Graphic design is a cornerstone of effective marketing, shaping how brands communicate, captivate, and convert their audiences. When done well, it creates a consistent brand identity and helps marketing campaigns stand out from the crowd.
But why is graphic design so important in marketing, and how can it impact sales? Here’s everything you need to know.
Understanding graphic design in marketing
Graphic design is an umbrella term used to describe creating all of the visual elements of a piece of design. This includes typography, images, colours, and shapes. Some of the most common projects for graphic designers to work on include advertisements, brochures, magazines, websites, and even social media posts.
From a marketing perspective, graphic design plays an important role in storytelling through visuals. The colours, font, logos, and imagery chosen by a brand’s graphic designer have a message, tell a story, and create a clear brand identity that is so important to successful marketing.
How graphic design drives marketing success
So we know what graphic design is, but what we need to know is why it’s so important! Quite simply, good graphic design plays an integral role in driving marketing success.
Good graphic design helps to create strong first impressions. On social media, it might even stop you scrolling! Graphic designers create memorable brand images, convey important messages with key visual elements and create packaging that consumers want to pick up and own.
Graphic design drives marketing success by building brand recognition. Brand recognition helps you to build brand loyalty and attract and retain customers too. Forbes emphasises this, stating that brand recognition is the best way to convert customers.
A study by the Pantone Color Institute found that colour alone increases brand recognition by up to 80%, even without the addition of other key graphic design elements.
The imagery and clear fonts created by graphic design also enhance communication, making it much clearer than simple text alone. This is one of the standout features of good graphic design. It explains complex ideas or emotions more effectively than text alone.
The direct impact on sales
So what impact does graphic design in marketing have on sales? Effective graphic design can increase both sales and ROI. Graphic design achieves this by boosting brand engagement and then conversions. A website with clear calls to action, optimised landing pages, and visually appealing ads is much more likely to appeal to consumers and make them feel confident to buy. Trustworthy design can reduce hesitation to purchase and clear design details can support customer decision making.
And this doesn’t just impact first-time customers either. A strong, visually cohesive brand identity keeps customers coming back. This improves customer retention and supports brand loyalty.
The risks of poor design in marketing
If you don’t have the benefit of a good graphic designer then making poor design decisions in your marketing campaign can lead to mistakes that will hurt both the credibility of your business and lead to a downturn in sales too. Some examples of poor marketing decisions include inconsistent branding and cluttered layouts.
The long-term consequences of neglecting design in marketing could be catastrophic for your business. You’ll find that your sales are impacted (because there is no clear route to payment) and if customers do complete a purchase, they may be less likely to repeat your purchase again. Without clear branding, your business won’t be instantly recognisable to consumers either, so even if they love your product, they may be unable to find it again.
