Generally, small businesses take designs, such as logos, business cards, etc., and other marketing visuals lightly. Most smaller brands have these visuals created unprofessionally. But they can achieve much more with strategically created designs. Well-thought-out graphic design items ultimately become lead-generation tools as businesses can target customers and position their brands in their niche.
Gone are the days when a design was there just for the sake of it. Its primary function was to attract people as some side visual of lesser importance. With the business world being much more competitive, marketers are using visuals for brand promotions and competing well.
Most importantly, designs are now increasingly seen as prominent tools for lead generation. Designers today aim to create visuals that compel viewers to take action, such as enquiring more about a business or buying products.
What is lead generation?
How a design helps increase sales
Make your business look professional.
People trust a business when they feel it to be true and worthy of their money. So, they get the signals of a brand and its offerings trustworthy from various designs. For instance, a professionally created logo can signal that this brand will resolve customers’ problems. Similarly, websites, business cards, etc., convey that the brand is run professionally.
Generating brand awareness
Small businesses often need help with brand awareness due to their initial limited reach. Companies can drive people’s attention with unique and memorable logos and other designs. They help keep audiences glued to a design, making it familiar, which, in turn, makes them aware of a brand’s presence.
Target your customers.
Using a professionally created design, you can target your customers with your brand message. So, your attractive logo design on products or services, websites, etc., becomes a tool for targeting your potential customers. People recognize your brand colors by seeing your logo and marketing visuals everywhere.
Here is how to use designs for lead generation
Keep the design simple and unique
The first and foremost prerequisite to turning your designs into some lead generation tool is to ensure that the design is simple and unique. A simple design comprises just a few elements. One or two colors and fonts can instantly convey a brand message. There should be just a simple but relevant image, symbol, or icon that connects well with your target audience.
For instance, a simple and unique logo will drive people’s attention to your brand.
Similarly, your user-friendly website design and well-designed landing page will encourage visitors to enquire more about your brand. A simple business card design will say a lot about your professional approach to conducting your business.
Remember that a uniquely designed logo, website, business card, and marketing materials ultimately help you establish your brand identity in a competitive market. Such designs, using fewer elements, help professionally portray your brand image. In turn, it generates leads and sales, especially for small businesses.
Designs must be customer-centric
While the simplicity of your different design items is the key to lead generation and sales, more is needed. Making all those designs customer-friendly is equally important.
Such a design aims to make searching, navigation, seeking information, buying, and other activities more effortless for the target audience.
After all, lead generation is about driving people’s attention and convincing them about your products or services being of great value to them. So, create logos and other graphic designs tailored to your target customers’ tastes. Keep their social, financial, educational, and cultural backgrounds in mind while designing for them.
So, research the market to know what they like or dislike. The data you get will help create customer-centric social media designs, websites, email marketing pages, etc. Of course, each of such designs must reflect what interests your customers.
When you hire a logo designer, give the professional your customers’ profile and persona. That will help create a logo or other visual that customers can identify with. Similarly, the designer must have an insight into your customer base.
Make it memorable and attractive
Another consideration for using designs for lead generations is to make designs memorable. Just a simple and unique design will not do the job. It is crucial for your brand that people can recall your logo or website design for its striking design. The design should not instantly fade away from their memory. So, make it an attractive and appealing design that immediately catches potential customers’ otherwise wavering attention.
So, hire an experienced designer who knows how to communicate using an attractive and memorable design. Avoid amateur and inexperienced designers, as they may be unable to differentiate between an ugly and an attractive design.
Design videos to target lead
Videos are no longer seen as an entertainment product. In fact, marketers are increasingly using the potential of videos to drive customers on social media and other platforms. Today, most marketers consider videos the most effective strategy for lead generation.
Create your videos of Facebook ads and YouTube ads with their designs aiming at generating leads. But make sure that such videos address the purchase journeys of customers. So, create short and straightforward videos. Make them visually appealing. Editing and uploading your long form videos as short form video content to LinkedIn is also a great way to generate interest. See who engages with your videos, and then send a custom connection request to your prospects.
Avoid copied and ambiguous designs
Your logo, web pages, business cards, and other brand identities must be unique. Customers build a perception of your brand based on seeing these visuals. They gather signals from the visuals about what a brand is and how customer-oriented its products or services are.
Therefore, do not create logos or designs that people have already seen elsewhere. Such copied or ambiguous designs will only generate negative emotions about your business. That, in turn, will turn your potential customers away from your competitors’ business.
Your designs must convey a message cleanly and not in a hidden way, especially if yours is a small business starting new in the market.
Pick relevant design elements
A basic principle to lead generation is that people should relate to your brand story and message. They should identify with your different visuals across all marketing materials you use to promote your business.
Your design can have a tagline that says it is all about your brand. With a text of a few words attached to the design, you can compel visitors to click on your CTA. But ensure that the elements in your designs are from your industry and relatable.
Use Colors and fonts wisely
Colors and fonts are two key design elements that you must choose carefully. Consider your brand personality and message in picking these elements. Colors evoke our emotions. For instance, red evokes love and aggression. Yellow is for hope. Green stands for growth and health, and so on.
Use fonts that can best express your brand personality. You have a vast range of fonts available online, and many are free. So, impress your visitors and customers with the right choice of colors and typography. Make sure you have some elementary knowledge of colors when using an online logo creator to design the visual identity all by yourself for your newly launched business.
Design and place your CTA strategically
One of the proven tactics for lead generation is designing a CTC [ Call To Action] and placing it at the right spot on a web page or other design. A CTC design with the right colors and text will encourage visitors to click on it to take the desired action.
You can make your CTA perform by personalizing its design and text. Use a simple copy such as ‘Download my free guide.’ It is much better than saying ‘Click here’ as it fails to mention the reward for the consumer.
Also, use different CTAs for different platforms, understanding where the customer is in their buying journey. Your CTA design should provide them with the next step toward buying your product or service.
But make your CTAs attractive to catch visitors’ attention. So, create CTAs in relevant colors of your brand. Their design should look like part of your overall design scheme. There should be sufficient negative space left around a CTA button for its clear visibility to the customers. Smaller changes such as these have proven to increase conversion by a whopping 232%.
So, these are the key design tips that target your customers and position your brand in your niche. Of course, you must professionally give your entire gamut of designs to make a lasting impression. This measure will go a long way in establishing your small business.
Wrapping Up
Strategically created logos, websites, business cards, and other design items give your business a distinctive look and visual identity. So, create simple but unique designs that convey your brand message. Such a striking design must also be customer-centric to be useful to potential buyers of your products or services. Incorporate colors, fonts, and other elements wisely and make your CTAs attractive.
