6 VisCom Fundamentals to Consider for Your Next Proposal Submission
Kimberly Brokaw
Visual Communications Strategy | Owner @ Elixr VisCom | Win More Pursuits
In the festive spirit of the holiday season, let’s unwrap the true gift that keeps on giving in the world of project pursuits—Visual Communications, or VisCom. Defined as the science of communicating through compelling and dynamic visual elements, VisCom is the unsung hero often overlooked by project pursuit teams. No matter the industry or the magnitude of the project being pursued, VisCom should be at the forefront of their proposal strategy.?
Recently, I wrote about why every project pursuit needs a VisCom strategy and why working with a VisCom partner is an invaluable tool. Today I’ll be singing the praises of six VisCom fundamentals to consider when planning for your next proposal submission. Hopefully these important VisCom insights will help level up your next project pursuit—and bring significant profit into your new year.?
1) What is VisCom strategy?
Visual Communications (VisCom) is a tactically executed marketing strategy that creates more engaging proposals, presentations, and materials, so companies win more bids/business. Think of Elixr as a proposal development and management companion. We leave the proposal management and technical specifications to you. We are hyper-focused on weaving words and visual elements together to create more cohesive, impactful proposals that drive readers down the page.
2) What are the common elements of a powerful VisCom strategy?
In crafting an effective VisCom strategy, several key elements play a pivotal role. Here are a few of the most impactful elements.
Used together, these four elements create a harmonious symphony that communicates complex ideas with precision and impact.
3) Why Pursuit Teams Leverage VisCom
Some considerations come into play when the decision is made for companies, large or small, to partner with a VisCom professional.?
Desire to win more bids. All things being equal in a proposal process, VisCom helps companies win more pursuits. It’s an area that can be overlooked in a process where so much emphasis is placed on technical specifications. VisCom provides a balanced approach to telling the story. Proper balancing of commentary and creative makes proposals easier to digest and helps draw readers to the content that earns more scoring points—which increases the likelihood of winning pursuits.
Internal resources have narrow bandwidth. Internal resources are often inundated with work and struggle to focus on elements like VisCom. Outsourcing VisCom to a company with proven results, like Elixr, enables leaders to improve the overall quality of proposals and to quickly load-balance project pursuit work.
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4) VisCom is a Proposal Manager’s Friend
Proposal managers are skilled project managers that have a load to balance when it comes to overseeing project pursuits, sometimes more than one at a time. It’s crucial that time be well spent on content gathering and submission strategy; pulling in a VisCom professional helps them focus on winning. A project pursuit is a total team effort that requires proposal managers to consult with many contributors at once and has to translate information into clear, point-scoring narrative. ?
Having a VisCom expert as a partner ensures a seamless integration of compelling and professionally crafted visuals that lead readers down the page and through the document, fostering enhanced clarity, engagement, and impact—and that helps proposal managers and pursuit teams win more bids and more business.?
Some say that proposal manager and VisCom roles are on the less-challenging side of project management. Speaking from many years of personal experience, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Pursuits are fast-paced and RFPs can shift requirements, timelines, and throw in late-stage addendums to add even more pressure on the team. However, when you take a step back, It’s what makes the pursuit process so rewarding—it takes a complete team effort to win them.
5) Layout is a Journey
There are no easy roads when planning out the production of a proposal. Submission packets are content heavy, which is why layout and content hierarchy are paramount. VisCom is a method that helps communicate technical info to an often non-technical audience, making complex topics easily digestible—which is what it’s all about. Visually balancing narrative and creative within that journey helps readers get engaged (and stay engaged) in your content. Not only will an enhanced and fluid layout foster a deeper understanding of the subject matter, it will certainly lead the readers to important scoring points.
Proposal managers do have a strong awareness that VisCom should be prioritized, but truly don’t have time to focus their efforts on VisCom because their role requires them to gather content, manage the proposal process, info synthesis, and overall production. Bringing on a VisCom partner will help alleviate proposal managers from having to step outside of their expertise.?
6) VisCom Vs. Graphic Design
A common misperception is that a proposal must be either very graphical or contain dense text. This choice is an unnecessary dichotomy because the best approach is to have a balance of narrative, augmented with thoughtful layout and visuals. Because proposal managers typically have the laborious task of managing all other aspects of the pursuit, working with a VisCom company like Elixr balances layout, text, visuals, and brand that bring another dimension to the reader: emotion.
VisCom is a very strategic and thoughtful process for winning a proposal bid, especially when we consider the technical portion and how it tells the story, leveraging elements like company brands, page layouts, imagery, and graphical options.
Ask me questions! If you’ve ever struggled with prioritizing VisCom while proposal planning and just can’t find the time, we’re here for you. Elixr can offer you the unique VisCom tools to win your next project pursuit. If you have questions, please connect with me on LinkedIn and send a message or visit the Elixr VisCom website to learn more.