Summary
Use the same logo, colors, words, and tone wherever customers see your business. Review your website, social posts, sales materials, and customer support. Assign one person to each fix. Store approved files in one shared place.
Introduction
Use this checklist to review visuals, messages, tone, and customer support. Brands can keep their sound consistent, too. See our article on music in brand marketing.
What is Brand Consistency?
Use the same message, look, and tone in the places customers see or contact your business. That helps people recognize and trust your brand. The main parts are:
- Messaging: Use the same slogans and short descriptions of what your business offers.
- Visual identity: Use the same logo, colors, fonts, and photo style in each place.
- Tone of voice: Use the same style when writing or speaking for your business.
- Personality: Show the same traits in the way your business speaks and acts.
Why Brand Consistency Matters
- Recognition: A familiar logo, color scheme, and language help customers recognize your business.
- Clarity: Clear product names and messages help customers understand what you offer.
- Save time as a team: Shared brand rules and current templates make approved files easier to find.
Brand Consistency Checklist
Use this checklist to review each place customers see your brand. Mark each item as a pass or a fix.
Visual Identity
- Check that each channel uses the approved logo and leaves enough clear space around it.
- Compare color values with the brand guide and check text contrast.
- Confirm that headings and body text use approved fonts and weights.
- Check that photos and illustrations follow the approved style.
Messaging
- Use approved product names and the tagline. Write a short description of what your business offers.
- Compare headlines and buttons across the website, email, ads, and social posts.
- Check that claims and statistics have a source and are still current.
- Remove expired offers, old product names, and outdated campaign language.
Tone of Voice
- Use the voice guide when writing pages, emails, ads, and customer replies.
- Write down the words, spellings, and punctuation your business uses.
- Change the length or formality for each place, but keep the same brand voice.
- Check that customer-facing replies sound like the same business as the website.
Team and Process
- Keep the current guide, logos, templates, and font files in one shared location.
- Assign someone to keep key brand materials current, and add a review date.
- Show new team members where to find the approved files.
- Review a sample of published work each month and assign a person and deadline to each fix.
Keep Your Brand Fonts Consistent
Font files can end up in email attachments, downloads, and design folders. Teams can then use different versions. Keep approved files with your brand guide. Add notes about how the team can use each font.
Font Wizard Pro is one option for organizing fonts on iPhone and iPad. Its App Store listing says it imports OpenType (OTF) and TrueType (TTF), two common font formats. The app can preview, compare, and group fonts by project. It can transfer files over Wi-Fi, too. Check the listing for current device requirements. Confirm that each font license allows your planned use. See our guide to keeping your whole font library in one place.
View this post by @stalinkay on X
Conclusion
Review a few things customers see each month. Compare them with the current brand guide. Assign each fix to one person and give it a due date. Keep approved files in one shared place. For more marketing ideas, see our complete guide to business growth and marketing.
Our Recommended Reading
For a broader guide to brand identity, see Alina Wheeler’s book. Its title is “Designing Brand Identity: An Essential Guide for the Whole Branding Team”. The book covers brand fundamentals, identity processes, and case studies.
The book has three sections: brand fundamentals, process basics, and case studies. It covers more than 100 branding topics. It includes checklists, tools, and diagrams. It also has 50 case studies. Each case study describes its goals, strategy, process, solution, and results. The book includes more than 700 illustrations of brand touchpoints. It also has over 400 quotes. Those quotes come from branding experts, CEOs, and design experts.
Some notable quotes about the book include:
- “Designing Brand Identity is a comprehensive, pragmatic, and easy-to-understand resource for all brand builders—global and local. It’s an essential reference for implementing an entire brand system.” - Carlos Martinez Onaindia, Global Brand Studio Leader, Deloitte.
- “Alina Wheeler explains better than anyone else what identity design is and how it functions. There’s a reason this is the 5th edition of this classic.” - Paula Scher, Partner, Pentagram.
- “Designing Brand Identity is the book that first taught me how to build brands. For the past decade, it’s been my blueprint for using design to impact people, culture, and business.” - Alex Center, Design Director, The Coca-Cola Company.
Further Reading Resources
On Brand Consistency
- 4 Ways to Maintain Brand Consistency - Mailchimp
- Brand Consistency - Medium
- 15 Businesses to Admire for Consistent, Stellar Branding - HubSpot
- Build Trust Through Brand Consistency - Marcom
- Brand Consistency - Indeed
- Brand Consistency on Social Media Examples - Content Stadium
- The Ultimate Brand Consistency Checklist - Quill Creative Studio
- What is Brand Consistency and How to Achieve It - Gather Content
- What is Brand Consistency - Viewst
- Tips for Consistent Tone & Voice - Writesonic
- Brand Consistency - LocalIQ
- What is Brand Consistency - MerlinOne
- Brand Management: Maintaining Brand Consistency - Canto
- How to Manage Brand Consistency in Email Marketing - MyEmma
- Five Examples of Consistent Branding Done Right - Ink Agency
- Brand Consistency - Creatopy
- Filecamp Blog on Brand Consistency
On Communicating Brand Guidelines
- How to Communicate and Share Brand Guidelines with Your Organization - Beautiful.ai
- LinkedIn Advice on Branding
- The Complete Guide to Creating an Engaging Internal Brand - Caburn Hope
- Brand Stakeholders - ReputationX
- A Tool to Follow Internal Brand Guidelines - Alert Software
- What Are Brand Guidelines and How to Create Them - Cobalt Communications
- 5 Steps to a Solid Internal Brand Messaging Strategy - Kindle Communications
- Iterative Marketing on Communicating Brand
- Selling the Brand Inside - HBR
- Brand Guidelines Done Right - StoryChief
On Creating Brand Guidelines
- Venngage on Brand Style Guide
- Examples of Brand Style Guides - HubSpot
- How to Create a Brand Guide - Adobe
- Oberlo on Brand Guidelines
- Building Brand Identity Guidelines - Olive and Company
- How to Create a Brand Style Guide - 99designs
- Creating Brand Guidelines - Canny Creative
- Best Practices for Creating a Brand Style Guide - SmartBug Media
On Accessibility of Brand Guidelines
- LinkedIn Advice on Accessibility
- Brand Guidelines and Accessibility - University of Michigan
- Update Your Brand Guidelines to Include Accessibility - Medium
- Make Your Work Accessible - Sightsavers
- Brand Compliance - Siteimprove
- Accessibility and Brand Guidelines - UNR Extension
- How to Ensure Brand Compliance - GoVisually
- Increase Adoption of Branding Guidelines - Wrike
These resources cover brand consistency, internal guidelines, and accessibility.
