Think about the last ad that really caught your eye. Maybe you were scrolling through Instagram, and a photo made you stop in your tracks. Or a video on your favorite newsletter captured your attention with its bright colors and catchy music. Each of these theoretical ad designs has something others don’t—allure, distinction, and authenticity rolled into one.
That doesn’t happen by accident.
Crafting a clear brand message has the power to resonate deeply with your audience. It’s about captivating attention, telling a story, and maintaining consistency with every message you produce. Whether they go viral or not. Whether they’re viewed by a hundred or a hundred thousand. It’s who you are.
And it’s essential. Consumers not only want authenticity from a brand; they demand it. For 88 percent of consumers in one study, authenticity was essential when deciding which brands to support and buy from.
What does that mean for you? How can you ensure your ad design accurately reflects your brand’s message with every campaign you create?
Defining a Brand Message
Before you design your first ad, it’s important to understand brand messaging and how you communicate your brand at every selling point. This is your value proposition. It’s your brand identity.
Brand messages strengthen your brand and make it memorable. It can include taglines, key messages, and other statements relevant to your brand. It can be pictures, graphics, and overall design. It’s how you speak to the world.
Your brand message is how you convey your brand to your target audience. It’s how you communicate. Strong brand messages:
- Improve your brand recognition: It can give you unique and easy ways to connect with the way people see you. Think about “Just do it.” Nike’s slogan is known worldwide, and it sums up what they stand for.
- Have consistent messaging: Using the same message strengthens your identity across platforms. It also helps make your messaging easier to craft.
- Increase loyalty and trust: Audiences are more likely to trust you when they see you showing up the same way, no matter where they look. This is a clear indicator that your values are strong.
Understanding Your Target Audience
Ad design should always be about giving the audience what it wants. To do that, it’s essential that you first define your target audience.
Understanding an audience means you don’t assume. You’ve done your research, know their interests and pain points, and can reach out to what truly motivates them. This knowledge helps you find the tone of voice to use to engage them.
You can start with audience research. Already have an audience in place? Survey them to learn essential details that will help define them. Even if you’re a startup, you can still search to create a buyer persona to fully define your customer avatar. This helps align your brand with their interests. It helps you determine why you’re different from your competition and why a customer should choose you.
A Clearly Defined Target Audience Creates Better Ad Design
With a customer avatar in hand, you can create more compelling ads for whatever platform you choose. It creates a more compelling story. It adds:
- Relevance: Knowing what motivates a viewer or customer allows you to create an ad that appeals to their psyche. The content aligns with their preferences and values.
- Connection: Tap into their emotions to have them care more about what you present. This creates a deeper connection and more engagement.
- Clarity: Knowing your audience’s language helps you tailor text and visuals to speak to their needs and desires.
- Design: Not every photo or graphic speaks to every audience. Gen Z and Baby Boomers react differently. Knowing who you’re talking to allows you to craft more vibrant and dynamic visuals based on interest.
- Trust: When you understand your audience, they trust you. You care about their needs. It builds credibility over time.
Building an Ad and Designing It Well
What makes good ad design? The beauty is in the eye of the beholder. That’s why you do your research. That’s why you approach it with a professional eye. Because it is about storytelling, and every aspect of an ad helps drive better stories.
Color Schemes
Pink. Blue. Green. Purple. Even saying a color evokes emotion. The right color choice can convey the intended mood or feeling you’re designing into your ad. It helps reinforce your brand’s identity and ensures your visuals align with your brand’s personality and messaging. Imagine a strong bank using pretty pastels—it’s off-brand and off-key. This is about appealing to your brand’s demographics. Crafting your overall aesthetic appeal to hold the viewer’s attention.
Photos and Illustrations
There isn’t a right way to use photos and illustrations, only consistency. What tells your story? What speaks to your audience? Photography helps depict real moments, showcases actual products, or provides a human touch. Illustrations add creativity and imagination that are perfect for whimsical narratives. The right choice solely depends on your preferences.
Typography and Fonts
Do you have a brand font? It adds both readability and brand consistency to every message you put out. Select fonts that are readable and help convey your message. Choose fonts that evoke your desired emotions. Consistency is key for reinforcing your brand identity and making it recognizable and professional no matter where your ad is displayed.
Storytelling Is an Ongoing Journey
Starting to see your own brand in a new light? It’s equally important to remember that brand messaging is never a one-and-done effort. It requires commitment. It requires continuous refinement, adapting to needs and preferences as you further home in on what your audience wants.
Strategic storytelling is so much more than words on a page. Your brand can craft deep emotional connections with your audience, fostering so much more than just a sale. It’s about belonging. It’s about increasing loyalty by giving them what they desire. And being your true, authentic self in the process.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. When crafted correctly, your ad design will have a lot to say in those thousand words. Does your ad design say all that?
