Design is just one component of your entire business strategy, but it’s also one of the most important. Design has the unique ability to enhance practically every element of your marketing, content, and customer experience.
Good design doesn’t happen overnight, and like all aspects of your marketing, an effective design must be built upon a strategy. Having a great visual design strategy establishes a powerful brand message that elevates your business and grows your customers.
The Visual Design Problem
One of the biggest problems related to design in business is that most designers aren’t taught branding. The branding process must include the integration of design and business strategy principles in order to succeed in today’s marketplace. Your design strategy needs to be prioritized to create a powerful visual design that supports your branding efforts. You need to think of visual design as something more than a color scheme, logo, or fonts.
Your design strategy needs to be prioritized to create a powerful visual design that supports your branding efforts. You need to think of visual design as something more than a color scheme, logo, or fonts. Designers must be more active in the decision-making process within your organization. They must be willing to implement leadership and market skills while developing a brand.
Designers must be more active in the decision-making process within your organization. They must be willing to implement leadership and market skills while developing a brand.
Establishing a Visual Design Strategy
Visual design strategies merge multiple disciplines that include marketing and the psychology of customer behaviors. A brand is what makes your business unique and stand out from its competitors.
Using visual design in your branding process lets you shape the perception your audience has towards your business. Creating a positive experience frame allows you to strengthen your brand message.
Having a unique identity is essential to succeeding in today’s marketplace. This identity consists of the visual elements that help your audience remember you. Having a well-planned visual design strategy is fundamental to your long-term success.
The Benefits of a Visual Design Strategy
A visual design strategy creates a lasting relationship with the design team as you gain greater insight and new ideas. Combining skill sets creates a more consistent experience for your audiences and enhances their engagement with your products and services.
This puts your visual design efforts in a new and comprehensive context. It allows you to be more responsive to the needs of your customers as your brand evolves over time.
Your visual design strategy lets you achieve business objectives including increased conversion, traffic, and response rates for all of your marketing efforts. Strategy backed by data leads to measurable results.
Using the feedback received and measured through your analytics, you can optimize your visual design strategy over time. Businesses who get stuck in their designs lose momentum as they fail to recognize key opportunities that can be leveraged through a redesign.
Your visual design strategy must be consistent across all points of contact. The following are the main areas to consider when implementing a design strategy:
- Company Logo
- Website
- Packaging
- Marketing materials (business cards, brochures, etc.)
- Social media
Creating a consistent brand experience across all of these areas maximizes the return on your design, branding, and marketing efforts. It supports the awareness and recognition of your brand in your industry.
You distinguish yourself from your competitors and achieve greater engagement with your customers.
Making your design team an active participant in the goals and strategies of your business makes it easy to incorporate design elements that contribute to your bottom line.
Let us know how you’ve implemented a visual design strategy to successfully boost your business. If you’re not sure where to begin, let us know what you’re sticking points are. We’ll help you determine how a visual design strategy can be used to create a more powerful brand experience that translates into increased growth and revenue.
