In our 9 Practical Business Marketing Tips You Can Apply Today series, we’re giving you one quality marketing tip every day for two weeks and showing you how to apply it step-by-step. Today, we’ll talk about tip #1, creating a cohesive narrative.
What is a cohesive narrative?
When something is cohesive, it means that all of the parts that make it up work together well. Nothing is out of place and everything fits together in a way that is unique and interesting. Think of the example of a story: when the characters, setting, dialog, and plot all work together well, you have a cohesive narrative.
You can do the same thing with your brand. Things like business cards, email signatures, landing pages, social media images should have similar color schemes, fonts, and styles to maximize their marketing potential. Everything your company touches should have a defined and distinct look about it that is your own.
Why is creating a cohesive narrative a great marketing strategy?
It will attach your brand to a specific aesthetic that will remind viewers of your brand – even when they aren’t visiting your website. By using the same style across the board – everywhere from social media to business cards to your website – you will reinforce your brand’s image.
It will also make your website more attractive. We all know the feeling of visiting webpage only to find it cluttered with random images and different fonts. If your website is attractive, it suggests that your products and services will also be held to a higher standard of excellence.
How do you apply today’s tip right now?
Here are three steps to applying today’s tip:
1. Work up a brand guide
A brand guide is exactly that – a breakdown of all the different aspects of how your brand looks. Pick a few colors that you will use throughout your design (for example, Soulheart uses specific shades of purple, orange, black, and white in almost everything). Also, decide on a font or two that you like and find a few images that epitomize the image of your brand. These images will be a useful inspiration – and also work well for social media covers and blog featured images. Pro tip – Unsplash has thousands of beautiful images that are free to use in any way.
2. Use more white space
We believe in the power of white space. Restraint is a powerful guiding principle in design. If you want to look like you did something on purpose and confidently, resist the urge to put filler graphics in every empty spot on your site or business cards or whatever you are designing. Instead, focus on a few key elements that you want to emphasize. Let everything revolve around those.
3. Have someone critique your website
Feedback matters. If you really want to do something different and unique, you’ve got to get an outsider’s view to measure its effectiveness. Have a friend or someone unfamiliar with your company’s website give it a look. Then, sit down with them and ask them a few questions like:
- What kind of feelings did you get from my website?
- Do you remember if I used warm or cool colors?
- Do you think everything looked like it went together, or did anything stand out too much?
- Did the design on the website enhance your experience?
- What could make it look more cohesive?
Takes notes on what they said – and buy them a coffee! Then, begin to take some steps to take into account their suggestions and ideas. Make revisions until your site and overall brand rings of a cohesive narrative that is compelling and beautiful – and watch as your site begins to market itself.
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