Even if you don’t have time to read the full text on social media or a Google Ad, you’ll already notice from the colors and visuality whose ad it is. Why is that? You will definitely recognize strong brands already intuitively – typical examples are Google, Apple and, for example, Fazer. Many Finnish companies, which are less well known than the above, have also created a strong brand look with consistent visual work. An example of this is the clothing brand Billebeino.
A unified brand look helps make your brand recognizable anywhere, whether it’s a Facebook ad or a blog post on your own website.
In this blog, we go through why it’s important to maintain a consistent brand look and how it helps your brand increase value in your customer’s eyes.
Why invest in a recognizable digital brand look?
In today’s world, it is getting hard for companies to stand out with products. You’re exposed to hundreds of marketing messages every day without even paying attention to it, but familiar and attractive brands stand out from the flood of messages. There are many competitors and the market has matured for a long time, which means that the products have been developed to a great extent and meet the customer’s expectations.
One of the most significant ways to stand out from competitors’ products is to invest in your brand.
The brand consists of many different factors, but in this post we go through the meaning of the brand look. More generally, you can read, for example, . A consistent brand look helps the customer identify your product. When you keep your look consistent, you remind the customer of your brand and engage them in it.
What’s the use of a recognizable digital brand?
The answer is, of course, quite clear. People don’t tend to buy from complete strangers. The initial reaction will always be a little dubious when the customer has never heard of your brand. But if you keep your face consistent, they will recognize you next time and be much more confident right away.
In addition, when you engage a customer with your brand, they can become a regular and are more likely to recommend you to people they know.
According research, 92% of people buy based on it if someone has recommended the product to them. Nielsen, 2012
Let’s go over the power of the digital brand.
You’re buying a new TV. Do you first check what a completely unknown brand has to offer, or do you look at the offerings of LG or Samsung, for example? And would you rather buy new sneakers from Nike, Adidas or a completely new sportswear brand you’ve never heard of? The price, quality or characteristics of the products are by no means the only things you consider when making a purchase decision. It’s also no coincidence that in online stores you can browse products from well-known brands directly from category menus. Of course, there are many other influential aspects to a purchase decision, but a well-known brand has a clear competitive advantage and such brands have a clearly recognisable brand look.
How do we develop your digital brand look so that the customer recognizes it?
If your brand has any guidance on how your brand should sound and look, you’ve come a long way. The second thing is whether you are putting it into practice.
If there is no such guidance, a good way to start developing your brand look is to create a distinctive, consistent and strategically built brand strategy.
In brand strategy, we define what your brand is like, what your values are, which is the difference between you and your competitors. These will clarify your communications to be unified for your client. For example, we are able to determine what kind of images on your website and marketing materials address your customer the most and evoke desired images.
When we first define the above factors, we will be able to design the visual look that suits them and what the tone of your text content should be. The brand strategy, on the other hand, reflects your entire digital marketing entity. Social media ads, Google Ads ads, and landing pages for your content production best follow your consistent brand look. When you appear visually consistent in many places, your customers get a strong imprint on your business.
Keeping the brand look consistent in practice
Now that we’ve created a clear look at what your brand look sounds and looks like at best, the next step is clear. It just needs to be put into practice and make sure you keep a consistent look.
This means that all your social media posts, your own marketing materials, the look of your website and, for example, your Google Ads advertising should be done according to that previously made digital brand strategy. Use pictures of the same style online, keep colors and fonts consistent, and type in the same style. In this way, you will gradually start to develop a strong brand look for you, which the customer recognizes and knows that the brand in question is of high quality and reliable.
All of this may give the impression that now you have to commit to that particular look all the time, but this is the wrong idea. Defining your brand will help you develop it in a direction that your customer likes when you know what a brand that is addressing your customer is. Good examples of unified brand expressions include Tesla, Apple and Iittala. See how all the above brands make a “premium” impression? The newly chosen owner of Finland’s best website Ruokangas stands out with its original brand impression.
Summary
Keeping your brand look consistent can sound challenging at first. It is typical for companies to go into this enthusiastic way, for example by updating their logos based on what looks nice, without considering what the customer base thinks about it, and whether it can identify with the logo and other visuals. Building a brand also takes time and requires versatile digital marketing around it, as awareness doesn’t grow overnight. Google didn’t develop to its current level overnight either, but the path to its brand identity was gradually built, and always clearly recognizable to customers.
For all the above reasons, it’s important to gradually develop the look of your brand in a unified direction – on your journey towards the most well-known brands in the city, country or world.
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