Design Businesses: How to Build a Brand that the World Will Remember

"Great Designs, Easily Forgotten" - Don't Let Your Business Hit This Dead End

In today's digital age, the market is flooded with design professionals. Social media feeds are filled with graphic design, architecture, and interior design services, all seemingly ready to conjure up magic at the click of a button.

The question is: If your studio is one of them, how can you make people stop and take notice when so many other options look similar?

It's no surprise that some businesses try to attract customers with promotions, offering discounts and bundled packages. Other studios choose to bombard social media with ads, racking up advertising costs in the process. But this often leads to a revolving door of customers who are either difficult to please or don't bring in much profit. And at the slightest inconvenience, they're quick to complain.

This is because these designers are 'selling themselves' with one-dimensional tactics like discounts or frequent appearances, failing to create a lasting impression and making it easy for competitors to replace them. So today, we're bringing you brand-building techniques that will make the world remember you. If you want your business to hit the charts, get started now.

1. Switch from Direct Sales to Heartfelt Storytelling (Emotional Storytelling)

Psychologist Jerome Burner said, "People remember content conveyed through stories 22 times better than facts." Often, we use emotions as a decision-making tool, and we are swayed to buy products based on stories. We can't remember the name or features of a mobile phone until we see the hype or the catchy phrases in commercials. Or we may have every intention of sticking to our diet, but then we see a mouthwatering video and change our minds in an instant.

Creating stories that stick in people's minds or captivate your target audience will increase brand recognition for your design business. However, Emotional Storytelling doesn't just mean sending out heartfelt messages from the brand; it also involves two-way communication (Two-Way Communication) to understand the target audience's perspective. For example, organize activities that encourage followers to participate, share real-time content, and offer helpful information without being too salesy. This will create a deeper emotional connection and make your audience feel the value that the brand is committed to delivering.

2. Know Your Target Audience and Address Their Needs (Audience Targeting)

Whether the stories a brand tells have an impact and create a lasting impression depends on who is listening. Therefore, design businesses need to clearly define and understand their target audience, including their background, attitudes, interests, and purchasing power. They also need to identify how their expertise solves their target audience's pain points (Pain Point). After all, products or services that make difficult things easy always score higher than the competition.

Brands should collect data from participants across various touchpoints (Touchpoint) for analysis, which can then be refined into Customer Persona or hypothetical customer profiles. Quality Personas should be based on data from a large enough number of people who have had real interactions. Once businesses understand the deep-seated needs and problems of their target audience, they can choose the language and topics for communication, create engaging content, and convey the brand's personality in a way that is on point, differentiated, and reaches the right audience most effectively.

3. Make Every Interaction Relevant to Your Audience (Magic of Relevancy)

Once the brand has launched and the target audience is aware of its existence (Brand Awareness), businesses need to go beyond storytelling and bridge the gap between Brand Voice and their customers. A communication approach that has always worked is Cognitive Fluency, or the storytelling technique of 'being yourself'. This involves creating familiarity through content and solutions that feel comfortable to listen to, making the other party feel like they are talking to someone they know.

By nature, people tend to listen to things that match their interests, especially if they come from someone who speaks the same language. This makes it easier for them to connect and move on. Brands should start with the insights of their target audience, communicate in a language that their audience wants to hear, and strive to make their messages concise, easy to understand, and without the need for decoding, while maintaining their own stance and identity. When the principles of Cognitive Fluency are combined with storytelling techniques that wow the audience, it will increase the brand's power to create lasting impressions and engagement, outperforming competitors in the long run.

4. Create a Distinctive Identity with Eye-Catching Visuals (Visual Attraction)

Notice how appearance is one of the first things that draws you in and makes you want to know someone better? This is the science of the Psychology of Attraction, or the psychology of captivating your target audience with the beauty of images and colours. Creating a visually recognisable identity is key to communicating your selling points and conveying the uniqueness of your brand to your target audience amidst a sea of competitors.

5. Build Customer Loyalty and Make Yourself the Top Choice (Brand Preference)

Communicating the value of your Design Solution through strategically crafted visuals and stories that resonate with your target audience is a key factor in building emotional connection. However, skilled businesses that haven't yet developed strong customer preference for their brand haven't built enough brand image and positive sentiment in the eyes of their target audience.

Beyond the final result, design clients also value the experience throughout the process and after the sale. They want businesses with policies and Social Proof that demonstrate a willingness to solve individual problems, or offer Personalised Packages that fit their budget and project scale. This builds trust and allows the brand to occupy a special place in the customer's mind, leading to purchasing decisions, repeat business, and a loyal customer base that supports the business for the long haul.

Summary

The design industry is competitive, and simply offering good design services isn't enough to stand out. By implementing these brand-building techniques – emotional storytelling, audience targeting, relevant communication, visual appeal, and a focus on customer experience – your design business can create a lasting impression, build customer loyalty, and achieve long-term success.

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