Social media creates a ‘face’ for your brand, meaning consistency across all platforms is paramount. While it is no easy task, achieving consistency will help you to
grow your audience,
increase engagement and
strengthen your brand. Inconsistency can cause many implications for marketers. This is due to audiences receiving mixed messages about your brand’s personality, message and ethos.
If you’re a marketer struggling to achieve consistency across your social media platforms, we’ve got you covered! Below we have outlined some top tips to help with your social media marketing.
1. Tone of voice
Whether you’re interacting with your audience in the comments on Instagram or posting a tweet, ensure that you’re using a
consistent tone of voice. Your tone of voice on social media is the way you address your audience. It’s important as it impacts the way users perceive your brand. Does your audience want a more educational and serious tone of voice? Or one that is more friendly and humorous? Think about your audience’s demographics and psychographics. Then decipher how they would like to be addressed and interacted with!
Keep in mind that your social media channels may have slightly different audiences. For example, you may be targeting a younger audience on Instagram compared to Facebook. Your tone of voice may, therefore,
differ somewhat on each platform. Make sure you are consistent with the tone of voice on each channel.
2. Posting regularly
While posting consistently can be challenging, it is crucial for
professionalism, interaction and driving engagement. Posting three times a day one week and being inactive the following week will have implications for customer retention. We recommend using a social media calendar, and “
Using Insights” to see when your audience is active. This will allow you to plan your content at least one week in advance. Platforms like
Hootsuite are great as they ensure consistent posting throughout the week. Planning and scheduling also ensure that no elements of your brand are forgotten about or missed.
3. Visual consistency
When scrolling through their newsfeed, your audience is bombarded with a high amount of information. By ensuring visual consistency,
your audience will quickly recognise your posts. You can achieve this by using similar aesthetics. Also, use your brand’s colours and logo throughout your content. Doing this will further
make your posts more memorable and will ensure your social media is consistent with other platforms like your website.
4. Stick to your brand’s message
To increase audience engagement and loyalty,
convey the same messages across all social media channels. Whether you’re sharing a post on Instagram or an article on LinkedIn, ensure that they surround similar topics. Also, make sure that the topics align with your brand’s message and ethos. This will
strengthen your brand and will give your audience a better understanding of what you are trying to achieve. Inconsistency across your social media can hinder your message and confuse audiences using different platforms.
5. Use brand guidelines
A great way to ensure consistency is by making
brand guidelines. Outlining how your content and visuals should be used is great if more than one person is running your social media. Essentially, if multiple individuals are running your brand’s social media, it should be unnoticeable to your audience.
6. Repurpose your content
To provide similar messages and content across your social media, we recommend
repurposing your content. Repurposing your current content will also provide your audience with variation, while still conveying the same messages and principles. The variety will further encourage your audience to follow your different social media platforms as you’re offering something different. For example, an Instagram post could be turned into a blog, a LinkedIn article or a short video!
Use these methods to strengthen your brand
Achieving consistency across all of your social media channels is not easy. While it is difficult, it is
crucial for effective social media marketing. We really hope that these tips will help you be more consistent with social media. Remember, once you have established a set tone of voice, visuals and a brand message, you’re ready to go! Utilise tools such as Hootsuite and use brand guidelines to help you.
Finally, remember that it’s fine to alter aspects like your tone of voice slightly on different platforms due to audiences varying. Just keep in mind that you must be consistent on each individual platform for audience engagement and to strengthen your brand!
Written by Emily Ralphs
