According to Pam Moore, people remember a brand after five to seven interactions with it. That’s why your brand’s content should remain consistent across all platforms. What happens when you follow branding trends?
It creates a lot of confusion because you start changing your logo, website design, and other visual elements to engage your customers. However, this leads to problems rather than doing anything good for your business.
You don't become memorable when you look like everyone else...
Forbes Magazine also says that it takes about seven to ten seconds for a brand to make the first impression. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure your brand has a top-notch presence and remains consistent so that you can secure positive impressions. People want to feel a connection with your brand. They can’t do so when they can’t remember who you are.
Think of it this way, when you walk into a party and three other girls have the same dress on as you, awkward. The same thing goes for when you go to a networking event and there are three other businesses with the same business card template they got off of one of those budget printing places. There is nothing worse than taking 30 minutes to make a connection with someone, hand them your business card and when they get home with the other 20 cards, they can’t remember which one yours is because it looks like three other cards they got as well, again, awkward.
Another research report highlights that 13% of consumers will spend more money buying a brand’s products and services if they feel the brand is consistent and brings positive changes in their lives.
If your brand fails to build customer loyalty, you will experience reduced returns on investments (ROIs). So, make sure your brand presence is known to your potential and existing customers. Don’t pick the most popular template online! Invest in a design that is unique and memorable to your business.
Why can Branding Trends be Harmful?
The biggest problem with branding trends is that they are just trends, meaning they come and go frequently. In fact, a branding trend is synonymous with temporary branding. It does more harm than actually benefiting your business. Why, because it won’t build brand awareness and your customers won’t be able to make a memorable connection with you.
For example, when you create a brand design style based on the trend, it will temporarily benefit your business. When the trend is no longer fashionable, your brand will look unfashionable and outdated.
Besides, trends make you redesign your brand based on your personal preferences. It does not resonate with your ideal client’s persona. As a result, you fail to achieve a better product-market fit.
Remember, your brand visuals or styles must connect with your ideal customer, reflect your business values, and promote your products or services. If there is no brand foundation and style with real purpose, you may not achieve your goal.
Long-Term Negative Impact on your Business
Although you can use branding trends as inspiration to improve your brand. However, if it does not align with your business values and your potential customers’ needs, the inspiration you have taken from the trends is useless.
Using branding trends as your primary inspiration source for your logo, style, and other visual elements can cause a lot of harm to your business. You can blend your business strategy and make it directionless if you blindly follow trends.
As a result, you will find it challenging to stand out from the crowd because your brand, including visual style and logo, looks like other businesses in the industry. So, this can reduce customer engagement, leads to disloyalty, and hinder your company from streamlining its marketing operations.
Consistency or Fashion - What is more important?
Creating a sophisticated brand requires planning, patience, time, and diligence. Following branding trends will jeopardize your hard work, and you may even lose your customers’ loyalty due to inconsistency.
Consistency is the primary pillar of your brand, leading to solid foundations through your visual styles. Remember, consistency is essential for customers’ familiarity with your brand. If you redesign your brand every year by following trends, it will confuse your audience.
It is crucial to take your time and consider how to make your brand consistent on all levels. That way, you can create a more consistent style, feel, and tone for your business brand. Your brand should last for a long time, and you can only make this happen when you remain consistent and stop following trends.
Although there is nothing wrong with making your brand fashionable, doing it frequently based on the current branding trends will cost you money. For instance, designing a professional logo for your business is not cheap.
What’s more damaging is that your existing customers have a picture of your previous logo, and it will take time for your customers to engage with a new logo and remember it. What if you change it again after a few months? Remember, one mistake can create a chain of mistakes and destroy your business efforts.
Be a flamingo in a sea of seagulls
Your brand represents your core values, company’s mission/vision and reflects your business personality. That’s why consistency is crucial when marinating your brand’s value. So, stop following branding trends and focus more on consistency.