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Author: Unmatte Team

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Graphic Design Marketing

Graphic Design: The Day-to-Day Life of a Graphic Designer

graphic design

Ever Thought About What A Graphic Designer Does?

Graphic design keeps brands afloat, which means Graphic Designers are needed more than some may realize. They work hard to produce high-quality results for the projects they take on and can work both with a company or be an independent freelancer. They have a wide range of products they need to be able to produce. For example, from text and images to logos, they hold many skills. We see their work all around us, and it may not be realized, just how much graphic designers do. 

What is Graphic Design? 

Rasmussen College discusses the definition by the American Institute of Graphic Arts. They describe graphic design as communicating ideas and/or messages in a visual way and can be seen on websites, magazines, or even as advertisements. The logo of your favorite brands and products are the result of graphic designers. They work with multiple programs and need to provide the kinds of graphics needed for businesses. 

Day-to-Day Graphic Design Tasks.

Just like any job, graphic designers have tasks they need to accomplish every day. They deal heavily with their clients on a first-hand basis. Owl Guru lists the different functions that these designers have. Client communication is a large portion of the job, communication is key. A layout may seem small, but it can change how the overall design turns out. Creating the designs, making sample layouts, and using different software programs to create their graphics takes a decent amount of time.

Likewise, Graphic designers are also the ones who determines the sizing/placement of illustrations, as well as style and font. They review their final products and edit as they see fit, before presenting to the client. Their work is tedious and very detail-oriented. They create the final product all before submitting it to the client, who could potentially say they don’t like it (we don’t have these problems). 

Graphic Design and The Use of Programs.

Graphic design isn’t just about the result or what the design is as much as the programs used to create those designs. Branford Hall briefly touches on the different programs used. Designers spent most of their day at their desk, on their computer. Their programs range from the popular Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, and other Creative Cloud Software. 

These programs all have one thing in common: creation. Similarly, they allow for the natural start of creating something from scratch. You can add photos or videos that you saved to your computer and can edit them to get rid of different aspects or even just the background. Furthermore, Graphic Designers need specific tools to perform certain tasks. Their profession requires them to have more abilities at their fingertips. 

Graphic Designers Are Heroes

All-In-All, Graphic Design is a needed art, and vastly underrated. A unique design is what makes your ads and brand stand out from others, and a graphic designer is a person that creates that attention-grabbing ad. 

Meanwhile, if you need some design services, Contact US now to make it happen!

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Branding Trends Marketing

The Miracle of Branding: Why Brand Your Business

why brand

According to entrepreneur.com, branding is the marketing practice of creating a name, symbol, or design that identifies and differentiates a product from other products. A brand is what sets your business, company, product, or service apart from others. It is what you an individual. Branding is a promise to your customers. It is what tells them what to expect from your product or services. So, where do you even start with branding? Well, you could go onto our website and Buy-A-Brand or Build-A-Brand. You could also take inspiration from other brands. But what makes branding great? And why should you even brand something? In this post, we’ll provide an all-encompassing rundown of what makes branding great, including why branding is essential and three examples of great branding. 

Branding Leads to Customer Loyalty 

Good branding can lead to customer loyalty and retention by elevating a business and building recognition. Think to yourself about your favorite brands. Did you have a clear image as to who they are? Did you feel certain emotions when thinking about them? Do you remember specific experiences with them? If yes, then that is excellent branding. It builds an emotional connection with your customers. Customers are attracted to brands with similar values to them, and once you attract your customers with the benefits that you have established with your branding and create an emotional connection with them through those values that loyalty can last a lifetime. 

Branding Helps you Stand Out.

Branding is what sets you apart from everyone else. There are a lot of small businesses out there that may sell the same products as you. What will set you apart is how you present yourself. A good brand has a clear purpose. It has meaning. Don’t just buy a brand logo because it looks cool. Buy a logo or create a logo that has meaning.

Establishing Your Brand Will Make it Easier to Introduce New Products and Services

It will be easier for you to introduce new products or services by establishing your brand and creating that secure emotional connection with your loyal customers. Your customers are already interested in your brand, and they will be listening to what you release, thus making it easier for you to have already a loyal customer base for your next product or service. 

3 Great Examples of Branding

  1. Apple – Minimalist, Innovating, Simplistic
    1. Apple is the first example in Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle framework. Apple’s brand shows you that they build beautiful computers that are cutting edge technology. They set themselves apart from other competitors by highlighting their innovative products. Their messaging then emphasizes that if you are an Apple customer, then you are also innovative and creative. 
  2. Nike – A Timeless Brand, A Consistent Brand.
    1. Nike’s branding and messaging strategy focus on empowerment. There is a unified message of empowerment and performance from their tagline “Just Do It” to their name, the Greek Goddess of Victory. Their models don’t smile. Instead, their photos are taken while doing physical activities. 
  3. Trader Joe’s – Groceries Meets New-Age Marketing
    1. Trader Joe’s is a national chain of grocery stores; however, based on their branding, you wouldn’t know it. It has branded itself as your neighborhood grocery store. They have a wide variety of high-quality food at a low price. They attempt to make customers feel at home in their causal, nautical-themed atmosphere. 

Why Brand? The Way We See It Your Business Isn’t A Business Without It.

Branding your company is extremely important. Branding is what makes your company unique. It sets you apart from other competitors and helps build customer loyalty. For more information on branding, reach out to those at Unmatte. Also, look at our Buy-A-Brand and Build-A Brand pages to see if we can offer any branding services your business may need. 

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Trends Marketing

Marketing Ted Talks You MUST Watch & Why

marketing ted talks

Ted Talks are the best way to learn about the important things. They are educational, well thought out, and always interesting. Here are a few of the best Marketing Ted Talks to watch to improve your marketing skills.

Marketing Ted Talks with Seth Godin with The Tribes we Lead

The Blah Blah: Seth Godin talks about how mass media was a fail, but tribes are the growing thing. Mass marketing means average ideas. It’s when companies are trying to ‘hypnotise’ people into buying, voting, ect. He brings in tribes as a form that is taking down mass marketing. He says these tribes are about leading and connecting people and ideas. The internet, now a days, allows different interests/ hobbies to have their own tribe, or group. These are groups of people who have the same interests or hobbies and can form their own community from anywhere in the world.

The Moral: Godin believes that the new form of marketing is for companies to build their own tribe and be the ‘king’ of it, and to “find the true believers.” He says, “You don’t need everyone, you just need a thousand.”

Marketing Ted Talks: Seth Godin with How to Get Your Ideas to Spread

The Blah Blah: Seth Godin is clearly the one to listen to about marketing, he makes it simple to understand. Starting off by talking about sliced bread, for fifteen years after being ‘invented’ people still were not buying it. He goes into talking about how to get ideas to spread, not just getting the idea. Seth then uses an example of an image of a cow, a normal, black and white cow is not exciting. It’s the day to day thing, and won’t grab attention. But, he then edits the photo to make the cow black and purple. This is not exciting. He mentions that the things that are not normal are going to grab attention. However, if they stay like that, they will slowly become another normal that doesn’t grab attention.

The Moral: You need to advertise in an unconventional way. This is what will get your company sales. To keep this going, you need to change up your advertisements every so often.

Rory Sutherland with Life Lessons From an Ad Man

The Blah Blah: In this Ted Talk, Rory Sutherland talks about how advertising is more about the approach you take than the product itself. My favorite example from this was the potato. He brings up how potatoes look gross and that made people not want to eat them. He then went into the potato being rebranding. It was told to be a food of royalty, and how it was guarded while in a regular potato patch. This made it more desirable, and the potato became more wanted.

The Moral: Desirability is the reason people do anything.  Why can’t people live without your product or service?  Sell that!

Andrew Stanton with The Clues to A Great Story

The Blah Blah: Andrew Stanton talks about storytelling and how it impacts your advertising. He says “storytelling is joke telling” and that you need to know your punchline. Stories allow us to connect to people or things. It’s stories that can get us to relate to a company or product, which results in follows and customers. Then he goes on to talk about Mr. Rodgers and how he carried the quote, “There is no one you cannot learn to love once you’ve heard their story.”

The Moral: A company or product should make people care, in some way. Stories pull us in, make us care, and cause us to buy.

Dan Pink with The Puzzle of Motivation

The Blah Blah: Dan Pink opens his Ted Talk with the candle problem. He asks how you can attach a candle to a wall, without the wax cannot drip onto the table. He goes through a few possible ‘solutions’ and then says they are wrong. The actual solution is to use the container the tacks were in, connect that to the wall and put the candle in the container. When it comes to motivation, your viewers (the candle) want a solution (the wall). You are the container.

The Moral: Problems don’t always have an easy fix, even if they might, you want to show them YOU are the way to the solution. If you show your viewers that you can lead them to a solution, they will be more likely to buy your product. You have given them motivation.

Find more in the Trends Category of our notes.

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Trends

Social Media Tactics That Have Expired

social media tactics

There are many techniques around social media in terms of tactics and advertising. It’s an aspect that has needed to grow and adapt to the changing times. From social media tactics for the workplace, advertising through social media, tactics for responding to new followers and gaining followers, false reacting to posts, all the way to pitching your item too soon. These are just a few of the outdated techniques. Like most older things, there are new technologies to replace these. This article will talk about archaic and modern techniques. 

Social Media Tactics and the OLD Workplace Etiquette

Companies want their businesses to look the best. They don’t like negative reviews, and certainly not when those reviews are from their employees. Countless companies came up with social media rules that they expected their employees to follow. The employer usually ensured this following the employee on social media. Buffer explains that having fewer restrictions could end up having more positive comments and posts from your employees. Rather than preventing your employees from being open on social media, allow them to show where they work. This generates more questions about your business. Your employees are your biggest advertisement. 

JUST Text and Image Posts.

When you move your company to social media, you want to start on the right foot. Not only do you want strong posts, but you also want those posts to be noticed. An article by Aja Frost advises on this. Posts that are just text and image don’t get the attention that is wanted. More people would prefer to hear or watch the information you are giving, rather than read it. She even goes ahead to say that 69% of consumer internet traffic will be videos, and 25% of consumers will be turned off to your brand if you don’t use videos in your posts. People want to scroll through social media mindlessly, and videos are easy to watch, and they don’t require effort on the viewers’ part. However, reading can be seen as tedious, especially to those who don’t like to read. Videos are the way to go. 

Immediately Pitching to New Followers.

It’s always exciting to see that your brand has gained more followers. Responding to new followers can be a good thing. However, there are bad ways to go about this. You should not be sending automated messages when someone follows you. That shows them that they are nothing but a way for you to make money. Frost explains that this can feel manipulative. The better option is to message them yourself. Make it personal and show them they are an individual to you, not just another follower. She also mentions that if they mention your product in a post, share it, and send them a personalized thank you for the mention. Having a ‘friendship’ with your followers could result in sticking around longer and remaining loyal customers. 

Mass Following – Just Stop.

An article by Mark Traphagen, states that mass following people to gain followers no longer works. There are two main reasons why. 

  1. People are paying more attention to who they follow. People don’t want to follow fake or spam accounts. Just the same, they don’t want these accounts following them so that they may block your account. 
  2. Mass following is useless to your feed. When people visit their social media pages, they want to see their friends and people they are interested in. 

If you mass follow, you will see people you don’t know and things you have no interest in. You want to follow accounts that you have interest in, whether it be a person, pet page, or a hobby you have. These are the accounts that have your attention, and they might follow back. You want to be active on your social media, as well. If you like posts and comment and share your own posts, you are causing your page to be more visible. Gaining followers takes time, but they are more willing to stay if they are gained honestly. 

Only Posting Links/Ads. 

Mark Traphagen also talks about how posting links can be ineffective. People do not follow to see advertisements. They want to see you. Yes, you want to post your links. People follow because they are interested. Sooner or later, they will want to purchase. Too many links, however, will cause your followers to get bored and unfollow. You want to keep your followers and gain customers, not push your followers away because of your product. What you want to do is have a balance between your links and other posts that may be of interest or help to your followers. Keep it interesting, so your followers want to stay. 

Pitching Your Item too Soon. 

Just because someone follows you does not mean it is the right time to make your pitch. Mark Traphagen goes over this in his article in The Search Engine Journal. It can help you reach out to new followers but don’t immediately message them and try to sell your product. Say thank you for the follow, but make it personal. Do not mention your product(s). 

Pitching too soon can push your followers away, and very quickly. Let them follow you for a little bit, maybe follow them back and like some of their posts. After a few weeks, once you see they see your posts, then you can start pitching your products. If they like posts on certain products, they are telling you what they are interested in more. Listen to your followers, and you will know when the time is right to pitch. 

Social Media Tactics Grow Tiresome.

How you display yourself on social media affects your following greatly. They don’t want to see links or an account that barely posts. They want an exciting page that posts once a day, maybe more, and that keeps things interesting. Now that you know how to keep your followers interested, you need to gain more. Head over to Mark Traphagen’s article 9 Proven Tips to Get More Social Media Followers. 

Looking to have someone handle the busy work that is social media?  Contact us today!

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Trends Marketing Social Media

Meme Marketing & How It Works

meme marketing

Meme marketing is composed of images or GIFs. Most of them have some form of humor to them but they can be serious, light-hearted, dark, or just merely comedy. With all of that versatility, no wonder they can affect how a product is marketed. Though indirectly, meme marketing can assist with a company making sales. This article talks about a few of the biggest, most popular memes and how they can actually be a tool for a product–through meme marketing. 

But That’s None of my Business. – Meme Marketing is Sassy.

For several years now, Kermit the Frog has been starring in memes with a cup of Liptonmeme marketing - kermit the frog tea. These memes generally have a phrase at the top, and at the bottom of the image, it usually reads, “But that’s none of my business.” Something as simple as this is putting Lipton tea in the center of the image. This is the first thing that the viewer sees, even if they do not realize it. This is a perfect opportunity for product placement. It is allowing a simple cup of tea to become associated with humor slowly. Someone sees a pack of Lipton tea, and they think of Kermit drinking a glass while pretending to mind his own business about something. 

Baby Yoda – Meme Marketing is Clean.

Ever since The Mandalorian came out, Baby Yoda has flooded social media. meme marketing baby yodaStar Wars has always been a massive franchise, and now, being owned by Disney has not changed that. Baby Yoda had people talking about The Mandalorian, and this caused people to want to watch the series. Not only has this meme advertised for the series, but it has also advertised for Disney’s new streaming service Disney+. Which just so happens to be the only place you can watch The Mandalorian.  Baby Yoda, in the referenced photo, sheds light on the current pandemic ‘COVID-19’.

Meme Marketing Within App Marketing.

Another popular meme shows people taking photos of their food with the caption, ‘Meanwhile on Instagram.’ This directly impacts business for Instagram, but there are memes for Facebook, Tik Tok, and Snap Chat. These could be mocking the app itself, or even its users, but it still advertises. Memes allow people to explore and exploit their opinions in multiple ways. Instagram does have a lot of food pictures, and if someone finds this funny, it just might make them open the app due to the reference. Memes can help advertise for almost anything, and they spread quickly. 

Meme marketing might be something people put together to gain likes and follows, but it can also end up being an advertisement for a brand as well. It’s free advertising by fans, even if they don’t realize they are helping promote a brand. It’s simple advertising and puts the product/brand in your face. Let meme marketing stick with your readers. Find out more trends in marketing by clicking here or see The 100 Greatest Memes Ever!

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Social Media Branding Trends Marketing

Learn From These Mistakes Before You Try Social Media Marketing

social media

As of January 30 of this year, more than 4.5 billion people now use the internet, according to We Are Social. Of the 4.5 billion people who use the internet, 3.8 billion are on social media. That is nearly 60% of the population. If you are trying to market yourself or your brand, the most obvious way to show people who you are is to use social media. However, before you do that you need to know how to connect with your audience without losing their trust, in this post, we’ll provide an all-encompassing rundown of the five social media marketing tactics that are dead. 

Misleading Social Media Game Ads—You’re not fooling anybody 

I can’t tell you how many games ads I’ve seen where the game is nothing like the advertisement. If your consumer downloads the games—and that’s a big if—they will soon see that the game is nothing like you advertised. What happens next? They delete it and don’t trust your brand again. 

Advertising in the Middle of Videos—They’ll keep scrolling 

If you’re going to place an ad, do it on the front end. I can’t tell you how many times I have stopped watching a video on Facebook because it was in the middle of the video. By placing your ad upfront, the audience knows what to expect, and they know they won’t be bothered once the video starts. By placing an ad in the middle of the video, you’re not only annoying your audience, but you are making them question if this is the only ad that will interrupt their video. What happens next? They keep scrolling. 

Social Media & Fake Accounts—Your audience knows it when they see it.

It’s pretty obvious to spot a fake account when you see one. They only have posted about certain products and have close to zero followers. According to Crunch Growth, 26.5% of Facebook Accounts, 17% of Twitter accounts, and 40% of Instagram accounts are fake. Once a consumer sees that you are using a cheap marketing tactic to increase your posts interactions, they’re going to lose their trust in your company and brand. 

Non-Native Paid Advertising—Most stick out like a sore thumb

A paid advertisement is easy to spot when you see one, especially if the content doesn’t look native. The easiest fix for this is to make your advertisement look like native content. This isn’t to say you should make a cheap post like “OMG I love my [insert product here]. You can buy it at [insert link here]. Instead, make your company seem human. Genuine content makes readers want to click on your profile and take a closer look.

Mass Following to Gain Followers—Are you trying to look desperate? 

Yes, the point of social media is to be—you guessed it—social, but mass following users so that you can get more followers is not the way to do it. Accounts that do this are easy to spot because they tend to have a crazy unequal follower ratio.  The ratio we view is when you are following more users than users following you. This makes your brand seem fake or of low value. Users will see this as your brand not being genuine and won’t want to interact with you. 

Although social media is a place of free expression, there is a wrong way to market on these platforms.

Remember to avoid the following:

  • Mass following
  • Non-native looking paid advertisements
  • Using fake accounts to boost your posts interaction
  • Placing ads in the middle of your videos
  • Using misleading game advertisements

If you have any questions about social media marketing tactics that are dead or would like a consultation, reach out to us.

Categories
Target Marketing Trends Marketing

Go Viral: The Phenomenon – Tips, Tricks, & Understanding

go viral

Go Viral with these simple tips.  

Social media is a growing platform, as are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and the latest one, Tik Tok. Users, typically between the ages of fifteen to mid-to-late thirties, share posts and content to gain status.  To achieve status, there seems to be no idea too big or too dangerous, and that can be concerning.

In this post, I will explain what a viral phenomenon is, and some ways that one begins.  

The Go Viral Phenomenon

The common cold is viral. It spreads rapidly, and everyone is aware of about it. When a post becomes viral on social media, it spreads all over. Filling one platform and spreading to another, and another. The ‘creator’ of that post, whether it be a photo or video, has become viral. They have ‘blown up,’ and their post is now being seen from people all over the country- and maybe even the world.

There is no end to being viral; it seems. Once someone achieves this, regardless of if it was intentional or not, they will more than likely want to do it again. And this often means trying harder and doing more outrageous things. Being viral is not always a good thing, and it is not always a person. It can be a photo of people not recognized or even a challenge.  

How to Become Go Viral

Let’s look at a few ways to become viral on social media. 

Entrepreneur lays out a map to becoming viral. While becoming viral can sometimes be accidental, it really does come down to a science. You know who your target audience is. You may have one specific audience that you’re reaching out to, but you may also have several audiences.

Learn about who you are reaching out to. What do they like, what do they feel strongly about, and what trends are they into? You need to take all of these into consideration when creating your content. Once you know these, you need to select which social media platform you’re going to use. 

Tip: The platform you decide to use plays a more significant role in becoming viral than the content itself. If your target audience uses Tik Tok more, Facebook isn’t going to be the way to go. 

Entrepreneur also says that a way to become viral is to partner with someone who already is. Create a post maybe two or three with this person, and that’s getting you out there.

Lastly, Entrepreneur talks about having ‘novel’ content. This means that your content should be unique and creative in at least some way. Someone who may get viral from doing a trend may not stay viral if their typical content does not grab the viewer’s attention.

In other words, they gain followers but quickly lose them or don’t gain anymore. Some people can instantly receive a ton of traction without trying. Maybe they had a really good video, or maybe they did something generous that you don’t see or hear about a lot. Whatever it may have been, or will be, the posts that catch the most attention will always have a higher chance of becoming viral. 

Tip: If you want more people to see your post, a hack to this would be to follow more people. Chances are you following someone else will cause them to follow you in return. 

What Else Can Help Make Something Epic?

It’s not just people who can be viral. We all remember the black & blue vs. white and gold dress from 2015. It was all over social media, especially Facebook, and people would debate over if the dress was black and blue, or white and gold. This was viral. It blew up, and it was all over because it didn’t just get people talking; it got people arguing. This surpasses social media and landed itself on the news. 

Another moment that didn’t involve a person was the ice bucket challenge. Participating in this challenge got people involved in a good cause, as well as helped people gain likes and followers off of their participation. To spread awareness for ALS, this was on several social media platforms. It was already growing quickly, but people would also nominate someone else to do it. Sometimes they would nominate several people. 

Need Help?

Being viral on social media can be for people, as well as other items or challenges. These grow and, after they start to slow down, they still have the possibility of becoming a popular thing again in the future. Let us help you go viral – contact us now.

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Branding Marketing Target Marketing

Marketing Books That Have the Answers to Everything (6)

Marketing is an ever-changing topic making it is essential to keep up to date on the latest trends and developments. Any person related to this field needs to stay informed of how to market to your audience in the modern age properly. In this post, we’ll be converting the top 6 marketing books that have been published within the last year. 

Social Media Marketing 2020 by Stephan Anderson 

Social Media Marketing 2020 by Stephen Anderson will tell you how to build your brand, understanding the basics of influencer marketing, why you have to use Instagram and Youtube, how to monetize your influencer Instagram profile, tips for nailing your brand and more. This book provides an all-encompassing overview of how to market on social media in 2020. Buy it on Amazon starting at $12.99

 

Dynamic Digital Marketing by Dawn McGruer

Dynamic Digital Marketing teaches you how to increase online visibility and presence, attract your target audience, generate leads, and convert those leads to profitable customers. It offers step by step guidance on topics like: 

  • Gain invaluable insights on what works based on the McGruer’s 20 years’ experience in digital marketing
  • Avoid pitfalls and missteps by implementing the same proven success strategies used by key influencers
  • Harness the power of search engine optimization (SEO), social media, content marketing, online video, and more
  • Amplify your brand, cultivate customers, and increase profits
  • Incorporate e-mail marketing, customer analytics, strategic web design, and influencer partnerships in your overall digital marketing strategy

You can buy it on Amazon for print or on Kindle. 

Digital Marketing for Beginners by Oliver J. Rich

Digital Marketing for Beginners is an excellent handbook for starting in the digital media  world. It has digital tools and methods that will take your brand to the next level. You will specifically find: 

  1. Career profiles in digital marketing that you can take up and make a living
  2. Understand the role of a digital marketer and how that will boost your online business
  3. How to craft a marketing strategy that attracts sales and builds your brand faster
  4. Ways to analyze your competitors and apply their valuable business tricks
  5. Methods of targeting clients, acquiring them, and keeping them coming back
  6. The various social media tools for advertising. Above all you’ll take a look at the three most popular social media platforms for businesses
  7. How to re-brand and sell products and services. Branding is more than getting the right logo, however the right logo does enforce a better brand.
  8. Analyze eight types of digital marketing, but truly understand them.
  9. How to track your efforts using Google Analytics

You can get your copy on Amazon.

Remarkable Retail: How to Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Digital Disruption by Steve Dennis

This is a brand new book that equips the physical retailer with eight essential strategies to deliver a great customer experience. Furthermore, these strategies include making your business: 

  1. Digitally Enabled
  2. Human-Centered
  3. Harmonized
  4. Mobile
  5. Personal
  6. Connected
  7. Memorable
  8. Radical. 

You can buy it on Amazon. 

Note from Staff: Heads up, even if you’re not selling a product or service – maybe you’re trying to spread awareness.  You are a retailer!  To clarify, the retention of customers account for more than 60% of your yearly sales, repetition.

How to Build a Personal Brand on LinkedIn by Dr. Keir Finlow-Bates

This is the perfect read for people short on time. Dr. Keir Finlow-Bates teaches you how to build a personal brand to help you receive more recognition at work, connect with your decision-makers, and generate high-quality inbound sales leads. However, the best part is that by using this book, you can fraud your LinkedIn image in as little as 10 minutes per day. Get it on Amazon.

Note from Staff: Building your personal brand can be easy if you’re confident in the audience you want to attract.  Furthermore, once that battle is over you’ll be able to communicate effectively via LinkedIn.

Marketing for Entrepreneurs and Small to Medium Businesses by Kelly A. Mahoney 

This book is targeted directly to smaller businesses. Being a business owner, you know you’ll wear a lot of different hats.  Certainly you can live without the stress.  In short, this book discusses how to: 

  1. Create winning approaches to the market
  2. Avoid common pitfalls, which will save you time and money
  3. Accelerate revenue and growth 

You can get it on Amazon for $11.50

Note from Staff: This was a great read when we started unmatte.com – it helped us keep our approach simple.  In other words, we can vouch firsthand that when you’re branding yourself, especially as a smaller business, this is one of your go-to manuals.

These books are all great resources to learn about new digital strategies.  Most importantly, Contact us if you have any questions about digital marketing strategies or would like a consultation. 

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Branding Brand Manager

A Day In The Life – Being A Brand Manager

brand managers and what they do

Managers play a vital role in brands and businesses. They make sure everything is running smoothly and that any necessary materials are on hand. Managers are needed in all industries, and some companies opt for managers in each department. This also means there are several different kinds of brand managers. Knowing the importance of a manager allows you to see what you should be doing in your position, or what you should be seeing from the position holder. In this article, I will be covering what a brand manager is and does, go into detail of these requirements, and how to make sure you are the best brand manager for your company.

Why Have A Brand Manager?

The brand manager is the person in charge of overseeing the promotion of a product. They are there to make sure the development goes according to plan and, well, that it happens. Investopedia explains that brand management helps boost a product so prices can rise and bring the company more money as well as building customer loyalty.

Customer loyalty is a massive goal for brands. This means that your customers will come back. They will talk to their friends about your brand and, by word of mouth, bring you more customers. Wise Geek points out that being a brand manager means you hold a more significant amount of authority over employees of a lower level. In other words, this is the person who holds the success, or failure, of a brand in the palms of their hands. If they stay on top of their job and begin each day with determination, they will make your brand succeed. But, if they slack off or advertise your brand in a bad light even a little bit, it can lead to its failure.  

What Does A Brand Manager Do? 

They don’t just show up and instantly bring success as they need first to learn the ins and outs of the brand. They work to understand the goals, the products, and more importantly, the customer. Just like Investopedia implies, brand managing is one of the essential departments of marketing. They need to be innovative and stay innovative. This is what will cause your brand to be set apart from another company. 

Wise Geek goes into the different aspects of the brand manager position and explains what each requirement is. Part of it is market research. From finding the demographics for the product(s) to forming test markets, the brand manager digs themselves into the company. They treat it as their own, if it is not, and take as much pride in your product as you do.

It’s imperative they work closely with those in both marketing and advertising. Though they have different job descriptions, the brand manager needs to work alongside them to get the product out there and reach the proper people. Troubleshooting is another task that the brand manager has to deal with. You will face issues when growing your brand. That is inevitable. And it is the brand manager who needs to discover what went wrong and how to fix it, or where they need to try harder and do it. 

Consult With Someone Who Knows.

A brand manager will bring strength to your brand. The weight that sits on their shoulders is one of determination. And it isn’t always their own. Sometimes it’s theirs and yours. Being such a central role in branding, they soon feel like the brand is also created with their determination to see your company/brand succeed. The be-all of your brand very well could be some of your worst nightmares. 

Give your Brand Success.

Do you have your own brand? 

You put your own time and energy into your brand. It is a product of you and your determination. You want it to succeed. Can you handle that yourself? After reading this article, you know the importance of a brand manager. There is a need for brand managers, as they have a pretty hefty workload. They will bring you success. Hire a brand manager, and watch your brand grow. 

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Trends Marketing Target Marketing

Emoji Marketing: How to Use Emoji’s in Marketing

Emoji Marketing has been popular since their rise in the 2000s, emojis have taken over the world and have changed the way people communicate. Emojis are used to convey emotions that are hard to say. A person who has any contact with your target audience needs to know what emojis are and how to use them. In this post, we’ll provide an all-encompassing rundown of emojis, including an explanation of why emojis are essential, 5 things to keep in mind before you start using them, and offer 3 examples of effective ways other brands have used emojis in the past.

What Is An Emoji (and Why Does it Matter)❓

The Oxford Lexico dictionary describes an emoji as “a small digital image or icon used to express an idea, emotion, etc.” The most popular emojis used today are “face with tears of joy” 😂, “loudly crying face” 😭, and red heart❤️. 

Understanding what Emojis are and how to use them is essential. Especially, when you consider that over 700 million emojis are used every day on Facebook posts alone. According to Adweek, 92% of internet users use emojis. Additionally, according to a study by psychologist Jerome Bruner, people remember 10% of what they hear, 20% of what they read, and 80% of what they see. The more visual your message is, the more likely it will have a lasting impact that can benefit your brand. 

5 Tips On How to Use An Emoji in Marketing

Before you start using emojis, keep these five tips in mind:

  1. Don’t crowd your message with too many emojis. 💬 When using emojis, you don’t want to overcrowd your message. Keep it simple, and only use them where they’ll add value to your point.
  1. Be selective with the platform you use them on.📱Before you start using emojis on every platform, make sure it is a relevant place to use them. On a platform like Twitter, emojis are expected. On LinkedIn, emojis would look out of place. 
  1. Make sure the context is appropriate.🤦 Always know your context. Before posting, it is important to know the full context of what you’re responding to. If you are responding to a sad video, it would be insensitive to respond to the post with a laughing emoji. Always evaluate the context and respond accordingly.

 

  1. Make emojis interactive. 🖱️This tip is as simple as using the emojis to make your message a two-way conversation. This can be as simple as responding to a post about how great your company is with a smiley face. 
  1. Know which emojis connect with your audience. 📊With over 3,100 emojis available, it is important to know which emojis your audience uses. By using the same emojis as them, you are connecting with them on a personal level.

3 Examples of Great Emoji Marketing

  1. Sports Center

Sports Center does an excellent job of making their posts interactive and relatable with their use of emojis. In this tweet, the emoji conveys the tone and emotion of the post. By just including the 🔥, they are showing that the video is impressive.

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1251710339659583488?s=20 

  1. McDonald’s 

This Instagram photo was posted during the COVID-19 quarantine, and McDonald’s uses it as a way to capture their audience’s attention. The caption includes “🍟📏 📏 📏📏 📏 📏 🍟,” which captures your eye because you have to think about it for a second, but once you realize it’s fries six feet apart, it’s funny and relatable. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-zxr43JLYO/

  1. The Bachelor 

When you think of the 🌹, it’s hard not to think of The Bachelor. The show has essentially hijacked the 🌹by including it in their hashtags, their posts, and all of their marketing. By using this emoji, The Bachelor has connected with their audience and stands out as a brand

Emojis are simple and easy to use as long as you know your audience. Plus, doing market research on them is as simple as clicking on the social media profiles of your target audience and seeing their most popular emojis. Once you find the emojis your target audience uses, it’s as easy as finding the right context to post them.