The Secret To Making Successful Brands

It’s surprising how often brands fail because their strategic and creative aren’t in sync.

This is like using the left brain without the right. We as humans can function with half a brain, but if given the choice why would we?

Consider how Morton Salt used its strategy to produce a creative solution that’s been working for 100 years.

Morton’s strategy was to promote its non-clumping salt. Up until Morton’s, clumping was a problem, especially in damp weather.

There could have been many boring ways of branding and promoting itself, but Morton’s took a look at its strategy and created an image that would represent the benefit of free-flowing salt.

The story was told with a single image and slogan – A little girl under a big umbrella and tucked under her arm is a round can of salt pouring out. The slogan –  When it rains, it pours.

If a strategy were not in place, Morton could have gone in several different creative directions without having ever focused on a valid solution. Without creativity, Morton’s could have been just another boring table salt without a memorable story.

Remember – the key to building a strong brand is to combine your strategic and creative efforts, not separate them. This helps ensure the success of your brand and will save you time, energy and money.

Jennie Quimbita

3 reasons to archive past newsletters on your website

1. Fresh content for the search engines. Posting your monthly or quarterly newsletters to your website is a great way to consistently add new content to your website. Chances are your newsletter is loaded with your industry specific keywords so each newsletter you post is content the search engines can find.

2. Show your visitors what they are signing up for. The archived newsletters show new potential subscribers exactly what they are signing up for. They can see the frequency of the newsletters and won’t be afraid they will get an email from you every day if they sign up. (Hint: make sure your opt in form is easily accessible from the archive to remind new subscribers to sign up!)

3. Reach a bigger audience. Your email newsletters have the opportunity to be viewed by more than just the people on your list. They can be seen by anyone who visits your site.

Is your web site designed for you or your customer?

One of my many hats over the years has been that of a web designer. When the Internet began to boom, I was focused on the “wow” factor and designed with only one question in mind – does it look good?

Obviously this was a very inexperienced perspective at the time. Over the years, marketing experience superseded design, and I quickly learned that what I like is of little benefit to perspective customers. It’s what they like that matters.

Fact is, there are many great, well-designed sites out there – knockouts to behold.
But just because they’re well-designed, it doesn’t mean they’ll generate any results.

The following questions are important to keep in mind when creating a web site :

• Is your message (objective) clear?
• Is the site easy to navigate and consistent from page to page?
• Is the color scheme appropriate for your industry and in-line with your branding?
• Is there enough white space?
• Is the font size appropriate for your audience?
• Is your contact information easy to access within all pages of your site?
• Is your site dynamic (easily able to keep fresh)?
• Does your site load quickly?
• Is your content relevant to your audience?
• Are your topics easily distinguishable?
  • Subheads
  • Bulleted lists
  • Highlighted keywords
  • Short paragraphs
• Does your site work across multiple browsers, platforms and devices?
• Is your site search engine friendly?
• Last but not least, does your site have a clear call to action?

For more information or a free consultation regarding your website, please contact us.

We’ll give your customers an eyeful, plus a reason to act.

Jennie Quimbita

Do your marketing materials have a clear call to action?

Your call to action tells customers exactly what you want them to do.

A typical call to action could be:
- purchase a product (example: Buy Now)
- review a product
- subscribe to a newsletter
- request a more information or a demo
- call now – (Hint: if your goal is to have them pick up the phone, make sure your phone number is easy to find!)
- join our forum
- chat with a live agent
- create a wish list
- email item/article to a friend
- become our fan on Facebook

Remember:
You don’t always get what you ask for, but you never get what you don’t ask for… unless it’s contagious!
~ Franklyn Broude ~

3 Tips for choosing a Search Engine Friendly Content Management System

Not  all Content Management Systems (CMS) are created equally.  There are so many options available it is important to carefully evaluate the features you need before making a decision.  If Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an important factor for you, here are three features to consider when choosing a CMS system for your website.

1. Search Engine Friendly URLs – make sure you can specify the URLs for each one of your pages and be sure to include your keywords in the URL.
For example:
Use keyword specific URLs like:

http://www.ocflightcenter.com/flight-school/private-pilot-certificate.php

instead of generic URLs like

http://www.ocflightcenter.com/index.php?pageid=105

2. Meta Tags – make sure you have the ability to modify your title, description and keyword tags for each page of your site.  The title tag is an extremely important element for SEO and is seen by users on Search Engine Results Pages as well as in the visitor’s browser.  Keyword tags are not as important to search engines as they used to be, but they are a good practice because writing these tags will force you to define what your keywords are and will help you keep them in mind when writing content for your site.

3. Link Text – link text is another important element for SEO. Make sure you can easily create and edit links throughout the content of your site – including the navigational links visitors use to browse your site. Use relevant keywords in your links instead of generic words like “Click Here.”

The Non-profit that keeps on giving

Finally a non-profit with a unique marketing vision to help others!
“Kiva is the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world.”
Through Kiva, their partners (existing expert microfinance institutions) upload their entrepreneur profiles directly to the site so individuals can lend to them.

I found Kiva by reading an email article I received from PINK Magazine.
The story was so compelling I decided to visit Kiva.org to see for myself.
After just a few minutes on their site I was driven to act.
The following is the account of how simple it was to give.

There are many possible well deserving entrepreneurs to select from.

I selected an individual named Christiana Chukwu, from Nigeria.
The following is her story:

Christiana Chukwu, 50 years old and married with seven children, lives in Benin City with her family. She has sold provisions and a local gin called Ogogoro for several years, and now hopes to expand her business through a loan to purchase more provisions and gin to sell. Christiana says a big thank you to all Kiva lenders.
Loan request: $600.00
Repayment Term: 8 months
Loan Use: To purchase more local gin and provisions to sell

Within minutes I donated a small amount ad a day later I returned to the site and realized that she had received the full amount from additional loans.

Within a few weeks I received a surprising email stating that 85 percent of the loan had already been paid!
Well the story does not end there. The best part is that Kiva gives you the option to relend that money to another person in need or get your money back.
I’m sure you can guess what most people do.
So in the spirit of Christmas if, you are thinking of a unique gift to give a loved one, visit Kiva.org and send them a gift certificate. It will be the only gift that keeps on giving.

Happy Holidays!

Jennie Quimbita

Client News: Orange County Flight Center Launches New Website

We are very proud to announce that OCFlightcenter.com has been completed and launched. The goal of this website is to generate awareness of all the services offered under the OCFC umbrella – everything from flight training, aircraft rentals, aircraft sales and maintenance. All of these services exist under one roof in Orange County.

Q2 began with re-branding Orange County Flight Center’s print marketing materials and reinforced it online. The new site includes flash animations, a content management system to allow OCFC to manage the content throughout many sections of the website, integration with their scheduling software, integration with their email marketing software and search engine optimization.

Visit the new site at www.OCFlightCenter.com.

Poll: Social Networking

Just Do It

Is there a person on the planet who doesn’t know this tagline?

Consider it Exhibit A for why Nike – and every brand, company and product – needs a good tagline.

A tagline is the identifier that distinguishes you from the crowd.

It’s the single simplest bit of communication that succinctly tells people who you are, what you do, and what benefit you provide for them.

It’s the touchstone that defines your business – both for customers and for your internal staff. And adhering to it can keep a company’s efforts focused and always on track.

With so much riding on a tagline, it’s important to get it right from the get-go. Otherwise, your best efforts can be like building a house without a solid foundation.

Many people think anyone can write a tagline. But to be honest, I’ve been a creative director in marketing for years, and I still don’t believe my position gives me the license to write taglines. I work with experts for this.

Taglines are a work of art based on client communications, research, competitive analysis, talent, creativity and trained writing skills.

Good taglines are carefully crafted to work on several levels.

Here are some of the questions clients and writers have to consider when evaluating their taglines:

• Does the tagline successfully communicate your brand’s positioning statement (corporate vision, brand promise)?
• Does your tagline add value to the brand?
• Is it persuasive?
• Is it memorable?
• Is it clear?
• Does it have an attitude?
• Does it differentiate your brand from the competition’s?

If you’re marketing a product or service, consider the strength and value of a good tagline.

And if you’re thinking about writing your own, ask yourself this question: Is it better to have a targeted, expertly crafted tagline which resonates with your target market, or risk creating confusion in an already over-crowded market?

With a business fundamental this essential, I always recommend working with a pro.

Jennie Quimbita (JQ)

Help Reach 10 Million Clicks in September & Give An Additional 100 Mammograms!

4,583,124 CLICKS SO FAR. ONLY 13 DAYS LEFT!  

How You Can Help In Mere Seconds — Every Day

The Breast Cancer Site provides a feel-good way to help promote awareness of breast cancer and provide free mammograms for women in need every day — through easy and quick online activities.

With a simple, daily click of the pink “Click Here to Give – it’s FREE” button at The Breast Cancer Site, visitors help to provide free mammograms for women in need. Visitors pay nothing. Mammograms are provided by our charitable partners.

Please remember to click every day to fund free mammograms and give hope to women in need. Every click counts toward the goal of early detection, which allows for the best possible treatment options.

Visit: http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/ and start clicking today!  

You can sign up for a free daily reminder so you don’t forget.  Check out the links at the top if you want to help support Hunger, Child Health, Literacy, Rainforest or Animal Rescue also.  

 

About The Breast Cancer Site:

Your click on the “Click Here to Give – it’s FREE” button helps fund free mammograms for women in need — low-income, inner-city and minority women whose awareness of breast cancer and opportunity for help is often limited. Your click is paid for by site sponsors, and mammogram funding is provided to clinics throughout the U.S. through the efforts of the National Breast Cancer Foundation.