Category: Personal Branding

7 Reasons Why Users Interface Design Plays An Important Role In Web Development

Steven on June 3, 2020

In today’s digital age, having a website is not an option anymore. Every business must have a website and maintain a healthy digital presence in order to attract prospects. When it comes to a business website, user experience is everything. If a user lands on your website and leaves with a bad taste in their mouths due to poor user experience, they will never return to your website again.

Similarly, if a user visits your website and gets a great user experience, they will surely return to your website. User interface of your website can make or break your website because it is what influences the user experience your website visitors will get. If you have not diverted all your energies and resources towards improving the user interface design during web development, your users will always get a below par user experience. As a website developer in New York, your main goal should be to make the user interface a joy to use for your users.

In this article, you will learn about seven reasons why user interface design plays a critical role in web development.

Clarify Brand Vision

Just like your brand vision, your target audience should be the focal point of your user interface design. When you design user interfaces with users in mind, you tend to create user interfaces that your users will love to use. It will also help you to refine your design and make changes based on user behavior and preferences. UI/UX design agencies here actively use this in their work.

In addition to this, design agency also clarifies your brand vision and gives you a better understanding of what your brand is all about and what you are offering to your customers. This will give a clear direction to your branding efforts and will increase your chances of your marketing campaigns to become successful. If you are lucky, you can also gain a competitive advantage over your competitors as well.

Improves Website Usability

To create stunning user interfaces, you need to develop a better understanding of your user preferences and behavior. Once you have done that, it will be easier for you as a web developer to provide them what they are looking for on your website. Moreover, this can also help you decide which features and functionality you should include and which ones to leave out from your website.

When users only get what they need, it will improve their user experience and make your website a pleasure to use. Take user input and feedback and tweak your website user interface from time to time. This will not only give a new look to your website but also sends a clear message to users that you value their input.

Enhance Customer Satisfaction

When you pay extra attention to website usability and improve the user experience of your website, it will directly impact customer satisfaction in a good way. When your website visitors are able to perform the action they want every time, they would surely keep coming back to your website for more because their customer satisfaction level is sky high. All you have to do is to maintain that customer satisfaction level by delivering a great website experience on a consistent basis. You will see a massive improvement in conversions and revenue while your website’s bounce rate will decrease drastically.

Make Website Navigation Easier

What are the main characteristics of great user interface? It is easy to use and has all the elements at familiar places so that the users don’t have to go looking for it. When users get what they are looking for instantly, they will stay on your website longer and explore other pages of your website. Make it easier for them to jump from one page of your website to another by placing a navigation button at a prominent spot where users can easily see and click on it. Avoid hidden and cascading navigation menus as it can hamper the user experience. Hamburger menus might work great for smaller screens such as smartphones but it might not be such a great choice for the desktop version of your website.

Deliver Seamless Experience

Nobody likes to wait, especially your website visitors. If your website takes ages to load and makes your website visitors wait before they can interact with your website, it will destroy the user experience of your website. Even when your website is loaded, make sure that it responds to user inputs instantly. There should be no lag or stutters. That is where website optimization comes into play.

Get rid of extras from your website to make it nimble so it can load up quickly and respond to user inputs without any delays. Use a content delivery network and minify code to improve the website speed. You can also compress multimedia files such as images and videos so they can load quickly even on slow internet connections.

Boost Conversions and Rankings

When users can easily get the information they are looking for and complete the desired action, you are more likely to convert them into paying customers. If you consistently deliver great user experiences, users will start trusting you and will start to show interest in doing business with you. With search engines like Google paying attention to user experience factors and ranking websites based on that, a website that delivers a better user experience will rank higher than a website that doesn’t.

Anticipate Customer Expectations

When users are the center of attention of all your user interfaces and a lot of research has gone into designing those user experiences, you can easily identify user behavior and preferences patterns. This enables you to anticipate their next move and fulfill customer expectations in a much better way than before. This way, you can make it easier for them to take the next step and convert prospects into paying customers.

How does user interface design impact web development in your opinion? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.

About the author

Usman A. Khan – Digital marketer at Branex – a website design company. He is a curious soul and spends his time learning and researching new subjects every day including – technology and website design. He regularly pours out his learnings as a blog on various platforms and wants to leave his mark on the digital landscape.

Personal Branding

8 Steps on How to Market Yourself as a Logo Designer

Steven on May 28, 2020

Every 2 of 3 successful businesses have their heart craving for “Marketing.” Success or failure of any industry – be it of a logo designer, content creator, clothing brand, or what so ever – highly depends on its marketing strategy!

Marketing starts when a brand introduces its product and promotes it to its potential customers. Without proper marketing, you could be having the best products available in the market, but no one will buy it because they would have never heard of it.

Importance of Marketing

Many companies and brands have been forced to shut down because of enormous losses, which only happened due to poor marketing. Following are some of the reasons to explain why marketing is vital for designers.

It gets your name out to the world and makes you famous.
It helps in boosting up levels of your sales.
It increases the reputation of your company.
It gives you healthy competition, which will never let your customers get bored of your brand.
It builds credibility and the right customer to brand relationship.

8 Tips to Market Yourself as a Logo Designer

In this world of designers and creators, marketing is the best way to take your name out in the world. It is the main element for growing your client base. But the question is how to figure it out. There are no ready-made tricks for getting your name out there in a blink, but sure there are some effective techniques to do so. Scroll below to read on the 8 tips on how to market yourself as a designer.

1. Define your Identity

To build a successful brand, the first and most crucial point is to know your own self. Define who you are and what is your identity. Define the type of work you could portray best. Which kind of industry would you target? These are the list of questions which will help you define your identity as a logo designer:-

What is the vision behind your brand?
Why must the audience choose you and not others?
What is nature (type) of your brand?
What are your specializations?
Who will be your ideal customers?
As a designer, what are your most active skills?
How are you going to describe your work?
How will you convince your clients?

The answers to these questions will define you and your work. It will let you have a clear and wholesome idea about your brand, its personality, and your targeted goals. Once you are done with making your identity as a logo designer, you are ready for the second step.

2. Create your Point of Difference (POD)

Before answering this question to your customers, first of all, you need to tell this answer to yourself. What sets you apart compared to the other logo designers in the market, why would the audience choose you? Once you get a clear answer in your mind, now show this to your targeted audience. Your point of difference will work as a critical stimulant to attract your audience. It will differentiate you from the other logo designers. The only reason why will a client choose you will be based on your point of difference, make sure that it is convincing enough that the client couldn’t turn away after looking at your profile. Make this strategy as the central part of your branding.

3. Be authentic

You must have heard it; honesty is always the best policy. Do not ever market something that you cannot do. Pretending to be an expert at designing iconic logo designs and not being able to deliver the best quality will hit you back as a doom. By plastering your profile with pictures of award-winning logo designs and giving your clients the most affordable logo designing packages is an excellent strategy to bring in customers, but failing at delivering the best quality work will mark you as a noncredible designer in your client’s eyes. Moreover, having bad reviews about your activities will end up failing your band eventually.

4. Build your audience

It is hard to build an audience when you start online logo design services. But always remember that success lies in inconsistency. Do not give up if, in the beginning, you are not gaining as many clients as you had expected, revise your brand strategy, give your business some time to build credibility, and never deliver anything less than 100%. Finally, wait and look at your brand’s growth!

Moreover, take advantage of social media and promote yourself. Look for connections on LinkedIn, follow the people on Instagram, invite people to like your Facebook page, and give and take shout outs every now and then. These are some really effective strategy and works 100%.

5. Start your very Own Design Blog

Starting your own blog is the best way to market yourself. Update your blog with snippets of your design every single day, add some personal projects, write about the services you can provide, talk about designing professional logo designs. This strategy will help you in maximizing your online presence; plus, it will give you exposure within your own industry. Cherry on top of your, clients will see you as an experienced and old pro logo designer. Check out sites of already established logo designers.

6. Master the follow-up

Delivering or posting about the best quality work is not just enough in this advanced era. Making an engaged social media account is more essential than starting the business. Once you have worked with a client, do not let them forget about you. Send the clients personalized notes, greeting, and emails about your promotions and discount offers. Just remember not to irritate them by spamming their email. Showing warm gestures like sending greetings will always make the client remember you and your work; plus, they will also refer your brand to others as well.

It is rightly said, don’t wait around for clients to get back to you. Create a balance between locating new leads and also engaging with past ones. Past customers are always great to re-approach. Since they have already worked with you, there will be fewer barriers to re-entry. Try to get in touch with the customers with whom people you have not heard from in a long while and look if they have any upcoming projects. Do not feel reluctant to ask for referrals, as your clients must be knowing similar businesses and will be happy to recommend you if you have impressed them with your work.

7. Harvest client testimonials

Another of the best marketing technique to get a good number of clients is by showing testimonials to your targeted audience. Ask your clients to write about their great experience they have had while working with you, show their affidavits to the world. Just ask your clients to make a simple tweet or post a Facebook status, even as little as this would be enough.

8. Don’t forget to market yourself offline

Finally, the last one, marketing, is not just done online; for logo designers marketing your work offline is equally important. You can always arrange meetups, conferences, workshops and industry events. These are the great opportunities to meet other professionals and get your name out in the market.

Conclusion

“Good content isn’t about good storytelling. It’s about telling a true story well.” – Ann Handley

It is never enough to be only good at something; being ‘good’ won’t attract clients. Marketing is equally important or perhaps even more important than the work itself. Unless you won’t tell the world out there about your expertise how will they know it! Many designers are very confident about their skills, but when it comes to establishing and promoting them, they get jitters. Yes, there is no easy way of promoting yourself as a logo designer, but with consistency and hard work, you can achieve all you have dreamt about.

Good Luck!

Personal Branding

Why Retention Marketing Is the Ultimate Growth Strategy

Steven on May 15, 2020

What keeps a business going is its solid base of consumers that are loyal to its products and services. Although the purpose of promoting your brand is to widen the reach of your business by acquiring new customers, focusing on the consumers that already patronize your brand is quite profitable too. This business strategy is called retention marketing, which gives special attention to an existing consumer base.

What is Retention Marketing?

Growth in business is often perceived as the expansion of your audience. But the philosophy of retention marketing underlines the importance of building a solid connection with your existing base to make sure that you are consistently profiting off their patronage.

While customer acquisition focuses on getting new people to buy your products, retention marketing makes sure that these new customers, together with your past buyers, come to you for their subsequent purchases. This is the reason why retention marketing is a very powerful business growth strategy for small and big companies alike.

To enhance your retention marketing plans, you can even dive into your existing audience’s intent in browsing the Internet. Referring to this search intent guide can help you understand what your consumers search for and why. By knowing what types of things they search related to your industry, you can effectively address their needs and solve their problems.

There are a lot of marketing strategies out there that will boost business growth, and retention marketing is just one of them. But it’s good for your brand to employ many different strategies to reap more benefits.

Powerful Retention Marketing Strategies to Catalyze Business Growth

Retention marketing is proven to reap profits and ROI, but not everyone’s familiar with this strategy. If you’re just hearing about retention marketing now, don’t fret! Here are a few retention marketing strategies to start you off on your journey to maximizing your loyal customer base.

1. Foster an open and approachable brand community

Photo courtesy of Retha Ferguson via Pexels

One of the most basic customer retention strategies is to build a brand community for your consumers. A community is a place, virtual or physical, wherein people come together because of their shared experiences and beliefs.

Having a brand community gives business owners and consumers the platform to converse with like-minded people connected by loyalty to your brand. This sense of belonging to a community will strengthen their ties to your products, which will translate into repeated sales in the long run.

2. Regularly ask feedback from your customers

Photo courtesy of Startup Stock Photos via Pexels

Another retention marketing strategy is to collect feedback from customers. Whether in the form of formal surveys or through online threads, garnering comments from consumers can help you relate with them.

This will help you perceive why they choose your brand over others, or why they don’t. Data from this feedback will augment your overall marketing campaign assessment. Asking your market what they like or dislike about your product is one way to know how to improve your service and retain customers.

3. Invest in corporate social responsibility activities

Photo courtesy of Perry Grone via Unsplash

Corporate social responsibility is not just about staying true to your brand’s values and helping the less fortunate. It’s also a compelling reason for your customers to remain loyal to you.

A study done at the University of Valencia in Spain discussed the effects of corporate social responsibility on consumer brand loyalty. The findings indicated that customers appreciated the brand’s social awareness and these brought on positive perceptions of the brand.

4. Offer premium subscriptions or memberships to encourage loyalty

Photo courtesy of Artem Beliaikin via Pexels

Another popular retention marketing strategy is to provide subscriptions or memberships to your brand. It’s a good way to update your consumer base about new products or services. In addition to that, provide exclusive offers in their subscription or membership to encourage them to get these promotions.

Subscriptions and memberships don’t have to be paid. “You can produce a newsletter that

regularly delivers news and trends to your subscribers. Make sure your content is original and relevant to your customers, so they’ll be likely to maintain the subscription to your updates and retain loyalty to your business”, says Marie Fincher, a Head on Content at TrustMyPaper.

5. Provide generous regular discounts

Photo courtesy of Negative Space via Pexels

What any consumer likes the most are some discounts, promotions, and free offers.. Reward your loyal customers by providing them with generous price slashes. You can use this tactic to conduct clearance sales or to sell products that don’t usually do well with the consumers.

You can give loyalty to member discounts or seasonal discounts, depending on the business goals you want to achieve alongside customer retention. Regularly update your customers about these promos to encourage them to buy from your business.

6. Set yourself apart from competitors

Photo courtesy of Markus Spiske via Pexels

Standing out in the industry is one way to maintain customer loyalty. This doesn’t need to mean that you take jabs at your competitors through advertising. You can set yourself apart from the competition just by producing content and products that stay true to your businesses’ values and vision.

You can also do this by extending efficient customer service to your consumers. Make sure that as much as possible you address their concerns and grievances. You will foster customer loyalty when you focus on improving your consumers’ experience with your products.

7. Maximize customer testimonials

Photo courtesy of Moose Photos via Pexels

When you provide excellent customer service and your products are of high quality, you can expect positive feedback from customers. Whether in the form of product reviews or comments on your social media posts, these testimonials are invaluable.

Collect these testimonials together and publish them to let others know how much your consumers trust you. In the process, thank your customers for their kind feedback to strengthen your connection with them.

8. Build a learning environment for your consumers

Photo courtesy of Christina Morillo via Pexels

Customer retention can also be fostered around a learning environment. Provide your consumers with new and relevant content about your products and the industry. This will make you a valuable source of information for your customers.

You can also give them free how-tos and listicles to improve their skills. This will encourage them to patronize your content consistently, and in turn, purchase from your business instead of your competitors.

9. Take complaints seriously

Photo courtesy of Daria Shevtsova via Pexels

Aside from taking note of general feedback about your products, you should also be on the lookout for customer complaints. These are very important comments about your brand that should not be taken lightly. If you take these complaints seriously and address the senders immediately, you will showcase your business’s integrity.

You can avoid losing customers when you address complaints as soon as possible. Unsatisfied customers are likely to patronize another brand, so if you want to retain your audience, you should learn how to prioritize addressing their complaints instead of just underpinning the positive feedback you get.

10. Be transparent about mistakes

Photo courtesy of Suzy Hazelwood via Pexels

Finally, customers stay loyal to brands that own up to their mistakes. When you fall short of customer expectations, say you delivered unsatisfactory products or responded to complaints late, you should not hesitate to apologize.

You’ll lose customers if you choose to ignore your mistakes. Your customers will want to hold you accountable for failing to provide good service. If you fail to responsibly address these concerns, you risk losing them.

To effectively manage any retention marketing strategy, you should first study your audience thoroughly. You can start by using data-driven strategies to collate data about the people who always purchase from your business. Here, you’ll know who your most loyal customers are, which will help you narrow down your target for your retention strategies.

Connecting with your consumers should not stop with just the sale of your products. In the same breath, maintaining consumers should not just be about having them buy products from you again and again. Retention marketing will bolster business growth only if it’s based on a deep understanding of your customers.

You should strive to build a connection with them that will eventually turn into consumer loyalty. Loyal customers are easier to retain, and they are also more likely to recommend your business to family and friends, increasing your loyal customer base.

Digital Branding Personal Branding

6 Things To Consider When Making Your Own Brand

Steven on May 13, 2020

Creating your own brand when building a business is essential to its overall success. A recognized loved and eye-catching brand will help you stand out from the crowd and become relevant amongst your target audience. When generating your brand it is of the utmost importance to ensure that you both have your customers in mind as well as being able to illustrate your business’s brand clearly and effectively. If you are competing in the same field or niche as other more established brands, setting yourself apart from the rest is vital. It is the number one killer to the impact you make on the market if you appear as just the same run of the mill brand. Identifying what makes your brand unique and using that to your advantage will benefit you and your business exponentially. The creation of an incredible brand will allow you to attract potential customers effortlessly while establishing a reputation and relevancy amongst your demographic. Successful branding is also imperative to presenting your clientele with a high standard experience from the get-go and set yourself up for making a great impression from the very first interaction with your business.

This article will provide you with a detailed list of incredible advice and insights to give you the confidence you need towards successfully creating your brand. Arming yourself with as much knowledge and understanding as possible is essential to effectively achieve your goals.
Here are 6 Things To Consider When Making Your Own Brand:

1. Create An Eye-Catching Logo

The first element to consider when establishing your brand and type of experience you want to get across quickly to your audience is creating eye-catching Logos Brisbane. Do not be afraid to think outside the box and let your personality shine through when generating your logo. This will be your identifier when customers interact with your brand. This will be the first, stand out feature of your business and it is essential to ensure you are creating one that is noticeable, recognizable, and aligns with your brand’s voice.

2. Establish Your Brand’s Vision

Establishing your brand’s vision is another vital element in creating your overall brand. How do you want your brand to be perceived by potential customers? Crafting a clear vision about what your brand is passionate about and what you can provide your customers with that others can not. If you believe in your business and what you are all about, the likelihood of your target market following suit and believing in your vision and brand, skyrockets.

3. Determine Your Brand’s Voice

Along with establishing your brand’s vision is it imperative that you determine your brand’s voice. Do you want to communicate in a professional manner, more casual, friendly and inviting, technical, conversational, etc? There are so many ways you are able to get your message across and present your brand and this is important to determine an action from the get-go to maintain your brand’s consistency.

4. Consistency

This brings us to our next important element to consider when building your own brand – consistency! Consistency is key when it comes to creating a solid brand that customers can rely on. Once you have made up your mind when it comes to how your brand sounds, is viewed, and captures its audience it is important to follow through and align your brand’s ‘feel’ consistently across the board. When your business comes across as though it is all over the place and your communication style does not align with your brand type, it can present as confusing and noncohesive. Consistency provides a level of comfort and professionalism to your demographic.

5. Research Competitors

Unless no one else in the entire world provides anything similar to the products or services you are offering it is essential to your success to ensure you research your direct and indirect competitors. Although standing out and being unique is vital it is also extremely beneficial to see how other successful brands are dominating the market to provide a level of guidance.

6. Identify Demographic

One of the most important initial steps of building a successful brand is to identify your target market, audience and demographics. This will help you greatly in achieving the above-stated objectives and align your brand’s attractiveness to your potential customers. This will also help you establish your brand’s logo, voice, and overall experience.

About the author

Kelly Wilson is an experienced and skilled Business Consultant and Financial advisor in the USA. She helps clients both personal and professional in long-term wealth building plans. During her spare time, she loves to write on Business, Finance, Marketing, Social Media. She loves to share her knowledge and Experts tips with her readers.

Legal Branding Personal Branding

Check Out The Top Grill Covers Of 2020 Before Finalizing Your Decision

Steven on May 12, 2020

You have worked really hard to set a budget and finally purchase the finest grill of your choice. But, that is not the end of story. Once you are done with the grill, it is time for the covers to go with it. As a grill is one big investment, you can’t simply get any cover for it or just leave it un-guard when not in use. Well, for the best grill covers, thorough research is a must. Just run down through all the cover manufacturing companies and come across the best one that seems to be attracting you the most. Listed below are the top covers for your grill in 2020. Go through all the available options before making the final call covered.

The Abba Patio Grill cover outdoor

The Abba Patio is a decent outdoor cover for your grill, available within a reasonable rate. It comes with higher quality built with the help of premium fabric. The item remains fairly large and it just measures at 53 inches right in its length and 45 inches in height, which can easily fit the standard grills with ease. Just to make the item a little bit resilient, it is manufactured using polyester material, known to be fore-resistant. It can further resist mold formation. Just use a wet wipe to clean the item. As the fabric is quite thin, it can be folded into small parts very easily and can be stored anywhere.

Kingkong 7553 / 7107 grill cover

Whether you are looking for the Kingkong 7553 or the 7107 option, both are known for their desirable strength and long lasting option. These covers are just perfect for Weber Genesis E and S Series grill. Known for their high quality, these covers are practically made out of vinyl to make the item water resistant. It is also UV and crack-resistant and will safeguard your grill from those harsh weather conditions.

Waterproof grill cover from Sun Patio

Sun Patio is the perfect example of BBQ or grill cover manufacturer, known to present some of the waterproof and heavy duty items. It can cover 65 inches of item, making it a perfect cover for outdoor gas grill. The item happens to be fade resistant as well. So, even after placing the cover under the sun for long hours, the color will remain intact and won’t fade.

FadeSafe Grill Cover

If you are looking for a cover with nice built and can fit sizes up to 58 inches, then FadeSafe Grill Cover is the one for you to watch out for. The best part is its lifetime warranty from the maker! So, if anything happens, the experts are there to cover it for you. It is made using the fade resistant dyed fabric from Montlake, for enhancing durability.

Apart from the options mentioned above, you have some other items under the grill cover right now. Those are BBQ grill cover from Unicook, Texas gas grill cover, and more. Always check out the available options before making the final call.

Sketch the essential thought of the Cover:

Make a point to just picture out the state of gas or charcoal barbecue first. Despite the fact that you are probably going to gauge the measurements later, getting a fundamental barbecue picture will assist you with going over the correct size, alongside its state.

You can additionally quantify the tallness of the flame broil directly from top to ground in its inches, which will incorporate the stature of the stack for the smoker-type barbecue.
Now, by holding the tape, begin to quantify only one size from the back of the flame broil to front handle and that is your width you have to center at.
Don’t neglect to quantify the length from edge of one side to another, which will incorporate the side burners and the racks also, assuming any.
Now, the time has come to search for fronts of a similar size or only an inch or two bigger than the component of your flame broil.
It is presently time to look at the representation of the bundle, just to guarantee that the size of the cover matches that of your barbecue. For the flame broils with burners or retires on the two sides, the cover will be fit as a fiddle.

Legal Branding Personal Branding

5 Ways Fitness Businesses Can Benefit From Using Chatbots

Steven on May 12, 2020

One way fitness companies can improve their business is by communicating with customers online. Here is how these businesses can benefit from using chatbots.

67% of customers have gotten support from a chatbot over the past 12 months. Is your fitness business missing out?

Running your own fitness studio can be tough, but what if there was a way to increase your clientele and also help them reach their exercise goals faster? Thanks to the benefit of using chatbots, you can.

Read on to learn the top five ways that chatbots can help your business, and why you should get started today.

1. Improve Your Customer Service

With the help of chatbots, you can improve customer support by replying to customers instantly. Chatbots reply as soon as a client sends you a message, even out of hours.

Do clients frequently have questions about their membership plans, need to cancel a class, or need to make a change to their account? Instead of having to call or email, they can get customer service right away, with the help of chatbots.

2. Reach More Clients At Once

It would be great to train many clients as well, but your personal trainers only have so much time in the day. What if you could train hundreds of clients as well, taking into account their weight, BMI, and background?

With chatbots, you can. Instead of limiting your reach to a handful of clients, you can scale your reach and help hundreds of clients at the same time.

Create workouts and nutrition suggestions, based on their personal data, allowing your clients access to fitness services easily.

3. It’s Convenient

One of the important chatbot features is that they work on the platforms your clients are already using. This includes Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Slack.

There’s no need to download additional apps, taking up space on your phone, when chatbots work perfectly with the platforms you’re already using.

4. Keep Clients Motivated

We can all struggle from time to time with motivation, especially when it comes to working out. Chatbots are great for providing daily motivation and encouragement.

Clients can ask the chatbot for motivation whenever they need it. Not only that, but chatbots can provide accountability, acting as virtual workout buddies.

Chatbots speak in a warm, conversational manner as if you were speaking to a friend or coach.

To help your clients achieve their goals, create a schedule template of workouts that they can do with their chatbot.

5. Help Clients Any Time of the Day

You likely run your fitness business to set hours, but what if clients have questions or need advice when you’re not online or in the office? Or, what if you have clients across multiple time zones?

Chatbots work 24/7 and aren’t limited to business hours. Your clients will love the peace of mind of knowing they can get support anytime they need it, such as before an early morning run or late-night workout.

Can Your Fitness Business Benefit From Using Chatbots?

Now that you have a better understanding, do you think your business can benefit from using chatbots?

For most fitness businesses, the answer is yes! They can help you help your customers in a whole new way, increasing client satisfaction and minimizing your administration.

Get started with chatbots today and start enjoying the advantages they can bring.

Was this helpful? If so, please read through some of our other content.

Digital Branding Personal Branding

A Quick Guide to Branding Your Small Business

Steven on April 24, 2020

When it comes to the success of your company, the branding decisions you make are vital. Many businesses make the mistake of dismissing image building as a waste of time or a needless expense, but this aspect of planning can actually mean the difference between success and failure. We understand that a proper branding campaign will cost and you shouldn’t try to do it on the cheap. There are certain ways to release funds for this purpose, such as refinancing student loans or property. Refinancing your student loans will leave you with one consolidated loan with a new payment schedule and interest rate. You may even save money, as the interest rates are normally lower. Whatever way you get access to funding, the investment you make in your branding will pay its dividends. So how do you start branding your small business? In this article, we’ll cover some top tips to cement your company’s identity, making it immediately recognizable.

Logo Design

Every company needs a logo, no matter how complex or simple. If your brand name is longer, consider using an unfussy image or icon alongside it that is easy to remember. If it’s short and concise, you might simply present it in a certain eye-catching font. Try to make sure that your logo can be easily seen and recognized when presented in postage stamp size and held at arm’s length. You should also take care that it can’t be mistaken for another brand’s imagery and that the font you use doesn’t have connotations of the wrong industry. It’s definitely worth spending a little money on professional logo design. This practice is both an art and a science and always benefits from an expert touch.

Colors

Most companies restrict the palettes of their logos, web design and stationery to just two or three basic colors and then repeat those brand-wide. Try to restrict your use of color to just a few hues to make sure your look is cohesive and can be easily ingrained into a customer’s memory.

Tone of Voice

Think about your audience. Consider how they might speak and how they would like to be spoken to. This will help you to decide on your brand’s tone of voice. To some degree, this will be dictated by the industry you serve. The tech, medical, and law sectors tend to use language that inspires trust and displays a level of authority. The fashion and entertainment industries have a little more flexibility, enabling them to use fun, quirky terminology if required. You should also consider the level of product or service knowledge held by your average user. In most cases, it’s best to stick to layman’s terms, keeping things simple without over-explaining or condescending. Try to think of a range of preferred words and pieces of terminology for your brand and consider banning certain phrases if they give the wrong impression. Be careful to double check all spelling and grammar to ensure an air of professionalism.

Product Range or Service Specification

The best brands specialize in just a few areas and do it extremely well. Try to limit your offerings to just a few recognizable products or services, as this tends to give a greater impression of quality and expertise and will help to make sure what you offer is instantly recognizable.

Digital Branding Personal Branding

Start-Up Business: Turning Your App Idea into a Business

Steven on April 23, 2020

Coming up with novel ideas is something we’re all capable of. Everything single one of us has woken up in the middle of the night or sat up straight in the bathtub with a lightbulb flashing over our heads, marveling in wonder at how brilliant our imaginations are, and how great we are at dreaming up new ideas and concepts. This, in itself, is nothing particularly special. What is special, however, is finding the resources, energy, and motivation to transform those ideas into something real, tangible, and – perhaps most importantly – profitable.

If you’re able to take these next steps with your mobile app ideas, then you’ll quickly make yourself stand out from the crowd… and the vast majority of ideas never making past the initial stages.

Taking Steps to Mobile App Success

Why do so many mobile apps never get transformed into businesses? Well, there is no shortage of reasons why this is the case. However, perhaps top of the (rather long) list is the undeniable fact that making mobile apps work as businesses is something that takes real-time, real effort, and real planning and validation.

Thankfully, there are plenty of steps mobile app developers and budding business people can take in order to help their ideas progress, and in order to gain success from the very earliest stages of development. In this blog, we’re going to look at some of the absolute essential actions you should be taking if you want to see your mobile app business take off… and they’re a lot simpler and easier than you might expect. Remember, these aren’t absolutely foolproof hacks for success, but they will establish good practices, and they lay the foundations on which mobile app business success can be built.

Identify Your Audience

Knowing your target audience isn’t just essential for mobile app businesses, it’s a key part of launching any business. It’s all too tempting to say ‘my app is for everybody’ – this isn’t going to get you anywhere.

If anything, you need to be narrowing down your target audience as much as you can, and identifying the key criteria which set your ideal market apart from others. Once you know exactly the type of people your app is for (and we mean age bracket, income level, job status, lifestyle, etc, etc, etc), you can start tailoring everything from your marketing efforts to your app design to appeal directly to them.

Research Your Competition

Once you’ve figured out who your app is for, and you know exactly what your app does and why it does it, the time will come to really check out the competition. Unless your idea is something completely novel and unique, there will be other apps out there offering very similar or identical solutions; your job is to research what difficulties they overcame, what their audience loves and dislikes about their app, and how you can take the concept one step further.

Clearly Define What Your App Is

Apps come in all shapes and sizes, styles, and uses, and the market can be massively confusing for those seeking solutions for their mobile devices. Your job is to define your app as clearly as possible: make sure that, from the very first moment, your audience can identify exactly what your app does, who your app is for, and how your app can make a positive difference. For example, you are developing an app for tracking calories, you might want to define the benefits of tracking calories and who can benefit from using the app.

This will help with everything from your listing on the App Store etc, to the way your app is marketed and used.

Carefully Consider Branding

Make no mistake: branding is of the utmost importance when it comes to your app business, as this will define how your app will be seen and received on the marketplace, and it will create that all-important first impression among countless competitors and distractions.

There’s plenty of information out there on the net regarding which colors communicate which ideas, and how logos, emblems, and slogans can make a difference, and we’d encourage you to spend some time getting used to the way branding can be key to getting your message out there. At some point, as your plans grow and start to become finalized, you’ll most likely need to start delegating certain tasks. Bringing in a branding or marketing expert and a copywriter could be one of the best decisions you make unless you’re confident you have the time and objectivity to really make it work by yourself.

Get It Out There

Once you’ve put the time in following the above steps (and believe us, this is far from an exhaustive list as you’ll also need to assemble a team of dedicated partners, and spend time costing your business venture), you’ll be ready to launch. While this is an exciting time, it’s also a period that requires plenty of preparation in order to get the most lucrative results.

You know the nature of your app better than anybody, so you’ll hopefully have a clearer idea of how to launch and what the launch will need. A website and some key social media platforms are surely essential, and most apps nowadays come with mailing lists and preview lists, too. Sites like the beta list can help you identify and target early adopters and influencers, and if your app has local appeal, then events, happenings, and parties might be appropriate, too. No matter how you approach your launch, your goal should be the same: to get people talking about your app, using it, and having the best possible experience with it. If your launch manages to do this while drumming up excitement, then you’re onto a winner.

Well, there you have it – Messapp’s guide to turning those ideas into a reality and making your mobile app ideas into a business that works for you. We’re specialists in mobile app development with years of top-level experience, and we’re confident we can assist you in making your concepts fly. Get in touch today to speak to a member of our team; it’s the first step towards success.

About the Author

Though a lawyer by trade, Vasily Malyshev found his passion for mobile tech, self-taught design, and development. He is the founder of Messapps, one of the top New York app development companies. Today, in addition to working with Messapps, Vasily is also teaching app development and marketing at New York University and regularly invests in other tech startups.

Legal Branding Personal Branding

4 Strategies to Grow Your D2C Brand

Steven on April 21, 2020

It’s estimated that direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand sales will reach $17.75 billion in 2020 — an increase of almost 25% from last year.

The COVID-19 crisis might have something to do with that. But even though the virus has caused an overall upswing in online shopping, this isn’t necessarily the case across all product types. Most people today are buying must-have items, rather than nice-to-have products and services.

Brands that sell directly to consumers, and especially those that fall under the nonessential category, face a difficult future. For instance, health and safety products, as well as digital streaming services, have seen increased demand — but fashion and apparel sellers are experiencing significant losses.

Some D2C companies will undoubtedly fail. But many will survive. For those that do weather the storm, survival will depend heavily on using the right marketing tactics.

Here are four tried-and-tested strategies to help you secure and grow your D2C brand, even during the COVID-19 pandemic.

1. Social Media Marketing

For a majority of D2C brands, social media is the most effective channel for online customer acquisition. Considering that more than half of all social media users use social media to research products, that kind of makes sense.

But as a brand, being active on social media isn’t enough to attract and retain customers. You also need to have a clear strategy — preferably one that doesn’t rely solely on promotional posts and ads.

Almost 80% of customers won’t hesitate to unfollow a brand that bombards them with sales pitches. And over 50% of consumers will unfollow a brand that shares irrelevant content.

So, what do customers want to see from brands they follow on social media?

Engaging, informative, micro-focused content that’s also timely, says Matt Seltzer, a market research and strategy consultant at S2 Research. Seltzer recommends looking at Wendy’s and Arby’s, two successful fast food D2C brands, for inspiration on how to stay top-of-mind with consumers via social media.

One of their keys to success? Creating and sharing social media video content to capture customer attention. If you’re not sure why video is such a powerful medium for D2C brands and social media marketing, consider that over 70% of customers prefer to learn about a product or service through video.

2. Personalized Shopping Experience

The average American customer is exposed to between 4,000 and 10,000 ads per day (up from about 500 ads per day in the 1970s). To protect their sanity, most people have learned to ignore the vast majority of ads and focus only on the stimuli most relevant to them.

That might seem like bad news for marketers. In reality, however, reaching your customers isn’t any more difficult than it was 50 years ago — as long as you invest in personalization.

Consumers crave customized experiences. As many as 80% of customers are more likely to buy from brands that provide personalized shopping experiences. And 71% feel frustrated when a shopping experience isn’t personalized.

A further 70% of customers say they’d even let retailers track their shopping behavior if it resulted in an improved shopping experience.

Regardless of whether you’re creating website content, placing a social media ad, or sending an email campaign, make sure that your message speaks to each of your customers on an individual level (tip: omnichannel analytics might help).

3. Influencer Partnerships

If you’re not yet working with social media influencers (individuals with a considerable following in a specific niche), you’re not only missing out, but you’re also a minority.

More than 9 out of 10 marketers today use influencer marketing — and for good reason. For every $1 that brands invest in influencer marketing, they generate an average return of $18 in publicity value.

How is that possible? People really do follow influencer suggestions and behavior. Nearly 50% of consumers say they rely on influencer recommendations to help them make purchasing decisions. Moreover, 8 out of 10 customers have bought a product or a service after seeing it recommended by an influencer.

Yes, influencer marketing is undoubtedly powerful; but it needs to be handled thoughtfully. As more brands rush to secure deals with influencers, there’s a risk of oversaturating social platforms with sponsored content and reviews — which could actually reduce consumer trust in influencers.

The trick is to find the right influencers for your brand, rather than partnering with anyone and everyone with an audience. Your ideal influencers are those who speak to the same audience as your brand. Their followers are most likely to have a genuine interest in your product or service.

Finding influencers who are the right fit for your marketing campaigns isn’t easy. But it’s worth it, especially for D2C brands. D2C shoppers are almost three times more likely than traditional shoppers to admit that influencers and celebrities sway their perception of a brand.

4. User-Generated Content

Like influencer marketing, user-generated content (UGC) can also be a powerful tool in your digital marketing arsenal.

In fact, UGC is actually almost 10 times as impactful as influencer marketing. Unlike influencer content, which is usually paid for by a brand, UGC is a genuine expression of customer appreciation — and is, therefore, more trustworthy.

One D2C brand that has nailed user-generated marketing is Chewy, a pet supply store.

“Chewy’s branding on their boxes and the concept of your pets getting food and treats in the mail every month translates perfectly into excited pet photos and videos on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram,” says Boone Clemmons, Chief Strategy Officer at Brandwagon LLC. “There are also a large number of posts where pets excitedly open their Chewy box, as well as many posts of tired cats and dogs using their Chewy boxes as beds.”

So, how can you follow Chewy’s lead and get customers to post UGC about your brand? Oftentimes, it’s just a matter of asking! For example, over 60% of consumers say they would post about good health or beauty product experience on social media.

By encouraging consumers to share the photos and videos they create, you can inspire them to engage with your brand and produce authentic content that will lead to a larger audience and pool of customers.

Final Thoughts

With most retail stores closed and consumers under lockdown at home, e-commerce sales are booming. According to ACI Worldwide, many online retail sectors experienced a 74% increase in sales in March 2019 compared to March 2018. Also, nearly 10% of U.S.-based consumers purchased something online for the first time that same month due to social distancing.

The takeaway? It’s quite likely that the COVID-19 pandemic will change consumer shopping habits long term. So, what are you waiting for? Get on board with these strategies now to establish your brand as a leader in D2C marketing.

About the author

Laura Martisiute is a freelance writer with Plytix, a headless product information management system designed for fast-growing product brands. She’s a content marketing specialist with years of experience diving deep into the latest research on technology, business, and marketing.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/plytix-com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/plytix

Digital Branding Legal Branding Personal Branding

6 Tips for Developing an Agile Brand

Steven on April 20, 2020

Change is constant and rapid in today’s time of doing business. The ability to adapt to change is not a luxury but a necessity. This makes it important for businesses to develop an agile brand. Brands should be quick to keep up with market trends and customer behaviors, among other things. In this short post, we’ll talk about some of the best ways to develop an agile brand.

1. Learn the Basics

It is difficult to develop an agile brand if you do not know the fundamentals of how to do it. With this, you need to study. For instance, one thing that could help would be taking a change management certification course. While there are many things that you can learn from the latter, one of the most significant you could learn would be how to create an agile and competitive company or brand that can stay attuned with the fast-changing marketplace.

2. Be Adaptive

To build an agile brand, you need to be nimble. To do this, learn how to take a risk. Do not be limited by your desire to be consistent. Take the case of Netflix as an example. It has changed its business model several times before it finally found the most profitable. By being adaptive, you are demonstrating that you are willing to bend a bit to keep up. Your brand strategy must be able to flow and flex with change.

3. Collaborate

An agile strategy for building a successful brand capitalizes on collaboration. By working together, you can create better solutions, which will be instrumental in the success of a brand. To build a collaborative environment, there is a need for openness and creativity. The more an organization learns to collaborate, the bigger is the room for improvement.

4. Build the Right Team

Speaking of collaborating, building an agile brand also calls for the need to have a competent team. Gather some of the brightest minds within the organization. The team should have people who can quickly implement novel strategies depending on current trends.

5. Implement Rapid Prototyping

Rapid prototyping refers to the quick fabrication of several models. Agile brands should create beta versions of a brand strategy simultaneously. Instead of introducing one strategy and testing its feasibility, an alternative approach is to introduce multiple strategies at once, test, and see which ones will work the best.

6. Be Timely

To be agile, your brand needs to be timely. One of the best applications of this would be when it comes to releasing your marketing campaigns. Your materials should be relevant and well-timed. For instance, if it is Christmas, you need to release holiday-themed ads. By doing this, you can appeal more effectively to the emotions of your target audience.

We are living in a fast-paced society where businesses must keep up with the changes. With this, it is crucial to building an agile brand to meet the changing demands of the market. Take note of our recommendations above to make this possible.