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Plan Develop and Write – content workshop training

23 February, 2017/0 Comments/in Content Marketing /by Rebecca Caroe

There’s a training event run by The Online Academy coming up next Friday 3rd March in Auckland.

Learn more at The Online Business Academy – how to Plan, develop and Write content that will rock your brand.

We’re hiring – Marketing Assistant – Digital Marketing

20 February, 2017/0 Comments/in Marketing /by Rebecca Caroe

Marketing Assistant specialising in Digital Marketing and Copywriting.

Creative Agency Secrets provides digital marketing services for brands and businesses. We are a leading agency innovating with marketing techniques like social media, community building, direct response and advanced blogging.

Working with us you will learn how to run a website, ecommerce shop, blog, email marketing, database management and social media marketing.

This position is suited to an applicant with 1+ year experience in a similar role who wants to accelerate their learning and move up towards being a Marketing Manager.

An interest in the internet is essential and a marketing, communications, business studies degree is optional. Some prior knowledge of websites, blogs and online marketing is needed. Excellent written communication is required and a writing test in English will be part of the application.

Send your CV and one page describing an event you ran (party, event, gig, trip to the beach etc) what you did to market and promote it. Include a list of the tools and techniques you used, what worked and what didn’t work and the outcomes.

This is a full time job based at our Eden Terrace offices. Pay is from $40,000 per annum plus 20 days holiday.

Machine Learning Impact on the Future of Content and SEO

16 February, 2017/36 Comments/in Marketing /by Creative Agency Secrets Team

The age of Artificial Intelligence is here and it’s powering up the simplest things in our daily lives. In a nutshell, Machine Learning is the science of giving computers the ability to learn without being explicitly programmed. Kinda like showing it pictures of kittens until it creates enough patterns to identify another kitten by itself from new images. It’s very similar to how our human brains learn while we are kids. A few companies already have this type of technology running (and evolving by the second), like Facebook and Google. Every day we input more and more content online as check-ins at favourite restaurants, search queries for hotels for our next vacation, pictures with friends and peers. The list goes on.

Big Brother is watching and he can help sell your stuff

This is a bit of a futurology exercise, I know. But don’t get it confused with any supernatural nonsensery, I’m certainly not writing this article on an Ouija board. It’s pure (computer) science that you don’t have to understand completely, just harvest its potential.

Taking advantage of the massive quantity of data stored online is incredibly useful to pinpoint your target audience, facilitating conversions. Because we blindly “agreed to the terms and conditions” of most online services, social media platforms can freely record information and trace it back to your profile for future use. In a world where virtually everyone is connected 24/7, this is actually a cool thing from the marketing perspective (if you ignore the obvious user privacy issues of having every move tracked online).

Ever noticed how Facebook shows (mostly) spot on sponsored content on your timeline? By analysing everything you like and share, Facebook creates a detailed persona of each user to target ads in the best way possible. And it’s not only what you do on the platform, they can track your footprint in other websites thanks to their Facebook Pixel.

Machine Learning helps predict your client’s future actions

As you probably know, we humans are creatures of habit, which makes recording our behaviour a simple task to the machines. Knowing that, Amazon and Netflix have mastered how to give the best “related products” suggestions you can find online. Their state of the art database is taking advantage of Machine Learning to predict your next clicks offering highly tailored content. Forget one-size-fits-all. To thrive in the current market, companies must pay attention to User Experience like never before.

A simpler (and free) way to implement something a lot less fancy as that is two tools called Content Analytics and Heat Maps, both part of the SumoMe suite. They record data of how far down your readers are getting in your articles and what links are generating more clicks on your pages. With this information, you can make very good educated guesses regarding what’s working and what to change on your website. This is not the “machine learning” approach, but I felt it was worth mentioning.

Forget that “beep-boop” bullsh*t R2-D2 has been feeding us for decades

Artificial Intelligence is also being used to write texts without human supervision. For example, the biggest Wikipedia contributor, Sverker Johansson, with more than 2.7 million articles published, is actually using a bot called Lsjbot to create all content.

If you think it would be obvious to differentiate between human or computer generated articles, think again. According to a study from Karlstad University, Sweden, “the readers are not able to discern automated content from content written by a human“. The researchers used two sports articles (these tend to be more factual and analytical) one written by a journalist and another by a software previously called Statsheet (now called Wordsmith). Big media outlets as Los Angeles Times and Forbes already use similar technology as a base for some articles, with humans later improving the content before they hit publish.

And what if I told you that the previous paragraph wasn’t actually written by me, but by software?

Well, I would be lying.

But for one second you actually thought about the possibility, right? Welcome to the future.

Get creative, experiment, innovate

And how can you take advantage of this in your business? There are a few services (like the IBM Watson) that offer the power of “computer minds” to businesses.

One experiment that I believe is worth the try is applying “robot talk” to your images SEO. Using a free tool like Microsoft’s CaptionBot you can let their machines determine the Alt tag for your image in your website. With Google giving more autonomy to RankBrain and relying more upon machine learning to deliver the best search results, it’s not about how you describe an image anymore. It’s how the machines see it.

creative agency secrets seo-for-growth-event

SEO For Growth – Breakfast Training Event

8 February, 2017/0 Comments/in Marketing /by Creative Agency Secrets Team

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Here Are 3 Ways You Can Make It Easier For Customers to Find and Contact Your Small Business

5 February, 2017/0 Comments/in Marketing /by Rebecca Caroe

Low prices and stellar customer service will not make up for poor marketing. Though each industry is different, these tips are universal for entrepreneurs to make it easy for prospective customers to reach them.

Open Up the Lines of Communication

Even the greatest small business is only as successful as its ability to engage and communicate with prospective customers. Finding the best toll free number for business can be a great place to start. These are time-tested lines that allow for customization, ease of marketing, and a complimentary option for people trying to reach a company. In addition to a dedicated phone number, social media sites and applications are important places for a robust online presence. Many people now communicate almost exclusively through these channels, so being accessible and responsive here could result in new leads and loyal customers in the future.

Understand What Your Customers Demand

Each unique industry comes with its own demands and complexities. Beyond that, different regions have specific challenges impacting the ways in which business can be conducted. Perhaps the most important variable, however, involves what it is a company’s customers actually want. Through feedback, surveys, or some other metric, savvy entrepreneurs are constantly monitoring whether they are providing exactly the experience that their clientele is requesting. If one business falls short, those customers are sure to start shopping around for another option more closely aligned with their desires. Of course, it is impossible for any endeavor to please everyone at all times. Coming as close as possible to checking all the boxes, though, is a great way to remain in an advantageous position for the future.

Identify Key Industry Trends

Since tastes, technology, and much more are constantly evolving, it is vital for any business owner to know precisely what competitors can offer above and beyond the standard fare. Whatever the industry, there are likely multiple factors at play in any given time period. Make sure not to neglect any significant improvements in speed, quality, or cost. Maintaining the best product or service for the fairest price around are the quintessential standards of quality and long-lasting business model.
Much planning and research goes into launching any successful small business. As all entrepreneurs know, however, the hard work does not stop on opening day. Instead, new obstacles arise and must be cleared by those tasked with keeping the operation afloat. Remembering the three tips outlined above can take some of the guesswork out of this nonstop pursuit.

5 Ways to Boost Traffic to your Website

5 February, 2017/0 Comments/in Marketing /by Rebecca Caroe

You have a product or service, and create fantastic content, but you’re receiving no engagement. Without clients or consumers, your business will be stagnant. Boosting traffic to your website is the key to building a community and, ultimately, gaining new clients.

Don’t expect conversions overnight. You’ll need a solid and consistent marketing strategy to open the flow of traffic. There’s no single tactic that will be completely effective. Instead, multiple tactics, implemented together, will give you a significant influx of new viewers. These five strategies will increase your website engagement and help you build a loyal community.

1. Link-Building

Google loves links. Implementing quality links through-out your content will help it rank higher on search results. Also, if your website is linked via an external source, it will boost your rank on search and raise your authority as a site. It can take time to reach out to other online sources and convince them to link your website on their page. Consider using a link building service to do it for you and see a massive increase in relevant traffic to your site.

2. Use Social Media

Social Media is one of the most valuable marketing tools you have at your disposal. The best part is, it’s totally free and relatively straightforward to use. Connect with your target audience using social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.

Join Facebook groups in your niche and engage with the community. Don’t be spammy but offer up your website as a resource at appropriate times. You can use hashtags on Instagram to locate people who are interested in your product or service. Engage with them by following and liking their content, which will encourage them to check out yours as well.

3. Advertise

Using ad platforms is a great way to get your website in front of your target audience. Google Ads and Facebook Ads are both comprehensive platforms to launch your advertising from. You can choose which demographic you’d like to target, which will deliver a better return on investment. The ads will only appear to those people who are most likely to engage with your content and brand. Yes, you’ll need to spend a bit of money on advertising, but it’s a surefire way to boost your traffic quickly.

4. Use SEO

Optimizing your website and content for online search is essential to driving traffic your way. Search relevant keywords to determine what your target audience is searching for. Then, integrate them into your content so you’ll rank in search engines.

Use relevant keywords in headlines, subtitles, image descriptions, etc., to see the most benefit. SEO is a bit of a rabbit-hole, but learn the basics to make your content relevant to your niche.

5. Create an Engaging & User-Friendly Website

How many times have you arrived on a website that’s bland, confusing, word-heavy, etc. and left straight away? Design your website with your consumer in mind. It should be visually stimulating, with fonts that are easy to read, and have a balance of written and visual content. It should look attractive, organized, and represent your brand. Make sure it’s user-friendly and easy to navigate around. Confusion will lead your potential customer to click off the site as quickly as they clicked on.

Preparatory work for direct mail lowers costs

2 February, 2017/391 Comments/in B2B, B2C, Direct Marketing, Sales /by Rebecca Caroe

Direct mail is a highly effective marketing technique that delivers sales revenue in a short time frame.

Some direct mail is poorly conceived and so does not achieve its potential.

[WARNING – this is not always true].

Printed direct mail promoting a printer

I received three mailers from a printing firm which serve as a great example of a campaign that could have been much more effective with some pre-planning working with an expert in direct mail campaign structure such as us.

Direct Mail campaign structure

Using a mailing list of marketing agencies, three print pieces of DM were posted out.

The copy promoted “digital by nature” and a new world of digital printing.

The positives

Each card had a number to show where it came in the sequence
Each one showed different paper colours front and back
Each card had the print specifications for the front and back detailed which was cute
All print was beautifully executed
The 3rd card showed how to set up artwork to work with digital White Toner
The 4th card showed how to set up artwork to work with digital Clear Toner

The negatives

I did not receive the first card so the campaign opener was lost
My agency does not buy print or do graphic design, we are not a good prospect for this service
No landing page for the campaign on the website
When I first visited there wasn’t a mention of the campaign on the homepage, there is now.
This goes to a landing page which has the wrong link in the contact us button.
Wrong link – testing would have showed this up

How I would have improved the campaign

Combined telephone canvassing with direct mail
1. Checked the database by phone first asking one question “Do you design for print?”
2. This would have reduced the downstream print and mailing costs, focused the campaign
Published a landing page URL on the collateral
1. Tested all the links so the contact us URL was correct (it currently references the same page it’s on)
2. Included a “behind the scenes” video to show the inside track of the skill Valley Print used to create the mailers and the challenges they faced e.g. printing white on black for the envelope
Used a courier delivery not NZ Post to improve delivery success
1. This is particularly important for a posted print direct mail series
Followed up by phone with
1. an invitation to watch the video
2. stay in touch
3. subscribe to news updates
4. further qualify for future work opportunities
This would have built a mailing list, fully up to date and ready for in-house new business sales team to continue to work in the coming months
Planned follow up campaigns including more of the excellent tutorials for designers

Ready to talk direct mail with us?

Give us your challenge and let the creative team loose!

January website checks you MUST make

19 January, 2017/2 Comments/in Marketing /by Rebecca Caroe

It’s January – we are back from the Christmas break and many firms are still on a skeleton staff. Some are back full time – but we’re all filled with the pressures of a new year – new marketing plans, new services, new products.

For most of us, we’ve already forgotten the marketing we did in December. But we shouldn’t.

Because many websites are now inaccurate, out of date or just plain giving WRONG information.

Here’s a good example I called up today. I got their “out of hours” telephone answering recorded message. It is past the 9th January and nobody’s home…. cooeee…..

Company contact information is wrong

So if you have a holiday closure message on your website – get that fixed up and corrected pronto.

Copyright dates on website footers are another culprit. Some are obviously years out of date and others still say 2016

It doesn’t have to be this way!

Automate publishing

Post Expirator Plugin for WP

Website CMS systems mostly offer automation services which allow you to set future dates to un-publish pages and posts. Take a read of this explanation of how to “expire” a WordPress post using the WP Post Expirator plugin. Set a future date at which the post will stop being visible – you can choose whether to return to draft or to delete the post.

Use code to update dates

Here is the code to insert into your footer to ensure that the copyright year automatically rolls over on January 1st. Get it pasted into your website FAST.

<script type=”text/javascript”>

document.write(new Date().getFullYear());

</script>

Better marketing processes

Of course, fixing up your mistakes now is fine – but wouldn’t it be better to not have made them in the first place?

How about you set up reminders in your calendar to nudge you to manually remove or unpublish information?

Get those plugins and extensions installed so the work is done for you by machines.

Or pay an outsourced marketing consultant like Creative Agency Secrets to do it for you.

Happy new year – and if you’re in need of some marketing and new business year planning, come to our Auckland workshop on 26th January.

Why Whitespace Matters in Web Design

13 December, 2016/0 Comments/in Marketing /by Creative Agency Secrets Team

Your website is a valuable marketing asset.

So it makes sense to invest in its design to make it better for potential prospects. In fact, many of the largest companies pour a tremendous amount of resources into their websites. Because even a single design can have a dramatic impact on conversions and bounce rates.

But it is also important to remember that a simple design is key to driving conversion goals.

Cluttered designs with poorly contrasting colours only serve to confuse visitors. Your website design should be readable and easy to understand so that visitors have an intuitive sense of what to do next.

One way to create a more enjoyable browsing experience is to implement whitespace. The use of whitespace is perhaps one of the most important elements of web design. Yet there are still a countless number of websites that look like an infomercial with elements that bombard new visitors.

Here we look at whitespace in more detail and how this simple design principle can boost engagement on your pages.

What is Whitespace?

Whitespace refers to negative space, or the empty space between elements on a page such as images and text. In other words, whitespace is the portion on page that is not filled up. Although it is called “whitespace”, the empty space can actually be any colour such as black.

Perhaps the best example of whitespace is Google’s homepage:

Other businesses including Dropbox make ample use of whitespace on their sites:

Now contrast those two examples with this website:

It is not immediately clear what the business offers or what actions visitors should take.

Just with a simple comparison, the advantages of a clean design is immediately apparent. Whitespace may seem like a waste. But as we have seen, it can be used to great effect and keep visitors on the page longer. And this can ultimately mean the difference between exceeding sales goals or struggling to meet them.

Why Whitespace Matters

Whitespace is advantageous for the following reasons:

Improved legibility: Nothing is more frustrating than landing on page with text that is too small or with minimal line spacing. Improved legibility is one obvious benefit of whitespace. Just by adjusting line spacing and adding more space around images can help visitors better understand what they are reading. This is key to boosting engagement and reducing bounce rates.
Ability to highlight CTAs: Imagine if Google’s homepage was filled with links to other pages or other elements such as banners. Both would likely have a negative impact on the number of search queries, which is the last thing that Google would want. Making use of whitespace then is a great way to highlight call to actions and get visitors to take a single action.
Creates a lasting impression: There is a reason why some of the largest invest heavily in their website design. Because online users are quick to make impressions based on what they see. Whitespace is especially important as it adds a sense of elegance to your site.

Less is more as whitespace can really make a difference in terms of your website design.

A clean interface makes it easier for visitors to immediately grasp what a page is about and what actions to take next. The goal for any website is to keep visitors engaged and generate more sales or leads. Whitespace helps to achieve those objectives.

The use of ample whitespace is a basic web design principle that can dramatically improve your website performance in terms of conversions. So take a closer look at all the aspects of your website to identify how you can make your design simple and uncluttered.