10 Brand and Marketing Documents Every Start-up Needs

Start-ups are a source of thrill and challenge. On the one hand, working for a small business is exciting — you can actively participate in the growth of the company. On the other hand, it can also be scary, since budgets are tight and resources are limited.

And the marketing department is among the most solicited teams within the company. Juggling several social media accounts and producing content daily can be strenuous without the right tools. To stay ahead of the curve and ease the workflow of marketing professionals, it takes every trick in the book.

There are many obstacles that can set you back a few steps. Especially in a start-up. Inconsistent branding, misplaced marketing documents, and mounting paperwork piles are the usual suspects.

Keeping a few marketing templates and documents available to your employees could increase efficiency in the company and reduce frustration among your employees.

Here are a few marketing documents you can use in your business operations to streamline your workflow.

1. Marketing Agreement

Photo by Lewis Keegan on Unsplash

The marketing agreement is a contract, detailing the nature of the marketing campaign. And it’s an essential marketing document. For instance, your business might sign a contract with another company to produce content for SEO purposes over the period of one year.

This contract stipulates the details of the marketing campaign, the duration, the monetary goal, and the exit strategy.

And it’s a must-have for any start-up that hires marketing specialists. Or for businesses that provide marketing services.

2. Marketing Plan

Creating content or marketing campaigns haphazardly is a risky idea. Therefore, you require a solid marketing plan to help you brand your business to your customers and target audience.

You should include the following aspects in your marketing plan:

• The business offering
• Unique value proposition
• Target audience characteristics
• Competitive market analysis
• Pricing strategy
• Marketing strategies
• Customer retention strategy
• Financial projections and goals

Creating documents manually can be rather time-consuming, so you may want to use a document design platform, which provides free marketing templates.

Upload the marketing plan to the data asset management system and share it with your colleagues. This way, they can access it at all times to ensure that their tasks are aligned with business goals. With this plan, every marketing campaign will be congruent with the marketing strategy you set up for the company’s growth.

Certainly, this is a crucial marketing document for any start-up. More so, it’s your chance to work on internal branding.

3. A Customized Pitch Deck

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As a start-up, chances are you are on the lookout for investors. An effective pitch deck is one of those important business documents you should have at your disposal at all times.

It should always accompany your presentation. And it can make or break the deal. So, it has to be thoughtfully designed to match your brand’s vision, values, and identity.

You don’t have to be a design guru to create a successful pitch deck.

All in all, a pitch deck presentation should be ready for use in your cloud or data asset management system. You will save yourself a lot of time and effort.

4. Company Letterhead

Even though we live in a digital age, business letterheads still have their perks.

A company letterhead is, in essence, a brand document. Besides a logo and brand name, it usually includes brand elements such as color schemes and fonts, which are often used on internal or external business documents to distinguish your brand.

Now, why should you include a company letterhead in your marketing documents collection?

Well, for one, it’s professional. It conveys credibility and expertise, leaving customers or external collaborators with a positive impression of your company. More so, it’s a marketing tool, which can increase brand awareness.

It is imperative that you take your time when creating the company letterhead. After all, it is the first impression some people will have of your brand.

They have to be compelling, attractive, and on-brand.

Here are a letterhead template to help you get started:

As you can see, each letterhead design is minimalistic, yet brand revealing. That’s the secret to representing your brand in every document you produce.

5. Content Schedule

No marketing department can function effectively without a content schedule. The good news is that we don’t have to rely solely on our memory to keep track of tasks and deadlines.

When redacting a content schedule, you should include the following:

• Type of content and topic.
• Who is responsible for each piece of content?
• What is the deadline?
• Posting dates.

Without this marketing document, you might end up repeating content or miss out on deadlines and posting dates.

6. Brand Guidelines

Our brain is a pattern-seeking machine. We gravitate toward order and consistency. Even when we choose brands to buy from.

That is why brand consistency is so important. A consistent brand can increase its revenue by 23℅.

Yep.

That’s just how powerful consistency is.

Without a brand style guide, brand consistency is quite difficult to nail. The brand style guide is the holy book of your brand, and it should be readily available to all employees.

As you are building your brand and your company expands, it’s easy to lose track of tiny details. The choice of colors, fonts, and imagery all have to be on-brand. Cohesive. Every time.

The brand style guide is your best friend when it comes to creating branded content. It’s one of those essential brand documents you need to carry with you. This document should be the guide to the journey your brand takes.

7. Business Presentation Templates

When you or your colleagues are pitching to your prospective customers and clients, you don’t want your business presentation to be scattered or off-brand.

That is why you should have a few business presentation templates on hand. A standardized presentation template ensures that you are always on-brand when pitching to clients.

8. Social Media Conversation Calendar

Photo by Jo Szczepanska on Unsplash

Social media sites are a critical part of any marketing business. But with so many social media channels, marketers can get overwhelmed.

However, there is a tool you can use to increase productivity and reduce stress: a social media conversation calendar. Plan your social media conversations well, and you will have a better chance of success.

What is a social media conversation calendar, you ask? It is a schedule that helps marketers establish what content and communication your company will publish each month on various social media sites.

This simple marketing document smooths out the workflow in so many ways:

• It guarantees consistent content across all social media accounts
• It creates accountability among employees
• It helps you repurpose previous content
• It’s a great source of insight

9. Target Audience Report

Each member of the marketing, sales, design, and IT department needs to know everything about prospective buyers. Who they are, what their needs and pain points are, and what they like. The last thing you want is pitching to the wrong crowd.

To ensure that everyone operates with the same brand persona in mind, your stack of marketing documents should also include a brand persona report. This way, your marketing efforts won’t be in vain.

Luckily, you can use a report template to help you get started on its design.

10. Content Templates

Visual communication raises brand awareness and loyalty. It can attract customers to your website. Ultimately, visual content generates sales within your company.

You can see why creating appealing content is crucial to your company’s growth. But maybe you don’t have an in-house designer available at all times.

The marketing and sales teams have to produce consistent content for your brand. Social media posts, e-books, product sheets, and other digital and print marketing materials are produced daily.

To ensure brand consistency and make the process easier for employees, prepare a stack of content templates. Employees can quickly access and edit templates with the help of a visual communication platform.

Trust us, content templates are gold. You will never miss deadlines or produce inconsistent branding if you introduce them into your business operations.

Create Stunning Marketing Documents With Xara

All in all, every business — big or small – needs a set of essential brand documents. These increase efficiency within a company and help employees create and send out content that represents your brand.

Ultimately, the goal of these business documents is to educate employees, raise productivity, create a consistent brand identity and to attract potential customers or collaborators by your side.

However, as a start-up, document design might be the last thing on your mind. Truthfully, there are several other big issues at play, such as product development or handling budgets. But document design is crucial, as it shapes your brand.

Xara Cloud can help you design the brand documents you need. Sign up today to create beautiful marketing documents. Your brand deserves it.