Have you thought about design? While we all put a lot of thought and effort into the services or products which we are selling and offering a high standard of customer service, how many of us take a long, hard look at how design could help boost our businesses? Because there are so many ways it can. From brand recognition that puts you ahead of the competition in a crowded field to boosts in productivity among your staff and giving customers an easy and relaxing way to purchase from you on a clean and simple website, good design can offer huge boosts to the success of your company.
Here are nine ways in which design can boost your business.
Design can give your brand recognition
The first thing many potential customers or clients will see about your business is its logo. A great logo is simple, reflects the high standards you deliver and targets your audience through professionalism, attractiveness, and functionality. If you have a messy logo, then that implies a messy business, and that is not an image that anyone wants to be cultivating. It also needs to be recognizable. By their own estimates, Nike believed that 97 percent of Americans recognized their swoosh logo and associated it with quality sportswear. Although getting close to those numbers may be impossible, by having a recognizable logo that is associated with a market leader in your field you’ll be giving your business a big boost.
You can use design to tell the story of your business
Whether you are a family run business in your fifth generation of trading or a technology startup, telling the story of your company is one way to build a connection with consumers. Thoughtful design in this area can cultivate a positive image in the eyes of the customer. Whether that is the family butcher who wants to show their high-quality, trusted artistry that has been carried out over many years or an internet startup bringing fresh ideas to a crowded marketplace, you can tell whatever story you desire through design.
Good design installs pride in your employees and increases productivity
Good design can boost productivity. If your employees have pride in the logo they are working for, and it is respected and seen as a desirable place to work, then they will be happy in their jobs and with that their productivity can rise.
Consistent design portrays strength in your brand
If good design installs pride and increases productivity, then consistent design gives off the impression of a strong company that is united on all fronts. If you have a haphazard approach with different colors and fonts on different items and media, then all of a sudden you don’t appear to be a joined up, strong brand that is working together. By installing some consistency across your brand and products through restricting your use of colors and fonts to only one or two, you are also helping associate those colors and fonts with your brand which instantly makes you more memorable. Coca-Cola probably wouldn’t be the success story it is if it wasn’t instantly associated with that font and the classic red and white colors.
A strong website design will boost online sales
If you are selling through a website, the design is vital. A poorly designed website that is difficult to navigate with garish colors and big confusing fonts can be a nightmare for clients and may put them off altogether. If customers are constantly complaining about your website and your workforce agrees with them, then that is no use to anybody. You need to be making buying a product or service from you as easy as possible, and a well-designed website can help that.
Packaging design can draw a consumer towards your product
Packaging design is almost as important as the product itself. Think about when you buy a bottle of wine – you are normally more drawn to those with interesting labels. When you are selling from within a shop, then your package design is often your products first point of contact with a consumer and packaging sells your product every bit as much as a logo can do. You need something that draws a customer in, convinces them that the product is of high quality and that it is something they want to buy. For more on how packaging design can help your product, take a look at Jansy retail packaging designs.
Design can communicate with your consumers
Design can act as an important tool when communicating with consumers. Infographics, flyers, and posters can all advertise the services you offer or products you sell through engaging text and images. A poster at a bus stop or a flyer handed out on the streets can help reach customers who didn’t previously know you existed while conveying information you need in ways that are interesting and easy to understand.
Not just your consumers – your investors as well
Studies have shown that 65% of people are visual learners, so people tend to grasp ideas and concepts far better when they can be seen in front of them. Explaining concepts, ideas, numbers, and data and getting across the importance or size of them using just the human voice can also be tricky. You can use well designed visual aids in meetings to look highly professional and help prospective investors understand everything you need them to understand about your business.
Design can set you apart from the crowd
Most of us have bought a product just because it looks different to the competition. Sometimes, it is done without even realizing. There are four or five notebooks in the stationery shop, all of them do exactly the same job but we pick one purely based on the fact it has a quirky design. As a general rule, people won’t fork out too much more for a product just because it looks nicer (there are some notable exceptions, such as Apple) but when it comes to similarly priced products doing similar functions, our eyes and hands are naturally drawn to the one we find more aesthetically pleasing. That is where design can set you apart from the crowd.
