Every design’s best friend is copy. Copy or text refers to the written message in the design. The design layout and text work together.
Graphic design has a job to do. Its job is to catch attention and communicate with your audience. Here’s the thing though – design can catch all the attention you want, but your text is what is going to tell your people what you want them to know. It’s what is going to persuade them to buy from you or not.
Especially now, we live in a 24/7 digital world, which means your designs and your text are going to be seen around the clock. They need to be your night shift employees, catching attention, and telling people all the right things so that you wake up to leads and sales.
I’ll be really honest with you, there’s not a lot a graphic designer can do about poorly written copy. Most of us are not writers, although some of us, myself included, have decent writing or editing skills.
Unfortunately, poorly written copy can tank a good design faster than an iceberg in the Atlantic and I really don’t want to see your marketing campaign go down like the Titanic over something that is
If you have poor writing skills or just don’t have the time or interest to write your own text. Hire a professional copywriter. You do not need to be the best at everything, you just have to hire the best. I’ve read so much text that is confusing and hard to understand and it really hurts your business. You see, a confused customer doesn’t buy because they don’t know what to do. It’s in your best interest to invest in a professional copywriter just the same as it’s in your best interest to invest in a professional graphic designer or visual marketing specialist like myself
The other thing I suggest to clients is that if you have good writing skills and really want to do your own writing for your marketing materials and online content is to use the inverted pyramid system or the storytelling system. Inverted Pyramid is a system used by a lot of journalists. It puts all the most important information at the top of the piece and the supportive less relevant details towards the bottom. It’s great because it makes fitting text into a design easier since the things at the bottom can be cut if needed.
The storytelling system is where you weave your relevant points into a story format. The important thing with a story format is to keep it fairly concise. People love stories, but they don’t want to be reading for a really long time. Keep your story to about 1-2 mins when read aloud and don’t forget to use traditional storytelling techniques to keep it interesting!
Most importantly, your text or copy needs to fit the amount of space available on the design and it should also reinforce your corporate reputation.
Whether you hire a professional or do it yourself, once your text is on point it can be used to design something that is attention-grabbing and helps you get more leads, which is what these two best friends – design and text – are here to do!
By the way, If you’re ready to invest in your business’s branding and give it a new look, I can help you! What I do is help small businesses create marketing materials and logos that help them get leads and grow their business either through my done for you design service or my design consulting service. Either way, your designs not only look better, but they will help you stand out to your potential customer better and you’ll be on your way to selling more and stressing less. Curious how I can help you? I’d love to invite you to a FREE 30 minute 1:1 Getting to Know You Strategy Session. Email me today and let’s chat about how design can get your business where you want it to be and see if working together makes sense!