Crea t i ng Bu s i ne s s By De s ign 0 208 5041999

Graphic Design • Branding & logos • Advertising • Cartoons & Infographics • Packaging Design www.angcreativedesign.co.uk

Creating Business By Design

Social Media is the newestmeans of masscommunication, the fastestgrowing and the mostcompetitive!

The use of social media hasquickly become a provenand successful means formany businesses but the fast

evolving world of technology makes it a full time jobjust to keep up, let alone keeping ahead of new'fangled' developments.

In the good old days you sold your products andservices via television or printednewspaper/magazine advertising, word of mouth andreferrals. Services you wanted/needed were foundthrough the telephone book or yellow pages - haveyou seen the new micro sized yellow book recently?

The web changed everything, there are probablymore unused defunct web sites on the world wideweb than were in existence in the early years! Todaythe competition for position on the first page ofgoogle ensures more headaches than all thehangovers in the country on a sunday morning!

SEO is the top consideration in most peoples minds forbeating off the competition, however content is reallyKING!

It’s all about relevant content, engaging anddelivering information concisely and in an interestingway to keep the reader on your page.

Thats all great but its getting you seen first!

There are a few other ideas that can help raise profileand presence. With a little thought and just a little bitmore creative talent your on-line image or profile canbe built upon using a strong memorable branding.

I don't talk to an 'egg',even hard boiled!

If you don't have an 'Avatar' or profilepicture dotted around on severalforums you really need to get thatsorted out before reading any further!

Keep it the same - a professional headshot on eachsocial media platform!

It’s so much easier to find the right personwhen the picture is easily identifiable.

People want to communicatewith a 'face'!

Sometimes you can get a way with a logo, cartoon ora fictitious image, but the personality has to be bigand the trust doesn't develop as easily and quickly.On a business page it’s better to have a logo andbuild the brand recognition, but if people are buyingYOU it still may be better to have your image... youneed to consider how your brand works but that isanother whole subject.

Facebook, the third biggest countryin the world, a personal page leadson to the 'fan' page or 'business'page and for those seriouslypromoting their wares a 'banner', or

now 'cover photo' is essential. Facebook offers a freeplatform to a huge audience, who cant afford to missthat opportunity?

The 'Cover Photo' is the 'headline', the initialintroduction for your business, the shop front. Designedwell it portrays you and your business, informs andimpresses. Advertising in its purest form. Create abanner using your logo, your company colours andimages of your products, you have no links for clickthru's but information is essential. Easy to read andtasteful, not in your face and packed from edge toedge with sales jargon.

Essential Graphic ElementsYOU NEED for Social Media DESIGN CONSULTANCY

D E S I G N C O N S U L T A N C Y

Facebook advertising is geared to the reader,targeted by very clever algorithms. It’s huge! Used inthe right way Facebook advertising generates hugerevenue and awareness. Make your ads brandcompliant and interesting. Take some time out to writegood content and use relevant images.

Attractive and provoking will bememorable.

Banners are important - a consistent theme runningacross all your social media platforms will make all thedifference to your overall profile. Seeing andidentifying your business and you will be so mucheasier. However each platform has a different formatand each banner is a specific size. And they keepchanging!

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Linkedin,Pinterest, Google+ - (dont forget Google+) all haveopportunities to create your ownbranded banners.

Wordpress blogging is a seriousbusiness, from the origins of article blogging it is nowis one of the most popular bases forweb design. Easy to use and build and versatile. Canbe easily upgraded and configured to your personneeds. If not brave enough to play with 'code' thereare now drag and drop themes. Bespoke bannerscan be uploaded to give your wordpress template anunique look and personal identity.

Design your banner in keeping with your Facebookand twitter pages, keep the consistency tight but playwith your branding, flexibility is an important

advantage of good branding, the benefit isrecognition.

Think about your 'mobile' banners, they need to beoptimized for all screens with slightlydifferent dimension requirements.Sometimes there has to be atradeoff on what works across allmedia devices

To really enhance your websitesand business pages, think detail.Widgets, icons and buttons add tothe overall design and look of thepage.

Good design needs to be planned, notjust thrown together...

Typefaces and colours need to be consistent. Whencreating elements for the pages consider the shapesyou are using and how they compliment the imagesor the layout. Widgets and icons add interest to apage and do a 'job' at the same time. A 'Click here'button in complimentary colours can draw theattention and encourage an action to lead thevoyeur onto the desired page or article. Simple buteffective and enhances the professionalism of thebusiness.

Finally, a simple and often overlooked opportunity, anemail or forum signature. A simple but attractivebranding component that can be as damaging bybeing either overdone or forgotten. Making it too bigand too detailed, adding too many sales messagescan cause deletion faster than spam! An email withno contact details or blank just gets lost. Used wisely itsmemorable and useful to the recipient, and signs offwith a positive professional goodbye.

Good graphic design is essential to develop abrand that works throughout all media on and off-line. It doesn't have to be expensive but you getwhat you pay for in most instances. If you doanything 'on the cheap' thats what you get. Forprofessional results pay a professional, beingcreative is a talent but knowing how to use itcomes from experience and training.

THE DESIGNThe Devil is in the Detail...

Crea t i ng Bu s i ne s s By De s ign 0 208 5041999

Graphic Design • Branding & logos • Advertising • Cartoons & Infographics • Packaging Design www.angcreativedesign.co.uk