5 Things You Need to Know About Visual Marketing

5 Things You Need to Know About Visual MarketingCredit welcomia/Shutterstock The images associated with your company, from your colors and fonts to your logo and photos, make up your visual branding. unterstellung visual elements are a key part of any absatzwirtschaft campaign.Visual branding transcends every aspect of a companys presence in the marketplace, saidEric Lazar, the president of SpeedPro Chicago Loop, a graphics and imaging company that functions as both a marketing agency and a printer. In addition to providing elements like event signage, murals and banners, Lazars company consults with customers to ensure that every element they print is brand cohesive and fully integrated into each companys overall marketing strategy. Through his work, Lazar has become a self-described lead evangelist for the importance of visual marketing.In lieu of a lengthy explanation on the how the brand relates to the other senses of taste, feel, sound and smell, or for a service, the experience and satisfaction, a picture can say a thousand words, explainedLazar.This instant communication makes visual marketing one of the fruchtwein powerful tools a business can employ to connect with customers. geschftsleben News Daily talked to Lazar to find out what business owners need to know to use this tool effectively and create strong visual marketing campaigns.Editors note Need help with your online marketing? Fill out the below questionnaire to be connected with vendors that can help.1. Visual design is part of your brand.Visual cues might be the most important factor in marketing and advertising, saidLazar. Its a combination of color, font, graphics, depth and texture that should evoke a familiar and relatable emotion.These visual cues provide instant communication, unlike reading a website or listening to an ad, both of which take time. Many times, customers dont even realize this emotional reaction is happening.Ninety percent of all purchases are made subconsciously, meaning they are driven by emotional processes, not intellectual ones, said Lazar. For the consumers that no longer have the time to educate themselves, its the logo or visual branding that will trigger the sale.Because visual cues are processed so quickly, any marketing campaign that involves visual elements needs to be carefully considered. All your design elements should tell the best possible story about your brand, its values and what benefit you can provide to customers.2. Your marketing campaign needs visual guidelines.To create an effective marketing campaign, start by creating guidelines for your visual elements. These guidelines should outline not only what designs, images and graphics you use, but also where and how they will appear to create consistent visual cues across your campaign.Brand guidelines, explains Lazar, safeguard the customer experience, ensuring that your brand identity is accurately reflected across every medium and that customers a re receiving the same information, no matter where they encounter your brand. Otherwise, customers may assume that because your branding is inconsistent, your products or services are as well.The three tenets of good visual branding are correctness, consistency and creativity, said Lazar. When brands stray from these core pillars expect less than stellar results.3. Dont crowd your marketing campaign.When you have a new product or an exciting story to tell, its natural to want to share as much information as possible with customers. But being selective about what you include in your marketing campaign is as important for your visual elements as it is for written content.Consumers are looking for easy ways to garner trustworthy information, and one of the biggest mistakes a company can make is to overload an advertisement or a website with too much information, warned Lazar. Consider what the clients absolutely need to know and why, then frame the visual communication around that.The quick communication that visual elements provide can make this easier, limiting the likelihood that youll overload customers with too much or repeating information. It is... vital to pay attention to the distribution and pace of yourmessaging, Lazar said. Repetition is important, but a company also needs to be careful not to overwhelm consumers.4. All marketing needs to be measured.Like any other elements of your marketing, the visual elements of your campaign need to be benchmarked and measured for key wertmiger zuwachs indicators. A/B testing is critical in visual marketing, allowing you to see which visual elements provoke the response you want. If you have the time and resources, test out options before you launch your campaign.During a marketing campaign, social media platforms include built-in analytics for testing engagement and response, and you can use these to split-test different visual elements. For print campaigns or advertisements, test customer response by including d ifferent discount codes or bonuses to see which ad images customers actually notice and respond to.What gets measured, gets done, said Lazar. The visuals are making the difference, good or bad. 5. Sometimes change is necessary but be cautious.Sometimes its necessary to break your brand guidelines and tell a new story. New visual elements in a marketing campaign can be a key strategy for keeping up with your consumers and staying relevant in your industry. But Lazar cautions that while these changes can help you evolve and avoid stagnating, they should be made cautiously.Brands that have a firmly established identity risk the most when they change their visual elements, as redesign failures such as Tropicana and Pepsi. But even smaller brands should be careful when bringing in new designs or images. Too much change can make your brand difficult to recognize. Changes customers dont like can lead to media backlash or misperceptions about your brands message.The purpose of branding and the result of doing it well is so that consumers build a strong relationship with the company, Lazar told geschftsleben News Daily. Divergence from those familiar aspects should be approached with awareness, if not caution and sensitivity. Whether you draw on tried and true visuals or attempt to introduce new ones, carefully consider all the emotional cues that those elements communicate to consumers. Then, make sure that they are consistent across every element of your marketing campaign.Regardless, if a potential customer is browsing a website or leisurely strolling past a storefront for the first time, those aesthetics and optics derive the first impression, saidLazar. And first impressions matter. Katharine Paljug Katharine Paljug is a freelance content creator and editor who writes for and about small businesses. In addition to Business News Daily, her articl es can be found on Your Care Everywhere, She Knows, and YFS Magazine. Visit her website to access her free library of resources for small business owners. 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The 1 Goal I Set That Changed My Entire Life

The 1 Goal I Set That Changed My Entire Life My anthroponym is Natasha Nurse and the goal that changed my life was choosing to be happy. This seems like an obvious goal that everyone should have, but sadly, it is not the case. So many people are unhappy in the United States (especially in New York).It was December 2015, and I was told I was losing my job. When this happens to most people, the first thing they want to do is panic. For me, I saw an opportunity to live my life in a whole new way. I decided to live by the following six principlesCommit to my life motto meet someone new and learn something new every dayBe happy every single day Be daring and fearless, no matter whatAccept there is no such thing as failure only teachable lessonsLive without regret (life is too short to live with regrets) Accept there is no such thing as no only maybe not now or maybe with someone elseThese principles helped keep me sane, focused and happy as I began my jurney as an entrepreneur. This was the journey that not only gave me immense joy, but has led to opportunities in modeling, media, podcasting, radio broadcasting and journalism that I couldnt have even imagined for myself. The goal of being happy turned out to be the most important goal that I could have ever set for myself. Now, since living this way, I couldnt imagine living any other way.Now that you know my one goal that changed my life, I think it is important to focus on the practical steps I took to apply and stay committed to this goal. Here are my seven steps to success.1. Get clear on your intention.My one goal was happiness, because I was a part who focused on accomplishing many things in my life (starting at a very young age) but no one told me that I needed to make sure I was happy. Happiness was like an afterthought or completely irrelevant. I was groomed to be productive and accomplished. However, I soon realized accomplishments without a sense of happiness or joy was completely pointless, so I needed to make a change. I knew that if I shifted how I defined what success meant, then my entire life would change.2. Create an action plan.Goals are great. But if there isnt an action plan in place, how likely are you to achieve that goal? Zero to None. For me to be happy, I needed to be very clear on identifying what made me happy. Luckily, I am fairly low maintenance, so the things on my happiness list includeReading everydayNapping (when I really need it)Dancing SingingShopping (mostly on Vudu or Amazon)Prioritizing my needsBeing creative (i.e. drawing, coloring, sketching, painting)Creating and developing ideas with the hubbyRelaxing with the petsWatching movies and television shows (no matter how many times I have watched them) Working on my business (i.e. coaching, consulting, speaking at events, creating online content, etc.) What was my action plan for happiness? It was simple. If I do at least one activity on this happiness list a day, then I was successful for the day. If I a ccomplish more than one activity, then I am a super star. 3. Eliminate distractors or deterrence.Eliminating naysayers, haters and toxic people was a huge step for me to take to succeed. Why? Those individuals are drowning in their own misery so much, they cant help but attempt to bring you down as well. For me, cutting these people out of my life was the only way to have the freedom of time and mental capacity to focus on me, my business, and what I want to accomplish in this world. If you are determined to accomplish your goal, you will find yourself in the same boat (hint this will be hard at first, but you will thank yourself repeatedly).4. Hold yourself accountable. When achieving a new goal, do you think it is important to have benchmarks along the way? Well, it is. In order to achieve a goal, you have to have tasks and steps along the way. You should attach deadlines to these to ensure your goal gets accomplished. As an overachiever, my goal is really a lifetime goal, so I ne eded to create a plan that required me to be accountable each day (aka Happiness Checklist). If you are working towards accomplishing a goal, how will you hold yourself accountable?5. Be kind to yourself.We can be our number one advocate or our very worst enemy. When we stumble or sometimes fall flat on our faces, it might seem natural to get down on ourselves. But I am here to tell you to stop it This is neither helpful nor necessary for accomplishing your goal. Sometimes you are not going to hit the ball out of the park. Sometimes you will strike out. That is not only okay, it is a good thing. Stumbling or failures are a teachable moment where you can learn. Life is all about learning more about yourself and the world you live in.If there are days where I dont get to check something off my happiness list, I dont tell myself that I failed. Instead, I accept that I didnt take care of myself for the day. I identify what stood in the way of prioritizing my happiness, then make an acti on plan so that the next day I am back on target. Most of all, I am kind and understanding to myself. That is the only way to make sure I can start the next day with the best mindset and attitude possible. 6. Acknowledge every victory. No victory is too small or too large to celebrate. By celebrating every victory, you are giving yourself motivation and confidence to keep pushing towards your goal. You cant expect anyone to do this for you. Your goal will never be as important to anyone else as it is to you. So, smile and appreciate every victory along the way.7. Document the process. If you document your process (the good, the bad, and everything in between), then the following will happenYou will have a record of the journey to look back and reflect onYou will see just how much blood, sweat, and tears went into achieving your goalYou will inspire others to pursue their dreams and to share their journey as wellYou will publicly hold yourself accountable for what you are looking to achieve It might not be easy to document the journey. When you achieve your goal however, you will be happy you took the time to document how you made your dream a reality--Natasha Nurse started Dressing Room 8 to provide a web-based resource where women can gain personal and professional empowerment through her fashion and lifestyle focused blog. She is the Lifestyle Editor for positiv Model Magazine, a Program Coordinator for Long Island Girl Talk, and she co-hosts a podcast with her husband called WokeNFree. Follow Natasha on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google Plus.