Why you need to create brand guidelines for your business

Having brand guidelines in place can do a lot for your business. It tells your customers that you are well-established and have goals for the future of your company. It also speaks to your partners or business affiliates.

Not every brand or organization will implement the same set of guidelines. But you can count on the best businesses to follow a similar path for establishing which guidelines work for them.

If you are just starting a business, you will find this guide to be especially useful. It’s a great way to ensure that you are utilizing all of your resources to build a successful company.

BE CONSISTENT

One of the most important things you can do for your business is to maintain consistency. This not only makes it easier for consumers to identify you, but it also reflects how well-put-together you are as a company.

You want to make sure that everything about your brand is in sync. Let’s look at a few areas that are perfect examples of when maintaining consistency is important.

• Watches a video about your company
• Calls into customer support
• Receives an email from you
• Receives a business card
• Views your social media
• Visiting your website

A great way to ensure that you remain consistent across advertising and brand recognition is to establish some rules for what you can and can’t do. Eventually, you will find it easier and easier to maintain the same consistency within your business. Which brings us to…

ESTABLISH RULES

If you don’t have standards in place for what is allowable within your business, you’re putting yourself at risk for marketing nightmares. Let’s say you hired a team to create advertisements. If they don’t know what is OK to work with, you will likely get something that doesn’t mesh with other parts of your brand.

You need to set rules for things like the colors that can be used, the style of font you prefer, and so on. Take the time to sit down and draw up a comprehensive guide to what’s allowed and when it can be used.

Successful television series create what is lovingly referred to as a “bible”. This book is an entire guide to characters, backstories, events, and more. Following this guide ensures that the TV show stays within the confines of its created universe.

This not only helps to establish the series as being intelligently written, but it also serves to keep the viewer engrossed in each character and story. Even if the world is far-fetched, viewers will have an easier time taking the series seriously.

You might want to draft a “bible” for your business to help yourself and your crew to stay on track and not deviate from the rules.

RECOGNIZABILITY

One of the biggest benefits of maintaining consistency is that it makes you easy for consumers to identify. Even if someone has never bought your product or service, chances are that they will recognize your brand if you remain consistent in your advertising and marketing.

This is true regardless of how simplistic or complex your company logo is. The longer you keep your name out there using the same style, font, logo, jingle, etc., the better chance you have of becoming a well-known entity in the business world.

And when you’re recognizable, you have a far better chance to see revenue. Those same consumers who have never bought from you are more likely to when they are given a choice, whether it’s online or in a store.

They will remember seeing your logo or hearing your jingle and instinctively buy from you. The more consumers you can reach, the better your bottom line is likely to be.

STAY ON TRACK

One of the most common mistakes companies make – even successful ones that have been around for ages – is to try tackling too many things at once. If you come out with a product that’s a hit, it can be easy to want to make similar products that reach a different audience.

This is all well and good if you have the manpower to properly handle it. But what often happens is companies lose sight of other needs, resulting in unhappy customers and lost sales.

If your business has guidelines in place, you are less likely to get off track and lose sight of what’s important. This will ensure that your loyal customers are always taken care of, even when new products or services are released.

MAINTAIN QUALITY

The value of your brand is critical to your business remaining or becoming successful. One of the best ways you can ensure this is to remain valuable to your customers. This means establishing guidelines for how customer service is handled.

If customers are complaining about your company, you need to have an established process for handling these issues promptly and professionally. This will tell consumers that you take your business seriously and value each and every client.

Failure to have guidelines in place for dealing with customer-related problems will quickly send your stock plummeting. Customers are only as loyal as you are to them. By doing all that you can to show the public and investors that you have value, your brand is sure to be a successful one.

BE PATIENT

The value of your brand is critical to your business remaining or becoming successful. One of the best ways you can ensure this is to remain valuable to your customers. This means establishing guidelines for how customer service is handled.

SUMMARY

What are you doing to ensure that you remain consistent as a business? Having established guidelines in place will ensure that you remain recognizable to consumers. And when you’re easily recognized, you stand a better chance of making sales.

Whether you have been in business for a while or you’re just getting started, you must work to establish a strict set of guidelines for your brand. With patience and persistence, these guidelines will serve you well in your business venture.