You’ve been taxiing on the tarmac and you’re finally cleared for take-off! But gaining momentum for your business is harder than you thought. 

      According to Forbes, Americans see between 4,000 and 10,000 ads per day. That’s a lot of messages blowing around. The whirlwind of marketing channels and media can make any business owner reach for the eject button before leaving the ground. How do you get your customers to notice you in this storm of content? If you are consistent in your communications, and they land with your target audience, you’ll gain recognition and ascend.

     You can get to cruising altitude and breeze through marketing communications with a brand book – a navigational tool with a collection of waypoints that help you reach your destination. This important document explains who you are as a business and how you present your brand internally and externally. 

      Brand books provide the guidance needed to implement and uphold a strong brand. A brand is not just your logo; it’s the all-encompassing identity of your organization. It’s what you look like, sound like and dance like (well, maybe not, but it could!). All of these brand attributes are recorded in your brand book to ensure consistency across all your channels.

      Brand books help you and your staff with small marketing tasks and big business decisions. If you are trying to think about what to write for your next Facebook post, it offers inspiration. If you want to use a different font (we all want to) go back to the brand book and think, “will this help or hurt my brand?” (It will usually hurt it.) 

      Whenever you’re faced with a big business decision, reread your mission, vision and values and consider if they are in line with your guiding statements and principles.

      If you’re not convinced that consistency and a strong brand is key to accelerating your business and taking flight, here are a few more reasons.

·   Consistent branding across all channels increases revenue by 23% - Forbes

·   Eight out of 10 investors want the companies they invest in to have a strong brand - The Chartered Institute of Marketing

·   Brand color improves recognition by up to 80% - Forbes

• ·   A strong brand that is consistently represented both internally and externally can decrease hiring costs by 43%. - LinkedIn Talent Blog

Here are 10 brand elements to get your brand book started:

·        Mission

–   Your mission is what you are setting out to accomplish daily.

·        Vision

–   Your vision is why you are doing it and how you want to make an impact. 

·        Values

–   Your values are your guiding principles. 

·        Who you are

–   Your business history and why your business came to be.

·        Character traits you want your employees to show and your customers to experience

·        Logos and acceptable versions

·        Brand colors 

·        Brand fonts 

·        Brand voice

·        Examples of acceptable graphics or photos 

   

MARY JANE CONNOR

Mary Jane Connor is a partner and creative director at Bizzy Bizzy. She is a creative adventurer whose primary goal in life is to do good work and have fun doing it. A true extrovert, she is energized by meeting and collaborating with people. With graduate research in global visual communications and over a decade of experience in marketing at small and large businesses and nonprofits, she offers creative concepts that consider a broad range of perspectives. Areas of expertise include brand development, brand identity, graphic design and website design. 

Bizzy Bizzy is a creative agency whose high-energy signature services include the 1 Day® Website and the 1 Day® Branding, designed specifically for founders of fast-growing companies who want to accelerate their brands. Our team works in real time with you, using our innovative tools and collaborative process to help you launch your big ideas.