What are Brand Guidelines and How to Create Them

You might already know the importance of having a brand for your small business, and you may already have developed one as well. But you can still fail to see the results you’ve been working for. Why? It's because you’re probably doing it the wrong way. In 2024, 81% of people need to trust a brand before making any purchases. And if your brand follows an inconsistent voice, you will never be able to build that trust. 

The solution? Creating a brand guideline. In this article, we’ll see what brand guidelines are and how to create them for a consistent brand voice that establishes trust, fosters loyalty, and converts leads. 

What are Brand guidelines in Simple Terms?

Simply put, branding guidelines are instructions that you put in place to ensure that every digital asset of your brand adheres to a consistent tone and style. As your brand begins to grow and you start outsourcing tasks to various agencies and professionals, maintaining this consistency can become increasingly challenging.

And when it comes to branding, consistency is everything. So, a full-fledged and descriptive branding guideline helps ensure that consistency is maintained. 

Initially, many small businesses document their branding guidelines in PDF format. But, as your business scales and evolves, you have to make frequent updates to your branding guidelines. Doing so on a static pdf can be quite cumbersome. Moreover, sending the updated document to all parties involved for every minor detail is not only inefficient but also prone to errors.

To counter this, businesses are transitioning from PDF platforms to online websites for branding guidelines. This transition offers numerous advantages over traditional PDFs. Changes can be made instantly, and these updates are automatically reflected for all employees and stakeholders,

How to Create Branding Guidelines?

Creating branding guidelines in this technology-oriented age has never been easier. With numerous platforms available, you can create seamless branding guidelines with just a few clicks. However, the success of these guidelines ultimately depends on the quality of your efforts and the elements you include to reflect your brand effectively.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you develop comprehensive branding guidelines:

1. Define Your Brand Identity:

First and foremost, you need to define your brand identity. Beyond making profits, your brand is built on a set of principles that contribute to a greater cause. Ask yourself: What problems does your brand solve? What impact does it have beyond generating revenue?

Answering these questions will give you a crystal-clear idea of your brand's core values. These core values form the basis of your mission—a well-crafted mission statement that is both inspirational and guides your brand's efforts toward a common goal. The mission statement focuses on what the brand is doing today, while the vision statement describes the future your brand aspires to create.

Ultimately, these values are the foundation of your brand identity. They must be selfless, motivational, and aligned with your audience's values and expectations. By adhering to them, you build loyalty, foster trust, and convert potential leads into long-term supporters.

2. Know Your Target Audience

You have to know your target audience if you want to sell. Rather than being everything for everyone, aim to be something special for someone. Your brand’s digital assets should be personalized to speak directly to this target audience. 

A great practice is to include a detailed description of your target audience in your branding guidelines. This allows your employees to clearly understand who they're targeting and helps them create content that resonates with your audience's needs, values, and preferences. As a result, this focused approach will make your products or services more appealing, driving sales like hot cupcakes!

3. Establish Your Brand Voice

Many companies only focus on the visual aspect of their branding and neglect the tone and voice. But it is actually the words that convert. Your brand tone is especially important for building recognition and connecting with your audience. 

To begin with, define your brand's personality. Is it formal, casual, playful, or serious? Provide specific examples of language and phrases that reflect this voice. These instructions will help ensure that your brand communicates consistently, whether it’s a comprehensive social media campaign or a simple customer service response. 

4. Visual Elements

It's 2024, and attention spans have been greatly reduced. You can’t hope to target and convert with just words. If your content lacks captivating design, your branding yields no results. 

Generally speaking, there are four different categories of visual elements. 

Logo:

This is the face of your brand. And it must be consistent throughout your digital assets. Create instructions as to how to use your logo, its placement, its background, and its size. 

Additionally, it's essential to include the different variations of your logo, such as:

1. Full Color: Used when color accuracy is critical, typically in high-quality brand communications.
2. Black and White: Suitable for scenarios where color printing isn't feasible or when dealing with monochrome formats.
3. Single-Line and Square Versions: Depending on the layout, certain situations may call for a more compact version of your logo.

Include specific guidelines for when and where each variation should be used, along with visual examples.

Color Palette:

Colors are powerful tools that represent your brand’s personality and evoke emotional responses from your audience. If your design team gets the color palette wrong, it can lead to confusion and weaken your brand message. 

Your branding guidelines should include your color palette, along with swatches that display each color clearly. This visual representation shows how each color fits into your overall branding. Additionally, it's important to provide the corresponding color codes for use in design tools.

Make sure to include color codes in relevant formats, such as:

• HEX: Essential for digital applications, like websites and online graphics.
• RGB (Red, Green, Blue): Used for digital displays and screen designs.
• CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key/Black): Necessary for print materials to ensure accurate color reproduction.

Typography:

Without fonts, words are boring. The fonts you choose help convey your brand's personality and tone. Are you aiming for a sleek, modern look or a traditional, trustworthy feel?

For instance, serif fonts can project a sense of elegance and reliability, while sans-serif fonts offer a modern, clean, and approachable vibe. It's important to include specific guidelines for the typefaces your brand uses, their sizes, and how they should be applied across different digital assets.

5. Review and Update Regularly

If there’s one thing constant about our world, it’s change. The world evolves every second, and if you don’t adapt, you risk being left behind. Your branding should follow a distinctive approach, but it's also essential that you stay on par with market trends and follow them as well. 

Take Lamborghini, for example. With a logo that has enjoyed widespread recognition, the brand still chose to change its face after 20 years. This sparked a lot of controversy on social media, but the marketing professionals at Lamborghini know the importance of evolution. As the design ecosystem shifted toward minimalism, Lamborghini recognized the need to revamp their intricate logo into a more streamlined silhouette.

Bottomline:

In a nutshell, consistency is the key to every great success in the world. Your brand also has to maintain a consistent face across different platforms in order to build trust, foster loyalty, and become global. 

To achieve this, you have to develop branding guidelines that not only streamline communication within your organization but also enhance your brand’s perception in the eyes of consumers. Your brand's journey begins with these guidelines—make them count!

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