The Power of Visuals in your Customer Journey

Imagine your most wonderful shopping experience in your favourite shop. The Incredible shop window which entices you in with their latest seasonal offering. The wonderful display that struck you as you entered and the simple signposting that encouraged you to walk on.

Everything is cohesive from the use of colour in the windows to the marketing messages at high level, eye level and even product level. Every touch point is part of the story down to the final part when you purchase the product - it's wrapped and bagged in the same brand colours and messaging.

This is the customer journey we need to take our prospects on with a consistent look and feel that at each point, reconfirms our message and deepens our relationship with the potential buyer. It's the subtle details that all add up to the memorable experience.

Our shop window is our profile picture and banner. Welcoming people into our world with a visual that clearly shows our personal brand and what we're about. Our welcome display at the entrance is our home page on a website, our featured section on LinkedIn or Welcome Landing Page which all give an insight into what we do and how we help people.

As we take people on a journey through different web pages, articles, videos or written content posts, all must have the visual stamp that is ours, to remind our audience it's us! This is where personal brand images are so key. To keep showing the face and values behind the proposition. To build the know like and trust that is essential in today's world where people buy from people.

In the retail world, the use of space is really key. There are different zones which have different levels of commerciality and are therefore merchandised in different ways. For example, products on offer or best sellers are most likely to be in the most commercial zones where there is naturally higher footfall and opportunity to create sales. It's about serving people too by making it easy for customers to shop and find what they're looking for.

There is also what we call dead space. This is often in hidden areas at the back of the store or in nooks and crannies that are difficult to navigate. It also may be surprising to hear that it's the space at the very front of the store too. The reason being, as humans we look at 45 degrees in front of us; and most often first left then right as that's how we read. So many people will actually not even see the first products on the right as they've already walked and looked past them. They only get spotted on the way out when it's too late! Next time you're shopping, try it and see. What's the first thing that catches your eye? In my career I would spend hours when designing a store layout, watching how people naturally shopped the space. It's fascinating, I have to say!

The reason I'm telling you this? It's the same in Marketing. We need to ensure we are using our premium space for our most important messages. Our banners, our stories, our homepage are all key for this. Also be aware of where your dead spaces may be too. You may think you are telling your message in so many different visual ways; but if your audience aren't seeing them, it won't matter. Have you ever stopped and looked how people are navigating your world? Would be really interesting I'm sure.

On a final thought, having imagined your most amazing experience where your shop was effortless, you found what you were looking for easily and you were pleasantly surprised by all the thoughtful touches; now think of your worst experience. The fixtures are close together and cramped, there's no logic in the layout so it's difficult to navigate, the products are so messy you just don't have the energy to search for your size. It's chaos and you leave empty handed.

When it comes to your visuals, less is definitely more. A cluttered image with things out of place confuses us; and we know a confused mind doesn't buy! When creating images for your marketing, place yourself to one side allowing enough negative space to write your message in your colours and font that align to your brand. Ensure anything is removed from the background shouldn't be there so eyes are all on you.

When I checked online, the latest thoughts on how many touch points you need with a customer before they are ready to buy, it ranged from 7 to over 20. In Dr Jeffrey Lants Rule of 7 he says you will need to contact a prospect 7 times for them to remember you. With our attention span now claimed to be less than that of a goldfish (8 seconds) it's no surprise. Whatever the number, it's a lot, so it's important to make every touch point count.

The more consistent we can be with our personal brand and images in our marketing, the more we will build the connections which will ensure we are remembered and be the chosen one.

If you'd like to see how good your brand images are at attracting your ideal clients, take the Brand Photography Scorecard. It takes just 2 minutes and will show you the impact you are making with your brand images. You will receive personalised results with lots of advice and action points on any areas to improve. You can also book a complimentary call with me to explore your options further and get my expert opinion.

If you're ready to commit to ensuring your customer journey takes your audience down the right path of working with you, check out my Black Friday Special: Say Yes to YOU

Thank you so much for reading. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Kier

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