Let’s Talk Marketing & Strategy

Begin the Year with a BANG! An image of the 77 Design Co orange and gray business card logo with the words marketing repeating in the background.

Let’s Talk Marketing & Strategy is a blog about exactly what marketing is. We’ll also cover some simple strategies you can take to improve the marketing of your business.

Firstly, let’s use the definition from a HubSpot blog and Dictionary.com, “the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising.” It and more can be read here: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/what-is-marketing

Let's Talk Marketing & Strategy. An image of the 77 Design Co orange and gray business card logo with the words marketing repeating in the background.

There it is. Consequently, the definition is a little broad. We create content, images, video, and do design work. We also do market research and a little advertising. The initial definition is a bit blurry in our opinion though. Thats marketing for you. For example, there is no mention of brand, creativity, or messaging. These are essential pieces of marketing too. However, the description does get a bit more detailed further in the read.

Purpose.

So, let’s move along. As you can see in the HubSpot link above, they describe the purpose of marketing thoroughly. There’s not a whole lot that we would add.

However, our idea about marketing is much more primitive…”get more eyes on your product or service.” Truly we believe this is the main purpose. Yes, <caveman grunt> our views can sometimes be uncouth. We can assure you though that your marketing will never be. Also, if done correctly, marketing will substantially increase leads, referrals, and visibility.

Let's Talk Marketing & Strategy is a blog about exactly what marketing is. An image of the 77 Design Co card with money in the background.
Marketing’s main purpose, we believe, is to get more eyes on your product or service.
What next?

Next, now that we’ve got an idea about the definition and purpose of marketing, we can turn to the strategy. HubSpot has an extensive list of the forms of marketing. They are all in the article above. Some of these are, blogging, social media, SEO, video, and more. Additionally, there’s newer forms of marketing popping up yearly. Influencer, VR (Virtual Reality,) text, and alternate forms of digital marketing are some of the most recent types.

Traditional forms like print and social media also still make HUGE impacts. Of course, all of this depends on the style of message(s) your company puts out. Tags, links, images, designs, offers, and much more all are relevant to the strategy success. More than we could explain here.

Simple strategies we’d recommend include:

Keep the website simple. Update it regularly. Of course, make sure it’s mobile/SEO friendly. Change content and images often. Additionally, ensure there are no broken links or inaccurate info.

Images for the site and all social media posts should look and feel professional. Eye catching photos and designs attract more clicks. They also increase the length of time a reader views the page. Don’t believe us? You don’t have to. There are so many studies that back up this claim. Google it.

Hire a professional photographer. That is, hire one with experience in product or commercial photography. A wedding photographer, for example, will shoot things in a completely different manner. Likewise, with graphic designers. One that routinely creates bright elegant invitations will have a different style than one who works with industrial clients. Many in these fields won’t admit that they aren’t jack-of-all trades, but the final work will showcase the varying differences. Ask for examples of work.

Social media channels should be posted on regularly. Find the ideal post times. Or, hire an individual or team capable of making excellent social media posts. Create a buzz! Make posts that are interesting and informative. Use these channels to be a help. Highlight your team. Highlight your company’s product or service. Show off customers. These are just a few ideas.

Need some help developing a successful marketing strategy? Drop us a line https://77designco.com/contact-us-2/ for a free consultation. We are always excited to learn about your business!

Analyze. Create. Achieve.

Let's Talk Marketing & Strategy. 77 Design Co gray and orange logo

Comparing Marketing to Gardening

Admittedly, we’ve posted about this topic, Comparing Marketing to Gardening, in the past. There’s no problem with repurposing good content! At the same time, we feel this is good. Also important. It’s that time of year again. Spring time!

In Western Pa, spring is here. We couldn’t be happier! We love gardening and we love what we do! This weeks blog post explores how comparing marketing to gardening will help with business growth.

Much like your garden, a business requires constant attention, maintenance, and care to result in good growth. We all want healthy, bountiful vegetables or fruits from our gardens. Your business should be looked at in the same way. Due to a variety of reasons, there are many similarities to both that you may not initially be aware of.

Comparatively, here’s an article about business growth and gardening from Medium.com similar to our blog: https://medium.com/the-mission/5-steps-to-grow-your-business-like-a-plant-4e7abbadf390

Comparing Marketing to Gardening. An image of the orange 77 Design Co logo and some gardening tools.
Attention: 

We must pay attention to everything about our business. Troubles can occur if we don’t. Exactly like a garden. Things can spiral out of control if they aren’t looked after. The weeds can take over and almost always this results in a depletion of growth. Customers can get upset due to a lack of response, something an employee did, or a bad estimate. Just to name a few. Getting great reviews from your clientele base is essential. Stay on top of things. Pay attention to potential problems and ‘weeding the garden’ are both crucial in order to succeed.

An image of red, green, and orange hot peppers on fire with flames.
Maintenance: 

New customers come from a range of different places. For example, word of mouth may be the main tool you use. But, perhaps you started promoting your business on social media or another outlet. Customers that find you elsewhere will expect a certain level of maintenance on your platforms. They want to see and read about your business. Consistent upkeep is essential so things stay fresh. Rarely does a business thrive on social media by letting things get stagnant. Marketing and finding new leads for your business consistently is similar to watering or adding essential nutrients to garden soil. Therefore, maintenance must be exercised regularly.  

Salad greens photograph.
Picture of 4 different kinds of beans.
Care:  

Care certainly wraps up both of the above. This can be looked at in several ways. Care means caring about your customers and your reputation. Likewise, care also means caring about what happens with your marketing garden. Just planting and walking away will result in failure.

If your business “has been doing it this way for so long” it may be time for a change. When you do make a change take great care in how you do it because nobody wants to spend more than they have to without the desired results. Like a garden, you should rotate. You can’t continuously plant the same seeds and plants in the same areas year after year without changing things a bit. This will hinder growth. Care will ensure that your garden stays healthy.

In conclusion, plant the (marketing) seeds of your business garden. Pay attention to everything happening. Maintain customer relationships, and grow new ones. Care for the new things you are trying and your reputation. Then, watch your profits and business garden grow!

Comparing Marketing to Gardening. Image of scrabble pieces spelling marketing.

Analyze. Create. Achieve.   

Spring Cleaning Your Business Marketing

Spring Cleaning Your Business Marketing focuses on how to clean up your business marketing to make it more efficient. Spring is here! Usually this means more cleaning and getting rid of some unwanted items. For the most part, this is also applicable for a business.

Spring cleaning your business marketing. An image of the 77 Design Co gray and orange business card and notepad along with a yellow and green sponge.
Spring Cleaning Your Business Marketing

If you want to make the most of your marketing, occasionally you need to do a little clean up. Likewise, you’ll have to consistently monitor all of it. Think of it as caring for a pet. Websites, social media, printed materials, and even your company image should be reviewed yearly. Yearly isn’t that bad! Not quite as much as pet care.

A little cleaning or updating is likely necessary. This keeps things fresh. So, let’s get into Spring Cleaning Your Business Marketing a little deeper.

Website Updates

You have a business website. Maybe it’s new or just a few years old. No need to make drastic changes. You like what you have. Ok, great! As much as you are happy with it, there’s always ways to improve!

Therefore, small changes can make a BIG difference. If there isn’t anybody updating the site regularly, plug-ins probably are out of date. New keywords can be added. You can update the images on it. Add new employee bio’s or products. Additionally, what about revising the menu and content? Taking time for these changes will keep it fresh and Google happy. However, there’s also a lot more to it than can be thoroughly explained here.

Spring Cleaning Your Business Marketing. Computer keyboard photograph
Social, Social, Social

Further, let’s get into social media. This type of marketing typically can be fruitful. That is to say, IF it’s being used properly and consistently.

Time to spring clean. For example, ask yourself, “when is the last time you invited new contacts to follow or like your page?” Have you acquired any new products or equipment? Heck, when is the last time you even posted to the page? By the same token, it’s time to clean these social media pages up. Below is a list of new and improved items you can start doing on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, or whatever pages you have:

  • New photography
  • Add videos
  • Update any new services or products
  • Do a “History of your company” post or series
  • Highlight wonderful recent projects
  • Employee bios
  • Spotlight new or long time customers. The list can go on…

In fact, the uses for social media are endless. Perhaps we will create a future blog on this topic alone.

Conclusion

Finally, along with the above mentioned, analyze what worked in the last year. At this point you can figure out where leads, messages, and calls came from.

Perhaps you are just looking to create brand recognition. Just being visible and not intentionally seeking out leads is fine too. For example, during the pandemic you just wanted your company to be helpful. Admirable. Many company’s did just that.

If leads and referrals are what you want though, time to clean. Subsequently, whatever isn’t working you may want to drop. Or, at least change. Some marketing avenues don’t work for all. Print direct mail may be better for a home improvement company than, say, a niche manufacturer. Likewise, social media may produce more for a restaurant than an auto repair shop. Drop the useless marketing or make some necessary changes after trying a while.

All of this is sort of like cleaning out the gutters. It doesn’t happen often. But, when it does things flow much smoother.

Spring Cleaning Your Business Marketing. 77 Design Co Logo Image

Analyze. Create. Achieve.

Make Your Business More Marketable

Hola! Our double 7’s blog this week focuses on how to make your business more marketable. Likewise, more profitable.

We’ll share a few strategies you can implement. These will help increase reach, engagement, attention, and ultimately profit. Whether you are a small sole proprietor with little marketing budget, or a large corporation with dollars to spend, there are ways of easily making your business more marketable.

Make your business more marketable. Image of dollar bills and coins laying on glass with the 77 Design Co business card.

Let’s get to it:

Avoid confusing industry jargon or babble.

First thing to remember, not everyone will understand your business. Avoid using acronyms that may be confusing to others outside your industry. That is to say, keep marketing simple.

If you have to use them, give a brief description. Marketing promotes and helps sell a product or service best when illustrated creatively and the content is minimal. Too much info or too many choices will create consumer confusion. Read more from Wikipedia below: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_confusion

Create stories.

By all means, create stories! Another key to make your business more marketable is by sharing interesting stories. So, why did you get started in your profession? Is there a long history of your profession or the business? Talk about employees or customers. Make a good story and the marketing will take care of itself.

One of our clients has been around since the early 1900’s. We discussed this with them. There’s undoubtedly great stories to share there! Lots of stories, in fact. Customers love longevity in business. They wouldn’t be around still if they weren’t doing things right. Share that!

Humor always wins.
Make your business more marketable. Image of a coffee mug turned into a smiling face.

Humor is so underrated in the marketing world. Customers resonate with a brand that has fun. Likewise, we’re positive somewhere in the internet world there are statistics to back that claim up.

We don’t take ourselves too seriously at 77, unless the situation calls for it. So, it’s always a good idea to show personality and humor. As long as it’s in good taste. Stay away from sticky subjects like politics, race, or offensive material, but have fun.

Make funny posts. Take jabs at yourself or your industry. Share funny projects or situations. Humor’s especially effective for social media marketing.

Talk success.

No. Don’t brag. However, share success stories (see create stories above) about how you helped a customer. Let people know how you help. Why does your product/service stand out from a competitors?

Make your business more marketable by showing others what you can do. This can come in the form of photos, written content, videos, or even design. For example, if you own an auto repair shop, make a short video about what you repaired. Show how you repaired it. Interview the customer. Share it with the world.

Conclusion.

In conclusion, there are many other ways you can think of that will make your business more marketable. The above are just to get the ball rolling and give you some ideas.

Marketing is so vast and has so many different layers. Utilize your social media channels, brochures, signage, website, and/or printed materials to show some personality for the business. We’re sure you’ll see gains in leads, calls, brand recognition, and eventually income.

Marketing. White 77 Design Co logo

Analyze. Create. Achieve.

Using Creativity in Marketing

It’s no secret that using creativity in marketing translates into success. Whether it’s a T.V commercial or a direct mailer design, customers love ingenuity and originality. This blog will explore some creative measures you can take to up your company’s marketing game.

What is creativity…really?
Using creativity in marketing. Photograph of multi colored paint brushes and records.
Creativity is essential in marketing

Creativity is subjective. For example, what one may think is aesthetic another may not. At this point, let’s look at the actual definition. Merriam-Webster defines creativity as: “1: the ability to create //her artistic creativity 2: the quality of being creative” —–> https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/creativity

Pretty vague. You get the point though. Creativity can be minimal or complex. Much like the definition. One of the things we learn in grade school art class is that nothing can be wrong as long as some imagination is applied. The same is true even in college art classes. Instructors look for imagination and passion in a work. When they see lackluster effort the grade slips.

The same is applicable in marketing. Slogans, logos, photography, websites, and more all should be creative. Further, the first thing we hear from a new client is, what? Take a guess. Yep. You guessed it, “I want it to be creative.” At any rate that’s the point!

If our creativity is lacking that customer will not want to work with us. Consumers think the same way. They just aren’t aware of it in many cases. If the creativity lacks, the message is lost. Likewise, the grade slips. So, when something catches their eye, it resonates.

Creativity isn’t always easy.

It’s important to realize that creativity doesn’t come naturally to everyone. After all even the world’s greatest artists historically struggled from time to time. You know the saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Similarly, it took Michelangelo roughly 4-5 years to paint the Sistine Chapel. He undoubtedly hit creative blocks during that process.

Here are a few things to think about when creating materials for your business:
  • Photography. Does the image tell a story? Is it perfectly focused, exposed, and composed? Ask yourself these questions before using an image in marketing. Don’t know what those photographic elements above mean? Google them! Include pattern, texture, or a pop in color. Make the photo(s) as creative as possible.
  • Graphic Design. Likewise as above. Does the design use complementary colors to the brand? Is the logo properly placed? Additionally, it should tell a story. Customers will notice. Any design work for brochures, signage, and other print will need to match your company’s brand image. Including alternate colors or fonts/typefaces will send mixed signals. Stay cohesive.
  • Website. The site needs to function properly. It should also look like your business cards and other marketing materials. Be creative but also simple. We’ve found simplicity over complexity for sites is better. It keeps a clean look. Many customers will want to stay on a site that’s easier to use too. Of course, mobile friendly as well.
  • Social Media. All social media pages will need to match the brand. This includes the messaging content of posts too. These pages are reflective of the company. Equally important, be sure to keep the logo visible. Social media is social. That’s what it’s meant for. However, it is also a great way to create brand identifiability. Make creative and interesting posts for others to engage with.
Screen shot image of the 77 Design Co Facebook page with orange logo. Using creativity in marketing.
Final Thoughts.

Creativity is one of the most useful tools you can apply to your marketing. The uses of color, line, composition etc are all powerful tools in art. These elements take a “meh” marketing piece and can turn it into a “WOW!” Finally, a brand that shows creativity in all aspects of marketing will stand out.

77Design Co logo and business cards.

Analyze. Create. Achieve.