You create amazing content. So amazing, that I literally never want to miss it in my newsfeed and neither do SO MANY of your other raving fans. But, what if I told you your biggest fans DO consistently miss your posts and all it would take is a few easy tweaks to your social media strategy to change that? I’ve outlined a few easy steps you can take increase your brand recognition on social media so you can turn more followers into raving fans.

Social media is a key marketing strategy for businesses both large and small. But, across the board I see several brands not using social media to build the brand recognition they need and deserve.

Brand recognition increases your social media following by being easily recognizable to your fans while also making it easier to attract new ones. They say the average person has to see something seven times before they become a customer/client/reader/fan/whoever you’re looking to attract. Well, what if one of your prospective fans HAS seen your content 7+ times, but they had no idea it was you because your social media branding is inconsistent and unrecognizable? By having a social media strategy that's completely based on consistency, you’ll easily turn followers into raving fans and are more likely to be seen as a thought leader in your niche.

Strong brand recognition creates a stronger relationship with your following and increases your chances of developing the "know, like, and trust factor" with your audience.

So how do we turn your followers into fans who send more traffic to your website with every tweet, post or ‘gram?

Consistency, consistency and… you guessed it, more consistency!

Let me break that down for you:

Social Media Design Consistency

The first thing your audience sees with every social media post is your visuals. Your social media graphics need to be on-point, easy to read and most importantly, easily identifiable.

Your newsfeed gets crowded and busy. By making graphics that are so stinkingly obvious they’re yours means your fans will never miss a post! If your social media graphics have a different look and feel every time you post new content, your audience will never be able to build that brand recognition they’re looking for because they’ll never know what to expect from you. They may LOVE your content, but if they don’t know how to pick it out from a crowd, you’re doing it wrong.

So how can you make your post graphics consistent?

5 Tips to Create Brand Recognition on Social Media

Consistent Fonts

This point deserves a blog post of its own… which is why I already wrote one ;). However, I’ll say it again here: Using 2-3 fonts throughout your ENTIRE brand (yes, that means social media graphics too!) will dramatically impact your brand recognition and consistency. Choose 2-3 fonts that match your brand identity, and use them over and over and over and over and over again until you’re tired of using them, then use them some more.

Because fonts are used in almost every piece of your brand, (from marketing graphics to social media to your website,) defining your brand’s fonts becomes a large part of your brand identity and therefore your brand recognition.

Consistent Colors

Like your brand’s fonts, your brand also needs defined colors. I usually recommend picking 3-5 brand colors and sticking to them consistently (I’m using this word a lot today). This will train your audience to recognize these colors and automatically associate them with your brand. Your fans should be able to spout off your brand colors as easily as they can Walmart’s blue, yellow, orange and green.

Your brand colors need to be the consistent every. single. day. Gone are the days where you can change your brand colors with the season (don’t worry, you can still use white after Labor Day ;) ).

Consistent Design Elements

If your brand has any recognizable design elements, use them as often as possible! The more often you use that same design element, the more your audience will recognize and attribute it to your brand.

For example, the paint strokes you see in my blog post graphics are a design element that I use consistently in every blog post graphic. It’s easily recognizable and sets my brand apart from the rest because it’s not a design choice you see often. It breaks the mold and stands out while training my fanbase to look out for the crazy paintbrush strokes in their newsfeed!

Consistent Imagery

Not only is imagery something you should be using frequently within your graphics, but this imagery should feel consistent with your brand.

Using consistent color, moods, overlays, effects, or themes within your imagery is a great way to keep it consistent and recognizable to your brand. I’ve laid out, in-depth, how to go about executing each of these examples in this blog post. Check it out now and meet me right back here!.

Branded Watermark

You should be adding some type of branded watermark on as many graphics as it makes sense. For me, this brand watermark is typically my website. For you, this could be your logo, your logo mark or icon, your URL, your business or blog name, or a social media handle. This automatically claims your content as your own which is especially helpful for new or potential followers who aren’t trained to recognize your brand yet.

My website URL is on the bottom of each of my blog and Pinterest graphics. However, my Instagram handle is on the bottom of my quote graphics. I switched it up for my quote graphics because they’re more suited for Instagram and therefore are more likely to be reposted on Instagram than any other platform. That way, if they are reposted by another Instagram account, new followers can easily find me if they liked the reposted image.

Whatever it is you decide to use as your distinguishing brand watermark, it doesn’t need to be big and in-your-face. As long as it’s there, it will create consistency and will help connect the dots between your social media posts and your brand.

The Solution to Creating Consistent Social Media Graphics: Templates

The easiest way to ensure you follow all of these rules within your social media graphics is to create templates. Not only will it ensure you’re social media graphics are consistent with your brand, but it's also a huge time saver!

Create categories of different types of content you typically put out, and create a template for each category. For example, I personally put out blog posts, quotes, and color palettes. Every blog post uses the same design, every quote graphic uses the same fonts and white background, and every color palette post uses the same layout.

You can easily create templates in Adobe Illustrator by saving it as an .ait file. If you’re not an Adobe user yet, Canva for Work has a template feature you can use as well!

How else can you create consistency to increase your brand recognition on social media?

Consistent Profile Images

Make sure your profile pictures are the same image across every platform. Whether it’s your brand’s logo or your headshot or a photo of your cat, I don’t care. But make sure it’s the same so that your audience recognizes you from platform to platform.

Consistent Cover Photos

Your cover photos are never going to be exactly the same between each social platform because each one has different sizes and shape requirements – but they can still be pretty dang close. If you use similar images with the same copy, fonts, and colors, your cover photos will look cohesive and recognizable between each platform.

Consistent Bio

Make sure your bio is giving the same message across each of your profiles. Every social media platform is going to have different character lengths, so your text doesn’t have to be word-for-word the same. But, having a consistent message is important. You want your audience to be totally on the same page when it comes to who you are and what you do, and your bio is the easiest place to begin that message!

Consistent Posting Schedule

This isn’t design or content related, but instead accountability related. If you’re posting consistently every single day, your audience is going to notice and remember you. They’re also more likely to think of you as a thought leader in your niche. You’re going to be training them to recognize your posts even faster if they’re consistently in your news feed. Post at least one time a day on each platform, just to remind your audience that you’re there and you’re constantly posting amazing content.

Need help to figure out when to post on each platform? This infographic may help!