Top 6 Visual Brand Marketing Techniques for 2021

The trends that once appeared cutting-edge and modern are soon going to seem stale and old-fashioned. In an interesting twist of events, most designers have begun to opt for old favorites such as muted color palettes, simple data visualizations, etc. These are the major things that tend to invoke a sense of understanding, calm and positivity, especially when you take the current state of the world in mind.

The world of design is an ever-changing landscape. There are tens of thousands of styles that can come out within a year, replacing everything prioritized the previous year. So, what does this mean for you?

To stay relevant in the eyes of your audience in the new year, it’s best to incorporate the top brand design trends of 2021. Here’s a list of seven visual brand marketing techniques to look out for.

1. Inclusivity

One of the major concerns that ran through the design world was the lack of inclusivity. Greater numbers of the younger generation and other marginalized groups want to see more content that showcases equality from the brands they purchase from. This notion will phase out the homogenous content that we’ve all been accustomed to.

In the coming year, all digital marketing techniques will consider the inclusivity of race, sexuality, religion and other factors. This ensures that no one feels left out in the blog posts, imagery and videos you share.

A study by Accenture found out that 41% of shoppers move their business from a retailer that doesn’t understand how important diversity and identity is to them. Furthermore, the same study reveals that up to 29% of consumers would be willing to switch brands completely should they not show any diversity in their marketing strategies and products.

2. Image and video SEO for visual searches

The use of images and videos is essential in engaging your audience. If you’re familiar with basic SEO techniques, then you already know that you can easily search for an image or video by keying in the right keywords. But did you know that you can also publish images and videos that can rank for keywords?

As more and more people embrace visual search techniques, brands will have to change the overall landscape of SEO. To be prepared for this shift, marketers need to capitalize on getting increased visual searches by tweaking their campaigns to include:

• The addition of alt texts to all image descriptions
• Adding images to the sitemap
• Including target keywords in the file name of images
• Getting started with services such as Google Lens, especially for those that run eCommerce websites.

All these are the basic requirements to ensure that your visual brand marketing techniques remain relevant for the years to come. Even without having a degree in marketing, you can always start an online course and bring yourself up to speed on the useful trends to master.

3. Interactive content

Incorporating interactive content is a trend that’s been around for some time, but it’s only just getting recognized as a best practice. This technique helps to promote user engagement with your content as well as improve their enjoyment. Some of the things to consider when creating interactive content for your visual brand include:

• Quizzes
• Open-ended questions
• Surveys
• Contests
• Giveaways
• Polls, etc.

Having interactive content on your website or as part of your marketing campaigns is a good step. You can also use it to collect data on user preferences, which you can use to improve your operations.

4. Blast from the past

Take a look outside and you’ll realize that most of the trends that were there years ago are slowly creeping back. For instance, more people are now embracing old street brands, baggy oversized clothes, dimmed colors, etc. Unlike the majority of today’s latest trends, all these are relevant for almost every audience.

In visual brand marketing, you can use such trends to take your consumer ‘back to the past.’ You’ll realize that a positive effect is seen for both the younger and older generations. For instance, both generation X and Y will reminisce about the good old days, awakening a feeling of nostalgia. The younger generation (generation Z) will also be curious enough to touch that ‘beauty’ of the good old days that older generations always talk about.

5. Minimalism

If you were to interview any reputable graphic designers on the number one tip they would follow, they would always begin with keeping designs at a minimum. Minimalism has been taking over the industry for the last couple of years, and this trend is likely to go to 2021 and beyond. The shift to more minimalistic aesthetics has taken over social posts, logos and landing pages.

Major brands have already revamped their websites and general content to keep the minimalistic aesthetics. For instance, the Dell website is an excellent example of how minimalism will take over the world of visual brand marketing.

We shouldn’t expect to see any significant changes from this trend, especially with the rise of mobile marketing. Consumers now want to see more content, even on smaller screens. Cramping your posters with too many details at a go won’t yield satisfactory results.

6. Data visualization

If there’s one thing that we’ve learned over the last year, it’s that people want to know about something but aren’t really interested in seeing too many numbers, statistics or data. This is where data visualization comes in. In layman’s terms, data visualization aims to make any complex data much easier to understand.

Data has become part and parcel of the marketing landscape, but we now know that isn’t just the internal data that needs to be shared but submitting it to them when it’s much easier to understand. Once you make it appealing, it’ll be much easier to convert or encourage prospects to become customers through your data.

Final thoughts

Looking at the brand design trends for the last year, it’s clear that the future is shifting towards connection and personalization. The importance of inclusivity, interactive content, and positivity cannot be understated. The human side will become a priority for any visual marketing techniques in 2021.