7 Essential Brand Assets For Social Impact Businesses

A brand asset is used to promote and grow your brand as a marketing tool. People are more likely to buy products from brands they trust. So, it’s important for social impact businesses to invest in brand assets. Brand assets should include things like logos, slogans, taglines, and even color schemes.

There are many different types of brand assets you can use depending on the type of business you’re running. In this blog post, we will cover 7 essential brand assets that every social impact business needs!

What are brand assets

What Are Brand Assets?

According to CoSchedule, brand assets are “common consumer-facing pieces of your branding and collateral.”  They include brand identity essentials like logos, slogans, taglines, and color schemes.”

Basically, a brand asset is anything you have for your business that lets your audience know that the content item is from your brand specifically. 

Brand assets can be used to promote your business. Your brand’s brand assets should reflect the values of your company in order to create goodwill for potential customers who may not know much about you yet.

Types of Brand Assets

Logos

A brand’s logo is one of the most important and recognizable brand assets. It is a visual representation of the business that allows people to know something is from a brand.

Taglines

A brand’s tagline is the short phrase or sentence that summarizes what your brand stands for and who you are. The tagline should be no more than just a few words. It should be concise, memorable, original and represent the company well to potential customers.”

Slogans

A slogan can serve as an alternative to a brand’s tagline. Slogans usually distill larger marketing campaigns into short catchphrases with an emotional appeal that people will remember, like Nike’s “Just do it.”

Brand Icons

Icons are graphic symbols that identify a brand. Often, businesses will use icons for things like websites, one-sheeters, and brochures to break up text and add visual elements. Creating custom icons other businesses do not use adds more uniqueness to your brand’s visual identity.

Brand Voice and Tone

Brand voice is the “what” of the message. What you are trying to convey across all of your messaging.

The tone is the “how” of the message. How you are saying what you are saying and the personality that comes across in your brand’s message. It should be consistent and sound natural and not forced.

Brand Images

Additionally, to further stand out and differentiate your brand, you may have a custom brand image library.  This imagery should align to your brand’s photography style and include visuals unique to your people and business.

Branded Graphics  

Another brand asset good to have is a set of brand graphics. These are brand visuals that are generally static (not animated) and can be used as part of your brand on social media or in print collateral.

Branding Guidelines

Finally, branding guidelines  are essential brand assets for social impact brands because they help create consistency and maintain brand standards. They include things like logo usage, color palette, typeface selection, or imagery guidelines to convey brand ethos across multiple platforms.

Why are brand assets important

Why Brand Assets Are Important

Brand assets  provide visual cues to customers and stakeholders about what your business means, how it should be used. They also help you create a cohesive brand across all marketing channels.

Brand Assets Distinguish You From Competition

Without these assets, your company messages and visuals would blend in with others in your industry. Even worse, your customers would have a difficult time remembering your brand. The more recognizable your brand becomes to customers the closer they feel to it. When people have this closeness with a brand, there’s an increased likelihood of them investing in your products or services.

Brand Recognition Provides A Competitive Advantage

Brand assets create brand recognition because they’re what people remember about you. Brands often use brand assets to communicate their values and messages. These messages may be in marketing campaigns, on social media profiles, or through other channels. When executed well these brand-specific communications can build a positive reputation for your company among customers.

Branded Assets Help Build Brand Loyalty

In sum, consumers who already know, like, and trust you are more willing to buy from you. Even better, consumers prefer to stick with the brands they already know and love.  Brand loyalty is a key element of brand equity. Brands that provide quality products and services often find themselves with brand loyal customers.

Essential Brand Assets Your Business Needs

1. Brand (Business) Name 

The brand name is a key element of your brand identity. It’s the identifier for your business, and it should be unique to you – not just descriptive of what you offer.

Further, your brand should reflect who you are as an organization. Don’t settle on something generic like “Health Coaches, LLC.”

2. Brand Identity Outline

Before you can develop logos, colors, fonts, or other brand assets, you’ll need to clarify what your brand represents. Creating a brand identity outline  will help you figure out what brand elements are most important to your brand.

For instance, if your organization focuses on helping end human trafficking in developing countries, it is important for your brand identity outline to focus on the cause and how they contribute so that the values and mission come through in visual and messaging assets.

3. Logo and Variations

Like your business name, your brand logos will depend on the type of organization that you have and how you serve. So, your logos should be something recognizable when seen by others. Furthermore, brand logos should be simple but identifiable with a consistent shape and color scheme. You’ll need variations as well to use on various platforms and formatted for each type of platform.

Your brand identity outline and brand guidelines should both provide guidance on how your logo can best represent the brand.

4. Fonts for Website, Business Cards, etc. 

Your brand guidelines will also give recommendations on which fonts to use for different pieces of your brand. It’s important that the font you choose works well in multiple environments. It should also be readable from a distance or smaller size.

However, there are many cases where companies have been accused of cheapening their brand by having poor typography. So, consider the type of brand perception you want to aim for and match the font to the vibe of your overall brand identity.

5. Brand Colors 

Choosing brand colors can be difficult if you’re not sure how to do it. One way is to start by thinking about the feeling or mood that your brand wants to convey. Then, choose a color palette based on what inspires you from nature, other brands, etc.

Brand identity guidelines will often offer brand swatches as an example of which colors and color variations would be appropriate to use in marketing materials.

6. Brand Messaging Frameworks

To help brand messages stay on point and be more impactful, frameworks can be created to ensure brand messaging stays consistent. These frameworks typically include a brand promise or slogan that is repeated throughout the company’s marketing materials.

Brand messaging guidelines will often offer brand words and phrases as an example of which language would best represent the brand in its entirety. 

7. Brand Style Guidelines

All of your brand assets should be included in your brand guidelines along with guidance on how to use the assets.

Including brand style guidelines can help ensure that all brand assets are used correctly and consistently. These guidelines will often include the company’s general tone of voice, fonts to use, color palette preferences, photography styles or other visual elements like logos or signage.

Taking the Next Step to Develop Brand Assets

In short, when you’re ready to develop brand assets that will differentiate your social impact business and create brand loyalty, you’ll want to work with a brand strategist who knows how to help you do so. You can apply to work with us and once we review your needs, we’ll get in touch to let you know how we can support you.

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7 Essential Brand Assets For Social Impact Businesses

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Hey there – Amber Brooks and Laurie Baines here. We joined forces a few years back – to bring together our combined 40 years of messaging, marketing, visual brand strategy, design, and creative direction so you can have a brand that flows cohesively and stands out effectively.

Our belief is that every impact-focused team deserves a professionally developed brand that is true to their vision and values.

Through the proprietary Brandividuation framework, we elevate and expand impact-focused brands.

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We cultivate a space of exploration and growth that results in a cohesive, aligned, polished, and professional brand that allows impact creators to step into the next version of their vision.

I'm ready to take my brand to the next level.