Is it worth it? The challenging process of perfecting a great design. Design that consistently flows throughout your business. The answer depends on your business goals and aspirations. Great design attracts consumers like bees to a honey pot. Great design is beauty personified. Great design also means superior functionality. Which creates ease of use and trust. That’s why great design is worth it! And successful businesses know this; it's why the brands with great design rise to the top of their markets. Here is a list of proven reasons why great design is great for business.
1. Great design boosts marketing and increases revenue
Businesses that implement great design are far more profitable than those that do not. Do we, as business owners, need any other reason? While real success is more than profits, we also know that “no margin no mission”.
Here's what a recent Adobe survey said about design and revenue:
"Companies with a robust design outperform companies with a weak design by 219% on the S&P Index over the span of 10 years.
There you have it, concrete proof that great design makes businesses more profitable and, in turn, increases their value.
2. Great design stands out from the crowd
As online consumerism rises, so does competition. With the average American now being exposed to over 5000 daily brands and advertisements, and studies showing only 12 make it through to leave a lasting impression, your business has to do something pretty special to stand out. You can, of course, take a paid advertising (PPC) approach. Or spend less money, engage with a broader audience, and generate a higher visitor rate by investing in great design.
By investing up front, (and yes, great design does cost money), you're investing in your future. Once implemented, though, the beauty about design is, it will reward you continuously, year in year out, by increasing your brand's attention. It's no secret that beautiful design stands out; use it to shine the spotlight on your business.
3. Great design makes a great first impression
"You never get a second chance to make a good first impression," Will Rogers.
You have about 50 milliseconds to make a great first impression, fail, and your efforts to make your business stand out will have been for naught. It's why businesses increasingly invest in design throughout their marketing strategies. In the physical world, we make a great first impression by making eye contact, smiling, and showing we're interested in the person we're talking to; your business has to do the same.
To make a great first impression, your design elements must instantly engage and resonate with your target audience. They should flow and connect like a chain of DNA, communicating your ideas and informing your audience who you are and what you offer. Most of all, design should provide a consistent great first impression. Get it right, and your business will flourish, get it wrong, and as Will Rogers said, you won't get a second chance.
4. Great design creates a consistent brand image
We love consistency; it's reliable, trustworthy, and dependable. Chaos is the antithesis of consistency, including the daily bombardment of information and advertisements. Consumers are left wanting and searching for a quiet place, one where they feel safe, a consistently reliable one, a known brand. Picture the following three brands: Nike, Apple, McDonald's. Their branding is not memorable because they're successful; they're successful because of their memorable branding. All have used great design for creating a consistent branding strategy that has changed little over the decades, proving consistency works.
5. Great design makes your brand memorable
So, how do we make our brands memorable? Excellent customer service, superior products, and services are a must, but there's more to it. Beautifully designed visuals connect far faster (13 milliseconds) well inside the 50 milliseconds you have for connecting with your audience. 90% of the information we process is visual, and 80% of us remember what we see, compared to only 20% of what we read. By using great design in your marketing tactics, you'll make them memorable. Consider how you create your logo, what colors you use, and how they connect on an emotional level.
A recent study by The Malaysian Journal of Medical Science about color told us, "Color has the potential to increase chances of environmental stimuli to be encoded, stored, and retrieved successfully." When choosing your overall design layout, consider incorporating a distinct color that binds your brand together, and makes it memorable.
6. Great design creates great websites
How long do you spend on a poorly designed website, one that doesn't work as a site should before you hit the back button? As the late great, late Steve Jobs said:
"Design is not just how and what it looks like and feels like; it's how it works."
People don't trust poorly designed websites, meaning they bounce off as quickly. Users now expect a seamless UX (user experience), and that only comes with great design. Minimalism is now the secret to a great UX. It's all about providing users with less, not more, so they can find what they're seeking with minimum fuss. By providing a simple and enjoyable experience to users, they're far more likely to convert from a visitor to a consumer.
7. Great design is loved on social media
Social media is quite possibly the most powerful, cheapest, incredibly versatile marketing platform available to your business today. But there's one thing that all the platforms (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tick Tock, etc.) have in common; they thrive on great design.
We know social media is an excellent way to promote your brand; content can go viral in hours. But, if you look closely, you'll see that people generally only share quality content, images, videos, designs, and brands they're happy to be associated with. It's why you have to use the latest and greatest design tactics to crack social media marketing. But once cracked, you have the potential of engaging a far broader audience, generating leads, and converting clients.
Wrapping Up
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away" Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
And aren't all the most outstanding designs effortless! So, you see, great design isn't complicated. By keeping it simple, you'll overcome the challenges and create a business that profits year in year out from great design.