This goes against the ethics of design, and it is your responsibility to guide the confused design customer so that you let them understand what you intend to do and ensure that it is according to their expectations.

Presented here is a simple guide you can use to give effective guidance to a confused design client when they approach you for your services-:

What is the nature of their business?

No matter the kind of graphics design project you have in mind, your work will always be targeted towards a particular audience and this is determined by the nature of goods and services that the client is offering to their customers. The first process towards guiding a confused design client is to ask them about the nature of their business.

Explain to them that this will enable you understand the design approach to take so that you can give relevant designs suited for their kind of business. Besides, it is your duty to customize the design and come up with unique ideas that will let you set apart your confused design client’s business.

Who are the competitors?

However confused a design client might appear, they will always know who they are up against in their respective industry. While guiding them through the design process, ask them who their competitors are and if there are any particular designs the competitors have that they find intriguing.

This is so that as the designer, you will gain deeper insights into what the competitions is doing, learn the deficiencies present among the competitor so that you can exploit them to come up with superior designs that will elevate your client’s brand above the rest.

What is the preferred image of the business?

Certain confused design clients will have no idea whatsoever on the image they want for their business. Though it happens rarely, it is your obligation as the designer to help the client understand the image that their business is likely to project and advise them that you will be using the same image during the design.

You can begin by asking them what they want the customers to think about their business, the kinds of feelings they want evoked when the customers see the designs, the basis upon which they want to grow their brand, how they want the business to look like the future, etc. For such questions, the confused design client will have a mental picture of the kinds of designs that suits the business and you will also find it easy as a designer to bring out the image formed by the confused design client in the final designs.

Who are the customers?

The other important thing when guiding a confused design client is to help them paint a picture of their customers. They need to have a thorough understanding of the specific group of people they will be promoting the business to. Fundamental questions to help the confused design client in knowing their target customers include who the ideal customers are, where they are likely to be found, the demographics with regards to age likes, etc.

These questions will help the confused design client to get into the minds of their customers to know how they perceive the business. For you as a designer, such information will help you a lot when coming up with the right design that will be suitable the target audience of your confused client.

Where does the client intend to use the design?

It is also important to help the client understand the specific places where the design will be applied to. Perhaps the confused design client wants a design for various branding purposes or they want a logo for which will appear in their official communication channels and help in branding the business. You need to explain to the confused design client why this is necessary so that you both be on the same page on what particular design is required. Whether it is a brochure, a business magazine a logo, a letterhead or a poster, it should be clear to both of you.

Symbols and inspirations

Finally, most logos consist of symbols and the business name. When guiding a confused design client, you need to lead them to reveal for you the symbols that they feel are most associated with their kind of business. As a designer, you don’t want to be generic with the symbols since this is not the best way to be creative and provide a killer design for your confused design client. Discuss with them the importance of using various symbols in the design and the potential meanings that the symbols might have on the final graphics.

Use these top tips for dealing with difficult clients!

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Big brands and companies have flexible and varied ways of using promotional products to increase their brand awareness, besides attracting new customers and clients. With this versatility, marketers have more choices to move the products of the company, but unfortunately, they are also prone to a number of mistakes along the way which might make the method less effective. If you intend to use promotional products for marketing or advertising your business, here are some of the most common mistakes you need to have in mind so that you can get the best out of using such products for marketing:

Lack of objectivity

Most brands splash out promotional products without defining the specific objectives they intend to achieve with the drive. It is not clear to them whether they want to increase the traffic to their website, increase brand awareness, give emphasis to a particular product, increase email sign-ups, etc. Each of these various objectives may need a different promotional product for more effectiveness.

When you define clearly what you attend to achieve with your promotional products, you will know the best distribution channels to use so that you increase your effectiveness in reaching the target audience without wasting products on those who don’t even care about what you give to them. Always have in mind that however great your promotional products are, lack of a clear goal, or a desired outcome will spell doom for the promotion from the word go.

No clear distribution plan

It is saddening to note that there are a good number of companies who go ahead and buy promotional products without knowing what to do with them. Imagine a situation where you have received five hundred promotional key chains, yet you don’t have a single idea on how to get them out to your target audience. It is imperative that you have a clear distribution plan before you get the promotional products.

Such a plan should be guided by your desired result. For instance, if you intend to increase the number of your repeat clients, then you may decide to include the promotional product for every purchase of the product. If you need to attract new clients, on the other hand, you can give out the promotional product as a gift during the trade shows that you attend.

Remember, giving away your promotional products to anybody that comes on sight is never a good idea since there is no targeting if you do that way. If you have to go down this route, however, you can increase the chances of getting the right clients by first asking them to sign up for your mailing list or complete a customer survey on one of your products before they get the item for free.

Products not tailored for your target audience

One common mistake that most brands and business are fond of making is giving out promotional products that they like and which may not be necessarily what their target audience need or like. Effective results are achieved with promotional products if they are items that will add value or solve one of the needs of your target clients.

Remember, they never asked for the products neither were they desperate for them. Hence, you should not insult their intelligence and loyalty to your brand by throwing just anything their way. They might take it negatively, and you may end up driving them away instead of bringing them closer to you.

Using generic designs on the products

Most companies giving away promotional products will have nothing on them but the business logos. This is quite generic and might not yield great results if a lot of branding considerations were taken in the design of the products. Remember, promotional products are also meant to increase brand awareness and make your brand known to certain people who might have never heard about you. Therefore, playing it safe with the branding is missing out on a big opportunity to improve the penetration of your brand.

Distributing the products on the last minute

Many companies are very comfortable with handling rush orders and will have no problem in dealing with the customer issues and ensuring that all of them are satisfied. However, dealing with promotional materials at the very last minute can prove to be elusive. If you wait for long, you are likely to have less time to facilitate effective distribution plan.

If for instances you needed the promotional products for an event, you need to allow enough lead time so that you get all the products in good time and before the actual date of the event. This will also allow you ample time to inspect and request for adjustments should there be any particular concerns with the materials you received.

Be very keen when using promotional products to advertise and market your business or brand. Avoid these mistakes for increased chances of having great results with the drive.

Learn about the purpose of a logo here!

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