Uniform vs Inconsistent Branding: What’s Better for Your Holistic Business
TL;DR
Inconsistent branding can confuse your audience and make your business seem unprofessional. Uniform branding means using the same colors, fonts, and logos across all platforms, enhancing recognition, trust, and user experience. Consistent branding helps build long-term loyalty and growth, while inconsistent branding can hinder these efforts.
Keep your branding uniform and audit your brand with this Brand Consistency Audit checklist.
Ever wonder why some holistic business websites instantly feel trustworthy while others leave you confused?
Let’s talk about something super important for your holistic business—your branding! It’s more than just your logo or color palette; it’s the heart and soul of your business’ identity.
In this holistic world, where authenticity and connection are key, branding is crucial. Should your branding be uniform or inconsistent? Let’s dive into both and you decide what approach is best for your holistic business.
Inconsistent Branding
Let’s start with inconsistent branding. This is when your branding elements don’t match up. One day you’re feeling blue and green, the next day it’s red and yellow. Your fonts change, and your message feel different between platforms and marketing material.
You can see how that can be disorienting for your visitors and worse, your business could develop a reputation for being scattered and all over the place. Would you trust in someone or want to do business with someone who doesn’t have ish together?
Potential Pitfalls
Confuses Your Audience
If your look keeps changing, it’s hard for people to understand what your brand stands for. In marketing these days, your mission and what your business represents matter more than how much money you spend on advertising. People want to know you care about the issues happening in the world.
Reduces Credibility
Inconsistency can make you look unprofessional and unreliable. Your brand is as good as your Word is in Middle Earth. When you network with people, you share your brand promises with them, but what if you don’t follow through with your promises? People won’t want to work with you.
When your visitors see inconsistencies in your website and social media, they’ll be wondering “If they can’t keep their own brand neat and organized, how can they follow through with helping me?”
Hurts User Experience
When things don’t match, your site feels disjointed and less engaging. According to Contentsquare’s 2021 Digital Experience Benchmark report, the average time on page across all industries is 54 seconds. If your branding is unclear, your visitors will leave immediately.
Imagine a website where the home page is serene with pastel colors, but the blog section is loud and flashy. This kind of inconsistency can be off-putting for visitors.
Verses Uniform Branding
So, what exactly is uniform branding? It’s all about consistency. From your website to your social media, everything should look and feel like it’s coming from the same core foundation. This means using the same colors, fonts, and messaging across everything.
Why is this important?
Strengthens Recognition and Trust
When people see the same colors and logos everywhere, they start recognizing and trusting you.
Creates a Smooth User Experience
A consistent look and feel across all touchpoints make visitors feel comfortable and confident they’re in the right place.
Builds Loyalty and Credibility
Being consistent shows you’re professional and reliable, which helps build long-term loyalty.
How to Achieve Uniform Branding
You understand the what and the why, so now you’re wondering about the HOW?!
Develop a Brand Guide
Creating a brand guide is essential! Include your colors, fonts, logo usage, and tone of voice. You can also include your brand values and messaging so marketing material is fluid across platforms.
Keep this guide in an easy-to-find location, like your desktop, and use it for reference when you need a refresher about certain elements or hex codes. This guide helps everyone in your business stay on the same page.
Consistency Across All Platforms
Make sure your branding looks the same on your website, social media, emails, and print materials. Consistency here is key to a professional image.
Regular Brand Audits
Check your branding regularly to make sure everything matches up. Tools like Canva can help with consistent visuals, and Grammarly can keep your tone consistent.
Your turn! Take a look at your current branding. If it’s not consistent, take time to create a brand guide and start fresh. Consistency is the key to a strong, reliable brand that resonates with your audience. And be patient with yourself. You’re learning as you go, just like Rome wasn’t built in a day.
However, if you want some help to get you on the right path, I created a checklist to help you establish a cohesive brand identity so you can show up in the online space fully and confidently.
Looking for help to build a cohesive brand and website that you’ll love?
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