Something I've Seen2Many Times

Over the past five years we’ve built nearly 70 websites. Some have been from scratch, but many are conversions of sites that needed updating, a more modern look and feel, or to better reflect the shifting work our client is now doing.

 I remember one in particular where our client insisted over and over that the information on their current (dated) website would simply transfer over to the new design we were doing. No matter how often we asked, we got the same answer. They would not need new copy. When we showed them the new look and feel, they started reviewing the copy more closely. Suddenly there was a list of services they no longer performed and products they didn't sell. In fact, I recall they actually thought we had made up new content for their new site before realizing the same information was on their current (at the time) live site. It delayed the project by months and actually caused us to resort the new navigation.

 Most websites are designed with the thought that it will be updated every few years, so the old fashioned “refresh” is rather routine and happens regularly. I’ve noticed a pretty consistent pattern and it got me thinking it would be a wise nugget to share.

 Often our clients who are looking for that updated style simply want the current website’s copy to “move over” to the new look and feel. In spite of our prior suggestions to review their current website, the language on it ends up being dated or doesn't match how they currently conduct business.  

‍Improvement4Your Website Today

Clearly, it's critical to gather your leadership, a team of employees, or an outside marketing firm with whom you are aligned to review your site for copy and other critical details. Make sure now, while you are using it, that what is on there best aligns with your current work structure, mission, passions, and the way you want to do business.  

Websites are best served when they are reviewed at regular intervals, and when a variety of invested people have a hand in the overall content and direction.That way, when you are ready for that modern design, you have copy and all the other important elements in place that fit just right.

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When it comes to marketing for your business, monsters aren't the best advice-givers. In fact, their insights are quite terrible! When our monster-handling team at 5Points Creative heard about the Marketing Monsters "12 Holiday Marketing Mayhem Tips", we had to intervene (Don't worry, they're already on our naughty list.) In this blog, we'll address each Marketing Monsters senseless seasonal suggestion with what you really need to know about marketing. 

1.  Prospects Love Cold and Impersonal Communication

If Curfuzzler, the bad communication monster, had it his way, all communication would be cold and impersonal, leaving your target audience…well, curfuzzled. 

Creating festive and memorable communication starts with placing your target audience at the center of your messaging. Take the time to research and understand your customers' pain points. Consider their interests when creating personalized messaging, ya dig? Because at the end of the day, you're sending messages to a person. 

 2.  Keep Customers Entertained with Redundant Steps and Blockers 

Markler, the bad marketing monster, is notorious for sending customers through duplicate steps and complicated processes, which spoil their purchasing experience. 

Removing barriers in purchasing path of customers takes increases conversions and leaves a memorable experience. Start with customer journey mapping to understand and monitor each touchpoint. It is crucial to identify and fix areas of friction in a customer’s purchasing journey as quickly as possible.

 3.  Tracking Marketing Results is Overrated

Conversion pixels, traffic sources, open rates, event tracking...who needs it?! Digi, the bad digital marketing monster, thinks no one.

Taking the time to set up proper tracking, tagging, and reporting gives you and your team a clear view into what's working and where you need to pivot. While not all marketing technology speaks the same language, the more you can connect your systems, the cleaner the data will be that will help you quickly identify results. Tracking is not overrated – it's essential for your business's success.

4.  Keep Your Branding Interesting by Using Many Logo Variations

Brandon, the bad branding monster, thinks the more logo variations you have, the better. Keep prospects guessing; that's the fun stuff. 

While consistency is key, it's just as important to create branding that connects you to your customers and prospects. Beyond color section, font libraries, and logo marks, there is work to be done to home in on what will resonate most with your audience. Let's not keep them guessing; let’s keep them remembering. 

 5.  Website Optimization is Not Needed to Rank

SERP what? Keyword strategy? Meta huh? Skip all of that and just create a website for...you, says Digit.

We all want to rank number one in search results for our most important keywords. Yes, that sweet victory of winning the number one spot organically and without ad dollars. It feels good. 

It also takes time and patience. Website optimization is a long play that takes constant work. Beyond identifying the best ways to improve SEO, you must also consider how are visitors experiencing your content? In other words, don't always solve just for the search engine; consider how a visitor consumes your content.

 6.  Wing Content Creation;No One Will Know

Create content, and they will come, right? Post about yourself often on social media. Why make it about the user? Digit says yes to all of the above.

The truth is, content creation can be powerful if done correctly. We've said it before, and we'll say it again: place your audience at the center of any content you want to create. What are their pain points? Common questions? Interests? How does your business help? Starting with a strategy for your content can be the best blueprint to execute and reach your audience.

7.  A Website Is Good for 5+ Years

It's the investment that keeps on giving, even after the content is old and the UI/UX is outdated. Visitors will get used to it, so why make improvements? Digit sure does have a unique perspective on websites.

 Even if your products and services do not vary much, technology constantly changes. From web browsers to cookies tracking, the way we use technology changes almost daily. While you may still like the website you had built a few years ago, it could be causing more harm than good to your key performance indicators (KPIs). If you're not making regular improvements to your website over time (after all, once you launch a website, it's just the beginning of tweaking), you could be missing valuable connections with visitors. 

8.  Don't Define a Target Audience

The bigger the audience, the better! If Adders, the bad advertising monster, could send ads to every internet user, he would.

Depending on your end goal with advertising, sending the right message, to the right audience, at the right time constitutes the bulk of the ingredients to get right in the recipe of success. Often, building out multiple campaigns targeting very defined groups of audiences with specific messages can grow KPIs tremendously, while building awareness-specific campaigns is a different strategy. Taking the time to define whom you want to reach is a great place to start building out a strong ad campaign. 

9.  Stop Scheduling and Planning Your Marketing

You're wasting time if you plan out your marketing campaigns and content calendars. Markler says it's a lot of work for little return. Wing it; you'll keep your audience in suspense (or confused).

We've all been there. Time ticks faster when there's a big campaign to be built or the quarter is running out, and you need content ready to go for the next one. The truth is taking the time to strategize and plan out your marketing in advance isn't one and done. It gives you a guide to tweak as needed and gives your team the ability to work at their best.

10. Place Media According to Your Personal Taste

Adders only picks his favorite shows to run commercials (like the Extended Documentary of How Algae Form). If he sees the commercial, surely everyone else does too?

Placement of your advertising is just as important as timing. While there are a lot of great shows on TV, they may not be the best fit for your budget or goal. Take the time to plan out your advertising to reach the best audience at a cost-effective price.

11. Building Media Relationships Is a Waste of Time

You have better things to do than build relationships with the media. Besides, shouldn't they be making all of their time available for you? Adders thinks so.

Relationships can open up doors, but in this case, they open up channels that would be beneficial to your marketing goals. Connecting and speaking with media providers regularly is a good way to keep them up-to-date on your marketing goals and priorities. Many times, the best media buys are available because of those relationships and regular conversations. 

12. Blast Your Contact List with Emails Every Day

If they are a contact in the CRM, they are getting an email! That's how Digit rolls.

Like most marketing channels, if not used properly, email marketing can become less interesting to your contacts and, even worse, wind up on spam lists. Before pressing send on any email, ask these questions:

    What's the purpose of this email?

   Why should the recipient care?

    What action would we like them to take?

5Points Creative is a full-service marketing and advertising firm based in Roanoke, VA. Our team of professionals provides marketing, advertising, digital, branding, and communication to those with a story to tell.

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What Did We Use2Do with These?

Kitchens in the ’70s and ’80s had this appliance. It was a hit in suburban households for decades and an omnipresent part of the home back in the olden days.

How do most of us get along without the Trash Compactor now? It’s hard to say, but it’s been decades since the average home has been built with one of these contraptions – at least as far as I know anyway. Back then, the homeowner would put trash inside, close the door, and push the button. Boom. Boom. Boom. The pounding inside would smash the garbage into a smaller, more manageable amount. I’m not sure they were ever as useful as the appliance sellers would have wanted to admit. But when one family bought one, others seemed to follow suit. Soon, many homes had them.

Then they didn’t.

These days, you can find them in the marketplace, and they have their place. It’s just that they aren’t universally installed and certainly not too often in suburbia.

Make a Change Be4You’re Set to the Curb

Most of us have little or no use for a compactor these days. That isn’t to say there isn’t a market. For example, if you live in a high rise and can’t get your garbage out very easily or can’t dispose of it as often as you may like for some reason, a compactor may be just the kitchen appliance for you.

Compactor-sellers are like everyone else now. They must target the specific audiences they want to reach and tailor their messages to speak to those particular audiences.  It became pointless to promote a compactor to the masses – so they had to adjust. Now they go after the market that may have a natural inclination to be interested in their product.

Is what you’re selling relevant to the masses? Great. Take advantage of that AND pay attention to where your best market is so you can build your marketing to attract the interest of those people directly. That may be basic marketing, but it will help you whether trash compactors, avocado green, and laminated countertops from 1975 come back in style or not.

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Budgeting42022

A budget is a plan.

That’s all it should be.

Let’s be honest at the start of 2020 people were not calculating how to incorporate the adjustment that would come from a worldwide pandemic. No matter what type of industry in which you operate, there were far-reaching ramifications and everyone had to adjust. The budget situates you for success, growth, and should allow you to figure the best way to operate. It isn’t carved into rock though and thinking otherwise is an immature perspective.

Obviously, many companies have to report to shareholders. That means you must rely on a budget to show profit, exercise planning skills, and demonstrate you have a plan of addressing the next year (or quarter, or month).

Before I started this company, I was in media sales management for nearly 20 years and prospects would use their budget as a defensive weapon. “Sorry, Bruce, that isn’t in the budget this year.” Inside my various television stations, it was an offensive weapon. “Bruce, we need to see you generate a 9% increase so we can spend an extra $200,000 on the latest piece of TV technology.”

Regardless of how it was used, I would routinely hear from prospects (and then clients) things like, “well, we don’t have an actual budget.” Companies which employ a budget are a step ahead, and it’s a wise call – it allows you to delegate control to department heads, know where you are going, and demonstrate an ability to set a goal. Those are important benefits.

Apply This Concept2Help Your Business

Here’s the thing about a budget – you’d better be prepared to adjust and adapt.

The best ideas don’t always come to you in October for the following year. Have a plan, but be ready to adjust if a great idea comes in March and you think it will help you. If there is one thing I’ve learned as an entrepreneur over the last dozen years, it’s that you have to be ready when the right idea, person, or client comes along. Don’t make the mistake of using your budget as a shield – or as a crutch. Instead, be prepared.

The budget you set this month for next year is a tool. Use it wisely, but don’t use it exclusively.

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An Interesting Week4Me

About twenty years ago, in a city far from where my agency is located, I learned a valuable life lesson.

Gathered with me in an old room with dated furniture on a cloudy fall day were 12 people who I’d never met prior to that week. A few days before, we went through a tryout of sorts, and that was also a strange experience. I always wanted to be picked, so I put my best foot forward, answered their questions, and before I knew it, I’d been selected for a trial. That was bittersweet.

I’d been selected, but now I was on a jury. And it wasn’t any old jury. We were seated in a manslaughter trial that involved some local gangs and a lot of bad things. The trial went over three days, and we were given our instructions and sent to this room to meet, discuss what we saw, and deliver a verdict.

One of the first things the judge had told us was that we were not allowed to take notes – he didn’t want people swayed by others who had written things down – or so he said. We were also instructed to stay away from the media and any news coverage through the course of the trial. As far as I know, no one else had been on a jury for a manslaughter trial.

The Thing2Take Away from That Experience

At this point, you’d probably like to hear about the case, or maybe the verdict.

What I want to share was my shock that each person in that chilly, gray room saw something different and had a unique perspective. After a few days of testimony, rhetoric, and pictures, I remembered thinking everyone else saw what I saw and, in turn, would have the same opinion of what happened.

Instead, I pretty quickly realized that all 13 of us saw and experienced different things and had our own thoughts and opinions. To solve the mystery, it ended up as a hung jury, and I believe the whole thing started again. The reason I bring this experience up now all these years later is to encourage business leaders to check-in, ask, find out how your fellow leaders, employees, clients, and even prospects are doing. You may think things are going great, but those in our care often have a different opinion or a different outlook.

The only way to get to the bottom of where people are is to ask. Then listen. You may not like what you hear, but at least you’ll know. Different people see the same things differently.

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Gotten Used2Zoom Meetings?

From all accounts, Zoom calls are going to remain a part of the business day.

For years companies ran WebEx, Teams, and other video conference meetings, but it wasn’t until 2020 that we all started playing in that arena on a regular (read: daily, or even hourly) basis. That shift was startling to many and became routine to most in business over the past year or so. People dreaded Zoom calls, appreciated Zoom calls, and the phrase “Zoom Fatigue” even became a thing – like Athlete’s Foot, Tennis Elbow, or a crick in your neck.

As often as I was planted in front of my computer screen, it was natural my mind would start to wander. During the setup of my Zoom calls and in a few double-checking tests, I realized that what we see on our screen isn’t what others are witnessing on theirs. Your images are backwards to you but look right to the rest of the people on the call.

‍The Lessons4All of Us

It's odd to look at myself on a Zoom call from the viewers’ perspectives and not from my own. I noticed a few things:

• No one really likes how they look on Zoom.
• People can tell when you are paying attention or doing something else.
• Laptops give less flattering angles than desktops.
• We all look better than we think we do, so relax.
• How you help or support someone is way more important than how you look.

Beyond all of that, consider this shift in thinking.

Authentic and passionate care for others and what is happening with them in their situations is evident whether it is in real life, on the telephone, or on Zoom. No matter how the client looks on Zoom, trust me, there is more going on in their lives behind that camera. Keep that in mind as you work through your agenda and crowded day. It’s a good reminder that just like Zoom calls are now a part of the average office workday, paying attention to what others are seeing and going through is critical to business success.

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