Regardless of the size of the business, marketing graphics are an essential ingredient in scalability. In fact, 49 percent of SMBs consider graphic design as the bread and butter in their marketing approach. Even big companies like McDonald’s, Starbucks, Netflix, or Whole Foods Market rely on visually aesthetic content.

According to IBISWorld, the US graphic design industry garnered a total of $15 billion in 2019. That goes to show how businesses go above and beyond and spare a considerable budget for visual content marketing. 

Read on to learn three takeaways from this article:

• Why Graphic Design for Marketing is Important
• What Goes Into a Basic Content Strategy
• How Graphic Design Improves Your Content Strategy

 

Why Graphic Design for Marketing is Important

Adobe says companies that foster creativity in any marketing strategy generate 1.5 times more market share. So what makes marketing graphics extremely important? Here are four reasons why:

 

Power of Persuasion

Marketing design is the special sauce that gains likes, shares, and comments. For instance, when Instagram users land on your profile, your photos or videos are the first things they see. That being said, graphics impact your audience’s purchasing decision as 93 percent of communication is nonverbal. Shabby content turns people away — give your social networks a lift by creating persuasive graphic design. 

 

Gains Credibility

Distributing consistent content gains credibility for your brand. However, eye-catching graphics in your content strategy have a higher chance of gaining trust from your audience. Marketing graphics don’t only dwell on aesthetics. It also needs color theory to establish credibility. FinancesOnline believes that 57 percent of small businesses use the color blue because it promotes trust, reliability, security, and peace. 

 

Communicates Your Story

Graphic design communicates every brand’s story. For example, the yellow arches in McDonald’s represent the company’s architecture in their early days. The dots on Domino’s logo also symbolizes the first three branches since its launch decades ago. In content marketing, brands have the power to embed storytelling through graphics in their blogs, infographics, or social media channels. That being said, it’s the first line of communication brands have with their audience. 

 

Slays Competition

If brands gear their content strategy towards creativity, they gain more followers and patrons. This inclination towards a creative brand is because people appreciate marketing efforts. People don’t like being sold to, and naturally, people evade overly promotional content.

Relying on creative advertising is more effective than any other marketing strategy. Apple is an excellent example of using marketing graphics all the time. The first iPod advertising featured silhouettes of people dancing in colorful background. The most striking design element was the iPod in hand and white earphones dangling and swaying to the music. Apple sold 125,000 units after its launch in 2001!

 

What Goes Into a Basic Content Strategy

Content Marketing Institute’s survey shows that 91 percent of businesses use content marketing to find and engage with their audience. There are different types of content marketing, where visuals are needed. Here are the most common ones:

• Blogging
• Videos
• Infographics
• Email marketing
• Ebooks
• Whitepapers
• Listicles
• Slideshare presentations
• Apps
• Social media content

Before you create a blueprint for your content marketing strategy, make sure that you incorporate the basics. Here’s what you should include in your content strategy:

 

Goals and Objectives

Any marketing approach won’t work without a set goal. Without defining your goals, marketers won’t figure out the objectives they have to take to reach the goals. For instance, if marketers want to increase their base, what can they do to gain likes, shares, and follows?

This is where marketers think of captivating graphics, coupled with persuasive copy that speaks to their audience. The objective can be creating social media giveaways or contests to gain more followers. 

 

Buyer Persona

Before establishing your content strategy, make sure you determine your buyer persona. Put yourself in your audience’s shoes and ask yourself these questions:

• What are my pain points?
• Why should I buy the product or subscribe to the service?
• How does the product or service resolve my pain points?

Another way is to do A/B testing. You can create multiple ads to know which particular audience reacts to a specific ad. Nowadays, there is no shortage of analytics tools that marketers use to define their audience.

 

Find the Right Channels

Thinking which content marketing strategy to take is crucial. However, finding the right channels will also make or break your entire strategy. For example, social networks are the last channels you should post content on if you have an older audience demographics. For an older audience, email marketing might work better. 

 

Repurpose Your Content

Once you find success in blogging, don’t stop there. Putting all your eggs in one basket means you’re losing opportunities in other platforms. For instance, some users prefer podcasting than reading blogs. So why not venture into podcasting as well? 

 

SEO

Search Engine Optimization is key to an excellent content strategy. Along with killer marketing graphics, keywords will give your content high chances of reaching search engines’ first pages.

 

Analytics

Content marketing enables you to monitor and even manipulate your ads, depending on campaign assessments. This is the power of Analytics. Whether you advertise on Facebook or Google, Analytics tools can help you refine your search and maximize your reach. 

 

How Graphic Design Improves Your Content Strategy

If you’re still in a pickle about using graphic design in your content strategy, these four reasons might persuade you:

 

Good design establishes memorability. Any brand strives to create memorability for its audience to remember them for months or years. Good design creates a good, lasting impression. Lastly, incorporating the right shapes, colors, and typography impacts audiences psychologically, increasing memorability. 

 

Superb visuals are better than text-based content. Including visuals in your text-based content ups its chances of getting clicked on and read. Not surprisingly, killer visuals also improve content strategies because humans are visual creatures. This way, your images can gain more likes, retweets, clicks, and follows. 

 

Graphics are perfect in limited media space. Did you know that 80 percent of social media time is done through mobile devices? That’s why marketers will have to work with limited space when it comes to their content. Graphic design can effectively communicate to audiences even with limited screen space.