With so many brands vying for attention, it becomes increasingly difficult to capture and maintain the attention of consumers whose needs vary widely. Whether you are creating a landing page, writing blog posts, or making video ads, your content marketing design and appearance can either attract or repel your audience.
It’s all-too easy to overload your audience with memes, pop-culture images, or other things that do not align with your brand. Establishing a framework for your message will drive high-performing content design. It will serve to shape your stories to align with your brand and captivate your audience with visual content that meets or exceeds their expectations.
What exactly is content design?
Simply put, content design is a type of visual storytelling that is structured to help keep the needs and desires of the audience front and center at all times. For example, there is a difference between a blog post that is simply comprised of blocks of text versus one that incorporates design elements such as infographics, relevant images and/or illustrations, and simple formatting, all of which serve to influence the reader’s emotion and keep them coming back for more.
- Content design helps to unify your content. If all your blog posts have a similar structure, or if your videos have certain visual elements in common, it helps to create a strong visual identity for your brand.
- Content design also helps to direct your audience. It is design with intent. Knowing where to place certain elements on a page so that they are more likely to be seen or noticed helps your audience navigate with ease and makes their interaction enjoyable.
But what really drives great content design? If you thought good design could not be defined, think again. There are four key characteristics you will find in every piece of well-designed content.
- Relevance and consistency
Designing content that creates a visceral reaction does not necessarily make it relevant for your audience. You must consider whether an image will resonate better on its own or on a level that emphasizes the importance of the text surrounding it.
Keeping your content design consistent helps your audience become familiar with your content and gives them an idea of what to expect. When you establish which tone or voice, colors, designs, and visuals are relevant to the brand, then you can find those images, photographs, or video that will form a connection with your audience.
- Multiple formats
Consistency also carries over into how your design appears on a variety of screen sizes. Responsive design (that is, design that adjusts automatically based on screen size) is a key part of high-performance content design.
- Minimalism / Sensory Stimulation
For most people, life is distracting. It offers endless possibilities and choices, which can be overwhelming. In content design, less is more. The fewer choices your audience has to make, the more likely they are to pay attention to the important things. In addition, incorporating captivating visual content is a powerful tool to influence emotion.
- Clear Expectations
Another way to improve the quality of your audience’s experience is to create clear and concise calls to action (CTAs). Not only is it important for your audience to know where to click and why, but it translates into dividends for your brand’s key performance metrics (KPIs), which are vital to your brand’s bottom line.
If your business or organization wants to develop an effective content strategy, or you simply need help identifying and overcoming challenges, don’t wait.
Let Infinity Concepts help you make your message irresistible!
Contact us today!
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