9 Practical Ways to Have a Consistent Therapy Brand
Today we are so lucky to have a guest post with brand and marketing expert, Erin Heath, MFA, Founder of Heath Creative Studio, LLC.
The importance of a strong brand cannot be overstated.
A brand is not just a logo or a name—it’s the overall image, vibe/feeling, and message that your therapy practice conveys to the world. When potential clients browse your website or check out your social media presence, you want them to have a strong sense of what your practice is about through your brand.
Why is consistency in branding so important?
Imagine if you went to the grocery store and your favorite brand of yogurt completely changed its colors, fonts, and look every week. It would become much harder to find and less likely that you’d buy it consistently.
Brands that are consistent in their visual identity and voice/tone are considerably easier to remember than ones that don’t.
In fact, brands that are consistent earn up to 23% more revenue. So if you commit to keeping your brand consistent, it could help your practice bring in more predictable and higher income.
How to Keep Your Brand Consistent: 9 Practical Tips
While it can be challenging to maintain your brand’s consistency over time, there are practical ways you can set yourself and your team (if applicable) up for success. In this article, we’ll explore 9 practical ways to keep your brand consistent and ensure that it stays strong, and that your ideal clients remember you as a result.
1. Define Your Brand Guidelines
The first step to maintaining brand consistency is to have a clear set of brand guidelines. These guidelines should cover everything from your logo, color palette, fonts, and tone of voice. Even if you’re only a team of one, having guidelines takes the guesswork out of making creative decisions about your practice’s brand.
2. Create Templates
Create templates for all your branded materials, from email signatures to social media posts. This will ensure that your brand elements are always used correctly and consistently. The more consistent these brand assets are, the better off your brand will be in terms of memorability among those it reaches.
3. Use the Right Tools
How do you do these first two things? Use a design tool like Canva or Adobe Creative Suite to keep your brand guidelines organized, and create professional graphics, and branded materials.
4. Keep everyone (including yourself!) on brand
If you have a team, train your staff on your brand guidelines and make sure they understand the importance of consistency. Encourage them to use your branded templates and to adhere to your brand guidelines in all their communications.
If you don’t have a team, remind yourself to refer to your guidelines regularly when creating new content (e.g., emails, social media posts, new pages on your website, print brochures).
You’ll likely make tweaks to your brand along the way. That’s okay and completely normal—but be cautious not to change the brand too dramatically or too frequently. This is where your brand guidelines really help!
5. Create a Mood Board
Creating a mood board of 10-15 images to establish a feeling of your brand can help you stay consistent with your brand. Images help visually describe what your brand is supposed to elicit emotionally and can be a great cue to keep you on track.
6. Be Consistent with Your Messaging
First, figure out what your message is. Is your mission to end mental health stigma? To help alleviate anxiety and normalize it at the same time?
The backbone of your brand messaging is about your why—your values as a mental health professional, why you’re doing this work, and who it’s for. Speak directly to your audience and why you are poised to help them.
Once you are clear on your “why”, ensure that your messaging is consistent across all channels. Whether it’s your website, social media, or advertising, make sure that your message is always the same, and that you don’t veer off topic too far or for too long.
7. Be Yourself
Authenticity is essential in branding. Speak in a way that feels authentic to you but also reaches your audience. Show up online in a way that feels right for you. For example, you don’t need to be choreographing dances on TikTok if that’s not something you’re comfortable with!
8. Stay Relevant
Keep up with developments in your field. Terminology and the science of psychology changes constantly—which is a great thing. So it’s your job to stay updated on the latest and ensure that your brand message is relevant to and appropriate for your audience. By staying relevant and up-to-date in the latest science, your brand builds trust with your potential clients.
9. Don’t Overdo It
Finally, don’t overdo it. While consistency is essential in branding, you don’t want to become predictable or boring. Be creative and experiment with new ideas. Just make sure they align with your brand guidelines and your mission. Trying new things with your brand from time to time It can help reinvigorate it and bring new energy and interest into it. This might mean developing new services or products or writing about new ideas on your blog. Have fun, and follow your curiosity and interests.
Final Thoughts
Staying consistent over time with your brand will help build a strong, memorable, and emotionally potent brand. The goal is to make your brand memorable among the noise, give others a flavor of what your practice is about, and help others in the ways that only you can.
Big thanks to Erin Heath, founder of Heath Creative Studio. for bringing us this article today!
If you are a therapist looking for help developing your brand or marketing strategy, be sure to visit Heath Creative Studio.
