With commercials, web ads, websites, print ads, pop-up ads and more, consumers are constantly being bombarded with marketing messages, yet the majority of that information is instantly forgotten. With all the noise, standing out is hard, but here are several examples of effective minimalist marketing:

Many brands have adopted a minimalist marketing strategy to create more impactful campaigns. The goal of the minimalist approach is to convey a message as concisely as possible while still entertaining the audience. For visual advertising, this means simple, clean images that represent the brand, product and customer. With content, a minimalist message is short and succinct; think tagline rather than a paragraph.

Examples of Effective Minimalist Marketing

Ideally, a minimalist marketing campaign will reach the brand’s target audience by simplifying choices, establishing trust through a confident approach rather than a hard sell, telling the story of the brand and providing valuable information to the potential customer in an easily digestible way.

1. Apple. The company most experts point to when discussing the minimalist approach is Apple, which is credited with popularizing minimalist marketing. The Apple website is stark, with beautiful photos and limited copy describing the products, its logo is instantly recognizable and its ad campaigns sell a feel or lifestyle rather than providing a huge amount of information about the product (think of the 2003 Silhouettes campaign for the iPod).

2. Driving-Tests.org. Driving-Tests.org shows how a smaller business can employ a minimalist approach to its design and message. With one bold image and limited print, the brand’s website is not visually crowded. The company simplified its message and avoids over-explaining the fine details of their services. Instead, the website focuses on key points to tell the story of their business and product and by limiting the number of topics and buttons.

3. PixelCraft. PixelCraft is a Irish company that employs a minimalist design to great effect. The PixelCraft website features interesting illustrations with key bullet points of information that both succinctly tell and show the customer what the business does (SEO, web design, web hosting and digital marketing).

What to Consider When Implementing a Minimalist Campaign

Although quite popular, all minimalist marketing is not created equal. What works for one business may be ineffective for another. The key to implementing a successful marketing strategy is to understand which elements and knowledge will be most useful to your target audience. If you are boiling down your message to only a few images and pieces of information, these must speak to your customer.

Users comes to any brand with a preexisting schema, or mental shortcut, that helps them to understand and react to information in the world around them. Understanding your ideal customer’s schema will allow you to choose words and images that your customer already has a positive association with.

To connect with your target audience, you have to familiarize yourself with its culture. A common misstep made by many brands is to market from their own perspective, rather than truly understanding the language and schema of the target audience. This is called the curse of knowledge, which means the more familiar you are with a topic, the harder it is to explain the basics of that topic to people unfamiliar with it. Aaron Griffith, on the site UX Booth, suggests combatting this by reading what your audience reads to understand their tastes and vocabulary and then soliciting feedback from your target audience.

Armed with a clear understanding of your ideal customer base, use this knowledge to effectively minimalize your marketing strategy with simple, impactful images and quick, clear bursts of useful information.

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This article is published by The Sherwood Group: Creative Agency, Graphic Design, Web Design:
The Sherwood Group has over 30 years of experience working with all sorts of companies, small and large. Our clients range from entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 firms, in nearly every business sector, from across the street to around the world (and yes, even Europe, China, and South America). Our goal is to create advertising, graphic design, website design, and marketing communication that still looks fresh and relevant 10-15 years later. Our mission is to stir your imagination and leave your competition shaken and wondering, Now what do we do?” We are located in Livingston, Texas.

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