Winterize Your Business Marketing

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

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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.

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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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Making Social Media Work for Business

Making social media work for your business isn’t always an easy task. As a matter of fact, it can be downright difficult at times. A lot of business owners think just posting will get attention and the customers will quickly follow. In short, not true. The rules for social media are constantly changing. Further, choosing the right channels and messaging for your business takes some time and research. Next, you have to consider the content and times of your posts. Thankfully for you, the reader, we’ll break this down some.

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Rules

Rules. First thing to remember is keeping professionalism on top of mind. If your business floods posts with political opinions or pandemic related health info there are rules now in place that may flag the post. Stick to your subject and do not stray into gray areas. Stay professional and un-opinionated.

However, when discussing “rules” we didn’t mean etiquette. That should go without saying. We meant the ever evolving, constantly changing, eternally revamping, social media landscape. In years past, a business could post on Facebook and it would be seen by hundreds, thousands, or even hundreds of thousands. But, that is simply not the case any more.

Algorithms and different platform features are always changing. Subsequently, this makes keeping up with it all very very difficult. These continuous alterations are done in hopes of creating a better user experience. For business owners and marketers that’s usually not the case. Making social media work for your business requires staying on top of these changes. Without a doubt, you want to research, research, research to find out all you can about the platform(s) of your choice and any new changes.

The Right Channels

Equally important (and maybe even more important) you need to know your customer. That’s always a first step of marketing. If your business is using Tik Tok or Instagram but the demographic is a little older, you are wasting time and money. This interesting Pew Research study https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2021/04/07/social-media-use-in-2021/ goes into more depth than we can discuss here.

What’s the age of your client base? Where do they live? Likewise, even knowing their hobbies and interests can be an indicator to which platforms to use. We aren’t big proponents of simply blasting your business info and/or products and services all over the social media world. Take the time to narrow down which platform(s) your customers use. This is a much more effective strategy.

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A slide from our 77 Design Co Social Media Training program.
Content and Times

Now that we’ve got to this point and learned a little of the rules, then decided on the right channels, it’s time to turn attention towards what to post and when. Usually this is a hurdle for some companies. Again, not an easy task. What do you say and how do you say it?

For content, the ideas are limitless. One great way to make social media work for business is to be helpful. In short, you want to create resolutions to problems you believe customers are facing. Be aware though, customers can see through a sales pitch versus an authentic post that truly shows empathy for their situation.

Content creation can and should include, emotion, storytelling, great visuals, shared info, and just be generally helpful. In addition to that, make the social pages fun. Offer contests, witty quotes, post in-action videos, or highlight customers. There are endless ideas for content.

So, that leaves us with best post times. The advice for this is all over the place. You’ll need to research your industry and do some trial and error to see what works best. Generally for Facebook, Tues, Wed, and Thurs between 9:00A.M.-12:00P.M. work well. Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter vary as well. This is not a set in stone formula though. Monitor your business pages post performances closely to get a better idea what works for you.

Need a hand figuring all of this out? Questions? 77 Design Co is here for you.

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Let’s Talk Color & Branding

Let’s talk color & branding. This blog is aimed directly towards those starting out in business or rebranding.

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At first look, colors may not seem that important. However, they are extremely important to your business! No matter what colors you choose for your logo and brand, there will be certain psychological perceptions of them. In other words, it’s called color psychology. You can read more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_psychology

We’ll break down a few widely used colors, as well as some that are uncommon. Let’s talk color & branding a bit more in depth.

Red

Few colors evoke a psychological response more than red. Red is love, it is fiery, passionate, angry, exciting, and quickly catches attention. With this in mind, it’s good to know what other colors to couple it with. We’ll use black and white as examples. It also depends on which shades of red you are using.

Red and white can present itself as exciting and clean. Or, perhaps evoke passion and health.

Red and black are two power colors. Therefore, they are to be used cautiously. There’s a lot of aggression when combining these two colors. So, it makes sense to choose your shade of red wisely when combining it with black. Red and black, albeit a pretty cool color combo, reminds us of the Empire in Star Wars or even the Nazi swastika. So be careful! What do you think of for a black and red logo?

Other shades of red convey different emotions. Maroon is strong and brave. Burgundy is sophisticated or subtle. On the other hand, bright red is energetic and exciting. Whatever red you choose, certainly make sure it’s not too overpowering with the complementary color.

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Blue

Ah, blue! This writer’s favorite color. Calm, trusting, confident, and the association with water. However, as I have shown above, there’s still negative aspects associated with blue. These would be cold and distant. At the same time, think of the term having the “blues,” you certainly don’t want to give off that impression!

Blue and white evokes dependability and innocence. A blue and white logo, if designed correctly, would exude a feeling of tranquility and purity as well. As long as the graphic designer is aware of their color choices and the overall layout, these color combos could be great for business. Think Lowes, Ford, or American Express.

Blue and black is trust and sophistication. Of course this depends on the type of blue used. For example, BMW and its use of blue and black works well.

Some alternate light blue colors give off a sense of faith, health, or stability. Darker blue hues represent feelings of security, masculinity, or trust.

Green

When you initially think green, what do you think of? If you answered money, environment, or nature you’d be correct. In addition, green is used for brands like John Deere, Land Rover, and Whole Foods. Businesses in the environmental, landscaping, and restaurant industries regularly use green colors.

Green and white makes for a harmonious and clean feeling. Pending the shade of green and the design shape used, it could represent natural purity. At this point, we’ll also add that the complete design, font or typeface choices, all combined will lead to very specific emotional responses. It’s important to realize that the complete design combination is what truly leaves a viewer feeling a certain way, not just the color choice.

Green and black are growth and elegance. Black can be an edgy color to use with greens. You’d want to go with black likely as a complement to whatever green you choose.

Light greens like spring green or chartreuse give off feelings of freshness or spring time. By comparison, darker greens are associated with maturity and growth.

Other Choices

Gray. Gray is used in branding mainly as a secondary color. In addition, it’s a great way to tone down other bolder colors. Gray is subtle, steady, and controlled. Use gray sparingly to avoid unwanted feelings of isolation or depression.

Purple is next on the list. The color purple leaves us feeling creative and/or curious . Purple is also often associated with mystery. It’s the color of royalty as well. Lighter purples are romantic and spiritual. As I have said with other colors, there are consequences with each. Darker tones of purple, if used unwisely, present themselves as sad or frustrating.

Finally, brown. This color is earthly and dependable. Brown also evokes neutrality, boredom, and emptiness. So be careful! You do not want your logo or company brand to be boring or drab. Look for ways to make brown stand out if you choose this color. M&M’s, UPS, and A&W Root Beer have found successful ways to utilize brown.

Need help brainstorming a new logo and branding color palette? Let’s talk color & branding! You know how to find us!

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The Marketing Necessities

This blog we discuss some of the marketing necessities needed in a post virus laden world. At the present time, let’s use the word “post” loosely. Call us cynical, but we don’t believe we’ve seen the last of the virus. Or, the last of business shutdowns. This is especially true given the variants that are popping up.

We’ve all seen what happened over the last year and a half to business. Most importantly we saw what happened to small business. Some made it through. Some did not. Most are still feeling the effects. It’s always good to plan ahead. We hope nothing happens but it’s always good to be prepared. Let’s talk about some of the marketing necessities you’ll need to know if any future shutdowns occur again.

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Marketing is an investment and security blanket, not an expense.
Preparation is key.

Website. The website for your business serves as your online home. It should be pretty, comfortable, functional, and secure. In short, let’s look at each individually. Pretty meaning designed well and nice to look at. Comfortable equals easy to use. Functional means everything is operable. Finally, secure meaning, well, secured!

Look up some statistics and you’ll quickly find that during the shutdowns, online searches were through the roof. Customers will Google, Bing, or whatever to see that you have an online presence. Many customers will not even entertain contacting a business without a site.

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Small business should ALWAYS stay in touch with customers.
Staying in touch.

Email Marketing. Another key point of preparation is to consistently touch base with customers. There’s a host of ways you can do this. For example, one of them is email marketing. Yea, yea, email marketing sometimes gets a bad rap. Maybe you’ve already tried it and it didn’t work for your business. However, it’s all in the content and/or offer!

Custom email blasts can (and in our experience does) work well. During the shutdowns, two of our local clients continued sending quarterly emails. Their open and read rates were off the charts. The length of time their customers spent reading were also very high. Comparatively speaking, their numbers were almost triple the standard rates of email blasts. Why? They spoke to the customer.

Both of these clients are still seeing the positive results of staying in touch through email. Their base knows they care and trusts them. They offered help, information, and weren’t necessarily pushing just sales. We’ll be happy to share these stats and references for both clients. Just ask us! 🙂

Other ways to stay in touch.

Social Media. One of the marketing necessities that can’t be left from the list is social media. Good grief, social media usage numbers exploded during the lockdowns. For some businesses, it was their only way of communicating or marketing.

It’s important to realize though, your social media marketing shouldn’t be just about selling. In fact, we’d recommend only making that about twenty five percent of your posts. Maybe less. Companies that offered consistent help and solutions for the given situation prospered. Creating humorous content during the stressful times also mattered. With this in mind, remember, consistency is key. Your business can’t post randomly once per month or two and expect to see results. It. Will. Not. Happen. Instead, plan to post several times per week, or get some help that can manage this for you.

Direct Mail. Ye olde direct mail. People were home during shutdowns. They still received mail. Consequently, if this occurs again you need to be ready. Again, we hope it doesn’t come to this, but a prepared mailer strategy in place is better than not having one at all.

A solid direct mail plan and design with beautiful imagery or graphics plus a great offer will pay dividends. No, we’re not talking about slapping together some boring, cheap, flimsy, pieces with drab stock images. Will. Not. Work. We are talking about custom mail pieces with a punch! Pieces with spectacular attention grabbing textures, colors, photos, and a big bold offer are what stands out. Coupled with a helpful message, your business will really reap the rewards.

Do you have any alternate ideas for other marketing necessities in the event of another shutdown? We’d love to hear them!

Need any advice or consultation on a marketing preparation strategy? We are always here to help.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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Is Your Marketing Working?

Is your marketing working for your business? This blog we take a look at measuring the success of your marketing strategy. Equally important, the connection you currently have (or don’t) with your marketing firm.

You undoubtedly put hard earned money and trust into whomever you chose to work with. Subsequently, you’d like to see some return. We’ll focus on some things that you should be getting when hiring a marketing firm to do the work.

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Measuring Success

At the time of this writing, we just left a long time clients office. What did we do there? We discussed analytics and future strategy together. For the most part, we chatted and caught up on things both personal and professional. This matters. Why? Because it builds trust and strengthens both relationships.

It’s a good idea to find a firm that will evaluate all of the strategy with you. This morning we discussed our clients SEO, website analytics, social media numbers, and goals for the coming months. When Client X had questions, we had answers.

Not everything was hunky dory. Our client had fallen in a few SEO rankings and wanted to know why. For this reason, we explained the lack of communication during their busy season had altered what we were doing regularly. To clarify, we didn’t make any moves without their approval. Their approval was never granted. Communication ceased for a bit and it hurt them in rankings.

Regardless, they understood. We then moved along to what we can do to improve together. Measuring success doesn’t always involve leads, calls, and tracking numbers. Sometimes, it’s simply just discussing how to improve what ultimately leads to those higher numbers and ranking.

Connection

We asked, “is your marketing working?” as a lead in title to this blog. The connection between client and marketing firm should be something truly special. You’ll want to know someone is working with you to better your business. Also, to help make you more money and improve leads. As a matter of fact, the marketing firm should learn as much about your business as possible. This is the only way to create content that works. Connecting with clients on a regular basis will undoubtedly improve the marketing.

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What new products or services do you have? Your marketing company needs to know.

Is there something you don’t offer anymore, or don’t really want to promote? Your marketing company needs to know.

Have there been any changes to your personal life that may affect your business? Your marketing company needs to know.

At any rate, you get the point. The marketing company has to be involved in some day to day at least. We’d even argue that the marketing company should immerse themselves in your business.

Posting canned social media posts…ain’t gonna cut it!

Building a website with all irrelevant stock imagery…ain’t gonna cut it!

Creating a logo and other branding without input from the owner or decision maker, you guessed it…ain’t gonna cut it!

Where’s the personality? How can customers identify with the business? The connection between the marketing firm and client needs to be deep. It also needs to be coupled with some creativity and innovation.

Marketing + Connection = Success.

Finally, as we mentioned above, build a strong connection with your marketer(s). Look to build the relationship and look to make sure they care as much about your business as you. Working together will help everyone thrive simultaneously!

Is your marketing working?

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