Selling is a lot more complex than it used to be. Gone are the days when a little wit, a few product samples, and a firm handshake would close the deal. Sellers today need to do more. They need to communicate with and win the attention and trust of buyers. They need to “make the sale,” but do it in a way that upholds the integrity and image of the brand they represent. And they need to move fast. Doing all of this requires 24/7, on-demand access to the latest marketing brochures, demo videos, one-pagers, pitch decks, and more. 

Locating the current version of a creative file — be it for a white paper, image, or event banner — can often feel overwhelming. You might have a dozen to choose from, each with a slightly different headline, or logo, or font. Why have they all been updated recently? Did the company font change? Which one do you use?

Trying to manage various versions of brand assets can be downright maddening. 

Fortunately, version control can help you easily organize every last asset and retrieve the one you need instantly. Leveraging version control functionality can help you keep tabs on the latest version and can even display notes as to what changed and why. Staying on top of each of your asset versions will help ensure you’re not wasting time or money recreating assets or misusing old ones.

More on that later. Let’s get into exactly what version control is first. 

With the growth of online shopping during the COVID pandemic, the digital world became the dominant customer environment. And post-2020, e-commerce continued to expand — in fact, the global e-commerce market size is projected to have a 14.7% compounded annual growth rate from 2020 to 2027. To be competitive today, you need to create a consistent brand experience across every channel — both physical and digital. And that means you’ll have to coordinate some of the in-person experiences that used to happen naturally with strategic digital interactions.

With freelancers, marketing agencies, internal teams, and many others using your brand in communications and content, it's easy for inconsistencies and misuse to arise, such as applying an outdated version of your logo, misusing colors, or uploading an off- brand image. 

A brand kit can help by providing teams and stakeholders with the tools and information they need to uphold your company’s brand consistently. In fact, a brand kit is an absolute must-have for all organizations.

You know how important it is for potential and existing customers to feel good about your brand. Their impression of it creates expectations around the quality and value of your offering and how it will feel to use your product or service. Create positive expectations, and your customers will buy from your brand before they think of others in your market — that’s branding 101.

To create that kind of brand loyalty, every business needs to tell a memorable story about who they are, what they stand for, and why that’s valuable. Once you’ve got this story down, you’ve got to tell it consistently across all touchpoints to foster a clear, reliable, and strong recall of your brand story and its value.

That’s where your brand style guide comes in. It’s a branding checklist that bundles up all the information and resources your internal and external teams need to represent your brand. With clear instructions on how to use all your brand assets, you can create and maintain brand consistency.

Every customer interaction is an opportunity to build customer loyalty. And brands that consistently deliver compelling, accurate, and relevant experiences are able to rise above their competition.

But this is no small feat! Even one misstep can put a brand’s reputation at risk.  

That’s why companies of all shapes and sizes need brand management to safeguard their identity and control their narrative.

Every marketer knows that brand management is extremely important. After all, the strength of your brand is dependent on customer perception. But influencing how you’re perceived in the market is extremely complicated, and unfortunately, there’s no magic formula or quick fixes for earning customer loyalty.

To build a brand that customers choose over competitors takes dedication and hard work. It starts with a clearly defined brand vision, organizational self-reflection, and company-wide discipline. Easy to say, harder to execute. But having a solid understanding of the components of brand management will help you get there.  

The Portals app in Widen’s digital asset management (DAM) solution offers a flexible, attractive, and easy way to share content within a branded environment. 

Our blog post Portals Examples and Use Cases showcases a range of creative and powerful ways that our customers are using portals to share assets, connect teams, and advance brand stories. In this article, we’ll share functionality details and best practices that will help you build a portal that meets your unique content and business needs.

Brand storytelling is an increasingly popular approach to marketing that taps into the foundational human need to connect with others through story. It’s a method that centers your customer as the main character in the narrative, not your brand or your product. When you share relatable stories about life experiences that matter to your audience, you create strong emotional connections with your ideal customers.

Those connections build brand awareness, keep attention on your marketing channels, and establish trust. Not everyone agrees on the best approach to brand storytelling, but everyone knows it matters. Let’s examine why brand storytelling is so important, look at examples of best practices, and explore some ideas for getting started. But first, let’s agree on a clear brand storytelling definition.

Your brand is your company’s most important asset. It’s more than just words on a page or images on a screen ⏤ it’s how you communicate with and attract your audience. From your logo to every customer interaction, it’s the identity of your organization.  

To stand out in a competitive market, consumers need to easily understand who your company is and what you provide. Brand consistency helps consumers feel confident in their decision to become a customer because they know exactly what to expect from you with every interaction.

So, how do you ensure a consistent experience that builds brand loyalty? Develop strong brand guidelines.