Why Digital Marketers Should Learn Graphic Design

Digital marketers should know graphic design, and there are many reasons for it! In this blog, we will be getting into why graphic design is a valuable skill for a digital marketer. 

Summary:

• Graphic design can help digital marketers run campaigns more independently with greater efficiency.
• Digital marketing professionals can ensure consistent branding and save significant costs by learning graphic design. 
• For digital marketers looking to get into graphic design, pursuing short courses and learning the fundamentals, along with tools like Photoshop, Figma, etc., can be beneficial. 

Digital marketers are always looking for ways to grab eyeballs and high-quality leads. Nowadays, attention is the currency, and visuals play a crucial role in deciding what’s worth the watch time. Every scroll, click, and tap is a decision driven by visual appeal. 

So, unsurprisingly, the best way to achieve your digital marketing goals is by incorporating visuals into your campaigns. This has made graphic design a core skill crucial to succeeding in the digital marketing world. From social media to landing pages, a grasp of graphic design principles and tools can help turn a good campaign into an exceptional one. 

In this blog, we will discuss in depth why digital marketers should learn graphic design, so let’s dive in! Here’s what we will be covering:

• Why are Graphic Design Skills Valuable for Digital Marketers?
• Your Guide to Learning Graphic Design as a Digital Marketer
• How Does AND Academy Help Digital Marketers Master Graphic Design?
• Conclusion

Why are Graphic Design Skills Valuable for Digital Marketers?

Graphic design is a valuable skill for digital marketers as it offers them an opportunity to create and refine visuals that represent the brand identity strategically in its most authentic form. But that’s not all. 

Graphic design adds value to digital marketers in various ways, some of which are discussed below.

1. Enhances Campaign Performance

In a world saturated with information, visuals are a clear winner as they are processed faster than text, instantly grabbing audience attention and communicating messages efficiently. High-quality, engaging visuals not only capture the audience’s attention but also retain their interest. This works wonderfully in favor of campaigns as it improves CTRs and overall engagement. Not to forget, when the audience feels enchanted by visuals, they are also more likely to click the CTA and perform the action the campaign is designed around.

2. Enables Independent Function

The ability to handle basic and even urgent design tasks enables digital marketers to operate with greater efficiency and independence. In crucial moments, instead of wasting time coordinating with the design team for minor tweaks, a marketer with design skills can make quick adjustments, create initial mockups, or generate simple graphics on demand. In fast-paced environments, knowing how to create a basic design can help land a client or crack a crucial viral moment. 

3 Consistent Branding and Storytelling

A strong brand identity is built on consistency across all touchpoints, and graphic design is crucial for achieving this. Digital marketers who understand design can ensure that every visual element, from logos to fonts, aligns perfectly with the brand's established guidelines and personality. Such consistency is not only valuable to have a strong brand, but also helps create a narrative that makes a business appear more reliable and trustworthy. 

4. Better Control of Creative Outputs

Digital marketers with graphic design skills tend to have a better understanding of the design process. They understand the technicalities and jargon much better. It helps them conceptualize campaign designs, communicate their ideas, and provide feedback to their team more effectively. Knowing design also enables marketers to find inconsistencies in design and ensure that it aligns better with the strategy. Overall, they are able to control the creative output much better and ensure it goes well with the marketing campaign..

5. Saves Costs and Resources 

If you are a marketer working in a startup, outsourcing every design task can accumulate significant costs. By learning graphic design, digital marketers can perform many tasks in-house, such as creating routine social media graphics or designing basic landing page layouts. Also, the ability to quickly generate visuals or make revisions saves time. Learning graphic design can help free up resources that can be used for other purposes, such as growing a business, scaling its operations, etc.

6. Career Advancement

Digital marketers who know graphic design attain a more well-rounded skillset. This helps them gain an edge over others in the job market. Having an expanded skillset opens doors to a wider range of roles, such as content marketing, social media management, branding, and more. Professionals who can bridge the gap between marketing strategy and creative execution are considered to be valuable assets for any business. Hence, investing in graphic design can also help you advance your career as a digital marketer.

Your Guide to Learning Graphic Design as a Digital Marketer

There are many benefits of digital marketers learning graphic design, but how do you begin? Below, we provide a step-by-step guide on how you can start learning graphic design as a digital marketing professional. 

1. Understand the Basics of Design 

The first step is to learn the basics of graphic design. Once you know the foundational concepts, it becomes much easier to create visuals. Knowing the graphic design principles is also a prerequisite to working well with design teams and producing designs that are effective. Here is what you should learn as part of covering the basics -

• Graphic Design Principles - Know the basics such as alignment, balance, hierarchy, contrast, white space, harmony, and more. These principles are the key to understanding what makes a design cohesive, functional, and aesthetic. 
• Typography - It is the art of arranging typefaces to make written language visually appealing and easy to read. Typography includes making smart font choices and ensuring your text is readable and focuses on exactly what you want to convey.
• Color Theory - It is the art of using colors together in a way that makes them look visually pleasing to the audience. It uses color psychology to create combinations that make users want to do or feel something. Knowledge of color theory is also important to ensure that what you create aligns with the brand’s color palette. 
• Composition & Layouts - These aspects dictate how visual elements are arranged on a page or screen. It includes working with a grid system, which helps align different elements and create order in a design. Layouts also help control the overall visual flow of a design. Knowing concepts such as the rule of thirds also helps designers understand the nuance behind a visual. 
• Visual Communication - It uses images, graphics, and videos to convey information, ideas, and messages. Marketers should know about visual communication so they can transform their abstract ideas into tangible assets. Knowing what image to choose for the header or what type of infographic to use in a blog is an important skill for a marketer. It helps them put out visuals that work well for their target audience.

2. Learn How to Use Design Tools 

After learning the basics, the next step is to understand how to use graphic design software and tools. These tools will help you apply all the basics you have learnt so you can bring your ideas to life. Here are some popular tools you can try out.

• Photoshop - It is a standard tool for raster image editing and manipulation. It helps you edit, retouch, or crop images. You can create social media designs and promotional materials for your campaign with it.
• Adobe Illustrator - This tool is used to edit vector graphics and create scalable artwork like logos, illustrations, and infographics. It is a great tool to create brand collateral, especially the ones you intend to print. 
• Figma - Figma is a cloud-based design and prototyping tool known for its collaborative features. While it is mainly used in UI UX design, you can use it to collaborate in real-time with your team, offer timely feedback, and streamline the design process.

3. Apply Your Learnings to Your Campaigns

Now that you understand the basics and the tools, put your knowledge into practice. Start by integrating your graphic design skills into your current marketing campaigns. You can start with low-stakes projects, like social media posts, email banners, or blog post headers.

Experiment with different styles, colors, fonts, layouts, etc. A/B test your designs to understand what works and does not work with your audience. You can also share them with your friends, colleagues, and graphic design teams to get constructive feedback. This will help improve your skills and overall knowledge of the design process. 

4. Measure Results

The final step to learning graphic design is to understand if your designs are working the way you intend them to. Track the impact of your designs on your campaign by measuring its performance. Monitor metrics such as website traffic, social media engagement, conversion rates, etc. 

Pay special attention to metrics related to engagements as they will give you an idea of how captivating your designs truly are. You can use your insights and data to optimize your designs. It is the final step to understand that designs are not only visuals but also strategic assets.

How Does AND Academy Help Digital Marketers Master Graphic Design?

Digital marketing is an exciting field, and learning graphic design can open up a lot of opportunities for you within it. However, as working professionals, learning something expansive like graphic design can be tough. However, with AND Academy’s design courses, you do not have to worry about that.

Our industry-focused curriculum is perfect for working professionals who want to learn design from scratch. We not only teach you the design process and principles, but also the nuances behind creating a strong design strategy. Our mentors are industry experts who will help you ace graphic design, even if you know zilch about it!

AND Academy also offers personalized mentorship and feedback to help you build on your strengths and achieve your design goals. Our classes are held in the evenings and on weekends to ensure everyone can attend the live sessions. You can also use these sessions to connect with other professionals and build a solid network! 

Our stackable courses allow you to learn and upgrade your knowledge at your convenience. You can choose from our offerings, which are as follows:

• Graphic Design Certificate
• Graphic Design Diploma
• Graphic Design PG Diploma (Part-time)
• Graphic Design PG Diploma (Full-time)

Conclusion & Next Steps

As a digital marketer, learning graphic design can be of immense value. While you will not be able to replace your graphic design team (as should be!), you will surely be able to coordinate and communicate with them more efficiently.

Learning graphic design also helps you become more independent and manage your campaigns with greater control. It is especially important for digital marketers who run their own shows. The list of benefits of learning graphic design is endless, but your learning journey does not have to be. You can easily learn graphic design with AND Academy’s courses. As proof of the pedagogy, you can check out AND learner, Sant Kaur‘s project! 

In case you need any further assistance, here are some of our resources you can consider:

1. Watch this session by design veteran and AND’s Academic Head, Prachi Mittal, and our Course Lead, Soumya Tiwari.
2. Talk to a course advisor to discuss how you can transform your career with one of our courses.
3. Pursue our Graphic Design courses - all courses are taught through live, interactive classes by industry experts, and some even offer a Job Guarantee.
4. Take advantage of the scholarship and funding options that come with our courses to overcome any financial hurdle on the path to your career transformation.

Note: All information and/or data from external sources is believed to be accurate as of the date of publication