You’ve done painstaking research to appeal to your target audience. The copy is brilliant, the visuals sublime, yet your marketing materials aren’t bringing in the droves of new customers they should be. Everything else might be perfect, but a wall of text or off-center image can be enough to throw a wrench in your entire marketing operation.
Proper layout is a fundamental part of good marketing. If everything else looks perfect, chances are a layout-related no-no is to blame. Here’s what you should be avoiding across your hardest-hitting marketing channels and what to do instead.
Ads
The most common and damning mistake is trying to do too much with limited ad or banner real estate. Simplicity is key. That means sticking to your brand’s recognizable color scheme, having no more than one appropriate image, and making the CTA easy to find and click on.
Ads need to follow a straightforward visual hierarchy. They hook the reader in, offer an enticing snippet of info, and give them the power to act. Even if you nail the general idea, you’ll still confuse and annoy viewers by introducing too many font styles or a typeface that looks fancy but lacks readability.
The CTA is any ad’s center of attention and logical conclusion. Everything else plays a supportive role and should never compete for viewers’ attention with it. Even if the entire ad is clickable, the CTA needs to anchor its design and drive engagement. The worst thing you can do is bury it inside the text or make it less noticeable by using low-contrast fonts and bland color schemes.
Marketing Emails
Unlike ads, your marketing campaigns reach people who are already interested in your offerings and are more likely to respond positively. That doesn’t mean you should take their interest or goodwill for granted.
Every marketing email you send should be skimmable. That means using a heading structure that draws attention to highlights and not overburdening readers with too much detail. Short, clean paragraphs are the norm. You can break the text up with a few carefully chosen images, but these should support and enhance the written message rather than distract from it.
Making sure that the mobile version of an email’s layout retains consistent column widths and reads well is an absolute must. The majority of recipients will read your emails from a smartphone’s small vertical screen, and the layout has to adapt to this.
Landing Pages
Your landing page is your payout point as well as the place to make your most compelling arguments. It’s the most intricate stop in a customer’s journey, meaning the potential to make mistakes is also the highest.
Avoid overwhelming visitors with clutter. Social proof, like testimonials and badges has its place, but capture attention with a clean layout first. Visitors should be able to learn more or buy your products at any time. Make dropdown menus and carts accessible from the get-go as well as while scrolling.
You can dedicate much of the landing page to highlighting product features or addressing visitor pain points. However, do so in a way that doesn’t lead to information overload and looks cohesive. So, no large paragraphs, run-on sentences, or large empty areas that break up the site’s visual flow.
Lastly, make sure that branding remains uniform across all channels. Someone who visits your website should be able to instantly recognize the logo, color scheme, fonts, and other visual cues that social media, ads, and emails primed them for.
Security & Workflow Continuity
Some careless layout decisions can negatively impact website security. For example, embedding third-party forms into your layouts without vetting their providers, or using untrustworthy visual-based email builders without understanding the underlying code. Keep up with evolving digital threats that can target your marketing assets and databases to ensure their safety.
It’s easier to focus on delivering impactful layouts if you can ensure workflow continuity in all circumstances. This is especially true for marketers who work remotely or travel the world as digital nomads.
Even when working from unreliable networks like public Wi-Fi, an eSIM can help keep your workflow stable. How an eSIM works is that it connects you directly to local mobile networks through a built-in chip, giving you secure and consistent internet access without steep roaming charges. That way, you can stay focused on your layouts instead of stressing over connectivity or security issues.
Conclusion
In the end, mastering layout isn’t just about making things look good. Rather, it’s about creating a smooth, intuitive experience that guides your audience naturally toward action. Whether it’s an ad, an email, or a landing page, thoughtful and user-friendly design keeps your message clear and your brand consistent.
