Research

Web Design Trend For 2015

URL : http://thenextweb.com/dd/2015/01/02/10-web-design-trends-can-expect-see-2015/

Every year, Web design evolve more and more this leads to making website that are looking simple, clean and easy to navigate through with a fast load times and long scrolling.

It is a smart idea to stay within the trends and keep your website up to date otherwise your competitors will take a bigger lead, these tends include :

  • Longer scrolling sites
  • Story telling and interaction
  • Large header background images
  • Simplicity
  • Fix width centered site layout
  • Professional Photography ( this is very important in capturing your clients)
  • Slide out app like menu
  • Hidden main menu
  • Large typography
  • Performance and speed

Video is the Preferred Form of Marketing Content

Aberdeen group research report which examines how the best organizations utilize video in their content marketing strategies compared with the industry average and companies late to the game, noted that video has become the preferred form of marketing content.

The report acknowledges that video marketing is utilized by over 90% of the companies surveyed and that it is playing an ever-growing part in the content marketing mix thanks to a significant positive contribution to ROI. The research concluded that video marketing was the most popular form of content, followed by white papers and 3rd party research.

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Develop and Integrated Content Strategy

For the modern b2b company, content lies at the heart of their sales and marketing strategy. “Produce high quality content” is a piece of advice you will hear most frequently. It is easier said than done. Simply hiring a highly capable content marketer and sitting back while the top class content rolls in is unrealistic.

There are a number of best practices involved in developing a cohesive content marketing strategy.

  • Define Your Target Customer: Take the time to identify what your target customer looks like. One way to do this is by examining your existing customers as well as your target customers. Speak to your customer facing employees as you build an accurate buyer persona.
  • Refine Your Value Message: Having established the challenges your target buyer faces, you should look to develop a clear and precise value message to incorporate into your content. Your value message should differentiate your product from your competitors as well as address how your product solves the specific challenges faced by your target customer.
  • Work Closely With Sales: Marketing should work tightly with sales as content strategies are developed. Sales talk to leads and customers every day and are in tune with needs, trends, and expectations. Give sales a voice in your content strategy to help highlight which gaps need to be filled. Ask sales about some of the frequently asked questions they hear and what types of content could help them close deals.
  • Make Sure Your Content is Accessible to Sales: Lost and inaccessible content can ruin even the most well thought out strategic content marketing plan. The unfortunate reality is that, this situation is not unusual by any means. Research from SiriusDecisions and The American Marketing Association has found that up to 90% of marketing-produced content goes unused. Unworkable infrastructures unsuited to the high volume of content generated by marketing departments today are, to a large extent, responsible for such high rates of inefficiency. Companies that have invested in solutions that create yet another content repository have not fared much better as content sprawl is an inevitable truth in a fast-growing company. Instead, companies should look to eliminate silos by employing next generation sales content management software which ensures content is accessible regardless of where it is stored.
  • Deploy Content Analytics: The last step on the way to a winning strategy is to close the marketing sales feedback loop by deploying content analytics software. Look to supply your reps with content that is proven to close deals rather than content somebody has a hunch about.

Why Video Promotion Is Important

URL : http://blog.bounceweb.com/the-importance-of-online-video-marketing/

Whether you are starting a new company or promoting a new line of products, it is important to get noticed. Separate yourself from all of the noise. Create awareness of your company through the use of an effective promotional video production.

For a promotional strategy that works, create a marketing tool that people will notice. Video is exactly what you need to incorporate into your online sales pitch. A promotional or “how to” video posted on YouTube and on your company’s own website can do wonders to attract clients.

Useful Tips When Designing For Print

URL : http://blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/articles/7-beginner-mistakes-to-avoid-when-designing-for-print

This guide are really useful when designing for print, because if you make a mistake on using a RGB colour when print it might end up a mess and only wasting your inks, so using CMYK is a must when printing work involve, the colours on your desktop screen might look the same between the RGB and CMYK but on paper they both are completely different.