There’s great design — design that you take one look at and you immediately want to be a part of whatever you’re selling, and there’s bad design — design that is confusing and doesn’t convey a message, or even worse, makes people want to avoid what you’re selling.
Though it might take a professional graphic designer to pinpoint what exactly makes marketing material exceptional, design is intuitive and people tend to automatically know when they’re experiencing the good and the bad. Truthfully, the best way to avoid these pitfalls in your marketing is to hire an experienced designer, but until then, here are seven of the most common graphic design mistakes we see and how to avoid them.
- Busy design – The purpose of graphic design for marketing is to powerfully communicate an idea or message. In fact, 55% of businesses use graphic design to communicate more effectively. Having too much going on in the design will have the opposite effect. A busy design will make it hard for people to understand the message you’re trying to convey. Good design is simple with a balance of white space and information, type and images.
- Using online design templates for a professional business – Online design templates are great because they allow everyone access to design tools. That being said, they definitely have a place and that place is not within a professional business. If you’re looking to engage, convert and sell, you need to up your design game. Great design will make your potential customers want to engage with your brand.
- Having the copywriter or marketing intern do the design – We see this happen all the time, small businesses hand all of their marketing activities onto one person who may not be equipped to do them all. You may feel that you’re saving money, but in the end you’re just going to end up with a low-quality product (and probably an unhappy employee). Hiring specialists ensures you will get the most bang for your buck.
- Boring design Great design makes people feel something; it makes them feel like they want to be a part of something. You don’t want your design to be too serious or too silly, but you want to make sure that your designs catch the eye of your potential customers. In web design, for instance, it takes potential customers just 2.6 seconds to decide if they want to engage.
- It’s off-brand. Every single piece of marketing material you create should help reiterate your brand message. A great designer will be able to marry the text you need to communicate to your target audience with your brand colors and imagery to achieve both effective marketing messages and an impactful interaction with your brand.
- Poor use of photos – A picture is worth a thousand words, that’s why it’s important to pay attention to the quality of the photos you use in your marketing materials. Using pixelated photos or photos dragged off the internet is a big no-no if you want to present yourself as a top-notch brand. A graphic design expert will know where to find great photos and how to use them without getting slapped with a lawsuit.
- The fonts are all wrong – Copywriting hierarchy is one of the most important aspects of marketing design. You want your reader to enter into the design knowing exactly what you are trying to tell them. From there, they can take more time to learn more, if they want to. Other common font graphic design mistakes include using too many fonts or using system fonts. Getting the basics of font use down will help your design get noticed, in a good way. You want people to look at your design and say “wow, I just need to learn more.”
Great graphic design is one of the best ways to engage with your potential clients. Beautifully designed marketing materials convey professionalism, trustworthiness, and a strong brand identity, they also make your social media, flyers, and annual reports stand out. Most importantly, great design invites your potential customers to be a part of something bigger than themselves.
One great way to ensure your design is great is to hire a professional graphic designer that is experienced in creating design that conveys effective marketing messages. Our graphic design team at The Marketing Department has years of experience in design for electric cooperatives, broadband companies, and local businesses. Contact us for a free discovery call today.
