When working with a designer to create your brand, advertisements, packaging, or anything else you need designed, your gut instinct is to create something you love. So many business owners forget the fact that while they have to like and approve the design, it also has to appeal to your audience.   User centered design starts at the very beginning with your brand. Your brand identity is the face and voice of your company. So yes, while it has to speak in your tone, it also has to speak in a way your target market understands it. User research, market testing and analysis are great ways to get an in depth look on what your customers want and what will appeal to them.   Simpatico is here to help and guide you through this. It can be a lot of information to go through and a lot of business owners just don’t know where to start. Here are a few steps to get your started:  
  1. Identify Your Target Audience A great design should always start with having a thorough understanding of who it’s for. Knowing demographics such as age, gender and location is your foundation. From there you need to choose the right elements that appeal to them such as colors, fonts, layout and mediums. The more you know about their lifestyle (what they do, where they do it, hobbies, what products they use, etc.) the better you can complete this step.
  2. Create Buyer Personas Taking a walk in someone else’s shoes is a great way to determine if what your research has shown so far is accurate. More than likely, there will be multiple different personas that will engage with your company and purchase your product or service. Role playing with each of those personalities will give you a general idea if you are on the right track to attracting this particular audience.
  3. Research Competition This is important for a few reasons. Knowing your competition will give you a good idea of where your business stands/how they compare. You are not looking to copy them or take their ideas, you are just looking to see what they are doing to figure out what works and what doesn’t. Specifically, check out their website, social media and any other advertisements. Pay attention to what they do well but also what they don’t do well and improve that for your company.
  4. Put aside Personal Preferences. Colors, fonts, imagery-all of it needs to pertain to your audience. There is a difference between good design and design that you like. Just because you like it does not mean your audience will. Your goal when choosing design elements should be good design that appeals to your audience.
  5. Pay Attention To Your Content Everything from length, how in depth and writing style need to be analyzed and chosen to fit your audience. For example, while short and sweet might appeal to younger generations, a little more informative and lengthy content might appeal to older generations. Choosing a tone/writing style can also set a first impression with your audience. You need to choose a writing style that matches up with what you are offering. Friendly and witty might work for fun and recreational products or services but something more traditional and conservative would be best for legal services. Whatever you are offering, make sure your verbiage and tone are appropriate for that product or service.
  While they can be lengthy and time consuming, these steps are important in to creating design that works for your audience thus attracting more customers. Call us today to get started!