We speak to a lot of people who are ready to invest in a brand-new website. But before they take that step, it’s important they’ve got their brand bang on. Otherwise, you’ve got the equivalent of a brand new Tesla with your old 1-litre Ford Fiesta engine inside. It might look amazing, but it’s not going to work too well.
If you want to get your brand remembered, getting consistent branding across all your digital and print is essential. With the speed of changes within organisations, not every new starter or team member is going to necessarily know what logo to use, what colours to print or what business card to hand out. Brand guidelines help ensure everyone is on the same page.
What are brand guidelines?
Brand guidelines are a set of rules that help everyone know how to use branding elements. They are created by designers, writers and anyone else involved with your brand’s initial design.
They often exist in a digital format, but can also be found in books or pamphlets with bigger organisations. This shows how to effectively use all of your brand assets to create a coherent brand identity.
They often contain:
- The different versions of your logo design and suggested usage
- The colour palette that your brand uses
- The different typography associated with your brand
- Your tone of voice for copy across all platforms
Identity
Having a logo that is recognisable and stands out from the crowd isn’t as hard as it seems. Often, investing in your brand identity allows for your business to appeal to more customers who may have been less interested if a company was still using their MS Paint logo from a decade ago.
Tone of voice (TOV) is also an essential element in helping customers build rapport with your business. If it feels more personal, the likelihood is your customers are going to feel more comfortable talking to you.
Consistency
When you use the same brand guidelines across all your marketing materials (social media, blogs, advertising and corporate items) you can increase your revenue by as much as 23%.
Guidelines allow every staff member to know what font, colour and language style to use if they need to write something to quickly throw out on social media. Because repetition promotes brand identification, consistency is often transformative for businesses that invest in their marketing strategy.
Loyalty
Loyal customers aren’t just because of you delivering a fantastic service. People love familiarity and reliability when they’re purchasing.
It’s a cold night driving down the motorway, and you spot the golden arches of McDonalds over the edge of the horizon. Immediately you can taste the flavour of the food, you can imagine the interior of the restaurant, and you know exactly what you’re going to get.
Consumers develop emotional connections with companies they believe they can trust. Your brand guidelines are a way to ensure that people aren’t surprised or shocked when they do business with you – instead, they feel reassurance knowing they’re working with a brand they can trust.
Need to rethink your brand before a redesign?
Taking the decision to get a new website built is a biggie. But it’s also a good one.
Making sure your brand is modernised and up-to-date is an integral part of our process when we build new websites.
So if you’re looking for a fresh lick of paint of a complete redesign, let’s talk it over.
