Working From Home

Working from home is not as easy as it seems. Not only are there a host of distractions, but there is your mental and physical health to consider. By not travelling to work every day, it is easy to overlook the physical benefits of getting to there and the social benefits of interacting with colleagues.

So to help you keep productive and sane, here are the Local Pages’ tips for successfully working from home.

 

 

 

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Top 5 Marketing Trends for 2018

Our Top 5 Marketing Trends for 2018

With 2018 fast approaching we have been exploring New Marketing trends to look out for in 2018.

Here we discuss the 5 trends we believe will be the most influential next year. Let us know your thoughts…

 

 

Augmented Reality 

augmented-reality

Augmented Reality is a fascinating way of enhancing a version of reality, created by overlaying digital information onto an image.  It allows consumers to not simply imagine but actually see potential purchases & designs in ‘real life’, aiding quicker and slicker purchasing.

Brands are quickly jumping on board. IKEA has rolled out an App called Place, which allows customers to preview furniture in their homes before they buy, increasing conversion and customer satisfaction.

This year the new iPhone 8 and iPhone X have also launched with new augmented reality experiences, which will inevitably encourage social media channels to follow suit with new ways of integrating AR onto their platforms.

There is a wide selection of Augmented Reality tools readily available to help businesses achieve 3 main goals:

  1. Streamline and drive sales
  2. Increase engagement
  3. Connect Print & Digital mediums

With Brands finding it difficult to stand out from the crowd, Augmented Reality is being recognised as a powerful tool within the Marketing world.

Here, at Local Pages we can offer iSmart Photo Augmented reality, technology which allows videos and slideshows to appear through your printed adverts. If this is something you would be interested in finding out more about, don’t hesitate click here to get in contact with us today.

 

 

Chatbots 

chatbots

Chatbots are providing customer interface which is instant and can be accessed 24/7, and they are quickly proving to be a successful marketing tool.

The instantaneity of the Chatbots has proven to be popular in a world where customers want issues solved quickly and all answers supplied immediately. These instant messengers save both time and money.

Chatbots also enable businesses the opportunity to customise their own ‘Brand Voice’ and send personalised messages directly to their users/clients, for a truly personable approach, rather than it feeling as though you are conversing with a robot.

In addition, business profitability can also be targeted, with Chatbots providing the opportunity for swift, easy transactions. 47% of consumers have already expressed they would buy directly from a Chatbot (HubSpot, 2017), with 26-36 year olds willing to spend up to £481.15 with a business via a Chatbot interaction (ubisend, 2017).

Between 2016 and 2021 Chatbot marketing is expected to grow at a compound rate of 35.2% (Marketsandmarkets, 2017), so expect to see a lot more Chatbots popping onto your screens!

If you are interested in finding out more about Chatbot Marketing for your Website click here to get in contact with us today.

 

 

Videos 

videos

The way in which we consume video is changing. Video is quickly becoming the number one fastest growing Ad format in the world and has been doubling Year on Year. By 2020 it has been estimated video will make up 80% of all online consumer internet traffic, becoming the closest medium you get to a face to face conversation with your target audience (smartinsights.com)

As with Augmented Reality, Video Ad platforms are helping Brands stand out from the crowd, and allowing for a longer and conceivably more emotionally driven connection with their audience.

If you are looking at creating a company Video we can help you design, plan and produce one here at Local Pages.

Social Media is also a great platform, allowing businesses a quick and easy way to upload videos and reach a wider audience. We offer social media management packages to support your social media needs, and ensure you are offering up to date and relevant content to get the most out of your social media advertising.

Click here to get in contact with us today about your Video and Social Media needs.

 

 

Geofencing 

geo-fencing

Marketers have already been seeing the benefits of Geofencing technology, which allows the collection of information from consumer mobile devices. The technology allows marketers to learn a lot about their audience and in turn allows for businesses and services to target customers in ‘real time’ i.e. sending a promotional message to the customer when they are within a 1 mile radius, or have been searching their website.

This form of targeted hyper-local marketing will increasingly grow more popular and influential, especially for smaller, local businesses who want to engage with only the most relevant local shoppers who are most likely to spend.

According to plotprojects.com, the click-through rate of Geofencing notifications on Androids is 13.6%, which by far exceeds that of generic push notifications, which are only 2%. This indicates sending relevant notifications at the most opportune time encourages increased interaction.

We truly believe in the power of local marketing and have seen this first hand. As experts in the local marketing business, we have proven that our specialised local marketing generates more leads creating higher conversion rates. Click here to find out more about all our products & services.

 

 

Personalised Content 

 

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We are expecting to see a growth in personalised content within digital Marketing in 2018. Businesses have already begun to see the benefits of personal call to action marketing. StubHub, an online ticket exchange owned by eBay, reported a 42% improvement when users were given a personalized call to action (accountexnetwork.com).

Personalised content is also best used when different content is targeted to different types or groups of visitors based on their behaviour or other factors. Consumers have different intentions when visiting brands online, and having the ability to appeal to a wider range of people by tailoring digital content to personally appeal strengthens engagement with customers and can have a direct impact on website traffic and ongoing engagement.

As it happens, using Personalised Content doesn’t just mean customers are more likely to engage and buy your products they are also willing to pay more for them too! Consumers truly value a great personalised experience. If that means paying a little more, so be it. A survey from the content marketing institute suggests that 77% of customers will recommend, or pay more for a brand that provides a personalised experience. The better and more personal the experience, the greater the customer’s willingness to spend money on it. If the experience feels exclusive enough, customer will be willing to pay exclusive prices (digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk).

To find out how we can help you with Personalised content for your business website click here to talk to one of our team members today.

In summary, Marketing is becoming ever more complicated, strategic, personable, engaged, technologically advanced and altogether essential to businesses both large and small.

With over 200 years of industry experience we are experts in marketing, generating millions of new leads for our customers over the past 38 years. We can offer you advice on all your Marketing needs, so do not hesitate to contact us today for a friendly consultation with one of our team.

We recommend having a peek on https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics . It makes for a really interesting read, highlighting how powerful & effective Marketing tools can be!

 

 

 

 

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Choosing The Right Font And Colour For Your Brand

THE FIVE FONT GROUPS
There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of fonts/typefaces to choose from, so it is a daunting prospect to narrow down your choices! How do you choose? A lot of it will be based on your own personal choice of course, but sometimes we need to take into consideration the message that a font may convey by the way it looks.

 

 

Firstly, I will take you through the basic different classifications of font styles: SERIF, SANS SERIF, SLAB SERIF and SCRIPT. These are illustrated on the photo above.

1. SERIF
A serif is a small line attached to the end of a stroke in a letter. Serif fonts are widely used for body text because they are considered easier to read than sans-serif fonts in print.

  • Associations: Classic, traditional.
  • Examples: Times, Baskerville, Caslon.

 

2. SANS SERIF
Derived from the French word “sans”, meaning “without” – a sans-serif font does not have the small projecting features called serifs at the end of strokes and less line width variations. Most web pages employ sans-serif type as they are considered to be legible on computer screens. It is also used as a device for emphasis, due to thicker line strokes.

  • Associations: Modern, clean, simple, minimalistic.
  • Examples: Helvetica, Gill Sans, Futura.

 

3. SLAB SERIF
A type of serif typeface is characterised by thick, block-like serifs. Originally intended as attention-grabbing designs for posters, they have very thick serifs. They make clearer reading on lower quality paper.

  • Associations: Masculin, authoritative.
  • Examples: Rockwell, Courier, Lubalin Graph.

 

4. SCRIPT
A typeface with a flowing flourish. Script typefaces are based upon the varied and often fluid stroke created by handwriting. Many emulate the styles of hand-drawn signs from different historical periods. As phototypesetting and then computers have made printing text at a range of sizes far easier than in the metal type period, it has become increasingly common for businesses to use type for logos and signs rather than hand-drawn lettering.

  • Associations: Flowery, beautiful, decorative.
  • Examples: Shelley, Snell.

 

5. DECORATIVE
The most diverse of all the groups. Anything goes with flourishes and decoration. Rarely used for lengthy blocks of text, decorative typefaces are popular for signage, headlines and similar situations where a strong typographic statement is desired. They can reflect an aspect of culture – such as tattoos or graffiti – or evoke a particular state of mind, time period or theme. Many – such as psychedelic or grunge designs – are time-sensitive and fall out of fashion. Some decorative typefaces use unorthodox letter shapes and proportions to achieve distinctive and dramatic results.

  • Associations: Whatever you want it to be!
  • Examples: Rosewood, Bremen, Davida.

 

Now we will look at fonts in more detail. Say you were designing a wedding invite, we immediately think of something flowery. Here is an example:Font wedding

 

The use of the script font is appropriate for this type of design. It lends itself to the beauty of the day. It’s delicate and enchanting. Also note that a serif font is used in the smaller text as this is also very traditional in its look and is readable as smaller text. If we used the script font all over, it would become too fussy. Just use it as an emphasis on key words.

 

Fonts used on a poster for a heavy metal band would look very different typeface-wise. On the poster below a decorative font has been used in the main heading and this is the sort of typeface we associate with heavy metal – it’s heavy in form, it’s quite in-your-face, intimidating perhaps, grungy and gothic. Again, the principle of not overusing this font is carried through – a sans serif font.

Font Rock music poster with microphone and snake. Tattoo style illustartion

 

 

 

 

Another thing to consider is that your work (e.g. flyer or brochure etc) should keep to 2 or 3 typefaces at the most. Keep the typefaces exactly the same and perhaps use different weights of the same font to keep it clean, or change it a lot in terms of two completely contrasting fonts.

We want them to co-exist beautifully. Try to avoid using two or three fonts from say the “sans serif” category like Helvetica and Franklin Gothic. This can be distracting for the reader – are they the same or not? Stick to different weights of that font to create contrast and a cleaner look. Ultimately, it’s up to you which fonts you decide to use, but using the principles outlined above can improve the image and message you are trying to convey.

 

COLOURS
There are countless possibilities out there on the colour spectrum. We all have our favourite colours that we use on the walls of our house, or the clothes we wear, or the decorative objects we buy for our homes. These things are automatically going to influence our choices. It’s very subjective – what feeling a colour evokes in one person might have the opposite affect on another someone else. This is important to keep in mind if you are looking for a colour palette for your brand.

Colours a non-verbal communication system, but that doesn’t mean they don’t say anything! Below is a basic outline of some individual colours. There are obviously countless varying shades of each of these colours which in itself convey different meanings, but this will hopefully give you an idea of what different colours might be associated with in Western culture.Font colour

 

 

For a flyer that is advertising the services of a landscape gardener, you would expect to see greens – the colour of nature and other calming colours. However, cultural differences can mean colours convey different meanings in contrasting countries. Red in China is lucky. Red in the West can mean danger or passion. Red is a very emotionally intense colour, and along with orange and yellow it is a warm colour which can convey positivity.

Colours like blue, purple and green are cool colours. Blue is often associated with trust, calm and credible. There are for example a number of banks whose brand is blue – this is probably not a coincidence! The colour purple can be associated with luxury and wealth – you might have seen a luxury spa using the colour purple?

THE POWER OF FONTS AND COLOURS
Fonts and colours are more powerful than what we might initially think, and they are likely to have an (unconscious?) affect on how consumers choose which brands they will shop from or which bank they will go to. Therefore, it is vital that you consider who your audience is and who you will be trying to reach with your message. That way, your fonts and colours will be a conscious choice that is aimed at your audience rather than based on what you personally like.

I hope you found this blog post useful. We’d love to hear your thoughts on this subject so please comment below!

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Content Creation: The key to your websites’ success

Every decent website revolves around the same thing: content. A Unique, relevant and up-to date content is highly influential in how successful a website and marketing campaign performs. However, many find that content creation is very challenging and it is one of the most common issues in a business. Often this is due to a lack of time or resources, or simply that people don’t know where to start.

content creation Marketing Website Statistics

 

 

 

 

 

 

In order to create content and use it for marketing purposes, a business needs to consider how the content will be shared on their website and various online marketing platforms. It is also important to consider the frequency of content and who the intended audience is. There is a wide range of options for online marketing, such as social media, email marketing, website content and blogs. There is plenty for a business to choose from!

Many studies have been conducted into the effectiveness of having a content strategy. These studies have found that higher levels of content on a site can have an impact on the business’ marketing strategy and overall search engine ranking. These are just some of the benefits of having a steady stream of fresh, targeted content:

  • Increase levels of traffic to a website
  • Increase amount of enquiries/ leads received via website
  • Build up followers on social media
  • Enhance brand awareness
  • Become trusted within your industry by writing content to showcase abilities and knowledge

 

content creation Marketing Website B2B Leads

 

Sounds great! But how do you create content?

Content creation doesn’t have to be a daunting task. Every business has something to talk about, whether it’s a new product or service, an upcoming event, or an opinion on a recent industry related story. Not forgetting the most important (and easiest!) source of unique content; customers!

Creating stories around customers and the services/products they have received is the easiest form of content to write. Start by asking the customers for their feedback. The comments that they provide can be used to as the focus point of your content, and this can be shared throughout all of your marketing activities. After all, word of mouth and referrals are the greatest sales tool!

Our top tip for new content creation is to include as many targeted keywords and phrases as possible. This will help towards search engine rankings and help sites such as Google to understand what the content is about. But remember to keep it natural and don’t stuff keywords in randomly. This could be seen negatively by Google and other search bots.

Once you’ve got some content and keep going! Set yourself a target and allocate some time for putting together more. Try to keep to a regular schedule, even if it’s just a blog post every month. It all helps!

 

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5 Social Media Strategy Tips For Local Businesses

Whether you’re a multinational corporation or a one-man band, using social media is a powerful and cost-effective way to grow your business. If you’re looking to target customers local to you, here are a few things to consider.

 

  1. JOIN THE COMMUNITY CONVERSATION

It’s one thing posting and tweeting to keep followers updated. But wherever you’re based, there are guaranteed to be online conversations taking place in your community about the things that matter to you. Identifying the most relevant and adding your voice to them is a great way to build valuable connections.

As it’s a conversation and not a sales pitch, being open, friendly and not too “salesy” always helps. As do tagging, @mentioning and using local #hashtags.

 

  1. CONTENT IS KING

There are loads of interesting tools out there to make social output more interesting and engaging. Most are pretty simple to use. Emojis, Vines, Snapchat filters or even the simple act of posting a tweet with an image is proven to significantly increase engagement vs. those without.

Landscape gardener? Try creating gifs that showcase before and after shots. Restaurant? How about a Twitter poll to pick a new dish on the menu?

To see what works, test a few out and stick with the ones people engage with most.

 

  1. KEEP GOING!

Social media never sleeps, so it’s vital to be prepared for the long game. The relatively small pool of a local area means that once people become aware of you online, they’ll expect to hear from you and talk to you on a regular basis.

Having someone permanently dedicated to it is the simplest approach. Though I have other duties at READY, one of my tasks is to manage our social channels. I devote time to it every day, and we’re significantly growing our following as a result.

 

  1. HAVE A PLAN, AND STICK TO IT

It’s important to set a long-term strategy complete with goals and measurable results. Otherwise how do you know if what you’re doing is working

It can be done alone, or with an expert’s help. However, we’d advise keeping day-to-day management in-house. Your staff know your products and the community you’re targeting better than anyone outside your business.

Do ensure they have clear rules and governance to follow, particularly in terms of what’s appropriate to post and what isn’t.

 

  1. THINK ABOUT CAMPAIGNS

As mentioned, regular maintenance is essential for building your business’s profile. But consider dedicated campaigns too, like competitions, promotions or celebrations around particular occasions or local events.

To maximise impact, it’s essential to plan them well in advance and set clear objectives, such as capturing data or generating an uplift in sales. Social platforms offer plenty of nifty tracking options, which you can use to measure performance and identify improvements for future campaigns.

 

Did you like this post? You might also be interested in Choosing The Right Social Media Platforms.

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8 Essential Branding Tips For Small Businesses

If you think that branding is just something for big businesses with big budgets, think again. Branding is just as important for small businesses, maybe even more so. If you don’t have the budget to hire a big branding agency (and not many small businesses do) here are 8 simple steps you can take to keep your brand in check.

 

  1. Remember – It’s not all about your logo

Your logo is important, but branding is about far more than just that. Your logo is a badge that will represent you to the world, it’ll help distinguish your business from your competitors and it may even help customers to understand what you do. But it’s just one small part of a much bigger picture and even the best logo won’t build a successful brand on its own.

 

  1. Know what you stand for

What values and ideals are at the core of your business? What motivated you to start and what keeps you going? If you’re unsure of where you’re going and why your customers will be even less sure. Keep a list of at least three core values and make sure that any new products, services and marketing campaigns are true to them.

 

  1. Know what value your business provides

Whatever type of business you run, one thing is guaranteed your customers are not interested in just buying your products or your services. What they’re interested in is results. It’s the real life benefits that your products can offer them that will really get them engaged. A lot of businesses make the mistake of focusing on the features of their products and wonder why they’re not getting results. By taking a step back and communicating the benefits they offer you can give customers a really compelling reason to part with their money.

 

  1. Get inside your customers heads

Knowing your customers inside out is crucial. Forget about your taste and your preferences and focus on the people you’re trying to serve. Who are they? What are they looking for? What gets them excited? Keep your focus very narrow to start with; just think about your ideal customer.

Keep this profile in mind whenever you’re planning a new piece of marketing and build it just for them. This will really help to keep your message focused and effective.

 

  1. Keep a close eye on the competition

Identify your closest competitors and make sure you check up on them regularly. Who are they targeting? How are they doing it? What messages are they putting out? Where are they falling short? By doing this you can stay ahead of the game and fill gaps that they’re leaving. Remember, they’re probably watching your every move too.

 

  1. Find something unique to offer

Every business has something unique to offer, but many don’t take the time to identify it and use it to their advantage. Strong brands clearly stand out even in a crowded market. You might sell the same products as everyone else but that doesn’t mean you have to offer exactly the same service. If you’re struggling to find something that makes you stand out, go back to your customers, think about what they need and where your competitors might be falling short.

 

  1. Be consistent

Whatever direction you choose to take your brand in, make sure you’re consistent about it. That means keeping an eye on every tiny detail from how your logo looks, to the colours and fonts you use right through to your website and the kind of language you use when you talk to your customers. All this will build up to give the impression of professional, credible and trustworthy business.

 

  1. Keep it simple

We all lead busy lives and few people have the time to unravel complex messages. Simple, well thought out communication is more likely to get through and be remembered. This applies to your logo, your marketing material, your customer communications – even your business processes.

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