Twas the week before Christmas…

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And the world was frantically trying to get ready for Christmas day. Sales teams are closing down those last few sales, retail teams are busy working towards December targets and most of us are getting those last few presents wrapped and under the tree. For some businesses this time of the year is the busiest, others have a quiet Christmas and New Year period. What all businesses should have in common is the planning and excitement around a new year ahead!

Is your business geared up for 2018? What does it have in store for you? January is an important time for any brand, it is the time of year to reconnect with customers, to re-engage your staff and to re-ignite your creativity! The New Year often brings with it a sense of freshness and new beginnings. Many people make New Years resolutions for themselves but when was the last time you made a New Years resolution for you business. Especially your marketing

January is a great time to take a small step back and review what your marketing achieved in 2017, and what changes you need to make in the new year to really accelerate your brand to where it needs to be. Whilst many large corporates plan their marketing 6 months in advance, smaller companies have the advantage of being more in the moment with their marketing decisions.

You should already have your overview of what you intend to do marketing wise in 2018 and where you want your brand to be in 12 months times. But take an opportunity in January to focus in on one thing that you really want to change from last year.  Do you want to add a new social platform to the mix? Or maybe you are not on social at all yet and want to give it a try? Do you want to launch a blog? Or maybe now is the time to give your website a refresh?  Maybe you just want to change the way that you talk to customers by adding more videos or infographics. Whatever you decide ensure you stick to your brand personality and that it will be a good addition to your current marketing mix.

Here are a few things you can expect from HIIT over the next 12 months:

  • More great content on our blog, with more video content
  • A new newsletter to keep you updated with what is going on with us and the latest news from the industry
  • Exciting new partnerships
  • Some must have new services

We hope there will be even more as we continue to grow throughout 2018 so watch this space.

To those that have supported us in 2017 we thank you, and we look forward to working with you in 2018. For anyone who would like to work with us next year we are looking forward to making 2018 a great year for us all.

 

You Had Me at Hello….

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Or maybe you didn’t! How many websites have you been onto and decided on the very first page whether it was of interest? Maybe it was the imagery or maybe you read a few lines of text and decided it wasn’t for you. How can you tell if people are doing the same to your website? Below are 5 great facts to bear in mind when creating your online shop window.

1. You have 10 Seconds to Make a Good Impression

Your website is often the first encounter you will have with a potential customer. When a user firsts visits your site they will form an impression of your business within the first 10 seconds. That does not give much time to draw them in. Make sure your webpage is the best it can be with striking imagery and engaging content. Summarise your main selling points, your key products or services and what makes you different. Don’t miss an opportunity to make a great first impression.

2. Users Only Read Slightly Over a Quarter of Content on a Page

Imagery definitely leads the way in how people engage online. Ensure your website looks greats, use the best images and create an easy user flow. When it comes to content, every word that appears on your website is important, especially if a user is only going to read a small proportion. You need to ensure that each piece of content is positioning your brand in the best light so if that piece is all they read they get a good vibe from your brand.

3. 40% of Users Will Leave a Website if it takes More Than 3 Seconds to Load

Having lots of video content and fancy transitions on your website may seem like a great idea but beware of making your site so data heavy it takes ages to load. In the age of mobile first thinking, many users will be viewing your site on mobile networks and having a site that take ages to load will only leave a bitter taste in users mouths, that’s if they even stay around to try it out.

4. Most Users Scan a Web Page in a F Shape

The layout of your site is really important in engaging with users in the right way. Plan your site design and content around how users will view your website. Users first read horizontally across the top of the page, creating the top of the F. Users then move down the page a bit and then read horizontally across a second time, normally a shorter distance than the first. This creates the second bar of the F. Finally, users scan vertically down the left side of the page. This forms the last part of the F. With this in mind ensure that your key content is in these areas for users to see.

5. Users are Less Likely to Return If They Had a Bad Experience

If you go into a shop and receive bad service are you likely to return? Probably not. The same applies online. If a user visits your website and has a bad experience, there is a good chance they will not return to take another look. Broken links, images that fail to load, even just a bad user journey can all make a website feel like it is not providing the user with a good service. Make sure you regularly inspect your website and check it is working well.

Whether building a new website or reviewing an established one, make sure you think carefully about what impression it is going to leave. You often only get one chance with a new customer, so leave them feeling great about your brand and excited to come back.

If you would like more information on how to make a good first impression with your website or need help with your website content get in touch with us today.

The Power of Imagery

The Power of Imagery

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Word vs image, it is always a challenge when designing anything that you want to attract people with. What made you click on this blog? Was it the title or was it the image we chose at the top? Perhaps the words persuaded you to click through but more than likely it was the image that caught your attention in the first place.

Think of the things that attract you throughout the day, we are drawn in by our senses. An amazing smell, an intriguing sound or a striking visual, all have the ability to grab our attention in an instant. With such a stimulating world around us, it takes something special to really engage us. When it comes to a brand, website, article or blog it is important to strike the right balance between great content and visually impactful imagery.

Have a think about the brands that you know and love? How many of those are identifiable purely by an image or even a colour? The orange of EasyJet or the red of Virgin, the golden arches of McDonalds or the colonel of KFC. These brands have made their visuals iconic, they stand alone as a brand identifier with no words required. However, it is important to note, it took these brands a lot of time (and money) to get to where they are. For the smaller brands out there the imagery is important but they have to be backed up by text to inform and engage your audience.

For websites and blogs the written content is what your audience has visited for, unless you are an artist of course. So make sure you are writing interesting copy that people will want to read. Great content is what will keep people engaged, it will position you as an authority and most importantly it will keep visitors coming back. However, bear in mind that the great copy alone is unlikely to drawn them in in the first place.

So, think carefully about the images you use, go for impact, for intrigue, for the image that is going to get your audience thinking and get them through to your content. You know they will love it when they get there, you just need to help them find it.

If you would like more information about content and imagery get in touch with us now to discuss.

Is Creativity Dying?

Is Creativity Dying?

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Today is Cyber Monday, following a hectic Black Friday weekend, where the whole world goes mad for a bargain before Christmas. It’s great, you get to stock up on everything you wanted to get, at a fraction of the price. Whilst doing my own shopping in the sale madness, I was struck but how the gifts I was buying lacked real creativity. No longer do I have the time to personalise gifts or make my Christmas cards. This lead me to thinking is creativity dying?

In an age where we are surrounded by tech and convenience, it seems the far easier option to go with the pre-made. pre-prepared and unoriginal. Even the image at the top of this blog, I am afraid to tell you, is a stock image (I hear your horrified gasps!). Would the image have been better if I had taken the time to think of the image I wanted and set it up and taken my own photo? Possibly. Did I have the time to do this? No. Would this blog have been made better for it? I don’t think so.

Creativity is changing! It is becoming more advanced, more intelligent and more integrated into life. So much so that we often do not see it. In some case, it is more convenient, we are able to use someone else’s creativity to support our own. We rely on those with strengths in certain areas to provide us with their creative ideas. Whilst others rely on our creativity to support and inspire their own. The tech around us is becoming ever more creative, allowing us to do things we would have only ever dreamed of before.

Yes, creativity is becoming less hands on for the majority of us. But, this does not mean it is no longer there. It is in fact all around us, in our new gadgets, in the way we prepare our food, in our wardrobes and on our screens. Whilst of course our children need to sit and stick and cut and cover everything in glitter, they will also learn to code and cook and design. It is the way of the future, we should all appreciate the creativity that is all around us.

The creativity of others has given me the time to write this blog, my own creative outlet. It has allowed me to be creative with my clients website, and build an amazing Lego structure with my little boy. Have a think about the creative things around you today, and think about what your creative outlet is?

Social Media for Business

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With over 38 million people now using social media, the rise of its use as a marketing tool has been staggering. Raising brand awareness and gaining customers through social media was once an easy win, however with such a crowded marketplace many of the channels have made free social traction increasingly difficult. That is not to say it is impossible though. Lets look at a few ways that you can still win on social media for business.

Choose Your Platforms Wisely

Not every social media site is right for every brand. With so many to choose from you need to ensure that the platform is the right match for your brand personality. Facebook and Twitter have the biggest following and therefore are generally the go to for most brands. However, you may find that some of the smaller sites such as Instagram or LinkedIn offer you a better fit and therefore more potential to succeed. Think carefully about the personality you want your brand to have and then choose one or two social sites that match and amplify that personality. Make sure you track your success and if you find a site is not working for you, try another, it may take a little time to find the right combination.

Have a Plan

It takes time and hard work to build a loyal following for your business on social media. Once you have established your profiles on your chosen platforms, you then need to keep it fresh and populated. Many consumers use social media to investigate a brand before they make a purchase, so you want to ensure that when they find your page it has recent posts and engaged followers. Good content is vital, but can be very difficult to produce at the last minute. Take the pressure off and pull together a content plan. Plan a month ahead and keep the plan updated so you always have a good stock of content ideas.

Be Consistent

This is where so many brands go wrong, they establish their pages, post a few times and then forget about their profiles for a few months. The most important part of social media is the ability to have regular dialogue with your followers. Regular posts keep your followers engaged and show potential new customers that you are active in the market. It can also establish your brand as an authority in its sector which is always a positive. Each social platform will have a different flow of content, twitter has a very fast pace so several posts a day are fine, however several posts a day on Facebook may be seen as too much and cause people to unfollow you. An easy way to keep your feed populated is to create a daily theme, blog post on Monday, offer on a Tuesday, quote on a Wednesday etc. Whatever you choose just make sure it is regular and maintainable.

Get personal

One of the key benefits of social media is the ability to build relationships with your followers. Unlike your website, your social channels invite a two way conversation, and an opportunity for customers to get to know the person behind the brand. The language you use across social can be much more friendly, and personal, than that of your website. Customers are more likely to engage with your brand on social when they feel that there is a person behind it, for that reason you should attempt to reply to any interactions with your page as quickly as possible. Encourage dialogue with your followers through the use of poles and questions to make them feel involved.

Get Everyone Involved

Keeping your social channels populated and engaging is a full time job, but that does not mean that only one person should do it. Your business has many great assets, made up of the people that work there. Get everyone involved in your social plan. Feature expert pieces, interviews, staff updates, and give people a look behind the scenes. Get your customers involved too, if they are a fan of your brand a mention on your social media will probably get shared and liked. Potential customers love to see positive reviews and feedback so encourage customers to get involved on your page. It also helps keep your page fresh.

Don’t Give Up

Social media is not a short term win. It is long term goal to build brand awareness and establish a loyal follower base. Many brands go all in for a few weeks or months and do not see a big enough return and give up. Be patient, once you start to build up a following things start to pick up pace. And bear in mind that 50 engaged loyal followers will be more likely to purchase from your company than 5000 who come across your brand once.

Social media is an ever evolving entity and there is no set formula to success, what works for one brand may not work for another. Evolve with it, monitor what works best and build your own strategy. If you would like some help with your social media strategy or simply don’t have the resource get in touch with us today and see how we can help.