Why Should Every Agency Provide Graphic Design Services?

Are graphics essential for marketing? Absolutely. However, numerous digital marketing agencies still do not offer graphic design services. With the demand for branding and advertising on the rise, agencies should focus on providing quality graphics to their clients.

Digital marketing constitutes close to half (46%) of total marketing spending across the board. Of course, the numbers are even higher in some industries that rely heavily on digital channels.

Since this type of marketing includes numerous channels and types of campaigns, many brands and companies rely on creative agencies to help them. These agencies provide various services to their clients, such as:

• Social Media Marketing (SMM)
• Content writing
• Influencer marketing
• Email marketing
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Web Design and Development

One of the essential services these agencies provide is graphic design since it is also an integral component of most of the above categories of digital marketing.

This article will explain why web and graphic design should be a part of any agency’s offer. Additionally, we’ll point out some opportunities to offer design services without hiring designers in-house.

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What is a graphic design service?

Graphic design is defined as the art of projecting and portraying ideas with the help of visual aid. It communicates a thought to the general public.

So, who needs graphic design services? Basically, anyone looking to sell products or services on- or offline.

Your digital marketing strategy is incomplete without the use of proper graphics. Graphics add life to your content and help your audience connect with your message more effectively. In many cases, visuals are also necessary for running an ad campaign (e.g., display ads).

There are different types of creative design services agencies can offer their clients. Some of these are:

• Logo designs
• Social media graphics
• Display ads
• Web design
• Email marketing graphics
• Landing pages

Importance of graphic design services

1. The graphic design market in the US had an average growth rate of 1.2% per annum between 2017 and 2022.
2. The US graphic design market was around $15 billion in 2021, with logo design making up almost $3 billion.
3. Design-driven companies have outperformed the S&P 500 by more than 219% between 2004 and 2014.
4. Content Marketing Institute found that around 51% of B2B marketers rank creating visually appealing content as their priority.

So, since the industry is vast, it makes sense that every agency should strive to get their piece of the cake and provide graphic design services to wanting clients.

Here are a few reasons why graphic design is vital to any business:

Brand identity creation

Having a creative logo that is imprinted in the minds of your audience is the dream of every brand. A logo that is easy to remember and reflects the values of an organization helps brands establish themselves in the eyes of their target audience.

But from the eyes of a graphic designer, a logo is just the first step. The logo design will inform the look and feel of the brand’s visual identity. That means colors, fonts, illustrations, and every design element used to create subsequent marketing assets.

Creating a brand identity is a massive task that few companies have the capacity to do alone. Here are the key steps in the process:

• Market research: identifying a potential gap or opportunity for a new product/service;
• Help define the purpose of a brand: answering the question of why a brand exists and what problem it is solving for its clients;
• Defining the target audience: creating buyer personas (personifications of an ideal customer);
• Determining the main messages/tone of voice: what are the brand’s core messages and values it always adheres to;
• Developing a visual identity: creating a logo and a brand’s visual guidelines.

Developing a look for a brand is the last step, as design is supposed to reflect the company’s entire brand identity (the questions “why,” “what,” and “for whom”).

Boosting sales

More than 90% of the information our brains process is visual. People are attracted to unique and creative graphic designs. If your design stands out and is memorable, it will help you grab customer attention.

Graphic design also incorporates a sales psychology that unconsciously triggers the audience to buy the products or services.

Some of the tricks graphic designers use are:

• Color psychology: Each color has a commonly associated meaning to it. Of course, these findings are highly dependent on context, but staying aware of these conventions helps designers predict the emotional effect of a color.
• Von Restorff Effect: In design, this theory is most applicable to the principle of contrast. Basically, it suggests that the more an element stands out from the rest, the greater the chances are we'll remember it.
• Visceral Reactions: Physical reactions to emotions caused by different stimuli. For example, a powerful visual can make us laugh or cry.
• Shape Psychology: Similar to color theory, there are some general conclusions on people’s reactions to different shapes. For example, sharp geometric shapes are often used to alert or draw attention. In contrast, fluid shapes are more commonly associated with natural forms and serenity.
• Dual coding theory: The theory that postulates that both verbal and visual elements are used to convey information.
• Gestalt Psychology: This is an area of psychology, particularly pertaining to design. It suggests that we do not perceive things as isolated elements but as elements of a whole. It’s particularly evident in the design principle of harmony or balance.

People are overwhelmed by ads online. Quality graphic design can ensure that people see your ads and take action.

Over half (59%) of people are likely to purchase products that have a better design (Adobe, 2016), while a recent study from Accenture found businesses with a strong ad design get an impressive 125% return on investment.

Numerous campaigns also prove this. For example, Coke’s now-iconic Share a Coke campaign helped boost the company’s sales for the first time in over a decade. And all it took was a slight change in the packaging design.

Conveying information faster

Research shows that we process visuals 60,000 times faster than text. And since people’s attention span online is only about 8 seconds these days, marketers need every millisecond they can get.

Creative graphics can help you translate your company’s mission and main offer into simple memorable visual cues. This leads to increased impressions and longer customer lifecycles.

What types of graphic design services can agencies offer?

Now that you know why graphic design is so important in marketing, let's take a quick look at some of the most sought-after types of graphic design that an agency can offer its clients:

Branding graphic design

We’ve already highlighted why this is important for any business. Essentially, no brand and visual identity - no customers or profit.

So, what actually makes up a brand’s visual identity? Here are the most critical components:

• Logo: A brand guide will include logo specifications and alternative versions such as monochrome or black and white.
• Fonts: If your logo includes typography, all other typefaces should be chosen to match the style and feel of the logo font. You shouldn’t use more than 2 or 3 typefaces (font families) across the board to keep design consistent.
• Colors: Same situation here; start from your logo color(s) and build from there. You can use the color wheel to determine which colors go well together (complementary, analogous, triadic color combinations).
• Illustration, images: Whether or not your clients plan to rely heavily on this type of visual, it’s a convenient addition to any brand guide. Many brands use stock photos in their marketing materials. Still, you should define what type of photos and how they should be used to ensure the final look is unique. There are also various styles and illustration types, so you should define which ones suit the brand best.  
• Backgrounds: It’s especially important to specify on what types of backgrounds your logo may appear (too busy and the logo might become invisible). But you should also decide whether your brand uses mostly colorful or textured backgrounds or something more modern and minimalistic.
• Shapes and lines: These basic design elements will be used in almost every design. There is definitely more room for experimentation with them, but you should still be clear on what is in line with the brand’s visual style.

As you may predict, developing a brand style guide takes time and effort, and often designers with different skills and expertise. This is one of the reasons why many ad agencies don’t offer brand design services.

However, we’ll explain later why this shouldn’t be a hurdle to providing a complete service to your clients without increasing overhead costs.

Web design

More than 73% of web designers think that an unattractive and non-responsive web design is the leading cause of high bounce rates of websites.

Businesses have shifted online. Most small businesses have started offering their services on a digital platform, making reaching out to their audience easier and cheaper. A creative web design allows users to engage with the website's content. It piques their interest, which helps reduce bounce rates and increase conversions.

Full-service agencies offer web design and development services. However, it's absolutely not necessary to do both. After spending so much time researching your client's target market and developing a brand, you should be able to come up with an appropriate web design.

Although time-consuming and sometimes costly, web development doesn't require an in-depth knowledge of a brand and can be outsourced more easily.

Digital design services for advertisements

Advertisements are an essential part of a brand’s marketing campaign. Without proper advertisements, brands cannot communicate their products and services to a larger audience.

The US advertising market was around $285 billion in 2021, showing how important advertising is for businesses today. An expert graphic designer can create an ad that grabs the audience’s attention and creates an impact on the market. This is one of the reasons why graphic designers are some of the highest-paid professionals in the marketing industry.

Why do agencies refrain from providing graphic design services?

Hundreds of digital marketing companies offer clients content writing, social media marketing, and advertisement services. However, it is surprising that not all of them provide professional graphic design services.

This sounds ironic since digital marketing is all about graphics, visuals, and infographics. There are several uses for graphic designs relevant to the digital marketing environment.

One of the biggest reasons agencies don’t provide graphic design services is the cost of hiring an in-house graphic designer. They are concerned about how much for graphic design services they would have to pay themselves to offer clients this service.

A professional graphic designer can cost you anywhere from $25-150 per hour of service, while an average annual salary of a graphic designer in the US is around $47,000. The difficulty for agencies is that they can’t know if they will get a good return on their investment.

If they manage to secure many clients who are happy to pay extra for graphic design services, everything works out peachy. But, if they find themselves in a quiet period, the salary of an in-house employee can make a significant dent in the budget.

So, how to balance out these things: the cost of graphic design and its need in marketing? A fantastic, flexible, and affordable solution for agencies are unlimited graphic design services like ManyPixels.

Unlimited graphic design services are ideal for anyone who needs graphic design services but has a tight budget. With a fixed monthly rate (at ManyPixels, it can be as little as $549 per month), agencies can plan their budget and avoid hiring and admin costs.

More importantly, this solution is 100% flexible since you can pause or cancel your subscription at any time.

Finally, it’s an opportunity to work with multiple designers for one fixed rate. That means you can provide clients with different types of design and styles without ever having to hire additional help.

How much for graphic design services do you need to pay?

There’s no straightforward answer to this. Logos are the most demanded design pieces in the marketing industry, and a single professional logo design can cost you anywhere from $100-$500. Simple social media graphics usually cost well under $50, and web design costs around $3,000. And the list goes on.

The cost of graphic design also depends on the graphic design service provider. Freelancers charge about $25 per hour, while in-house designers cost around $2,000-7,000 monthly.

This is just some information to get you started. Still, we recommend you check out this guide for detailed information on graphic design pricing, including types of projects and graphic design services.

However, we’ve done the research for you, and we can guarantee that unlimited graphic design services are the most affordable and effective way to get design done. As was already mentioned, they’re a perfect partner for any agency looking to scale up their service!

Conclusion

Marketing agencies that do not provide these services to their clients miss a massive opportunity to get more clients and earn more profit. Most agencies avoid this due to the extra costs of setting up an in-house team and the unreliability of design freelancers.

Fortunately, several unlimited graphic design services, such as ManyPixels, can handle all your design requirements.

To learn more about our services, check out our website for details and pricing.