Have you ever followed a business on Instagram, fell in love with them, and then clicked through to their website, only to have that love dissolve into confusion because you don’t see any of the charming personality there that you got to know so well on social? Yeah. That sucks. Don’t let that be you. Instead, strive to create a consistent message and vibe across all online platforms, and then make sure it jives with your ‘in-real-life’ experience too. 

What’s the impact of brand consistency? Brand recognition. And what’s the impact of brand recognition? More loyal followers who have the potential to convert to clients. 

There is a lot happening on the internet. Between social media, ads, subscriptions and memberships to just about anything you can think of, it can be hard to carve out your tiny little corner. But that tiny corner is yours, and you need to make sure your audience knows it. 

Regardless if your digital presence is only in one spot or nine, you should be ensuring that a consistent effort is happening to communicate who you are and what you do. 

There is one document that can help you create that consistency. Yup. One document. A Brand Book. And you can easily make one for yourself. 

WHAT IS A BRAND BOOK?

A brand book (also called a Style Guide, Brand Toolkit, Brand Identity Book) defines a company’s brand. What it includes can range from the visual identity, design, voice, tone, all the way to communication guidelines and company overview. 

You can put whatever you want in there, but we’re going to share with you the two areas we think are the most strategic in helping you gain that consistency across all platforms and experiences. 

VISUAL IDENTITY

The Visual Identity sets the stage for what you want people to consistently see. We’re talking about more than just your Iogo, tag line, and colours, which are typically the key things people associate with a company. For a moment, think of a company where all you must do see is one image and you know it’s them. Think like a big corporation. They are (typically) always consistent in the font they use, in the style of photographs they use, the illustrations and graphics. You can be that specific for your business too. 

To include in your Visual Identity section: 

• Logo 
• Logo rules (ie size, dimension, what it can sit on top of, padding, etc) 
• Brand Colours (core colours and complimentary colours) 
• Tag Line 
• Photography style (ie, light and airy, dark and moody, outdoorsy, feminine, masculine, etc) 
• Illustrations and graphics (style, colours, etc) 
• Typography (what styles of font do you use, rules on sizing and use) 

COMMUNICATION GUIDELINES

The Communication Guideline sets out how you communicate with your audience and clients. It spreads out across those social media posts, into all your marketing communications which include website, any print collateral, emails, and other campaigns. You need to consider things like your language, your written style, tone of voice, your email, and social media strategy.  

To include in your Communications Guideline 

• Tone of voice (are you friendly, humourous, serious, emotional, distant, etc) 
• Language 
• Style (technical vs. non-technical, formal vs. casual etc)  
• Email (email structure, signatures) 
• Social Media (your overall plan – what you post, when you post it, how you connect it back to business) 

The two core sections will cover a lot of ground for you to help you get consistent and stay consistent. Maybe you already have these details hammered out, maybe you don’t. Either way around it, going through the activity of formalizing these areas will help you understand better what you can be doing to create a stronger brand recognition through consistency. 

Get started on one today! All you have to do is open a notebook and start making notes! 

Like this post? We think you might like this one as well, Branding Goals for 2019. It dives into three key areas that you can focus on to help you boost up your brand.