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Rebranding your business can be a big undertaking as there’s more to a brand than simply refreshing your logo or revamping website copy.

A rebrand requires you to evaluate your company’s positioning, the mission, the clear messages you want the public take away from your marketing collateral, as well as an overhaul of your stationary, signage, business premises, advertising, social network strategies, right down to how your logo looks.

As marketing professionals, we’re often asked the question “Do you think we need to rebrand?”

If you can answer yes to at least one of these reasons, it may be time to book yourself an appointment with the XDesigns team for a complimentary brand session.

Your business has never had a professional brand makeover

Often business owners who start out working from home and suddenly find their overnight their company has blossomed bigger than they could ever imagined have never sat down with marketing professionals to develop a consistent brand strategy. They may have a template website with free website hosting and logos designed by friends.

Your branding is dated

If your logo was designed back in the days when before the invention of MTV and when wearing rainbow leg warmers were still in fashion, it’s time to help your company transform into the 21st century.

Your current brand has adverse connotations associated with it

Perhaps your business has been dragged through the courts, associated with people who have ruined its reputation or received bad press from leaving behind a large carbon footprint; a fresh brand overhaul may help disentangle your company from any previous bad publicity.

In 1991 Kentucky Fried Chicken underwent a rebrand and changed its name to KFC. Their reasoning was to disassociate themselves from the negative connotations of serving fried food, given the public’s new focus on eating healthier.

You’re branching into different products, services or regions

Before we examine what digital branding is, you need to understand what branding is.

We searched Google for one definitive answer and here’s what we found.

“Branding is a promise delivered.” – The Marketing Donut

“A brand is who people think you are when they aren’t looking.” – Influential.com

“Your brand is what makes you different from the competition.”

“Your brand is what people think when they hear your name…your brand only exists in someone’s mind.” – Forbes Magazine

What we can take from this is branding is how consumers feel about your product. It’s what makes you stand out in a crowd.

Think about a brand like a person. Your first name and surname is your brand name. Your personality and the way you leave people feeling is your brand.

Now how do we apply this to digital branding?

In the simplest terms, digital branding is what the public associate with you in relation to your online presence. Don’t mistake it for being products that are only sold online. Your digital brand is your online personality.

It’s about the way people feel about you after visiting your website or interacting with you on you social media pages. Hard to navigate websites or not responding to followers questions via social media, are not going to win friends or influence potential consumers to seek you out online.

Having an online presence in today’s society is more important than we can stress. If you don’t have a website, can’t be found on any of the social media platforms, in the mind of modern society, you might as well not exist. It doesn’t matter if they can find your name in the Yellow pages. It sounds brutal, but it’s true.

Even if you are active in social media and have a website, in a media saturated world, it needs to be better than good, it needs to be great.

Stay tuned this month as we delve deeper into developing your digital brand.

It’s a terrifying thought, but we’re already on the slippery slope towards 2016. Scream all you like in protest, but it won’t be long before you need to re-evaluate your marketing strategies for the coming year. 2015 has been a big year for ensuring your website is mobile-friendly and has focused heavily on content marketing, so what can we expect for 2016?

We’re not psychic, but if the current trends are anything to go by, this is what you can expect to be popular.

The Customer Experience

Streamlining your complete customer experience will become a key focus. Undercutting your competitors on price simply won’t be enough. With prospective clients have access to online shopping across the globe, it’s essential your customer experience is fine-tuned to be simple, speedy and keeping the customer informed every step of the way.

A customer who has experienced unfaultable service will be more likely to recommend your products or service to friends and family, via social media or word of mouth, reviews online or even an unprompted testimonial on your social media page.

Content Marketing

The trend of content marketing is here to stay. It’s always been a highly successful strategy and been around a lot longer than you probably realise. It’s a way of providing information to enhance the customer experience, cultivate your brand and is a proven way of developing longer lasting relationships with your customer – long after they’ve purchased your product or service. If you are not sure you are using content marketing correctly or want to branch out into this marketing avenue, call the team at XDesigns, we’re happy to give your company a marketing makeover.

Images are key

The old adage ‘A picture speaks a thousands words’ is true, especially online. Most people want things fast…fast food, fast internet and the facts without having to read lots of text. The more images, infographics and video clips you use on your website, brochures and catalogues the better. The days of text-heavy content are gone, if people are interested in reading more provide links where they can discover more information on your website.

Automated email marketing

Many companies are still yet to get onboard with automated email marketing. You would be surprised at just how much time a software programme like ActiveCampaign or InfusionSoft could save you, but as we sail towards 2016, more businesses will be adapting to the advances in technology. Imagine being able to automate your marketing strategies to update your contact database every time a new customer emails you, or send an automated response when a purchase is made online.

Don’t put off until tomorrow, what you can do today. Pick up the phone and stay ahead of the marketing curve in 2016 . For anything else marketing or graphic design related, we are here to help.

One of our favourite quotes is: 
To change your circumstances, you need to change your thinking and subsequent actions.

As a business owner it’s so easy to blame the economy, the government, the budget – anything other than ourselves for our business performing badly. You can keep telling yourself business will pick up when the warmer weather comes, when the mortgage rates drop, when the country is run by politicians who know what they’re doing – or you can change your thinking and take the necessary actions required to get your business back on track.

It’s all too easy to stick to the tried and tested marketing techniques you’ve been using for years on the premise that they’ve worked before and telling yourself it’s better to stick with what you know, but there are 7 big marketing mistakes you company may be making which you need to change today.

1. Using the same campaigns and marketing methods you’ve used for years.

We can’t even begin to tell you how many business owners we’ve met that have insist on using the same marketing strategies they used over a decade ago and then have the nerve to wonder why they’re not getting the results they’d hoped for. Sure you’re marketing campaign might have been hugely successful in 2004, but it doesn’t mean those techniques will yield the same results 10 years later. It’s important to move with the times.

2. Believing that once the website is complete you can cross off your list.

Think of a website like an indoor plant, if you don’t regularly take care of it, inevitably it will die. Just because you’ve the added the last full stop and spell checked the copy, doesn’t mean your website is finished. It will always be a work in progress. You can add extra copy on current pages, revamp a page title, promote a new offer, and even remove sections that aren’t generating traffic. Your website will always be a work in progress.

3. Thinking social media sites is for people who have too much time on their hands

If you’re baffled by technology, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube can all be a bit overwhelming. It doesn’t take a lot to film satisfied customers on your smartphone, upload it to YouTube and then share the link of your website and social media channels.

4. Sticking to what you know

If you never step out of your comfort zone, how will you ever learn about new ways to expand your business or network new people from a variety of industries that may be able to scratch your back, if you scratch their back?

5. Neglecting to utilise past client information

Get on the phone and contact all those customers you’ve not touched base with in the last six months. Employ a telemarketer if you have to, but the best way to boost sales is through repeat business.

6. Trying to do everything yourself

Chances are as a business owner your background is in the goods or services you are providing, not graphic design, marketing strategies, branding or advertising. Concentrate on what you specialise in and for everything else – outsource it to a professional.

7. No involvement in the community

Community involvement through charity is a great way to promote your business in your local neighbourhood without having to advertising or use hard-selling tactics. You could organise to collect Christmas gifts for families in need during the festive season or have your staffs helping out by serving free sausages at a community event. The possibilities are endless.

If you’ve been using the same tried and tested marketing strategies or haven’t updated your business website for a while, talk to XDesigns Advertising about bringing your business into the 21st century.

Every time you go to the movies, pick up a magazine, discover a product catalogue in your mailbox, get an e-newsletter, buy a product with packaging, see shop signage or watch a TV commercial, graphic design is involved.

Take a look at your environment right now. Pick up a book, look at an insurance claim form, pull on a pair of jeans with a designer label or even read the TV Guide – graphic design is used everywhere.

As you notice the different ways graphic design can be used, you will get more of an idea of what a graphic designer will be able to do for you, particularly if you own a business.

Why do you need a graphic designer?

If you are a business owner, it can be tempting to use a friend or do-it-yourself to cater to all your graphic design needs. It might be cheap but is it wise? If you want your business to exude professionalism, you need to employ the services of a professional graphic designer, after all you wouldn’t go to someone who wasn’t trained to fix your teeth or cut your hair. You will need to hire the services of a professional if you:

Don’t have a logo for your business or office stationary

You have a logo but it looks outdated or you did it yourself using clipart

Nothing matches from your logo to your office signage and office stationary

You plan to launch a marketing campaign or a new product

You need a new website or your old website looks like it was designed in the days of Noah’s Ark.

What do you need to know about hiring a graphic designer?

Obviously, like most things in life, you pay for what you get. The cheapest quote isn’t necessarily going to be the best. Ask work colleagues or business associates for commendations. They will be able to give you the basic information – what they paid, performance and reliability. When you have a couple of recommendations do further research by checking out their websites and portfolio of work. Ask yourself whether you like their style, whether they have a variety of styles or all their work looks the same and whether it’s professional looking. Also check out online reviews and customer testimonials before phoning to organise a meeting.

If you like what you’ve seen on the XDesigns Advertising website, pick up the phone today and book a free, no obligation meeting to discuss your needs.

The humble tagline is not just a throw-away line to sum up your business in one short statement. Taglines can be used to communicate your company’s philosophy, point of difference and when used correctly, your business will be instantly recognised
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll immediately know the brands behind these famous taglines.

1 I’m lovin’ it
2 Finger-lickin’ good
3 Just do it
4 Priceless

How many did you get right?

The above taglines have several things in common.
They span generations. Finger-lickin’ good was used for 50 years before recently being updated to So good to portray a healthier option.

They span cultures. It doesn’t matter where you live in the world, the tagline identifies the brand.

They don’t say what the company does because they are catchy enough to stand alone. Imagine instead of Just do it, Nike had opted for something unoriginal like Manufacturing shoes since 1946 or certified shoe makers.

Spectacular taglines are adapted into the modern culture and used as phrases in every day conversations or as hashtags on Twitter.

When creating a tagline for your business there are variables you need to take into consideration. The following points should help you with your tagline development.

• What is the main benefit you consider your brand provides and what makes your brand different from everyone else in the same line of business?
• What do want your tagline to express about your expertise and what is the best way to do that?
• Brainstorm ideas. Remember during a brainstorming session — no ideas are stupid. Then evaluate the list and determine the phrases that describe the most valued aspects you think should be conveyed and compile a list of possible taglines from these words and phrases, keeping your objective in mind.
• Make a list of your top five suggestions that are concise, pertinent and simple

One of the most important aspects of a memorable tagline line is that it is relevant to the needs of your target market. Unfortunately a lot of smaller businesses owners or companies starting out might have solid backgrounds in management but lack the essential skills when it comes to branding and marketing and creativity, but still insist on doing everything themselves. That’s where XDesigns Advertising can help with have the know how and the necessary skills to transform your business. For a quote or to have a chat about the direction of your business phone the team today

Marketing and branding — are the words interchangeable or is there a difference?

There are several schools of thought on the difference between marketing and branding, but at XDesigns, we subscribe to the philosophy that marketing is enthusiastically pushing a product or service. It’s a strategy used to promote your business or service by getting your name out in the public arena and a way to generate sales. For example; using celebrity endorsements, customer testimonials, printing brochures, signage, billboards, product catalogues.

Branding is more about the personality of your company. It’s about what your company stands for, the traits and principles your company upholds. A brand draws customers because of what it stands for. For example; The Sony brand is synonymous with trusted technology and quality. Whether you’re looking for a High definition TV or a camcorder you can be assured if you purchase a Sony, it will be a quality product. You know what to expect. Or Levis, it doesn’t matter where in the world you purchase the jeans from, if they’re Levis as a customer you associate the name with quality.

Branding is what you remember about a product or service, even after you’ve forgotten about the advertising campaign that caught your interest. It decides whether you become faithful to that brand. It is the marketing that may persuade you that you can no longer live without having a 3D Smart TV, but it’s the brand that determines whether you rave about it to your friends and refuse to buy anything other than Sony for the rest of your life.

You build your brand through reputation and whether the product lived up to the promises it made. Did it fulfil its purpose? Has it been reliable? Did the customer think it was worth the money they paid for it.

Of course we don’t expect you to be an expert in marketing or branding, you’re probably far too busy with the day to day running of your business which is why you need XDesigns Advertising. Give us a call today so we can give your business a branding health check, make sure you’re on track with your marketing and help you in the areas you may need assistance in.

Content marketing has developed in leaps and bounds over the past several years. Over 90 percent of businesses have included the strategy as part of their marketing plan, but just how successful are they?

Many people are of the mindset that once the content is created, you can upload it online, you can forget about it and the job is done. It would be awesome if we could just upload content and it automatically ranked on the first page of search engine results, but there are three important steps you need to take to ensure your content marketing strategy will be successful.

1. Search engine optimisation
There is no point having amazing content if no one knows where to find it. If title tags and meta descriptions sound like gobbley gook, then perhaps the best option is to hire a professional who will ensure your website is ranked by search engines.

2. Promoting content
Don’t think for one minute that search engines will do all the hard work on getting your content in front of potential clients. There are a variety of ways you can promote your business.

Social media – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, SnapChat, Google+, Bebo.

Email – Send regular updates direct to customers in boxes with special promotions, discounts or current happenings.

Blogs – Write regular blogs for your own website and guest blogs for industry websites

Podcasts – create informative audio or video podcasts relevant to your industry

JOIN US! MARKETING YOUR BUSINESS FOR GROWTH & NETWORK

Learn results driven Marketing strategies to get your business moving forward. Join us for our first Active Marketing Business workshops. Limited Spots available! Valued at $297 and FREE! With our awesome sponsor Servcorp – Nexus Norwest

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