What is Key Visual? Definition and importance of Key Visual in marketing

Key Visual, an important concept in marketing and graphic design, plays a key role in building brand image, attracting customers and enhancing recognition value. In the following article, Sadesign will help you learn about Key Visual, its importance in marketing strategy and how to effectively apply it in communication campaigns.

1. What is the definition of Key Visual?

Key Visuals are the main visual elements in marketing, graphic design, and advertising campaigns. They are an important part of a communication strategy, helping to identify a brand, convey a message, and attract customers’ attention. Key Visuals are often used in advertising publications, websites, social media posts, outdoor advertising, and many other forms of media.

With the development of technology and modern design trends, Key Visual is becoming more and more important in building and maintaining brand image. Elements such as colors, images, fonts, icons and other visual design elements are combined to create an impressive, memorable and easily recognizable image.

2. Why is Key Visual important?

Key Visual is one of the first elements that helps customers identify your brand. It represents the brand’s identity and core values, and conveys the message the brand wants to send to customers. Here are some important reasons why Key Visual is indispensable in marketing strategy:

• Create a strong impression: A beautiful and impressive Key Visual will help the brand easily attract customers' attention, creating a lasting impression in their minds.
• Easy to recognize: Key Visual helps customers recognize the brand at first sight, thereby building familiarity and trust.
• Supporting communication messages: A suitable Key Visual will accurately convey the message that the brand wants to send to customers without having to use too much explanation.
• Synchronize communication channels: Key Visual helps unify images across all communication channels, from online to offline, making the brand appear professional and trustworthy.

3. Elements that make up a Key Visual

Creating an effective Key Visual requires a combination of different design elements that not only create an impressive image but also reflect the true identity of the brand.

3.1. Color

Color is one of the most important elements when designing Key Visuals. Color not only helps images stand out, but also reflects the values and emotions that the brand wants to convey. For example, green can represent freshness and environmental friendliness, while red represents strength and dynamism.

3.2. Images

Key Visuals should be carefully selected to ensure relevance to the brand and message being conveyed. Images can be products, services, or abstract elements that create emotion and connection with the target audience.

3.3. Fonts

Fonts also play an important role in expressing brand personality. A beautiful, easy-to-read font that matches your brand's style will help create professionalism and recognition.

3.4. Symbols and logos

Logo is the symbol of the brand and is an indispensable part of Key Visual. Logo helps customers identify the brand easily and quickly.

4. How to apply Key Visual in marketing strategy

To use Key Visuals effectively, you need to understand how to apply them in different marketing strategies. Here are some suggestions on how you can apply Key Visuals in your campaigns.

4.1. Key Visual application in advertising

Advertising is one of the areas where Key Visuals are used the most. Whether it is television, online or outdoor advertising, using Key Visuals helps to highlight the message and create a connection with customers. A quality Key Visual will help increase the effectiveness of the advertising campaign, while ensuring consistency throughout the entire campaign.

4.2. Key Visual in website design

Website is one of the most important communication channels in the digital age. To make your website stand out and easily attract visitors, using Key Visual is very important. Key Visual on the website helps to express the brand image, while guiding users to experience the website easily and conveniently.

4.3. Key Visuals in Social Media Posts

Social media is a powerful channel to connect with customers, and Key Visuals are the tools that help brands stand out on these platforms. Using key visuals in posts helps attract attention, while increasing the ability to interact and share from users.

4.4. Key Visual in printed advertising publications

Despite the strong development of digital technology, printed publications such as posters, banners, brochures still play an important role in the marketing strategy of many brands. Key Visual will help these publications become more vivid and attractive, while reflecting the spirit and identity of the brand.

5. How to create simple key visuals

To create an effective key visual, you need to follow some basic steps and keep in mind the important elements of the design process. Here are some simple ways to create an impressive key visual for your strategy.

5.1. Identify the key messages of the campaign

Before you start designing, you need to be clear about the message you want to convey through your key visual. The key visual should accurately reflect the message of your campaign, product, or service. If you are promoting a new product, the visual should highlight the product’s key features. If your campaign is about an event, the key visual should represent the event in a clear and engaging way.

5.2. Choose appropriate images and colors

Images and colors are the two main elements that help create an impressive key visual. Images need to be clear, easy to understand, and directly related to the message you want to convey. Colors also play an important role in creating emotions and connecting with customers. For example, red can create a strong, dynamic feeling, while blue creates a peaceful, trustworthy feeling.

Note that you should not use too many colors in a key visual. Choose 2-3 main colors to keep it consistent and easy to recognize.

5.3. Use simple but prominent fonts

Fonts in key visuals not only convey messages but also contribute to expressing brand identity. Choose fonts that are simple, easy to read but still stand out. Make sure the size and spacing between letters are reasonable so that viewers can easily receive the message.

5.4. Create consistency in design

An effective key visual is when the design elements are consistent, from colors, images to fonts. All of these elements need to be combined harmoniously, not creating confusion or causing discomfort to the viewer. At the same time, the key visual must be consistent with the overall design of the brand, helping customers easily recognize you through different campaigns.

5.5. Ensure flexibility and adaptability

Key visuals need to be versatile enough to be used across a variety of advertising mediums, from web banners to print, from social media ads to traditional marketing materials. Make sure your design can be easily adapted without losing its aesthetic appeal and effectiveness in conveying the message.

6. Real-life examples of Key Visual applications in marketing campaigns

To better understand how to use Key Visual, let's go through some real-life examples.

6.1. Example 1: Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola is one of the typical brands in using Key Visual. Coca-Cola's campaigns always have a main image, with the characteristic red color and an easily recognizable logo. This helps Coca-Cola create a strong connection with customers and is easily recognized globally.

6.2. Example 2: Nike

Nike uses Key Visuals very effectively in its advertising campaigns. The images of athletes, powerful slogans, combined with the Swoosh logo, create a powerful and inspiring Key Visual. This helps Nike build a dynamic and powerful brand image.

7. Why Key Visual is important in branding strategy

Key visuals play an important role in building and maintaining a brand image in the minds of customers. A strong key visual will help:

• Make a strong impression: Just by looking at the key visual, customers can immediately recognize the brand or campaign.
• Deepen the message: Key visuals help convey the campaign message clearly and easily to viewers.
• Increased recognition: Distinctive, memorable images will help customers easily identify the brand in a series of market information.
• Expressing brand identity: Every brand has its own personality, and key visuals are the tool that best represents those core values.

Conclude

Above is the knowledge from A to Z about key visual that Sadesign has compiled for you. Hopefully this is useful information to help you create images that match your brand value and communication message to achieve maximum effectiveness in your marketing campaign. If you need to learn more about the graphic design industry , please visit Sadesign's website.