If you're running a small business in Colorado Springs, you're probably investing time and money into your website, ads, social media, and print materials. But there’s one critical element that’s often overlooked—and it could be quietly sabotaging your marketing efforts:
Your typography.
At Brittany Burke Creative Marketing, I help local Colorado businesses create cohesive, high-converting marketing strategies. And far too often, I see great content and offers fall flat due to inconsistent, outdated, or just plain ineffective font choices.
From websites and landing pages to flyers, signage, and social posts, your fonts impact everything—and they can either reinforce or ruin your brand.
Your audience forms opinions in seconds—and fonts are one of the first brand signals they process.
A study by Google found that users form design-related first impressions of websites in as little as 50 milliseconds. Before reading a single headline or paragraph, they’re reacting to how your brand looks.
Poor typography tells potential customers your brand is outdated, unprofessional, or untrustworthy—especially in competitive local markets like Colorado Springs.
Research from MIT’s AgeLab and Monotype found that users judge the credibility of content based on font style and layout. Fonts influence how professional, friendly, serious, or trustworthy your business appears.
For small businesses trying to earn attention and trust in their local market, consistent, on-brand typography is essential.
According to the Nielsen Norman Group, users don’t read web pages word by word—they scan them. Typography that lacks clear hierarchy, proper spacing, or legibility will reduce engagement and cause readers to bounce before converting.
Typography plays a role in every part of your customer experience—not just web design.
Typography affects how users scan your content and whether they stick around. If your fonts are inconsistent, hard to read, or misaligned with your brand tone, visitors will exit—fast.
Fonts need to be mobile-friendly, attention-grabbing, and aligned with your visual identity. On platforms where visual content is consumed quickly, clear and consistent typography helps your brand stand out.
According to Litmus, over 50% of email opens happen on mobile devices. Your font choices must be responsive, easy to read on small screens, and structured with a clear hierarchy.
Flyers, menus, brochures, and business cards are all touchpoints for your brand. Poor typography here makes materials feel disorganized or unprofessional—especially when printed at small sizes.
With less than 3 seconds to capture attention, your ad design must be clean, concise, and easy to scan. Typography directly influences ad performance and click-through rates.
After years of working with small businesses, here are the most common issues I encounter:
One of the most common mistakes I see in small business marketing—especially in DIY branding and websites—is the overuse of fonts. While it might seem fun or creative to use several different typefaces to “add interest” to your content, in reality, it creates visual chaos and dilutes your brand identity.
When every headline, paragraph, button, and graphic uses a different font, your audience doesn’t know where to look or what to focus on. This lack of consistency makes your business feel unpolished or scattered—and it can distract from the message you’re trying to convey.
In contrast, a clean, cohesive font strategy creates visual flow and makes your brand look intentional, trustworthy, and professional.
Choose one primary font for body text, used across your website, emails, print materials, and long-form content. This font should be highly legible and neutral enough for everyday use.
Select one secondary (accent) font to use for headings, subheadings, or design flourishes. This font can carry more personality, but it should still be on-brand and complementary to your primary typeface.
Use consistent weights, sizes, and spacing rules to establish a clear hierarchy (see above), rather than changing fonts to signal different content levels.
Using more than two fonts—especially if they don’t align stylistically—can confuse your audience and make your brand feel disorganized. According to the NN Group, consistent typography contributes directly to a user's sense of predictability and comfort when navigating a brand’s digital or physical experience.
For small business owners in Colorado, where you’re often marketing across a wide range of platforms (from websites to print flyers to social posts), font simplicity isn’t just about aesthetics—it’s a strategic move that strengthens your overall brand presence.
If you want your business to be recognized, remembered, and trusted, less really is more when it comes to fonts.
Fonts are more than just a visual choice—they’re a tone-setting device. When businesses choose fonts that don’t match their brand’s personality or positioning, they send mixed signals that confuse or even repel their ideal audience.
Think about it this way: if your brand were a person, what would it sound like? Friendly and approachable? Sophisticated and professional? Bold and daring? Quietly confident?
Your font should express that same energy.
A law firm or financial planner in Colorado Springs should use fonts that are clean, classic, and trustworthy—think serif or refined sans-serif styles that communicate professionalism and stability.
A children’s boutique or family photographer might lean into playful, rounded, or whimsical fonts that feel warm and inviting.
A modern wellness brand may use minimalistic, sleek fonts to reflect simplicity, calm, and clarity.
A craft brewery or local artisan brand might embrace vintage, hand-drawn, or stylized typefaces that highlight creativity and individuality.
When your typography doesn’t match your brand’s voice or industry norms, it creates a disconnect. For example, a luxury spa using a bold, all-caps, tech-style font can unintentionally appear cold or masculine—completely at odds with the relaxing, elegant vibe they want to project.
And for local businesses, this mismatch can be even more damaging. In smaller markets like Colorado Springs, where word of mouth and reputation matter, your brand presence needs to be crystal clear. Fonts that feel “off” may cause your audience to scroll past, bounce from your site, or choose a competitor who simply looks more aligned with what they’re seeking.
Choosing the right fonts means intentionally aligning your visual identity with your brand’s core values and the emotions you want to evoke in your audience. When done well, typography can create instant connection and recognition—without saying a word.
One of the most overlooked typography mistakes in small business marketing is failing to establish a clear font hierarchy—and it can be a major reason why your content isn’t converting.
When everything on a page or graphic looks the same—same size, same weight, same style—nothing stands out. Your reader doesn’t know what to focus on, where to begin, or what action to take next. The result? They disengage quickly.
What’s the headline or key message?
What’s supporting information?
What’s the call-to-action or next step?
This structure matters everywhere: on your website, in landing pages, email newsletters, social graphics, and print materials. A well-designed font hierarchy not only improves readability but also guides the viewer’s eye strategically from one point to the next.
Headlines should be large and bold to draw attention first.
Subheadings should differentiate sections and support easy scanning.
Body text should be clean, consistent, and comfortable to read.
Calls-to-action (like “Book Now” or “Get a Quote”) should visually pop with contrast and clarity.
According to a study by Adobe, 38% of people will stop engaging with content if the layout is unattractive or hard to read. Font hierarchy is a core part of layout clarity. Without it, even strong messaging can get lost in a sea of sameness.
Whether you’re designing a homepage, a flyer, or an Instagram carousel, remember: people don’t read first—they scan. A strong font hierarchy helps them find what they’re looking for—and act on it.
No matter how beautiful or stylish your font is, it fails instantly if people can’t read it. One of the most damaging (yet common) mistakes small businesses make in marketing design is prioritizing aesthetics over readability.
When you use fonts that are overly decorative, ultra-thin, tightly spaced, or low-contrast (like light gray text on a white background), you’re putting form over function—and that drives users away.
This issue is especially urgent in today’s mobile-first world. According to Statista, over 60% of all website traffic comes from mobile devices, and many email campaigns are read exclusively on smartphones. If your fonts aren’t optimized for small screens, your content becomes difficult or even impossible to engage with.
Script fonts used as body text: These might feel fancy or artistic, but they’re hard to read in paragraphs, especially at smaller sizes.
Fonts with poor contrast against the background: Light-colored fonts on light backgrounds or dark fonts on saturated imagery reduce visibility and strain the eyes.
Fonts that are too thin or condensed: While these might look sleek on desktop previews, they often disappear on mobile devices or get distorted in print.
Cramped spacing (letter-spacing and line-height): Even with a decent font, poor spacing makes content dense and difficult to digest.
When users struggle to read your content—whether it's on your website, in a brochure, or on a social media graphic—they don’t power through. They bounce, scroll past, or disengage entirely. That means your message gets lost, and your brand misses an opportunity to connect.
Good typography puts your audience first by ensuring clarity across all devices and formats. Your fonts should never make people work harder to get to your message—they should invite them in.
Want a simple test? Pull up your latest website or Instagram post on your phone in daylight. Can you read everything comfortably without zooming in or squinting? If not, it’s time to rethink your font choices.
One of the fastest ways to weaken your brand is by using different fonts across platforms. If your website uses one style, your email campaigns another, your flyers and signage something else entirely, and your social media graphics shift week to week—your brand starts to feel scattered, unpolished, and unmemorable.
Because consistency is a key driver of brand recognition and trust. According to Lucidpress, maintaining brand consistency across all platforms can increase revenue by up to 23%. Typography plays a foundational role in that consistency.
When your audience sees the same fonts used thoughtfully across every touchpoint, they start to associate that look with you. It becomes part of your brand fingerprint—just like your logo or colors. But when your visuals don’t match, customers may not even realize they’re interacting with the same business, and your marketing loses impact.
For small businesses in Colorado—especially those building their name in a competitive local space—every impression counts. Whether someone encounters your brand at a networking event, on Instagram, through a Google search, or by picking up a flyer in a coffee shop, the experience should feel unified.
Consistency in typography is what makes your brand feel professional, intentional, and trustworthy—not just pretty.
To improve your brand and elevate your marketing, here are some typography best practices:
Are you sleek and modern, classic and traditional, or bold and energetic? Your font should reflect your unique identity.
Make sure your fonts are easy to read across all screen sizes and in all formats—print, mobile, and desktop.
Use a system of headings, subheadings, and body text with consistent sizes, spacing, and weights to guide the reader’s eye.
Document your font choices, sizes, line heights, and spacing rules so everything—from your website to your social media—feels cohesive.
Your ideal font might look great on a desktop mockup but perform terribly on a mobile screen or printed flyer. Always test fonts in the real world before committing.
Every website, brand, and piece of marketing I build for local businesses in Colorado is guided by strategy—and typography plays a major role in that.
I don’t just focus on making your content look good. I make it work hard. The right fonts help your audience trust you, navigate your content, and take action. Whether we’re designing a new website, refining your brand visuals, or creating content, font choices are never random—they’re intentional and aligned with your goals.
Your fonts aren’t just a design choice—they’re a strategic tool. If your visuals aren’t aligned, your brand feels inconsistent, or your marketing just isn’t performing the way it should, let’s fix it. I work with local Colorado businesses to elevate their branding, websites, and content with clear, conversion-driven design—including smart, intentional typography that builds trust from the first glance.
Ready to look more professional, connect with your audience, and grow your business with confidence? Reach out to schedule your consultation today.