Comms: Consistency is Key

Being able to communicate properly is key to many roles throughout a successful business. Unless you’re lucky enough to have a role that has minimal contact with other human beings from 9-5 (and if you are, keep your head down and just enjoy it) you’ll know that good, clear comms are the foundation on which good brands are built.

However, when organisations look to have brand guidelines created, people are quick to focus on colour schemes, spacing, logo rules and regs, uniformity of imagery etc but, when it comes to a brand’s written communication there’s something that often gets overlooked – consistency.

This goes beyond a suggested tone of voice and a brief outline of preferred adjective types. Effective and memorable communication uses consistent, clear and engaging language – this means grammar, punctuation and syntax as well. For example, do you use exclamation marks at will – or do you find them too aggressive or sale-sy? Do you sales team and marketing team agree on this? Is it reflected across their written comms to customers? Do you add a full stop to the end of every sentence, or do you leave bullet points and statements without? Neither is wrong nor right when it comes to a brand’s comms of choice, but if it’s not consistent, all of that carefully crafted spiel and messaging loses gravitas – rapidly.

If you can communicate your message consistently, directly and within a recognisable tone and language for your brand then you will achieve the buy-in you need from colleagues, and enhanced engagement from customers.

Businesses today are complex when it comes to comms and marketing. Language and design trends and rules differ across generations, industries and locations. Buzz words are always changing, and global markets add an extra layer of challenges. So, creating messaging that sticks both internally and externally can cause a real headache when trying to keep things consistent. Here’s how keeping the right consistency helps towards your organisation’s success…

– Be clear in your guidelines

At the very least, your written comms should include correct spelling and pre-agreed capitalisation and punctuation. At the most you should be making sure that you are using terms and language that are specific to your brand and consistent across your emails, sales assets and internal (or pitch) presentations. This should be explicitly outlined in your brand guidelines, with clear examples and training given to those expected to adhere to it. Pay particular attention to your company name, product features and event titles. Inconsistencies in these key branded terms can look unprofessional and dilute hard-earned customer loyalty.

– Delegate effectively

If your role at work relies heavily on written marketing communications, having a fool-proof editing system in place is invaluable. All communications should be proofed, edited and audited for brand messaging by an approved team or person who can review it before it’s sent or published. This way you can save time, effort and the embarrassment of things being received badly, or even worse, ignored completely.

-Always keep your objectives in mind

By staying consistent in your marketing and sales communications you can generate positive results over time. For a customer facing role, the way you communicate directly represents your company, the brand and the brands objectives – therefore delivering kind, well-thought out customer communications can make a huge difference in increasing customer satisfaction and engagement. It also makes you seem like you know what you’re doing, which is kind of important when you want people to spend their hard-earned money on your service or product – especially during little miss ‘ronas reign of terror.

All in all, keep in mind that consistency in your written communications is just as important as consistency in your brands design and visual identity. To discuss either with us or how we can help take your brand identity to the next level, get in touch today – we’d love to hear from you.