Defining Your Brand

More Than a Logo: Building and Protecting Your Brand’s Digital Footprint

You are starting a business and you have a mission statement, a business plan, and working capital. What else is there? Establishing your brand’s personality and voice. And why is that necessary? Because your brand represents you in the digital realm and whether you like it or not, we are ALL in the digital realm. Prior to starting your business, hopefully it was a passion, a hobby or something that sparked your interest. That passion for the business is the personality of your brand.

How does a passion morph into a personality? Think of it this way, depending on your business model, excluding shock media (media of any sort designed to polarize via a specific user experience), you are servicing your community in some way. Service of any level should be intrinsic to your user experience. The lower the level, the more potential for a new client to bypass your offerings. Here is where protecting your reputation and not having your business personality exploited should be factored into your online policy and procedure.

The Blueprint for Your Brand: Crafting Essential Branding Policies

Moving beyond the initial spark of passion, solidifying your brand’s personality and voice requires a strategic approach. This isn’t just about what you say, but how you say it, where you say it, and who says it on your behalf. For small businesses and non-profits, formalizing these elements through clear branding policies and procedures is crucial for maintaining consistency and protecting your nascent reputation.

1. Defining Your Brand’s Visual Identity Standards:

Your logo is the cornerstone, but your visual identity extends far beyond it. This policy should detail:

• Logo Usage: Guidelines for proper placement, minimum size, clear space, and approved color variations. Specify what not to do with your logo (e.g., stretching, altering colors, obscuring).
• Color Palette: Primary and secondary brand colors, including their hex codes, RGB, and CMYK values, ensuring consistency across all digital and print materials.
• Typography: Approved fonts for headlines, body text, and specific applications (e.g., website, social media graphics). This ensures readability and a consistent aesthetic.
• Imagery Style: Define the type of photography or illustrations that align with your brand’s personality – bright and natural (as you mentioned!), minimalist, bold, playful, etc. Are stock photos allowed? If so, what kind?
• Graphic Elements: Any recurring patterns, icons, or design elements that contribute to your brand’s distinct look.

2. Establishing Your Brand Voice Guidelines:

If passion is personality, voice is the language it speaks. This policy outlines how your brand communicates:

• Tone: Is it friendly, formal, authoritative, empathetic, witty, inspirational? Provide examples of “do’s and don’ts.”
• Vocabulary: Are there specific terms or phrases you always use? Are there terms you avoid (e.g., jargon, slang, overly corporate language)?
• Grammar and Punctuation: Establish a standard. Do you use Oxford commas? Are contractions allowed?
• Messaging Pillars: What are the core messages you want to convey consistently about your values, mission, and offerings?
• Audience-Specific Language: How does your voice adapt slightly for different platforms or audiences (e.g., more conversational on Instagram, more formal on LinkedIn)?

3. Social Media Policies and Procedures:

Your observation about “internet trolls” and reputation damage is spot-on. Proactive social media policies are indispensable:

• Approved Platforms: Clearly list which social media channels your brand maintains an official presence on.
• Content Pillars & Frequency: What types of content will you share (e.g., educational, inspirational, behind-the-scenes, community spotlights)? How often?
• Engagement Guidelines: Define how your team (or you) will respond to comments, messages, and reviews – both positive and negative. What’s the protocol for escalation?
• Crisis Communication Plan: Crucially, outline steps for addressing negative feedback, misinformation, or online attacks. Who is authorized to respond? What is the approval process?
• Employee Social Media Guidelines: While sensitive, it’s wise to have a policy for how employees represent your brand on their personal social media, especially if it relates to their role or the organization’s reputation. This is about guidance, not control.

4. Content Creation & Publishing Workflow:

To ensure consistency and quality, especially as your team grows:

• Content Calendar: Implement a system for planning future content (blog posts, social media updates, email newsletters).
• Review and Approval Process: Who writes? Who edits? Who gives final approval before content goes live? This prevents off-brand messaging or errors.
• SEO Integration: Mandate that all content creation includes keyword research and on-page SEO best practices.
• Call-to-Action (CTA) Standards: Ensure every piece of content has a clear, relevant CTA that aligns with your marketing goals.

We Like You, We Really Like You

Depending on your age demographic, some of my readers are going to get the reference, most may not. Hence, your brand’s personality. Part of the personality is directly related to your community or client base. The demographic of who you service can and will influence your brand’s reputation, public personality perception and new business opportunities. Getting those likes and follows are great, but beware of those wanting to damage or skim from your community. Those that only spew hate or specific insensitivities that are meant to polarize will seek out growing businesses just to tear them down or inflict damage to the reputation. Setting up Social Media Marketing policies and procedures will alleviate chasing after internet trolls when engaging with your community online. Now that your passion has turned into a business mission, you need to engage your community.

Engaging ANYONE’S attention in the digital realm needs to contain two factors. The first is a visual. Something that makes the user engage with their eyes. All that is holy in technology, please help us when Smell-O-Vision is included with our next version of VR!

So now that we have a user’s attention, a brand must engage the user, right. You would not believe the amount of businesses that publish a website and expect the world to beat a path to their virtual doorstep. Recognition of a name or logo is beneficial, but then what? Every engagement can’t be about the business because that is promotion and promotion can be repetitive. That is not engaging, that is advertising. A brand’s voice is it’s belief system and internal passion projects that are shared with its communities. Associating your brand with those internal passion projects is one form of Symbiotic Cooperative Marketing. This is how you engage existing and new client opportunities via Social Media Marketing Platforms, like Facebook and Instagram, and LinkedIn, just to name a few.

Beyond the Sale: Engaging with Purpose and Policy

Now that you have gotten their attention, what now? Hit them with a flashy incentive of Buy Now because we are number one. That hasn’t worked since the nineties when everyone was looking to find “it”. Now “it” is everywhere, and everyone has “it”, so why would anyone want your “IT”? When your brand has a voice, it can engage your community. Setting a company belief system is required as these are the types of community members you want to engage as they are more likely to prefer your “IT” over another.

This “company belief system” is precisely where your brand’s voice and purpose truly shine. It’s the why behind your brand, resonating with your audience on a deeper, more emotional level. To effectively convey this, and to ensure your engagement is authentic and sustainable, integrate these additional policy considerations:

5. Community Engagement Standards:

• Authenticity Guidelines: Emphasize genuine interaction over robotic responses. Encourage listening and empathy.
• Value-Driven Content: Beyond promotions, what educational, inspiring, or entertaining value do you provide? This reinforces your “passion projects.”
• Response Time Expectations: Set realistic goals for how quickly messages and comments are addressed.
• Handling Sensitive Topics: Define how your brand will navigate discussions around potentially controversial subjects, aligning with your established belief system.

6. Symbiotic Cooperative Marketing Policies:

When engaging in partnerships or co-promotions, particularly important for non-profits seeking broader reach:

• Partner Vetting Criteria: What values or missions must a potential partner align with?
• Co-Branding Guidelines: How will your logo and brand voice be used alongside a partner’s?
• Clear Objectives: For each partnership, define what both parties aim to achieve (e.g., increased awareness, specific fundraising goals, lead generation).
• Measurement and Reporting: How will the success of these cooperative efforts be tracked and communicated?

7. Data Privacy & Transparency Policies:

In the digital age, trust is paramount. For small businesses and non-profits, demonstrating ethical data handling is crucial:

• Privacy Policy: Clearly state what user data is collected, how it’s used, and how it’s protected. (This is a legal requirement in many regions).
• Cookie Policy: Inform users about cookie usage and provide options for consent.
• Transparency in Marketing: Be clear about sponsored content, affiliate links, or paid promotions.
• Data Security Protocols: Outline internal procedures for safeguarding sensitive customer or donor information.

By proactively establishing these branding policies and procedures, small businesses and non-profits transform their initial passion into a professional, protected, and powerfully engaging digital entity. This detailed framework not only guides your internal teams but also communicates your commitment to authenticity and integrity to your community. It’s how you convert a company belief system into a respected branded voice, ensuring your “IT” is not just found, but truly preferred. That is the topic for another day.