Design Hacks: How to Customize Design on the Cheap

doubleb

Marketing is a demanding sport, even in B2B. The challenge to get your brand out there and call attention to your latest product launch, webinar, event or whatever can be grueling. And no doubt, you have limited time and budget!

Maybe you have in-house graphic designers at your disposal, or you might use freelancers or agencies to help you get it all done. Either way, you want to achieve a custom-designed look without going overboard.

As an experienced freelance graphic designer who also spent years working on in-house design teams for various B2B products, I have a few tried and true tips to help you get the job done creatively and efficiently. Lucky you, I'm in a sharing mood.

Tip#1: Be original in some way

If you're picking a slogan, headline or theme for your promotion, it's hard to be original. And sometimes, that's OK. Business is rife with 'already done' concepts and often you just don't have time to reinvent something totally original. If that's the case, at least try to interpret the theme in a unique way, or style the design in some way that is totally yours. A past colleague of mine would offer the advice: "take that already-done idea and turn it on its ear."

Let's take an example. Say you're planning your annual sales kick-off meeting and you've been given the theme "Leading the Pack." Not much for originality, but you don't have time to argue the point and come up with something new. Instead, interpret it in an original way.

Maybe tie it in with your corporate mascot, or your local sports team. Or maybe choose imagery that is specific to your product/solution and what "leading" might look like for your sales team, not just the generic race-car theme that could just as easily be seen at your 7-year-old's birthday party! No one wants that, my friend.

Tip#2: Keep the concept simple

The best designs start with a concept that makes sense to the content and the application. Maybe you're doing a lead-gen campaign. The main asset is an ebook, based on an industry research survey you conducted. Research stats in-and-of themselves are not very sexy. Your ebook needs a hook. The concept for the hook will drive your title, your graphics and the stats throughout the ebook. It must be relevant and attention-grabbing to your intended audience.

Here are a few examples:

"LinkedIn Content Marketing Tactical Plan"
The theme used here is cartography and mapping
"The B2B Marketer's Lead Generation Field Guide"
This theme is an outdoor adventure guide
"Ouch! Revealing the biggest pain points in B2B Digital Marketing"
They chose the "pain" and a striking typographical treatment

The point is to find a concept that works with your content and can drive the visual presentation of the information in a compelling, relevant and memorable way.

Tip#3: Be consistent and integrated

This leads us to our third tip which is consistency and integration of the design concept. Rarely does one marketing asset stand alone. Once you write that ebook, you have to promote it on social media. Maybe there is a similar webinar the presents the same data. And for all of that you no doubt need emails, landing page and website assets to promote them. To get the most out of your design, be consistent with all your asset treatments and your campaign will work well together to make a bigger impact.

Using the same words, colors, images and URLs will create a truly integrated campaign. Your design investment will go farther because you're just resizing and repurposing what you started with when developing the initial concept. Aren't you the smart one?

Tip#4: Stock art can be your friend

The days of cheesy clip art are a thing of the past -- or they can be when placed in the hands of a skilled graphic designer. Sure, it would be great if you had an unlimited budget like some tech giant who can hire an illustrator or photographer to create an original piece for every project. Reality check; that rarely exists!

Not to worry. Every graphic element doesn't have to be developed completely from scratch to look custom to your project and brand. A good designer knows how to follow your brand guidelines to stay consistent with style, color and fonts. And the best brand books allow room for a skilled designer to stretch their creativity.

Source files can be purchased very inexpensively that are editable and customizable to match your color palette. Typography can be combined with modified vector files, inexpensive stock photography (chosen carefully), textures and backgrounds. With originality you can walk away with something truly unique and custom -- on-brand, on budget and unique to your need.

The secret's out

It is possible to achieve a custom design look without going overboard in time or resources. It just takes a little creativity and skill plus a willingness to work with what you've got. So, go ahead! Think big and aim for something unique even though you may only have a small budget. Only small imaginations think that's a real limitation. We know better, now, don't we?

Newer Post >

How to Earn b2b Street Cred with a Unique Thought Leadership Voice

By Barbara Bogue • 22 Aug, 2023

Thought leadership is a huge part of social media for your b2b brand. And seeing that social media is leading the game over traditional advertising or product marketing, the stakes are ever higher to get it right. Have you fully defined and honed your brand voice? Are you capitalizing on your uniqueness in all of your thought leadership channels? Let’s explore how to define and leverage your unique thought leadership voice to build your street cred – affecting everything from recruitment and attrition to lead generation and your and bottom-line. B2b wins with thought leadership The value of thought leadership is undeniable. 40% of b2b marketers say they’re able to link business wins directly back to specific pieces of thought leadership content. In fact, thought leadership is said to be one of the most effective tools any b2b can wield to demonstrate value, especially in a tough economy. The awareness-building capability of thought leadership can impact the building of new partnerships, acquiring new users and prospects, as well as establishing a corporate reputation that attracts and retains valuable employees. Thought leadership benefits fall into one or more of these categories: Building trust and credibility Differentiating your brand from others Engaging with C-suite prospects, leaders and influencers Winning advocates and early adopters; driving growth Establishing a foundation for marketing content Identifying new industry categories Find your own unique voice With the value opportunity clear, the next step is defining and honing your own unique voice. This takes time and some trial and error. Start with this homework: Know your brand: Be clear on your USP and how you differentiate from others in the market. Have a clear mission and vision (your mission is your what/why that defines what your do; your vision is your inspirational rally cry for the future). Know your audience: Y ou must be clear on who you’re talking too. Thought leadership is about knowing the unique challenges of your users, the industry at larger and your place within it. This requires a deep and tuned-in perspective. Know what matters to your tribe. Tell your story: To capitalize on thought leadership for growth, you must have a clear and relatable story. Weave that origin and vision into every opportunity to draw relevant insights relevant that leverage your point-of-view. Your story must be about the greater “why” while also being personal. Stick to a plan: Thought leadership efforts are not willy-nilly. They should tie into a complete content strategy and within your messaging matrix for your brand. While being flexible enough to jump at media opportunities, don’t lose sight of the three points above, no matter what kind of thought leadership outreach it is. Be actively sharing: Always. Your efforts should be borne out of generosity and a willingness to teach (not to make a profit). Share with purpose and genuine desire; the rest will naturally fall into place. As you earn the respect of those you are helping your leadership will become self-evident and continue to grow in impact. Build street-cred with various tactics As you craft thought leadership opportunities into your content strategy, there are various tactics you can use. Most of them are some combination of current or future-looking trends or strategies, and your unique advice. Think of yourself as the mentor to the rest of the market, and carve out ways to share your wisdom. Present: Define present challenges and give advice for how to overcome them. This might be specific tools, strategies, feature sets or other advice. Remember, you’re a few steps ahead of those that follow you. How can you share what you’ve learned and what has worked for you, to make their journey better? Share research and expertise. Conduct research and share it with the industry. As a leader, you have more access to information or other thought leaders. Leverage your position to gain insight and expertise that others can use int their own practice. Forward-thinking: Identify trends you see in the industry, market or parallel markets that may impact your work. Offer these insights as a forward-thinking perspective. What do they mean? How will these trends inform future decisions? How have you navigated them successfully? Challenge conventional thinking. Being provocative is part of the role of thought leaders and mentors. They challenge us to not just follow the pack, but to forge our own way. How can your insight inspire a new path for someone to follow? If you could do something again, how would you change your course? Provide a roadmap pr a vision for the future . This could be short or long-term. This might be idealism at its finest, paving the way for a provocative shift in the way business is being done. Or it might be a subtle prediction of what new trends we might see down the line in the next year or so. Pull out your magic 8-ball and have at it. You’ve got the tools, now lead With these tips and all your tremendous experience, you’ve got what it takes to build a reputation worthy of imitation. Don’t let imposter syndrome slow you down. We’re all at different points along the professional roadway. Wherever you are, others are still making their way behind you. You can lead and inspire them. So, craft your messaging around your unique brand voice and start building that street-cred. Just remember these three cardinal rules: Be focused, be consistent, and be yourself. _______ If you need help injecting some with thought leadership content ideas or finding your brand voice for your b2b, feel free to reach out . Let’s chat about your brand and how we can make it anything but boring!

Eight Fundamental Design Principles (that also Work for Content and Branding)

By Barbara Bogue • 11 Jun, 2023

We'll review 8 key design principles that are the foundational building blocks for just about any design solution, used alone or combined. They also have parallel interpretations that can be applied to branding and/or content creation. Let’s see how.

Let Creativity Lift Your Brand from Boring

By Barbara Bogue • 08 May, 2023

If you’re like most B2B CMOS, Directors and VPS you’ve got a lot of demands on your time. Your in-house teams are tasked with lead generation, nurturing, thought leadership, sales enablement, product messaging and channel building…I could go on. It’s a lot! And oftentimes, KPI demands are getting, well, more demanding, while your teams and budgets are getting slashed. Does less time ever translate into less creativity? Oooh. Bad choice. Last thing your audience wants from you is boring. So, don’t sacrifice the creativity.