Does your business have a strong, unique, and uniform brand identity? Not to put too fine a point on it, but with the sometimes outrageous amount of competition out there in the marketplace, you should. But if you don’t, or you think your digital branding could be stronger, read on my friends, read on…

Why Branding Matters in the First Place:

Simply put, branding done well breeds familiarity, which leads to trust, which leads to sales. Even if people don’t recognize this cognitive process, trust me, it’s still happening.

While there are the adventurous types who are always going to choose the hole in the wall local restaurants, there’s always going to be a line filtering under the golden arches. Why? Because whether they’re in Moscow, Barcelona, or Winchestertonfieldville, Iowa, people know and trust those familiar red and yellow colors.

Now to be clear, I don’t mean trust in the sense that they’d let Ronald babysit their kids. What I am saying is people generally trust that they know what they’re going to get every time they walk through the door.

Notice, I never actually mentioned the name McDonald’s. But I’ll bet dollars to doughnuts (or hamburgers in this case) you knew exactly what I was referring to with the mentions of the golden arches, red and yellow colors, and Ronald.

Granted, McDonald’s is one of the greatest examples of branding done right, but ask yourself this: Does your business have distinguishing features such that people know they’re looking at your brand without seeing or hearing your name?

Why Consistency Matters in the Digital Age:

With online presences being what they are these days, namely a lot, you have a huge opportunity to brand your business and get noticed simply by keeping your unique look and feel uniform across all online mediums. Using the same colors, fonts, logos, and images consistently to drive your brand into the brains of your target market just plain makes sense.

Keep Your Digital Branding Consistent with a Style Guide:

Visual consistency is a must across all mediums from your website, newsletters, social media and everything in between. But since your business probably won’t have just one person making design decisions, a well-defined set of guidelines and best practices will help ensure your brand is being represented properly. These elements should, at the very least, include:

A Dominant Logo

Specific Fonts

A Well-Defined Color Palette

A Consistent and Appropriate Tone of Voice

Not only will these things ensure that your digital branding is consistent, it will shave time off projects by reducing decisions in the design process.

Again, in this era of new media where your brand can be represented so often across so many outlets for so little money, special attention to consistency is a must. Get started now and these tips will put you on your way to creating a strong brand that will boost your business’ recognition and, ultimately, the bottom line.