The first steps to build a brand starts with clear and defined brand guidelines

Besides being a serious investment of both time and effort, branding takes a creative heart and strategic brain. After all, it is more than a name or a symbol. It’s the identity, personality and perception a customer has when considering your business.

And knowing how to cultivate and manage your branding efforts can either make, or break your company.

That’s why brand guidelines are such a vital part of producing a consistent message for your company, and they’re key to the success of any business. Moreover, these rules not only outline your visual appearance, but also your verbal identity too.

Here are how brand guidelines can help your business:

It helps to create a relationship: The connection between brands and customers is supported by providing consistency, without which customers might lose trust in their brands.

It reduces customer misperception: A clear identity and message are critical for establishing a long-standing relationship with a customer.

It sustains expectations: With proper guidelines, businesses can ensure that they deliver on internal and external communications.  Having a brand that maintains expectations could also mean that customers are willing to pay more for services.

It cuts down budgetary spend: Efficient budgetary spending is one of the many fringe benefits of having clear cut brand guidelines. And this way everyone can work together to make marketing campaigns more successful.

In short, think of your brand identity like the personality of your company. These are the guidelines for how the world perceives you and determines whether to trust you. Just think how you would think of someone who would change the way they act constantly—you would not only be uncomfortable with them but also you won’t trust them.

This same logic applies to brands. Inconsistency not only confuses your customers, but also alienates them. With the right brand guidelines template, your brand will not only be recognized just for its visual identity, but also for its attitude, personality, and even its tone of voice.