Now that social media is the place for marketing, businesses need an increased focus on consistency in brand management.
We see it all the time–social media profiles for the same business contain varying and confusing information. Facebook will have one logo, while Twitter shows a different one. Their LinkedIn hasn’t been updated in months or there is a link for an March special and it’s June.
Which profile is up to date? Are these social media profiles for the same business or separate ones?
You do not want customers to ask these questions. You want current and complete social media profiles to further your brand identity. Ours is a world of fast clicks and quick scrolls, and instant brand recognition is imperative.
Brandmanagementexperts.com says that consumers see almost 3,000 marketing messages per day, but only remember four of them positively. If potential clients and customers are unable to easily discern relevant information from dated information, or if they pick up on variances in logo design and mission statements, they are thrown off track. If you make a potential or existing customer work hard to figure out who you are, what you do, or which social media profile is the correct or current one, you lose them.
Entreprenuer.com says that according to Invesp, social commerce should grow to represent five percent of all retail revenue, bringing sales up to an estimated $14 billion by the end of 2015. Businesses that want to be included in this growth should be sure that their brand management is up to par, and that their brand stands out among those 3,000 other marketing messages their potential clients will see throughout the day.
Consistency and clarity should be a priority for an effective brand management program. It is estimated that 38 percent of companies do not have a consistent design throughout their social media platforms and other communications.
People rely on the subconscious message brands send for making purchasing and servicing decisions. When they are looking for your product and they come across unkempt social media profiles, they don’t think, “Oh, the people who run this business are probably really busy providing excellent products/services and don’t have time for social media.” Not even. They skip on to the next business looking for someone who has their social media/web presence ducks in a row, so to speak.
When brand management is well-done, your brand sells itself. People know your product and they trust your brand to deliver a consistently positive experience.
Brand management
- Brings a professional and trustworthy image for the business
- Increases the perceived value of a product line
- Enhances customer understanding of the company and brand
- Promotes customer loyalty
- Facilitates word of mouth advertising
- Enables growth
A Quick Brand Assessment:
- Is the information the same in all your social media profiles?
- Do you use the same logo in all of your social media?
- Are your profiles complete? Do they contain solid content and professional photographs and logos?
- Is your latest post dated within the last week?
If your answer is “No” to any of these questions, then you need some brand management clean-up.
Consistency in Brand Management
The brand management process is essentially evaluating everything that is attached to your brand and asking, “Does this go? Does this drive a positive reality of my brand?”
If the answer is no, change it or delete it.
The rule for brand management consistency is the same as the fashion rule:
It doesn’t have to match, but it has to go.
Meaning, the goal in brand management isn’t symmetry, it’s synchronicity. You can (and should) use different social media platforms to express different aspects of your brand’s personality, but each profile and post needs to be in harmony with who you are (brand identity).
Build your brand with consistent and clear impressions in everything.
Does brand management sound like it takes a lot of time and effort? Sure it does. Anything important usually does take time, and it most certainly takes effort. Social media marketing is time-consuming and demanding, and brand management within various platforms makes it even more so. Also, don’t be afraid to get professional help with brand management and all the small details that it encompasses.
Bottom line: don’t make clients work to find out who you are, because they won’t. Good brand management, especially in social media, means that people will know you without even trying.
Read more about why creating your brand identity is important in: Brand Identity: Be Like the Cool Kids.
