You’ve probably heard that you need to create an experience with your brand, but what does that mean exactly? How do you take a logo, some colors, and a few fonts and make it all come together to create something like that?
To break it down, the physical pieces we create are what’s known as your brand. When the physical pieces come together to elicit feelings, emotions, and behavioral responses in your audience, that’s when you have a true brand experience. In this case, the sum is greater than the parts. You can have a great brand, but it can’t translate to a powerful experience unless you know how to use it. Here are a few tips that you can start implementing today to build your brand experience.Â
Use your brand voice consistently to convey a message.
Potential clients need to trust you so that they can get to know your business, and who you are, with the goal that they eventually purchase from you. Part of the foundation of building trust is having a consistent message and relaying it in a voice that resonates with your audience. Your brand experience begins with the conversation you have with your audience and is supported by your visuals. They need to be aligned and create the same feeling. You must decide if your voice and visuals are going to be casual, professional, or somewhere in-between. Then decide on more specific descriptors and a brand vocabulary so that you can stay consistent. Figure out what your message is first, and then decide various ways to convey that message in an authentic voice.
Have visuals that tell a story.
You’ve heard me say a million times that your brand needs more than a logo. The ability to translate it to an actual experience is the reason why. We put loads of strategy into creating a logo and submark with multiple variations, a color palette, fonts, and patterns…not because we want it to be beautiful. Yes, we DO want and need it to be beautiful, but the reason we’re so strategic in our decisions (and the reason that sometimes we’ll question your preferences in initial proofs) is because your visuals must tell a story that supports your messaging. If they don’t, you can say goodbye to any dreams of creating a consistent brand experience. Your logo alone can’t create all the same emotions of your brand voice and message, but in collaboration with the rest of your visuals, it absolutely can. Visual consistency is created by making sure your social feeds, website, and other materials have the same feel without looking exactly the same and boring visitors to death. The only way to do that is through having a comprehensive brand with a suite of visuals to pull from.
Make project management a priority.
Your experience begins with your digital presence and then continues throughout the process of working with you. An often overlooked part of your brand experience is how clients interact with you throughout the sales process, onboarding, offboarding, and everything in between. Make sure your communication materials present a stellar visual presentation and use phrases from your brand vocabulary to create consistency between your marketing and communication with actual clients. It’s also a good idea to make sure your projects are managed and communicated professionally so that the level of consistency in your brand is more than skin deep. Your visuals and voice give clients a hint at what working with you will be like, so make sure you live up to it!
At Pop & Grey, we don’t just focus on creating beautiful brands. We focus on giving you the tools you need to create beautiful experiences with lifelong customers. In order to do that, you have to see your brand as a whole and make sure all of the moving parts are working together to put your best foot forward.
