5 Tips to Follow When Creating Brand Identity Guidelines

Part of the marketing process for a company means understanding its brand. What does this company stand for, and what’s its overall mission? How do you make it stand out to its customers and client base?

Brand identity guidelines help establish how that brand is used internally and externally. Your brand identity is also how your business stands out from all your competitors.

If you’re wondering how to create brand identity guidelines, here are some tips to get started.

1. Understand Your Brand

Before you start, you’ll need to make sure you understand everything about the company’s brand. This includes its heart, name, essence, and message.

Your brand’s heart is your core principles, vision, and values. The name can influence the design and marketing choices.

Your brand’s essence is how you present yourself to your customers and clients. Do you want to emphasize professionalism, or is it important to remain approachable?

Once you know all that, you can work on your tagline and messaging pillars.

2. Know Your Audience

The best brand identity guidelines take into account your audience and how you want them to respond. Identify specific demographics in your area. What do they need from your business and how can you fulfill those needs?

If your business caters primarily to outdoorsmen, then your brand needs to match that energy.

3. Create a Visual Direction

Your brand identity includes anything consumers see, and that includes all of the visual elements that go into your marketing and advertising.

According to Promotique, almost a third of all people look at a product’s logo first before anything else. Nearly three-fourths of respondents think that logo can make or break a brand.

That logo can help guide your visual direction throughout the rest of your company as well. Consider how Apple’s minimalistic logo lends itself to the rest of its visual elements and design choices.

4. Use SEO

One thing a brand guidelines template may leave out is SEO optimization. Most people discover new brands and companies through search engines. Your brand identity guidelines should include how to make content that can be found through a quick search online using relevant keywords.

5. Remember Social Media

A strong online presence is necessary for today’s day and age. Nearly everyone has a social media account, and that’ll be one of the main ways they’ll notice your brand.

The best brand identity guidelines should include how to represent your company online. It should also inform you on how to approach your audience and interact with them to promote your brand.

Get Help for Your Brand Identity Guidelines

Creating your first set of brand identity guidelines can be difficult without any previous experience. You can find various brand identity guidelines examples online, or you can reach out to a company that can walk you through the process.

Either way, these tips should at the very least help you think more about your brand identity. How do you want to present yourself to the world?

Check out our other articles for tips on web design and more.