Better Design = Better Profits: 5 Tips to Skyrocket your Revenue

Solid design is the key to the success of your company. Its importance is often underestimated, but design can literally make or break your business.

Design is more than the outward appearance of your website, packaging, and marketing materials. It’s more than just how something looks, it’s about solving a problem, communication, and how something works.

And it plays a part in nearly every aspect of what most businesses do.

The most successful companies I’ve worked with know this well.

For example, during my time as Senior Designer for top personal growth platform company — Mindvalley — design was a priority in everything we produced.

Mindvalley’s CEO is known for having a penchant for good design — and it’s a large part of what makes that company so successful.

Design was always included in the launch strategy of every new digital course. Nuances from the shape and colour of buttons on optin pages, to A/B-tested visuals that eased a customer’s journey through a sales sequence.

Every detail of a product and purchasing sequence was curated and crafted in a way to entice potential customers, and then guide them with the least amount of friction to the ultimate goal. The sale.

Design was also a key factor in Mindvalley’s ability to attract top talent from all over the world — to move to Malaysia and work thousands of miles away from their home country.

Flawless brand messaging to clearly communicate your company’s mission and how customers see themselves in this vision is a crucial part of good design.

It’s how you create raving fans.

The Stats

According to Adobe, companies with a strong design outperform companies with a weak design by 219% on the S&P Index (a stock market index) over the span of 10 years.

Another shocking stat from the UK Design Council states that
“For every £1 invested in design, businesses can expect over £20 in increased revenues.”

See more hard facts of the value of design in business.

So what areas of your business can you look at to increase revenue and save precious time and money with design?

Well there’s several. I target 12 key areas including things like value proposition, user experience, and ad campaigns.

Here are 5 to get you started:

1. Trust and Credibility

Simple fact. If your site looks like shit or is outdated, visitors won’t take you seriously and will leave.

You severely run the risk of driving potential customers away just by the appearance of your site or brand.

48% of people surveyed by Tyton Media said that the website design of a business was their number one factor in determining the credibility of that business.

It’s not just about “updating the look” of your site or social media.

Your digital presence needs to communicate your MISSION, your OFFERING, and be RELATABLE to your demographic.

A combination of thoughtful branding created through empathetic visuals and copy that speaks to your customer are key to piquing interest and gaining the trust of potential customers.

2. Make a Good First Impression… QUICKLY

People have a very short attention span.

Google performed testing and found that 17 to 50 milliseconds were all people needed to form an opinion about a website.

Our generation of scroll culture sees 4,000–10,0000 ads and products EVERY DAY.

So how do you grab attention?

Design.

Well-designed products and services that people actually want, coupled with strategic copy and engaging visuals that drill home your value proposition = results.

The design of your site also needs to follow a psychological process by which users are visually taken through a journey to create initial interest and then to get them to where you want them to go.

3. Say Something Unique About Your Customer

Answer me this.

Are you a mac or PC user? What do you feel your computer says about you?

As a designer, I not only use a Mac because it’s a standard in my industry, but I like what that product SAYS about me.

To me, toting around a sleek piece of hardware communicates that I value quality and beautiful things. It can also communicate status — like owning a luxury vehicle.

Apple did a fantastic job persuading people that they would be cool for simply owning their products with their famous Mac vs. PC ad campaign.

The best brands become part of people’s identity.

Have you thought about what your brand says about your customer?

Good Design can be used to create a product (both physical and digital), service, or personal brand that makes people proud to show off or be affiliated with.

It’s the reason unboxing experiences are so hot now. People want to share beautiful things and unique experiences.

Free advertising anyone?

4. Stand Out From The Competition

It goes without saying that if your product or brand doesn’t stand out, it’s much less likely to be noticed — and purchased.

The design (which includes function) of your product or service is the #1 way to get people’s attention.

It’s also the best way to get your product into people’s hands. For example, developing single-serving packaging options that allow a customer to try before committing to purchasing a full physical product.

Design also adds VALUE to products and services. Customers are often willing to pay more for well-designed products (both physical and digital).

I’ve personally designed products where customers have told me they didn’t even care what the product was—they purchased it because they loved the beautiful and unique packaging. Seriously.

5. Designing For Your Customer

Some business owners have a hard time believing this, but your brand isn’t about YOU (insert facepalm). Your brand exists to elevate your customers’ self-image, help them to achieve their goals, and become the kind of person they want to be.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched CEOs implement horrible design choices because it suits them personally.

And it sucks — because it not only damages the integrity of the brand’s messaging, it also takes away from the user’s experience, and can dissuade them from your product or service.

Did you know that people aren’t interested in 7 out of every 10 products put out into the market?!

That’s insane. And wildly irresponsible.

Used wisely, a solid value proposition paired with thoughtful design are the best tools you can utilize to create a product or service that people ACTUALLY WANT.

And when it comes to e-commerce, the user’s experience must always, ALWAYS be considered first.

There is a system of psychological processes that a user goes through to make a purchase.

Good UX Design is key to navigating and converting a site visitor into a customer.

It’s like design science. And if you haven’t deeply considered it for your e-commerce site, do it immediately.

In Summary…

As the saying goes, good design is just good business.

If you’re a business owner or marketing manager, consider conducting a design and branding audit to:

• Align your messaging with your customer’s needs
• See how your physical or digital assets can be improved to add value for your customers
• Fix profit leaks
• Stay relevant in your industry
• Reach new demographics
• Optimize marketing spend
• Accelerate growth

Let me know your thoughts on this topic!