Visual Brand Content Consistency – Keeping the Promise Your Products Offer

As businesses look forward to delving deeper into the second decade of the 21^st century, with a focus on growth, and continued dominance over competition;  the marketing and media landscapes, have at warp speed, continued to evolve with greater flexibility, creativity, and relevance, than experienced in previous years. The target audience whose attention must be engaged, is more visually literate, with even greater expectations, prompting a palpable demand for stirring visual content.

The constant evolution of technology easily allows more functional support for longer videos, imagery, interactives, infographics, GIFS, and more.  The proliferation of visuals has become a lasting entity, not a trend which will pass with time. Excellent visual content has proven to increase a company’s profits significantly. Today, visual content generates its own annual report.  However, the massive insistence for visual brand content, can easily create a conundrum when this colorful, alluring, entertaining medium, missteps and deviates from your brands style, tone, and message. For this reason alone most brands rely heavily on branding services of agencies. Their efforts have maximized the potentially of many of the brands you know and love today. Let’s explore some of the best practices.

Visual Brand Identity – Message and Content Synchronicity

Your brand is striving for growth in an economy which demands fluidity, and in which nothing inert has lasting potential. If the visual content which represents your products is authentic, and tells your brand’s story, consumers will be inspired, engaged, and are more likely to engage in personalized shopping experiences which keep them loyal and coming back. The visuals, in fact, all communications in the various media platforms must be in sync with your message and the promise your products have made to your audience.  How do you avoid costly missteps, and ensure the kind of identity and constancy necessary for growth and continued success?  Read on to find out.

5 Proactive Methods for Perpetuating Consistent Message/Content Congruence

1.     Create Specific Content Brand Guidelines - Face the daunting challenges of maintaining the quality and consistency of your brands content, when creating voluminous amounts of information in blogs, or working with others, by crafting extremely specific, documented, guidance rules for everything from  data visualization, color use, videos, typography, and logo specific graphics, from “what to say”, to how it Is said. Remember that your reputation and credibility depend on accuracy, and the content created is the mirror that reflects your brands image.  Be proud of it.

2.     Invest in Carefully Curated Photographic Imagery – Photography is one of the hardest working elements in your brand content. The impact of curated brand photography (videos, music, lighting, and images), on your website and digital platforms, quickly establishes the tone of your specific brand, elevating your statis above competition who use “stock imagery”, and it resonates with the audience you seek as future loyal consumers of your brand. Hiring a professional photographer, and using the guidelines discussed above, is one of the essential investments you may choose to make for your business. Photographic impact reaches out to everyone and can be a priceless element in creating the consistency and unique impact you seek.

3.     Brand Your Graphics – Aesthetically pleasing graphic design has a deeply positive impact on your audience.  It is, of course, the face of your brand/company, and is a visual representation of your written word content. Done well, graphics instill credibility, professionalism, and even influence the buying decisions of your audience. Your social media graphics, and infographics must include your logo to build the bridge that guides would-be consumers back to your brand.  The more engaging the logoed graphics, the more impactful your message becomes as it is shared globally.

4.     Establish a Compilation of Uniquely Your Own Brand Identity -  Brand identity includes all the visible elements of your key brand color and color palette, typographic treatments, design style, logo, videos, photography, and your visual identity on social media platforms.  It must be consistent. Therefore, if you unify all your dynamic visual elements into an identity system, or library, your audience will recognize the consistency of the appearance, use, scope, tonality, color and yes, the feel of the consistent visual statements you have crafted to be a strong brand that is sustainable, growing, trustworthy and a standout among your competitors. Many turn to the Irrational Advocacy Index to quantify and optimize brand love and loyalty.

5.     Ask Customers to Share Feedback - The information gathered from requested customer feedback is invaluable.  Not only does being “customer-centric” let you know their specific likes and dislikes regarding the products you offer, but this honed focus also lets you listen keenly to the heartbeat of your company’s future growth. Your customers will feel valued in sharing their personal shopping experiences. You will have the advantage of knowing what needs tweaking, and what you can expand upon to build customer loyalty, while consistently collaborating with your audience to be at the epicenter of their ever-evolving needs, desires, and expectations. 

Achieving the “In SYNC” Oneness of Successful Brand Growth

Your content and brand strategy are symbiotic and must work harmoniously, to mutually benefit your brand credibility, and your growth potential.  Assuring that every aspect of your communication media, inclusive of the visuals (photography, videos, imagery) makes a clear and concise statement of your story, is an unending process, and a necessary one. 

Having a highly qualified branding services team who can do the research to build a strategy that grows your brand, at the highest level of customer expectation, while preserving the consistency of message, quality, innovation, tonality, and on-line presence that showcases all the assets of your personal vision for your products, is of inestimable value.  We are that team.  Let us work with you as you wrap your arms around the bright future you and your company deserve.