There is now an abundance of content on the internet. Brands, both big and small, are jostling for space to reach their audience, constantly innovating and creating more content in an effort to stay on top of mind for internet users. But this rush to create content is more likely to lead to burned-out marketing teams than see any discernible improvement in one’s digital marketing strategy.
What marketers need to be cognizant of is the fact that digital marketing is about quality, not content. To make your quality content stand out and attract leads, you need to follow a few simple rules. We have seven design tips you need that will boost your digital marketing without requiring too much effort on the part of marketers and designers.
1. Minimalist Color Palette
Not so long ago, applying a variety of colors to your visuals was the best way forward. But that is no longer the case. Using too many colors in a visual makes the content look busy and confuses the message you’re trying to send.
For marketers, both experienced and new, looking through guides on brand colors will make it immediately clear that colors need to be chosen carefully. Human beings associate certain emotions with colors—using too many will give rise to mixed feelings in the audience.
Additionally, the latest trend is to use a single block of color in digital imagery. Blocks of color not only look attractive, but make your visual content stand out in social feeds. With the majority of digital marketing still suffused with photographs, using an image with one solid color has a high chance of being noticed in busy feeds.
The example below shows a photograph with a solid color hue. The combination makes the messaging stand out and increases the impact of the image itself.
The creative use of color can boost your digital marketing by making your content stand out in a busy digital landscape.
2. High Contrast
Another design tip for using color to make your content immediately recognizable is to use contrasting colors. This is a great way to catch the audience’s eye, as most social media platforms have a solid white or black background. A pop of color will immediately attract attention. Plus, color contrasts are also a great way to highlight information that you want people to notice first.
This example of a Facebook post makes the most of its contrasting hot pink background against the earthy colors of the photo beside. Note how the color also makes the text stand out more, as well.
With the use of contrasting colors, the visuals you use in your digital marketing will be instantly recognizable and will thus increase your engagement.
3. Bold Text
With the rise of Instagram, one would expect text to be less of a focus in digital marketing. But, on the contrary, creative ways of employing text in visuals can make a massive impact on your content’s engagement.
While it can be tempting to put the majority of your messaging in your visual, the minimal use of text is the way to go in the current marketing landscape. You don’t want to crowd your visual as that will lead to your audience losing the message entirely. Keep the text at a minimum when you use it on social media posts or when you build a blog header.
The visual example below shows how you can make your text stand out in a design. The minimal color and large text immediately calls into focus the message of the post.
You should also ensure that the text is large and legible, so that it can be seen easily. Your choice of typography can have a significant impact on your message, something you need to be aware of when when picking brand fonts and creating visual content.
With the correct use of text on a visual, you will be able to make a bigger impact on your audience and increase your digital marketing engagement.
4. Leave Frames Behind
Social media used to have a set framing system for its visuals—the subject of your image would generally be in the centre, with all the content neatly contained within the image. But now, asymmetry is ruling the digital marketing roost.
People no longer want to see clean lines and self-contained imagery. Chaotic use of space is becoming far more attractive, with off-centre visuals and broken grids the favored choice. For marketers, the use of varying layouts also guarantees more exposure to audiences—while a large segment are still using framed imagery, your asymmetrical visuals will gain more attention.
The example below plays fast and loose with Instagram’s square frame, which immediately makes it stand out in a social media feed.
The removal of standardized framing allows for greater creativity on the part of designers and ensures that audiences notice your visuals when they come across it on their timelines.
5. Flexible Branding
Making an attractive logo for your brand is hard work and once you have settled on a design, you obviously don’t want to change it. Doesn’t that completely negate the point of creating a logo in the first place? Not in the current digital market. Your branding needs to be flexible to align with various occasions—such as the rainbow logos for Pride—while still being recognizable as your brand.
Additionally, you also need to think about the size of your logo, as it will appear differently on different platforms. Your logo needs to be flexible enough to fit into the thumbnail of the social profile picture, while still being visible to the audience.
Your logo may have been a part of your company’s image for years, but it is now time to look at how to adapt it to changing circumstances.
6. Be Consistent
According to the latest branding statistics, consumers need to interact with your brand 5-7 times before they even recognize it. That means that all those 5-7 times, your branding needs to be clear and visible.
While being as creative as possible with your visuals is the key to making memorable content, if you do not use your branding in some way or form on all your digital marketing efforts, the entire exercise falls apart. Consistently brand your visual properties with your logo, without overwhelming the design with it.
7. Use Templates
One of the primary ways to create consistent yet flexible content is to use social media templates. Most online tools have several customizable options and give you access to icons, illustrations, and color palettes that enrich your visual marketing. You can also design your own brand kit on these tools so that your branding consistently appears across all your visuals, as you can see from the posts below.
Creativity and consistency are now the most important aspects of visual marketing. These seven simple design tips will help your visual content become more noticeable, boosting your digital marketing and enhancing engagement.
Ronita Mohan is a content marketer at Venngage, the online infographic, and design platform. Ronita is interested in a variety of topics with regards to digital marketing, visual content, and online engagement, which she enjoys researching and writing about. Twitter: @Venngage