The key element to building trust with your prospective (and existing) clients is consistency. As in, consistency across all touch points: website, social media, email, product packaging, service guides, etc.
Imagine you’re in the process of finding a photographer for your wedding (hey, congratulations!), and you finally find the one. She has the exact photography style you’ve been searching for. On top of that, she has an amazing website that’s professional, polished, and easy to navigate. Feeling good, you reach out to her, and when she sends back information regarding her services, you’re not sure what to think. The information packet she sent feels cluttered, hard to read, and doesn’t give off the same professional feel as her website.
Would this set off any red flags for you?
Now maybe this won’t matter to some people, but generally speaking, your potential clients want to feel confident and know what they can expect from you. When there are inconsistencies mixed in, this tends to throw people off.
Your potential and existing clients will learn that you are dependable, and eventually this gains their trust.
Brand consistency relies heavily on a clearly defined branding strategy, which includes your photography and voice (copy) as well as the visual brand elements (logo, fonts, etc.). Visual branding helps bring all of those elements together to create a defined personality for your business.
A brand guideline, whether created by you or a designer, is an essential tool for keeping your visual elements consistent. This is a document that houses all of the “rules” and guidelines for your visual branding elements and serves as a great reference when creating new documents, social media posts, web pages, etc.
When you work one-on-one with me for custom branding services, I will always provide you with a brand guideline. That way, you’ll know exactly how and when to use all of the different visual elements for your brand long after we part ways.