getting the right ‘look’ requires some planning
by rick telberg
projecting a look that communicates your firm’s true professionalism requires more than just shiny shows and a good smile. it really requires a smooth and consistent overall appearance that coordinates everything from your stationary to your demeanor. if one of these components projects a less-than-professional look, it can put a big dent into your overall effort.
in fact, 87 percent of finance professionals agree “you are evaluated by your manner and appearance, not just your work,” according to bay street group llc. and, of the financial professionals who say the look and feel of their marketing materials can be decisive, 73 percent hold ceo or other c-level titles.
clearly, it’s not something you can take lightly. so, before you go out and spend thousands of dollars on a professional designer, think a little about the image you project or want to project.
we’ve already talked about the importance of branding. branding achieves a number of goals. it helps clients, and especially potential clients, remember you and your company.
additionally, a look at your stationary or web site is also the first contact that many potential clients have with you. and if that contact projects professionalism, you’ve already gone a long way towards establishing that desired image in your potential and current clients’ minds.
color is one place where a professional eye can be of great assistance. your public library or book store is a great place to start. there are dozens, or maybe even hundreds of books on using color in design, and a lot of these provide examples of color sets that work well together to produce kinds of impressions. one book that you may want to consider is the “color design workbook: a real-world guide to using color in graphic design” by morika, stone, and adams. the same authors have also written the “logo design workbook: a hands-on guide to creating logos,” which is an excellent reference for logo design.
perhaps the most difficult thing for finance professionals to come up with is good-looking marketing collateral. the term “marketing collateral” covers a number of bases. it could be firm brochures, flyers, individual pages on specific services, newspaper ads, mass mailing, and other similar creations.
this is one area where you can do a lot of damage if you are not careful. an amateurish piece of marketing collateral can demolish your firm’s image in a single glance.
there are lots of free pre-defined templates into which you can insert your own copy and images. some are available with applications including ms word and ms publisher. to a large extent, these are pretty ho-hum.
look for a selection of professional-looking designs that is reasonably priced (and some are even free.) there are some that have been specifically designed for financial advisors, but some designs for other professions, including consulting and accounting, are equally applicable. most printer vendors also offer boilerplate templates for various purposes, including marketing collateral, though many of these are more suitable for announcing the weekend soccer game rather than promoting a professional firm.
not all of them are, however. hp just announced a partnership with paula scher, who designed the logo for citibank and other well-known corporate identities. there are only a few of her corporate-look designs up at hp at the moment, but more are coming.
and web sites such as hp’s are also excellent places to get design and marketing help, so look around while you are there and make the most of your visit.