5 things you need to know to optimize your conversion power

We’re a team of experienced designers, so we know the importance and effectiveness of great design. But what about content? We see countless companies doing their brands a huge disservice when it comes to the content—both offline and online. And we’re here to tell you…attention to content isn’t a digital marketing trend. It’s an absolute must if you want a successful brand.

Content issues come in all shapes and sizes. From no content to bad content, when you have a lack of clarity in your messaging, you have a lack of conversion power. Since print and online spaces are visual, leading with design is a common practice, and that’s often when content gets left in the dust. So we’d like to share a few things that might help you see the importance—and the potency—of marrying design and content.
 

1. Bad content can hurt your design

Design and content need to have a symbiotic relationship, supporting each other for maximum impact and effectiveness. When you have poor content, no amount of beautiful design will help the messaging speak to your audience. In fact, bad content can actually detract from the design, creating a friction that results in customer drop-off.
 

2. Strategy creates the blueprint for awesomeness

Approaching your design and content from a strategic angle is a vital step. When you begin a project by addressing factors like target audience and the desired action you’d like that audience to take, it creates a strong foundation upon which to build your design and content. Without a smart strategy, the parts don’t fit or function as they should, leaving you with a weak structure. Consider hiring a content strategist along with your designer. This collaboration will build powerful branding that looks and reads beautifully.
 

3. Silos don’t help anyone

It’s common practice for companies to have their content creators and designers working separately. The design is given to the writer to “fill in the space,” or the writing is given to the designer to “make it look good.” This is not a best practice. Creative collaboration between writers and designers assures that the brand is consistent, the conversion potential is stronger and the process is altogether smoother. Plus, creative collaboration allows for expansion on ideas, often birthing even bigger and better results.
 

4. Thought leaders don’t follow the crowd

Resting on the laurels of your awesome design won’t do your content any favors. What needs to be said that hasn’t? Rather than reconstituting existing ideas and written content, this is the chance to be a thought leader. New angles, bold directions and provocative thinking give additional credibility to your team and create conversations among the people that wished they’d thought of that. Original content also keeps your team inspired and provides more opportunities for having that content shared among industry peers, which gets your brand more notice.
 

5. Design has a longer shelf life than content

Design and content aren’t always running neck in neck. Great design has more staying power, as it’s job is to make the content look good and function well. Content, on the other hand, needs to constantly evolve along with industry trends and new developments. It’s important to create a “visual house” that can accommodate that ever-changing content. We’re not saying that things need to be rewritten every week. But something as simple as new headlines, blog posts or calls to action can keep your brand fresh and interesting.

Are you doing it right?

The last piece of advice we’ll leave you with is this: don’t stand too close to your brand. In other words, it’s a smart idea to bring on an outside expert to assess your design and content (or lack thereof) and help you formulate a plan to get it on track with your goals. When your design and content are harmonized, there’s no stopping your conversion power!

Think Baseline provides complete design and content solutions for a broad range of brands. If you’d like to create a strong and beautiful relationship between your design and content, get in touch with us; we’d be happy to help.