great potential. You receive a few weekly emails and then nothing. Crickets. Then a month or two later you receive an email from that person again, making an offer to purchase their product. How does that lack of consistency make you feel? I’m guessing your first reaction would be, “Who the heck is this person?”
Lack of consistency will cause you to forget who they are and why you signed up for their list in the first place. Lack of name recognition generally leads to, “I don’t know who you are so why would I give you my money?” Again, this business owner just made it much harder to win you over again.
4 Places Your Brand Identity Must Be Consistent
Let’s examine the four most important places to master your brand identity:
1. Your Website
Most times your website is the first thing a potential customers will see and most people will make a 10-second decision on whether to explore past the home page. Needless to say, your identity should be strongly represented on that home page so your potential customers will purchase or contact you.
On your website brand colors, fonts, and your logo are vitally important and should reflect your brand identity. If your message is sobering and you handle tough problems, using whimsical fonts and cutesy graphics doesn’t meld with the serious issues your company handles. The opposite is also true; if your identity and mission are more light-hearted, using deep, dark colors and traditional fonts might turn people away after they make a quick judgment call.
2. Your Social Media Platforms
Not everyone in your target audience will use the same social media platform, so it makes the most sense to post across multiple platforms to reach more of your audience. However, if your name, colors, and logo are different on all these platforms, when someone jumps from Facebook to Twitter, they may not think yours is the same company because the profiles look different. Or if they receive a piece of mail that looks different than the social media profile, they may also be suspicious. Consistency brings recognition and also helps to build trust between you and your clients.
3. All Company Communications
Letterhead, invoices, printed marketing pieces; these should all have the same colors, fonts, and logo as your website and your social media platforms. Just one more way to show your professionalism and attention to detail and your clients will certainly notice.
4. Your Email Marketing Campaigns
Contrary to popular belief, email marketing is still one of the best ways to keep in touch with clients and to keep your company name on their minds. The key is to be relevant with your messages and offer valuable and engaging content. On top of these, create a template that incorporates your brand colors, fonts, and logo. Don’t miss a chance to build that trust between you and your audience.
Ultimately, your brand identity is the image your company portrays to the world. When people look at your online presence, they should know what you do and that you bring value. Your brand identity should be appealing to your target market.
Consistency is important because it brings name recognition. When people recognize your identity, your name is always front of mind, which is helpful when they have to make decisions on who to spend with. Paying audiences are those who already trust you, like what you have to say, and are eager to have a conversation with you. These are the people who will sing your praises to others, thereby growing your business. And being consistent is a simple way to keep that audience engaged.
If you’d like to learn more about how to create a consistent brand image, check out the Branding 101 Course on BOSS Academy.
