How Can Good Design Increase Sales?
Why does one design works and another doesn't? Let's start with some tips that actually impact sales and revenue through the power of design alone.
The Right Perspective on Design
When you create a project with design elements, this isn't just about images or a beautiful logo. Design is an investment in your project. I want you to understand this before you start creating and improving products. It's essential for business owners and product managers to put have it as a high priority task. That's the starting point of creating great products and increase revenue (or create an amazing revenue source).
Let's take a look at Apple company. They created amazing products that were used and wanted by millions. Steve Jobs needed to launch new products with a revolutionary design.
Design Is A Great Investment
You have decided to invest in your business. The question is, what part of the business can be improved to benefit both you and your customers. What kind of investment can actually impact your revenue by increasing it 2, 3, or even 10 times?
If the answer is that the design is the crucial part that can be improved, you might want to know how. But what kind of design can bring a really great ROI?
It might be best to consult with professionals in the design field that have experience in this kind of work. Not only what they know, but what actually they can do for you in your particular case.
Here are some statistics...
ROI in Design
Investment is time, energy, or matter spent in the hope of future benefits actualized within a specified date or time frame (Wikipedia says). ROI as Return Of Investment is a critical important index in any business.
The Design Council, a design advocacy group in the United Kingdom, reported the following findings:
- Shares in companies where design plays a critical role consistently outperform key stock market indicators by 200 percent (specific to the Financial Times and Stock Exchange), thus establishing a connection between design and market value.
- Design-alert businesses were able to increase their market share by an average of 6.5%. Some companies reported that design impacted their market share by 100% and was essential to identify new opportunities or create new markets.
- For every $130 spent on design, Design-alert businesses realized a $298 return.
Who to hire to achieve the best ROI possible?
If short, you really need to hire a professional designer(s). The longer version of this answer consists of several parts.
First, you need to understand what ideas or issues you have. The next logical step will be trying to present it or discussing it with possible candidates.
Hiring creative professionals is a difficult process and requires some specific skills. It's hard to distinguish true professional designers and teams from amateurs that are really just trying themselves in the field and don't have any concrete plans for the future — and I'm not even talking about the experience.
No, freelancers are not amateurs. Well, not all of them. You can usually find good pro designers only in the top 5-10% freelance community. And actually, they can be quite efficient and much more focused than big established studios with a name.
You can expect much less or even no bureaucracy if you decide to work with a freelancer.
The design budget can be significantly lower than if you prefer to work with an agency. Although, don't expect that pro freelance designers are cheap. They're actually are the opposite. However, clearly, they don't have those crazy commissions and bills as in studios.
It would be best if you had a professional that understands your business niche well enough.
If you have a good understanding of your business it will save your time when you find a creative professional.
Invest in design only if you feel like it's necessary. Sometimes, really, the answer lies somewhere in the development or marketing areas, or somewhere in between design and other equally important things.
Not sure where to invest? Reach out to agencies and freelancers, ask as many questions as you can.
If that is the design that you need to focus on right now, make sure it will benefit you.
You'll end up with something that not only looks great but actually improves your business.