Has your B2B brand wandered off track? For tech companies, how your org presents to the world is everything. A strong, consistent brand can be the difference between attracting thousands of new customers and users or, unfortunately, going under.
Brand evolution is natural, especially for younger companies that can rapidly change in the early years. However, if you’re not careful, inconsistency can undermine long-term success.
Below, we’ll explore some root causes of B2B brand inconsistency and offer actionable steps to restore and redefine your brand, with tips for maintaining consistency moving forward.
What causes brands to fall off track?
According to research from Influencer Marketing Hub, consistent brand presentation across all platforms can increase revenue by up to 23%. That’s no small percentage to scoff at, so why do so many tech companies slide into the disjointed brand abyss?
Too many cooks in the kitchen
Do you have a designated person or team responsible for design? You should. When too many people in your organization can create their own images (for use on social media, website, presentations, sales materials, etc.), it’s easy for brand standards to fall by the wayside. It’s good practice to keep design centralized and ensure everyone knows that anything that goes into the world MUST be signed off on by marketing unless it is a pre-approved template.
The downsides of brand evolution
Many factors can contribute to inconsistency. For starters, brand evolution is natural for most companies. As companies grow, new product lines emerge, visual identities adapt and messaging gets refined (and likely refined again). Sure, changes might help your brand stay fresh and relevant. But left unchecked, shifts that occur without strategy can cause brand disruption. We’re talking about mixed messaging, conflicting visuals, and, ultimately, customer confusion.
Restructured org charts affect the brand, too
Organizational changes play a significant role in brand consistency — or inconsistency, if you will. Consider mergers and acquisitions, which can blend two distinct brand personalities to produce mixed signals for customers. Or, think about what happens with new leadership or frequent team turnover in roles like marketing and design. Adding new players, vision or capabilities into the mix can leave you with a patchwork of different styles and voices.
Keeping up with the customer can cause B2B brand confusion
Let’s not forget how changing customer expectations and market trends shift brand messaging. Today’s buyers expect brands to be responsive. So, as markets change, companies often feel pressure to quickly alter messaging or visuals to remain relevant. Of course, responding to customer needs is good. However, rapid adjustments without a cohesive plan will dilute your brand identity and confuse audiences who need that consistency to build trust!
Clear guidelines and roles provide the guardrails to get on track
Without strong, shared guidelines and designated brand approvers, any of the changes mentioned above will lead to inconsistencies that customers notice. To avoid fragmented communication (or even different teams or departments creating their own brand versions), you must establish and enforce brand guidelines and review processes.
Don’t worry; we’ll get to that shortly.
How to evaluate your current B2B brand identity
Whether your company has recently undergone a merger, you’re stepping into a new marketing leadership role or you simply want to ensure your brand is still resonating with its audience, a brand audit is a valuable exercise. Periodically assessing your brand’s health helps you understand how your company is perceived by customers, employees and stakeholders, which enables you to make informed adjustments that strengthen your market position.
Start by reviewing your visual identity, including your logos, color schemes, and fonts. (A trained designer is a powerful asset to help accomplish this task). Ask these questions:
- If there are multiple versions of the logo (aka wide or square, color or black and white, etc.), is there a method for selecting which logo to use?
- Is there a dedicated brand color palette? If so, is there a hierarchy in place (main colors vs. accent colors)? And is the color palette accessible?
- Does your brand use fonts consistently?
Consistent, recognizable visuals — including the way written words look — create a lasting impression and make sure that every interaction with your brand feels cohesive.
Next, assess your tone and voice. How does your brand sound across platforms? Is it uniform across website copy, social media posts and customer service interactions? A unified tone builds trust and familiarity among audiences. (FYI: A trained copy editor or content strategist is invaluable for this and the following steps).
Brand positioning — how you communicate your company’s values and benefits to your target audience — is equally critical. Revisit your mission, values and core messaging to ensure they still align with your organization’s goals and resonate with current audiences. Keep in mind that shifts in the market or customer expectations may require subtle updates to stay relevant.
Gathering customer feedback and conducting market research are must-haves for any brand audit. These tactics offer insight into whether your brand’s messaging and values align with customer expectations and help you identify any disconnects that may need to be addressed. To understand how your audience perceives your brand, use methods including:
- Surveys
- Social listening tools (here’s a HubSpot guide on how to pick the right one for your needs)
- Focus groups
Finally, examine how you stack up through competitive benchmarking. Compare your brand against key competitors to evaluate how your positioning, visuals and messaging fit in the market. Knowing where your brand falls can highlight areas for differentiation and help keep your brand strong and distinctive in a crowded landscape.
A thorough brand audit equips you with the insights needed to maintain a strong, consistent and engaging brand presence that can grow with your company — and stay relevant to your audience!
Path to consistency: a 4 step guide to standardizing your brand guidelines
Follow the steps below to create a strong foundation for maintaining brand consistency across all channels and touchpoints. Though many teams think they can DIY brand essentials, it is in your very best interest to leverage an experienced graphic designer and trained copy editor for the following steps — your brand’s reputation will thank you!
Step 1: Assess, update and/or create brand guidelines
First, figure out what you’re working with. You’ll likely need to revise existing brand guidelines to be comprehensive and current. Pro tip: Instead of updating an old brand guide, create an all-new document that will cover both visual and editorial elements of your brand.
- Visual guidelines should include rules for logos, color schemes, typography, and any other design elements. A trained designer will help you understand how to use your brand elements correctly.
- Editorial guidelines should address tone, voice, messaging, and fundamental brand values. They should also identify style choices (MLA, Chicago, AP, etc.), preferred conventions for specific terms (e.g., cybersecurity vs. cyber security), and other nuances. Your copy editor can offer invaluable guidance and review to ensure clarity.
Once finalized, ensure that your guidelines are clear and detailed and that everyone in your organization can easily access them. We recommend:
- Communicating the new guide. In addition to emailing the guide to your organization, you may consider holding company-wide training to get everyone on the same page.
- Upload the finalized guide to an easily accessible place such as your company’s intranet, pinned in a Slack channel, or a dedicated place on a shared drive.
- Finding a champion/dedicated person to be available to answer questions about the new guide.
- Continually emphasizing the importance of not creating new materials ad hoc or without the help of marketing. (An agency partner can help you design an asset request system that works for your organization to help eliminate brand discrepancies).
Step 2: Ensure brand consistency across all sales and marketing channels
To maintain a unified brand presence, you want your messaging, design and tone to be consistent across every platform where your brand is present — whether it’s your website, social media, print materials, sales enablement tools or internal communications.
Review and update all existing content (yes, all of it) to align with the revised brand guidelines. At this stage, it’s very helpful to leverage an experienced designer and copy editor — or marketing agency partner — as they will pay close attention to every touchpoint to ensure consistency. This step can be a lot of work, but it will go a long way in helping to avoid confusion and build a stronger, more cohesive brand image for your audience.
Pro tip: An agency partner is a great solution for updating existing materials without adding additional workload to your marketing teams — simply share your desired resources and new brand guidelines.
Step 3: Train your talent
We mentioned this in the first step, but it’s oh so essential that everyone — especially those in customer-facing roles — understands your brand values, tone and messaging. We suggest holding regular training sessions or workshops to educate employees and partners about how to use your brand. To support consistent brand use, make sure to provide examples of approved messaging and tone, and offer guidance on how to handle situations that may require flexibility.
For designed elements, you can make templates for simple things. However, it’s essential to emphasize that employees should not try to do graphic design on their own — that is a job for an expert! At the very least, designate one individual as the go-to person for creating anything that is not templatized to ensure consistency is maintained.
Step 4: Centralize your brand assets
Remember when we said to put your new brand guide in an easily accessible spot? You’ll also want to develop a centralized repository where all approved brand assets (aka your logos, fonts and images, templates, etc.) are stored and readily available to employees. Centralization minimizes the risk of unauthorized or inconsistent usage and ensures everyone can access the most up-to-date brand materials.
How to keep your B2B brand on track after all that hard work
Make it a point to conduct brand audits regularly as part of your marketing and strategy processes to avoid inconsistencies. Additionally, remember to track brand perception. We suggest using tools like surveys, reviews, or analytics to monitor how your B2B brand is being received over time and adjust accordingly.
For larger organizations, a dedicated brand manager who straddles your marketing, copy and design engine can play a valuable role in helping maintain brand standards. But for the rest of us who need to dedicate budgets elsewhere, we suggest selecting an individual or two from your marketing team to help monitor, maintain and adjust your brand for continued consistency.
An agency partner is a great way to get your brand back on track, elevate it and give you the tools and knowledge to keep it there. Our team is on deck with very experienced copy editors and designers and can help you move from where you are to where you want to be. Reach out today to schedule a brand audit or workshop to assess current brand alignment.