According to a recent survey (featured on MarketingProfs) by UPrinting, which has skin in the game of small business promotion, one third of small business owners consider designing their own materials to be “scrappy.” The objective is to lower their marketing costs.
Of course (or unfortunately), there’s no definition of “scrappy,” but if you’ve ever seen materials that make you wonder, “Whoever approved that?” you’ve probably seen an SMB’s DIY effort. And you’d probably remove the letter “s” from the front of “scrappy” to describe it.
AI for Artistic Ineptitude
Usually, your average person, business or not, will readily admit that they can barely draw a stick figure, let alone do respectable graphic design. It would seem as if this 33% thinks they can. Or thinks design doesn’t matter. Or taps into the capabilities of Figma or Canva with their seemingly endless catalog of templates. Yet….
There’s a difference between picking something an owner likes and choosing something that reflects the character and positioning of the business. Or an approach that, more importantly, motivates customers to pay attention. That’s the key to generating any interest from people who might care about the products or services you sell.
Melody and lyrics
An equally critical consideration goes beyond how you “look” to what you say. That’s where marketing communications can get really painful. All those people who say they have no artistic skill may well be the same ones who believe, “Anyone can write.” They’re wrong.
The effect of words and pictures working together, reinforcing one another, and creating the desire to want something is not a casual endeavor. Nike didn’t rely only on its signature “swoosh” to attract athletes. It combined it with “Just do it” (and with great ads that showed the footwear in action) to generate demand. DeBeers didn’t need action. It simply needed alluring photography of its gems to persuade people that “A diamond is forever.”
Better directions make journeys shorter… and cheaper
This all comes down to perspective. Are marketing materials expenditures or investments? If they’re done badly, either in-house or by designers and copywriters who haven’t analyzed the perceptions, expectations, and needs of the business’s buyers, it’s a cost. Done correctly, it provides an ROI that greatly exceeds the up-front expense.
Rather than think “What can I cut?” to save money, it’s wiser and, ultimately, more profitable to ask, “Is this conveying the right message to my most likely buyers, and will it convince them to try what we’re selling?” Figure that out first, and the professionals you hire will know exactly what they have to do, why they have to do it, and do it far better than business owners who should be focusing on their core business responsibilities.
Those insights and creative direction will drastically reduce the time (and cost) required to produce great work and increase the number of qualified responses. Think of it as quality over crappity.
Of course (or unfortunately), there’s no definition of “scrappy,” but if you’ve ever seen materials that make you wonder, “Whoever approved that?” you’ve probably seen an SMB’s DIY effort. And you’d probably remove the letter “s” from the front of “scrappy” to describe it.
AI for Artistic Ineptitude
Usually, your average person, business or not, will readily admit that they can barely draw a stick figure, let alone do respectable graphic design. It would seem as if this 33% thinks they can. Or thinks design doesn’t matter. Or taps into the capabilities of Figma or Canva with their seemingly endless catalog of templates. Yet….
There’s a difference between picking something an owner likes and choosing something that reflects the character and positioning of the business. Or an approach that, more importantly, motivates customers to pay attention. That’s the key to generating any interest from people who might care about the products or services you sell.
Melody and lyrics
An equally critical consideration goes beyond how you “look” to what you say. That’s where marketing communications can get really painful. All those people who say they have no artistic skill may well be the same ones who believe, “Anyone can write.” They’re wrong.
The effect of words and pictures working together, reinforcing one another, and creating the desire to want something is not a casual endeavor. Nike didn’t rely only on its signature “swoosh” to attract athletes. It combined it with “Just do it” (and with great ads that showed the footwear in action) to generate demand. DeBeers didn’t need action. It simply needed alluring photography of its gems to persuade people that “A diamond is forever.”
Better directions make journeys shorter… and cheaper
This all comes down to perspective. Are marketing materials expenditures or investments? If they’re done badly, either in-house or by designers and copywriters who haven’t analyzed the perceptions, expectations, and needs of the business’s buyers, it’s a cost. Done correctly, it provides an ROI that greatly exceeds the up-front expense.
Rather than think “What can I cut?” to save money, it’s wiser and, ultimately, more profitable to ask, “Is this conveying the right message to my most likely buyers, and will it convince them to try what we’re selling?” Figure that out first, and the professionals you hire will know exactly what they have to do, why they have to do it, and do it far better than business owners who should be focusing on their core business responsibilities.
Those insights and creative direction will drastically reduce the time (and cost) required to produce great work and increase the number of qualified responses. Think of it as quality over crappity.
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