I have abandoned numerous websites in the past because they were overloaded with excessive text and bulky images, which made navigation challenging and gave them an overly bookish appearance. As both a marketer and a customer, I naturally gravitate towards using icons. Icons are not only visually appealing but also convey information and intent instantly, making clicking effortless.
However, not all businesses leverage the full potential of icons. To gain deeper insights, I meticulously examined dozens of websites and apps and sought the advice of industry experts who have witnessed the true impact of icons. Join me on this journey to discover how to effectively utilize marketing and sales icons. Throughout this exploration, we will cover the following topics:
Why use icons in marketing and sales materials?
Photography and typography have limitations in business communication, as generic stock photos often do not align with the accompanying text. On the other hand, icons can make your messaging unique, appealing, and memorable while facilitating the understanding of ideas and concepts. Let’s delve into the use cases of icons in marketing and sales materials, exploring how they can optimize your SEO strategy and enhance readability.
1. Icons make stuff easy to understand.
Graphic symbols are processed by the brain more swiftly than actual words, as they are swiftly given meaning and transformed into words. Icons, for example, aid in the rapid comprehension of intended meanings, simplifying the digestion of intricate concepts and terms.
Consider, for instance, the use of a checklist or chart icon in sales presentations, which visually portray accomplished goals and company growth.
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2. Icons boost engagement.
Icons play a crucial role in boosting engagement. By incorporating clickable icons on social media, websites, or apps, you can significantly enhance user interaction. Similarly, when included in product guides, promotional videos, or sales playbooks, icons prompt greater responses and encourage readers to engage. Consider using icons that display contact information, details, and other relevant information for optimal engagement.
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3. Icons help cut down on text.
Icons are a space-saving solution when text becomes too wordy. For instance, when displaying nutritional information on a product guide, using icons to represent categories like protein, carbs, and sugar not only conserves space but also adds a creative touch while conveying the intended message.
4. Icons support the text.
Icons serve as a valuable tool for enhancing user engagement and providing quick context. For instance, the “envelope” icon, paired with the message “Contact us,” adds an inviting touch to emails or web pages. Similarly, the strategic use of a “checkmark” icon in pop-ups, as demonstrated by Semrush, effectively captures the attention of the target audience.
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5. Icons break up the text.
Long, uninterrupted pages of text can make sales or marketing reports incredibly dull. However, by incorporating icons, you can inject visual appeal and effectively convey your message, surpassing the impact of generic stock photos. Additionally, icons are easier on the eyes and serve as a lightweight alternative to heavy images. Discover how to create engaging sales performance reports in Excel with this informative video.
6. Icons set your brand apart.
Utilizing branded icons across multiple platforms and aligning them with your marketing and sales materials is a strategic way to set your brand apart from competitors and make your content truly stand out.
Lavender.ai, an AI-powered tool that enhances sales emails, wisely selected the “wizard” icon to establish recognition and leave a lasting impression. By visiting Lavender’s website, the next time you think of an AI writing assistant, Lavender will instantly come to mind. I personally experienced this phenomenon during Lavender’s early stages of growth.
7. Icons are universally understood.
Translating an icon into multiple languages is unnecessary. Icons possess universal appeal and instant recognition. For instance, the “bulb” icon universally symbolizes a “good idea,” while a “star” icon represents certifications. Similarly, the familiar right arrow button encourages progression.
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Why are icons important in branding?
Icons play a crucial role in establishing and distinguishing your brand’s identity, ensuring easy recognition and recall. They serve as a consistent visual element across various platforms, reinforcing your brand’s image and creating a cohesive look and feel.
This holds true not only for personal branding or employee advocacy but also on a larger scale. Take, for instance, the LinkedIn page of Roman Pikalenko, which serves as an excellent example. He employs the flamingo icon in his marketing materials, name, sales deck, posts, and even on his shirt. If you happen to come across Roman’s page, chances are you’ll start associating him with this distinctive icon.
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When implemented in apps and websites, icons enhance the user experience by providing intuitive navigation and a better understanding of features and services, ultimately making your brand more user-friendly.
Pro Tip: Investing time in designing well-structured and high-quality icons is crucial. Low-quality or poorly designed icons can give the impression of a lack of authenticity and commitment to excellence.
Learn the art of designing brand icons through this informative video: [insert video link]
5 Examples of Marketing and Sales Icons
Icons serve myriad purposes on websites and apps, each contributing to their functionality and aesthetic appeal. Let’s delve into the top five prominent uses of these versatile design elements.
1. HubSpot Icons
HubSpot provides a diverse collection of free icons that you can utilize as you please. These icons can enhance the visual appeal of your websites, apps, and marketing and sales materials, offering a multitude of advantages.
For instance, the clock icon can effectively convey time sensitivity in sales, facilitate scheduling meetings and appointments, accommodate different time zones, or serve as a loading indicator. On the other hand, the “chat typing” icon is widely employed on websites and apps to enable chat options, invite comments and feedback, facilitate content sharing, deliver notifications, and, of course, encourage text messaging.
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2. Sharing Icons
Be it on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest, I find “sharing” icons incredibly convenient. They allow me to effortlessly share enjoyable content (like this post, wink wink 😉).
Enhance your website by integrating “sharing” icons, enabling users to effortlessly distribute your content across their preferred social networks. Additionally, this feature grants you access to invaluable insights regarding the popularity of your content and the platforms where it is being shared. Leverage these insights to refine and optimize your content strategy, ensuring maximum impact and engagement.
3. Engagement Icons
These icons serve a variety of purposes such as sign-up, feedback, following, bookmarking, and downloading. They play a crucial role in encouraging website visitors to express their approval, register, or seek clarification. As an example, Cognism effectively utilizes the envelope icon to prompt newsletter sign-ups.
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4. Under Construction Icons
I genuinely admire companies that go the extra mile by including an eye-catching icon when a webpage or website is under construction. Rather than feeling disappointed, I find myself eagerly anticipating its return. It’s these thoughtful touches that truly enhance the user experience.
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5. Storytelling
Storytelling can take different forms: telling or showing. Nowadays, numerous companies employ icons to visually represent their processes and brand story. This practice not only distinguishes them from the competition but also adds an appealing touch. However, the true beauty lies in the fact that using icons enhances brand likeability and memorability.
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7 Best Practices for Using Marketing and Sales Icons
Icons are a versatile tool used in various projects, ranging from logo designs to CTAs and infographics. They play a crucial role in branding, communication, navigation, and relatability.
According to Connor Gillivan, a growth expert and CEO of Trio SEO, these seemingly small graphics possess immense communication power. They can transcend language barriers and convey messages instantly with visual appeal. Gillivan emphasizes that icons are integral for platforms where brevity and impact are paramount.
Undoubtedly, icons bring significant value to your brand. But how can marketing and sales gurus leverage them to their fullest potential? Dive into these tips to uncover the secrets.
1. Accentuate your services.
To creatively showcase your services without being pushy or overly assertive, consider using icons. Sergey Solonenko, founder and CMO of Algocentric Digital Consultancy, explains how they utilized marketing icons on their website’s landing page.
These icons effectively highlighted their core services: AI-Powered Search Marketing, AI-Powered Content Marketing, and AI-Powered CRO. Each icon was thoughtfully designed to resonate with the corresponding service it represented.
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Icons offer an excellent solution for space-constrained apps. Uber effectively utilizes icons to convey information about its services and features, minimizing the need for excessive text. These icons encompass a wide array of services, all while maintaining a sleek and sophisticated appearance.
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2. Highlight features on ecommerce websites and apps.
Enhance the shopping experience on your ecommerce website and app by leveraging icons. These intuitive symbols offer customers one-click solutions, enabling them to effortlessly rate products, manage their cart, and choose a payment method. Enjoy a seamless and efficient shopping journey!
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eBay utilizes intuitive icons to enhance the shopping experience for customers, allowing them to conveniently add desired items to their wishlist and access available payment options, all in one place.
3. Highlight information and services in emails.
Including excessive text in your emails is a surefire way to drive people to unsubscribe. Instead, consider using icons to support links or in your email signature where you want to avoid overwhelming with text. However, it’s important to use icons correctly.
Adeline Knight, the SEO Content Manager at Icons8, advises paying attention to their size. “Make sure you maintain the right size,” Knight suggests. “Undersized icons in email marketing may cause customers to overlook important offers or information.
For better engagement, opt for distinct sizes like a 48x48px shopping cart icon. If resizing is necessary, always scale in multiples, such as from 24x24px to 48x48px, to ensure visual quality.” Take a look at this welcome email from Slack, which effectively incorporates these strategies to guide readers without relying heavily on text.
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4. Simplify your infographics.
Infographics can be visually overwhelming and perplexing when overloaded with text and heavy images. A more effective approach is to replace words or legends with icons when labeling chart columns or bars, as well as when representing numbers and bullet points. Take a look at the exemplary work by Insider Intelligence; they have achieved a remarkable balance in this regard.
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5. Simplify complex concepts.
Icons serve as powerful tools to convey complex ideas or concepts by linking visual representations (such as an icon) with supporting text. For instance, Fingerprint for Success utilizes visualizations of their business solutions to enhance comprehension and facilitate understanding.
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6. Show your commitment to a cause.
Attention to small details can have a profound impact. Demonstrate your dedication to social causes by incorporating relevant icons. Meow Meow Tweet, an organic skincare cosmetics manufacturer, captivates with their imaginative utilization of icons to showcase their fundamental principles.
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7. Provide structure.
Icons provide a clear hierarchy to your information, save screen space compared to text labels, and contribute to a responsive design. Species in Pieces, an educational website focused on endangered species, creatively utilizes icons to encourage exploration and engagement with crucial information. The use of icons lends an air of sophistication and minimalism to the website’s design.
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“Emphasizing alignment is crucial,” suggests Adeline. “Ensuring icons are evenly spaced contributes to a well-organized and visually appealing layout, enhancing accessibility and digestibility of information for customers.”
Instances to Avoid Using Icons
While icons offer numerous benefits, there are situations where their usage may not be the optimal choice. For instance, when icons lack clear text labels, they can hinder accessibility for visually impaired individuals relying on screen readers.
Moreover, in formal documents like legal contracts or academic research papers, incorporating icons may appear unprofessional or out of context. Additionally, in technical or scientific diagrams where precision and clarity are paramount, it is advisable to use technical symbols instead of icons to prevent confusion.
It is also crucial to consider the cultural context when targeting a diverse audience, as icons that are innocuous in one culture might carry different meanings or connotations in another. Lastly, icons can be perceived as insensitive or trivializing when dealing with serious, sensitive, or emotionally charged subjects.
Free Marketing Icons
Creating impeccable marketing and sales icons requires considerable time and resources. Fortunately, there are several reputable companies offering free marketing icons that can be utilized for websites, social media, email marketing, print materials, apps, presentations, advertising, infographics, product packaging, and marketing collaterals. Some noteworthy options include Icons8, Flaticon, Smashing Magazine, Iconfinder, Freepik, Iconmonstr, Behance, Font Awesome, Icon Archive, Captain Icon, Icon Scout, Dry Icons, and many more.
Free Sales Icons
For presentations, reports, emails, CRM systems, training materials, pitches, invoices and payments, promotions, and sales collaterals, free sales icons can be a valuable asset. Noteworthy platforms providing such icons include IconArchive, Flaticons, Noun Project, Font Awesome, Icons8, Iconfinder, Icon Packs, Pngtree, UXwing, Icon Archive, Icons-Icons, and Very Icon.
Icons Enhance Branding Efforts
By strategically placing marketing and sales icons, businesses can captivate their customers and augment their brand’s visual appeal. Icons can streamline information, enhance readability, and add value to the brand. By providing a remarkable user experience and leveraging high-quality, creative, and well-placed icons, engagement can be significantly boosted.
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