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One of the biggest dilemmas most businesses will face whether you’re a small lawn mowing business or part of a national real estate franchise is how to grow a quality marketing list. The two most essential traits of a successful mailing list comes down to two basic components:

1. The number of contacts you have
2. The quality of contacts you have

And what most businesses don’t realise is these are not quick fixes. You might be tempted to subscribe to a company that can provide you with telephone directories or buying lists. Often these are expensive and there’s no guarantee the information is up to date or legitimate.

However it is possible to construct your own email list with contact details of subscribers who want to hear from you.

Don’t try to run before you can walk. It always pays to plan in baby steps so you can firstly ascertain who your target audience is and what they are interested in. Understanding who you are emailing and how to meet their needs will reduce the number of people who unsubscribe and encourage regular interaction.

Be clear about what you are providing

Ensure your subscribers know what to look for in their inbox (special offers, e-newsletters, reports etc.) and how often they will receive them (fortnightly, monthly or quarterly). Spell out the advantages of being part of your mailing list and you will find more people will subscribe to your content.

Give them a reason to stick around

You’ll know from your own experience the email marketing newsletters that you look forward too and the ones you hit the delete button without even looking. To avoid your emails being trashed the minute they arrive in the inbox you need to focus on your content — special benefits for subscribers, monthly competitions, freebies, specific advice relating to problems they might be encountering. For example: A monthly competition might get your subscriber extra entries when they sign up a friend.

The easier the better

It needs to be simple for your prospective clients to sign up. Ask for only essential information like an email address and or a country. If it’s too complex and you’re forced to answer questions about your household income or age, chances you’ll deter people from subscribing. Leave the nitty gritty questions until after you’ve built a concrete relationship with your mailing list members.

There’s more to life than e-mailing lists

People tend to think that content marketing on the internet is the easiest option and the cheapest. It’s not always the case. Don’t forget there are ways to build your mailing list than the internet (trade show competitions, providing a glass bowl people can fling their business cards into for a prize)

If you need any further help developing content marketing to email to your clients or more advice on establishing a mailing list, the team at XDesigns Advertising are on standby to help you. All you have to do is flick them an email or pick up the phone. See, it’s that easy.

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail which is why a marketing plan for the year ahead is one of your most essential business tools. It outlines what marketing strategies you are going to employ. It also ensures everyone in the company knows what you are trying to achieve and what role they play to make it happen.

Set clear guidelines

An effective marketing plan will clearly outline your monthly objectives — that is what needs to be achieved each month to reach your longer-term goals. These guidelines should incorporate budgets, deadlines, targets, sales forecasts and marketing strategies with quantifiable objectives. For example, increasing your database is a good goal to aim for, but make it more specific like increasing the database by 1000 new clients by 30 June 2014. You would then need to list what strategies will make this achievable.

Highlight key time on the Calendar year.

Identify the important dates throughout the year that will provide you with opportunities to connect with your customers. Valentine’s Day, Easter, Christmas, School holidays are all peak purchasing times, so they are ideal times to push your products or services. If you run a financial services company, you could offer customers a special deal on budgeting advice so they don’t get into debt over the festive season. Restaurants could provide special offers to any couple that choose to dine with them on Valentine’s. Also find out when the large trade shows are coming to your area, there’s unlimited potential to reach new clients at events like the Royal Easter Show and Travel expos.

Plan for something fresh

Don’t use the same old tried and tested marketing techniques that you use year after year. Plan for a new approach to marketing. If radio advertising and press ads aren’t working for get a corporate brochure, if you’re always sending out mail drops, try an enewsletter. There are plenty of ways to change things up like updating your packaging, having a new product, revamping your tired old website. Be bold, be brave and freshen things up.

For a fresh approach to your marketing or with help developing a marketing plan or strategies for 2014, call the team at X Designs Advertising today.

The end of the year is catapulting towards us at an alarming rate of knots. It’s only a week until Christmas and it seems like only yesterday we were mentally making New Year resolutions for 2013. While making your resolutions to drink less and lose weight, you should be making resolutions for marketing strategies in 2014 because if you fail to plan for your business, you plan to fail. Not sure what kind of resolutions to make? We’ve put together a list a list of 5 resolutions just to get you started.

1. Become tech savvy

Yes, we’re talking to you, the ones who are still operating dinosaur computer systems, still think faxing is the only way to send documents and still use dial-up internet because you see any reason why your company should pay any extra for the internet. It’s time to move into the era of technology with mobile phone compatible websites and social networks

2. Try visual marketing

A picture paints a 1000 words and what better way to help your business go viral than posting social media content your prospective clients can forward with a push of a button. In the last year Instagram and Pinterest have become more increasingly popular and with Snapchat quickly becoming one of the most downloaded apps.

3. Refine your social media skills

No doubt if you have Facebook or twitter you’ve mastered the art of sharing photos, sharing links and updating your status. Make 2014 the year that you focus on creating content that encourages your clients to interact with you. All it takes is for one person to like or comment on one of your posts and all their friends will see it on their newsfeed.

What is content marketing?

4. Focus on content marketing

Create interesting blogs that offer solutions to prospective clients problems, free ebooks and ensure you have a vibrant youtube channel.

5. Get help

If you’d love to put a plan for 2014 in place and don’t know where to start or need assistance taking your content marketing or website to the next level, talk to the XDesigns Advertising team today.

 Now that you’ve decided to embrace jumping on the social media bandwagon, you’re going to need a social media marketing strategy. Essentially, it’s a big fancy marketing term for ‘plan of attack’. It will document things like how your company will approach social media, what type of content to post to your newsfeed, who’s responsible for responding to queries, right through to what to do in the case of a complaint or an emergency situation involving your business.

Writing a social media strategy doesn’t have to be a daunting task if you break it down into bite-sized chunks. Before you do anything else, decide on an objective.

Social media objectives

What are you hoping to achieve by being on social media? Is it because you want to interact more with your customers? Perhaps you want to generate more awareness about what your company does? A not-for-profit organisation may want to raise funds for their cause by driving followers to their donate page on their website.Start by writing down your goals. You will probably have more than one.

When setting these goals for your social media network, think about how you plan to measure their success. Will you be basing your results on traffic to your website, the number of shares on each post or the number of new followers on Facebook?

Do your research

Before you plunge headfirst into the depths of social media, take time to look at some of the top performers. Most of the big companies have professional teams that look after their networks. Let them lead by example because whatever they are doing, they are doing it right! Coca Cola, Virgin, McDonalds, even Hamish and Andy have a massive presence on social media. Use their networks for inspiration and adapt ideas for your company.

Plan your content

Awesome and regularly updated content that is share-worthy is crucial to be successful in a social media saturated world. The social media marketing strategy will include a list of who is responsible for researching and generating content, what type of content you will post and how often. This is an important part of the document as it means should anyone suddenly leave or get sick, anyone can pick up the social media marketing strategy and know what to post and when, while keeping within the brand guideline and predetermined brand voice.

Don’t forget to include utilising Lead ads, a relatively new way that simplifies the ways people can subscribe to newsletters, product prices and events from their mobile by submitting a pre-populated form with information they have shared with Facebook.

Track your objectives and goals

Use analytics and insights provided by the social media platforms to evaluate your successes and failures and rejig your social media marketing strategy to reflect your newly learnt understandings.

When did you last review your Brand?
If its been a while, ask yourself…

Has the businesses evolved?
Does the business name tell your prospects what you do?
Does your Brand stack up and give you that competitive edge in the marketplace?
Do you have the right brand image and message to find more of your ideal clients?

For us the timing is right, we have rebranded! We are XDesigns Advertising. We have been building brands since 2000.

Our mission is to add value and consistently deliver more than what is expected from us.

Marketing your business is a daily habit your business needs to adopt.

Contact us  Book a Branding strategy session.

Lie 1 It’s a lot less work than other promotions

Content marketing – you just write the website copy, post on Facebook or Twitter occasionally and you’re done, Right? Hold that thought. It is not as simple as stringing a few sentences together about your product or service.

There’s researching which keywords perform better, market research, making sure the content is search engine optimised, regularly reviewing the website content, assessing your resources and that’s just scratching the surface..

Lie 2 Once it’s done, it’s done.

Content marketing is not done and dusted when you insert the last full stop and the website goes live. There’s blogging, reviewing copy and website analytics, responding to website enquiries, moderating blog comments. Can’t it be automated so you can set and forget? Well there are some options you can set up to reduce the workload. For example if someone emails your company via the website, you can set up an automatic response to indicate the email has been received and how long before they can expect a reply, but there is no way to program creating the content, strategies for social media and website management, engaging with your customers and monitoring your analytics.

Lie 3 It’s cheap

Content marketing is often thought to be free, and compared to taking out a billboard in the heart of Kings Cross, a Facebook promotion is cheaper, but it’s like comparing oranges and apples – they’re both fruit, each with their own nutritional benefits, but you wouldn’t’ ditch one, in favour of the other because they both reach different audiences.

Chances are your social media promotion isn’t going to go viral overnight. This takes time, money, consistency and employing a well thought out strategy.

Lie 4 It can be handled by a Facebook savvy office junior

Managing your social media strategies is not a task to be handed over to the office receptionist for when time allows. Content marketing requires skill and just because your employee is savvy with Facebook and Twitter, doesn’t mean they have the talent to create content, apply social media strategies and ensure content is search engine optimised. Companies are now opting to hire experienced copywriters and journalists to handle their social media marketing. An office junior is never going to be able to match the talents experience professionals bring to the table.

If you need help setting up content for your social media marketing, website or print promotions, talk to the team at XDesigns Advertising. They are waiting for your call today.

1.It increases your visibility on the internet.
Ever had a friend with a problem you don’t know how to solve. These days instead of admitting you don’t know, the reply is usually “Google it!” So if your business is looking to see a rise in visitors to your website, it’s crucial you have quality searchable content.You can do can do this through a number of ways

• • You can do can do this through a number of ways

Create and regularly update a blog. For example if you have an insurance website, you might want to host a blog with answers to everyday problems potential customers might be interested in knowing. Your blog topics don’t have to be directly about the type of insurances or premiums. You could include topics like “Do I really need pet insurance?” or “The top 10 ways to deter burglars.”

• Writing quality articles for online publications or ezines, and if you can’t string a sentence together – find someone who can.
• Presentations with provide solutions to problem solving. For example: If you are a plumber you might want to have a presentation on “What to do during a plumbing emergency”
• Create a monthly newsletter which can be emailed out to your database
• Use company events and post photos to make your company seem more approachable.

2. Content marketing doesn’t have to be expensive
It costs very little to add on a blog to your website, create an enewsletter or update your Facebook or Twitter page. The most expensive thing will be your time. Of course you can pull out the big guns like IBM’s Cityone gaming website, but you don’t have to spend thousands.

3. Content marketing creates an emotional bond with your potential clients
Having interesting content that is of interest to your clients is going to keep bring your readers back to your website. For example; let’s look at Purina. While they predominantly market pet foods, they know if there is one thing people are passionate about, it’s their animals. So not only do Purina provide information about their products, they also provide information on every topic under the sun from pet nutrition and health problems to how to pick a new kitten.

The underlying subtext is that if you want healthy pets, and care about animals as much as Purina, you’ll choose Purina pet food next time you’re at the supermarket.

If you’re interested in developing your brand to include content marketing, talk to the experts at XDesigns Advertising today.

Are you posting content on Facebook and posing questions to your followers, just to be met with little to no response? Find out how you can to create engaging posts to encourage interaction from your fans.

1. Link your posts to your website

It’s simple to copy and paste URLs from your website into the status bar. It automatically posts the page title, meta description and images from that URL while allowing you to customise the text. Clicking on the attached images will redirect followers straight to your website.

2. Keep photos and videos interesting

Compelling photos and video clips attract attention and help your post stand out in a sea of posts from friends and other fan pages. Share photos of your customers enjoying your products. For example: If you own a restaurant, instead of posting a copy of the menu, use a video where your customers are commenting on the food or service, or enjoying dessert.

3. K.I.S.S. it

Keep It Short and Simple. Pretend you have limited characters to communicate what you want to say, around 110 and 150 characters will ensure you keep it brief.

4. Encourage conversation with your fans

Invite your fans to comment on your products or services. Find a way to demonstrate you’ve taken their ideas on board – it’s a great way to express you appreciate their feedback and are display willing to accommodate their needs. For example: A gaming company could ask their Facebook audience on ideas for games they’d like to see created, then put the best ideas into production.

5. Post special offers for Facebook fans

Limited deals especially for your Facebook fans can be used as an incentive to join your page in the first place and to keep your audience from losing interest. For example, secret passwords can be utilised to get a discount in-store when purchasing. Adding an end date will prompt fans to take action sooner, rather than later.

6. Provide VIP information

Make your fans feel part of an exclusive club by providing them with sneak previews, special information not available to any other customers and competitions. For example: For Christmas you could do 12 days of Christmas giveaway. Every day post a product photo you’re giving away to one lucky Facebook fan.

7. Be community minded

You don’t have to necessarily post products or services on your Facebook page. When there’s a natural disaster or a global event that is trending in the media, it’s an ideal opportunity to let your Facebook fans know you’re more than just a company – you’re a company that cares.

8 Respond in a timely fashion

Timeliness is everything when your Facebook fans have commented or asked questions on your page. The quicker you respond, the more probable they will interact with you in the future

9. Monitor page insights

Keeping an eye on your page insights and Facebook analytics will help you keep your content relevant and get an idea of what is working and what isn’t.

If you need help taking the first steps in moving your company into the social media era, call the team at XDesigns Advertising today.

The humble hashtag, once upon a time it was used to indication a number. For example #75, or to depict curse words – $%###$!!, but now everyone across the social networks is adding them to status updates. #theymustbecrazy, #idontunderstand, #wouldsomeonepleaseexplain

Twitter has been using hashtags for years, and more recently Facebook introduced them. You can also use them on youtube and Google+. Yes, the humble hashtag is becoming more mainstream.

What can a hashtag do for your business?

Connects your business with potential customers

Search social channels with keywords pertinent to your business. You will discover users who have tagged their updates with hashtags. You can interact with directly by using an @ symbol and their user name or by use of the hashtag they use. You might just even find a new client.

Makes your business searchable

Hashtags allow your prospects to find you online. A simple hashtag can lead your target audience directly to your post.

For example:

If I you are a make-up artist pushing your brand over Facebook or Twitter instead of just posting “Book your wedding make-up trial today and get 20 per cent off the total price. You would add a hashtag to the end #weddingmakeup or perhaps post… “20 percent off #bridalmakeup when you book a trial today #weddings.

Now anyone searching for bridal make-up or weddings will come across your post and if they’re not searching for themselves may pass it on to a friend.

Generates conversation

Corporate conferences are now using hashtags as a way to generate online conversations about seminars, speakers and events. It’s a good way for attendees to discuss what they’re learning at the conference and for event management teams to get authentic feedback. Advertisers are also using them in TV and radio commercials to generate online discussions about their products and services. Eg McDonalds use phrases like #Imlovinit As hashtags gain popularity, we guarantee you’ll see them being used more and more.

If you need help with getting a presence on social media, call the XDesigns team today.If you are still confused or need to move your business into the digital era, talk to XDesignsAdvertising today.