Author: Jason Parker

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7 Ways to Get Your Brand Seen

April 8, 2019

Marketing has always been a challenge. Businesses are never certain how much of their resources should be invested in branding campaigns. After all, most people try to minimize the number of ads they encounter, fast-forwarding through ad content on television or blocking it online. Nevertheless, your business cannot succeed if consumers do not know it exists. Here are seven ideas for getting your brand recognized.

Guerilla Marketing

Guerilla marketing is a marketing strategy to surprise people with your brand, putting it in places and situations where it is least expected. The essence of guerilla marketing is using low cost, temporary advertising. A simple example is using washable chalk on a sidewalk to create a temporary billboard. Other examples include decorating the statues in a local park in hats with your logo and brand-based performance art. It is important to remember that guerilla marketing efforts are temporary and must do no damage.

Facebook Recommendations

Many businesses are learning to use Facebook recommendations to create brand awareness. By harnessing the power of social media, you can create local recognition for your business. One strategy for gaining recommendations is by making recommendations for businesses in your area in other categories. This often leads to mutual recommendations, promoting both profiles. It is also important to encourage your customers to give you a recommendation, perhaps working it into the conversation at the point of sale. You can use Facebook recommendations to create brand awareness locally and work on expanding from there.

Valuable Content Blog

One way to increase your brand’s recognition is to develop online content that has value. If you have a blog that provides relevant, knowledgeable content on a subject related to your field, you will increase traffic to your business site. For example, a local bakery might develop a blog that shares expert baking tips or information about different cultural styles of baking. Users will associate this good information with your brand, putting you at the top of list when they are looking for services.

Event or Team Sponsorship

Having a good reputation in your community can take you far in brand development. When you are a sponsor of a youth soccer team or little league baseball team, the community will feel good about your brand. You also might sponsor local arts events or block parties. These events may not relate directly to your business, but they develop your local reputation. This is not about getting customers in the short term but developing community relationships over the long term. You are trying to create an atmosphere where, when someone needs your products or services, he or she automatically thinks of your brand.

Charitable Work

Another avenue that develops your brand’s reputation is being associated with charitable work. There are several ways that this can be done. Some businesses opt for pure sponsorship. Even though they may not be in a business that revolves around food, they will sponsor local food banks or act as a collection site for a food drive. Other businesses are able to connect their business to the charity work. A restaurant might volunteer to host a free community meal, or a plant nursery might volunteer to take part in beautification efforts. Again, this kind of work associates your brand with being a positive force in the local community.

Partnership with a Well-Known Brand

If you are a small business, one way to share your brand is by partnering with a larger, familiar brand. The idea here is that positive feelings about the larger brand will rub off on the smaller brand. A common example of this can be found in businesses like plumbers, electricians and heating professionals. Frequently, heating system specialists will announce that they only carry products or have special training from a larger brand such as Carrier or Lennox. If those brands are perceived as trustworthy, the installer will seem wise for choosing to work with them.

Virtual Newsletter

A well-constructed newsletter sent by an email service is not only a good way to stay in contact with your customers, it is also a way to expand your brand. Again, the key here is to have quality information and not just information about sales or special offers. You want to give the people who have already chosen your brand the opportunity to spread it. If there is interesting information or a well-written article, they are more likely to forward it to the people they know with a similar interest. You want your brand to be associated with value, so people are more likely to choose it in the future.

Marketing your brand is an intentional process, and something that you must work on regularly. Even if your product or service is the best on the market, it can be lost in the background if other competitors are better at promoting their brands. With effort and community engagement, you can improve your reputation and get your brand out there.

The impact of physical advertisements can’t be overstated, that’s why CG Design is there for all your design and printing needs. Whether it’s brochures, business cards, postcards, flyers, letterheads, envelopes, and more, we’re here to help. Not only that, but we also offer digital services like logo design, and website design!

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Increasing Sales with Simple Signage

February 5, 2019

Just because new methods or opportunities hit the scene doesn’t mean they should act as a replacement to what has been used in the past, especially when it continues to produce a level of effectiveness that proves it to be an advantage when businesses embrace it. A prime example is the power that signage has when it comes to connecting with customers at the point of purchasing.

Good Signage Prompts Purchases

For as long as the retail industry has been in existence, signage has provided companies with a way to connect with their customers and deliver essential messages to them while shopping. In fact, it serves as an additional channel in which customers can connect with your brand. According to research done on retail signage, connecting with customers via multiple channels make them three times more likely to buy.


Here are just a few more benefits that await businesses who use signage:

  • Customers are known to see signage as a convenience and form of engagement.
  • Navigating customers to ensure a certain flow of traffic is embraced in your location is best done using signage. Many businesses are utilizing digital screens inside stores to help with guiding customers to sales. It helps you bring them to areas that may lead to additional purchases.
  • Promoting sales or certain products is easily done using signs, and it delivers it to them on a softer note than trying to close the sale at the register.
  • Signs put your offerings and your brand on the customer’s mind without being pushy.
  • Visual communication is proven to be the easiest way to get the attention of customers.

Location and Wording of Good Signage

It’s often cited, but still remains true in various industries, “location is everything”. The average customer’s attention span for a specific item lasts for mere seconds. Placing the sign close to its intended product ties the value of the purchase in the customer’s mind. Place signage above products like hanging from the ceiling or making use of space-saving tools like an extension pole to reach difficult to reach places you could be using for signage. Combine with powerful words and you have a winning strategy working for your company giving customers every reason to act.

This is easily accomplished by placing signs near the products that they’re designed to target, leaving no room for confusion or time for a customer to forget. As far as choosing the right words, it’s as simple as clearly showing them the benefit of the purchase. For example, instead of just writing “flowers,” state something like “Make her smile by bringing home flowers.” By taking out the guesswork, you also eliminate the possibility of customers talking themselves out of making the decision.

Now that you see the importance of signage in the world of business, hopefully you also realize the opportunities to still embrace old ways and maximize results by combining them with modern methods. It’s sure to provide you with an outlook where you can uncover other revenue-boosting opportunities.

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How Your Work Culture Can Affect Branding

November 6, 2018

Overall, your company’s work culture can have a drastic impact on branding. To effectively brand your company and maintain certain standards regarding your company’s public image, there are various things you need to be aware of. The following information provides a helpful insight into the inner-workings of branding and company culture that can be beneficial when looking to improve the image of your business:

Hiring Methods

Hiring methods can have a direct impact on company culture. It is essential that you can determine the vision and core competencies, as well as the morals and ethics of your business. Once you have decided the direction, you want your company to go in, and what you want to represent as a whole, your hiring decisions should reflect that. This means that you should hire employees who are like-minded, and whose ideals align with that of your desired company culture. Ways you can ensure that you are hiring the best potential employees include background checks and drug screens, as well as inquiring about their opinion on various company policies to ensure they meet your overall standards. For example, pre-employment assessments can help you to measure how potential employees might fit in with your current company culture. Overall, the goal of a hiring assessment is to streamline the hiring process and ensure the best hire is chosen.

How Employees Impact A Brand

It is essential that you express to current and potential employees your company’s primary objectives and the image you want to portray to the public. Essentially, your employees help to build the foundation of your business, and their actions can reflect either positively or negatively on the company as a whole. If employees are happy and satisfied, this will show customers and investors that your company has the ability to create a stable environment. On the opposite end, employees can let it be known how a company fails at treating them fairly. And since people do care about the way that companies take care of their employees. Moral and ethical questions about your business can lead to loss in sales. This is due to lack of customer trust or approval at business practices.

Improving Company Culture

There are also other various ways that you can promote and improve your company culture. For example, practicing effective conflict resolution methods can go a long way towards creating a more stable work environment. You should strive to promote open and positive communication, as well as tolerance and acceptance. When obstacles arise, it is essential that they are adequately resolved by management. Other methods of improving company culture include empowering your employees and encouraging employees to build positive relationships with each other. Today’s modern workforce also appreciate having more flexibility in the workplace. If you want to keep employees happy, then you may want to allow employees the option to work from home and telecommute to work. This will go a long way toward improving employee satisfaction.

To empower your employees, you need to invest in their overall success. You need to ensure that they can reach their full potential. This can be achieved by rewarding their achievements and providing them with the tools and resources to succeed within their position. To effectively promote positive relationships within the workplace, there are various approaches you can utilize. It can be helpful to facilitate work events, which will allow employees to get to know each other better. Also, it can be beneficial to create teams within the workplace so that employees can work together to achieve a common goal.

Takeaways

Overall, there are many benefits to creating a positive company culture. It can help to develop higher levels of productivity among employees. This, among many other things, can help improve a company’s brand and image. This can all translate into better sales, increased brand awareness, and customer loyalty.

 

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Apply These 5 Secret Techniques To Improve Reviews

August 23, 2018

Customers rely heavily on accurate reviews on Google and Facebook when searching for local businesses in their areas. In order for businesses to make the most of their presence on these platforms, it is important for them to keep their positive reviews as prominent as possible while working to minimize and to address negative reviews altogether.

Maximizing Positive Reviews

Your business’ reputation relies heavily on the types of reviews that are made public on Google, Yelp, and Facebook. While your company may be well loved by customers, it is important for any business owner to have a plan for reputation management in the event of negative reviews or a PR crisis. Read on to learn more about how to improve your brand with positive reviews.

1. Ask Customers to Leave Reviews

One of the best ways to make sure that the majority of your views are positive is to ask customers to leave a review after a purchase. Customers that are particularly satisfied with their purchase and your company’s customer service are more likely to leave good reviews. These reviews will pay off by boosting your company’s reputation on Google and Facebook.

Oftentimes, customers that are purchasing something are not focused on leaving feedback in that same moment. This is why it is so important to follow up with customers after a sale has been made.

2. Make Your Marketing Processes Automated

Marketing software is another way that businesses are managing their reviews. This software works to automate the process of prompting customers to provide reviews and feedback. Customers are prompted by email or text to share their feedback following a recent purchase.

By using this type of software, businesses can expect to see a significant increase in their reviews on Google and Facebook. Customers that are eager to share about their experience with your company will generally provide their feedback when prompted to do so.

3. Use Review Management Software

Negative reviews have more power than many companies realize. Most businesses just ignore the less-than-positive reviews, expecting the good reviews to cancel out the bad. However, it doesn’t always work that way.

When a company has one or more bad reviews, potential buyers may be less likely to interact with your company. Review management software applies analytics to your reviews and flags any negative feedback so you can catch it and address it before it turns into a problem on Google or Facebook.

4. Keep Your Website Design Review-Friendly

Companies that have multiple pages asking for feedback give their customers more opportunities to leave positive reviews and testimonials. Prompt satisfied customers to provide feedback on order forms, check out pages, and opt-in pages. As you ask customers for their feedback, be sure to include positive testimonials from one or two buyers as this will encourage them to do the same.

In addition to having a website layout that encourages feedback, it is important to make sure that your entire site is easy to navigate. Sites that are difficult or annoying for customers to scroll through will not only dissuade potential customers from purchasing, it may also lead to negative reviews regarding your website design.

5. Record Video Testimonials

Having testimonials recorded on video adds another level of authenticity to your company. Take the time to get the feedback of satisfied customers on video that you can use on your website and other digital platforms. Prospective buyers are able to connect to videos on an emotional level and will be more inclined to support your business following a positive video review.

In addition to recording video testimonials from satisfied customers, companies are sending products for social media influencers to review as part of a video blog. These influencers have the power to significantly boost your brand influence and recognition, simply by showing your products on their platform. If they positively review your business, you will be able to convert their followers into your buyers.

Word of mouth is still alive and well in the digital age. Take advantage of the power of the positive review by following these five strategies for your business. With the right marketing campaign, your customers’ positive reviews can take your business to the next level.

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What Everyone Going to a Trade Show or Convention Needs to Bring

August 21, 2018

Once you decide to host a booth at a trade show or convention, your thoughts may immediately turn to preparing for this significant marketing opportunity. You understandably want to take every step possible to maximize your return on investment and to generate many new leads or even finalize sales for your business. As you prepare for the big event, plan for some of these essentials to ensure that your bases are covered.

Signs and Banners

Courtesy of Small Biz Trends

When trade show or convention attendees walk down aisles, they will glance at your posters or banners to determine their interest in or need for your products or services. Rather than go up to your table and strike up a conversation, they will gather critical information from signs and displays initially. Therefore, your signs and banners should be eye-catching and professional. More than that, they need to tell passersby what you offer as well as provide them an incentive to stop and chat. Remember that you will need cases or other storage containers to safely transport your signs and banners to and from the convention center.

Promotional Materials

You and your team should pass out flyers and brochures so that attendees can get more information about your products or services conveniently. Remember that attendees will visit numerous booths, and they will usually review all of the material that they obtain after they get back to their office. Your flyers or brochures will remind them about you and will encourage them to reach out to you. You can also pass out business cards, personalized forms and more.

Electronics and Transport

Courtesy of All Cases

Some booths are rather basic, and they consist of a few signs or banners and a table filled with brochures and other promotional items. Other stalls are more elaborate, and they may include numerous audio-visual displays. These displays may help your business to get more attention, and they can help you to get your message across in memorable ways. Some companies may also bring laptops, a sound system or other items to use in their booth. Protective shipping cases are essential if you intend to haul equipment in and out of the convention center safely and conveniently.

Consider the environment at a busy trade show or convention, and think about how you can get the audience’s attention while also quickly passing along vital information to them. In addition, plan ahead for how you will conveniently get your materials and supplies in and out of the center. By taking these steps, you can be better prepared for the big event.

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5 Steps to Designing a Great Favicon

July 27, 2018

If you are looking to design a favicon for your website, it might seem overwhelming at first. After all, there are a lot of factors to take into consideration. However, if you have the right strategy, then you can create a favicon that truly helps you accomplish your business goals. Here are five steps to keep in mind when designing a winning favicon for your site.

Image via Axis Realty

Simplicity

It can be tempting to try to design a favicon that is flashy, colorful, and ornate. However, when it comes to favicons, this usually isn’t a good idea. Favicons are tiny images with very little room for detail. Trying to pack too much into your design will result in a cluttered and messy favicon, potentially turning people away from your site.

Color Schemes

The colors that you choose for your favicon are crucial to its design. Don’t choose colors that do not mesh together well or that cancel each other out. Also be sure to design it with contrast in mind. If you have a white background with a light gray logo in the middle, for instance, then it could be hard or impossible for most users to see.

Image via Correlate – Dropbox

Symbolism

There are strong elements of symbolism in your favicon whether you plan them or not. People are going to make a first impression of your brand when they see it. Be sure that the symbols you choose evoke the right emotions that are relevant to your company’s mission.

Image via Crunchbase – Xyngular

Logo Matching

Your favicon is a creative opportunity to design something new and unique. But it also must be in line with your overall design themes and logos in your business. When in doubt, keep the favicon as close to the design of your core logo as possible to be consistent with your branding.

Boldness

People are more likely to remember something that they perceived to be bold or different. This means that your logo should use bright colors whenever possible. Consider taking your brand colors and turning up the saturation to create the favicon version. This also serves the purpose of making it stand out more when they are browsing the web and make them more likely to navigate to that tab again.

In today’s world, digital marketing and design are crucial to growing your brand. In other words, it pays to get it right. If you feel like you need professional help, reach out to our skilled design team.

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6 Biggest Design Trends To Watch For In 2018

July 23, 2018

Innovation never stops. Business owners everywhere need to stay on top of the curve and understand today’s changing design trends. Knowing what’s on trend—or even better, where the trend is headed—is an absolute necessity if you’re operating a business and you want to stick out from the crowd. Otherwise, customers will leave your business behind for other companies that embrace change, innovate new ideas, and (as a result) create better products. A business owner who knows what’s happening is a business owner who can change and expand their business model as needed in response to consumer demand. All business owners should also be aware of disruptive changes in their fields.

The Food Hall

Foodies continue to look for new adventures where they can. Daring retailers want to bring it to them. Many urban areas have replaced the boring mall and the tired food court with the contemporary food hall. The food hall is a space devoted to inviting many new restaurants and food stalls to a single space that has been set aside solely for this specific purpose. Food halls offer everything from a fast nosh during the day to a four-course gourmet meal. They also bring together vastly diverse types of cuisines from Thai to Haitian. This is the place to go for a meal in a large city that will satisfy everyone in your party.

New Packaging Materials

Retailers are just as eco-conscious as their consumers. They’re increasingly turning to new materials to reduce landfill waste and cut down on costs. Organic packages come in light colors with simple, easy to read labeling. They’re compact and portable. Users can take them anywhere and dispose of the packaging in the nearest garbage can no matter where they are. Green packaging enables the food to stay hot or cold as needed, making it even more portable.

Brick and Mortar is Back

While online shopping is still hot, people want to touch and feel things as much as ever before they buy them. Brick and mortar stores will continue to expand in certain industries. For example, while consumers may be just fine buying coffee they’ve already tasted before, they want to see the new flooring for their home in person before they make the commitment to install it.

Urbanization Made New Again

Cities are thriving. People who left for the suburbs are now anxious to return. Seniors who find themselves with large houses they don’t need are flocking back to smaller apartments in convenient urban areas. With higher housing costs in some areas, urban planners now look to make use of every single space in the city. New housing developments with less space make it easier for any twenty-something to afford the urban housing of their dream as they start their careers.

Brighter Colors Everywhere

A bright shade of purple is this year’s hot color. Other colors are just as bright. Consumers today look for designs that stand out in a crowd. Designers are responding with outrageous shades everywhere people look. Airport signs in neon yellow allow people to avoid getting lost even in the world’s largest airports. Lime green, turquoise, hot pink, and intense shades of red are all over the place from rugs to sofas to public spaces. Just as kids love the playground even more when the colors call to them, adults feel the same way today.

Authenticity Takes Center Stage

Authentic and local experiences are at the center of many trends across many industries. In the travel industry, vacationers coming to a new region want to experience the best that the locals have to offer. In the food industry, modern restaurant owners base their menus on food that is locally sourced; supermarkets are moving in the same direction, with many offering seasonal food grown by local farmers. In the hospitality industry, hotel owners want to provide their customers with rooms that show off the local culture. In the design industry, decorations are designed to look handmade and authentic (if they are not directly produced by hand in the first place). Any move you can make to push your company in a local, authentic, natural direction will be favored by customers.

These trends are likely to continue in the coming years. Savvy retailers should keep a close eye on what’s going on right now. This can help them identify new clients and open new markets for their products all over the world.

Resources:

https://www.eater.com/2017/8/30/16181016/food-hall-boom-2017

https://www.insanevisions.com/8-food-packaging-trends-to-watch-out-for-in-2018

https://doyleresearch.com/urbanized-seniors/

https://blog.euromonitor.com/2017/08/authenticity-top-consumer-trend-2017.html

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How to Create Shareable Social Media Graphics

June 1, 2018

If you’re a business owner or blogger who has had difficulty creating graphics for your brand, you’re in the right place. Below we are going to go over different kinds of social media graphics you can create for your business marketing strategy, how you can help them gain traction, and why you should utilize them online. Once you get the hang of creating your own social media graphics, it will become second nature. Using graphics correctly in advertising is key to getting customers attention, improving your bottom line, and getting a good advertising strategy in place. Use these ideas to improve your graphic ideas.

Before We Begin

Before developing anything for your brand, you need to be sure what you’re making is consistent with your branding. We assume you have a strategy created for your brand or that your brand identity is already well-established. The reason you need strong branding under your belt before creating graphics is that the visual elements of your marketing (like social media graphics) can either add to your brand recognition or they can confuse your audience. Colors, typefaces, and style should be consistent throughout all your designs.

Social Media Images

There are several different kinds of images you’ll probably want to learn how to create. Each one serves a slightly different purpose and engages your followers differently. It’s best to learn how to make as many of these as possible. You can utilize any graphic design software to get the job done. Professional designers will use Adobe products or a similar solution, like GIMP. If you aren’t worried about a professional solution right now, try an easier, blogger-approved method like Canva or Picmonkey.

Quote Graphics

You’ve probably seen these around, no matter what niche or industry you’re in. Most influencers and brands will occasionally post inspirational or helpful quotes as part of their social media strategy. If you can master creating typographic layouts with your brand fonts, the opportunities are endless here. Some quote graphics are made successfully with a single font. Choose quotes that are relevant to your target audience and that you know will resonate with them. Just make sure to include the quote author the quote is attributed to someone. Quote graphics can help your audience feel more connected to you and as though you understand them better than other brands and influencers.

Blog Graphics

What constitutes a blog graphic will vary depending on your goals and your blog. If you use WordPress, you can simply check to see what size your blog graphics should be. Blog graphics will help reinforce your branding and break up chunks of content. Your “Featured Image” for each post will be a certain size. You can quickly create a featured image for each of your blog posts by making a template and editing the text and image for each graphic. Creating reusable design templates is an easy way to file down the amount of time you spend creating graphics for social media and for your website. You can get creative with your blog graphics. Aside from featured images, you can make Pinterest pins, images to use as section headers, charts, graphs, and other visual content to divide blocks of text.

Infographics

Infographics do well on social media because they communicate a ton of information with minimal wording. Visual content is more shareable than text-based content, primarily because of our minimal attention spans online. Creating a visually compelling and factually interesting infographic could be your one-way ticket to going viral. Infographics do especially well on Facebook and Pinterest. Try using infographic templates to create your own in the beginning. Change the fonts and colors to match your branding and them add your own information. Canva and Picmonkey both have infographic templates and elements available for you to use. You can find infographic templates for most other design software out there as well. Once you become more familiar with how design tools work, try creating your own infographic templates.

Creating a strong presence with your brand online really comes down to the visuals. Make sure you have a strong graphic design in place and that you can see how each ties to your brand. Spread out your efforts and watch as your profits soar.

Resources:

https://www.creationgraphx.com/concepts/

https://www.leadgenix.com/social-media

https://quoteslogy.com/tag/inspiring-quotes/

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/images-in-blog-posts-tips

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How Your Company Graphic Increases Brand Recognition

May 25, 2018

Your company graphic is a vital element of your brand strategy. It also represents a central part of your overall marketing strategy. Below, you’ll get a few insights into how your company graphic impacts your business, primarily by increasing the recognition of your brand.

Impact

One fact that might seem apparent is that your company graphic can increase brand recognition. Remember that your graphic is the only criteria many people will have to evaluate your business. That’s why you need to get it right.

For starters, your graphic needs to cause people to focus on the name of your brand as well as the values it represents. It needs to be consistent. For example, if your brand competes as a discounter, your graphic should help to communicate that fact.

Asset or liability?

As you choose your company graphic, understand that it can either hurt you or help you. For example, what if nobody can remember it? What if it evokes negativity in observers’ minds?

Of course, the graphic that you choose could also become a recognizable hallmark of your business and brand. This hallmark is why you mustn’t rush through the selection process for your graphic. It is a vital part of your branding strategy, so make the right choice.

Image credit: DreamsTime

Inspiration and information

When your product is on display, it needs to captivate the attention of your audience. That means that your graphic or logo needs to be colorful and appealing.

Additionally, your graphic will identify the category to which your product belongs. It will inform your audience by visually communicating other important product details. Afterward, it should inspire people to want to learn more.

Image credit: Reputation Results

Identification

Finally, the graphic you choose can make your product stand out in the marketplace. Regardless of whether you have a B2B or B2C brand, you’ll face competitors from all over the world.

By choosing a useful graphic for your company, you give yourself a fantastic way to make your product stand out from others. So, even if you have the best product available anywhere, closing sales may depend primarily on your graphic.

Regardless of whether you already have a company graphic or are choosing a new one, be sure you end up with one that positively meets the above criteria. If you do, you’ll have a powerful asset that supports your brand.