Todd Sumamno
Designers are often at a disadvantage when it comes to marketing. You may be a marketing guru, but if you’re in the design industry, there are some things you need to know. Design-based businesses often face unique challenges when trying to grow their business and reach new customers. It doesn’t matter how good your products or services are; if nobody knows about them, they can’t buy them! This article provides seven Marketing Tips for Design-Based Businesses that will help get the word out about what you do and make more sales.
1. Build a Network
Designers often form professional connections with other designers and people in related industries. These relationships are invaluable because you’re not just tapping into another person’s customer base, but their entire network too! This is how word-of-mouth marketing works at its finest. If you don’t have any industry contacts to start with, though, look outside of where you work or live for inspiration. Attend local Chamber of Commerce events or expand your social media reach to find more people to connect with.
2. Get Creative with Your Marketing
Designers are creative people. They are not just artists and craftspeople, but also love to solve problems creatively too! This is what makes them so successful when designing products or coming up with new ways of doing things in the workplace. The same creativity that goes into their work can be applied to marketing too. It’s essential to find a creative way to get your message out there and connect with the right people at the same time.
3. Optimize Your Online Presence
If you want to reach more people cost-effectively, your online presence is a great way to do this. This is how so many people are connected with the products and services they buy these days. Optimizing your online presence involves having a website or blog, profiles on popular social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, to name just a few of them. If you’re not already using these types of tools in your business, it’s time to start! Not only are they great for reaching more people, but they’re inexpensive to get started with too.
4. Utilize Direct Mail
If you are a designer, another way to market your company is through direct mail campaigns. Eye-catching box and package inserts, coupled with strategic content, help design companies directly reach potential clients and customers, ensuring the best possible direct mail ROI. These inserts usually consist of coupons, gifts, samples, or thank-you cards. This is a wonderful way to showcase your talents/offerings, gain new leads for sales opportunities, as well as boost your brand recognition too!
5. Identify Your Niche or Target Audience
Marketing is all about knowing your target audience and figuring out how to reach them. This can be challenging for designers because their products and services are often geared towards many people. Fortunately, there are ways around this too! You don’t have to market directly to every single person that could buy what you offer; if possible, focus your efforts on a particular group of people to start with. For example, if you design children’s clothing or toys, your target audience might be parents who have young kids. This way, you can market directly to them and not worry about reaching other types of buyers at the same time too.
6. Make Use of Design Influencers
The use of influencers as a marketing strategy has become popular across all industries because it helps generate more traffic to their website. When you sign up with an influencer, they will help promote your company on social media sites and other popular websites. When looking for an influencer, factors include cost, niche, and how many email subscribers they have.
7. Use Interesting and Engaging Content
As a designer, you can provide your prospective customers with exciting content that they can benefit from. It’s an opportunity for them to learn more about what you do without asking questions directly. For example, if someone asks, “how long does it take for your company to design websites?” instead of answering the question directly, it’s better to write an article about the process, which you could call “How Long Does It Take To Design A Website?”
Brittany
