Marketing your business is a whole new ball game these days. It’s been quite a few years since the majority of consumers turned to a phone book to direct them to their nearest store. Today’s consumer has options literally at their fingertips, with companies advertising online, through websites, and social media. With all this competition, it’s clear that one thing can easily make or break your chances of hitting your mark with your consumers, and that’s design.
Front and Center: Design as the Face of Your Business
Business marketing has moved out of the stores and offices and directly into the sight line for consumers, appearing on their phones and computers and even in front of them while driving. What this means is that it is no longer a person tasked with winning over a customer, but a design. And although a good design doesn’t guarantee a sale, a bad design (or a non-existent one) will certainly ensure a sale in your competitor’s pocket.
Looks Do Matter
You’ve likely been told at some point in life that looks don’t matter, but in the business world, they’re your first impression. Outdated websites, weak branding, and poor user experiences can turn away potential customers the same way a run-down storefront would. With so many options and competitors from around the world who can market to your local community, decision-makers need to put much more thought and investment into the design of their business than ever before.
Representing Your Brand
The way you represent your brand is the determining factor for consumers when making appropriate choices. For example, a slow, complicated website (or worse yet, no website) that uses outdated graphics and has poor functionality screams to a consumer, “Our product will act the same way!”. On the other hand, if a company invests time into creating strong, functional, and clean designs, consumers believe that their product will likely offer the same experience.
Implementing Better Design
How do you know if your design is good (working) or bad (not working)? Test it out, and track its progress! Start by looking at your current designs. Do you have an updated responsive website? A responsive website adjusts to display appropriately on any device. This is #1 in becoming user-friendly online. Consider utilizing your greatest asset, and ask your current customers/clients. Can they perform whatever task they are trying to accomplish easily and quickly through your website? Also, keep in mind that successful design for your business is all-encompassing. You want to create high-quality visual consistency, and that involves every aspect of your business identity, not just your website.
To evaluate your business’s design strengths and weaknesses, give Connections Marketing a call for a free consultation. We’ll discuss more about how design may be impacting your success.