Standing out in today’s competitive marketplace requires more than just offering an exceptional product or service. Whether you’re an established global enterprise or a small business, what sets you apart and ahead are a robust brand identity and strong brand guidelines.
A recognizable, consistent brand helps build trust and emotional connections with customers. Having strong brand guidelines helps your business’s voice, visuals, and messaging stay cohesive and unified across all touchpoints.
The Importance of Brand Guidelines
Brand guidelines, also referred to as a brand manual or style guide, act as the backbone for all visual, written, or interactive elements that are used by a brand. They are essentially an extensive set of rules and standards that direct how a brand is represented, with instructions on color palettes, logos, typography, imagery, messaging, etc.
A well-crafted brand manual is a strategic asset that is a vital part of your integrated marketing strategy. It enables your team to act and speak as one cohesive brand. Here are some industry insights into the value of brand guidelines.
- Boosting Revenue: Studies show that businesses maintaining consistent branding report a 10-20% increase in revenue.
- Fostering Recognition: Cohesive branding helps increase brand recognition and recall by up to 80%.
- Enhancing Familiarity: According to research, a consumer may need to see a brand up to 7 times before committing to a purchase. Additionally, 50% of consumers are more likely to buy from familiar brands.
- Improving Trust: Studies suggest that 81% of consumers have a higher likelihood of buying from brands they trust. Trust is fostered by a consistent brand identity.
85% of businesses confirm having clearly established brand guidelines; however, less than 30% consistently enforce them across the company. But the truth is that a brand manual is a non-negotiable investment in a brand’s long-term success, and neglecting it could prove to be a costly risk in the long run.
The Core Components of Brand Guidelines
Let’s break down the essential components that go into creating an effective set of brand guidelines.
Logo
A brand’s logo constitutes its main identity as the most powerful and recognizable element in the brand manual. Some rules for logo usage include:
- Outline clear spacing and minimum size rules to ensure the logo is legible.
- Define how and when to use the logo in various contexts, like print, website, or social media.
- Establish approved color variations.
- Designate unacceptable use cases or incorrect logo usage, like warping, stretching, adding effects, etc.
Color Palette
Colors are a powerful tool as they can visually evoke emotions and influence perception.
- Define both primary and secondary color palettes.
- List color codes for digital (RGB, Hex) and print (CMYK).
- Delineate when specific colors are to be used to retain brand consistency across all branding materials.
- Guide on how and when to use accent colors, if any.
Typography
Using consistent typography is important for your brand’s tone and readability.
- Designate a primary font and secondary fonts for use in headlines, captions, and body text.
- Delineate hierarchy rules like font sizes, weights, line heights etc. as well as spacing guidelines to manage layouts.
- Make sure accessibility standards are met by utilizing legible fonts and proper contrast ratios.
Visual Style and Imagery
These include the kind of images, icons, and graphic elements used. They should reflect the brand message and personality.
- Specify the kinds of images that are aligned to the brand’s tone – aspirational, minimalistic, motivational etc.
- Outline rules for photography styles (candid shots, natural lighting) and preferred treatments (filters or overlays, for example).
- Define iconography styles and usage to ensure that a unified visual language is maintained.
Voice and Messaging
Alongside visuals, the voice of a brand should sound uniform across all touchpoints, be it on social media, websites, or customer service.
- Establish clear outlines for the brand tone – authoritative, instructive, conversational etc.
- Delineate any catchphrases or taglines that need to be included in brand messaging.
- Have sample content prepared for social media posts, product descriptions, emails etc. to ensure conformity.
Our Top Tips to Create Effective Brand Guidelines
Outline Your Brand’s Core Values
This is the foundation of your entire brand identity. Define your mission and values, your target audience, and core differentiators between you and your competitors in the market. Every piece of content or interaction should reflect your brand’s ethos and resonate with your target audience.
Use Visual Examples
Wherever feasible, have visual examples, templates, and mockups handy for correct and incorrect usage of your brand elements. Rather than abstract guidelines, visuals are better at clarifying brand guidelines and avoiding mistakes or misunderstandings. There should be clear guidelines on how specific elements are to be applied across different media.
Make Your Guidelines Accessible
Your brand guidelines should be easily accessible to anyone who needs them. Host a digital version of the guidelines in a central location like a cloud drive, brand portal, or intranet, and share them across teams. This is a good way to ensure that everyone stays aligned when it comes to brand consistency.
Audit Regularly
As brands evolve, so should your brand manual. Set up a schedule for regular review and updating of the guidelines to reflect any changes in your brand’s identity, strategy, or voice. The changes should also be in sync with new trends, tools, and channels. This is especially relevant when developing new products or expanding into new markets.
Conclusion
Be it social media or websites, packaging or email campaigns, clear, enforceable brand guidelines are imperative when it comes to unifying your brand presentation, fostering trust, and cultivating recognition. They help to build emotional resonance with consumers, turning prospects into customers, and yielding measurable revenue benefits.
At DigiDrub, a full service digital marketing agency, we assist our clients in creating strong brand guidelines to create and sustain a consistent and recognizable brand. Reach out to us for a consultation today.
