3 Foundational Branding Items Every Business Owner Needs

When you’re shopping branding and marketing services, the array of options can be overwhelming. From logo designers and color theory consultants to collateral pieces and digital-ad writing, there are seemingly endless options for branding pros and products. But, when you can’t invest in everything, which services give you the most bang for your hard-earned business-owner buck? Today, we’re breaking down three foundational items that get a ton of mileage for their cost. Read on for the top branding investments every business owner should make.

1. A Brand Identity Book

What it is: A brand identity book is a designed book (typically in PDF form, but it can also be printed) that outlines your visual brand identity and brand standards. It includes: your logo and guidelines on how to use (and how not to use) that logo, your brand fonts/typography and guidelines on how to use (and how not to use) those fonts, and your primary and secondary brand colors (including RBG, CMYK and HTML codes for each). It can also include a number of brand standards (punctuation standards, formatting standards, etc.) and even your brand story (including your mission, vision, and values statements—though those may be found in your brand voice guide instead. More on that below!).

Why you need it: At the core of every successful brand is a consistent visual story—and there is no better way to ensure consistency than with a brand identity book. In today’s world, aesthetics are everything—consider your brand identity book your bible for your brand’s look and feel.

What to do with it: Use it to guide your visual branding efforts. Whether you’re choosing a header font for your website or designing business cards, refer to your brand identity book to keep your visual identity intact and endlessly consistent.

It also makes for a great onboarding piece when you’re hiring new team members—even if they’re not working on your visual brand, it will help them get an at-a-glance view of your brand’s look-and-feel (which is helpful for a number of roles—from social media managers to marketing interns). If you’re someone who hires contractors or freelancers, a brand identity book is especially helpful—you’ll want to share it with any designers you hire to ensure they adhere to your brand’s standards.

Where to get one: A good graphic designer will know how to create a solid brand identity book for your brand—so, if you have a specific designer you prefer, reach out to her. We love Leah Chew, Jamie Cat Creative, and Peanut Press Creative.

2. A Brand Voice Guide

What it is: A brand voice guide defines your brand voice and story. It explains how you should sound when speaking with your target audience and gives you useful samples for achieving that ideal voice. It provides words to use when describing your brand, your services, your process, and your product. Just as important, a good brand voice guide will also go over words you should never use—including words and phrases you simply don’t like (we all have our vocab pet peeves), words and phrases your target audience will have an adverse reaction to, and words and phrases you’d like to avoid because your competition uses them. A brand voice guide can also include written brand standards (Do you use the Oxford comma or not? Do you use emojis? Do you employ exclamation points? etc.)—and it might even include your mission, vision, and values statements as well.

Why you need it: There is often no more difficult or daunting task than honing your brand voice (especially if you’re someone who doesn’t love to write). A brand voice guide explains—in clear-cut, simple terms—how to best reach your ideal client through strategic language and effective words. Plus, the best brand voice guides give you copy/wording samples you can use on your website, on social, in your bio, etc. If there ever was a foundational brand doc that got a ton of mileage for the investment—this is it.

What to do with it: Use it to guide all of your writing and content-development efforts. Whether you’re at a loss for words when crafting an Instagram caption or need some effective adjectives to use on your website services page, turn to your brand voice guide for samples and inspiration.

It’s also important to share this document when onboarding new team members or with any freelancers you may hire to write on behalf of your brand. Doing so will ensure everyone uses a consistent voice and consistent punctuation, and—just as important—avoids words and phrases you don’t love and don’t want used. This is a major time-saver. Rather than having to spend an hour explaining to someone how you want your voice to sound and giving them a list of words and phrases you hate, you can simply share a doc that encompasses all of that information (and more).

Where to get one: Our in-house copywriter GG is a brand voice guide guru (we’ve literally had a client tell us the guide GG developed for her brought her “to tears”) but she takes on a very limited number per year.. Contact her if you’d like to book her services for a brand voice guide.

3. A Marketing Strategy

What it is: Aside from a doc that outlines what your brand looks like (a brand identity book) and a doc that outlines what your brand sounds like (a brand voice guide), business owners should invest in a document that outlines how your brand sells itself. That’s where your marketing strategy document comes in. A marketing strategy will define your ideal client and outline their main drivers/motivations. It will call out the channels they’re active on, where they turn for inspiration, where they shop, what their education level is, etc. It will also help you develop steps for effectively reaching and engaging with your ideal client. Above all, it helps you define how you’re different from your competition.

Why you need it: Doing things on the fly is not a strategy. Without a solid plan in place to reach your ideal client, you’re essentially throwing promoted Instagram posts (and money) at the wall to see what sticks. A marketing map helps you take a defined, proven approach to reaching your ideal client—which ultimately saves you time, money, cold leads, and countless headaches.

What to do with it: Use your marketing strategy to drive your marketing efforts. Whether you’re thinking of running an ad on Facebook or setting up a booth at a tradeshow—turn to your marketing strategy to see if the tactic you’re considering is in line with your overall goals and, more importantly, is likely to reach your audience.

You should also share this document when onboarding new team members or with any freelancers you may hire to market on behalf of your brand.

Where to get one: We have two options for marketing strategies at TAYLRD Co. The first is an in-depth, hands-on approach with Tayler (aka the marketing consultant queen of all queens), behind the wheel—you’ll work one-on-one with her to develop a clear, easy-to-follow road map that includes plans for social media, public relations, content creation, and more (learn more about our marketing strategy service here or contact us if you’d like to book Tayler’s services). The second is a DIY option for those on a tighter budget. For just $79, we offer a Marketing Strategy Blueprint for Wedding Pros in our shop. With this option, you’ll get a straightforward outline that guides you through building a strong, effective marketing strategy on your own (PRO TIP: it pairs perfectly with our DIY Customer Map).

Want even more smart, simple, stress-free marketing tools? Head to the shop for DIY marketing offerings or browse the rest of the blog for helpful brand-building tips.