We hate to say it, but those Power Point slides aren’t cutting it for your marketing.
Last month we talked about the value you get from a professional copywriter. Well, same thing goes with graphic design. If you’re cutting costs by doing designs yourself, you’re not doing yourself or your business any favors. In fact, poor design—just like poor grammar—can be an instant turnoff for your prospective customers.
Here’s why you need professional design.
DIY Design: Wasting Time and Money on Bad Imagery
If you’re not a professional designer, then putting together any kind of imagery is going to be a bit of a struggle. DIY design is arguably even harder than DIY copywriting. After all, we all use English in some form on a daily basis, but most non-designers aren’t using design software in their day-to-day lives.
So you sit down at your computer and you muddle through. You kind of know what you want your design to look like, but it’s hard to get there. You don’t know what tools to use or even what’s available. Something doesn’t look right but you don’t know why or how to fix it.
You wind up spending several hours on a design that still looks amateur. You’ve got better things to do with your time.
Experience = Efficiency
You’ve spent years becoming an efficient expert in your own work. Think about how far you’ve come. We’re bringing you that same efficiency in your marketing designs, right now.
Professional Images Have Major Impact
Yep, your prospective customers are doing that to you.
The good news is, the opposite is true, too. A well-made design can charm the viewer without them even knowing it. It brings people in. They can’t see all the various layers and visual principles that go into a good design. They don’t see the machinery behind it. A bad design looks like hard work. A good design makes the appeal look easy.
Different Platforms Have Different Design Needs
And that’s just the beginning. There are all kinds of other design technicalities across all online media and real-world print marketing, too.
The Devil is in the Details
Is your design the right shape, size and resolution? How will it appear if it’s used in a Facebook ad vs. a boosted post vs. a preview thumbnail for a link? How easily can you edit your image or will you always have to start from scratch? Can you add or remove text? Are you using the right font? Is the color consistent with your branding?
These are the kinds of things that make DIY design that much harder—if they occur to DIYers at all. They’re also the kinds of variables that a professional designer deals with fairly effortlessly on a regular basis.
As with so many aspects related to marketing in the 21st century, graphic design is both complicated and important. A professional designer can give you what your company needs while allowing you to devote your time to your own expertise.
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