Why Advertising Design is Key to Success
When you think about the most successful companies in the world today – Apple, Google and Microsoft come to mind immediately – what do these companies have in common aside from a fantastic product line?
They’ve all succeeded because they built their brands on solid foundations with effective advertising strategies that worked for them specifically.
While other markets might try and copy Apple’s success by buying TV ads or distributing free samples of their products, it’s unlikely they’ll be as successful at building brand equity as Apple because there are so many different ways to reach customers.
When your target market is 1 billion people, becoming a household name like Apple can take years.
This fact can be attributed to one thing: good advertising designers who know exactly why they’re designing ads in the first place.
And if you want to create an iconic brand like those above, then it’s time to get acquainted with advertising basics as well!
Table of Contents
What Is Advertising Design?
Advertising design creates visual messages that communicate ideas to consumers through images, words, sounds, and motion.
There can be thousands of variations of any given concept when applied to this method of communication, as the creative team is allowed complete freedom to express themselves through their designs.
Advertising design aims to influence an audience’s attitude or behaviour by providing a message for them to ponder.
An example would be if an advertiser wants people to know about a new product, they could put up posters in public places such as bus stops, train stations, schools or hospitals where people congregate.
Advertising designers work with production managers on developing concepts, then oversee the production process from start to finish to ensure that each campaign is carried out on time and within budget.
In addition to this, designers are often responsible for finding the best way to present these campaigns to have maximum impact.
This includes deciding how to package it into forms such as a TV commercial, magazine ad, poster, billboard ad, radio commercial or print advertisement.
Read on to learn more about why advertising design matters so much when building a successful business.
The Importance of Advertising Design
So many people wonder whether advertising actually works. I’m here to tell you unequivocally yes; advertising does work.
It doesn’t just “work,” though.
It works by creating awareness around a particular product or service, which leads to further action, whether purchasing a said item or signing up for additional information (which could lead to future purchases).
In marketing, advertising is one of the most effective market research and promotion forms. Many would argue that if a company has no website or no social media presence, they are essentially invisible to consumers.
But when you advertise your business, regardless of its size, you ensure that your brand becomes as widely recognised among consumers as possible.
In other words, advertisement has two purposes:
- Sell something.
- Inform potential customers into taking some action.
If we look at the history of modern advertising, however, there was really only one type: print media advertisements.
In this case, advertisers would use magazine and newspaper ads to try and persuade readers to take specific actions such as buying certain items or even calling the number listed within the advertisement itself.
Today, things are different.
Nowadays, marketers must also contend with digital ads, online video ads, social networks and more. But despite the sheer volume of new types of advertising, the fundamentals remain the same: knowing your audience and making sure you communicate effectively through visuals.
There may not be any statistics that show conclusively that visual communication via advertisements significantly increases sales over traditional text-based communications methods.
Still, studies have shown that research subjects tend to remember better images than they do words. So if you can get your message across memorably and engagingly, it’ll help sell more products.
You want to be sure that you make your ad design as unique as possible. If you try to copy or mimic another company’s ads, your chances of success are slim.
The one thing I’d add is to focus on an emotional appeal. People buy with their hearts as much as with their heads,
So if you don’t believe me, ask yourself how many times you’ve seen a TV commercial where someone says “Call now,” and you still need to go find a phone to dial the advertised number? Chances are pretty high that you probably remembered the image instead of the word.
If you’re looking to start a small business, consider using an advertising agency or graphic designer to assist you in developing your own brand identity based on this knowledge.
By doing so, you’ll be able to develop a cohesive message across multiple mediums that truly represents your company while simultaneously communicating its benefits to prospective clients.
Now let’s dig deeper into why advertising design matters so much for startups and entrepreneurs.
Advertising Design Principles
As mentioned earlier, understanding the importance of advertising design goes hand-in-hand with successfully running campaigns for businesses.
One of the best ways to accomplish this goal is by learning basic principles of advertising design that every professional should understand before jumping right into putting together your next campaign.
Here are five fundamental ideas to consider when building a successful advertising approach.
1 – Know your Audience
Before designing an advert, make sure you fully comprehend the target demographic of the intended customer base.
- What age group are you focusing on?
- Are you hoping to attract male or female buyers?
- Do you plan to appeal to young adults or baby boomers?
- Do your customers work from home and enjoy a casual environment that’s less formal than traditional office space?
Knowing the answers to questions like these will help you narrow down the focus of your designs later on.
Once you’ve got the general idea of whom you hope to reach, figure out precisely what kind of person fits that description: a man between 30 and 40 years old living in New York City, for example, would likely differ drastically from a woman under 25 interested in adopting pets.
An excellent place to start is by looking at the website of a local business that fits your target market (i.e., if you’re looking to sell products aimed at children, look for websites with content geared towards them).
If no businesses come up right away, take inspiration from your favourite online magazines, newspapers, and blogs.
For this exercise, begin by creating your own list of adjectives describing the kind of person who should target your advertising design.
Be as specific as possible — “fashionable” doesn’t mean much unless it’s paired with “young”, for instance. As you go through each word on your list again, think about how they might describe the people.
2 – Be Consistent with the Message
Another important concept of advertising design revolves around keeping consistency throughout your various forms of promotion.
For instance, if you’re running television commercials, web banners, printed materials, radio spots and billboards on public transportation systems, try to maintain similar messaging no matter what form it takes.
After all, if you send out flyers saying “Buy Our Product”, you should also include a URL where people can buy it online.
3 – Use Visual Hierarchy
This principle of advertising design worth mentioning involves utilising visual hierarchy as often as possible.
Simply put, this means presenting the most crucial element of your campaign first, followed by less significant aspects last.
Take, for example, a restaurant opening its doors to eager patrons. Their front door might feature prominently on posters placed nearby, along with a neon sign welcoming visitors.
Inside, tables covered in red tablecloths and candles lined up against walls painted white would set the tone for the overall atmosphere of the establishment.
Finally, menu cards placed strategically throughout the dining room list each dish available for consumption to entice hungry diners.
By following this rule, customers wouldn’t feel overwhelmed by the number of choices offered during mealtime.
Instead, they’d experience ease and comfort at experiencing everything that the restaurant had to offer.
That way, they could decide precisely what they wanted to eat without having to worry about ordering anything extra.
4 – Create Emotion
Alongside visuals, emotion plays a massive role in getting your point across to a targeted audience.
When creating a piece of advertising design, pay close attention to how emotions affect feelings and thoughts among viewers.
- How can you elicit a response emotionally?
- Will bright colours incite excitement?
- Or perhaps sad music compel sadness?
Only after answering these kinds of questions thoroughly will you be able to determine the exact emotional reaction you wish to evoke from your target market.
You don’t always control what types of moods and emotions are triggered when people see your work, but it is worth being aware of them to know how to manipulate those responses in the future.
5 – Tell Stories
Lastly, another vital aspect of advertising design is telling stories. While many advertisements nowadays utilise stock photos or generic figures to represent concepts, proper advertising relies heavily upon engaging narratives to convey informative messages.
Don’t forget to weave a compelling story that speaks directly to your audience’s needs. Not only will this draw them in and make them curious enough to click away to explore more, but it’ll also give them a memorable takeaway that they can share with others.
A large portion of most company websites are cluttered, unorganised messes of text, images, and links. When users land on a website and see this, there’s no reason for them not to leave right then and there.
It’s just one more thing that makes visitors feel like you wasted their time before they even get started looking around.
How Can You Benefit From These Ideas?
Thinking about how to advertise your business correctly isn’t always easy. However, the tips outlined above should prove helpful when considering your next campaign. Keep them in mind whenever deciding on how to promote your company.
And if you happen to be in charge of planning an upcoming advertising project and want to ensure that you’re staying consistent with these guidelines, contact us to discuss our expertise in the industry.
We specialise in helping small businesses grow bigger and stronger through strategic marketing efforts.
What Does All This Means To Me As A Small Business Owner/Entrepreneur?
With competition growing increasingly fierce in today’s society, it becomes crucial for businesses to stand apart from the crowd to survive long term.
Unfortunately, many smaller organisations don’t have the budget to hire top-tier agencies to handle their advertising design projects.
Fortunately, however, there are plenty of affordable solutions that anyone can implement immediately to improve their chances of succeeding in today’s marketplace.
In some cases, small business owners may be able to take matters into their own hands and do the job themselves.
Though less costly than hiring an agency, this option is well worth considering if you’re sure your skill set matches that of an experienced marketer.
If you’re not confident in your marketing abilities, though, then you’ll want to work with a digital marketing agency that understands your needs.
While these three areas will certainly help shape the direction of your business, you shouldn’t neglect other factors that influence marketing success, including:
- Targeted Marketing
- Positioning On Search Engine Results Pages
- Social Media Optimisation
- Video Production
- Online Video Ads
- Search Engine Marketing
- Pay Per Click
- Display Network
- Email Marketing
- Banner Exchange Programs
- Text Link Ads
- Content Syndication & Distribution
- Link Building
- Mobile Marketing
- Offline Print Campaigns
- Blog Post Promotions
- Website Redesign
- Submission Services
- Brand Development
- Copywriting
- Graphics / Web Design
These are just a few examples of how you can increase your brand’s visibility and get more leads for your business with advertising design. Most importantly, remember that a little hard work never hurt anybody… so get started today!
