Insights From Our Experts

In the words of Dwayne Johnson, “Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency.” In a marketing world that’s saturated with in-your-face ads, influencers, and the general chaos of cross-channel marketing, this statement couldn’t be more true. Where’s your brand’s position in all that brightness and noise? Are you able to stay consistent? 

Achieving true brand consistency starts with a strong brand voice. Simply put, this voice is the way your brand speaks to customers. When the language, tone, and authenticity of your brand  voice are working together, you’re able to maintain your brand’s reputation and consistently convey who you are, what you sell, and why you’re worth purchasing from. When your brand voice is all over the place, you get something else entirely: jumbled, disjointed messaging that fails to convey value and misses the mark of your ideal audience. 

Think of this article as your brand consistency workshop. We’ll keep it realistic with likely obstacles you’ll face and the steps you can take to overcome them. Keep reading! Your brand will thank you. 

Modern Challenges to Maintaining Brand Consistency

Whether it’s on Facebook or through email, your brand should be distinct and recognizable. You are unique, after all, and true brand consistency will reflect that. Visibility and consistency also deliver undeniable benefits, which include incredible first impressions and a lasting connection with your audience (hello, brand loyalty). 

So, what’s stopping you? Well, there are a few aspects of modern marketing that you should be aware of if consistency is your goal: 

The Ever-Evolving Digital Landscape

Is it just us, or does cross-channel marketing just keep getting more and more diverse? You have LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Facebook, your website, and the list goes on (and on and on). Staying consistent across so many platforms is a challenge in itself. Plus, you have trends and technology to keep up with. If your messaging fails to adapt accordingly, you could see consistency unravel and communication become “out of touch.” Stay relevant, but don’t lose your brand’s individuality in the process.  

Authenticity & Transparency

Inconsistency erodes trust, and in a world where 81% of consumers say trust is a key factor in their purchase decisions, the importance of keeping your brand voice authentic cannot be overstated. It can be tempting to fall into the trap of virtue signaling: crafting content that aligns with what’s popular but doesn’t necessarily fit what your brand believes in. You should also be aware of how quickly negative reviews can spread and damage your reputation. The solution is to remain transparent, acknowledging how your business can improve and openly communicating with naysayers and happy customers alike. 

Rapid Spread of AI Content

While AI and machine learning can certainly be used to strengthen brand consistency, much of the AI-generated content that’s flooding the marketing world is generic (as in bleh, boring, and definitely non-unique). When everyone and everything sounds roughly the same, consistency can begin to feel redundant. That’s why we encourage brands to continue being bold and true to themselves, never falling victim to the trendy yet monotonous lure of AI. 

Short- vs. Long-Form Content 

Short-form content’s focus on quick engagement can lead to inconsistent messaging. A caption on social media or even a brief video may lack the critical context to convey your brand’s values or story, and there’s always the temptation to simplify messaging to make it “fit” in smaller spaces. Long-form content, on the other hand, can create opportunities for brand voice to diverge and tangle as it gets more and more in-depth. This is especially true if you have more than one writer or editor on your team. It’s almost too easy to stray from your brand’s strategy or unintentionally create content that, although useful and informative, doesn’t capture what your brand’s really about. 

Your best bet for overcoming these challenges? Working to maintain a balance between quick, easy-to-consume messaging and longer pieces, always keeping your brand’s personality and core attributes in mind. 

Changing Customer Expectations

Sure, you know your audience, but your audience’s needs are always changing, and as time goes on, consumers in general desire and expect a certain level of personalization in their interactions with various brands. How do you do it without compromising your brand’s core identity? The tips below can help lead you in the right direction. 

Creating Consistency for Your Unique Brand 

You can strike a balance between creative expression and brand consistency. We would know because we’ve done it. Here are our top recommendations for making it happen and remaining consistent over time: 

The No-Brainer: Consistent Tone and Language

As the cornerstones of a winning brand voice, tone and language should come first in your efforts to build trust and make your brand recognizable out in the wild (as in not just on your website). Choose your wording carefully and consider how your messaging will be received in various online settings.  

Maintain Your Brand’s Personality

Across channels. Across audiences. No matter where your brand appears, its personality should be an obvious, well-defined presence in that space. To do so, pair your brand voice with a brand persona, a fictional figure who captures the personality, communication style, and character traits of your brand. This will allow you to interact with customers in comments, user-generated content, and more as you steadily build an authentic and consistent personality your audience knows and loves. 

Create a Style Guide

Who’s keeping track of all this tone and language stuff anyway? By creating a clear, concise style guide your marketing team members can easily access, you essentially establish “ground rules” that will help brand consistency thrive no matter who’s writing your captions and copy. 

Review and Revisit

Your style guide, your brand persona, and even your brand voice will need to be reevaluated from time to time. Be honest with yourself about places where your brand’s personality may feel like it’s shifting and slipping. Maybe that’s happening because your brand needs to make a necessary shift, but your whole team needs to be on board with changes if you’re looking to maintain consistency. Remember: Embracing change means embracing growth.  

Find Your Roar 

We can talk about brand voice all day long, but what about your brand’s roar? When you truly make an effort to stand out from the crowd, your messaging roars to life, attracting new customers and reminding your loyal ones why you’re so great. 
Whether your brand guidelines need adjustment or your cross-channel marketing efforts could use an outside set of eyes, the experts at Liger can help you achieve brand consistency and elevate your voice from a quiet whisper to an unmistakable roar. Contact our team today to get started on a refreshing approach to brand strategy.