When you think digital, you think highly measurable, data-driven, metric-driven, and so on. But, there’s more to digital marketing than these heavy terms – no matter the brand, no matter the strategy, no matter the goal, as long as there is a curious audience involved, it’s important to get creative in digital marketing; it’s important to use our minds to win hearts.
Amidst the technicalities of digital marketing, creativity may seem like a superfluous concept, but in retrospect, it lies at the crux of it all. Now, words can be deceiving but numbers don’t lie! Here is some data that’ll settle the age-old battle of creative thinking vs. critical thinking, and prove that both are equally important when it comes to designing for digital marketing-
76% of Marketers believe that attractive design makes your business seem larger than it actually is.
85% of consumers will choose to purchase a product over another because it looks nicer.
8% of Marketers claim that visuals are integral to successful marketing.
Consumers retain 65% of information three days after the message is delivered if delivered alongside appropriate imagery.
94% of users will leave a website immediately if there is poor design.
Social Media posts with images produce 650% higher engagement; Facebook posts with images get 230% more engagement; and Tweets with images get 150% more retweets.
Before diving into the depths of creativity and its importance, let’s first understand the role of graphic design in marketing. Design is one of the key elements of digital marketing – it is a means of communicating with the audience. It helps build brand awareness and influences the customer’s decision-making process. Thoughtfully created designs can take your customers to your intended message, much quicker. No matter how data-driven your digital marketing strategies are, not incorporating visual content in it is equal to a hundred opportunities missed.
Why is creativity important in designing? Thanks to internet users belonging to all age groups glued to their screens for hours on end, consuming content like their favourite food, creativity is back in demand! With the internet being so crowded, it’s important for brands to be unique in their offerings, or in the way they sell and showcase these offerings. Today, ironically, if you don’t stand out, you won’t fit in! Now more than ever, businesses have to charm their audiences by picking up the creative brush and paint graphics, designed for their eyes only.
As brands are swerving in the creative lane, the ultimate weight lies on the shoulders of designers. Every design concept has to have deeper roots, and has to serve a grander purpose. But, the fact remains that creativity doesn’t come naturally to all. For those who are equally passionate about design but are a little less fortunate in the creativity department, here is how you can groom your creative thinking abilities and make way for transformative design ideas.
Pour your personality into your designs! A 2019 Venngage survey of online marketers revealed that original graphics were the visual content that performs best and drives the most traffic. Try to avoid the latest trends and create designs that correspond with your style, leave your personal mark on your work.
While staying original is important, your designs should also be relatable, every element should whisper your intent to the audience, reeling them in as they take in every edge and every curve of the design! Know your brand, know your audience, and draft out a clear goal so it’s easier to dedicate all the efforts in that particular direction.
Behind every success story, there’s a bin full of trial and error chapters! Fortunately for designers, there’s a treasure trove of elements, and forms of designing that they can explore and experiment with. Take all the elements, colors, patterns, styles and bring your creative ideas to life. Choose and combine different fonts and pictures to see what works.
When inspiration knocks on your door, ideas can pour in left, right and center! It’s easy to get carried away when you are thinking creatively. Before you set your heart on an idea, weigh its potential wisely. Ask yourself – does this fit into my Brand’s personality, does it represent my brand well, will my audience relate to it and like it enough to take action. That being said, you can go wild with your ideas as long as they serve the end-goal.
Here are the 7 basic, yet key steps of the Design Process:
-Understand the client brief.
-Do a thorough research.
-Conduct brainstorming sessions with the team.
-Sketch out potential ideas.
-Develop your concept.
-Look at the whole picture and make the necessary changes.
-Polish your designs to perfection and completion.
Design is one of the key elements of Social Media marketing – it is a means of communicating with the audience. It helps build brand awareness and influences the customer’s decision-making process. Thoughtfully created designs can take your customers to your intended message, much quicker. No matter how data-driven your digital marketing strategies are, not incorporating visual content in it is equal to a hundred opportunities missed.
Here are the 8 basic elements of visual design:
-Point
-Line
-Shape
-Form
-Tone
-Texture
-Color
-Text
Yes, since a website is the first, most-trusted place where your customers come to learn more about you, it’s only obvious to build a user-friendly, visually appealing, inviting website design. Website design is a part of an overall digital marketing plan and should be consistent in look, feel and purpose with your other marketing efforts such as social media, and PPC advertising.
If you want the best of both worlds (creative thinking + critical thinking) while curating design strategies for digital marketing, it’s best to trust the experts. i.e. your creative digital marketing agency! They have in-house design experts dedicated to helping you curate a website design, built to give an ultimate experience to your consumers!
As for brands, if you want the best of both worlds (creative thinking + critical thinking) while curating design strategies for digital marketing, stop hunting for the ‘best digital marketing agency near me’ and turn to BrightBrain, your go-to creative digital marketing agency!
BrightBrain Marketing Technologies LLC is a Digital Marketing & Advertising Agency with a focus on building digital solutions for Branding and Increased Sales efficiency. Our expertise includes Digital Advertising Campaigns, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Web Development and Online Branding. Our Google Partnership brings a unique opportunity to work with the internal team at Google, adding even more value to our team & clients.
Suhail Bajaj is the CEO of BrightBrain Marketing Technologies LLP that has now grown into a full-fledged digital marketing agency with 55+ employees and clients from 7+ countries – all under his supervision. Graduated with an MBA from the esteemed Cass Business School, he brilliantly puts his learnings into practice, helping brands meet their business goals and succeed in a digital-first world.
