01 Feb How to Keep Branding Consistent as You Grow
When you are busy growing your small business, it is easy to completely overlook your brand message. You have so much going on. “Keep branding consistent” is probably not at the top of your to-do list.
Unfortunately, this can come back to bite you in the arse. Your brand message is critical to how people think and talk about your company. Their perception IS your brand.
That’s right. Your brand is not what you say about your company or what it looks like visually. It’s what other people say about it. And we want to make sure they’re saying the right thing.
So, let’s look at a few ways to keep branding consistent as you grow.
1. Keep your team in the loop
When your team is talking to clients or vendors, they must be accurate in their descriptions or they could cause a lot of confusion. Keep them on the same page as you by keeping them in the loop.
You get bonus points if you ask for their feedback. Client-facing employees will know whether or not messages will resonate (or are resonating) with your clients.
2. Create brand guidelines
It’s hard to go off-message if everyone has access to:
- Your value proposition
- Elevator pitch
- Tagline (if you have one)
- Core values
- Talking points for your services and products, like benefits, savings, results, etc.
- List of the industries or types of clients you serve
3. Update your value proposition and story
As you grow, it’s important to update your value proposition and company story to reflect who are you today, not who you were five years ago.
Your value proposition is a short-ish, straightforward sentence that quickly explains what you do and how you help people.
Your story is longer, but it’s not a novel. It captures why you started your company, your philosophy, your core values and why you and your team are so awesome.
4. Make a list of all online profiles
Depending on how long you’ve been in business, your list of online profiles could be pretty long. If you have a list in one place, then you won’t forget to update anything.
Your list may include:
- Social media accounts
- Online directories, like Google My Business
- Membership directories for industry associations you belong to, boards you sit on or community organizations you are active in
- Sponsorships
5. Store marketing collateral in one spot
When you update your brand message, you likely need to update all of your marketing collateral – ebooks, white papers, brochures, one-pagers, presentations, proposal templates, etc. Do yourself a favor, and store everything in one place. You will save time and avoid forgetting to update one or two pieces.
6. Review all brand messaging twice a year
If you’re like me, you need to block off time on your calendar or it won’t get done. Schedule time in the next month to review your brand messaging, and then schedule it again for six months out.
7. Monitor online mentions
You already know it’s important to listen to what people are saying online so you can jump in and help as needed. As you monitor online mentions, make sure people are accurate when they talk about your company. If they’re not, go back to the top of the list and work your way down.
So, why go through all this trouble? When you keep branding consistent, a beautiful thing will happen. Your clear, on-point message will start attracting more ideal clients, fueling your growth. It’ll turn into a nice little feedback loop!
Of course, if you need luck with your brand messaging, drop us a line!
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