25 Apr Create Your Brand Guide

A brand guide outlines all the details that define your brand in a neat little package. This can be very helpful when sharing with potential partners, new employees, contractors, or for your own reference when creating new marketing plans or content.

Your brand guide should include:

• Your brand story – Include your mission statement and a bio for your business.
• Your brand’s visual identity
  • Your color palette – Having a color palette for your brand is crucial for visual consistency,
  • Branded imagery – Include a few images that inspire your brand and embody your visual identity so everyone who is managing content knows exactly what type of content should be created and shared.
  • Fonts, typefaces, & typeface treatments – Defines what type of fonts should be used and how they should be used when creating any visual collateral for the brand.
• Brand voice – Describe your brand’s overall voice and characteristics. If your brand was a person, what kind of attitude or personality would they have? Include a few keywords that describe your brand.
• Details – Include anything else you think is important to note about your brand that allows anyone to see exactly what you have defined for your brand.
  *Pro tip: You can always add to your brand guide as you continue to grow and evolve. Allow room for change; don’t be too rigid with yourself if you’re just getting your business off the ground!

If you’ve completed all of these steps, then you’re well on your way to defining your brand. Once you have a full understanding of your brand vision, you can move onto the next phase of marketing your brand, implementing your visuals, and telling your story.

Our Hashtag Lifestyle Small Business series will continue every month, so look out for more blog posts to help you navigate and learn everything it takes to run a small business! Don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know if there are any specific topics you’re interested in learning about.