The Value of Photographs and Graphics in Marketing Campaigns

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WorkIf you’ve been following the information on this Direct West Media Group Blog for any length of time, then likely you have already begun to implement some of our advice. Perhaps you’ve hired DWMG to tackle some of your social media outlets, such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr. You understand the importance of “getting it done” as opposed to “I’ll do it next month”. For many people, next month comes and goes, and it never gets done. That’s why you hire us to do the dirty work for you.

Now that you’re realized the importance of blogs, articles, text, and content, don’t forget about the value of photographs, graphics, videos, and others sorts of visuals for your online media campaign.

While many people are seeking out unique niche content to provide solutions to the problems they face in life or business, a few visuals helps to increase understanding of your content.

A graphic may better explain the point you’re trying to get across in a sentence. Hiring a marketing professional can help you to increase profits.

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Did you stop and have a look at the graphic? Often a graphic is more readily understood than what two or three sentences may spell out for you. A graphic can also provide a break for your eyes. It can get difficult to read that tiny text seven days a week, ten hours a day. Most people work all day and then return home and spend even more hours in front of the computer. The easier you can lighten their burden of understanding, the happier they’ll be.

Graphics and photographs also make a website more attractive than endless columns and rows of text. Just what type of blog do you have? A more research-focussed site may have more text than anything, but most businesses can benefit from displaying photographs of their products, or charts and graphs to help explain to your customers how you can benefit their lives.

Many people who manage blogs may wonder where to find all these free graphics and photographs. You can find suitable ones for your business through a variety of different methods. Often manufacturers will allow you to use their images if you are reselling them on your site.

You can also buy an affordable digital camera and take your own pics. You can even take pics of your employees and post them to your site. It makes it more personable. If you want charts or graphics, you can make them in Microsoft Word or Excel. You can search the Creative Commons website for free images, and photographs. You can also hand draw them onto a piece of paper and scan them in.

Once you begin adding graphics and photos to your blog, you’ll quickly get even more ideas for the following weeks. Start with an empty marketing folder and soon it’ll be overflowing with ideas.

Please contact us at Direct West Media Group if you need help with blogs, photographs, videos, or other types of visuals for your business.

Seven Signs That You Need Help with Your Marketing

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ConfusedWhen new businesses start out, they can benefit from an effective marketing campaign. There’s not one type of business that is guaranteed to pull in the customers, so advertising and marketing gets the message out to your audience. As your business grows, it’s also important to add advertising to your business plan, so you can meet your goals.

If you’ve neglected the marketing area of your business for too long, you may start seeing signs that it’s time to spend some effort on your campaign. Here’s a few signs that indicate it’s time that you need to get some help with your marketing and advertising needs.

1. If you’ve been neglecting your advertising or marketing needs, then likely you either don’t have time to handle it, or you don’t know how what to do. It could be time to call in an expert, who can help you focus on where you need to get started.

2. Are your telephones too quiet? This could be an indication that business is slowing down. Since we’re heading into fall, this could be troublesome, as the fall should be a busy season. It may be time to jumpstart a new marketing campaign, to draw more visitors to your business.

3. If your website is getting few visitors, it may not just be the overall design, but it could be because your potential customers just aren’t on a laptop computer anymore. Many people have made the switch to tablets and smart phones. If your website hasn’t been optimized for mobile usage, you could be turning away customers with your bulky website. It may be time to set up a mobile website to handle your ever-changing market.

4. If you’re starting to scribble your phone number on pieces of paper, it may be time for some brand new business cards. But don’t just reorder cards from ten years ago, order new ones with your business’s social media accounts, as well as website and full contact details. Business cards are changing with the times.

5. A coffee shop or restaurant should never be quiet. People eat at all hours of the day and night, and you can see that at busy franchises. So, if your restaurant is getting quiet, it may be time to start a new social media program to start drawing traffic your way, through a special promotion.

6. Are even your employees heading to the competition? If you own a restaurant or a store, and your employees are heading next door to do business, it may be time to dust off your signage. Perhaps you need some interior signage to spiff up the place?

7. If you’re way too busy to tackle your social media, it may be time to hire someone to do it for you. Just because your business is busy, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be continuing to market your company. Be sure to constantly keep your business in the public eye, so it’s never quiet.

If your business is suffering any of these seven signs that you need help with your advertising or marketing needs, now is the best time to give Direct West Media Group Inc. a call so they can help your business to thrive and grow with the times.

What You Need to Know About Mobile Marketing

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cellMobile marketing is one of the most cost-effective methods of advertising today. Traditional advertising used to be so expensive. You’d spend a few thousand dollars on a back page ad in the newspaper and hope for the best. Unfortunately, the paper would be tossed in the trash the next day. The best you could hope for was exposure, rather than increased profits.

Today, everyone has a cell phone, and the smart business owner will focus their marketing efforts on mobile phone users. Even children and seniors own a cell phone to keep in touch with family. It pays to focus on these markets, rather than outdated traditional advertising methods.

Mobile marketing isn’t just about making an app. There’s many software companies that offer to make an app for your business, for a reasonable price. However, there’s very little programming involved, and they’ll just plonk your business details into a template. This will end up being a boring app that no one will use, as mobile phone users tire of similar apps. The mobile app market is flooded. Before you go spending a lot of money, carefully consider how much return it will deliver. So, either develop a fabulous app from scratch, or skip it completely. There are better ways to do mobile marketing.

When you create your mobile website, consider your target market. If you own a plumbing repair company, your website better have the phone number right at the top. Consider why someone will contact you. Most likely they’ll have a broken pipe, a sewer backup or a broken toilet. When they’re on their cell phone, they want a plumber, and they want him now. Don’t make your customer wade through endless photographs and text. Tailor your mobile web page to your target customer.

You should leave mobile advertising to the experts, rather than trying to figure it out yourself. By doing so, you can avoid several costly mistakes. Let someone else handle all the work for you. An expert knows exactly which steps to take, and has their own team of experts available. Don’t waste your time hiring a programmer, when you may not even need one. Hire a professional marketing firm to help you out.

Mobile websites are also set up differently than websites made for computer use. Smart phone screens are small, though some cell phone providers are starting to make larger ones, such as the Samsung Galaxy. Also consider that many people have limited data plans, as they’re on a budget. Wifi access isn’t always available. Don’t turn away customers because you have endless photos on your website. You can always have a link to more photos, if you really need them.

Don’t place videos on your website that automatically start playing, This will alienate your customers. Give them an option to press the “play” button. Automatically playing videos have to be one of the most frustrating aspects of websites nowadays. They’re even annoying when viewing from the computer.

If you require any assistance in setting up your mobile marketing plan, please contact Direct West Media Group Inc. They have the experience in handling all your mobile marketing needs, so you can free up time to take care of the more important aspects of your business.