Digital marketing has made it easier for companies to reach target audiences. Gone are the days of having to depend on analog media to market products. Now, there is so much opportunity in the digital space. Marketers have so many tools they can use. Such include social media platforms and content marketing through the websites.
But, with all that opportunity, there is a lot of competition. Audiences have a lot of content. Marketers must engage and capture the interest of online visitors. Our article will focus on PowerPoint, one of the most potent tools for presentations. But, you can only take advantage of the power if you know how to use it well.
Our article will show how to optimize PowerPoint templates for your digital marketing strategy in 2021.
PowerPoint Optimization Techniques for the Digital Marketers
- Forget You; It Is About the Audiences
Always have it at the top of your head that the presentation is not for you. It is about the audiences who will need to digest the information. Get to know the people who will be listening to your presentation before you start laying down the slides. Let’s say you want to target students with your products; how would you communicate with them?
Some key points to consider will be:-
- Young people are very visual. Bring the presentation to life with images, visuals, and animations.
- They do not have time to read, so minimize the use of text. If there are particular areas you want them to notice, highlight them
- Complex Infographics will bore them. Forget about too many graphs, tables, or charts that will need them to concentrate.
- Use their language, and be up to date with the latest trends.
If you are presenting to investors, focus on:
- Showing the investors how they will get ROI
- Assure them of the safety of their money
- Talk about timelines and goals
- Case studies and testimonials of past successes are critical, etc.
The point here is quite simple. Research the audiences first before working on the slides.
- Do Not Get Too Technical
Many people struggle with presenting qualitative versus quantitative data. How much should you put in, and what should you leave out. The task at hand is to simplify the information for your audiences. Getting too technical will work against you.
Take advantage of visual cues such as graphs and images to help pass the message. You want to be clear, whether you’re presenting it yourself, or if the audiences have to go through it themselves.
A survey by LinkDoctor, a link building company, on the importance of link building in 2020, optimized their content using visual graphics for easy digestibility of the findings. Even without needing to read the text, a reader’s eyes are immediately drawn to the visual cues.
Source: Link Building Survey 2020, COVID-19 Edition: Here’s What We Found
They have incorporated the use of pie charts and graphs to illustrate the findings. The choice of color sticks within specific palette variations giving an overall neat and engaging look.
Another interesting piece of information to learn from this is that content creation is the top link building method that SEO professionals use for link building. You can publish your PowerPoint media to your site as another strategy for digital marketing.
- Engage With Storytelling Instead Of Sales Language
Source: https://pixabay.com/photos/online-meeting-virtual-skype-zoom-5059828/
You will communicate better with the audience if you show them that you’re not interested in hard-sell language. Connect by telling stories. Make sure it has relevance to them, though. Show them how your brand can provide a solution in a fun way.
Create a consistent flow so that the slides connect. Transition slides help you move from one person to another without any awkward breaks.
- The Text Debate Continues
Ever been through some presentations that leave you more baffled than enlightened? The slides are so full of text that you concentrate more on reading than listening. When optimizing your PowerPoint, focus on the following:
- Text size should be 30
- Avoid mixing different font styles to look more creative
- Minimize the use of text to what is important
- Highlight areas of focus with colors, bolding, or circling. It draws the audiences to precisely what you want them to take out of the presentation
- Avoid italicizing because it makes it difficult to read the text
- Do not exceed eight words per line
The text should engage the thinking gear of the audience. It is a subtle way of getting them to think exactly how you want them to.
- Why Should You Spend Time Reinventing The Wheel?
Don’t waste a lot of time trying to create templates. PowerPoint is popular because there are so many free Powerpoint designs you can download. It saves you time while allowing you to come up with exciting presentations. You can focus on more important aspects of your presentation since you’ll be using templates that will need little to no changing.
With digital marketing, you may not have a chance to convince audiences with your spiel. Your layout and content will determine whether they engage with the presentation or not.
- Use Your Brand Elements Instead Of Stock Images
While we do not negate the importance of stock images, you will communicate more by using brand elements. It allows you to differentiate from what is already available in the market. It brings in an element of distinction that audiences will remember for a long time.
Styling, fonts, and colors should be representative of your brand personality. Include your logo or any other company icons. Sticking to your brand gives you a lot of flexibility with how you use the different elements. You can customize and tweak to your heart’s content without worrying about breaking licensing rules.
- Image and Color Use
Digital presentations need to be eye-catching. But using too many images and colors is not a solution. The best way to do it is:
- Draw the audience’s eyes to the message by Contrasting the background and text
- Avoid the use of more than five colors
- Charts and graphs should have contrasting colors to make them easier to understand
- One image per slide is more than enough
- Use impactful visuals so that you build an emotional connection with the audience.
Final Thoughts
Optimizing PowerPoint presentations means you do all you can to get the audiences to engage better with the content? It is, however, not all about pretty pictures or stylish fonts. It requires you to be very deliberate about the things you do.
Use visual cues and minimize the use of text. Avoid stock images if you can so that whatever you use brings out your brand personality and style. PowerPoint has tons of templates that allow for customization.
Use our article on how to optimize PowerPoint templates for your digital marketing strategy in 2021 above. The tips will help you engage with your audiences better.
