Branding design– also known as brand design– refers to the way your brand visually represents itself to the general public. Key elements of brand design include your logo, colors and color families, font and typography preferences, and similar elements that make a brand unique and recognizable in any forum.
It’d be easy to think you’re simply making a series of artistic choices. On the surface, your brand design is exactly that. But these details can actually make or break the longevity of your business.
Why? Because we know the human eye processes visual information in 1/10 of a second. Additionally, the brain processes shapes and colors faster than it processes text. Your potential customers are making determinations about your brand before they read a word you’ve written.
Today, we’re sharing the 3 biggest impacts brand design can have on your business. You’ll also learn a few tips to help you start enjoying the benefits of good design.
3 Big Ways Brand Design Can Impact Your Business
Brand design is a crucial thing to get right if you want your business to thrive. You may easily be able to pick out what you’d call “poor design,” but you may not be aware of just how important good branding is.
Well-Designed Brands Fit the Use Case for the Product
Every successful brand knows its target demographics. And every incredibly successful brand leverages its target demographics for its design.
Your business’s products and services take your target demographic into consideration. You analyze their emotions, needs, and desires. And you ensure your products address them. Your brand design should be the same.
Customers want to feel understood– and they want to do business with brands who understand them. When your design fits your product’s use case, you’ll instantly instill confidence and desire in your potential customers.
The opposite is true as well. A misaligned design and use case will mean an instant red flag for potential customers. If your design doesn’t communicate an understanding and appreciation of their problem, they won’t feel confident spending their money with you.
And you can bet your competitors will be waiting with open arms to welcome sales from the customers who feel slighted by your off-putting design. This may sound extreme, but customers today don’t have time or the resources to take chances with their spending.
So take the time to consider your ideal customers. Consider how they’re feeling, what they’re looking for, and what would upset or disinterest them. Collect feedback and be sure to have a thick skin– because implementing majority feedback can be key to correctly targeting your design.
Help Consumers Connect with Your Brand
A recent study by 5WPR found 71% of consumers prefer buying from a brand that shares their views, values, and beliefs.
These findings make it crystal clear why thoughtful brand design attracts potential customers to you like a beacon… and why poor brand design repels them instantly.
Regardless of your industry, customers prefer– and expect– to create an emotional connection with your brand. While some brands find success with bright, sharp, and snappy design elements, other situations call for a more delicate, nuanced, and intimate atmosphere.
Therefore, it’s absolutely crucial to consider your demographic’s emotions as you create your brand identity. Evaluate and implement the best design elements to connect with those emotions.
The key to maintaining this connection is focusing on clarity and consistency across the board. Customers want their experience to be consistent and predictable– especially during these unprecedented times. By using clear, cohesive branding, you’ll build a good reputation as a brand that consistently delivers on its values.
And when your brand design delivers a consistent emotional connection, you’re sure to not only attract ideal customers… you’re sure to retain them as well.
Good Brand Design is Functional
If your design is clear, consistent, and relevant, you’ll find it serves many functions.
You’ll quickly find customers telling you how memorable you are– especially compared to your competitors. While it’s true the average attention span has gotten shorter in the past century, there’s no evidence to suggest human memory has gotten worse.
Consistent brand design also creates authenticity. Whether it’s because you use a consistent logo on all of your brand’s social media pages or because you use the same fonts on all pages of your website, or ideally both, the consistency will resonate with your audience.
They’ll appreciate your brand’s clear identity and authentic presentation. Customers want brand interactions to feel like interactions with their friends– like an interaction with the same person, every time.
In short, people will remember how your brand makes them feel… even though they decide how they feel within 1/10 of a second. Once you’ve made an impression, you won’t be forgotten. Be sure to make a good first impression.
Good design yields benefits for your organization internally, too. When departments and employees have a clear understanding of how to represent the brand, communications flow more smoothly. Just like your customers, your team will have a clear and consistent picture of what to expect.
All people– customers and employees alike– appreciate clarity, predictability, and consistency.
Enlisting a Design Team is a Foolproof Solution
We’ve covered the 3 biggest impacts your brand design can have on your bottom line, but this is only the beginning. Good design is only one piece of a comprehensive and profitable branding strategy.
You could take these tips and apply them yourself. You could do more research to learn about KPIs, and eventually, you could put together a branding strategy. Doing it yourself might pay off… or you might find yourself throwing spaghetti at the wall for far too long.
Good design is always well worth your investment. There’s no need to waste your valuable time bootstrapping an effective design for your business. Let the Client team provide the support your branding strategy needs to achieve meaningful business goals.