The visual side of an offer just as much as the content value is of paramount importance in awakening the interest of potential customers. After all, the thoughtful design, alignment with the corporate identity, and modern design will make the content memorable. Therefore, use our tips, and you will learn how to graphically design an offer.
|5 tips on how to design your offer well
Plan the content of your offer
A fully comprehensible and interesting offer to the audience is one that has thoughtful content. Therefore, carefully plan what content you want to include, and only later deal with the visual aspect. Whether you are offering cheaper and short-term services, or perhaps the document is about expensive and long-term projects, the way you convey the information is crucial.
In fact, you can only move on to the next stages of designing your offer once you have determined what content and data should be there. This will ultimately affect the layout used, the priority of certain information, as well as the colors and font sizes.
When planning, consider the possibility of expanding this template in the future. This will make it easier for you to add new information without reorganizing too much.
Thoughtfully designed layout
One of the best solutions for the offer is to use a table, which is functional, easy to read, and has a lot of advantages:
- it’s a familiar feature for entrepreneurs,
- it’s easy to edit, allowing you to add new rows or columns, as well as configure them as you wish,
- you won’t have problems exporting to Microsoft Excel or Google Spreadsheet,
- the table gives you the possibility to change the layout to a more customized one by merging cells,
- you can easily divide the table into subsections.
Are you determined to present your offer using a table? If so, remember that the responsive nature of this element is essential. Even more so if you create the file online. Then you must prepare for the fact that the file can be opened not only in the desktop version but also on mobile. There are several ways to adapt the table to phones, iPads, or tablets.
- Squish – this is the best solution if you have a table with a small amount of data, as it involves shrinking the content so that you can read all the values without having to scroll or pan.
- Scroll – will work well for extensive tables. This method can be quite inconvenient, as it requires horizontal scrolling, but it comes in handy when you don’t want to extend the document too much.
- Collapse rows – the method involves collapsing rows so that individual cells are in sequence. This gives a fairly clear view if you want to add a lot of content there.
- Collapse columns – similar to the previous example, this involves collapsing cells. However, in this case, it involves columns.
Clear and easy-to-understand content
You must always ensure that your content is readable and fully understandable to your audience. Otherwise, it will be challenging to get them interested in your offer. Therefore, consider a few key rules.
- Limit the number of colors – often a minimalist design with the addition of one most important color will give you a more readable look. Remember that colors are used to highlight key information, so an excess of them will upset the content hierarchy.
- Use whitespace – give some empty space to the most essential content, and then it is these empty areas that will attract attention and interest your audience. You can also use light gray grid lines. If you are presenting the offer in the form of a table, then limit the number of lines as much as possible – possibly choose a lighter color.
- Text alignment – use center alignment or justification for titles or mid-headings. On the other hand, align text in cells to the left, and numbers to the right.
Emphasize the brand symbols
Always make sure that the offer document is branded, so the company’s symbols must not be missing from the content. One of the most important elements is the logo – many companies
forget about branding, so learn from their mistakes.
The first page of the offer is the perfect place for your logo. This way you will immediately indicate whose document it is and remind the recipients of the brand name and symbols.
Don’t limit yourself to just adding a logo. It is also crucial to be guided by your company’s visual identity. Use specific fonts, colors, or graphic elements. You can find all this information in a design book that every brand should have.
Planning of the conduct scenario and CTA
The customer will not always decide to take the offer, so you need to be prepared for such a scenario. This way, you’ll know what to do so that you don’t trap the recipient in one offer. Calls to action, or CTAs, will help you with this – it’s up to you whether these buttons encourage acceptance, contact, or learning about other services. This way, even undecided people will be able to follow up, get more information or ask a few more questions.
Do you know what a CTA should look like? Firstly, make sure that the button is located in a prominent place – preferably at the end of the table. Also, use a distinctive color that you usually use for this type of element.
If you are sending an offer for an expensive and long-term project, then don’t add a CTA that reads “I accept.” Such cooperation often requires a long process, involving securing funds, signing the necessary documents, and informing your superiors and those involved in its implementation. Then, immediate acceptance also involves too much legal liability, so a CTA like “Give feedback,” “Contact” or “Make a consultation appointment” will work better.
