How to Implement Your New Professional Branding

Have you watched What Not To Wear? The old TLC show where the iconic duo Stacy and Clinton take out of touch shoppers from drab to fab. That tv series was an absolute favorite of mine as a middle schooler, ha! Watching people whose entire wardrobe consisted of grey sweatsuits or tie-dye (little did they know that stuff would be in style 10 years later) being taught how to “accentuate their waists” or “bring out their eye color.” My mom and I would debate whether the makeover-ees would keep up their new look, or instantly go back to their comfy ways sooner than the credits rolled.

Consider this your brand’s What Not To Wear moment You’ve made it! You just wrapped up your custom branding project. You’ve worked with the Stacys and the Clintons of the graphic design world to give your business the makeover it deserves. Your social media platforms have a whole new wardrobe in the form of marketing templates and a gorgeous color scheme. And the time has come for your branding to be sent off into the world, and put to the real test.

We want to equip you as best we can before sending you towards those glass ceilings we know you’ll shatter. Keep reading to learn how to maintain your new brand guidelines in every area of your business. Whether you already have your branding complete, or you are on the hunt for the right brand designer to work with (contact our team here!) below you’ll find important assets to consider when planning how to maintain the brand of your dreams.

Be Consistent, be be consistent

The purpose of all our tips below is to keep your brand consistent. On every platform, in every campaign, and in every impression you leave on a potential customer. This is because the goal is to make your products and brand as recognizable as possible. The big successful household brands are easy to identify, often even without words or labels. This starts with a killer logo used in all the right places, which is where we can help ;) But you must continue to build your credibility and recognizability by keeping your website, social platforms, and any other marketing efforts unified moving forward.

Your brand guidelines doc likely contains logos, fonts, colors, and design style as well as instructions on what is meant to be used where. For example, your main logo may be for your website header while your secondary logo can make a great social profile picture. Click here to see what the branding for some of our recent clients has looked like! You can also build on this foundation by working with a copywriter to dive into your brand voice, and adding photography art direction, to continue to build your brand guidelines doc into a comprehensive guide for all areas of your business.

HAVE EVERY MEMBER OF YOUR TEAM REVIEW YOUR BRAND GUIDELINES

Keeping your online presence unified, as we mentioned above, starts with a unified team. Make sure your brand guidelines document is a familiar tool to every team member. It can be wise to even have team members who are not directly working with the design or marketing of your business, such as in-house accountants or customer service managers to understand this foundation. Every single team member should be aware of the brand values that drive you, and then how those values translate into brand voice, how your team members personally promote your products, and the overall vision for your brand. Make your brand document one that is pulled up often in meetings and given immediately to everyone who joins your team in the future! Unification as a team is your strongest tool to maintain brand consistency and move forward with these shiny new guidelines you have.

Be Guided By Your Brand Values

Remember, the brand guidelines customized for you are a representation of your values. Even the colors and fonts were crafted to support the deeper meaning behind your business and what you have to offer. As your business grows, don’t lose sight of the values that are the foundation for every decision you make. This authenticity will shine through your marketing efforts and will help you target your ideal audience.

You can see the branding we crafted for the Chicago-based photo and event studio, Clove Studios, here. And then visit this Instagram post to read about the thought-process behind our design choices and the values they represent!

Invest in Brand Photography

Once you have nailed down the graphic side, the next step is brand photography! This can mean sourcing stock images that match the overall feel you’re going for, or even better, planning a custom photoshoot to craft the perfect visuals to target your ideal audience. Click here to read about why we recommend brand photography over stock photos, and tips for using both.

Below are some of the brand photos our team helped create for Clove Studios, to support their graphic brand guidelines. Because we offer photography services too!

Use Social Media Templates

If you did not invest in social media templates as part of your initial custom branding package, it’s not too late! Reach back out to your graphic designer about having some templates made that your marketing team can use on every platform. Not only does using graphic templates make everyone’s job faster and easier, but it is the #1 way to keep your socials looking consistent.

For our clients, we offer the option to book a Design Day Intensive where we bust out business assets such as social media templates or business cards in just ONE DAY! This works great for anyone who didn’t include these deliverables in their original branding package. And guess what — even if you have not worked with our team before, you still have access to these VIP Design Intensives! Click here to learn all about how they work.

If you choose to post any additional graphics on your socials or website, outside of your custom templates, make sure they incorporate the same fonts, colors, and design styles outlined in your branding guideline. Straying from these choices is a slippery slope towards becoming off-brand and confusing your customers. But your brand guidelines document is there to keep everything on track!

Need More Help?

If this post made you realize your brand is still missing some important assets, click here to see how we can help. You can schedule a Design Day Intensive or we are happy to put together a custom quote when you contact us here! Our goal is to set you up for success, and we always love to see how our clients continue to use their branding guidelines as their business grows!