The average American now spends 24 hours each week perusing the internet. This includes social media, streaming services, and even the news. 

This leads many business and marketers to believe the majority of their resources should go toward digital marketing. 

Although digital formats seem to be taking over at an alarming rate, print is nowhere near dead. For businesses, print advertising still creates valuable space for gaining visibility. 

Without a comprehensive marketing plan, you could be losing out on potential customers and profits. 

Here’s how to create a marketing plan to include both digital and print platforms. 

Do Your Homework First 

Many businesses jump the gun and start on their marketing strategy before they’ve done their research. There are a few important aspects you need to consider before you start putting any plan into action. 

First, you need to know who you are and what you’re selling. Without an idea of what your product or service is, you’ll fail to communicate the message to potential customers. 

Sounds easy enough, right? 

These important tips will help you define your brand and communicate it to your customers. 

Compare Yourself to the Competition 

Next, figure out against whom you’ll be competing in the market. Check out similar businesses in your niche. 

What are they offering in their email newsletters? Do they use social media? What kind of content do they create and how often? 

Next, you’ll need to do a bit of honest reflection. Consider your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). 

This will help you determine how you can distinguish yourself from the competition and how to move forward. The idea is to carve out a space for yourself in the market. 

Understand Your Buyers 

If you don’t know anything about your potential buyers, you can’t expect to ever reach them. This is true for both digital and print marketing. 

Start by figuring out where your potential buyers get the majority of their information.

Are they more likely to read one magazine over another? 

Which corners of the internet do they inhabit the most? Do they spend a lot of time on Facebook, Instagram, or other social media platforms? 

Consider investing in advertisements in niche newspapers and magazines. These are especially powerful for people living in urban areas, as they give you a broader reach. 

For digital platforms, you’ll want to consider using inbound marketing tactics. This is the means by which you attract your customers to your content or site. 

You create internet content of value to your customers. Over time, you build trust and confidence in your brand. 

Define Your Short and Long-Term Goals 

After you complete your research, you should have a better idea of who you are and to whom you’ll be marketing. 

Your next step should be to define your marketing goals. These goals should be realistic but still challenging. You want to impose some pressure on your business to do better. 

Take a moment to consider the metrics you’ll use to measure your business’s growth over time. The two major metrics you’ll use are KPIs and ROIs. 

Understanding and tracking these metrics will help you evaluate and adjust your strategy. 

Key Performance Indicators

Different departments may have different KPIs, depending on individual roles and objectives. Overall, these indicators should align with overall business objectives. 

The most common KPIs you may track include sales revenue, leads, and cost per acquisition. 

You might consider traffic-to-lead ratios, organic traffic, conversion rates, and much more. 

Return on Investment 

Your marketing strategy, both print and digital, will cost your money. In order to make money, you need to spend money to get your brand out there. 

Your business should use ROI to understand the return on your investment relative to the original costs. 

Monitor and Adjust Your Goals 

Above all, your business goals should be in line with your overall mission. You should start with a couple of main goals with a few supporting goals. 

Try not to overwhelm yourself or your team. 

For example, you might set a target sales goal number for each day, week, month, and year. Sales goal numbers can be an ideal metric of marketing efficiency. 

Leveraging Print as a Digital Brand 

Some businesses shy away from print due to rising costs of production. However, some companies who started online have taken to physical print media. 

Most notably, these companies create regular content in the form of magazines. Magazines, though, are not the limit of print advertising. 

CNET is a popular online publisher for content related to consumer electronics and technology. They publish reviews, podcasts, news, and more. 

In 2014 the company launched a magazine under the same name with the same goals. However, the magazine offers more exclusive content for those customers who are looking for a little extra. 

Search Engine Marketing 

Your digital marketing strategy should always include search engine marketing (SEM). SEM is an umbrella term for internet marketing strategies with the aim of gaining visibility on the search engine results page (SERP). 

Some digital marketers distinguish between SEM and SEO (search engine optimization).

In general, SEM refers to paid search engine marketing, where companies pay to have their ads displayed. In contrast, SEO aims to gain organic traffic via the creation of quality and relatable web content. 

Both SEM and SEO rely on comprehensive keyword research. Creating content with targeted keywords is essential to generating traffic and driving sales. 

There is much to learn about SEM and SEO alike. It’s important to do your research and find a good agency to help you out. 

How to Create a Marketing Plan That Works 

Marketing is one of the most essential aspects of a business. Without customers, you can never expect to make any money. 

Are you wondering how to create a marketing plan that works? While digital marketing is of utmost importance, print still has its place. 

Are you looking for more ways to promote your brand and drive sales? Check out some marketing and promotion advice. 

Got a new logo for your company shirt? Are you planning to distribute corporate giveaways with your brand on it? Need to make your brand more visible?

The answer is effective logo placement.

It’s not enough to put your company details on your promotional items. Having the perfect logo placement will do the trick.

Below, we have some do’s and don’ts of logo placement for your business.

1. Do Make Your Logos Visible

The purpose of a logo is to be the face of a brand or company. Excellent logo placement will increase brand visibility and awareness. This is why you often see logos in high areas of packaging.

Take notice of the parts of a garment that is most visible at first glance. Often, it’s the chest and upper back area. You can also apply this to items such as mugs, packaging, and more.

For example, your printing business needs to print a security logo design for a security company t-shirt. Security company employees give off a feel of authority when you make the logo very visible. Don’t hide it on the lower right side of the shirt or at the buttocks area.

2. Do Use Materials that Show Logos Best

A bad company logo may only look bad because of its placement. Logo placement extends to the kind of material you choose. If you are a clothes designer, you should know different types of fabrics you can get logos printed on.

Logo printing businesses know which materials will work best with their printers. This includes bags, accessories, and most other promotional items. Or, check out promotional giveaway stores that offer printing and bulk items.

If it’s not something you can print logos on, you can resort to engravement, stickers, or decals. If you own a business that creates your own products, you may want to put logos on your machinery too. It makes your workshop look professional.

3. Do Consider the Best Logo Size

Having too big a logo on a product can make your company look small. Consumers may also understand it as you ‘shouting’ your brand at them. Instead of enticing customers, you might drive them away with this ‘in your face’ approach.

This is why you need to pick out the correct size for your logo. With size, you also need to consider its location. Is it at the corner or smack-dab in the center?

This applies to t-shirt printing. You likely have a range of sizes available for your employees. For smaller shirts, you may need to resize your logo so it doesn’t look too large.

Get a designer’s opinion on your sizing. People at logo printing businesses may also have opinions worth listening to since they’ve seen a lot of designs. Do note that some printers may not be able to print your logo if it’s too large.

4. Do Think Outside the Box

Get your creativity stirring! Look at something common and find a way to make it unusual. Make your logo placement unexpected and interesting.

Do you own a bar? Get a custom ice molder where you can put your logo on ice.

Or, put your brand on someone.

Are you looking to bring your logo to social media? Hire an influencer or a model. Get them to paint their logo on their body (or face).

Next, let them do some amazing things. Don’t have the walk around the street with a camera crew. Get them to skydive or perform some awesome calisthenics stunts.

Use unusual promotional items like power banks. Make sure to customize them with your logo before you give them away! Learn more here regarding small business giveaway items.

5. Don’t Print the Logo Over Zippers

It’s risky for your logo to meet a zipper. For one, your printers are not going to survive very long after printing over the zipper teeth. Another reason is that your logo won’t look pretty after the process.

When you’re printing a logo on a jacket, avoid placing your logo in the middle where the zipper often goes. Also, avoid pockets and seams when you can. These parts of a garment have a thickness that isn’t constant with the rest of the garment.

Printing over these areas will break or mess up your logo. These kinds of mistakes make your apparel look unprofessional. It will end up as a waste of time and resources.

Often, printing over pockets and seams involve manual effort, which is painting the shirt. If you’re willing to raise the price for the aesthetic, do so. Note that your customers might not so be sure the product will be worth the price tag.

6. Don’t Always Place Your Logo on the Right or Top

The power of logo placement on human memory is remarkable. Placed on the right spot, it either sticks to people’s minds or fades from them. Intricate or beautiful designs may not matter with the wrong placement.

Consider the direction of how you read. When your customers read from the left first, it’s natural for their eyes to look left first. And since most logos are on the left side of a shirt, it’s where people expect them to be.

Notice also how popular brands place logos high on their packaging. Smaller businesses might do this to increase brand visibility. And yet, it may be better to lower or center their logos.

The bottom line: left is best. This also applies to items and website headers. The bottom line for brand packaging, use strategic logo placement.

7. Don’t Forget to Double Check

Logo placement is an important part of giving awareness to a brand. This is why you must look at all angles people could view your logo. If you don’t check, you might end up doing the opposite of promoting your brand.

An example of this is the Turkish Airlines ad posted at the side of an escalator. Because of the brand placement, the airplane in the ad seems to be crashing into a marble floor. It’s funny but it’s also an easy mistake to make.

Although that example isn’t logo misplacement, it’s something to learn from. The key is to take a careful look at your location. Get a second opinion from someone else, if possible, with a unique point of view of things.

Remember this: if it looks weird, it most likely is.

Increase Your Brand Awareness with the Perfect Logo Placement!

That is our quick logo placement guide. We hope it was helpful and informative! Now, you know where to put your logo.

This doesn’t mean you limit your logo placement; this is only a guide. Be creative still and think outside the box to make your logo placement unique. Whimsical and fascinating logo placement is a great way to catch attention.

Want to know how to best market your brand with a single image?

Your logo may be too simple or uninteresting. Check out our guide to walk you through the process of designing a logo and make your company stand out.

Would you like to learn a logo designing process that professionals use?

Your logo is the first thing that people often see about your company and often used to form a first impression.

Have you ever heard that you only get one chance to make a first impression? A logo is your chance to do that, but you only have about 10 seconds to create that first impression with your logo.

What to know how to create a logo that will make the right impression?

Read on to learn the logo design process that will impress customers and employees.

1. Brand Soul Searching

Do you know what your brand stands for? If you don’t, that’s the first step in the logo designing process.

Your logo should be aligned with your company’s values, mission, and marketing messages.

You need to have a clear understanding of these pieces before you start to design a logo because otherwise, the logo won’t be a true reflection of your company.

Another piece of critical information needed to design a logo is what you want your customers to think of when they think of your company.

For example, Volvo’s customers think of safety when they think of the company.

2. Competitive Research

Looking at your competition’s logos will give you great insight as you start to design your logo.

Think about it this way, the average person sees up to 8,000 brands in one day. How will your brand stand out from the thousands of others?

Look at other logos and write down what you like about them, what you don’t like, and what your first impression is.

This will help you design a logo that stands out.

3. Learn Basic Principles of Design

If you want to know how to design a logo, you’re going to have to learn the basic principles of design.

Color, typography, and symbols all work together to form an impression in the customer’s mind.

For example, red indicates a sense of urgency while blue gives people a sense of stability and security.

You need to brush up on these details before you start to design your logo so you know that your logo conveys the right message.

4. Brainstorm Ideas

This part of the logo designing process is the most fun because this is where you get to be creative and free.

You get to take everything you’ve learned about your business, design, and your competition and apply it into the design process.

Draw out sketches of logos. Include what typeface they should be and what colors to use.

If you don’t like to draw, then you can play with a logo design tool. Ideally, you’ll have 3-5 variations of your logo to work within the next steps.

5. Think About How the Logo Will Get Used

As you’re toying with different ideas for designing your logo, you’ll need to consider how the logo will be used.

Will it just appear in documents and your website? Will it appear on banners?

The application of your logo will also influence your design. As you’re sketching logos, print out a copy and put it on a business card and other places it’ll be used.

6. Tell a Story

Since your logo visually represents your company, it’s an opportunity to give your logo meaning that has something to do with your brand.

For example, Nike is a sporting goods company that is about high-performance sportswear for all types of athletes. The name Nike and the swoosh relate to the Greek goddess Nike, who wore wings of victory.

As human beings, we relate to stories, just as much as images. You can create a similar type of symbolism in your logo to deepen the connection between your company and customers.

7. Test & Refine the Logo

One of the biggest design fails of all time is by Gap in 2010, which spent a lot of money on a redesign. When the new logo was released, there was such a public outcry the company reverted to the old logo within days.

That’s why you have to test your logo before you release it out to the world. You can test a few variations of the logo against each other.

The thing to remember is that you have to go beyond your friends and family when you test your logo. Talk to your customers, potential customers, and employees.

You basically want to get a good sample size of the stakeholders in your business.

Ask them what their first impressions are of the logo. You can also ask them the first thing that comes to mind and whether or not the logo gives them a good or bad impression of the logo.

Also, ask them what they would do differently to improve the logo.

Take the best parts of the feedback, refine the logo, and go back for more feedback. This process should continue for a few rounds until you get a logo that looks great and conveys what your brand is about.

8. Finalize & Publish

After you go through several rounds of feedback, it’ll be time to finalize your logo and release it to the world. It would be in your best interest to create a marketing campaign a few weeks before you release the logo.

You can create anticipation around your brand and tells the story behind the logo. This would have a big impact on your brand because you’re creating positive emotions around your logo already.

When you release it and people see it and love it, that will reinforce the positive connection with your company.

An Easy Logo Designing Process

A lot rides on the look of your logo. Current and potential customers will look at your logo and make a snap judgment as to whether they want to do business with you.

Your employees will look at the logo and it can boost employee morale if you get it right. By following the steps outlined in this article, you’ll be able to create a logo that your employees and customers can be proud of.

For more great articles about logo design, check out these articles on the best file formats for logos and how to convey brand personality in your logo.

Are you setting up a new business?

Every new business begins with creating a brand.

This brand acts as the overall personality of your business and allows you to stand out in the market. The brand in which your company creates is the way that your audience will perceive you.

Are you a modern and cutting-edge business that relates to millennials? Or do you opt for a classic, straightforward design that identifies with a more senior audience?

Without establishing a solid, consistent brand for your business, your target audience is far less likely to identify and interact with your brand.

If you’re starting a new business, you’re going to want to ensure that you read this. We’re outlining a guide fit with five essential tips for starting a brand from scratch.

1. Identify Your Target Market

First things first, you’re going to want to target exactly who you are looking to market your product toward.

Ask yourself who you want to sell your product, idea or service to. In asking yourself this, be sure to consider age, gender, socioeconomic status and even the location of this audience.

Without a thorough understanding of who exactly your audience is, your brand will fail to connect with them. And, without a solid connection, your audience is less likely to interact with your business.

This audience is the basic platform for who you will build your brand upon.

2. Create a Logo

Next, you’re going to want to create a logo to represent your brand.

Whether you’re a small business or a large, multi-faceted business, creating an effective logo is one of the most important steps in establishing your brand.

Think of your logo as the face of your brand. After all, your logo is often the first taste of the brand that your clientele is able to see.

Taking this into consideration, you will want to ensure that your logo is attractive and appealing to your target audience.

If you have identified your target market as millennials, opt for a brand that is unique and cutting edge. This automatically sends a message to your audience that your brand is not only current, but also unique in comparison to the other established brands.

Fortunately, there are online services that allow you to create a logo in a way that is simple yet still professional.

3. Understand Your Competitors

In creating your brand, it’s essential to understand who your competitors are and what their brand is.

Evaluate your competitors brand and determine ways in which you’d like your brand to differ. Ask yourself how your competitor’s brand is falling short and how you can prevent that in your own brand.

It’s also important to note that you will likely share a target audience. That being said, study how they interact with their audience and establish the areas that need work. If you’re going to interact with the same audience, you need to ensure that your brand is offering them someone that no other brand is.

In order to best stand out from the competition, you first need to understand exactly how your competition operates.

4. Choose Your Brand Personality

When it comes to the personality of your brand, it’s helpful to humanize your brand. In doing so, think of your brand as a human and what you’d like their personality to be like.

You can begin by asking yourself what sort of human characteristics you would like your brand to possess. So, what is the overall character and nature of your brand?

For example, a comedic brand that is looking to sell online merchandise may look to have a brand personality that is pessimistic and sarcastic. On the other hand, a financial brand that provides online financial services may look to have a brand that is friendly and honest.

Remember, in order to resonate with your target audience, you must possess similar values and characteristics. In fact, 64 percent of consumers report that having a shared set of values with their brand is what allows them to have a trusted relationship with that brand.

It’s also important to determine how you expect your brand to identify with your audience. Ask yourself these questions:

• How do you want your brand to make your audience feel?
• Do you want your brand to make your audience laugh?
• Do you want your brand to resonate emotionally with your audience?

Determining the personality of your brand will determine which sort of people choose to interact with your business.

5. Hire Professionals

Sure, hiring professionals may appear to be a costly investment at first.

However, it’s important to think of this as a serious and worthwhile investment in your business.

In creating a successful brand, there are multiple hats that need to be worn. And, for entrepreneurs, it’s important to acknowledge the limitations of your expertise. While you may excel in establishing creative solutions, you may need help in the graphic design or marketing departments.

You may consider hiring multiple in-house departments or, instead, choose to outsource these projects. Today, there are countless freelancers that are searching for work in multiple departments.

The Essential Guide to Starting a Brand

If you’re considering starting a business, it’s important to begin by creating a brand.

Your brand is the face of your business and sets a precedent for what your audience can expect from your business.

But, starting a brand that is effective and resonates with your audience is not always easy. In fact, only six out of ten marketers believe that their brand aligns well with their overall business plan.

Fortunately, there are steps any business can take to create an effective brand from the start. From identifying your target market and creating a logo to fabricating a brand personality and enlisting the help of professionals, these tips are sure to keep your business on the right path.

For more tips on brands, logos, and design, be sure to visit our blog!