Monitoring & Measuring Your Marketing

Monitoring & measuring your marketing is an article we’ve wanted to talk through for a while now. In the past we’ve discussed the importance of knowing your customer. This is still true. In fact, they can sometimes be combined. However, if you aren’t monitoring and measuring your marketing, how do you know what’s working? This could be just about as important.

Monitoring & Measuring Your Marketing. An image of insights from Facebook.
A 100% authentic insights stat from a page we recently took over.
Check this stuff…often!

Let’s use Facebook as our main social media example here for this blog. The demographics, reaches, likes, and other analytics will vary from platform to platform. Comparatively, the audiences differ greatly. LinkedIn will differ from Facebook. Instagram will be different from LinkedIn, and so on.

The above statistic is a screenshot directly from a Facebook page we recently took over managing. As a matter of fact, all stats in this blog are authentic. In other words, no numbers are skewed here in any way. This (above) was their page insights roughly two weeks after 77 Design Co started posting.

How to improve.

By all means, there is more to this statistic than what it seems. This is not a “puff our chest out” type of post though. We’ll discuss a few things we did that you can simply do to improve your page. Sure, we are proud of creating numbers like this. It’s kind of crazy when you really look at it though!

What happened to this Facebook page before we took over? We don’t know. They were posting consistently. The page was mostly optimized. It’s our belief that the messaging may have been off though. Believe it or not, even the typefaces and fonts used in some of the earlier posts likely mattered. The bubbly and vivacious styles that were used in previous posts likely threw off the audience. Given that the page is geared towards outdoorsy men and women, this undoubtedly affected the messages. Content, visuals, and messaging are extremely important. They absolutely need to be tailored specifically to the pages audience.

What we do know is that it was our intent to build an audience right from the start. Looking over this statistic, we are confident that has begun. We’ll do our best to continue that trend.

The insights tool gives you a lot of data that is relevant to what you are doing…marketing your business! Use it. Monitor it. Measure it. These tools help when deciding who you are writing content to. In addition, you can use these insights to tailor your message, the tags you use, post times, and other aspects to see what works and what doesn’t. This HubSpot blog gets a little deeper into understanding FB insights. Have a look and learn more: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/facebook-insights

More…

Along with monitoring & measuring your social media marketing through available stats, as mentioned above, knowing your customer is one of the most difficult tasks for a business. The given statistics from your social media pages can help with this. That is to say, if you monitor the stats closely it will give some ideas. Additionally, you will need to consider that these are social media numbers. They may vary slightly from other sources of marketing. Either way those statistics will give you a starting point.

Summing up, monitoring your social stats can be applicable for other forms of marketing as well. If you check over the ages, genders, and locations, for example, these could help drastically with a direct mail program. Or, they can be applicable to narrowing down what services/products to promote for other digital marketing strategies. Again, in the end these are social media stats. Monitoring & measuring your marketing has to be done across the board to get a true analysis on who your customer really is.

Monitoring & Measuring your marketing. Image of audience Facebook statistics.
Audience stats.

As always if you need help tracking or attracting customers…certainly, 77 Design Co will give you a hand. Feel free to reach out.

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Winterize Your Business Marketing

Winterize your business marketing? What does this even mean? As long as you read on, we’ll get to that.

Winterize your business marketing. An image of the 77 Design Co gray and orange business card and reflection

October is here and for many businesses that means slower times are ahead. At least for industries like, landscaping, roofing, pool companies, and many more seasonal businesses the winter months are a blessing and a curse simultaneously. For example, the slow season gives owners an opportunity to catch up on things. On the other hand, it also means less income coming in. A blessing and a curse.

This is also the perfect time to plan ahead and properly prepare for next season. You can winterize your business marketing now. Think of it as adding insulation to a building to keep it warm in the colder months. There’s literally hundreds of marketing things you can do for your business at this point. So, what do you need to do?

No need to just believe us. We always back up our claims and advice. Check this SBA blog for more: https://www.sba.gov/blog/18-ideas-marketing-seasonal-business-season

Website.

When is the last time you looked over your website? Do you have someone managing it? Making regular changes to it? If the answer is no, why not? After all, you probably paid a decent amount of money and spent time getting it together. Make it work for you.

While you are getting some downtime during winter, a great idea also is to revamp that site. You don’t have to make massive swinging changes to it. You can and should add things like keywords, new content, updated images, or even include new services and products. Keeping up with the website will pay dividends in the long run. It’ll help SEO, offer customers a fresh look, and even build better brand recognition if you promote it properly.

Winterize Your Business Marketing. An image of a high key black and white infrared computer keyboard.
Get Social.

While you were running around or buried IN your business during the busy months, that social media channel(s) probably sat idle. On the other hand, maybe you just sporadically posted during that time. Perhaps your social media was ignored completely. Time to get to work. Make your channels work for you.

Don’t think there’s any good content to post about in the off months? Wrong. Now is the time to set yourself up for next year. You can show new equipment. Make a video or photo post about how it works. Did you have a new employee this year that really killed it and worked hard? Share who that is or a little about what they do and who they are. Highlight some successful projects. Pass along industry news. Call up some customers (we’ll discuss more below) and showcase how you helped them. This list could go on eternally. Time to use social media to your advantage and build credibility for your business.

Reviews. Reviews. And More Reviews.

In addition to the few things above, you should check in with customers during the offseason. Find out how they like A, B, or C (whatever work you completed). Ask for reviews. Offer a discounted product or service. In addition, this keeps you top of mind. These reviews will most certainly help the brand with credibility and recognition. This is assuming you did good work for your customers. Finally, ask them to take a moment to review the business on social media and of course, Google.

Additional.

Additionally, the downtime is the perfect time to alter or review any or all of the below:

Business cards. Redesign or reorder new ones.

Brochures, pamphlets, and other printed marketing materials. Create something new or reorder what you had from last season.

Email marketing. Hopefully you have a list of customers’ emails. If so, send them over an email or a few during the offseason keeping them up to date on your products and services.

Signs, yard signs, vehicle graphics. Are any of these looking worn out or old? Some fancy new stickers or signs will keep you looking professional and up to date.

Direct mail. In essence, if you haven’t tried direct mail, or worse failed with it…something just isn’t right. Get a creative graphic designer to help make a mail piece really pop. It will pay dividends.

Finally, is there anything we left out? By all means, we’d love to hear about what is successful for marketing your business. How do you winterize your business marketing?

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Analyze. Create. Achieve.

Some FAQ’s About Marketing

This blog will discuss some FAQ’s about marketing. When meeting with new (and even existing) clients these often come up. Without a doubt, business owners want answers. Hey, guess what? We want to answer them!

It’s totally understandable why a business owner, or someone in charge of the business, would have questions when considering hiring a marketing firm. They should. Anytime we make a business decision we have questions too. For this reason, we’ve decided to compile a list of some FAQ’s about marketing. Let’s get to it.

A 77 Design Co orange and gray business card with an opaque 77 Design Co logo in the background.
Common Questions

Question: So, what all do you guys do?

Answer: At this point we usually go over the list of services we offer. You can view them here https://77designco.com/services-2/

This is the “get to know one another” part. Clients usually want to hear about what services they may be able to use and more importantly how it can help their business. At this time, this is also our chance to explain what we do and why we do it. It’s equally important to lay the ground work on our particular style of customer service and work ethic too.

Question: Our website is older. We can’t get ahold of the person that designed it anymore. Can you update and work on bettering our website?

Answer: This is a pretty common question. It’s also one we typically don’t like to get. Why? Because the answer usually isn’t what the client wants to hear. If a password and email for the site is unavailable, you may have been taken to the cleaners. This is common in the web field. Let’s reiterate…not always though. However, too many times we’ve met business owners that have 0 access to their own website. This sucks. A new website is typically the answer.

We also don’t repair sites because there are too many ingredients already used that we don’t know about. It’s like trying to bake the exact same cake without an instruction list of all the ingredients used in the original. Ask immediately whether you’ll have access to your website upon contracting a web designer.

Computer keyboard photograph
More Common Questions

Question: What’s it cost?

Answer: By far, the most common question that comes up every meeting. So. Many. Variables. Depending on the amount of work, the type of work, and the length of time to complete a project, that determines the pricing.

However, there are some predetermined prices. At least with us. We can’t speak on how other marketing companies operate. Or, hourly rates are available for some smaller projects also. Would you like to know our pricing for services? Just ask 🙂

Question: We’re so far behind our competitor X on Google searches. Why do they always come up and we aren’t found?

Answer: Once in a while we get this question too. Again, there’s a lot of variables. Updating a website and blog are part of this answer. If the site hasn’t been touched, likely that’s hurting the SEO. It’s important to realize what your competitor is doing as well. Are they dumping money in paid ads? Is your business even listed with Google?

Keywords, meta descriptions, security, and optimized pages are all important too. There’s a lot more that goes into SEO rankings than can be listed here. This is usually a long and quite detailed conversation to find the answers.

A Few More

Question: Why can’t we use both (or multiple) logos?

Answer: Using multiple logos isn’t a good idea. It creates confusion. Certainly you want to create brand recognition and have people identify with the color and logo. To sum up, usually you want to go with just one logo.

But, there are times you can switch colors to represent your company as a social awareness brand. For example, Major League Baseball switches standard colors to pink for breast cancer and Mother’s Day. Apple for Pride month, and various other brands routinely change colors as well.

Question: Why shouldn’t we use stock photography?

Answer: It’s not that you shouldn’t. There are instances when you may need to use them. We just believe that creating custom images for your company is much more impactful. Additionally, here’s a few more reasons why:

The image(s) aren’t your products or company. A stock photo cannot accurately represent your founder, employees, or other staff. Consumers may likely find the same image(s) elsewhere, maybe on a competitors marketing materials. Further, it’s just misrepresentative of your brand.

Conclusion

We could go on, but for the sake of keeping this “Some FAQ’s About Marketing” blog short and sweet, we’ll stop here. Perhaps, we’ll revisit additional questions in the future.

Check in next time for more marketing info and tips!

Some marketing statistics written on top of a black and white computer keyboard, mouse, and flash drive. Some FAQ's About Marketing.

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A Brief History of Halloween.

A brief history of Halloween. We posted this last year but it may become a yearly tradition to share over and over again. For example, some people may not understand what Halloween is really all about and may find it interesting. Likewise, others may just enjoy the updated images and goofiness we will add to it from year to year.

Halloween is just about here! It’s one of our favorite days of the year! Why do we dress up? What’s the deal with trick or treating? Why do we carve pumpkins? Have you ever wondered how Halloween started and what traditions continued through the years? What has changed or has been phased out? Read further to find out more.    

Photo of a scary clown with a red nose.
Jack O Lantern Gif
History

So, Halloween technically began as the festival of Samhain. Samhain is a Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of the “darker half” or winter as we know it. The festival takes places October 31 – November 1. Celts believed that on the night before the new year (November 1), the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred or thin. Scary stuff!

Most importantly, they would have big parties or feasts and dress in costumes because they believed it would scare away the ghosts and spirits. Do you see the correlation? Consequently, we then get to America, where we traditionalize everything and make carving pumpkins and trick or treating super popular. Meanwhile, let’s talk about trick or treating.

So, way back when, young women believed that on Halloween they could divine the name or appearance of their future husband by doing tricks with yarn, apple parings, or mirrors. Subsequently, it then trickled down to young children dressing up and getting candy from neighbors.

Did you know?

One quarter of all the candy sold annually in the U.S. is purchased for Halloween. So, do you carve pumpkins? Do you go the traditional scary route or do something fun and different? Are you the type of person that will hand out candy to little kids or keep the light off? Speaking of modifying traditions, there are parents that have a basket of candy for kids, and a basket of beer for the parents that go around with them. In conclusion, that is a modern twist on a tradition that we can get down with!  

Costumes?

What’s the coolest costumes you have? Send us photos and we’ll share them on social media! We hope you enjoy our little Brief History of Halloween!  

An orange Happy Halloween image with black scary font. A Brief History of Halloween.

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Things That Are Happening

Just a quick blog to discuss some things that are happening at double 7’s lately. Yes, we’ve made it through the worst part of the pandemic. Certainly, our hope is that your business is making it happen too! Most importantly though, we hope everyone is safe.

Come Together

It seems like some local business is slowly starting to come back to a little normalcy. Although, we’re not sure how long it will last. We’ll continue to hope for normalcy again though!

All of this craziness (protests, racism, rioting, police problems, government overreach, and stupid virus stuff) needs to stop. When are we going to come together as a society and simply focus on being unified?

All of us (in the U.S.) live in the greatest country in the world (despite what some may say) and we need to treat each other with respect and dignity. To sum up, that’s all we’ll say about any of that. So, go be good to one another. Period.

Things that are happening. White 77 Design Co logo
Treat each other well.
Things We Are Working On

Through the mess, 77 Design Co has managed to maintain consistent stability and even picked up a few new projects. Helping business is what we do, and our overall goal is to grow each company that we work with.

Some of the new things that are happening with 77 include:

* A new website for a health insurance agency.

* A new website for a local spa.

* Social media management for an RHVAC company.

* Product and commercial photography for a manufacturer.

* Likewise, possibly a new website for that same manufacturer.

* Video project for a local church organization.

* Print catalog design for another manufacturer.

And a few more projects in the works.

In other words, it’s been kind of busy lately. It excites us to see some business owners forging ahead with their marketing plans! Additionally, it also excites us to see some business closing in on normal operations.

These last six months have been trying for everyone, but there needs to be a point where you say “forget it, move ahead.” Or, your business could be shackled like in the below image.

Things that are happening. Design of a shackled man in a suit to a large weight.
Don’t shackle your business.

Need ideas on how to kick start your business? Our FREE marketing consultation is offered to any business looking to get on the right track. https://77designco.com/services-2/

77Design Co logo and business cards.

Analyze. Create. Achieve.

Marketing Success Stories

Marketing success stories. How about some optimism? Because racial tensions, increased Covid cases, stupid politics, government mandates, business closures, riots, and everything else in the news is usually bad. So, let’s talk positivity.

Marketing success stories. Marketing Scrabble tiles and a 77 Design Co business card.
Marketing helps!

In this uncertain and crippled economic climate, some businesses have managed success. Despite the difficulties now your business needs to stay relevant. Marketing does that! On a micro level, a few places locally have seen an uptick in business due to continued marketing. We’ll share a few stories with you this week.

Story 1

One of the marketing success stories we’ll share is a local brewery. As a result of a social media training program, this local brewery is seeing a surge in engagement. Consequently, this has improved sales.

Customers consistently come in and say, “Hey, we follow you on Facebook.” Likewise, they’ll hear “we love your Facebook videos” or share similar comments. Awesome! We love to hear it!

Brewery: We were never open to retail before. Recently, we opened a pop up beer garden and we went from 0% retail to selling about the same as wholesale. Our business is selling more merchandise too. Social media is keeping us going. For instance, our engagement is now between 800-1200 per post versus the 60-200 we’d get before. That’s a big increase! It’s growing daily too. Likes and shares have increased as well. This varies post to post.

Another success we’ve seen is brand awareness. Most people didn’t know about us before. As a result of our consistent social media posting many people tell us they know all about our beers now. Facebook and Instagram are really helping. We’re more informed and educated about what we are doing now. http://www.sobbrews.com

Marketing Success Stories. Dollar bills and coins laying on glass with the 77 Design Co business card.
Story 2

Food is essential. We all know that. Everyone needs food to survive. A local food service company that we work with has taken the pitfalls of this pandemic and turned it into a way to increase business while also taking better care of their customers. They have utilized their customizable food packages to ensure the safety of their customers simultaneously. How? Offer great food, have it delivered, and never leave home for it.

Marketing success stories. Sirloin beef tip roast photograph.

Food Service Company: Our current success directly correlates with our social media program. Before the pandemic we did our best, but now its more tightened. Our pages are fun AND informative now. Creative photos and videos help tremendously. New likes and shares are common on a daily basis.

Messages come in multiple times daily. It’s sometimes overwhelming how many we get. Existing customers want to order more food. New customers want to learn more about our products.

Facebook and Instagram have been huge. Sales have increased 50-60% over last year. That’s the trend so far, though it may be higher by years end. That has translated into a massive increase in revenue, but we’d rather not state an exact dollar amount. https://proniosfoods.com

Story 3

We won’t get too deep into this marketing success story, but a few parishes in the local area that we work with have also seen improvements. Pre COVID numbers had increased giving, but more importantly to them, more member engagement.

These churches wanted ways of reaching their parishioners better to pass along the Word of God and they’ve been utilizing social media and user friendly website updates to do that. Email marketing (or as one church official says, “email evangelization”) has helped them reach those who cannot attend masses. It has also kept their parishes up to date on all the happenings. All of these are great ways to spread their message and stay in front of their beloved members.

If you need marketing help, drop us a line. We’ll help any way we can. https://77designco.com

Analyze. Create. Achieve.

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