Professional Designer

Hiring a Professional Designer: What Are the Benefits?

/ Around the Web, Business, Business for Beginners, Content Marketing, Entrepreneurs, Marketing, Online Businesses, Productivity, Running Your Business, Social Media, Starting A Business, Technology / By
Featured image by kreatikar from Pixabay

These days, there’s an abundance of resources available for businesses to design their own materials. You can rely on templates, WYSIWYG editors, and other tools for everything from website creation, ad design, and the development of marketing collateral. Doing this can save you money. However, it typically isn’t the best way to handle your business’s design needs. In almost all cases, it’s better to invest in design ops consulting and professional design in general. 

RELATED ARTICLE: 4 REASONS WEB DESIGN IS ESSENTIAL FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Negative Consequences of Bad Design

Bad design doesn’t just mean you’ll miss out on the benefits of good design. So, if you practice and circulate bad design on behalf of your brand, it can actually work against you. However this is why a professional designer is essential for your business.

  • Lack of goal-centric development. If you aren’t using goals as the directive basis for your designs, you’ll have a hard time achieving success, or even defining what success is. Your designs, landing pages, or display ads simply won’t work. 
  • Lack of memorability. Bad design isn’t typically memorable, unless it’s truly horrendous. Furthermore, it means your users aren’t going to remember your logo, your brand, or your message. So, you’ll be forgotten, or lumped in with all your competitors. 
  • Lasting reputation detriments. If your design is bad enough, it could have lasting consequences for your reputation. A consumer who sees your terrible logo or your ugly ad may think less of your brand for years to come. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hBEZT8-uOw

Why Hire a Professional Designer? 

So what are the benefits of hiring a professional designer? 

  • Tap into experience. First and foremost, hiring a professional will ensure you don’t end up with bad design. You’ll be able to tap into the experience and talent of the skilled designer, and come up with high-quality work. Obviously, this doesn’t guarantee success. However, it will greatly increase your likelihood of seeing success. 
  • Save time. Hiring a professional should save you time as well. If you or another amateur on your team is responsible for putting designs together from scratch, with no experience, you’ll likely spend hours on the project. Delegating to a professional can free up time you can use on something more important.  
  • Concentrate on goals. Professional designers will work with you to set and evaluate your goals. They will create the design to achieve those goals. For example, do you want this piece to stand out from the competition? Do you want it to be unforgettable? Do you want it to evoke a bit of outrage? 
  • Collaborate. Most designers encourage a bit of collaboration. They want to get to know your brand, and hear your thoughts and ideas. So, together you’ll be able to create something much more interesting and effective. 
  • Get better results. Consistently, professionally designed brand assets get better results than templates or amateur work. That means you’ll net a higher ROI, as well as more inbound customers. 
  • Hold someone accountable. Hiring a pro means you can hold someone else accountable for the work. So, if the piece doesn’t work, you can work with them to figure out what went wrong, and try again. 
  • Take advantage of consistent development. Working with a professional designer long-term means you’ll get to tap into the same aesthetic style and creative mind for your future work. This lends itself to brand consistency, which is vital for developing brand loyalty. 

RELATED ARTICLE: DESIGN AND COLLABORATION: WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

How to Choose the Right Professional Designer 

Of course, if you want to capitalize on these benefits, you need to hire the right designer in the first place. How can you choose the best designer for your brand? 

  • Agency, full-timer, or contractor? First, do you want to hire someone full-time, work with an agency, or hire an independent contractor? There are pros and cons to each approach. Agencies tend to be the most professional and the most flexible, but they can also be expensive. Full-time hires are even more expensive, and may be limited in capacity. Contractors, while cheap, can be hard to find and may be unreliable.
  • Areas of expertise. Do you want a specialist in a certain area of design, or someone who can do a bit of everything? 
  • Reviews and testimonials. What can you learn from reviews and testimonials for this designer? Are people generally happy with the work they’ve done? 
  • Past work. Speaking of past work, take the time to review it. Designers and agencies should offer portfolios of past projects so you can get a feel for their skills and areas of specialty. 
  • Communication. Good design requires good communication. Is this designer easy to get in touch with, and easy to talk to? 

RELATED ARTICLE: 6 WEB DESIGN ELEMENTS THAT WILL IMPROVE YOUR CONVERSION RATE

Final Thoughts

Hiring a professional designer costs money. However, the benefits are almost always worth the investment. Take your time and research your options before settling on a specific option, and strive for the best fit for your brand. 

Must Read