United online advertising: why consistent branding is key

As marketing channels multiply, it’s amazing how quickly inconsistencies can creep in. From your website, to your company’s different social profiles, to email, to the way you present your brand in search and display advertising, retaining a clear and consistent brand is harder than you might think.

Online ads and the importance of consistent branding

But why is a clear and consistent brand important? Consistency in branding helps build trust with people you’re trying to reach. On the other side of the coin, inconsistency in the way your brand is presented could lead to your target audience wondering who you really are, what you really offer, and whether you’re the organisation they want to buy from or align themselves with.

Lucidpress, in partnership with Demand Metric, ran a study in which they surveyed over 200 organizations to better understand the impact and value of brand consistency. A major finding of that study was that confusion was the most common outcome of inconsistent branding, reported by 71% of study participants.

Especially in the world we live in today, consumers are used to navigating between channels. They get inspired on social, move through to do their own research on search and get retargeted on social and display – it can be a long-term process, with each touchpoint playing its own role in finally convincing the prospect to buy or sign-up.

No business wants to confuse their ideal customers. The best marketing is impactful, succinct and clear, leaving your prospects knowing exactly who you are, what you offer and why the need to work with you!

Brand consistency in practice

Here are three broad things to think about:

Visuals

Do your landing pages look different to your social profiles and display ads? If so, you could be creating confusion for your audience, who may wonder if they’re in the right place when they arrive on your landing page after clicking on your ad. Online marketing is about making the experience of moving through channels as seamless as possible – and visuals are a key part of that.

Tone

You don’t need to have the same headlines on your ads across channels in order to be on brand. But try to pick a tone. Is your brand warm and professional? Is it more quirky and? What’s your style? Having a clear set of brand and writing guidelines will help ensure your tone stays consistent. Check out this blog post from the Content Marketing Institute on how to put together writing guidelines for your organisation.

Unique Selling Proposition

A key part of your brand is your Unique Selling Proposition (or USP).

What makes your brand unique? What is that core element that remains, if everything else is stripped back? Why should your ideal customer care about you and what you’re offering? Having your USP clearly defined from the outset will ensure your able to build all your messaging and visuals for your ads from the same foundation, no matter the network.

Having these things well defined will ensure you’re well on your way to unifying your brand across channels. In a lot of cases, however, sneaky inconsistencies can creep in and get overlooked. Check out this blog post from HubSpot on how to get rid of those sneaky inconsistencies in your brand.

Our latest eBook

The above blog post is an extract from our latest eBook – ‘The Ultimate Guide to United Online Advertising’, where we invite you into a new way of looking at your advertising online, and give you practical strategies to unifying your campaigns for better results.

DOWNLOAD OUR GUIDE AND LEARN ABOUT:

• The value of social ads and search ads in isolation
• Each of the major networks and their specific strengths: Facebook, Instagram, Google, Snapchat and Twitter
• Some key reasons why social and search advertising are stronger together
• An example of how the modern consumer moves seamlessly between online channels, on their journey towards making a purchase
• 4 practical tips to uniting your online advertising activity.