It’s September and is officially back to school month after the summer holidays. Whilst not all of us are getting our pencil cases and rucksacks ready for a new academic year at school, now is the time of the year to have a fresh look at your business’s branding – and one major area to focus on is graphic design.
As we’ve said previously, visuals are an important element of modern branding and advertising, as images can be processed by viewers 60,000 times faster than text alone. Therefore, using images to sell your brand needs to be an integral part of your business plan.
A good graphic design campaign or revamp could be the difference between an average business year and an extraordinary one, as the higher your visibility to potential customers, the higher your sales conversion rate. For instance, Coca-Cola’s ‘Share a Coke’ advert campaign in the early 2010s increased sales by nearly 2% for the first time in 10 years. This may not sound astronomical, but if you think that 1.9 billion servings of Coca-Cola drinks are served every day that is no small feat! This increased sales number was also based on a revamped product packaging design and advertising campaign alone – it was the same old Coke being sold!
It’s not only a good idea to renew your online graphics when it comes to existing and potential customers. Modern graphic design can present key information about your brand and business to potential investors, especially if you work to frame your brand in an artistic manner that communicates why you are a good investment option, whilst communicating clearly and effectively what your business accomplishes and aspires towards.
What is your brand DNA?
Before you dive into revamping or developing your brand graphics, however, you need to think through what your brand is and what you want it to say to customers, investors, and the general public. Think through the below questions to help highlight what your tone, aesthetic, and objective with your branding is:
- If your brand was a person, who would they be? How would they speak?
- Describe your brand in three words.
- What is your point of difference or unique selling point within your industry? What does your brand do better than anyone else?
Once you’ve thought through these questions and have an idea of what type of aesthetic and graphic design you want to use in your branding, the next areas to focus on are:
- Your business logo: this is the face of your brand and is normally the first thing that customers and investors see of your business, and will be the graphic design that people will associate most closely with your business and brand. Think about the aesthetic that you want for your brand and what you want to stick in your customers’ minds when it comes to your business logo.
- Your business website: this is your brand’s real estate, and can be the bricks and mortar of your business in our increasingly online world. As a result, this needs to be well-designed, on brand for your aspirations and previous achievements, and easy to navigate for your customers.
- Physical marketing material: as the name suggests, this is all your marketing material that is not online. This can include brochures, business cards, leaflets, and flyers. These types of marketing will deliver key messages and information about your business and brand whilst you are not there. As a result, this material needs to have consistent, concise messaging and with up-to-date contact details, including website details to drive traffic to your online brand.
Succeeding at social media
One of the most impactful ways you can use a new or revamped graphic design strategy is through social media. We are on social media more and more every day, and every post is an opportunity to grab the attention of a potential customer or investor. After all, 40% of people respond better to visual information on social media than just a post with plain text; and Twitter updates with images can generate 150% more retweets than text-only tweets.
Succinct, beautiful graphic design can break through the clutter that we see every day on social media, and an image can easily speak a thousand words about your brand and what you can offer. For example, have a look at our recent campaign to build awareness of our services which used designs with consistent and clear brand colours, graphics, and messaging to show customers and investors what type of business we are, what type of people we are, and what we offer to the customer.
Graphic design of this type can help in a myriad of ways – such as countdown to a product launch, or designing an online flyer for an upcoming event, or moving into a new office with new contact information (alongside lots of moving in photos!). As long as you have a strong first impression and set the tone for your future relationship with your future customers and investors through your consistent messaging, colours, and graphics, the storytelling behind your brand will come alive on social media.
The Importance of Having Infographics
Another option you have for social media, as well as printed marketing material such as brochures and leaflets, are ever-useful infographics. Infographics are the best way to present heavy, data-laden topics in a pleasurable, digestible way by incorporating imagery and engaging visuals that will leave an impression on viewers.
Information that you can easily share through infographics can include the number of customers you’ve helped over a given period, your annual sales, your performance data, trends you’re seeing in your industry, anything you want to broadcast basically! You can also use a variety of different infographic templates, including:
- List-based infographics, focusing on textual content that needs to be read and implemented in a particular sequence.
- Visual article infographic, which is more visual heavy in order to grab an audience with a short-attention span and can summarise a text the infographic is embedded in.
- Comparison infographic, which can clearly compare two or more different topics or variables to show a viewer similarities and differences, or pros and cons for each option.
- Data visualisation infographic, which is where charts and graphs can be used to show data that would otherwise be lost in conventional blocks of text.
These types of graphics will help visualise your data, keep the interest of modern audiences which have smaller attention spans, and can be made to be sharable across social media and other online platforms to help build awareness and understanding of your brand.
If you’re thinking of taking your business in a new direction based on expert online expertise and beautiful design, Weave Studios is here to help every step of the way.
We offer assistance with graphic and branding design, and have worked with many different businesses and organisations to build consumer awareness and loyalty. Eye-catching, consistent, and beautiful branding is part of our bread and butter – whether it is a branding refresh or completely new venture, we’re here to make your ideas a reality.
Weave Studios are a friendly, experienced team that can help you realise your website, graphic design, and SEO goals. Our team create clean, modern websites built to industry standards that are fast to load, hosted by Weave Studios, and mobile-friendly. Get in touch with us today!