July 20 - 2022

Creating a Brand Guideline for Your Manufacturing Company

A key part of scaling your identity and growing your B2B manufacturing business is to consider how others both outside and inside your company perceive your brand.


Consistency is important to producing a strong and distinguishable brand identity. In most cases, transforming your B2B business from a basic idea into a popular name requires careful attention to detail, as well as a strict focus on making the underlying essence of your B2B manufacturing brand feel familiar and appealing to your target customers.


What are Brand Guidelines?
Also commonly called brand standards, brand guidelines are a set of rules explaining the essentials of your B2B brand identity, like color, logo usage, and typography. 


Brand guidelines are important for your manufacturing company as they help your business ensure consistency. They also demonstrate what your company is, what it stands for and what it does.


You can think of brand guidelines like a brand ‘rulebook’ that helps centralize the overall feel and look of your brand identity.


Main Purpose of Brand Guidelines
Brand guidelines help ensure that your manufacturing brand is communicated properly internally and presented consistently to your customers or target audience. So, brand guidelines are an important tool designed to give your B2B brand flexibility and consistency. 


By strictly following brand guidelines, you can easily promote a distinct and uniquely recognizable brand identity in order to stand out from your competitors while remaining memorable and unique in the minds of your B2B customers.


How to Create a Brand Guideline


Identify Your Brand Vision, Mission, and Values
In many cases, mission statements focus far too much on simply stringing together words that result in empty jingoism, and you don’t want that.


A simple summary of what exists at the core of your manufacturing business can make your brand more relatable, personal, and human.


Here is what your mission and vision statements should clearly establish:


⦁ Your B2B company’s purpose
⦁ Your brand’s main reason for existence; and
⦁ The difference your company strives to make


Develop a Likable and Appealing Brand Personality
You probably know that brand personality has a considerable impact on the tone and voice used in your various communication channels. This is why you have to consider it when creating brand guidelines for your manufacturing company.


If you try to wing it and fail to create a particular personality, it is easy for B2B customers to receive mixed messages, making it more difficult for them to identify and connect with your brand.


Describe Your Visual Identity
 A manufacturing brand’s first impression is usually visual. This is why you must codify all the details of its unique graphic design elements to stand out from your competitors. So, your brand guidelines should contain rules on when and how creatives can use the assets in your brand kit.


Know Your Target Audience
The next step is to identify your target audience. As you cannot be everything to everyone, you will have to get specific. You should describe who your B2B customers are and the reason they need you.


Final Thoughts
Your B2B manufacturing company is more than merely the products you sell. A strong and likable brand tells prospects why they should choose your brand over other options. A brand guideline tells your team and employees how to stay true to that brand.

-30-