In the mix of managing a business among a million other things we have on our plate as small business owners, it can be overwhelming to consider consistency and cohesiveness when it comes to designing marketing materials for your business.
Trust me, I know the feeling - having been there myself. But, it is SO so important to not skip on ensuring that all your marketing materials are on brand.
What does "on brand" actually mean, you ask? It's easy, I'll share my quick tips so can stay consistent in your design process within your business.
One of the biggest design mistakes I see among small business owners is that their social media post templates are not consistent from one post to the next. It's seen in carousels, reels, static image posts as well as stories!
I just have to say that social media is one of the first impressions people have of your business. Often times, they visit your Instagram or Facebook before they visit your website. If your visual identity isn't cohesive and on brand, it will show and people won't even make it beyond your social media.
Inconsistency in your own designs (and I say this with so much love) shows that you are messy, unprofessional, unorganized, lack expertise in your industry, and most of all you could be lacking sales or clients.
With that said, here are some tips to get you back on track in your small business branding.
Do your social media templates use a consistent color palette?
I've seen so many business owners use the wrong colors in their social media templates. Not to shame them or you - but you should always stick to the same 3-6 colors in your designs. If you're using a pre-made template, change the colors to your branded color palette or use colors you have chosen for your business and logo. Make sure you don't use the same colors from the template, make the template your own and use your colors.
As mentioned before, a typical brand color palette should have 3-6 colors which consist of 1-2 primary colors, 2-3 accent colors, and a neutral tone to balance them all out.
Correct font usage matters in design
In any design, you want your headings, body copy, and CTA's to all be easily distinguishable, readable, balanced, and most of all consistent. Every time you create a new design, you shouldn't be using different fonts because they are cute, makes it look nicer than the last design, or because you're tired of the current fonts you have. If you keep changing your fonts, your CTA's will get lost, and you don't want your audience to miss out on what action they need to take next.
Always pick 1-2 fonts to use to remain cohesive in your designs. 1 decorative font can also be used, but remember, less is more so you won't need to use the decorative font everywhere.
Always check for accessible design format
You should always check to see if your designs are accessible not only with font sizes, but also with colors. This will help anyone with disabilities or visual/hearing impairments easily read or hear what your design is. In Canva, if you click settings, then navigate to "Check Accessibility". It will show you and pin point which pieces of your design need to be fixed, and will provide suggestions on how to edit it to fix it. See examples in Canva below.
Make the design on a pre-made template unique
When choosing a new design it's always awesome to start from scratch, but if you're in a pinch or have no design experience, you can choose a pre-made template. Just make sure that when you choose a pre-made template that edit it to match the style you have in place with the same colors and fonts. You don't want to use the template as is because it is another designer's work, and millions of people are already using the same template without editing it to match their own business or branding. To make your products or services stand out and become sellable, you have to create a unique visual style around it.
Don't overcrowd your elements
In a design, you don't need to put a ton of elements, text, and stickers, or colors to get your point across. Less is always more, always! As in the graphic example below, this is what I mean when things are more than overcrowded. This graphic has way too much going on, and it's just not necessary to have this much text or elements. Don't design your graphics with this much content. If you need help with how to align and space out your elements, get inspiration from Google, Pinterest or even resort to the pre-made Canva templates for some additional inspo.
Less design is more, always!
As always, I hope that you found these tips helpful as well as actionable so you can begin to use them in your own designs for your business. If you need additional help with your designs, share your questions in the comments section of this post.
If you happen to be interested in outsourcing any of your design work, I would love to help you get back on track with creative stability. Trust me, it is the key to running your business smoothly and efficiently. I have multiple packages available for design services in small business branding. Just follow this link to view my services.
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