How Design Can Influence Your Business

Creating a lasting impression
Design and branding is the first thing consumers will see when they come across any business. Businesses have less than a tenth of a second to make a good and lasting impression on their consumers. Your design can say a lot about your business and even the smallest changes can have a powerful effect on consumer’s actions. So, in this case first impressions are crucial. Design plays a huge role in whether or not consumers trust your business, remain interested and if they’re motivated enough to engage with you.
If your design is unattractive, chances are consumers won’t engage with or trust your business.

Being memorable
Design helps to make your business more memorable, especially if your design is used consistently. Your logo, colour choices and branding decisions have a big impact on the memorability of your businesses. Consumers often side with businesses that they recognise, so the more memorable your business is the closer you are to attaining loyal customers.

Stand out from the rest
Design allows your business to stand out from your competitors. This is beneficial as consumers are more likely to remember a unique brand than one that looks like the rest. There may be businesses with a similar offering or business idea as you, but one thing that will differentiate you from your competitors and give you competitive edge in the market is your design. This is often the deciding factor that motivates clients to make a decision. Your product shouldn’t only be better but should appear better.

Becoming user friendly
Design makes your business user-friendly and is essentially what guides consumers through your customer experience journey. This can be the design of your business’ product, interface, website, identity, packaging etc. Design transforms complex business into something more accessible, user-friendly, fun and rather exciting.

Communicating effectively
As visual creatures, most of us process information better when it is in visual form. Most consumers are getting the majority of their understanding of your business through visual elements. Therefore, design plays a major role in effectively communicating with your target audience. Design allows you to create and showcase your business, product or service in a way that motivates and resonates with your audience. Design shows consumers that your business is the answer to their search and you are able to satisfy their needs and wants.

Attaining loyal customers
Design communicates to your consumers who you are, what you do and what your company’s values, aims and message is. Consumers will often choose a business based on whom they share similar values and ideas with. Design has a huge impact on whether consumers trust your business or not. Businesses with unattractive designs are often rejected and mistrusted. Consumers will often not explore or revisit your business due to your poor design. Good design is the best way to win new consumers, drive sales and convert potential consumers into loyal ones.

Design isn’t only used to make things look nice. Design is used to make things work efficiently in hopes of increasing your business’ profit. Therefore, companies whose focus is purely on data-driven strategies run the risk of turning consumers away. These companies don’t consider how design influences their consumer’s impressions. However, companies that do integrate and embrace design are more likely to experience positive outcomes and have a deeper understanding of their consumers. By investing in design, you are basically investing in your future profits. It may cost your business a bit now, but in the future it will all pay off.

Interested in investing in good design?
Contact PURE on accounts@purecreative.co.za or call on +27 (21) 424 6918 to set up a complimentary 20 minute consultation, let’s create something great together.