Month: April 2019

I think it is safe to make the assumption that we now live in a digital world. When things like AR and VR are becoming more and more common in the real world, it’s hard not to notice. The way people shop has changed substantially over the past few years, with many purchases being made online. For business owners however, this springs the question; “If everyone is living online, how do I reach my customers?” The simple answer? Digital Marketing. You’re guaranteed to have heard of it, maybe even dabbled in it for a bit? But then maybe you thought, “I don’t understand this”. It’s true that within Digital Marketing there is a lot going on, but it doesn’t have to be confusing, in any way shape or form. In fact when utilised correctly digital marketing can and will be your best friend, allowing you to target customers you never thought you could, in ways you never thought you could. Within this article, we are going to look at some of the most important elements of digital marketing and what you need to be looking at to get started

Digital Marketing

• SEO
• Content Marketing
• Social Media Marketing
• PPC (Pay-Per-Click) 
• Email Marketing 
• Benefits of Digital Marketing

SEO

SEO is one of the biggest aspects of Digital Marketing, but first off what exactly is it? SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation and is exactly what it sounds like; you are optimising your website for a search engine (this can be as many as you like). With it, you want your website to rank higher on that search engines web pages of results, so for example, if you start at the bottom of page 5 on Google, your aim should be to get to the first page and ideally become the number one search result. What this will do for your website and ultimately your business, is increase the amount of organic traffic that you receive, as usually, people don’t tend to go past the 1st or second web search page when they are looking for something. There are a few different platforms that will benefit from this such as your own website, blogs and the use of infographics. 

One element of SEO that is vital for it to work is that of keywords. Again, keywords are exactly what they sound like; the keywords that you want your web page or blog website to rank for. Keywords act as the link to what people are searching for, to the content that you are providing. The great thing about them, however, is that you can use short term keywords or long tail keywords, which are more small phrases than just words. These help your business to rank for more specific terms, which could be related specifically to the area or location that you are in. You must be careful with keywords however, as being too vague might lead to unwanted traffic and give you data – such as how many people have visited your website – which isn’t a true reflection. 

Content Marketing

Content marketing is the creation of your content to help with brand awareness, growing your website traffic or generating new leads and new customers. In most cases, content marketing usually falls under having a blog section on your website, like this one. Writing content that people want to read is only going to have benefits for your website, as they will come for that but find something else that they like the look of. Before you know it, you have gained a handful of new customers, who aren’t just visiting your site to view what’s on there, but buying products and using services if you happen to have them. Some of the best content, especially when you have products to sell, is that which will give the customers tips on how to use what you are selling. Therefore, they have two in one, both the product and handy content on how best they can put it to use. 

However, content doesn’t have to just be written, as podcasts are also a great source. Podcasts often allow you to tackle bigger subjects and talk about them for longer, as people are more likely to listen to something for longer than they will read something. What’s great about these, however, is that you can start by publishing on media sites, where consumers will find your content and then this will help drive them to your website. The only downside with podcasts is that they sometimes don’t allow for keywords to be included, which blogs do, so in turn, blogs might be better for driving the traffic of your website up. 

Social Media Marketing

We now live in a world that isn’t only digital, but a world where social media rules. What is one of the first things that we do when we find ourselves alone, perhaps waiting for a friend, or even just bored at night? We whip out our phones or tablets and get straight onto Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. So as businesses, why not utilise this for your own success? Target the platforms where the customers are, not where they were. 

Social Media marketing is great for increasing brand awareness and driving traffic, especially if you are a smaller company who has just started out. The ease of access that people have to it means talking to your customers is a breeze, instead of emailing back and forth. As well as this, however, all of the major social platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn) allow you to boost or sponsor the content that you put on there, meaning you can pay to increase the reach that it has. Within this, you can also target specific groups of people, industries, careers, even hobbies, meaning your keyword research for your SEO will come in handy here too. 

PPC (Pay-Per-Click)

PPC or Pay-Per-Click is a way of generating traffic to your website by paying for it, instead of organically the way the previous forms of digital marketing have shown. Basically what you are doing is paying a publisher each time someone clicks on your ad, for example from the top of a Google search page. This is called search engine advertising and is one of the most popular forms of PPC, as when it is done correctly the amount of traffic that you get from this will greatly outweigh the amount of money you are spending to pay the publisher. 

With PPC, keyword research also comes in very handy as they can be put to use when creating the campaigns and advertisements that you wish to put out. However, again they need to be specific in some cases, especially if your business isn’t selling to a niche market.

Benefits of Digital Marketing

Digital Marketing is one of, if not the most popular form of marketing in the current landscape and there are many benefits that come from it. For one, it allows you to see real-time results and data. For example, if you put an ad in a newspaper you don’t have any way of telling how many people have actually viewed your website. However, when you put out an ad digitally the analytical software that is available allows you to track everything about who is coming to visit your website, such as their gender, their age, where they are from and what page they have clicked on. This date, therefore, allows you to manage and change campaigns as you go, targeting more or different groups based on the data that you have collected. 

Digital Marketing is a fantastic way to market for any business, especially as I have mentioned due to the digital world that we are living in. It is something that we are very focused on here at Kaizen Brand Evolution and we hope that from this article you have a better sense of what is involved and how it can help you. 

Many of our clients have historically know our business for its brand development projects. However there are a large proportion of our clients who task Kaizen Brand Evolution with the day to day graphic design services that keep their marketing and sales departments functioning effectively.

On any given day we could be creating brand presentations, leaflet design, menu design or any other number of projects for almost every conceivable industry. Depending on how you originally came across Kaizen, you may not know all the services we provide, so today we’re introducing some of the most popular graphic design projects we have recently undertaken:

Leaflet Design – Many proclaim that print is dead, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. The volume of print is of course in decline, but this has seen a rise in more targeted leaflet designs and campaigns. We work with your team to identify the best leaflet design for your campaign objectives.
Booklet Design – From magazines to annual reports, sales presenters and training manuals, we design booklets and brochures for all manner of business sectors.
Logo Design – Some of logo projects are not suited to a full brand experience. This could be a sub-brand within an already established company or a start-up identifying new markets and want to do this in a professional manner. Whatever your project, our logo design team can help position your logo in the correct manner for your business opportunity.
Poster Design – Indoor posters or outdoor posters such as Billboards and Adshels. Whatever your requirement our designers are extremely well versed in creating impactful poster design to engage your audience.
Social Media Design – Crafting a considered Social Media presence is critical to many brands who want to grow their business online. With a firm understanding of your business and target market, we are experts in social media design.

Working with your graphic designer

We understand that as a business you may not have a regular requirement for graphic design and so today we’ve put together our top tips for briefing your graphic designer. We’re always here to help and if you have any questions at all, please just ask.

Briefing

The single greatest input you can provide in the graphic design process is a strong brief. Consider the “Who, What, When, Where and Why” of the design and write down clearly the focus of the project.

Quality Assets

“You only get out what you put in” – these words couldn’t be truer and so providing high quality imagery, logos and proofread text is critical to creating a perfect design. Our job as designers is to carefully craft the design and tease out the information that will directly impact the projects’ success.

Working with us
Whatever your graphic design project, we would be delighted to chat to you about the opportunities we at Kaizen Brand Evolution can help with. Based in Belfast, Northern Ireland we help local and national businesses meet their ambitions through considered graphic design.

To get in touch with our studio, please call us on 028 9507 2007 or use the contact form.

When making your way into the world of graphic design or when working with a graphic designer on a project, one of the most important elements that you will come across is that of Typography. Typography is stated like this: 

the style and appearance of printed matter.the art or procedure of arranging type or processing data and printing from it.

Wikipedia

It is vital within graphic design, as it can often be the centre piece of the design, helping to draw in the attention of the reader before they begin to notice what else is going on. But there are also so many different things you can do with Typography, from the way it looks to how it is used in conjunction with the actual graphics that have made it into the design. 

However, while typography is great and does so much for a design, it is also important to understand what is being said, so that as a designer you understand what client wants and vice versa, as a client you understand what a designer is saying to you. So within this article, we are going to take a look at the in’s and out’s of typography, looking at some of the popular terms that are used so that when the time comes, you are ready. 

Typography

• Font/Typeface
• Serif
• Sans Serif
• Why Typography is vital in Design

Font/Typeface

When designers started to consciously put letters and numbers together to help accentuate the design that they were creating, a font and a typeface were two separate elements. Previously the Typeface was the specific design of the letters, numbers and symbols that were being used and Font was used to refer to the size of that typeface. However, they are now used interchangeably by designers the world over, which makes things a lot easier for those that don’t know!

Serif

When a designer is talking about a serif, they are talking about the short line or the stroke that is seen extending from the open ends of the letters. These typefaces or fonts would normally be seen in corporate branding, as it gives off an older, more sophisticated kind of vibe.

Why Typography is vital in design

When you see a new poster, flyer or billboard out and about, what is one of the first things that catches your eye? The type. It’s often right where it needs to be and saying exactly what is appealing to you. But this isn’t just pot luck or an accident. A designer has meticulously thought about what typeface to use, where to place it, how big it needs to be and the colour it is going to be, all before actually writing what is going to be said. And trust us, writing the content is the easy part! When working on a design, whether it is a one-off flyer design for a club or bar, or something larger like a re-brand for a business, the typography that goes with their branding is incredibly important. It needs to be something which catches the attention of the reader but also matches what the company is trying to say themselves. For example, if a design is being completed for a law company the typeface that is chosen isn’t going to be something that you might find in relation to a tech company, as it wouldn’t fit. It will be something simple, but serious and professional, more than likely a Serif Typeface, helping to get across the message that they won’t mess about and will get the job done. It needs to match what or who it is being used for so that it makes sense to the readers. 

Typography is a vital design element that a lot of people might overlook and not realise just how much it does for the overall design. Hopefully however, this article has given you a little more insight into the importance of it and made you a little more aware of what a designer might be talking about.