First impressions
count. In fact, some believe that our immediate pathological reaction to a
person or organization is the one that pretty much defines every facet of our
ongoing perception of them. It is said that we process information, consciously
or unconsciously, in such a way from that point on to confirm this initial
impression.
Whether that is true or
not, it is hard to deny that our first impression of a person or product is an
important one and takes some effort to change. With that in mind, creating a
compelling visual design should be a priority for anyone putting together an
effective marketing plan. This is just as true in the virtual online world as
it is in the ‘real’ world, as consumer attention is even harder to catch and
retain in the ever-changing, distractingly noisy and increasingly busy
marketplace that is the internet.
Standing out
The aim of any marketing plan should be to make your
website or ecommerce store stand out from the crowd. This is no ordinary crowd
either. However unique and special you think your particular product and
service may be, it is a safe bet that one quick internet search is all it will
take to unearth a whole range of potential competitors who are equally
committed to winning the custom of your potential clients.
This can make the whole enterprise feel a bit daunting,
especially for people who have not set up ecommerce sites before. Fortunately,
there are many people in the same boat and plenty of lessons you can learn from
the mistakes and successes of people who have already tried to launch a product
online.
Research,
research, research
The first step is to do your research and learn from
others. Search the market you want your own product or service to inhabit and
identify what people are already doing in this area that works well. Fortunately,
there are plenty of success stories to learn from, and examples of companies
that have not just embraced the online world but also made it their home. Carol
Wright Gifts, for example, is a leading online store whose style and appearance
could potentially offer some great inspiration for how you could go about marketing your product online.
Here are some other hints and tips for communicating your
brand identity with the impact it deserves and indeed requires:
·
Get their
attention. There are over a billion websites out there, with more and
more being created every day. To make yours stand out, it needs to be visually
arresting and exciting. Bright colors and eye-catching animations are one
approach but can in fact be off-putting and even inappropriate. Instead, your
website should have something unique about it that makes people want to stay
and shop. To that end, it should also be obvious how people can find out more
or even make a purchase, so that once you have their attention that translates
into actual sales.
·
Match it to
your product. A graphic design plan should be part of an overall
marketing strategy and not just a stand-alone project. This is because whatever
visual identity you choose should reflect your product or service in both practical
and tonal terms. The most important thing here is to think about your desired
audience and what sort of look and feel is most likely to appeal to them, from
an aesthetic point of view. Any colors, images and even language used on your
website should reflect this overall tone in order to emphasize your brand and
reiterate a sense of consistency at every point of contact.
·
Make it
visual. People
have short attention spans, and this is never truer than when they are browsing
the web. We are naturally averse to reading too much on a screen, and even
disinclined to scrolling down. You should therefore avoid using too much text.
Keep it punchy by using short sentences and simple language, but most of all
try to convey your message through infographs and other images. A picture
paints a thousand words, and can get a point across in a few seconds. This
would otherwise require several pages of text and far more reading than an
average web-user is generally willing to undertake.
·
Keep them
coming back. Getting attention is one thing, maintaining it is quite
another. So think about what it would take to achieve that holy grail of any
commercial enterprise: repeat custom. You can have the most eye-catching
website in the world but unless you keep it updated and regularly refreshed it
will quickly go stale. Update your graphics in a way that is consistent with
the style you have already worked hard to establish, and think about new
content as well. Perhaps you could have a blog in which you convey your
thoughts and feelings about the latest industry developments, or a helpful
links page that is regularly updated. Anything that keeps the look and feel of
your site fresh and new is guaranteed to help keep your audience coming back
for more.
An
exciting future
If you have an exciting
product or service that you firmly believe in, it is important to understand
that this alone is not enough to achieve success. Like it or not, you need to
market it as well, and in this day and age, that will inevitably include
marketing online. The popularity of the internet and increasing use of the
online world means that there are very few organizations left, large or small,
that do not have some kind of web presence.
The first step in
making such a presence as effective as it can possibly be is a strong visual
identity. Something that catches attention, tells people at a glance what your
product or service is and interests them enough to find out more and maybe even
become a consumer or user.
With all this in mind,
developing a strong visual identity must be an absolute priority for anyone
serious about making his or her online enterprise as big a success as it can
possibly be.
Source: CSSmania