Are you overlooking some areas where your business can benefit from quality design?
It’s a common issue – businesses often think of big things, like logos and product packaging – but miss some of the smaller things that still help to create an impression of your brand.
There are several overlooked aspects of design that are worth doing well as your business can gain direct benefits. Here are some from our experience – do you need to get any of these professionally designed?
#1. Video thumbnails
Do you use video as part of your marketing strategy? Have you ever noticed that, without an added thumbnail, the default often seems to be some awkward facial expression or otherwise less-than-professional image?
by Designed.co
Video thumbnails are often an overlooked design element by businesses, yet creating professional thumbnails can bring you several benefits. For example, the thumbnail can play a big role in compelling people to click on your video. You put time and effort into creating good video content, so why wouldn’t you also pay attention to the first thing your audience sees of your video?
Video thumbnails can also help you out with visibility on search engine results. Video results are often found towards the top of the page and having a professional-looking thumbnail can help you to stand out from the rest.
Simply put, a professional thumbnail is a much better look for your brand. Don’t rely on a chance, auto-generated thumbnail!
#2. Email headers and footers
Emails can be a great way of reaching a large audience very quickly, so it’s important to ensure that you’re maintaining your brand image when you send them out. It’s always more business-like and professional to include well-designed headers and footers.
For starters, a header with your name and logo makes your email instantly recognizable. You want to encourage people to keep reading so you don’t want your email to look like the many spam emails hitting their inbox every day.
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Second, your header can play a promotional role. For example, if you run seasonal campaigns, you can change your header to reflect that, including details like coupon codes or an image that depicts what your sale includes. It can add interest if you change up your email header for different campaigns – it’s another invitation for customers to re-engage with you.
#3. Social media graphics
Your social media channels tend to be a prominent place for your brand to be on display. Their open nature means that many social media pages get more traffic than the company website. This means your graphics and the images you use on your profile and in posts shouldn’t be a hasty afterthought.
Social media should be part of your overall design strategy – you should look at it as an extension of your online presence. If it’s worth being on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or others, then it’s worth making sure that your visual presentation is consistent with the rest of your branding.
Some common issues with social media graphics that we’ve seen include: images that are of poor quality so that they don’t render well on-screen; images that are not the right size for the platform (e.g., cover images that end up cut off in the wrong places); images that look just like everyone else’s (e.g., stock images used everywhere); or images that are inconsistent with other branding.
by Designed.co
Social media gives you the opportunity to add to your branding and visibility, so make it count with quality design!
#4. Podcast design
Podcasts have become increasingly popular with both businesses and listeners. A podcast that provides useful or entertaining content has a good chance of attracting an audience, with 50% of all homes in the United States listening to podcasts.
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At the same time, there are now a huge number of podcasts for listeners to choose from, with over 48 million published episodes. If you’re at a stage of still wanting to organically grow your audience, you need to find ways to stand out.
The design work with your podcast is one way to do this. You need podcast cover art, thumbnails, and graphics to go with each new episode that you publish, especially if you want to catch the eye of people looking for something to listen to.
Sometimes companies skimp on podcast graphics and go for the company logo or stock images again. If you want to improve your chances of growing your audience, you need professional design that helps with your brand messaging.
#5. Presentations
Each and every time you give a presentation on behalf of your company, it’s creating some sort of impression of your brand. From sales presentations, to investor pitches, to product introductions, to conference presentations – one of the worst things you can do is throw together a stale old “death by powerpoint” presentation.
by Designed.co
Professional-quality design is a must-have. In many companies, presentations are left to the person who is responsible for the content, whether or not they have design expertise. It’s important to work with a designer so that your brand messaging isn’t lost for the sake of poor design.
#6. Web pages
Most companies will work with web designers on the overall layout and design of their site, however, graphic design is often either neglected altogether, or restricted to the home page. Again, if you don’t have a professional-quality design in all of the right places, it can be damaging to your brand.
by Designed.co
There are a couple of specific pages we often see neglected – the “about us” and “contact” pages. These tend to be some of the most highly-trafficked pages on any website, yet businesses often focus all of their energy on the home page or sales pages.
We’re here to say, don’t forget the pages where people look for more information about you! They’re using those pages to form a picture of you, what you’re about, whether you are trustworthy, and a good fit. Design helps to tell that story and should be part of those pages.
#7. Invoicing
Do you email or physically mail out invoices? This is yet another touchpoint for customers with your brand and quality design shouldn’t be overlooked. A well-designed, easily read invoice is one way to leave a lasting impression.
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What design elements might be included? There are your headers and footers, as well as colors, fonts, and layouts. Your invoices can be used to help make a positive statement about your brand.
Final thoughts
These were just seven common areas that get overlooked when it comes to professional design. We strongly advocate that if it advertises your brand, then it’s worth paying attention to the design aspects to ensure that your messaging remains consistent and professional.
Finally, these are all design projects that we frequently work on here at Designed.co. If you’re in need of taking your visual imagery to the next level, we’re here to help. Check out our services and book a demo here with us today.
