Your Design Is More Than Just Your Logo
When you think of design as it relates to your marketing strategy, you might say, “Sure, we have a logo.” And it’s probably a great one. Yet, everybody has a logo. With so many brands extending their design efforts far beyond their logos, a stellar logo isn’t enough on its own to make your brand stand out.
There are still some companies that hold out on taking their design any further, often opting for DIY to save money. If this describes you, it’s time to grab a cup of coffee and get cozy because you’re about to learn how professional design can do so much more.
A Strong Logo Is Just the Beginning. If you’re relying on your logo to carry your brand, it better have some broad shoulders. Sure, a great logo is an important thing. It communicates what you’re all about in one image. At least, that’s what it should do. Your logo is a key part of your marketing strategy, but there’s a lot more that you should be doing through design to get your brand story across.
Think of your brand design as a giant iceberg, and your logo as the tip extending out of the water. It’s the most easily-identifiable element of your design, but there’re a lot of other things making it clear there’s an iceberg.
Your Brand Design Is Bigger. Think of design as something that extends out to everything your company touches. It’s not just your logo; it’s your color scheme; it’s the voice you use when you write a blog or brochure. It’s the look of your videos and images posted on social media. It’s your web design and how your visitors experience your brand there.
All of these elements are supported by the design of your brand. For instance, if your brand were a person, what colors would they wear? Define the personality of your brand: would it be a go-getter who sits in the front row of every class, or is it the kid in the back that passes you gum and makes jokes all period long?
Don’t Hate Me Because I’m Beautiful. If you have a super-cool logo, a beautiful website and a voice that strikes just the right note between hilarious and obnoxious, don’t check off your design box just yet.
Design is critically important, but it must be paired with functionality. Your potential customers will hate a beautiful site if it takes 15 seconds to load or if they can’t find the information they need about your product. Your marketing strategy is created to generate growth, so while design is important, you can’t forget about functionality. Make sure it’s user-friendly.
You Get What You Pay For. You might imagine creating design as being an hours-long process where the designer comes up with a few mock-ups of a logo and you choose the one you like best. A good designer puts a lot of time and energy into your design before beginning to work on your logo. They will want to understand your values, your target audience and the buyer personas that come out of that audience. Don’t expect a fast turnaround. A lot of discussion about what makes your brand and your customers tick is key to developing a logo design that has staying power.
That conversation will lead to much more than a logo. If you’re supporting a marketing strategy, expect to see design elements that extend to every aspect of the customer experience. Eventually, a consumer should be able to recognize your brand by the look of an image or the tone of a social media post.
Trip up the Competition. Don’t actually stick your foot out; just sort of distract them a little. Your competition could be under the same misconceptions about design that plagues a lot of companies. They may think a logo is as far as design goes, so they paste it all over their signage and polo shirts, then move on to other business objectives.
By recognizing the key design elements beyond a great logo and incorporating a consistent design across every aspect of your company, you’ll be more recognizable and more likely to be on the minds of your target audience when they’re ready to make a purchase. Your competitors will wonder how you’re doing it, and they may not even see that it’s consistent design. They’ll just know you look awesome.
Great Design Tightens up Your Social Strategy. It’s easy to get a little all-over-the-place when it comes to social media. Maybe today you’re funny, tomorrow you’re all environmentally aware. Next Tuesday you might decide that you are all about cute baby animals. What is worth sharing, and what supports your brand? A great design helps you define what you are all about on social media, and which items are outside of the story you’re trying to tell.
How is your marketing strategy telling your brand story? Is it through great design and a consistent look and feel throughout everything you do? If you’re not sure, or if you’re certain you’ve got a bit of design multiple personality disorder going on, contact us at SJC Marketing. We’re ready to help you develop a marketing strategy that’s consistent and based on awesome design. And if you’re really into the cute baby animals, we’ll find a way to include them.