How Consistency is Key to Creating Brand Loyalty
In an environment where companies are vying for loyalty and attention, a brand’s ability to communicate its story and image across platforms has become more important than ever. Critically, this means that it needs to be executed in a consistent manner.
Brand Consistency
Brand consistency fosters connection amongst consumers and conveys messages and promises that are aligned across platforms. As interactions between stakeholders, consumers, and brands can become confused, the need to connect with consumers clearly becomes increasingly important.
For example, Starbucks has one of the most recognizable logos on the planet. Aside from their two-tailed mermaid design, the company’s product and service consistency is highly revered. The coffee chain is known for its accommodating nature, customizable menu, and world-famous seasonal drinks. Starbucks has remained consistent throughout the pandemic despite the increasing shift towards online platforms. As a result, Starbucks has retained its sense of familiarity among consumers.
Consistency in these elements informs the company's mission, and the company's mission informs its elements. This allows businesses to create a cohesive and convincing image that cultivates a subconscious integration in the minds of consumers, making them more likely to remember the brand.
Consistency in Social Media
The nature of Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter provide numerous creative opportunities to serve any function. Consequently, setting up a suitable social media account is like setting up a store. There first needs to be accurate visual elements that are consistent with other locations, because the first thing consumers notice about a brand is its logo, colors, and tagline. The second is the atmosphere and company culture communicated by the tone of captions and how the brand interacts with customers.
An example of a distinct tone is Wendy's Twitter page. The tweets drive traffic to the page as they appeal to social media culture while still using social media as a standard way to announce new products and sales. Through utilizing social media to appeal to its target audience, Wendy's Twitter's following increased from 2.1 million to over 2.4 million in six months and experienced a 49.7% growth in profit in the same year. New social media strategies and attitudes get companies noticed, but consistency convinces consumers to return to a company.
Social Media as an Avenue to Ethos
A brand's story is a vital tool for differentiation. Most businesses overlook the power of connecting with an audience sincerely, which can allow for differentiation. A brand’s motivation and experience is an effective appeal to ethos, establishing a connection, increasing customer engagement with the brand, and building authenticity for the company and loyalty from the customers. When this is consistent across all platforms, each strand of social media acts like a strand on a web to reinforce the brand’s mission and drive users to the center: the website.
Why Does it Matter?
Consistency is an avenue of convergence, allowing businesses to be a constant in the lives of consumers across multiple social media platforms. Uniformity may imply a lack of innovation, however, the opposite is also true. Consistency creates loyalty in innovation and adaptability strategies. Consistency gives a company the chance to curate first impressions no matter the platform a possible customer may find themselves on, this is vital as it is difficult to change a viewer's mind after initial exposure. A consistent brand image builds customer loyalty, which is important for innovation, communication, and differentiation. Almost 85 percent of firms that maintain brand consistency experience growth of at least 10 percent or more, and one in five reports growth of 20 percent or greater.
*Note the best time for exposure on Instagram is Wednesday 11 a.m. or Friday 10-11 a.m. and on Facebook Wednesday 11 a.m. or 1-2 p.m.
Key Takeaways:
Consistency builds loyalty, differentiation, and allows successful innovations and adaptation to be implemented as a result.
Social media is a vital tool to communicate branding, tone, values, and mission. Consistency enables them to act as a consumer’s driving force to a store or website by making the brand a part of their virtual routine.
Do not overlook the brand’s story or mission statement. They create an emotional attachment between customers and the service offered. Reinforcing this story and mission across platforms communicates the brand genuinely cares about an industry and customers themselves.
As a social impact initiative, Rem and Company also offers free consulting services and resources to small businesses and nonprofits impacted by COVID-19. Our pro-bono consulting teams provide small businesses with the opportunity to identify and prioritize issues facing their business, propose innovative strategies, and facilitate execution. If you are a small business or nonprofit in need of assistance, learn more about how we can help.