During November each year, ‘Movember’ is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces around the world. The aim of which is to raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men.

Tom has joined the many Mo’bros across the UK who are half way through their quest to grow the ultimate facial fuzz.

Please visit Tom’s Mo’bro page at http://mobro.co/tomhiggins and donate online to help him raise funds for this worthwhile cause. Any donation, however small, will be very much appreciated.

For those of you who don’t know, we now offer a complete range of IT Solutions through our sister company, Clarke Computer Systems.

We provide a range of IT Services and Computer Support in the West Midlands and East Midlands areas including (but not limited to) Birmingham, Lichfield, Cannock, Stoke-on-Trent, Derby, Ashbourne, Matlock, Buxton and Uttoxeter.

“Since 1995,  Clarke Computer Systems have been providing businesses of all sizes, with a complete solution to their computing needs. From the initial consultancy / system design through to implementation and  training. All with complete user support which continues  throughout the years to come. We take the headache out of managing your computer system, allowing  you to get on with running your business!”

Services include:

• IT Support
• Accounting Systems
• Networking
• Hardware Sales

Talk to us today on 01335 216104 or 01335 350756 about our combined website and IT Support packages!

Click here to visit the Clarke Computers website

On Friday 28th October 2011, Sir Richard and his fiancee Fiona were married in a Civil Ceremony at their family home, Tissington Hall. A Service of Blessing at the local village Church, St Mary’s followed where all the village tenants and residents (including Jo and Rachel) were invited to the afternoon celebrations.

The ego team wish Sir Richard and Lady Fiona much happiness for the future.

If you require our services on a regular basis then a retainer contract is worth considering.

We view this as a sensible approach for both parties, as it allows both companies to budget accurately for the upcoming year, or however long the contract is set for and our customer is secure in knowing the costs will not increase for the contracted period.

If you’d like to find out more about our retainer contracts call one of the team on 01335 216104

Wish All Your Clients A Merry Christmas For Just £150!

You’ll know how important it is to keep in touch with your customers. Christmas is the perfect opportunity to do just that so how would you like to send a professional, branded seasonal greeting direct to up to 500 clients’ inboxes for just £150.00? For an extra £25.00 you can even add some festive music!

It’s cheaper and easier than sending out Christmas cards AND it’s better for the environment! Make your customers feel valued this Christmas and share some seasonal cheer. Give Clare a call at the office on 01335 216104 to find out more.

Digital marketing is huge and as designers we are heavily into web development, SEO, e-mail marketing and social media but does that mean that there is no room for print any more? Is traditional design as dead as a dodo?

It’s certainly true that both businesses and individuals consume in a very different way these days. Things move faster and demand more flexibility and digital marketing does lend itself well to these demands but we personally feel strongly that there is still a place for creative design for print and here are our reasons why:

1. A piece of printed marketing collateral is wonderfully tactile. Nothing conveys the quality of your brand quite like a fantastic stock: you can adjust the weight, the texture and the feel of the paper. You can embellish your message with print finishes such as folds, embossing, die cuts, spot UV varnish and even additional materials. Quality, attention to detail, colour and brand can be communicated via print in a way that can’t be emulated on a computer screen.

2. You need print for those times when you meet with real life people! I know we all have immeasurably more ‘friends’ on Facebook and Twitter than we do in reality and many will tell you that it’s much more efficient to network virtually but people still want to work with people and real business relationships are built through personal contact. This may be in the form of networking or business events or just meeting a new client face to face but just in case your good looks, charm, wit and charisma aren’t quite enough you need something to leave with them that tells them who you are and what you can do for them. It could be a simple business card (see our previous blog for tons of ideas on how to get the most from them) or some kind of leaflet, brochure or flyer – something physical that acts as a reminder and reinforces what you have told them. You can hardly ask them to memorise a web link can you?!

3. There is still a place for offline marketing activity. There we said it and we don’t apologise for it either! Successful marketing is integrated marketing and yes, you can do some amazing things for your business online but for most businesses it should be complimented with offline activity. Use your brochures, flyers, mail shots, adverts and newsletters to direct traffic to your site and likewise service enquiries with tangible materials you can take or send to them. Every audience is different and for some online is not the be all and end all. You need to approach your target market in a way that is appropriate to them and a collaboration of both on and offline is often the most successful course of action.

4. But what about the environmental angle? Surely print is bad for the planet? Of course this has to be a consideration but reducing your carbon footprint does not necessarily equate to abandoning all forms of print. You need to act responsibly but you can do this by minimising waste: don’t print 1000s more than you need (digital printing is great for this and is now very high quality), keep your marketing targeted so that there is less waste via the recipient and encourage people to dispose of paper responsibly etc. There are also a growing number of printers who are taking measures to ensure their processes are kinder to the environment through more organic based inks, the use of recycled stocks and taking steps to minimise the waste that they create through the print process.

Times are definitely changing and you have to move with them but let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water – just because the new is fantastic does not mean the traditional is dead!

Whether you are looking for the latest digital solutions or fabulously tactile printed materials come and talk to us!

… (and other third part CMS systems!)

Website development is just like any other emerging technology in that in the early days it sits on a distant pedestal with only a chosen few with the technological whizzy genius able to get their heads around it, never mind actually be able to do anything with it. Clients would often be placed at the mercy of their developers who held complete control over their websites; the more unscrupulous ones charging a somewhat hefty fee for every minor update or copy change.

Over time technology changes and becomes more accessible. We, as consumers, become a bit more savvy and knowledgeable and the technology itself evolves and becomes more user friendly. That is exactly what has happened in the field of web design and clients are increasingly regaining control over their own websites and that is just as it should be.

As blogging and user generated content has become the most powerful force in online marketing, tools have been developed that have wide ranging advantages for both client and developer and one of the best examples of this is WordPress and other third party systems (eg Joomla, Drupal etc).

Originally developed to create blog sites, WordPress is now being used as a content management system (CMS) to build the whole site in and there are several reasons for this. Firstly it works very well for search engine optimisation (SEO), allowing the developer to incorporate keyword rich coding very easily. Once the site is built it is really simple for the client to update and manage the content themselves with very little technical know how (it’s also very difficult for them to ‘break’ anything, remember the bad old days of Frontpage?!). Most significantly in the current climate, sites built in WordPress are substantially cheaper than a bespoke CMS – approximately 50% cheaper in fact! This is due to the reduction in time that the developer has to spend creating the site.

One of the really big advantages is that a WordPress site can be added to as the needs of the client develop. The beauty of these systems is the ability to bolt on extra features. A bespoke CMS would usually require new coding or changes to the existing coding which can prove expensive.

We have recently created a couple of sites in WordPress for Sarah Ainslie Marketing and Visit Ashbourne http://www.visitashbourne.co.uk/. These sites, particularly Visit Ashbourne, offer a range of features, great user experience and complete control over content for the client – and all at a fraction of the cost of a custom built CMS.

Don’t get us wrong though, we’re not talking ‘website by numbers’ ie slotting images and copy into pre-designed templates (although some so-called designers will do that). Sites are designed from scratch and we inject the same level of creativity as we would with any site development plus we’re still the saddo techno-geeks we always were: some things never change!

So if you thought feature rich, fully optimised, editable websites were beyond your budget get in touch with us and regain control!

So, social media – what’s that all about? It does seem to be the latest marketing bandwagon to throw yourself upon but can it be good for business or just a way for staff to fritter their day away?

Like any kind of marketing, social media can be a waste of time if you don’t have objectives and a strategy but what benefits can you hope to achieve if you do spend a little time putting those in place? Well for a start you can interact with your customers and prospects, communicate your key messages, build your brand, conduct promotional campaigns, seek feedback and engage in two-way communication, promote new products and services and show the ‘personality’ of your company.

Blogging, Twitter, Facebook, Linked In etc: All these social media activities really compliment the SEO work that we do to promote our clients’ websites – the more online activity you conduct along with fresh, engaging, up to date web content, the better your page ranking is going to get so why not have a go?

Before you start, have a strategy in mind. This doesn’t need to be a huge company document – just something that will keep you focused on what you want to get out of social media and how it integrates with other marketing activity. The following are just a few tips on what your social media strategy needs to include

• Keep your content interesting and engaging. Telling people what you’re having for lunch is fine every once in a while, it can give your business a friendly feel and show your personality, but it won’t keep your followers engaged. Intersperse your tweets, status updates etc with relevant content – product offers, relevant topics, tips, industry comment etc
• Update regularly but not too often – you need to keep your messages fresh but not bombard people. You’ll soon lose followers if you’re posting hourly updates!
• Plan your content in advance. Some posts will be spontaneous reactions and thoughts but you can use a number of applications to plan your promotions in advance (in line with other on and offline activity) and even post them automatically. Just remember though, if you’re asking for responses make sure you’re available to deal with them when your posts go out
• Be appropriate. Posts are instant and for many social media platforms cannot be taken back once live. Don’t be derogatory, don’t swear, don’t defame, don’t give too much personal information. Just bear in mind that you are speaking on behalf of your company and your brand so just consider how your posts reflect on the business and remember that in theory ANYONE can read them including your competitors and suppliers!
• Integrate your social media activity for maximum benefit. Promote your blog posts via Facebook and Twitter, create discussions on Facebook and promote via your blog and Twitter, direct people from your blogs to your Twitter and Facebook accounts etc
• Don’t go for the hard sell in every post – identify your market and make your content relevant to them even if it’s not directly related to your products. It demonstrates that you understand your audience and maintains their interest
• Keep going! It can take a while to establish your social media activity and see results so don’t lose faith

One of the best things about social media is that you can have a go yourself. You don’t need too much technical ability and after all, nobody knows your products and services like you do! If you find that you just don’t have time yourself professional help is available – just make sure it integrates with your SEO activity and compliments your offline marketing and if you want to know more about that, why not talk to us!!

The value of marketing repetition and integration

How many new customers will you attract through creating a website? Not many.

What new business will you get from sending a mail shot? Hardly any.

How many new orders will you secure from putting a nice ad in the paper? Nothing worth mentioning.

Surprised? Now let us qualify that. The above statements are true, to a degree. As a STAND ALONE ACTIVITY a website is not going to bring customers flooding in, a mail shot won’t have them beating your door down and an advert will hardly turn your fortunes around overnight.

Hang on, is a design agency really telling you not to have a website, conduct direct mail or place advertising? Of course not! What we are saying is that the most successful campaigns are those that utilise several marketing channels and integrate them effectively. Most importantly, the key to converting your prospects into clients lies in REPETITION. When it comes to marketing the whole is definitely worth more than the sum of the parts.

Most importantly, the key to converting your prospects into clients lies in REPETITION – did we mention that? (Sorry, obvious gag!).

It is estimated that most people need to be exposed to your marketing message at least 7 times before responding to them so you really need to be conducting regular sustained campaigns over a period of time. But is simple repetition enough? You could place an ad in the paper every week for 6 months and have some level of success but where your campaign will really start to pay dividends is when you reinforce your advertising with complimentary activity. Build in a direct marketing element, create PR opportunities, send an e-shot, create sales materials to distribute, online marketing etc. We recently got some feedback from a client that the majority of his new enquiries were saying that they had seen his advert AND seen his branded car driving round the city.

The benefits of conducting sustained, multi channel marketing campaigns are as follows:

You build a brand image linked to your marketing messages

Repetition creates familiarity and familiarity creates trust – we all trust brand names without necessarily having experience of them

Prospects start to associate a solution to their problem with your brand

You have less reliance on ‘good timing’ – ie prospects may take no notice of your messages until they have a need for your products and services. If you target them on a regular basis sooner or later they will have a requirement. A single hit is just too random to hit the mark

You build credibility. Once you have registered on your prospects’ radars they will start to notice your marketing messages whenever they see them. The more they see, the more credible your brand appears to be.

In our client’s example, the branded car triggered the recollection of the ad (and vice versa) and created credibility and brand awareness.

Follow best practice though – here are our tips on creating successful integrated marketing campaigns

Work to a strategy. It’s even more important when engaged in a number of activities that everything is working to common objectives and ‘informed’ by a core marketing strategy

Be consistent – in your brand, your design and your messages. Prospects need to instantly make the association with your brand across all channels

Don’t bombard people. Yes repetition is good but overloading people will turn them off and place you in the ‘junk’ category

Be relevant. Quality is just as important as quantity and all your marketing channels still need to be relevant and targeted to your audience. You will just waste money if they’re not.

Think a sustained, integrated campaign could work for your business? We can create ads, flyers, vehicle branding, e-marketing, newsletters and websites. We can even help you devise the strategy and put the campaign together. Get in touch for more details.