“Never judge a book by its cover,” said no one in the Marketing industry. Design indeed plays an important aspect in marketing. You might not notice the hard work that goes into making a brand look as good as it can, but if it doesn’t look good, you’re 100% bound to notice. That said, design is more than just the use of colours, fonts and the vicious cycle of reworks. They’re careful whispers of persuasion from brands to consumers, asking to be noticed.
How does design affect marketing and content, you ask? Well, we have just the answer for you. Design involves having a thorough understanding of the brand and what they are trying to communicate with the target audience. Meticulously planned by designers, close attention is paid to intricate details to convey a specific emotion that brands would like the audience to feel. Let’s not forget that this emotion must also match the voice and language of the brand. For this, a designer must set certain guidelines and understand consumer psychology to better connect with present and potential customers.
The complex process of connecting with the ever-changing audience also includes conscientious colour-choosing, several shapes and fantastic fonts. Every choice is that of a deliberate one to send out a message. Right from the logo to product packaging, as brands focus on controlling the audiences’ emotion, design has always been one of the most important aspects of marketing. Let’s take colour for example. Studies have found that 60 to 80% of the consumer’s purchasing power depends on the colour used on the products. Thus, colour does prove to be a very crucial decision to make. While the red in Coca Cola and KFC screams energy, social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter use blue to instil confidence and help people be calm. But that’s not all, while connecting with the audience is important on an emotional level, your design has to also be functional. Even though design is highly subjective and varies from person to person, communicating rightly to your target audience becomes quintessential for the success of one’s brand. If the design isn’t matching the brand’s vision, the impact of your content can be a complete fail.
So, why is good design necessary? Marketing and advertising were comparatively easier to deal with when colour was either black and white and competition barely existed. In today’s time, a brand needs good design to differentiate itself from its competitors and create recall value for its customers. Before people buy your product, they try to familiarise themselves with the brand. A well-designed product becomes the very personality of the brand and a visual representation in the mind of the audience. This later on helps in building trust with people and increase visibility of your business too.
Having a solid brand identity helps the business thrive. Consequently, it also helps in generating more leads. A customer who has landed on the brand’s page must want to explore and know more about the brand. Designers must also remember details such as easy-to-spot calls to action to persuade the visitor to engage with the brand.
Thus, designs are all about communicating with consumers on an emotional level and providing the brand with a strong personality to survive in the market. Setting certain principles and guidelines to achieve the same can help designers bring your brand’s vision to life and also create the traction that it needs. Whether it is a logo, website, video or customised content, undivided attention must be given to every design decision that needs to be made. If you know the message you want your brand to convey to your audience, then creating a design to bring out that message becomes a smoother process.