Monthly archive for April 2016

April 2016

On April 19, 2016   /   Newsletter   /   Leave a comment

Giving Back to Lansing Start Ups


This month on our social media posts we have been having fun with fonts and typography. Do people other than designers care about fonts? Of course they do!
The 3 logo concepts on the right are a good example of how non-designers are affected by font choice. Recently Connection Group volunteered graphic design services to Michigan Chamber of Commerce Young Entrepreneurs Academy. I worked with a high school student who created a business called Victory Backpacks. The business concept is to help increase positive energy by adding inspiration quotes to student attire. (Don’t you love it?!)
When we proposed the three logos to the entrepreneur, the discussion was primarily around fonts. Just look at how a script font, as compared to a serif, or sans serif font changes the feeling behind each of the concepts.
Need some help with font choices, design or image creation? Contact us this month and receive 15% off graphic design services.
Which one do you think was chosen? Vote on Facebook.

On The Blog:
Which is Better Brochure or Sales Sheet?


Your company website is live, you have business cards in hand, and now your’e ready for some leave behind print marketing materials. Small businesses often start with a standard, every-company-has-to-have-one-trifold, and others use sales sheets. Whether you are a start-up company or second stage business, when choosing between a brochure….read more

Taking Care of Business:
8 Strategies to Get Likes on Facebook

  • Set goals – this give you something to measure progress with
  • Complete your Page – fill in every part of the “About Us ‘ section
  • Increase the visibility of your Page – include a Facebook link on all promos and email signature
  • Be creative – Add content viewers will enjoy and share. Don’t sell all the time.
  • Be Engaged – Respond to page posts quickly
  • Develop campaigns – Organize shareable content, create contests. Add a user generated content (UGC) approach to campaigns.
  • Use Facebook Ads: If increases likes is your goal, choose ads that gain page likes.
  • Review analytics: Who is visiting, and when helps you know what and when to post.

    Get Social:
    Are You Fluent in Graphic Design?


    Posted to Connection Group Facebook page earlier, this traveller T-shirt with 40 icons lets you communicate in any country even if you don’t speak its language.
    Want more fun ideas and cleverness? Like our Facebook page, and follow us on Twitter – we’ll keep them coming…

 

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Which is Better, a Company Trifold Brochure or Sales Sheet?

On April 18, 2016   /   Branding - Marketing, Entrepreneurs - Small Business, Graphic Design and Web design   /   Leave a comment
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Company trifold brochure 15$ discount on graphic design Connection Group
Your company website is live, you have business cards in hand, and now your’e ready for some leave behind print marketing materials. Small businesses often start with a standard, every-company-has-to-have-one-trifold, and others use company sales sheets. Whether you are a start-up company or second stage business, when choosing between a company trifold brochure and a sales sheet, first consider how you plan to use your print materials.

Company Tri-Fold-Brochure

Three panel brochures are standard letter size (8.5” x 11”) sheets that are folded twice, horizontally.  The paper is usually creased in equal thirds, resulting in three panels on each side of the sheet totaling six panels for the entire piece. Designed to fit into a standard #10 envelope, trifold brochures are also known as #10 brochures for this reason. Brochures can be a combination of any amount of colors. Trifold brochures can be simple black ink with text only or full color, effects, die cuts and short folds. A trifold brochure template can open horizontally, custom brochures can be designed to also open vertically. You can choose a z-fold brochure or roll fold brochure, depending on the order in which you want the viewer to read each panel.
A custom company trifold brochure or brochure template, is often a gateway introductory tool. Brochures can be many different sizes and shapes, with multiple folds, single or multi-page. Multi-page brochures are, in essence, marketing booklets designed to wow the audience and support the corporate brand. Brochures with sleeves and die cuts can be used as folders that hold inserts. The shape chosen is dependent on how the print marketing piece will be distributed, along with amount of information to be communicated, and the style in which the company brand, product brand and services brands will be presented.

When a company trifold brochure is most beneficial:

  • point of sale (check out)
    retail store
    bank
    pharmacy
    restaurant carry out menu
  • direct mail – fits easily into standard #10 envelopes
  • general company information
  • display in brochure racks
    coffee shops, travel bureaus / Welcome centers, chamber of commerces,
  • event promotion
  • other….

Sales Sheets

Sales sheets are standard letter size (8.5” x 11”) sheets that are not folded. They can be one sided or two sided, full color, one, two, or three color. One sale sheet could cover everything or multiple sheets may be needed to highlight individual products or services, pricing, etc. Sales sheets may also be designed for specific target markets. For instance if your company sells products or services to manufacturing firms and also to end users, your sales literature will need to be adapted to each audience.

A Sales Sheet By Any-other-name….

The term sales sheet is often interchanged with: sell sheets, brag sheets, capability sheets (capability statement sheets), product cut sheet, flyers, inserts, specification sheets (spec sheet), data sheets, and one sheets (often used for Professional Speakers, authors and other creative talent such as models and actors.) There are some differences in the content in each of these items but the purpose typically serves the same end – to promote.

When a sales sheet is most beneficial:

  • leave behind after a sales presentation
  • part of sales kits for use by sales staff or independent sales representatives
  • company manufacturers or offers multiple products or services
  • after sale literature for customer reference

Each marketing item that is designed for printing can also be included in digital format for posting to your website. All print items can be shared electronically in emails, posted to social media, and as downloads from a specified page on your website.
Do you need help with the design or writing of your company trifold brochure, sales sheet or booklet? Are you in need of a promotional kit with sales sheets? Connect with us today. We’ll plan a face to face meeting to discuss your ideas or schedule a phone consultation to clarify goals and outline marketing solutions.

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Automated Marketing Let’s You Market In Your Sleep

On April 1, 2016   /   Branding - Marketing, General   /   Leave a comment
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Internet Marketing Strategy Connection Group

The previous blog post covering automated marketing barely skimmed the service about the features and benefits of marketing automation for small business. I’m continuing here to be sure that  I communicate clearly that there is a lot of leg work that has to happen for automated marketing to get rolling.

Automated Marketing Services Upfront Planning:

  • create targeted landing pages (for each product or service)
  • develop detailed customer profiles
  • identify marketing automation database segmentation
  • determine what events / actions to track
  • create tracking methods to identify who participated in a campaign  (attended a webinar, opened an email, responded to social media post, or clicked on a Google ad)
  • view reports, determine common visitor traits or failed closings
  • design messages that are graphically appealing
  • write compelling copy
  • tailor drip email campaigns to generate attention
  • and more…

Create more leads and close more sales.

Because we are a design and marketing firm we have received sales calls from automated marketing services firms for years. We’ve tried out demos, reviewed benefits and features and inquired on pricing for each automated marketing company. Some companies were incredibly expensive and truly were designed for large corporations like GM who receive tens of thousands of hits per day. The ROI just wasn’t there for most small businesses.

Can automated marketing benefit small businesses?

The challenge we found with all of the marketing automation companies is that they all claimed marketing automation was easy. The only way marketing automation is easy is if you are a marketing firm who is already using digital marketing services like email, CRMs, visitor tracking, analytics, etc. and attempting to build comprehensive results from the different platforms. It’s a lot of work! Converting to marketing automation services is like a ride in the park after juggling all of those pieces and trying to make sense of them.  Realistically though most small business are not doing many of those pieces on their own, so jumping into an automated marketing solution is a huge undertaking.

If you are a small manufacturing firm in mid-Michigan, a craft brewery in Lansing or a commercial builder in Grand Ledge, Michigan you’re too busy running your business to be working on all of the pieces needed to create successful automated marketing campaigns. You either need a full time website designer and marketing communication manager in-house or you need to outsource it to a marketing company like ours. We have found that the small businesses, associations, and community organizations in Grand Rapids and Lansing who we have met with who attempt automated marketing on their own seldom implement it to it’s fullest potential. There are far too many steps required to get it up and running.

  • customer persones
  • segmentation identified
  • campaigns are built
  • website enhanced for automation
  • communication and call to action copy developed
  • graphic design elements created
  • review of reports
  • sales department actions

Once all of the above are complete, you can monitor campaigns, traffic, and reports and your website marketing will truly be automated and leads will be forwarded to your sales team.

Do you think your company is ready for marketing automation services? Give us a call, we can talk about your goals and whether marketing automation is a good fit for you at this stage in your business. Connection Group can provide assistance setting up your automated marketing campaigns and turn it over to you or we can set it up, manage and provide input on the data and reports. We can help you rest easy and keep your business on track.

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