How to Maintain Brand Consistency Across Social Media Platforms

First impressions are the most lasting. This proverb is every marketer’s credo, and for a good reason – a widely publicized Microsoft study claims that our attention span dropped to only 8 seconds. So, once you capture your target audience’s attention, you’re good to go, right? Well, not really. Branding is all about consistency, and if you really want to make a long-lasting impression and boost your brand awareness, you need to make sure that the message you send across different social media platforms is coherent and recognizable.

Start small

One of the biggest mistakes that you can make is trying to make it on several social media channels at the same time. What you should be doing is focusing on just one or two; then you can start to slowly build your following. If you aren’t sure where to start from, research your target audience and find out what their preferred channel of communication is. For example, if you’re in the B2B industry, it’s only logical that you’ll pick LinkedIn over Instagram. Similarly, “glamorous” industries such as fashion or food, can make the most of Instagram or Pinterest, as these channels are visually oriented. Facebook is a safe bet for most industries, and it boasts 2.27 monthly active users which means that you can reach potential customers from all over the world with your posts.  

Get visual

Design is the silent ambassador of your brand. This quote by Paul Rand sums up the importance of every single graphical element of your branding. Maintaining visual consistency doesn’t mean that all you have to do is upload your logo as your profile picture. If you want your audience to recognize your company when they see your post on a social media channel, it’s important to pay attention to every detail. In other words, make sure to use your brand colors, custom fonts, as well as custom images and filters. Luckily, Facebook and Twitter offer numerous customization options so that you can make your pages in a manner which reflects your brand’s visual identity and personality. An excellent example of this is Coca-Cola and their consistent use of a festive red color as well as a Spencerian style font. Besides the obvious visual appeal, this warm red color reminds people of holidays and happy times.

Find your voice

You don’t want to confuse your audience with erratic messages that don’t seem like they’re coming from the same person. Pick your voice, that is, determine the voice which will hit the right tone with your audience, and stick to it. So, if you’re trying to appeal to younger audiences, then you should learn to use their lingo and jargon, but if you’re talking to businesspeople, then your messaging should reflect that. This also refers to understanding how each of the platforms you’re using operates, which means that it’s not a good idea to post exactly the same message on Facebook or Twitter. As for posting consistency, it’s important not to be spammy, but on the other hand, don’t spread out your posts too much. The best thing is to create a social media calendar and have everything ready in advance.

Track your metrics

If you don’t track your social media analytics, you won’t know how your campaigns are performing. Many inexperienced entrepreneurs simply rely on so-called vanity metrics such as the number of likes and shares. These numbers are significant too, but if you really want to understand how your efforts are affecting your brand awareness, ROI, and bottom line, it’s important to monitor clicks, comments, reach, the number of followers, audience growth rate, and mentions. Only then will you be able to see the whole picture, and make some adjustments if necessary and be in control of how your brand is portrayed on social media.

Share curated content

Many businesses believe that they should only share their own content and promotional posts. But this is actually counterproductive. The solution to this problem is the 10-4-1 rule, according to which over a 15-post interval you should share 10 useful third-party posts, 4 posts from your company’s blog, and use one post to promote your brand with a sales pitch or a landing page. This way you won’t come off as too pushy or salesy, which will help you maintain a positive brand image. So, the trick is to provide your audience with the content which will address their main pain points and offer solutions. Sharing relevant, high-quality content from other reliable sources will both show your audience that you’re determined to help them solve their problems and land you a couple of backlinking opportunities as bloggers whose content you share will be likely to return the favor.

Establishing and maintaining consistency across your social media channels takes time, but it’s a surefire way of boosting your brand recognition and awareness.

Elaine Bennett is a digital marketing specialist focused on helping Australian startups and small businesses grow. Besides that, she’s a regular contributor for Bizzmark Blog and writes hands-on articles about business and marketing, as it allows her to reach even more entrepreneurs and help them on their business journey.