Category: Design

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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.

Two business cards on a white background.
Call or email us for help.

Analyze. Create. Achieve.  

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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.
Analyze. Create. Achieve.
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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.
77 Design Co Logo Image with white background.
resources:
https://www.superoffice.com/blog/email-open-rates/
https://www.campaignmonitor.com/blog/email-marketing/2019/04/the-real-scoop-on-email-emoji-in-subject-lines/
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Building a Marketing Base

This blog will feature tips on how to build a marketing base for your business. Even if you haven’t done ANY marketing, here’s a few things to get you started.

Marketing Tiles image with 77 Design Co business card.

Who?

First, you need to know who your customer base is. Who are you marketing to? Where? Age? What’s their interests? For example, try to segment your customers based on who you’ve already sold to. Take notes and come up with an average at the very least. Tough to do with limited info, but necessary. 

If you don’t have these numbers, use a simple chart or even tally marks on a pad to get more specific. Use guesstimates if you need to. This will certainly get you a start.

Where?

Now take those numbers (even if it’s a small average from 10-20 customers) and determine where to put the marketing dollars. Yes, most importantly, you should have SOME marketing dollars set aside.

Are they on Facebook, Instagram, or mostly LinkedIn? Would billboards or signage in certain locations help? How about a direct mail campaign sent directly to businesses or homeowners? How’d your previous customers find you? Through your website, Google, or another online source?

Consequently, this will narrow down your best approach to get moving. As a result, you’ll learn quicker what works and what doesn’t as much.

How?

So, how are you going to implement your plan of action? This is the most difficult part. It will take time, patience, and some serious creative efforts to get the word out about your company.

If you aren’t very creative savvy, look to enlist those you know and trust that are. Get their thoughts about the look and aesthetics of your signage, social media pages and posts, or marketing materials. In addition, it’s very important that whatever strategy you plan to implement looks not just good, but GREAT! Marketing is all about visuals and attracting the eye to your message.

pen, keyboard, and flash drive image in inverted black and white color.

To clarify, we’ve said it before, an attractive image or design is key here. According to multiple eye tracking studies all over the Internet, the eye moves to an attractive image/design around 60,000-80,000 faster than just text.

Once an established base is determined, and where to market, the pieces or posts need to be interesting and visually appealing. How do you do this? Again, the difficult part. Billions of dollars per year are spent on creative marketing and advertising. There’s a good reason for it. It works!

Take the best quality photographs or video possible. Hire out if needed. Design materials, signage, or supporting charts/tables/infographics to make them interesting. Hire out if needed. In addition, if you hire a solid marketing team, or employee with an extensive creative background, they will (should) be able to convey that message visually.

Stay Level Headed.

Often times there may be a difference of opinion on the creative. Don’t get discouraged. For instance, you may have differences on an image or color. This is normal. However, stay true to your brand. Work together to come to a happy middle ground on how the creative side of things should look and feel, and as a result you’ll start to see the fruits of your labor.

So, in conclusion, by following these steps on a large or small scale you’ll begin to build a solid marketing base that will better your business. However, if you need advice we’re here to help.

77 Design Co gray and orange logo

Analyze. Create. Achieve.

 

 

 

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What’s the Best Things About Email Marketing?

What’s the best things about email marketing?

by Email Marketing Girl

Email Marketing Girl Image 5

Personalize!
You can personalize content. Send customers emails about what they actually want to see. Let’s give you an example.
You are an 18 year old male vegan. Typically, you shop at a local grocery store every Monday, getting fruits and veggies and some household necessities.
<Insert phone buzz> you get an email from that grocery store with “ON SALE – steaks and baby food” uhhhh – not the content that person wants to see. At least I wouldn’t think so. Therefore, change it up. Create a custom email for specific types of customers who you want to get a specific message to. As a result, you’ll notice an engagement increase and subsequently sales as well.
Instant!
It’s instant. People love last minute deals or coupons. Getting an email for a coupon to a store I always shop at is a great feeling. Yes! I will now order that shirt I have been eyeing up for weeks.
However, without that email, it was out of sight out of mind.

Side view of laptop with e-mail interface on blurry background. Email marketing concept.
Email Marketing can work!

Reach.
Email can help you reach a mass amount of customers. Calling all your customers takes time. Email: one click and it’s out the door to everyone.
This form of marketing is affordable. Traditional marketing like TV ads can be costly. If you are a small business, those ideas are out the door. For instance, if you have a smaller budget set aside, an email marketing plan could be a game changer. So, a small business can thrive with the right email marketing strategy!
On the other hand, email marketing is a numbers game. That is to say, like anything there are always pros and cons. Any form of marketing though, may take a little while to become fruitful. Patience is necessary when applying any marketing strategy.
However, it’s still one of the top forms of communication. All businesses should have an email marketing plan in place, and if you don’t, give us a call.
77 Design Co logo
Analyze. Create. Achieve.
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Some Email Stats-Happy 4th!

Happy (soon) 4th of July!

Some Stats
Did you know 42% of emails are opened on mobile devices? And did you know in the United States, the best open rates are around 9am-12pm? What about 61% of emails are being read for more than 8 seconds.
Maybe you did. Then congrats. If not, maybe we should start an email marketing plan for you. You don’t want to waste time and resources on sending an email that you aren’t sending smart and continuously analyzing to get better results.

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

Newsletters

Want to start with a newsletter? I got you.

So is around 8 seconds enough to read a whole newsletter? Probably not. Meanwhile, what we suggest is CTA. Call to Action. Whether you want to tell them about a new product or service, an event happening, or tell them someone got a promotion in your company, etc, you should have a 2-3 sentence blurb of content. Then, a CTA that has Read More or Learn More, will go to a landing page on your website. First, that gets a great click through rate on your email metrics (yay analytics!) AND it is bringing traction to your website. Moreover, they are already on your website, so why not do a little surfing on your page? Maybe they learn a little more about a new service. Do people still call it surfing?
Newsletters are great because you can bring so much content to one space. I will say newsletters may not be the best revenue generating email (we can create those for you,) but it consistently creates a conversation between you and the customer. You will be top of mind for people and that will result in something good.
After a few rounds of emails getting sent, you need to do some analysis. Are your customers opening up on mobile devices or desktops? At what time? Therefore, depending on these answers, your email marketing strategy needs to change continuously based on trends as well.
Analyze. Create. Achieve.
77 Design Co logo
-Email Marketing Girl

Email Marketing Girl Image 4
Email Marketing Girl Dancing