Why It's Important to Follow Brand Standards

You might be familiar with studies that claim something about the importance of brand impressions, like this one that states five to seven brand impressions are necessary before someone remembers your brand. That’s powerful and speaks to the relationship between keeping high brand standards and reinforcing a high-quality reputation. But are you also aware of the impact that brand consistency can have on revenue? In fact, it’s been found that there’s a 23 percent average revenue increase that can be attributed to always presenting a brand consistently. That’s huge!

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So with all this in mind, it might be a good time to revisit your own brand and your brand standards guide. Here are further reasons why brand consistency matters so much.

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1. Your customers find comfort in having their expectations met

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Of course, meeting customer expectations in terms of product quality and customer service responsiveness should be top priorities. Your brand standards, in relation to your logo, color schemes, typography, and tone, might seem like lesser ones - and they are. But they still matter.

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Your customers use your brand because they’ve come to expect a certain standard from you. They want the comfort and predictability of being able to count on you to provide the products or services they need, in a timely manner and with the same warm nature. If an email you send conflicts with these expectations, your customer may feel a bit alienated. Whether your tone is colder or more formal than normal, or you use a bold, capitalized font instead of your usual soft cursive script, a disruption in your brand standards can create distance between you and your customers.

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2. Buyers are more likely to choose your brand when they’re familiar with it

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You might not see a billboard or a pay-per-click ad and immediately jot down the name of the company. But there has been plenty of research done that shows the number of times you’re exposed to a brand name and logo increases your subconscious familiarity with it. And with familiarity, comes comfort.

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So if all else is equal, a fitness fanatic is much more likely to choose your health club over your competitor’s if they’ve seen your logo and value proposition more often - and presented consistently - over time. Most people don’t even realize they make decisions this way; it’s an actual cognitive bias called the familiarity bias (also known as exposure effect). The more they see you in the same way, the better the odds they will patronize your business.

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3. Increase the perceived value of your brand and products/services

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Whether you’re a small health business struggling to manage your cash flow or a thriving multi-location children’s activity franchise, it’s imperative you project a high-quality image of your brand. Using consistent brand standards helps you achieve this.

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By relying on the same color scheme, typography, logo/imagery, and tone, you set a perception of professionalism and value. And of course you need to make sure your brand standards guide is created by an expert in the first place, so the standards you’re following are top-rate and high-class.

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4. Save your team time

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Another underrated benefit of maintaining brand standards is efficiency. Your employees don’t need to reinvent the wheel every time they go to create some external-facing materials; they simply can pull from your brand standards guide. Whether putting together presentation slides, emails, a brochure or even a call script, your team can quickly and easily reinforce your high-quality brand perception time and time again.

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5. Keep your brand evergreen

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Any company in any industry succeeds in the long-term by remaining relevant over time. This usually means adapting to market changes and evolving aspects of your business as needed. But it also means establishing a brand that can be recognizable for years and decades to come, even through these inevitable company changes. The brand itself should be a beacon through any fluctuations, and the brand standards you’ve created should be classic enough to last through time.

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For all of these reasons, it’s important you have a strong brand standards guide that everyone on your team follows - all the time. Contact us if you’d like to learn more, or need help with your brand standards.