5 Strategies for Marketing Your Graphic Design Business
I’m a firm believer in doing what feels GOOD to you with your marketing.
Aside from perhaps having a website, I honestly don’t think you need to do anything you don’t want to do. And oftentimes (especially when you have a personal brand where you’re the face of your business) people can tell if you’re not marketing from a genuine place, making it difficult to make as much of a personal connection with them.
Typically, getting to a place where your marketing feels good takes experimentation, trial, and error. And if you’re anything like me, experimentation feels uncomfortable sometimes because you don’t know what the outcome will be. But even if a strategy doesn’t get you the results you’re looking for - that’s still valuable information! It’s always good to know what works, as well as what doesn’t, so you make the most of your marketing efforts.
With all of my marketing experimentation over the years of running my design studio, I've learned two important things:
First, relationship-based marketing is a must.
Why’s that?
We are all marketing to humans. We aren’t marketing to businesses - we’re marketing to the people behind those businesses. And people like working with people they like.
When you focus on developing and nurturing the relationships you have with your clients, leads, peers, and community - THAT is where the know/like/trust factor is built.
Yes, the service and experience you’re providing to them is super important, but a key aspect of that experience is working with YOU. So with everything you do, come at it from a relationship-building perspective and with the goal of making a real, personal connection with people.
Second, playing the long game with your marketing is extremely beneficial and KEY to maintaining a sustainable business.
I’ve tried a lot of strategies - yes, including creating endless content for social media, which I’ve discovered isn’t a good fit for me. What I’ve found that IS a good fit is investing in marketing strategies that have the long game in mind. They almost always turn around the best results.
Now, you may not see immediate results (or that dopamine rush you get while getting a whole bunch of likes on a social media post) but if you practice a bit of patience and invest the time and energy in marketing approaches that will serve you - not just today - but far down the road too, your future self will thank you!
So, how do you implement relationship-based marketing for yourself?
In this blog post, I’m going to share with you my favorite marketing strategies that will help you play the long game in your marketing. From someone who has been running her design studio for over a decade… these strategies are like gifts that keep on giving. And the best part is, many of them naturally help you create a lasting relationship and connection with your audience and community.
Note: You’ll notice that these strategies don’t include a lot of references to social media…gasp! Although I’m not anti-social media and do use Instagram as a way to connect with people (via DM), share updates occasionally, and give a landing page/active portfolio for potential clients to check out - I personally like to focus my energy on other strategies. This is what I’m sharing with you below!
Network. Network. Network.
Ugh, networking - right?? That word used to make me think of those uncomfortable groups that met in a boring conference room at the crack of dawn, having to stand up and give a very official elevator speech every meeting, and being required to refer your contacts only to those inside groups (ick).
But networking doesn’t have to look like that! Over the years, I’ve come to really enjoy networking because I’ve found a way to do it that works for me personally. And it’s certainly changed depending on the season of life I’m in (pre-kids and after kids, mainly).
I’ve also changed the way I’ve viewed networking. When you come at it from a goal of building lasting and REAL relationships (not the icky “you’re only in it for the referrals” salesy crap) and truly wanting to connect and help others build their businesses - THAT is when it feels the best and has the most impact.
In reality, not everyone is ready to work with you or wants to give you a referral the first time they come into contact with you. So if you play the long game and approach it in a human-to-human way, you’ll come out on top.
My favorite ways to network:
Attend a local networking group or event
Make sure it’s specific to your target audience’s industry and/or there will be other business owners there that you genuinely want to connect with.
Schedule 1:1 coffee chats
These can be virtual or in person. I made a goal of scheduling 2-3 per month when I was first getting started and was amazed at the lasting connections and friendships I made!
Put together a free resource for a specific group
This could be a presentation or workshop for a community you’re part of or an online summit. Again, just make sure the attendees are within your target audience!
Share what you do with the people in your life
Sounds easy, but it’s effective! You’d be surprised how many people have connections to someone whose business (or business they work for) needs graphic design support.
One final tip on networking
At the end of coffee chats, a friend of mine always asks “How can I support you and your business right now?” What a simple yet impactful thing to wrap up a conversation with! I would venture to bet that the question always comes back to her too, which leads to a genuine friendship and connection that is mutually beneficial.
Build SEO with a blog & portfolio
First, let’s have a super simple refresher on SEO - what is it?
Search Engine Optimization
Optimizing your website for search engines is a way of improving your visibility when people search for your services. In other words, there are ways to optimize your website so that YOU appear more frequently in Google searches, which turns into more website traffic and potential customers. You can grab Google’s (and the SEO fairy’s) attention by keeping updated pages, fresh content, and strategically placing the right keywords in your blogs and portfolio pages.
Early on in my business I started a blog on my website, writing about the services I was providing, bringing people behind the scenes into my branding projects, and educating potential clients. I wrote about things like: what branding is, how to know when you’re ready to hire a graphic designer, and design tips that might help someone who is DIYing their graphic design. These posts are still circulating today!
This works the same for old portfolio projects. I may not be featuring them on my portfolio page anymore, but the pages are still live and can bring visitors from search results. In fact, some of my most popular blog posts and portfolio projects are from 4-5 years ago!
This is the power of SEO.
I’ve continued to create new blog posts (like this one!) that focus on topics relevant to the services and programs that I’m currently marketing, and I keep my portfolio updated with new projects.
In addition to bringing in website traffic, creating content like this shows off your design work and helps position yourself as an expert in your field. Plus, it’s nice to have new content to share with newsletter subscribers and repurpose it for social media.
The big picture of this strategy is to continue creating high quality content that will bring website visitors for months and years to come.
Pro tip:
One of the ways I get my content in front of people is by pinning all of it on Pinterest. If you aren’t already pinning your portfolio projects and blog posts, start now (especially if your target audience hangs out there)! Contrary to what you might assume, Pinterest is a search engine, not a social media platform. People use it to find inspiration, DIY resources, products, and services. In other words, if someone is searching for branding inspiration, they are likely ready to work with a designer already!
Invest in Professional Website Copywriting (WHEN YOU’RE READY)
In 2018, I made the leap to invest in professional website copywriting. Hands down, it was one of the two most impactful investments I've made in my business (next to business coaching).
75% of my inquiries now come from my website appearing in Google searches.
Why working with a copywriter is a game-changer
Clarity on messaging
Going through the copywriting process with a professional gave me the dedicated time and space to really get clear on who I was and how I wanted to communicate it to potential clients. I had to sit down and really figure out what my values were. What kind of client am I trying to attract? As designers, we ask these types of questions to our clients but it's harder to do it for ourselves. Having someone guide us and reflect back to us what we're telling them is so impactful!
A targeted, intentional website
The final product was a website that sounded and felt like ME because she took the time to understand my business and help me develop my brand voice. This created a website and messaging that authentically connects to my target audience. I once had a branding client say in their inquiry, "Something about your website felt like home to me." (cue tears!) I've received similar comments from other ideal clients too, which tells me my website is resonating with the right people and doing the heavy lifting of my marketing for me!
Strategic, optimized copy
The writing was strategically developed with SEO in mind. I'm showing up in my ideal client's searches because of the work that my copywriter put in to make sure I was infusing my site with strategy. Like I said, the majority of my inquiries come from Google! These are people that wouldn't have necessarily found me on social media or weren't already connected to me in some way.
Now, these results didn't come overnight. It's taken time to “let the SEO juice flow”, as they say... But this is an investment I made over four years ago and it's still proving to be beneficial and life changing (aka, getting me leads and clients without any active marketing on my part).
Website copywriting is no small investment, so I highly recommend DIYing your website copy (there are so many great DIY resources out there to help with SEO) while you're in the beginning stages of building your design business and figuring out who you are and who you want to work with.
But once you have a solid understanding of who you are as a business, your target audience, your process and packages, and what makes you unique and special to work with, I highly recommend you consider hiring a copywriter for your website. I cannot stress the immense impact that it's had on my business.
Build an email list
You may have heard this line before, but it's true:
You own your email list, you don't own your social media following.
So as you're thinking about relationship marketing, creating your own little virtual community via an email list is a great way to make those connections and keep the people who are interested in what you do close.
It's also a great way to stay connected and provide value to a "warm audience". After all, these people signed up for YOUR list! Instead of posting on social media and being at the mercy of the algorithm (and the potential of your followers not seeing your posts anyway), you're getting directly into their inbox. And they were the ones inviting you there, so you know they care about what you have to say.
The marketing experts say that consistency is key with the majority of strategies, and although I hate feeling too much pressure with marketing, I do think that reaching out to your email list regularly is a helpful way to stay top-of-mind and nurture that relationship with your email list.
This doesn't have to look the same for everyone. In fact, I recommend considering what your capacity is and what kind of content you enjoy sharing, and go from there. For example, I send out one newsletter per month that showcases my new monthly blog post, updates on branding availability, promotes my Designer Mentorship Program and Design Spirit Course. I also add in some personal touches about what's happening behind the scenes and in my life.
Again, making that connection and letting people in a little bit has helped my list get to know me, which builds know/like/trust. So down the road, if they are looking to collaborate with a branding designer, they're a new designer looking for mentorship, or they want to take a course that will help them improve their design skills, I'll be top of mind.
If you don't have an email list yet but it sounds like something you'd like to explore, I recommend signing up for Flodesk (you'll love it!) and put a sign-up form on the homepage of your website or in the footer somewhere. It's okay to build slowly!
Create a lead magnet
AKA free resources!
Lead magnets are free resources you provide to your audience, typically accessed by submitting their email address and subscribing to your marketing emails. This “exchange” provides value to your audience and gives you the opportunity to continue nurturing them with your email list!
There are endless possibilities when it comes to a lead magnet. It all comes down to:
Figuring out what type of resource or offering feels most aligned with your brand values and personality, and
Getting really clear on where in the client journey this lead magnet comes in for your target audience.
This will help ensure you create a lead magnet that's actually useful for your audience and they'll get value from it, which will lead to them building more trust and loyalty to you.
For example, I have a quiz called "What's Your Design Spirit?" which is my lead magnet for my Design Spirit course. People take the quiz to find out their design personality, learn some quick tips on enhancing their design personality in their marketing graphics, and then receive a series of emails that helps them continue to learn how to get clear on their overall brand style and lay out their graphics in an effective way that connects with their audience and accomplishes their goals. Eventually, after I've warmed up this quiz taker and provided value, I invite them to join the course.
This email series is called an email funnel or sales funnel, and it all starts with that lead magnet. Now, it's completely okay for you to start by getting a lead magnet in place and not having a long email series that follows up after that. Especially if you're emailing your list regularly, you could just feed people into that general list and keep providing value with those regular emails.
However, I will say that investing the time to create an email sequence (which is something my copywriter wrote for me as well!) has been really beneficial. Every time someone takes my quiz, I know that they're not just being left to sit with their results. They're getting a series of 6 additional emails from me over the following weeks that are full of value and insights that will help them move the needle forward. Plus, it's an opportunity to get to know me and my teaching style, which helps immensely when pitching my course to them.
If you’re interested in creating your own quiz, be sure to check out Interact Quizzes!
But quizzes are just one example of a lead magnet. In the online business space, you commonly see people offer a PDF download, guide, ebook or template. You could also create an audio course or on-demand masterclass/workshop. To ensure you can keep in touch with those who use your lead magnet and add them to your email list, always make sure you're inviting them to opt-in and put in their email to receive it!
BONUS:
Clients are an extension of your marketing team
I've found that my clients are oftentimes my best marketers and they bring me the best referrals!
So when in doubt, focus on serving your current clients well and giving them a valuable and meaningful experience that they want to tell their friends and network about.
And sometimes, it's your work that speaks for itself. One of the beauties about what we do as designers is that it's very visual. When another business owner falls in love with one of your clients' brands or website or marketing collateral or social media graphics, they won't hesitate to ask your client who designed it.
As much as active marketing is important in running a sustainable business, doing really great work and serving your clients well is just as (if not more!) important.
Now… a Challenge for You!
Okay, so that's a LOT of information, tips and suggestions. If you know you want to start putting a marketing plan in place and implementing strategies that help you play the "long game," here's a challenge for you.
Choose ONE marketing strategy. Make a plan to execute. Then implement, give it a really strong effort, and give it a solid 90 days.
Then re-evaluate. Look at both your metrics (numbers don't lie!) and the anecdotal response to your efforts.
Did you get the results you were hoping for? What surprised you, if anything? And how do you FEEL after implementing the strategy? Does it feel sustainable and like something you want to continue (or outsource)?
It's amazing how much time we can put into marketing without stopping to think if it's actually working for us. Putting a very specific, dedicated effort into something new and giving it a timestamp will help you add a container for this new strategy and set aside time to weigh whether it's working (or not!).
And remember, if it's not working, it doesn't mean it was a failure. It's new data! And you can then move on to experiment with another strategy that might be "the one."
Hey designers!
Wish you had an experienced design studio owner in your back pocket to answer your questions and help you grow a graphic design business that you’re proud of?
Join the Designer Mentorship program - a monthly membership for designers who are in the early years of their freelance or small business journey and looking for mentorship to help them navigate all that comes with working with clients and running a smooth and profitable business.
Through regular group calls and online community discussions, you will have direct access to me and the opportunity to learn from my 10 years of experience running my design studio… and connect with other growth- and community-minded designers who are willing to share what’s working (and what isn’t).
