Marketing Asset: Visual Brand Assets

These marketing assets will help you make a strong first impression.

Now that you have the ever-important Brand Style Guide in place, in this article I’m going to focus on the next marketing assets you need for your business…

…Visual Brand Assets.

Yes, this is exactly what you think it is – all the visual components you need to market your business.

Like it or not, we live in a very visual world. And making sure your business looks professional creates a strong first impression.

Let me ask you: 

Have you ever visited any sort of website for a business that looks really outdated and subconsciously thought:

“Ummm, yeah….this looks like a hot mess. I’m going to look elsewhere.”

This is pretty much my experience every time I visit any sort of government website. 

It’s also the experience I have every time I visit the website of our property management company.

Don’t get me wrong, they’re nice people and do a halfway decent job. But if I were starting from scratch and looking for a new provider, their visual brand assets would NOT convince me to take the next step with them.

Now, do I think you need to spend oodles of money on your brand assets in order to generate sales for your business?

Absolutely not.

Can it help to invest more? 

Sure. 

But, there are so many amazing resources these days to help you create great-looking visual brand assets on a budget.

And that’s what I’m going to share with you below.

You’ll learn:

• The visual brand assets you need for specific channels

• Vendors and service providers we recommend

• Where you can cut corners and save big bucks

All the visuals you need by online channel

Yup, that’s right. Scroll through the list, identify the online channels you’re on and you’ll have a checklist of everything you need to create.

Just consider me your friendly Fractional CMO trying to make your marketing easier. It’s like Christmas has come early. 🎅

Do note: I’ve kept this asset list focused on digital visuals, not print visuals, so keep that in mind.

Website

• Favicon

• Page layouts + images for Home, About, Contact, Work With Us, What We Do

• Page layouts + images for sales page, checkout page, purchase confirmation page (only if you’re asking for a sale online)

• Page layouts + images for Blog + Blog Posts

• Page layouts, images, videos + PDFs for testimonials + case studies

Lead Magnets

• PDF for educational content

• Page layouts for opt-in and confirmation pages

Email

• Email header (optional) – Honestly, for email deliverability purposes we recommend using very few images in your marketing emails. But we know this visual asset is one many businesses feel is important which is why we’ve included it here.

• Email signature for entire team

SMS

• Contact Profile Image

• Images to accompany campaigns

Webinars + Digital Presentations

• Page layouts for registration, confirmation and replay pages

• Slide deck

Facebook Page

• Cover Image

• Profile Image

• Newsfeed Images

• Event Images

• Highlight Images

• Story Images

• Reels Cover Images

• Reels Videos

• Social Ad Images / Videos

Facebook Personal Profile

• Cover Image

• Profile Image

• Newsfeed Images

• Highlight Images

• Story Images

• Reels Cover Images

• Reels Videos

Facebook Group

• Cover Image

• Profile Image

• Unit Images

• Feed Images

• Event Images

Instagram Profile

• Cover Image

• Profile Image

• Feed Images / Videos

• Guide Images / Videos

• Highlight Images

• Story Images

• Reels Cover Images

• Reels Videos

• Social Ad Images / Videos

TikTok

• Profile Image

• Feed Videos + Cover Images

• Story Videos + Images

• Social Ad Images / Videos

Twitter

• Profile Image

• Header Image

• Background Image

• In-Stream Images / GIFS

• Social Ad Images / Videos

LinkedIn Profile

• Profile Image

• Cover Image

• Feed Images / Videos

LinkedIn Page

• Profile Image

• Cover Image

• Social Ad Images / Videos

Pinterest

• Profile Image

• Pin Images

• Expanded Pin Images

• Board Cover Images

• Social Ad Images / Videos

Google My Business

• Profile Image

• Cover Image

• Feed Images / Videos

Google AdWords

• Display Ad Images / Videos

YouTube

• Cover Photo

• Profile Image

• Video Cover Images

• Social Ad Images / Videos

Podcast

• Cover Image

• Show Notes Images

• Episode Promotional Images / Videos

Press

• Media Kit

• Bio Images

• Lifestyle Images

Resources & Vendors To Help You Create These Assets

Phew! Now that we’re through that non-exhaustive list of visual brand assets you need, it’s time to cover vendors and resources who can help you create these assets.

Let’s get to it, shall we?

First and foremost, if you haven’t already created your Brand Style Guide, start there. It will make creating the rest of these assets so much easier and faster.

Beckie Hermans - An uber-talented designer, we’ve collaborated with Beckie on many projects throughout the years. She can help with everything from branding to execution across all your visual assets.

Nicole Yang Design - Nicole and her team have created some impressive branding for many companies. Plus, once she’s set the branding direction for you, you can hire the team for Design Half or Full Days and get your new assets quickly. Listen to our podcast episode with Nicole to learn more about her business and services.

Cooper & Heart - Christi has a fabulous service where she’ll build out landing pages, sales pages and other web pages in a day. Talk about fast! She also has a template shop if you’re not yet ready for her done-for-you services. You can learn more about her business by listening to this podcast episode.

Marketplaces To Source Designers - Looking for a specific style of aesthetic? Dribbble and Behance are great places to find designers. Upwork can be a wonderful place to find cheaper, overseas help. However, I’d recommend being very specific in your creative brief to have a successful outcome. And make sure you have that Brand Style Guide in place first!

Scalable, Outsourced Design Services - There are so many places that offer outsourced, scalable design teams. A few to consider include: DesignPickle, Penji, Superside and more.

Templates - One way to cut corners and reduce your investment in brand visuals is to start from a template. A few places you can find templates include: Canva and Envato Market (formerly known as Themeforest).

Welp, that’s a wrap on our Brand Visual Asset educational series!

Have questions about anything I’ve shared in this article? Comment below.