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Every small business’s challenge is how to stand out from the competition. While many small businesses have their marketing campaigns in place, some lack one element that is crucial in promoting their brand, and that is graphic design.
Graphic design for small businesses is a quick, compelling, and affordable way to boost them to the top. Plus, professional and quality graphic designs can promote a failing business as well.
According to FinancesOnline, 67 percent of small businesses consider graphic design as the golden ticket to success. But most small businesses have a misconception that graphic design is expensive. They probably haven’t heard about solutions that make graphic design easy and affordable like Penji, which provides unlimited graphic design services to startups, small businesses, and agencies for a fixed monthly fee.
Once you have all your marketing graphic designs in place, here’s how it can boost your small business.
Cuts Through the Social Media Noise
Every small business must create social media networks to build their followers. But with so many social media business pages, how can you cut through the noise on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter?
People scroll through their social media feeds and stop at anything that grabs their attention. Without a doubt, graphics is your way to make them stop and see your content. When small businesses are more creative, users take notice.
Did you know that Facebook posts with compelling graphics create 2.3 times more engagement? When users notice your social media pages, you’ll boost your online presence and grow your audience.
Since people are visual creatures, we tend to respond more to graphics-based posts than text-based posts. When you consistently lure more and more users on your social pages, you’ll also increase brand awareness in the long run.
Lastly, most social media networks are graphics-centric. For instance, Instagram is heavy on the visuals. Pinterest is also another social network that solely relies on visuals to augment one’s audience of followers. On Facebook users are more compelled to engage with posts that contain graphics. Overall, using graphic designs, illustrations, or infographics is a surefire way to increase your social media following.
Tells Your Brand Story
Small businesses stem from an entrepreneur’s passion or mission. Any startup is always the fruit of someone’s vision, and this is considered your brand story. Graphic design for small businesses goes beyond your logos, icons, taglines, color palettes, and typography. It is created around your entire brand story.
And your brand story is the soul of your company. Without it, there is no passion, no dedication, and no zeal. Graphic design can tell your story to millions of people who have never even heard of you.
Advertisements are also more impactful when they contain graphics instead of text only. That’s because of psychology in marketing. By using the right colors, shapes, and fonts, you’re elevating communication with your audience. It’s is an excellent way to present your brand story to gain affinity from your target market.
Authenticity and values impact consumers’ purchasing decisions. According to Marketing Dive, 63 percent of consumers prefer purpose-driven brands. That being said, using graphic design to tell your brand story presents your small business in the best light possible.
Creates Unique and Consistent Branding
When you’re new to your niche, it’s hard to make your audience notice you. Experts say consistency in branding is one way to achieve brand recognition.
You have to sit down with the team and create unique branding that solely belongs to your business. Sure, you can be a sustainable company or one that helps the community, but other companies are also claiming that. What really makes your small business branding stand out?
If you’re running a floristry business, what is your advantage over your competitors? Or what makes your women-owned small business special compared to all the others? You have to create an edge over your competition — something that can make audiences see your brand differently.
People are bombarded with advertisements, offers, and promotions daily, and unfortunately, most of these are so mundane that they become lost opportunities. In some cases, the branding is inconsistent and confuses audiences instead of appealing them.
Remember, sit down with the team and deliberate why you’ve built the company in the first place. Here are a few things you can do to create unique branding:
- Know who your target audience is
- Think of adjectives that describe your company to know your brand personality
- Determine what your unique value proposition is
- Check your competitors and figure out what you offer that they don’t
- Determine your audience pain points and how your product/service benefits them
Once you think of your branding, make sure it’s consistent through all your channels, including your websites, social media, advertising collateral, promotional items, and so on. Being consistent with your branding is the only way to instill brand recall and recognition.
Makes Data and Presentations More Impactful
When setting up your small business, you want to aim for credibility. This is the only way investors, suppliers, and other businesses will consider a partnership with you.
For instance, if you have several pitch decks in tow, graphic design can undeniably make your presentations more impactful. Along with data, graphics can elevate the way you communicate with investors. It makes your communication clearer and more effective.
Moreover, presenting social proof, statistics, or data could be more stimulating and believable with graphics.
This is an excellent way to drive more funding for your small business. Through a well-designed presentation, your small business can garner more business partnerships.
Customizes Your Promotional Items
Thinking of the best advertising tactics is imperative when building your small business. Aside from digital and print advertising campaigns, small businesses can also consider promotional items.
Promotional products can be special. For example, giving limited edition items for free will instill fondness from your audiences. Of course, your promotional items should also be one-of-a-kind — meaning, they have to be custom-designed.
When thinking of the best promotional items, make sure they provide audiences convenience. For instance, instead of an ordinary pen, you can give away a custom-designed penlight keychain. It’s convenient and unique, and most customers would prefer to keep a custom-designed penlight keychain than an ordinary pen.
The most critical factor in promotional products is that they offer brands infinite marketing. Here are some ideas for promotional products that can be custom-designed:
- Penlight keychains
- Tote bags
- Apparel (shirts, caps, jerseys, bandanas, etc.)
- Calendars
- Koozies
- Reusable water bottles
- Wall clocks
- Notepads
- Gift cards
Makes Advertising Campaigns More Effective
Whether small businesses invest in digital or outdoor advertising, graphic design will undoubtedly make the ads more effective.
For example, imagine displaying your billboards along with a dozen other billboards in a busy intersection. Although 71 percent of Americans intentionally look at billboard ads, not many of those people will make purchases based on those billboards. The only way to influence passersby with your outdoor advertising is to use captivating graphic design. Once you grab their attention, this is where your persuasive copy can make or break the next step.
The same goes for online ads. Although digital marketing is more targeted, you still need to lure users with graphics that pack a punch. Whatever your goal is, graphic design will push your prospects further down the sales funnel because it makes your ads more persuasive.
Gives a Great First Impression
When you’re a rookie in your industry, sometimes you have to overcome a lot of obstacles to impress your audience, and this is why graphic design for small businesses matters a lot. Every marketing graphic you put out there will be the initial perception of how your audience sees your brand.
As a small business, you want to make a great first impression. According to keynote speaker Angie Schottmuller, consumers form first impressions in approximately 17 seconds. The moment your audience sees your advertisement, they can already tell whether your brand is worthy or not.
Any seasoned marketer knows how crucial positive first impressions are when representing your brand. And for small businesses, this should be the holy grail of your marketing strategy. Once your advertising graphic designs convince, entertain, and engage your audience, you’ll gain customers quickly.
Wrap Up
Graphic design involves marketing psychology to evoke particular emotions that influence consumers’ purchasing behaviors. This is the reason why small businesses should prioritize graphic design in marketing. Once small businesses leverage marketing graphics, it will be easier to establish a connection with their target audiences.
If you haven’t thought about graphic design for your small business, you’re missing a huge opportunity for scaling your brand. Think of graphic design as an investment that will garner significant returns down the road.
Your marketing budget might be limited at the initial phase of the business. However, if graphic design in marketing is done right, your brand could achieve maximum conversions, and in turn, increase your bottom line.
