It might not be obvious, but your brand is your identity. Branding helps set expectations and helps differentiate against competitors and gets you looking iconic 💁‍♀️.

• Create and build a ‘brand’ personality

• Find your authentic tone of voice

• Understand your customers/audiences

• Consistency is KEY 

It might not be obvious, but your brand is your identity. Branding helps set expectations and helps differentiate against competitors and gets you looking iconic 💁‍♀️.

It’s not just the products or services you create and sell, it can be much more than that. When your branding’s on point it speaks to and reaches the right audiences. As a result it helps to build and maintain relationships which can turn them into loyal customers… this is key for maintaining longevity and future proofing your brand.

Where to start? Finding your brand voice.

We work on real and authentic vibes here at RWA and that's how we connect to our clients and audiences. We know and understand how to reach and speak to them and how we want them to feel through all our communications.

When it comes to finding your voice, it’s worth creating (or if you haven’t already) your brands mission statement, values and ethos. As this helps to embed you in how your audience will relate and engage with you.

Ask yourself /team questions like;

Do we want elegant and sophisticated?

Should we be fun and wild?

Do want to be luxury/highend or mid range?

What emotion do we want them to feel when they come across us?

What do we want our audiences to feel when they visit our website and social media?

The list goes on.

A lot of the above will depend on who you plan to speak too, through your communications, so make sure it’s aligned with what is authentic to you and what they relate too.

Once the brand’s personality is down, now the fun part… time to build the look.

Here at RWA we never judge…

But, let’s be honest when it comes to branding, your customers can be a little judgy (in some cases a lot judgy). They will often make their mind up about you in only 0.05 seconds* 👈🏽 #facts

Your audience wants to know the personality behind the product.

That’s where creating a branding deck that includes colours, fonts, logos, imagery, ideas and moodboards can be so valuable for your business and team. This ensures the in-house team and/or agency stay consistent with what you’re trying to portray. This can be created on any platform like Canva or if easier and necessary you can work with an agency, who can work with you to make sure it’s clear, easy to read and super visual. 

All of this gives you a clear direction to follow, provides value, builds emotion, and also increases brand recognition by up to 80%*.

Online platforms matter!

Website

This should be informative as people will probably buy from here. Bare in mind that Instagram and TikTok are slowly overtaking Google searches for product research and purchasing - so bare this in mind when it comes to SEO and content creation. 

Social media

You might think all social media is the same. Sorry to say… it’s definitely not!

All platforms have different functions and audience profiles, as well what content works best. Consumers will go to different platforms to learn and see more about your brand. 

For example;

more people go straight to TikTok rather than Google to search for products/brands.

Instagram

This platform has changed so much over the years and what used to work before, doesn’t now. Worth to note, that with a lot of the upcoming and pending changes are designed and marketed for content creators, influencers and advertising who like to spend 💸 💸 💸 💸.

Now, we aren’t saying you can’t have a presence on here, what we would recommend is the following;

Decide what you want this channel to be used for (and be clear)

Do you want to show your brand style/look/feel?

Do you want this to be a shopable social channel?

Do you want this to be a mix of brand imagery/story telling and promotion?

Do you want people to see the brands personality, use to educate and add value?

As a business this is something you should be clear on, so you aren’t just posting content for the sake of posting in hopes that people will understand/purchase. If you plan to create video content/Reels again it is worth to be clear on what type it will want to produce. Side note: customers don’t want to always be sold too. Think real life, real people, customers etc. What is going to be relatable and sharable.

TikTok

What we’ve found this channel to be great for educating, entertaining and fun engaging content. This isn’t and shouldn’t be treated like other channels, you can;

- show up on here to host LIVE shopping events/giveaways

- show your brand personality with BTS

- the team can do ‘TikTok takeovers’

and what we think most importantly is use this channel with the right content creators! Yes, we mean authentic content creators driving User Generated Content (UGC) campaigns in their own way, to their audiences and sub audiences.

Don’t be afraid to show the things you normally wouldn’t. This is a great place to create funny and engaging content that pushes the boundaries.

All these platforms have different uses for different audiences. We aren’t saying that you need to be on them all, but if you do - define each channel use.

We’ve only touched on 3 platforms here, but don’t discount Facebook, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Twitter, BeReal and more like YouTube and Twitch…

No matter what platforms you decide to use and create on, make sure that your brand personality shines through all of them. Don’t be too afraid to move away from traditional brand colours, fonts and imagery.  It’s ok to switch it up, if it’s still on brand in tone and feel.

Have a word 📢: Don’t just share the exact same content across multiple channels, repurpose and make sure it’s tailored to the audience on whatever channel you share it on.

Bossing the game

Here are some of the brands we think are smashing the content game on each platform they’re on.

Sour Patch on BeReal.

The BeReal app is taking the digital world by storm especially for the Gen Z’ers. Giving users only 2 minutes to post their story to followers. It provides a genuine reality for many people and brands are taking full advantage of this to bring emotion to their marketing.

Sour Patch Kids BeReal

Red Bull on tiktok.

Redbull is great at expressing their values through every touchpoint,

‘Gives wings to people and their ideas’.

They embrace People, ideas and culture where they show their mission and values through tiktok with engaging, exhilarating and adrenaline capturing content. Focusing on not promoting products, but their brand personality. Their audience might not do crazy stunts, but it is appealing to their fun and adventurous side. 

When you first visit their website, you are greeted with video content that shows events, stunts and what they’re currently doing at the moment, their products are shown last!

Their TikTok is full of video content with crazy adrenaline fuelled adventures. Their Instagram is too but with shorter clips with similar content but not the exact same. They have created a synergy with their style, content and branding which enhances their ethos and personality.

Tiffany & Co. on Instagram.

Tiffany is a prime example of how a heritage brand has used social media to grow and evolve to reach a wider audience, not change their audience necessarily, but simple to reach more people whilst staying on brand. They use their signature tiffany blue throughout their feed whilst promoting a luxurious lifestyle.

The luxurious lifestyle might not appeal to everyone, but they are having fun with the content whilst being impactful such as using modern marketing tactics, such as working with Hayley Bieber and Beyoncé.

They have also hosted Instagram lives which is relatable to the ‘every day’ consumer which helps them feel part of the company. This is an innovative way to reach and build a connection with audiences who might not be their main target. They are reaching and engaging with more people through more engaging content that drives likes, follows, shares and aspirational lifestyles.

Be Consistent in what you do!

Consistency is key!

This doesn’t just mean posting 4 times a week, but being consistent in the type of content you create.

No matter where a consumer goes, they should be able to recognise you!

For example, someone might walk past a digital billboard in central London that's been created that is fun, vibrant, and energetic, a real eye catching advert.

If they then go to check you out on Instagram and the look and feel is more elegant and sophisticated, that is a mismatch in brand image and tone! You can target different audiences, but a theme should be consistent throughout. Don’t let customers try and figure you out on whatever platforms you’re on, it’s one of the quickest ways to lose them and for them to go somewhere else.

All of your communication channels should be integrated.

This is so consumers don't get confused when they first search for you. Similarly, your Instagram should show your aesthetic and brand but not just a place to promote/ sell your products or just re-share content, it should be more than that. Once brand and channels are define, it should capture the similar to what your TikTok does just in a different format. 

If you're starting off on social media, gather as much content as possible.

What we mean by this is take the time to get at least about a month's worth. As we know video content is dominating Insta with Reels, as well as TikTok. Even when it comes to imagery for your feed, if you’re product based consumers don’t just want product shots that are professional and polished - think ‘in real life’ IRL. They want to see it in use by other customers, in store/retail (if that is relevant) or being used and enjoyed by their favourite Content Creators.

By doing this, make sure that everything aligns with your brand personality. As it starts to build brand loyalty, conversations, recommendations and most importantly a community of brand supporters.

Brands take note…

Creating brand synergy throughout all platforms is important. It helps to build you in the eyes of you customer and reach the right audiences.

Keep in mind that this isn't just for the digital space or for socials. Make sure your brand is present in real life (advertising/billboards), print, packaging etc. By creating this it communicates your brand’s missions and values in a visual/powerful way.

It’s also ok if you’re an established brand and want a refresh or start again, we recently done it ourselves, over on the gram👇🏽

Remember;

It’s ok to take a step back and review your brand tone of voice, look and feel. Over time things change and you want to make sure you’re always speaking, reaching and engaging with the right people, so sometimes a refresh is sometimes needed.

If you do have followers, remember to keep them updated and bring them on that journey with you, one of the best ways to keep customer loyalty.

👉🏽 If you would like help align your brand vision and communications, feel free to get in touch here.

*https://www.oberlo.co.uk/blog/branding-statistics