I’ve been writing about improving the design of your marketing materials for over six months. I’ve covered everything from designing your logo to creating a website. I would like to take a moment and briefly review the topics I’ve covered and the importance of why financial advisors should work with a graphics designer.
Designing Your Logo
Your logo can be the first impression a prospect has of your business and you want it to be good. Creating a logo is like creating a classic hit song. Not only does it need to make an impact, it needs to be catchy, simple, and stand the test of time. And, like a classic hit song, it’s often hard to pull off. That's why you should trust a professional graphic designer to help you create your logo.
You’ll want to consider a few things when you work with a graphic designer on your logo: Who is your audience? What appeals to them? You should be able to explain what your brand and business is about. Research other logos and research what the competition is doing. Look at different styles of logos and get ideas by searching for unique logos. Read more...
What Your Logo’s Colors Mean
Colors have different meanings around the world. Take yellow for example: It can mean energy, happiness, cowardice or even hopefulness. It depends where you are and what the attitudes are. Everyone has different associations and experiences with color. In other words, colors are subjective. So, when it comes to your financial business, what colors should you use when there are so many different opinions? A graphic designer can help you make the right choice.
Blue is heavily used in the insurance industry. Also, the majority of people choose blue as their favorite color. Your colors should depend on your company’s goals and the way you want your prospects and clients to view your company. Read more...
Consistently branded materials
When I’m talking about consistent branding, I’m talking about more than slapping your logo on everything. I’m talking about pieces that are united in their appearance and show the company’s vision. A consistent brand helps consumers identify who you are.
Look at the greatest brands in the world. It takes two seconds or less to figure out if you’re looking at something from McDonald’s or Apple. This is because they have a style they follow throughout their materials, ads, billboards and everything else they do. This branding is professional and uniform. Most companies use graphic designers to help them consistently brand all of their marketing materials.
Font Matters
One way to make a bad first impression is by misusing fonts and typefaces. This is especially true when it comes to the financial and insurance world. If you come off as unprofessional, the client will not trust you. You are handling their livelihood and trust is key.
I have several tips on typefaces and fonts: First, don’t use more than three fonts in a piece. Keep your pieces clean by limiting the number of fonts you use. Second, choose well-known fonts. The big players like Helvetica, Baskerville and Futura are big players for a reason. They have been tested for years with a long history of use. Third, choose a good display font and a good text font. Number four, do not use the fonts Comic Sans, Arial or Times New Roman in your professional materials. Comic Sans will take the wind out of any serious or professional message you want to convey. And my final tip for fonts? Break the rules and experiment. I think it’s important to learn the rules before you start breaking them. The rules provide a foundation for your ideas but they can also get in the way. Read more...
Designing Your Website
Your website is a very important tool in your marketing strategy. It is most likely the first place someone checks before they even do business with you, so it’s important that your website is designed well. It should explain how you and your business can help clients reach their financial goals.
Someone who is experienced with building websites could help make your website look better and appear closer to the top of online search results. Your financial services website won't gain nearly as much attention if it's buried in the tenth page of search results. A professional web designer or website building service can help you quickly create the website you want. Plus, you don't have to spend your valuable time learning to write the code for your website. Read more...
Work with a Professional
With all of this advice wouldn’t it be nice if you could hire an expert or two to keep it straight? Make sure all of your marketing materials look professional by working with a graphic designer. You can hire a graphic designer or partner with an Insurance Marketing Organization that has an in-house graphic designer who can help you with designing your marketing materials.
Just like with print, if you want videos for your website and social media profiles, you should work with a professional video producer. Click the button below to learn how you can get up to 10 free professional, customized videos through our My First Take video production program.
