How can you maintain brand alignment over time?

This trick can enhance brand alignment in all your content, social media, blogs, copy, or any other content. Place a third person to audit your content to check the brand alignment. This person should not have any involvement in the content production. That person should follow the guidelines to ensure the brand voice is correct.

Let’s make this easy with three simple actions: 1. Google your business and yourself. What is the (realtor-term) “curb appeal” first impressions you feel from what you see? Are there free directories that you would have admin rights to change what is listed? Are there any recent bad or good review on GMB that as the owner you did not respond to (respond to all your reviews, it shows you are an engaged owner). 2. Check your website head-to-toe, for broken links to for example, 404 error pages”. Fix those links as it’s a bad UX. 3. Cultivate a small group of “friends/colleagues of my business”. These people trust you, have been your clients current and past. Ask them their impression of your brand and what it stands for?

Regular content audits ensure a strategic review, identifying gaps and optimizing quality, performance, and relevance. This systematic process aligns content with brand guidelines, tone, and message. Tools like inventories, analytics, surveys enhance the evaluation. Tailoring frequency and scope to specific goals and resources is key for an impactful content strategy.

Regularly updating your brand guidelines is crucial to maintaining a consistent and relevant brand identity. These guidelines, encompassing identity, voice, style, and visuals, must evolve with your brand's growth and changing dynamics. Periodic reviews ensure alignment with current vision, values, and goals. Effectively communicating and distributing these guidelines to your content team and stakeholders fosters a cohesive brand presence across all channels and platforms.

Maximize the effectiveness of your content team by investing in training and empowerment. Equip them with the necessary skills, tools, and feedback to ensure alignment with brand guidelines, tone, and message. Provide clear briefs, templates, checklists, and examples to guide their work. Foster collaboration, idea-sharing, and a culture of continuous learning among team members. Regularly monitor and evaluate their performance, offering constructive and timely feedback to enhance their capabilities.

Elevate your content's impact by continuously testing and optimizing it to ensure effectiveness and relevance. Utilize metrics like conversions, retention, satisfaction, usability, and accessibility for comprehensive evaluation. Collect audience feedback through comments, reviews, ratings, and surveys to glean valuable insights. Leverage the data obtained from testing to refine and align your content with brand goals, ensuring it serves as a powerful tool in achieving business objectives.

Regularly reviewing and refreshing your content is essential for maintaining its relevance and value. Scrutinize for outdated, inaccurate, or irrelevant information, including facts, figures, dates, links, and references. Ensure your content aligns with any changes or updates in your brand, such as new products, features, offers, or campaigns. Explore repurposing or reusing content across various formats, channels, or audiences to extend its reach and impact, acknowledging that content is an ongoing, evolving process.

Content audits often aren't enough to ensure brand alignment. Because they rarely happen frequently enough. And there is often content being produced that isn't counted in the audit (in other silos). Someone needs to be empowered to enforce brand guidelines when they discover content that violates them. A brand sheriff, if you will. And that person needs to be empowered from on high. Otherwise content sources in other silos won't listen.

Consider incorporating user-generated content to foster community engagement and authenticity. Encourage your audience to share their experiences, testimonials, or creative interpretations related to your brand. Additionally, stay attuned to industry trends and emerging technologies that could influence your content strategy. Embrace experimentation and innovation to keep your content dynamic and aligned with evolving preferences. Remember, adaptability and a willingness to explore new avenues can enhance the overall impact of your content efforts.

In a world where consistency is championed, the counterintuitive truth is that brands can evolve while staying authentically aligned. Instead of rigidly adhering to a static image, embrace the dynamic nature of your audience. Align with their aspirations, not just their expectations. Allow your brand to grow with the world, reflecting the cultural zeitgeist. It's about being a living entity, not a fixed image. By fluidly aligning with the ever-changing desires and values of your audience, you not only maintain relevance but become a timeless force in their lives. It's not about standing still; it's about dancing with the rhythm of change.