The Internet age has introduced brands to an array of new marketing channels, with social media being one of the largest and most influential. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other networks attract billions of users who are all potential customers to a business. However, brands widely struggle to develop and maintain a consistent presence on social media. 

Think of brand consistency as to how a company communicates its message in a way that doesn’t take away from its core values or overall strategy. 

A great number of businesses refrain from sticking to the same color palette, brand voice, or posting frequency across their different social channels. However, studies have found that brand consistency on social media can increase revenue by 10 to 20%. So not only is it great to have, but brand consistency can also affect the bottom line of your business. 

In this article, we’ll talk about the impact of brand consistency on social media, and some of the most important factors to consider when developing a successful brand presence.

Visual Design

Creating content doesn’t have to be a difficult or complicated process, but it does need to be consistent and valuable to your audience. Having an aesthetic that’s uniquely YOU will make it easier for your audience to remember your brand. And this goes beyond having a dedicated color palette. Try to also have similar design elements, fonts, and templates in use on visuals across all social media platforms that are a part of your strategy.Take the Houston Rockets for example. They use a dedicated color palette, and similar design elements and templates across their social media channels to deliver a consistent experience.

They also happen to use Slate to help improve brand consistency and speed up workflows! Read more about how the Houston Rockets use Slate in our case study.

Brand Voice

Social media isn’t only about quality content, but also quality communication. 

A great way to stay consistent on social media is by developing a consistent brand voice that is used across all of your social media channels. Think of your brand voice as your brand’s personality – that personality shouldn’t change much from channel to channel. It should remain consistent and will be dependent on what type of business is at hand.

Are you a fun and flirty beauty brand? Are you a bold and energetic sports brand? Are you a corporate and informational pharmaceutical brand? These are things to consider when developing a brand voice for social media. 

How you use slang or emojis or punctuation on Twitter may differ from how you “speak” on LinkedIn, but there should be general principles that tie all of the platforms together. 

Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty has developed a very authentic and friendly presence on social media, allowing fans in their target demographic to feel like they’re friends with the brand. Imagine what that does for engagement and conversions. They take this approach – using emojis and slang and lapses in punctuation – across all of their social media channels so that the effort is a consistent effort. 

When you understand who your audience is, you understand how to talk to (and with) them. And once a brand understands that, a consistent brand voice will aid in increasing any social media KPIs that have been put in place.

Consistent Posting

It’s often said that content is king, but if that’s true, then content consistency is definitely queen. 

Whether you’re posting content every day or once per week, it’s crucial for your brand to choose and stick to a posting schedule. When your content quality and content quantity are consistent, you avoid confusing your customers. You also help to increase credibility with your customers and overall brand trust.This doesn’t mean you should post every Tuesday at 4 pm, but as part of your social media strategy, decide on a posting frequency that makes the most sense for your brand. 

There’s no correct amount of times to post or a true best time of day to post; these factors will depend on your unique brand analytics. 

Be sure to dive into Insights on platforms like Facebook and Instagram to check when your audience is most active. From there, based on your budgets and marketing resources, audit your posting frequency and content creation efforts. ---

Think of brand consistency on social media as a key component of your social media strategy. The more consistent you are across the board, the better the story you’re telling to your fans will be. Craving more content like this? Be sure to follow us on social media to stay up-to-date on Slate’s product offerings, and our latest blog posts.Interested in learning more about how Slate can help transform your social media content workflow? Check out case studies from some of our customers like the World Surf League and the Lapcos.

Dante is a social media strategist & photographer based in New Orleans, LA. He’s helped develop and manage social campaigns for dozens of clients including Walmart and New Orleans Tourism. You can connect with him on Instagram @allthingsdante.