What is the Best Thing About Your Business?

What is the best thing about your business? Do you show this to the world?

By Email Marketing Girl

Email Marketing Girl drinking wine.

When we ask this question, we hope it starts to generate some thought. Gets those creative juices flowing. Why are you in business? What is the best thing about YOUR business? What are you doing to display this in your marketing?

So, we stand by the initial thoughts we had when we began this partnership. That is to say, in order to effectively market your business, you have to show personality. Likewise, show customers why you care, or how you help. Generally, people will be more likely to purchase from you if you SHOW them who YOU ARE as a company or individual.

Photo of Rob and Bobby.
Yes, we like to drink beer…and bourbon. However, we work our butts off before enjoying either.
Could it be company culture?

Do you have a high retention rate of employees and they absolutely love working for you? You need to showcase this on your companies social media platforms, especially LinkedIn, where a large amount of people find their jobs nowadays. Photos and videos! Share them.  

Is the best thing your product? 

Make sure this product is front and center on your website to showcase it the most. Also be sure to post about it on your social media. Similarly, share photos and videos!

Are you the best at social media? 

Whether it be you personally, as your company, or a service you provide to customers. This is huge since we are living in a social media world. Everyone looks to social media platforms and everyone, almost everyone, is on social media. You can’t hide…

Customer experience top notch? 

This is wonderful! Make sure that you are putting customer reviews on your website, in your emails that you send, and on social media. People look to reviews for everything. That is to say, they trust those reviews, so make sure they are easily accessible. Reviews are becoming increasingly more important because it’s sometimes the only thing customers look for.

Is your office space super hip, or tech savy? 

This is great for millennials. The more hip, the better. But be sure to update your office and show it on all platforms! People want to see what kind of office you work in. So, whether it be a person that wants to work for you, or a customer that is intrigued, it would do best to explain and show your space.   

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Is My Business Idle or Moving Forward?

Ask yourself honestly, is my business idle or moving forward? Because we (as small business owners) are so busy and buried within our business, we often neglect marketing, brand recognition, and other goals. We are all guilty of this from time to time. Consequently, it’s the nature of entrepreneurship.

Have you taken a look at your goals recently? Are you hitting them or falling short? Or, in other words, do you even have any goals set in the first place yet? To clarify, sometimes we need to lift our heads out of the hole to take a critical look at what we are doing. Make sure you are doing the following to see growth for your company.

raindrops with the 77 design co logo within them. Is my business idle or moving forward?
With all the rain lately, this image seems appropriate.

1. Set some SMART goals.

Specific. Measurable. Achievable. Realistic. Timely. Continue to track on these goals constantly. This should encompass all company goals. Another way to look at this is to set sales, marketing, time table, and financial goals, among other SMART goals that you can think of. As a result, your business may run smoother. 


2. What is your growth strategy?

Do you plan on adding employees to expand expertise? Products to expand marketplace presence? Even more important, maybe set your growth plans for 1, 5, or 10 years down the road. So, this can help lay out a good road map. Do your best to make these happen.


3. What about a marketing strategy?

Do you know enough about SEO, paid ads, design, email marketing, etc to put a campaign together? How do customers find you? So, a solid marketing strategy can be a HUGE difference maker in the above. Is the general public aware of your business? Do you often hear from new people that you meet that they have heard of, or know of your brand? Can you handle all of this on your own or internally? If not, outsource your marketing.  


4. Are you active on social media?

Engaging with your customers? A stat taken from Hootsuite says that 90 million small businesses use Facebook. Check out more impressive Facebook stats here.

Some businesses and nonprofits we work with solely utilize social media as a means to boost sales and/or create brand awareness. For instance, they may see enough in return that they don’t have to spend money marketing elsewhere. Because of this they are able to meet their desired goals. Certainly, success will vary from business to business.


5. Are you stuck using old technology or no technology at all in your business?

Finally, technology. In short, we see this quite often. Some business owners are terrified of change. Hey, we get it. Change can be scary.

Certainly, there are some industries that stick to old routines or technologies. Some don’t even have emails or websites! As a result they are unaware of what they may be missing.

New customers can be constantly found all over the Internet. If you aren’t there, they won’t find you. Therefore, don’t be afraid to make a tech change for your business. This can be from your marketing software, to POS, to an automated machine.

In some instances, a business owner may not want to make tech changes. Perhaps they are content with what they make and the size of their business. This is fine. To each their own. In conclusion, if this is you, then you are idle.

Again ask yourself, is my business idle or moving forward? Lastly, if you have questions or need help…we are here for you.

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Call or email us for help.

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Marketing with a Small Budget

Email marketing Girl here. Hola, and Happy New Year! How do you market your business with a small budget?
When you think of small budget, let’s start real small…like free. Therefore, what are some marketing tools that are free? Social media, email marketing, networking, blogging, webinars, ebooks, etc.

Email Marketing Girl with dog Image 2
Email Marketing Girl and pup.

Numero uno. Social media.
If you are a business, you need social media. One of the first things people do when they research are Google and most likely Facebook. Depending on the company and demographic, it could be Twitter, Instagram, YouTube or some others. Be consistent on social media. Engage people on social media. Be proactive instead of just reactive on social media. By proactive, for example, I mean look for the audience you wish to make business with. Likewise, look up hashtags and follow those people who are liking or posting those awesome pictures you wish were your content. (Consequently, learn from those cool profiles).
Email marketing.
There are a bunch of free email marketing tools out there that can do some cool stuff. Most popular from my experience, would be Mailchimp. However, all you have to do is go back to your friend Google and type in free email marketing and do some research on what best fits your needs.

email button on keyboard.
Web mail computer keyboard button for business contact concept. Email envelope icon key in blue color.

Networking.
I know, talking to people can be scary. That is to say, if you find yourself at a free marketing happy hour, talk the talk! Have your elevator pitch ready and go into it with a positive attitude. Even if you don’t get a sale or a client right there, you have planted a seed. Continue to follow up and make a relationship. Certainly, networking can be a powerful way to grow your company.
Blogging.
Like what I am doing now? Yep! Have a landscaping business? Blog about the newest trends you are seeing for the summer. What about some fun tips for your garden? I mean, that sounds interesting to me!
Free downloadable resources.
There is so much free stuff on the internet. If you don’t know much about SEO, download a free ebook about it or register for a one hour webinar on it. Likewise, it’s the same thing with literally anything marketing. Like I’ve said before, just Google.
There are a lot of free marketing things and resources you can get away with to start off your strategy. Have any questions? Reach out!
Analyze. Create. Achieve.
77Design Co logo and business cards.

The Importance of a Professional Email

One thing that always befuddles me is when I see a professional business with a @gmail.com, @comcast.net, or some other NOT “@yourbusiness.com” email address.

Side view of laptop with e-mail interface on blurry background. Email marketing concept.
Emails

Customers Expect More.

Customers expect your business to have a domain name and website. An email address like name@yourbusiness.com oozes professionalism. Professional email’s are important. Much more so than a generic email.

Free email services, such as Gmail and Yahoo, are great for personal use. However, when you use a free email account for business purposes, people start to doubt your professionalism and credibility.
For example, say that you are in the process of planning to build a home. You are meeting with several builders. One builder has a name@businessname.com and the other builder has a tony129_builder@gmail.com. As a result, tony129_builder…probably doesn’t get the job. Maybe he’s less expensive. Maybe he’s a better quality builder. Doesn’t matter.
For many people, that can be a first clue that something is wrong. That is to say, they would start to question the integrity of the builder. We all know trust goes a long way in business.
Why doesn’t this builder have his own domain email address? Does he have a website? Is this business legitimate or am I going to be taken? These are some of the questions that you might start to have. Would you take a business with a Hotmail.com email address seriously?
We mean no disrespect here. Maybe, there’s a reason for this. On the other hand, we’re not sure why.
Consequently, a domain, logo, and business card are the minimum requirements for any business. Even new ones. Yourname@yourdomain.com looks a lot better than yourname@comcast.net or yourname@gmail.com. In conclusion, we’d love to hear from you on this. Prove us wrong!
77Design Co logo and business cards.
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How to Make Your Email Marketing Stand Out

Hi all,
Email Marketing Girl here. Let’s talk about improving your email marketing plan. 

Email Marketing Girl Image holding a bottle of wine.
Email Marketing Girl

Starting Out

Let’s start out with the first thing you see when you receive an email. The from address, and the subject line. 

Depending on your email service provider, you can update your from address. Would you be more inclined to open up an email from sales@company.com or Dan, who you have worked with in the past? Probably Dan the man. Studies show that using a specific personal name, rather than a general email address or company name, can increase your open rates by as much as 35%! As a result, a much more successful email campaign! 

 
Next
Now moving on to the subject line. You can play around with some A/B testing using first name personalization. That is to say, see what works best for your audience. Henry, we think you will like this weeks sale vs We think you will like this weeks sale. Wonder which one will do better? Through research, we’ve found that using a first name can increase open rates by 20% because it’s personalized.
Also in the subject line, how about emojis?!  😄🙃😜 Emojis are definitely eye catching and likewise have seen better open rates. Are they goofy? Yep. Do they catch the eye? YEP! Similar to using a first name, Experian also found an increase in opens. Compared to text only subject lines, using emojis in email subject lines increased their open rates by 56%. Seems like maybe popping a few in would work better. 🤭
Computer keyboard and shadows covering half of the keyboard.
 
Design, design, design. Nobody wants to read through an email that has small text and terrible color combinations. Depending on your brand, make it easy to read, see and scroll. If your brand color is blue, have some blue in the email. Certainly, it should be mobile friendly too. For example, about 41% of people are opening up emails on their mobile device, and consequently that number is ever increasing.
 
Finally
Finally, Length. Above all, I promise you, that if you have a long email full or words and no photos or cool little designs, it will not get read. Most people only read above the fold and a little bit more… if the content is appealing. So, I wonder how many people are still reading this blog post? If you are, post on our facebook business page (if you have facebook) with a checkmark emoji! Maybe we will pick a winner and give them something fun as a thank you. Continuing… short and sweet, content and pictures do really well in emails. 
 
There are some quick tips to make your email stand out. Believe me, there are plenty other things to take into consideration. However, these would be a strong start to your email campaigns. 
Analyze. Create. Achieve.
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resources:

Client Interview with a Marketing Coordinator

Hi all,

Recently, while on a product photography shoot, we conducted a quick Q&A interview with a recurring customer. Chelsea is a marketing/sales coordinator for a local company we’ve worked with frequently over the last few years. A great company making fantastic one of a kind products. We candidly asked her what she likes about her role and some general marketing questions.

What’s your role in marketing?

Chelsea: “So, I’m the sales and marketing coordinator here. I help coordinate trade shows. I help with photographic shoots, and I also manage a product line with our company. It’s really exciting because we’ve gained some new customers recently. We have a trade show in Pittsburgh and then one in New York in a few weeks too.”

What’s the hardest thing about marketing?

Chelsea: “Umm, so, probably finding out what people will like. Trying to grab their attention. Seeing what gets peoples attention and why they’d want our product. Since we have a new product line, I’m trying to find out what’s going to make them want our products over our competition. Learning about what sets our products apart. There’s other products that are similar, well, more simplified versions, but ours are unique and I have to show that.”

If you had to put a number on it. What percentage about marketing, do you think,  is related to creativity?

Chelsea: “Wow!…Honestly? A LOT! You have to be creative. I would say, wow, 70-80% really.  Even if you are writing a simple email blast you have to have it creative. What’s going to make them NOT want to delete your email? Finding that creative niche, that attention grabbing moment is super important!”

How important are the images, or photography, to your marketing plans?

Chelsea: “Oh my!” Extremely important. So, yes. Crucial! You have to show our products in many ways, even in lifestyle settings. For example, we even found that we had older product photos and once we had new photos taken by you guys, we sold them! I mean we sold many older products that weren’t selling once we had new images of them. They were updated, better focused, and started selling a lot better.”

Image of camera lenses signifying photography.

That’s fantastic!

Chelsea: “Yea! Honestly. We’ve found that really high quality pictures are really really important!”

What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned about marketing in your time here?

Chelsea: “Wow, I’ve learned a LOT. So, I came right out of college and I had no idea hardly what I was doing. College isn’t real world, it’s all like books, studying, book knowledge, and tests. It was hard at first. For instance, you take the concepts that you learn in school and apply it to your work in the real world. Getting a customers attention, like I first said, is probably the biggest thing.”

 

So, in conclusion, if your local business has a need for updated photography, design work, or a new website…drop us a line! 77 Design Co is here to help you grow your business and increase sales the only way we know how… through creative visual marketing!

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