How Your Web Page Speed Effects Your SEO and Google Ads Performance

For companies that already advertise to prospective customers on mobile devices, or who have organic search presence, there are numerous elements of their online presence that need to be checked, tested, and, where appropriate, changed. Implementing a robust SEO strategy is crucial to ensure visibility and competitiveness in the digital landscape. Knowing how to optimize your mobile site for speed will make all the difference to your search engine rankings.

The Importance of Testing Site Speed

The changes are going to make knowing the speed of a mobile site essential. Many tools permit site owners to determine their page speed to see whether enhancements are needed. Most of the tools that are available to test speeds are free and do not require administrator access to the website in question. That means that companies can check their competitors’ sites as well as their own.

Adjusting Mobile SEO Strategy for Google’s Speed Update

One such change that companies should consider is switching to Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP). An AMP works by altering the source code of the website, thus directing the standard HTML page to a minimalist version of itself, the hosted AMP page. As AMPs are still so rare, they load exceptionally quickly. In initial Google testing, AMPs reduced load time up to 85%.
Local search should not be ignored, either. A Google Mobile Moments Study revealed that 40% of mobile searches have local intent. Companies also need to be aware that mobile search engine users enter queries differently than desktop search engine users; mobile queries tend to be much shorter.

Leveraging Search Console is a fantastic way to check in on a site’s usability. Using the following options under “Crawl Errors” can make a significant difference to usability:

  • Smartphone tab – It allows users to recognize any crawl errors that might be burdening their mobile pages
  • Fetch on Google – It allows users to to see how crawlers view the site and adjust accordingly for better indexing and ranking in search results.
  • Mobile Usability report –  It precisely informs users about pages with mobile usability issues, along with detailing the nature of these issues.

How Will Google’s Speed Update Impact Your Google Ads Account?

The Quality Score algorithm, the algorithm that determines how much users pay per click to serve an ad on the Search Network, is heavily influenced by landing page experience. If a company’s site does not load quickly and does not convey beneficial information, the company will either end up paying a premium or realize that they are unable to serve an ad at all.

The Google Ads documentation recommends five ways to affect positive change regarding a site’s landing page experience:

  • Include relevant, compelling content
  • Be recognized as trustworthy
  • Make navigation simple and effective
  • Reduce load time
  • Make the website faster

In Conclusion

Google Ad users need to ensure they optimize for load time and landing page speed, and not just in terms of relevance. Companies should also contemplate making a move to AMP, ensure that their intent is on point, and make the most of the power of Search Console and page speed insights.

30 Greatest Lead Generation Tips

Creating a Brand with Social Listening and What Tools To Use

Social media marketing is an important part of reaching today’s modern era customers. Setting up social media accounts that prioritize providing good content can be challenging. In order for your brand to stick out, you need to learn what your customers are looking for and how to provide them with that content. This is referred to as social listening. Those who have social listening strategies worked into their social media marketing gain an edge over their competitors.

Social listening plays a key role in growing your business and increasing your company’s brand trust with its customers. The good news is that the ability to operate social media channels and create engaging content is right at your fingertips. If you are looking for ways in which you can handle all the comments, likes, and messages on your platforms, fear not because we have a strategy for you.

The below content contains ways in which you can learn about social listening as well as tools you can use to make the process easier.

connected brains

What is Social listening?

Social listening is all about looking into your industry’s trends, comments, and content in order to gain insights into your brand experience. Social listening is critical for understanding how your customer feels about your brand which is commonly referred to as social media sentiment. Correctly using social listening is one of the most valuable ways to increase brand trust and create a loyal customer base. One good example of social listening is Netflix promoting a DIY sock that pauses the TV show. Netflix looked at what people were talking about on social media through comments, posts, and stories which lead to this creative invention.

Social Listening Tools

Keeping up with the constant change in social trends can be difficult. Thankfully, there are many different tools and programs that can help brands keep up with trends.

Sprout Social

Sprout Social is a premium service that helps brands and companies monitor data and trends on all social media platforms they are active on. It can also be useful for identifying social media goals that your brand can create based on the data. While Sprout Social is an excellent service and can help greatly with social media needs, they are more costly than some of the other social listening tools mentioned below.

HubSpot

HubSpot is a marketer’s dream program. Whether it be for creating inbound content, social media uploads, or advanced automation, HubSpot knows what tools a marketer needs. HubSpot has features that allow you to keep track of all social media posts, interactions, and total social media leads. 

social media doodles

Learn more about social media campaigns here!

One of the big perks of HubSpot is the ability to easily work together with the sales team to use social media interactions as a step to making a sale. Furthermore, HubSpot is a free-to-use platform which makes it a must-have.

Also Read: Using HubSpot Lead Flows To Improve Conversion Rates

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a service that allows users to view and interact with their social media followers in an easy and convenient way. Hootsuite’s dashboard is able to keep track of all social media interactions whether it be messages, comments, likes, or mentions without having to leave the service.

In addition, Hootsuite provides top-notch analytics and reports from all social media accounts in use. This, along with the convenient dashboard, makes Hootsuite a premium service that competes with the likes of sprout social. Therefore, the cost of the service is noticeably different than free services.

Buffer

Buffer is one of the more user-friendly tools on this list. The software application allows users to “buffer” social media posts on many accounts. The user interface is very clean and not as complicated as some other services. Buffer can respond to comments across many platforms. There is a free version available to use, however, the service will be lacking some features.

SEMrush

SEMrush is different from many of the other services mentioned above. The platform is well known for its keyword research and online ranking data. The ability to manage social media accounts makes SEMrush a valuable service to have. Want to manage all your social media accounts in one place? SEMrush has you covered. You can also use many of the SEO and keyword tools to help monitor your social media accounts.

Social listening can be tricky. Keeping up with so many accounts and followers is no easy task. Thanks to services like Sprout Social, HubSpot, Hootsuite, Buffer, and SEMRush, marketers are able to keep up with demand. Now it’s time for you to start social listening utilizing these tools. Are you ready?

Integrating Social Media & SEO Efforts For Enhanced Search Engine Results

What’s Trending in Marketing of April 2024

Step right into our April 2024 edition of “What’s Trending in Marketing,” your portal to the freshest marketing trends and insights. Stay ahead of the curve with our collection of marketing trends and reports for the 2024 year.

Additions in AI Advertisements

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is making it easier for brands to reach consumers with AI-powered tools. They’re introducing new features to personalize advertising campaigns, like creating multiple versions of ads tailored to individual users. Additionally, they’re offering personalized product recommendations based on what users have browsed and liked. These tools are available on both Facebook and Instagram, aiming to make shopping experiences more seamless and impactful. Read more here. 

people on arrow pointing to target

Brands Values and Their Customers

To keep your customers happy, it’s important for your brand to reflect their values. Most shoppers want brands to share their beliefs. Many have stopped buying from companies whose values clash with their own. To stay connected with customers, brands will focus on showing what they stand for. A survey found that nearly half of marketers plan to invest more in creating content that highlights their brand’s values. Only a small minority will decrease their investment. This shows the increasing importance of authenticity and alignment in fostering lasting relationships with customers. Read more here. 

The Rise of Podcasts

Given the surging popularity of podcasts and online audio, marketers are increasingly recognizing the value and potential of these platforms for reaching and engaging with audiences. In a survey conducted on marketing trends for 2024, 82% of marketers expressed their intentions to either increase or maintain their investment in podcasts and audio content. This signifies a strategic shift in marketing strategies. More emphasis is placed on leveraging the power of audio to connect with consumers in meaningful ways. Overall, the continued growth of podcasts and audio content presents an opportunity for marketers to expand their reach and build brand awareness. It also allows them to foster deeper connections with their target audience in the evolving digital landscape. Read more here.

Interactive Email Marketing Trends

In today’s competitive online marketing scene, you have to stand out. To do this, businesses are turning to interactive email strategies. These interactive emails go beyond traditional text and attachments. They offer engaging features like animated GIFs, navigational menus, integrated forms, rotational banners, and sliders. Not only do these elements add visual appeal, but they also improve the overall user experience. This encourages active engagement and interaction with the brand’s message. Google’s enhanced compatibility ensures seamless viewing across devices, while emerging trends like key frame animation and cinema-graphs add even more excitement. Interactive emails not only catch customers’ attention but also streamline user experience, making them a vital tool in modern marketing strategies. Read more here.

Innovative Video Strategies to Transform Your Senior Living Marketing

Digital technology has revolutionized marketing for senior living communities, offering unprecedented opportunities to engage potential residents and their families. Video content, in particular, is a powerful tool for showcasing the amenities, values, and lifestyle senior living communities offer. As seniors increasingly embrace digital platforms, mastering video marketing is crucial. Videos can tell authentic stories, educate viewers, and provide virtual tours, all of which are essential for attracting and informing prospective residents. Leveraging digital strategies like SEO optimization and YouTube presence enhances the reach and impact of video marketing efforts, allowing communities to connect meaningfully with their audience and foster trust in the decision-making process. Read more here.

How Brands Market To the Different Generations

Generational marketing targets different age groups in order to better meet their unique needs and preferences. Each generation has distinct characteristics that influence their consumer behavior and how they interact with marketing efforts. Baby boomers, for instance, value quality and respond well to email and TV ads, while Generation X prioritizes convenience and brand loyalty, engaging with social media and video content. Millennials seek authenticity and personal connection, favoring social media and influencer marketing, while Generation Z, the youngest segment of consumers, prefers an omnichannel approach and values brand ethics and authenticity. Understanding each generation’s characteristics is crucial for creating marketing strategies tailored to their behaviors and preferences, which allows you to effectively reach and engage with them. Read more here.

Nano- or Micro-Influencer Marketing

More brands are leaning towards collaborating with nano- and micro-influencers instead of celebrities or big social media stars because they charge lower rates and still generate high engagement. Reports show that marketers prefer working with small-scale influencers, with nano-influencers charging between $5 to $25 for a TikTok post and micro-influencers asking for $25 to $125. These smaller influencers also boast higher engagement rates, meaning their followers are more likely to take action based on their recommendations. To ensure a positive return on investment, it’s crucial to collaborate with influencers whose followers match your target audience. Read more here.

woman using social media

Companies in Partnership Marketing

More brands are teaming up with others in their industry because it helps both parties achieve their goals. This collaboration can involve co-producing webinars, appearing on each other’s podcasts, or sharing each other’s social media content. For instance, Videowise partnered with other brands to promote their ebook. Partnership marketing allows brands to reach more potential customers by tapping into each other’s audience, connect with industry leaders for insights and assistance, and gain access to valuable resources like customer insights and industry data to enhance marketing campaigns. Read more here.

User-Generated Video Content

We’re likely to see more user-generated video content because potential customers trust it more than highly-produced brand videos. These videos, created by real customers who have used the product or service, carry authenticity that resonates with audiences and increases the likelihood of conversion. To encourage customers to share their experiences, brands can ask for honest reviews, host giveaway contests for video testimonials, or collaborate with creators who can provide genuine opinions in exchange for a fee. This approach saves time, money, and effort compared to creating highly-produced videos from scratch. By leveraging user-generated content, brands capitalize on the credibility and relatability that real customer experiences offer. This fosters stronger connections with their audience and drives engagement across digital platforms. Read more here.

Asian Graphic designer working in office For Logo Design

The Modern Logo Design Trends of 2024

When it comes to branding, the importance of a compelling logo cannot be overstated. A well-crafted logo isn’t just a passing marketing trend. It serves as the cornerstone of your brand’s identity, encapsulating your ethos and distinguishing you in a crowded marketplace. As we delve into the trends of 2024, it becomes increasingly clear that modern logo designs are pivotal in crafting a memorable brand image.

The Evolution of Logo Design

The digital age has ushered in a wave of innovation in logo design, with modern aesthetics taking center stage. The shift towards simplicity and minimalism continues to dominate, as brands strive for clarity and instant recognition. Among the standout trends:

  • Minimalist Designs: The minimalist trend emphasizes simplicity, focusing on essential elements to create a strong impact. This approach removes any clutter, allowing the brand’s core message to shine through clearly, making a memorable impression on the audience.
  • Bold Typography: Modern logo designs are increasingly adopting bold typography to make a powerful statement. By utilizing unique and strong fonts, these logos capture attention and convey the brand’s personality effectively. This trend highlights the importance of typography in establishing a brand’s identity.
  • Handmade and Calligraphic Elements: Incorporating handmade and calligraphic elements into logo designs adds a distinct personal touch that differentiates a brand in the digital space. This trend celebrates the beauty of human touch and craftsmanship, offering a warm contrast to the often cold digital environment.
  • Dynamic and Adaptive Logos: The evolution of modern logo designs has led to the creation of dynamic and adaptive logos. These logos are designed to be versatile, easily adjusting to various platforms and devices without losing their essence. This flexibility ensures consistent brand representation across different media.

logo design process optionsThe Importance of a Distinctive Logo Design

A logo is not merely an image; it’s the first point of interaction with your audience. Modern logo designs serve as a powerful tool in conveying your brand’s values and mission at a glance. They foster brand loyalty and recognition, making your brand memorable in the vast digital landscape.

Why Handcrafted and Calligraphic Logos?

In an era where digitalization is ubiquitous, handmade and calligraphic logos offer a breath of fresh air. They bring a human touch to your brand, making it feel more approachable and authentic. These designs stand out for their uniqueness, ensuring your brand leaves a lasting impression.

Steering Clear of AI in Logo Design

While AI offers convenience and speed, it lacks the nuance and personalization that a professional designer brings to the table. AI-generated logos often miss the mark on originality and relevance, failing to capture the essence of your brand. Here’s why you should avoid AI for your logo design:

  • Lack of originality and uniqueness: Modern logo designs risk becoming indistinguishable when creativity is sidelined. A logo that lacks original elements fails to stand out, blending into a sea of competitors rather than carving out a unique identity in the market.
  • Limited understanding of your brand’s deeper narrative: A logo should be a reflection of your brand’s story and values. Without a deep understanding of what your brand stands for, a logo may fall short in communicating the essence and depth of your brand’s narrative to the audience.
  • Potential for generic and impersonal results: When logos are crafted without a personalized approach, they risk being perceived as generic and impersonal. Such designs do not resonate with the target audience, missing the opportunity to establish a meaningful connection and loyalty to the brand.

The Value of Professional Expertise

After exploring the latest trends in modern logo designs, it’s evident that professional input can elevate your brand’s visual identity significantly. A skilled designer can interpret your brand’s ethos and translate it into a logo that resonates with your target audience. They bring a strategic approach to design, ensuring your logo is not only trendy but also timeless and adaptable.

man using computerCrafting a Logo That Stands the Test of Time

As you consider refreshing your brand’s logo or creating a new one, remember the importance of aligning with modern logo designs while maintaining your unique brand identity. Here are a few tips to ensure your logo remains relevant and impactful:

  • Prioritize simplicity and clarity: In modern logo designs, simplicity is key. A clear, uncluttered logo not only captures attention but also ensures easy recognition. Striving for a design that communicates your brand’s essence, including your primary site colors, without unnecessary complexity can lead to a more memorable and effective logo that resonates with your audience.
  • Ensure versatility across various media: A versatile logo performs well across different platforms, from digital screens to print materials. When designing your logo, consider its appearance on various backgrounds, sizes, and formats. This adaptability ensures consistent brand representation, whether on a business card, website, or billboard.
  • Reflect your brand’s ethos and values: Your logo should be a visual embodiment of your brand’s principles and beliefs. It’s crucial that the design conveys your brand’s personality and core values, creating an emotional connection with your target audience. This alignment helps build trust and fosters brand loyalty among your customers.
  • Stay informed about emerging design trends: The digital marketing landscape is constantly evolving, and so are design trends. Keeping abreast of these changes can inspire innovative logo designs that set your brand apart. However, while it’s important to be trendy, you must ensure your logo retains a timeless quality that won’t feel outdated as trends shift.

Embracing Modernity in Branding

The right logo can significantly contribute to your success by increasing brand awareness and brand loyalty. By embracing modern logo designs, you position your brand as forward-thinking and relevant. However, the true essence of a remarkable logo lies in its ability to tell your brand’s story compellingly and memorably. As we move forward, the collaboration with a professional designer becomes not just a choice but a strategic investment in your brand’s future, ensuring your logo not only captures attention but also encapsulates the very heart of your brand. Contact Us today to learn more or schedule a free consultation.

30 Greatest Lead Generation Tips
advertising agency

4 Tips For Creating a Successful Visual Identity

Your visual identity is different than your brand identity. But your visual identity, however, does play a part in helping to create your overall brand identity. The visual branding elements help to create the specific feeling and experience you’re trying to invoke from your brand. This includes everything from your logo to the images you use, the font of your text, the colors of your website, and more. The following are a few tips to help you create an effective visual identity:

4 Tips For Creating a Successful Visual Identity

1. Keep Your Audience In Mindattraction marketing

The focus of your visuals should be to engage your audience and to connect with them. If you’re representing a funeral service, then a loud logo with bright colors is probably not going to do a good job of connecting with your audience. To ensure that the visual content you use is in line with who your audience is, make sure that you create your buyer personas first before you begin implementing a strategy for creating a visual identity.

2. Create A Logo That Supports Your Brand’s Core

The logo you create to represent your brand needs to represent its identity, its mission, and its business. You might have a really cool logo, but if it doesn’t do any of those things, then it’s a useless visual and a poor representation of your company. Take, for example, Amazon. Their logo is very simple–it’s just the letters “amazon.com.” However, there’s an orange arrow underneath pointing from the letter “A” to the letter “Z.” It visually shows that they have everything from A to Z on their site.

3. Make Sure Your Visuals Are Consistent

To create a strong and sucessful visual identity, your visuals need to be consistent throughout. For example, if you use yellows and blues in your logo, it’s going to be confusing if your website’s design elements focus mostly on shades of red. It may look good, but consumers won’t be able to tie these visual elements to your brand because they are too different from one another. This goes for other elements as well, such as text. If you are using different fonts throughout your website, it will weaken your visual identity. Pick one or two fonts that best represents your brand and stick with them.

4. Make Sure Your Visuals Are High Quality

It doesn’t matter how thought out your visuals are, how relevant they are to your audience, and how consistent they are if they aren’t of high quality. Poor quality images or visual content of low aesthetic value will leave a negative impression on your audience. If your visuals aren’t aesthetically pleasing, consumers are likely going to assume your products and/or services aren’t of much higher quality either.

These are a few tips that should help you create a visual identity that properly represents your brand and that connects with your target audience. A strong visual identity will help you to create a stronger brand identity, which will only help to increase your brand awareness and trust.

25 Website Must Haves
Client-Agency Relationship

6 Reasons Why You Should Attend a Conference

There are hundreds of manufacturing conferences that are held every year around the country. As the owner of a manufacturing business, it would do you a lot of good to attend just one of these conferences. Unfortunately, many business owners don’t take the time to attend any of them. There’s a chance that you may not have gone because you simply weren’t aware that these conferences were being held. It’s more likely that you’re afraid that they won’t be worth your time. As a business owner, time is precious. You don’t want to waste what time you have traveling to and from a conference that may have nothing new to offer. If this is your line of thinking, then you should strongly reconsider. The following are six significant reasons why you should attend a conference:

6 Reasons To Attend a Conference

1. Find New Prospects

Building relationships with existing clients shouldn’t be your only goal. You’ll find that conferences are attended by many prospects as well. They may be looking to educate themselves about the industry before they even choose a manufacturer to work with. This allows them to make a more informed decision. As such, these conferences are a great opportunity to introduce yourself to potential prospects, thereby giving you a better chance at closing new customers.

2. Build Relationships With Existing Clients

There’s a very good chance that you’ll run into existing clients at one of these conferences. Clients often attend a conference in order to better educate themselves about the industry. Doing so gives them the confidence that they’re investing their money responsibly. They also use these conferences as a way to network. By showing up as well, you’ll be able to interact with existing clients and to build your relationships with them. Not only is it a great opportunity to re-engage, but they’ll also see that you’re making the effort to improve your business. This, in turn, helps to build trust in your brand, which will improve your chances of turning them into brand evangelists.

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3. Meet Experts And Influencers

Networking with clients and potential clients is important, but those aren’t the only people worth meeting at these manufacturing conferences. You will also listen to and meet numerous experts and influencers within your field. Building relationships with these people can be incredibly beneficial as well. For example, experts can provide you with advice that can help you solve issues that your company is currently having. Influencers can be key in helping you find new customers or discovering new markets that your company could enter.

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4. Learn New Approaches And Ideas

Attending conferences isn’t just about networking (although it’s an excellent opportunity to do so), it’s also about learning. Most conferences will schedule a list of speakers from throughout the industry. They will also hold numerous workshops that you can participate in. It’s a great way to better educate yourself about your industry and to learn about new approaches and ideas about the manufacturing process, your business strategy, or your marketing strategy, to name a few potential subjects. As a business owner, you should always be looking for ways that you can improve your company. Knowledge is power when it comes to not just surviving in the industry, but succeeding in it.

Staying up to date on all the latest trends within the manufacturing industry can be a real challenge in itself. Not only do you need to keep up to date with the latest technologies, tools, and strategies, but you need to figure out which are worth implementing. Conferences are a great way to learn about the latest trends. For example, new manufacturing technology may be presented at the conference you can learn about. Additionally, going to a conference is a good way to learn about the trends that are actually worth following, thereby giving you a better idea as to whether they will benefit your company.

6. Speak About Your Own Business

Conferences give you the chance to speak publicly about your business. This can help to generate interest in what you’re doing, thereby building your brand name and reputation. However, it also provides you with practice pitching your company and its services. Refining this skill will come in handy whenever you’re speaking with prospects in the future.

These are six reasons why you should attend a conference. Attending a manufacturing conference can not only help to educate you about different aspects of the industry, but it can also help you stay up to date on the latest trends as well as to network with hundreds — if not thousands — of people within your industry that are worth knowing.

30 Greatest Lead Generation Tips
brand loyalty

The Brand Loyalty Of Generation X

When customers buy products or services from the same brand every time, it is called Brand Loyalty. Even though there are other brand options available, customers prefer the same brand for their purchase. It is counted as a strong connection between a customer and a brand. Consumers like certain brands. They develop a trust that the brand’s products are of the right quality and a good value. That trust, along with other positive emotions, causes consumers to develop brand loyalty, where they tend to buy certain products from particular brands now and into the future. How brand loyalty works depends on many factors, age and status in life being two.

It is critical to understand how a particular generation develops brand loyalty. The insights gained by this understanding make marketing to the generation in question much easier. Let’s look at Generation X for example.

What Makes Generation X (Gen X) Unique?

Generation X is usually defined as those born between 1965 and 1980. This generation sits between the much larger Baby Boomer and Millennial generations. Because they are smaller than those two generations, many marketers forget they exist.

Members of Generation X straddle a critical divide. They remember times when Internet access wasn’t the norm. They grew up with a more traditional business model. However, they also came of age at the beginning of the Internet revolution. They have adapted quite well, using the Internet in many of the same ways their younger Millennial siblings do. By straddling this critical divide, Gen X feels comfortable in both traditional and digital marketing.

How To Develop Content To Build Customer Loyalty 

Opinions of Gen X vary greatly. As Gen X came of age, they were called slackers, loners, and apathetic. However, as Gen X emerged into adulthood, the descriptions changed. They are often called independent, dedicated, savvy, and innovative. Many of this generation grew up as “latchkey” kids, coming home to an empty house because both parents worked.

Because they came of age during a time of high unemployment and a stagnant economy, Generation X tends to be skeptical and cautious, with a bit of cynicism thrown in. They also look for lower price, high-value options that are convenient.

Generation X and Brand Loyalty

In June 2015, CrowdTwist conducted an online survey of just over 1200 North American consumers between the ages of 18 and 69. Approximately 1/3 of the people who participated in the survey were part of Generation X. The results of this survey provided critical insights into how Generation X develops brand loyalty and how brands can retain that loyalty.

Due to this generation’s built in skepticism, brands have to work to gain their loyalty. High quality products and excellent customer services are two components that members of Generation X value. They also want brands that are authentic and trustworthy. They must be relevant and stay relevant. Brands must prove they have value. Marketing pitches and overt salesy advertising are two things that turn members of Gen X against certain products.

The good news is that Gen X tends to stick with the brands they love. Almost 50% of Gen X survey participants indicated they are extremely loyal or quite loyal to their favorite brands. Only 14.6% said they are quite willing or moderately willing to try new brands.

Also Read: Customer Engagement Strategy

Takeaways

If you are targeting Generation X, you need to understand what it values if you want to develop brand loyalty with this age group. They can be cynical, skeptical and cautious. That requires a company to prove their authenticity and relevance. Gen X wants high value, cost effective options. They expect good quality products at affordable prices. They also love it when these deals are easy to find and easy to purchase.

Once your brand earns the loyalty of a Gen X member, that person is likely to remain a loyal customer for years to come.

 

Download Our White Paper Guide To Learn How To Perfect Buyer Personas For Your Business

 

visual storytelling

5 Brand Storytelling Examples To Learn From

Your brand identity goes beyond your name, logo, and the products or services you provide. A brand identity is all-encompassing: it also includes your goals, your beliefs, and the feelings you elicit from your audience. To create a strong brand identity, you need to create a narrative that’s consistent across all channels. This is where brand storytelling comes in. Brand storytelling involves using storytelling techniques that bring together both facts and emotions to create your brand identity. The following are five brand storytelling examples that you should use as inspiration to help create and drive your own brand story:

1. Apple

Apple is arguably one of the greatest examples of successful marketing in the history of marketing. They were able to capture a small corner of a market dominated by Microsoft and, through the use of incredibly effective brand storytelling, turn themselves into a behemoth. Knowing that they were up against Microsoft, Apple decided that their message would be to go against the grain. They would position themselves as a revolutionary innovator. Their “think different” tagline showcases this, as does all of their other advertising. Their most famous ad is the most obvious example: the 1984 ad in which a woman defiantly smashes the screen with a sledgehammer.

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2. Ikea

Ikea has built its brand on the functionality and simplicity of its products, which they showcase using lighthearted humor. Their most famous commercial “Lamp” highlights this. It’s a commercial showing an old lamp being replaced and being thrown away. It’s a sob story until a narrator shows up to exclaim that the viewer is crazy to feel bad about the old lamp since it doesn’t have feelings, and the new one is much better. It gets a great laugh and emphasizes the need to update old products with newer, higher-quality versions.Brand Storytelling

3. Old Spice

Old Spice used to be a brand associated with older men. The word “old” certainly didn’t help. They altered their brand storytelling to emphasize that the scent of old spice was how men should smell. They used humor and great writing to convey this, but what made the storytelling particularly effectively was that they didn’t target men — they targeted women. Old Spice essentially focused on delivering a message to women about how their men should smell, so that they could influence men on Old Spice’s behalf.

4. SoulCycle

What’s interesting about SoulCycle is that it basically consists of a class full of people riding exercise bikes. That’s it. There’s nothing more to it. But their brand storytelling has lifted this simple service into something much greater. They have positioned themselves as a high-end fitness service that’s not just a service, but a lifestyle. This lifestyle includes the use of teachers who are essentially fitness influencers and classes that are almost club-like in their atmosphere. Members feel like they belong to a community, not a gym. Without their incredibly effective brand storytelling, you could argue that they would be a glorified gym with limited equipment.

5. Warby Parker

Warby Parker is a frame manufacturer that has positioned itself as a company that sells fashionable frames at reasonable prices. Their storytelling focuses on how they build their frames and on the customers that buy them. In fact, much of their content is user-generated, which helps emphasize that they are frames built for everyone. Their message gets across because they keep their brand storytelling simple and focused.

These are a few brand storytelling examples to keep in mind when crafting your brand story strategy. Successful brand storytelling will strengthen your company’s identity, thereby making it easier to evoke an emotional response from your audience and to build long-lasting connections with them. By implementing an effective brand storytelling strategy, you’ll be more likely to increase your company’s visibility, impact, and — eventually — profit.

Learn The StoryBranding Process
what To Know Before Hiring a Package Design Company

What You Should Know Before Hiring a Package Design Company

Packaging plays a crucial role in the overall performance of your product. Creative and well-designed packaging will always impact the sale of your products. So, the first thing when choosing a package design company is to find one that can bring the best design. Your designs should relate to your products in terms of graphical presentations, color, typography, shape, and format.

Your design should also communicate effectively and create a positive user experience. With such a design, you will likely win yourself, lifetime customers. Remember that most consumers judge a product by its package. We have discussed all you need to know about packaging design in the sections below.

What is Packaging Design?  

Packaging design is creating a functional yet visually appealing package for a product. The design should create a package to hold your product and allow easy transportation and storage. Aside from the physical functionality, the package should attractively appeal to the target audience.

An effective package design will make your product stand out on the shelves. To achieve this, understand your target audience and then develop design concepts based on what they like.

Things to look for in a Package Design Company  

looking ofr a design company

Creating an effective packaging design is not just about making your product look great; it’s also about showcasing your brand. A good package design company should have experience in graphical and structural designs, offer affordable pricing, and have a strong reputation. We’ve covered these in detail below.

1. Quality of Design 

Design quality plays a crucial role when choosing a package design company. The design should ensure that your product is noticeable and unique, which increases sales. Your design company should be an expert in graphical and structural designs. This makes it easy for them to design creative, attractive, and functional designs. You can review their past projects to understand their taste and whether or not they fit your brand.

Additionally, it would be best to consider a company that offers sustainable and environmentally friendly packages. Cardboard-based designs are examples of such packages.

2. Cost Optimization

When considering the cost of a package design company, it is important to balance high-quality design and affordability. You have to ensure that your design can withstand competition in the market but also remain within your budget.

Before approaching a design company, know what you want and what you think works best for your product. For instance, the type of packaging material, visual presentations, and size you want for your product. With such a presentation, your designer can easily develop a design that satisfies your needs and is within your budget.

3. Quality of Customer Services

Work with a company that offers intuitive customer services. The company should be present throughout the stages of your package production. Right from the design process, production, and delivery. This is important, especially when changes or advancements are necessary. The company should also request your opinion or discuss the package design tips and styles they’ll use.

4. Understand their capacity

A company’s capacity is its ability to take on your project and meet your deadlines while maintaining quality. Factors such as turnaround time, flexibility, team size, and project management can help you gauge the capacity.

Similarly, these factors will affect the company’s timely and quality product delivery. For instance, a company with large design teams and budget may use more packaging design resources hence faster service delivery and less turnaround time.

5. What’s their Reputation?

Look out for customer reviews to know how the company operates and what other clients feel about the company. Look for reputable and certified companies to avoid falling for fake reviews, as some companies use them to make impressions.

Also, browse their portfolio to assess the performance of the firm’s designs. The designs should be diverse, as this demonstrates the ability to cater to your varied needs.

 

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Benefits of Working with a Package Design Company  

Have you ever reviewed your product’s packaging and wondered whether you have the best design? And do you know what works best in your niche? If you are being sincere, you don’t have the best answer for each of these questions. And that’s not your fault. It can be challenging to figure all that out on your own, and it could also cost you a lot of money. If you consider hiring a package design company, here’s how you’ll benefit:

Learn What Works Much Faster

A package design company knows what works in your niche. This takes much of the testing and guesswork out of the process. Your designer may not have the perfect design in place right away, but they will save you a lot of time.

Instant Access to Experts

A package design company has a team of professionals who have seen the most devastating mistakes. Hiring such a company is like taking a safer shortcut past much of the difficulty you might experience if you tried making your design on your own.

More Profitability

While your designer may still insist on some testing as your product goes to market, you will have a profitable one, to begin with. That means you have more money available to invest in your business than you would if you created your packaging design.

brand recognitionIncreased Brand Recognition

When consumers buy from you because they value your brand, you’ve hit a great milestone. Here, sales come easier since you don’t need to spend more time convincing prospects to take action. You also get committed and loyal customers coming back for repeat sales, i.e, provided you keep your promise to them.

Access to the Latest Technologies

Most package design companies invest a lot in modern technologies and packaging design trends to create stunning designs that capture consumers’ attention. Such designers know how to make your product fly off the shelves. That said, not all designers offer the same level of quality. When looking for a Packaging design in Chicago, conduct thorough research to ensure you get value for your money.

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Packaging is an essential aspect of marketing that can greatly impact the success of a product. Therefore, choosing a package design company that can create visually appealing and functional designs that resonate with your target audience is crucial.

Some factors you should consider when choosing a design company include their design quality, capacity, and reputation. Working with the right designer means you have faster access to experts and enjoy more profitability.

ingredient branding

What is Ingredient Branding & How Does It Work?

There are many different marketing strategies to employ to increase the value and name recognition of your business. There are traditional marketing strategies, like commercials, billboards, and events. Then there are digital marketing strategies, like social media advertising, contests/giveaways, and community engagement.

Each of these methods can be a great strategy for getting your business name out there, generating new leads and customers, and growing your business. If you’ve been in business for awhile and already have an established business name, then you have some potential advantages for increasing your business’s value and brand recognition. One of these advantages is a strategy marketers call ingredient branding.

What is Ingredient Branding?

Ingredient branding is a marketing strategy where a component of the business is branded as a separate entity. This helps to add more value to the parent company and make their product/service seem superior to its competitors.

You’ve probably seen this strategy in use several times before without even realizing it. Here are a few examples of ingredient branding by large brands:

  • Dodge’s Hemi engines
  • Citgo’s TriCLEAN fuel
  • Dupont’s Teflon
  • Intel’s Intel Inside

Intel Inside is actually credited with the conception of ingredient branding back in the ’90s, and was the first success story of having an ingredient helping to promote their business.

Search Engine Optimization Techniques

How Does Ingredient Branding Work?

Each of these ingredients were developed and branded separately from the main business to make their product seem better. Dodge put together an entire campaign around “That thing got a Hemi?” to help promote the engines they use in their trucks. When Citgo started branding its TriCLEAN fuel, it was able to focus more on the quality of its fuel over its competition, rather than only competing with gas prices.

These two cases are specifically about an already well-known company branding an ingredient that it already uses to help increase value of its product.

But there are other ways that ingredient branding can work. Some products are already ingredients in and of themselves. Let’s think of a few:

  • Tide detergent
  • Arm & Hammer baking soda
  • Splenda sweetener
  • OnStar
  • Oreo

And so many more.

 

Let’s dive into these examples. Tide detergent is already a well-known brand. However, you’ll often see other cleaning supplies that contain Tide. Since these products know that consumers love Tide detergent, they’ve worked with the company to include Tide as an ingredient and help promote their product.

This works both ways, though. Including Tide as an ingredient in another company’s product, it receives even more promotion for their own brand. So essentially, the financial deal struck between the two companies is mutually beneficial.

Arm & Hammer is another popular ingredient brand. You’ll see products like cat litter, toothpaste, and more that contain Arm & Hammer baking soda. Splenda sweetener is another ingredient brand that consumers will commonly see promoted among other products.

Back to vehicles, customers see OnStar’s security service as an amenity when buying a car. This means that customers will pay more for a car with this feature installed, which can be pretty valuable for an automaker.

And finally, Oreo is a popular cookie that is sometimes used as an ingredient in other products, like cookies and cream ice cream, McDonald’s McFlurries, and coffee flavoring.

Learn more about 7 Steps To Launching a Packaging Brand

Can Ingredient Branding Help Your Business?

If your business isn’t prominent enough to be branded as an ingredient, perhaps your business is one that can benefit from including an ingredient in its product or service. By including a well-known ingredient in your business model, you’re able to promise a level of quality that is already well-known to consumers.

One example of an ingredient in the digital marketing world is social media scheduling tool Buffer. If possible, many new SaaS companies in the digital marketing will offer Buffer integration with their service because they know how popular Buffer is.

Offering a well-known ingredient in your product or service can be a great way to promote your product to consumers who already use that ingredient in other products.

Ingredient branding is a great way to provide more value and marketability to your business. Businesses looking to strengthen their brand strategy can download our guide to learn practical ways to apply these concepts. What are some popular ingredient brands that you’ve heard of?