Collateral should be one of your brand or company's most prized possession. It reflects their value and is designed to make an impression of the company's identity on customers.
The endpoint is to create a connection between you and your audience. Your audience should be able to see all that you represent in your marketing collateral.
How do you make that connection? How do you move them from being an admirer to someone that buys into your vision? You need compelling words to do that, right? Yes, you do! But that is not all you need! More than words, you need a design that fits your content. You don't want a design that contradicts all you've written in your collateral.
Good marketing collateral is the combination of compelling words and compelling design. As much as you can have a guide on the kind of words to write, there are also principles for designing collateral.
Pro Tips on Designing Effective Marketing Collateral
Your marketing collateral should be able to get your point across as quickly as possible and also evoke the right emotions. It requires that you know what to do before you start. So, what are the things to do?
Focus on the customer
A conventional advertisement focuses on explaining your product and what it can do.
Now, you must consider the message for your marketing collateral from the customer's point of view.
Your business exists because of the customers' problems; it should be visible in your collateral. Don't make your collateral all about yourself and what you can do. Make it about your customer. What are their challenges and pain points? You only talk about yourself concerning the problems you are solving. It makes them feel you are interested in offering help to them. Your focus should be on what they need, not what you can sell.
Clear Design
Have you seen a dress that seemed perfect for your body, but it'd just torn or faded out? That is exactly how it looks if you have an idea that offers a real solution, but people can't even get to understand what you wrote on your collateral. Let your design be direct and very clear.
After you have settled the issue of purpose, that is the purpose for the collateral being the customer. It is always good to use a straightforward design. No blurred words, no misspellings, and the logos and other graphics are where they should be. A mistake in the text or the wrong logo or image placement can create a wrong signal. So, you want to be diligent with your visual design.
Consistency (in Branding)
Consistency implies consistently delivering messages consistent with your brand's identity and values. Consistency means that your target audience is exposed to the same core messages. Your branding will be more consistent if your messaging is consistent.
The importance of brand consistency is that it leads to brand recognition. It would be best if you always strived to be recognizable by your target audience. You could say that brand consistency is a higher level of marketing. By being consistent in your messaging, you can differentiate your brand from competitors. It is imperative in a highly competitive and saturated market.
Consistency gives you credibility. Changing designs now and then on your collateral doesn't sell you well. Ensure consistency in your branding. The logos, slogan, text format, and overall purpose should be consistent. Inconsistency confuses people and makes them lose interest quickly. However, consistency makes things easier. It makes recognizing your brands very easy. If you are known for a particular color, your brand name pops up wherever the color is seen.
In designing your marketing collateral, clear visuals and brand consistency are critical.
However, you are not the only one who generates collateral. Other people are communicating about your brand and might not even adhere to the three principles.
So, how do you ensure that all of your marketing collateral is consistent in design?
What happens when a policy changes, you begin working with new external partners or hire new employees who were not present at your initial presentation session?
The easiest way is to use Digital Asset Management. You can compile all your collateral in Digital Asset Management software with cloud backup.
Final Thoughts
Marketing collateral is not just about the words. The design projects the words better, making them more meaningful. The logos and icons communicate to customers too. Hence, it is essential to know design principles that will be useful for creating compelling marketing collateral. This blog answers your design questions (UI/UX). It would help if you visited here more often.