How big is your organization’s digital marketing presence? If you’re like most modern companies, you don’t just have a website. You’re present on at least one social channel; you may have videos on Youtube and a profile on Glassdoor. Perhaps you run ads on Google or Facebook. Your business is out there in a lot of places.

Does your organization’s presence look and feel the same across all your digital marketing assets? It should, but that’s easier said than done.

Not only is it likely that different people are responsible for various online assets, but it’s also true that what constitutes an appropriate post on Twitter might fail on LinkedIn–and it definitely won’t work on Pinterest.

So how do you keep your brand voice consistent across the web? Let’s explore.

1. Create brand guidelines

If you don’t already have brand guidelines for your organization, creating them is a crucial first step.

A great brand guide starts at the strategy level–and we’re not just talking marketing strategy. We’re talking about your company’s mission and values. What does your brand do, and why do you do it? Why are you here? How do you serve your customers better than anyone else?

Brand guidelines help you translate those guiding principles into visuals and voice that you’ll use throughout all of your marketing and communications.

A brand guide walks through

• Logo and usages
• Color palette
• Typography
• Iconography
• Voice and tone
• And anything else that plays a role in how viewers perceive your brand.

If one of your brand’s values is innovation, how do you communicate that in how your business presents itself? Perhaps you create a logo that has forward motion like your organization is hurtling into the future. Maybe you select a clean and modern san serif typeface and a futuristic color palette of metallics and deep-space blue.

Getting your brand guide right sets the course for all of your digital marketing, so don’t rush this step.

2. Hone your focus and find the right channels.

Let’s start by embracing this simple fact: You don’t need to have a presence everywhere on the internet. That’s right! Many brands feel compelled to jump into Instagram, TikTok, or whatever the latest social media craze is, but it’s simply unnecessary.

When you try to be everywhere on the internet, you lose the nuance of your messaging. How often have you seen a brand blast out the same copy across seven social channels? Behind those copy-pasted posts is likely a frazzled social media manager who’s been given way too much work.

Social media upkeep is a bear, and most teams don’t have the bandwidth to create quality content for every social channel. This is one of those times when quality is better than quantity.

Make a list of all of your digital assets, and then start making cuts. Is your Snapchat gathering digital dust? Shut it down. Are you on TikTok even though your primary audience is Gen Xers? Get off of there.

Creating a concise, curated list of places you want to focus your marketing efforts online gives you and your team the space to really tailor your messaging to suit each channel and get your brand voice right simultaneously.

A great brand guide starts at the strategy level–and we’re not just talking marketing strategy. We’re talking about your company’s mission and values.

3. Return to your brand guidelines

Now that you know where you’re going to be on the web, you can begin adjusting your messaging for each channel.

This doesn’t mean your brand has to be radically different across channels–in fact, it shouldn’t be. Instead, think of how you adjust your communication style for different people and scenarios. You might be casual with a best friend, using contractions and slang. In speaking with your boss, you may use more ten-cent words and omit curse words. You’re still the same person; you’re just shifting your voice slightly to fit the situation.

You should do the same thing for your brand across digital assets. You may adopt a casual tone on Twitter while opting for more polish in your Glassdoor profile description. No matter what, these shifts in tone should always be viewed through the lens of your brand guide. Does this still sound like us?

4. Don’t forget visual identity

Remember, visuals are a big part of your brand guide for a reason. So much can be communicated in how you visually present yourself, especially on image-driven platforms like Pinterest or display ads.

Ask yourself questions like how your brand’s color palette can inform the types of photos you share on Instagram. How can your grid images communicate your brand’s mission when viewed as individual posts or as part of the whole on your profile?

Visual elements are how you draw people in immediately. They have a visceral reaction to the visual, then stick around to read your messaging. Plus, getting your visual identity right across digital assets makes your content immediately recognizable as yours to those who know your brand, which strengthens brand recognition and trust.

5. Evaluate your assets side-by-side

The easiest way to ensure consistency in brand voice and tone is to look at your assets together. If you have an “about us” description in several places on the web–your company website, your Facebook profile, your Yelp page–put them all in a document next to each other. Do they sound consistent?

Remember: Consistent does not mean identical. You will likely wish to write a longer “about us” on your website and keep it short and sweet on Yelp. But you still want to get the messages and your brand’s energy across to readers.

Looking at these descriptions one after the other helps you evaluate if the voice and tone are true to your brand guidelines and suitable for each digital channel. If you spot any inconsistencies or unwanted divergence from your brand guide, you have time to adjust before it goes into the digital world.

As with all marketing efforts, it’s a good idea to check in on your digital assets every once in a while–making it an annual exercise ensures you don’t forget about it. Brand missions shift, and brand voices change; regular reviews will keep you from ever drifting too far from the present guidelines of your brand.

If you need a hand auditing your digital assets and creating consistency across the web, we’re here to help.