Every successful business grows.
If your brand is starting to evolve, you already know how hard it is to keep up with everything. You’re spinning more plates, handing off more tasks, and trying to keep that same spark your business had in the beginning.
Growth is great, but it can be a turning point. It’s easy to lose your voice in the shuffle. When you’ve built your business from the ground up, it’s tough to hand over the reins and trust someone else to represent it the way you would.
That’s where brand guidelines come in.
When you’re ready to pass off your social media, work with a new designer, or hire someone to write for your website, you want to make sure everyone’s working from the same playbook. If all that knowledge is stored in your head, your brand identity can start to unravel without you even noticing.
Here’s why brand guidelines matter—and what should be in yours.
What exactly are brand guidelines?
Put simply, a brand guide is a reference document that explains how your brand should look, sound, and feel. Think of it like a recipe book. It helps anyone working on your brand know how to keep things consistent, whether they’re creating a new web page, designing an Instagram post, or writing a customer email.
At the very least, it includes your logo, color palette, fonts, and imagery style. Some guides go further, covering tone of voice, messaging, and more. The level of detail depends on your needs, but the goal is always the same: to keep your brand recognizable and cohesive.
Why your business needs a brand guide
As your team grows, you won’t be the one handling every detail. That’s a good thing. But it also means you need a reliable way to keep your brand identity from drifting. Without a brand guide, it’s easy for things to start looking inconsistent or feeling off.
Say you bring on a new designer. If they don’t know your exact shades of blue or how your logo should (or shouldn’t) be used, they’ll make their best guess. And that guess might not match what your audience expects. Inconsistency not only looks unprofessional—it can chip away at the trust you’ve built.
Here are a few more reasons brand guidelines are worth your time:
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Save time and money
Instead of explaining everything from scratch to a new hire or freelancer, just point them to your brand guide. They get what they need, and you get time back. -
Build trust
Customers notice when your brand feels solid. A consistent look and voice helps them feel like they know you. That familiarity builds confidence and loyalty. -
Stay grounded
Brand guidelines aren’t just for your team—they’re for you too. As your business evolves, a quick check-in with your guide can help you stay rooted in what makes your brand unique.
If your business is growing, your brand should be growing with it. Brand guidelines don’t have to be complicated, but they do need to exist.
