by Lex | Apr 12, 2024 | Design and Branding
In today’s digital landscape, where attention spans are fleeting and competition for engagement is fierce, social media has emerged as a powerful tool for brands to connect with their audience, convey messages, and drive meaningful interactions.
However, designing effective social media graphics requires more than just aesthetic appeal—it demands a strategic approach that considers audience preferences, platform requirements, and design best practices.
In this quick guide, we’ll delve into the dos and don’ts of designing social media graphics to help you maximise your brand’s impact and drive engagement across various social platforms.
The Dos:
- Understand Your Audience: Effective social media graphics start with a deep understanding of your target audience. Take the time to research and analyse your audience’s demographics, interests, and behaviours on social media platforms. Use this insight to tailor your graphics to resonate with your audience and align with their preferences.
- Maintain Consistency Across Platforms: Consistency is key to building brand recognition and trust on social media. Establish a cohesive visual identity by using consistent brand colours, fonts, and design elements across all your social media graphics. This ensures that your audience can easily identify your brand and distinguish it from competitors while scrolling.
- Optimise for Each Platform: Each social media platform has its own set of image size requirements and display formats. To ensure that your graphics look their best on each platform, customise them to fit the dimensions and specifications of each platform. This may involve creating multiple versions of the same graphic optimised for different platforms.
- Use High-Quality Images: High-quality images are essential for creating visually appealing social media posts. Invest in high-resolution photos or use free stock image websites such as UnSplash to ensure that your graphics are clear, crisp, and professional-looking. Avoid using low-quality or pixelated images, as they can detract from the overall quality of your graphics and appear untrustworthy.
- Keep it Simple and Scannable: Social media users are often scrolling through their feeds quickly, so it’s important to make your graphics easy to understand at a glance. Keep your messaging concise and to the point, and use clear visuals and minimal text to convey your message quickly and effectively. Break up text into smaller chunks, use type hierarchy and bullet points or numbered lists to make your content more scannable.
- Incorporate Brand Elements: Infuse your brand’s logo, colours, and visual identity into your graphics to reinforce brand recognition and strengthen your brand’s presence across platforms. Make sure that your brand elements are prominently featured in your graphics without overwhelming the overall design.
- Add a Call-to-Action (CTA): Encourage user engagement and interaction by including a clear and compelling call-to-actions. Whether it’s inviting users to like, share, comment, or click through to your website, a well-crafted CTA can prompt desired actions from your audience and drive engagement.
- Test and Iterate: Don’t be afraid to experiment with different design elements, formats, and messaging to see what resonates best with your audience. Monitor the performance of your social media graphics using analytics tools, and use the insights you gather to refine your approach and optimise your graphics for maximum impact.
The Don’ts:
- Overcrowd with Text: Avoid overwhelming your social media graphics with excessive text, as this can make them difficult to read and understand. Keep your messaging concise and focused, and use visuals to convey your message whenever possible. Aim for a good balance of text and visuals to ensure that your graphics are easy to digest at a glance.
- Ignore Brand Guidelines: Straying away from your brand’s established guidelines can dilute brand identity and confuse your audience. Adhere to your brand guidelines in terms of colours, fonts, and design elements to maintain consistency and coherence across all your social posts.
- Use Low-Quality Graphics: Low-quality or pixelated images can detract from the overall quality of your posts and reflect negatively on your brand’s professionalism. Invest in high-quality graphics to enhance the visual appeal and legitimacy of your content, and avoid using images that are blurry or poorly cropped.
- Forget About Mobile Optimization: With the majority of social media users accessing platforms via mobile devices, it’s essential to optimise your graphics for mobile viewing. Make sure that your graphics are mobile-friendly and display properly on smaller screens to ensure a seamless user experience for mobile users.
- Overlook Accessibility: Accessibility is an important consideration when designing anything to go online, as it ensures inclusivity for all users, including those with visual impairments. Use descriptive alt text for images and ensure sufficient colour contrast for text readability to make your graphics accessible to everyone. There are various tools available online to help you be sure your designs are accessible.
- Neglect Testing and Analysis: Don’t skip the testing and analysis phase of your social media graphics. Regularly evaluate the performance of your graphics using analytics tools, and use the insights you gather to refine your design strategies and optimise your graphics for better engagement and results. Don’t want to bother with tools? Ask a friend or colleague for honest feedback.
By following these dos and don’ts, you can create compelling visuals that capture attention, engage your audience, and drive meaningful interactions with your brand.
Remember to stay true to your brand identity, prioritise simplicity and clarity in your designs, and continuously iterate and optimise your approach to stay ahead in the competitive world of social media marketing.
With the right strategy and execution, your social media graphics can become powerful tools for building brand awareness, fostering engagement, and driving success on social media platforms.
by Sophie | Apr 10, 2024 | Design and Branding, Web Development
With the landscape of social media algorithms growing ever more volatile, it’s become more important than ever to have a good home for your online presence. Having a website gives your business a solid, centralised base – a one stop shop for customers to find out all they need to know about who you are, and what services and products you offer. More importantly, a website gives you absolute control over your content and messaging to customers. With your own website, you don’t have to worry about a platform changing significantly in a way that could negatively impact your business model, something that is increasingly becoming a regular occurrence for many businesses with an online presence spread across various social media platforms.
In 2024, there are more ways to build and design a website than ever before. The good news is, you don’t have to be an amazing artist or designer to be able to build an amazing looking website. Regardless of the platform you choose and how technical your web build is, fundamental design principles can help take your website to the next level.
Whether you’re building from scratch or using a pre-made layout – Here are 5 tips that can help you improve your website design:
Think of the Customer Journey
Good web design isn’t just about the overall appearance of your website – it’s also about the structure, and how you navigate it.
In marketing, there is a strategy structure known as a ‘funnel’. The marketing ‘funnel’ shows the steps of interaction a customer is guided through to reach your desired goal – whether that’s a sale, or engagement with a particular post or platform. A common marketing funnel looks something like this:
Good web design operates on a similar structure. Most websites have a particular goal or purpose – whether that’s to signpost customers to other services, to sell via ecommerce, to function as a blog, or more. Regardless of the purpose of your website, It’s important to take visitors on a journey through the site to tell people who you are, the services you have to offer, and how people can get in touch with you. This can be achieved with the layout and design of your website!
All websites should have a solid Home Page – which acts as the landing page for all other areas of your website. Your homepage should have a clear ‘Hero’ section, with a clear description and introduction to who you are and what your business is. The rest of the page can then be dedicated to signposting other areas of your site – whether that’s a product page, your blog, or how to get in touch with you.
A good overall website hierarchy can look something like this:
In this example, the homepage is the primary landing page. Then all other pages link from the homepage to other category pages. These could be product hubs, a blog, a service landing page or a contact page. Under these category pages can sit other sub categories – like specific product pages, blog articles and more.
Following this top-down, hierarchical website structure not only takes your customer through an easy-to-follow journey through your site. It also follows good SEO design practice, which helps boost your website’s level in search engine rankings, making your website easier to find.
Keep Your Design Consistent Throughout
It’s really tempting when designing a new website to use multiple different styling options and different layouts on every page. It’s easy to fall into a trap of thinking that variety will add excitement to a web design, and make it more interesting for customers. Often, this can lead to the opposite outcome. A website full of conflicting fonts, colours and layouts can create a confusing user experience, which can reflect poorly not just on your website, but your business as well.
When choosing designs for your website – make sure you use the same fonts, colours and themes throughout. Your website is an extension of the other aspects of your business, so it’s important to make your web design consistent with any other branding you might have. Do the fonts and colours on your website match up with the ones you’re using on business cards, or other stationary you own?
Most modern web themes and layouts available online have a good selection of these pre-selected, so do research to find the ones that best suit your websites and business.
Think Accessibility
A Screenshot of the CMO Paris Homepage – https://www.cmoparis.com/la-marque/
In recent years, web designers have begun to experiment a lot more with websites. After years of very minimal, stripped back web designs – developers and designers are now playing with animations, scroll effects and transitions a lot more.
The end result of this has lead to a lot of very cutting edge, exciting web design. However, some of these website experiences can be difficult to navigate for users who might not explore the web with a traditional mouse-and-keyboard setup. Elements like Parallax scrolls, videos and complex animations can add hefty loading times for users who might not have the fastest technology or internet connection to access them.
As these trends become more widely in-demand, website templates and pre-built layouts are also now beginning to appear with similar complex layouts and animations. Even more ‘static’ web layouts can often sometimes be difficult to navigate for those who use assistive technology – with missing alt text, lack of tab navigation, and flattened text unreadable via screen readers.
When Designing a website for your business, it’s important to ensure that your website is accessible for anyone who might visit it. It’s better to have a more stripped-back website that is clear and easy to navigate than it is to have an exciting, heavily customised one that is a nightmare to look through. Avoid heavily-animated pre-built layouts where possible. Use animations and videos in sparing quantities, and make sure that none of your design choices are made in sacrifice of accessibility.
Design Heuristically
A Screenshot of the Sainsbury’s Homepage – https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/
Every person browsing the internet can visit hundreds, sometimes thousands of different websites. Most businesses these days have some degree of online presence – be that Supermarkets, major high street retailers, to ecommerce giants with only online outlets such as Amazon or Temu.
Through browsing the web, we all subconsciously pick up habits based on the things we most commonly interact with. Over time, these habits become expectations. Within a few seconds, we can use quick assessment to make judgements about what kind of business a website is for, how that website should function, as well as what kind of services or information we can expect to find there. This is what is known as Heuristics – or, Heuristic Behaviour. Patterns of habits, behaviours, or expectations we form without thinking, based on repeated experiences.
We can use Heuristics to help design a website experience that communicates the type of business you are to a customer subconsciously. This can be helpful, as it can handle a lot of the legwork required to make customers to develop a sense of familiarity with your business and website, in a very small window of time.
If you are a tech business, for example – your customers may already have an experience of other similar tech companies or brands in your field. Researching companies like Apple or Dyson, and identifying the ways they layout and sell their products can be helpful in establishing design patterns that could work for your own website.
The goal isn’t to copy their branding or website verbatim – it’s to identify patterns, signifiers and layouts that you can use when designing your own website to help communicate to customers what kind of business you are, without them having to consciously think about it.
Think Responsively
These days, people access websites on a vast range of devices and screen sizes. Your website could potentially be viewed on a large 4K display, or a small mobile phone screen, and many different sizes in between.
When designing a website, it’s important to ensure that your layout throughout is responsive. This means that your website has no fixed asset sizes (like hard-coded pixel limits), and that the layout and contents on your webpages can be moved freely to different dimensions and sizes, depending on the screen view.
This can seem overwhelming when first encountered. It can be frustrating to design a beautiful layout for a desktop view, only for the same layout to break entirely when viewed on a mobile screen.
In web development, a common design approach is known as ‘Mobile first’ design. This means that all your web pages should be designed from the mobile screen first, then scaled upwards to work across tablet and desktop views after.
Luckily, most modern web design platforms and web templates are built with responsive views in mind. If you aren’t a web designer, it can be helpful to use a pre-built theme, or some of the in-built site builder features to make sure your website is kept responsive without needing to handle the layouts manually yourself.
When choosing layouts and themes, always research how responsive they are. Don’t just rely on your website looking good in one particular view. You can use your browser’s in-built inspection tools to view how your website looks across multiple screens, and make adjustments to your layouts as needed.
Web Design & Development with Brand Ambition
At Brand Ambition, we help businesses get the most out of their websites. If you’re looking for web design support – whether it’s to update a previous site, or start a new one from scratch, we can help you every step of the way. Get in touch with us for further information on all of our web design and development services.
by Robin | Mar 8, 2024 | Design and Branding
As a designer, navigating the vast landscape of typefaces can often feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. However, amidst the sea of options, one typeface stands out as a beacon of elegance and versatility: Hurme or to give it its full title Hurme Geometric Sans. For me, Hurme isn’t just a typeface; it’s a design companion that effortlessly elevates every project it touches.
What draws me to Hurme is its seamless blend of simplicity and sophistication. Designed in Helsinki by Finnish typographer Toni Hurme, this contemporary sans-serif typeface exudes a sense of modernity while retaining timeless appeal. Its clean lines and balanced proportions lend a sense of harmony to any composition, making it a go-to choice for a wide range of design applications.
I’ve lost count of the number of projects, here at Brand Ambition, that have started or finished with this typeface. I will often change the font in a project as it progresses but Hurme always gives me a great starting point.
For the purposes of type classification, sans-serif designs can be divided into four major groups: Grotesque (eg Akzidenz, Franklin Gothic etc) Transitional (eg Helvetica, Univers etc) Humanist (eg Calibri, Gill sans, Frutiger etc) and Geometric (eg Futura, Gotham etc).
Hurme is is a Geometric sans serif font. As their name suggests, Geometric sans-serif typefaces are based on geometric shapes, like near-perfect circles and squares. Note the optically circular letter “O” and the simple construction of the lowercase letter “a”. Geometric sans-serif fonts have a very modern look and feel.
One of the most remarkable qualities of Hurme is its versatility. Whether I’m working on editorial layouts, branding projects, or digital media, Hurme adapts effortlessly to the task at hand. Its extensive character set includes various weights and styles, from sleek and minimalist to bold and authoritative, allowing me to achieve the perfect balance of form and function in my designs.
Hurme Geometric Sans includes seven weights with true SmallCaps and obliques. Alternate characters and other Opentype features make for a versatile family that can be adjusted for specific needs.
But Hurme isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s also about functionality. Its open counters and generous spacing ensure excellent readability, even at small sizes, while its modern aesthetic adds a touch of sophistication to every project. Whether I’m setting body text or crafting eye-catching headlines, Hurme never lets me down.
Beyond its visual appeal and technical prowess, Hurme is my “go to” typeface because of the sense of confidence it instills in me as a designer.
Hurme isn’t just a typeface; it’s a design philosophy. Its timeless elegance, versatility, and functionality make it the perfect choice for designers who strive to create impactful and memorable work. For me, Hurme isn’t just my favourite typeface; it’s an essential tool in my creative arsenal.
by Robin | Feb 12, 2024 | Design and Branding
Fonts. There are so many in every style imaginable, and they can leave a strong impression on people.
Typography (the art of arranging letters and text in a way that makes the copy legible, clear, and visually appealing to the reader) is more than an accompaniment to your brand.
It can be your brand.
But there are thousands of fonts available online, and many have pre-conceived connotations attached to them.
So, how do you choose the right one for your brand?
When building a brand identity, your logo design, brand messaging, brand colours, and brand fonts all have to come together to tell the story of your brand.
Fonts come in to play when creating your logo, but also on your website and across all of your physical assets, including your business cards.
This is why it’s so important to make sure you choose the right font for your brand.
The first step in the process is to understand the different personality traits of each font category. We will look at logos that use each font type to gain a general idea of what fonts other successful brands are using.
We’ve separated the font families into the 4 most commonly used styles; serif fonts, sans-serif fonts, script fonts, and display fonts.
So let’s learn a little about the different types of fonts…
1. Serif Fonts
Serif fonts are classic, traditional, and trustworthy.
Serif fonts originated in the 15th century, and they were named after the small feet (serifs) seen at the tops and bottoms of each letter.
Because serif typefaces were the original font style, we generally associate them with classic, traditional, and trustworthy brands, as seen in the logo designs below.
A few popular serif fonts include:
They’re favoured by companies that want to communicate a sense of respectability and tradition, like Tiffany & Co, Vogue, or Time Magazine.
2. Sans Serif Fonts
Sans-serif fonts are modern, clean, and help create a minimal design.
These typefaces didn’t emerge until the late 19th century, which was later than the traditional serif typefaces. So we often think of sans-serif typefaces as being more modern.
Sans-serif fonts are also much simpler in form than serif fonts, so they often create a sense of cleanliness and aid in providing you a minimalist design, as seen in the logo designs below.
The most common sans-serif fonts include:
Bold sans-serif fonts have become popular among tech giants, including Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon. This is largely because sans-serif fonts are much easier to read on mobile devices and are easily scalable in size.
3. Script Fonts
Script fonts are elegant, friendly and unique.
Script fonts are font types that resemble cursive handwriting or calligraphy. They have a feeling of femininity and elegance due to their hand-written element. They’re fun and romantic, mimicking forms of handwriting and doodling.
Formal scripts like Hummingbird, Kuenstler, or Malbec evoke a classical or contemporary feel. Casual script fonts like Kaufmann, Vladimir, or Brush Script are more playful and stylised than formal script fonts.
Script fonts are quite complicated in form, yet due to their handwritten style, they often create a sense of friendliness whilst still remaining formal, as seen in the logo designs below.
Nowadays, script fonts are quite rarely seen in big name brands logos.
This is largely because sans-serif fonts are much easier to read on mobile devices and are easily scalable in size, whereas script fonts are hard to read on a small scale.
Logo simplification is more common than ever with brands wanting to appear modern and fresh, so you might notice that some of the above logos have been simplified and since turned into sans serif fonts.
Some popular script fonts include:
Script fonts are now most commonly used on logos for artisans and small businesses.
4. Display Fonts
Display fonts are bold, quirky, and confident.
Display fonts are the broadest and largest types of fonts, and can range from retro fonts, to handwritten fonts, to futuristic fonts, to gothic fonts, and all the way to illegible symbol fonts.
These are the highly stylised fonts that evoke very particular feelings in a reader. You should always be careful when using decorative, or display, fonts.
Why? Because lots of them are very, very bad (we all know how the internet feels about Comic Sans).
But they shouldn’t be completely avoided as there are also some really great ones, as used by the following brands…
Keep in mind that they are never a good choice for secondary fonts or for body text fonts.
Think of them like fireworks: whilst they can be lots of fun, they’re best when left to trained professionals.
Some popular decorative fonts (that should stand the test of time) include:
Whichever font you choose, be wary of using types that are too “trendy.”
Whilst every designer will have their own opinions on which fonts fall into this category, the decisions you make for your brand need stay consistent over a range of years.
You don’t want your fonts to look dated too quickly.
Here’s a recap:
To summarise, here’s our round up of the personality traits of the 4 top font categories:
- Serif fonts are classic, traditional, and trustworthy.
- Sans-serif fonts are modern, clean, and help create minimal designs.
- Script fonts are elegant and unique.
- Display fonts are bold, quirky, and confident.
We would recommend using these traits to identify the best font category for your company, for example; If you are branding an elegant wedding dress shop – you are most likely to choose an elegant script font for your brand.
The Five Forbidden Fonts
Everyone has fonts that they don’t like, but these next fonts have developed a bad reputation.
Although there are many other choices that have been included on lists of terrible fonts, the following have shown up time and time again.
Unprofessional and widely viewed as just plain terrible, they are not recommended for use in branding or business materials.
1. Comic Sans
Deserving of the number one spot, it’s the infamous Comic Sans.
With an unprofessional and childish appearance, this font should not be used in company branding.
Comic Sans should only ever be used ironically to make fun of people who actually use Comic Sans!
2. Papyrus
Viewed by some to be the second worst font available, and most infamously known for its use in James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’, where it received massive negative backlash.
Papyrus may only be appropriate at a child’s Egyptian (or Avatar) themed birthday party.
3. Hobo
Much like comic sans, Hobo has a childish appearance.
Many companies use this to invoke a fun feeling to relate to children or as a retro 1960s font, but there are better options to choose from.
Remember, you never have to sacrifice professionalism, even if your business is a nursery.
4. Times New Roman
Although less offensive than some of the other fonts on this list, Times New Roman (and Times) makes the list for a different reason.
It’s just plain boring.
5. Calibri
Much like Times New Roman, Calibri is too plain for professional branding.
In a world of thousands of sans serif fonts, it’s easy to choose a better alternative, such as Helvetica.
How to Choose a Font for Your Brand
When it comes to choosing the right typeface for your brand or design project, there are a number of different factors to consider.
1. Understand your brand identity
Understand your brand personality before you choose a font, which will non-verbally communicate your company’s tone.
Start off by brainstorming a few words to describe your brand identity. If your business is “professional” or “luxury,” you may want to choose a transitional serif typeface.
If you’re “quirky” or “whimsical,” a script font might be for you. If you’re “innovative” and “modern,” consider choosing a sans-serif font.
2. Take note of the brand fonts you admire
Look up brands you admire and take note of their typeface branding. Notice the impression that different lettering styles can have on a viewer.
You may want to pair the quirkiness of one brand’s typeface with the modernism of another brand’s typeface.
3. Research typography
Study the anatomy of letterforms, how to distinguish between different fonts, and how different lettering shapes or styles can evoke particular feelings.
All of this information will help you make your final choice.
4. Make sure that the font is versatile
The font you choose should be consistent across your branding, from out-of-home advertisements to desktop web design, to mobile interfaces.
If your logo design contains a phrase, choose something that is highly legible.
If it’s something meant to go on billboards or signage, you’ll want something that is bold but legible at larger sizes.
5. Choose a few fonts to start
Narrow your choices down to three different fonts for your brand and compare how your brand text looks in each.
Look at them alone, and also side by side.
6. Consider the typographic hierarchy
A typographic visual hierarchy refers to how letterforms are displayed and where they can draw the viewer’s eye in the most effective way.
If you’re selecting a few fonts for your brand, make sure to consider how they look together. You want the typeface for your headers to complement your sub-headers, and vice versa.
Configure your font pairings like which lettering should be the display font style and which should be the body text. Swap your styles around to see what has the best structural layout.
7. Ask for feedback
Show family, friends and employees some mock-ups of your prospective brand fonts and ask for honest feedback.
Since your branding is meant to target an audience, ask people you trust to be a reliable sounding board for your ideas.
Free Fonts vs. Paid Fonts?
Free Fonts
If you’re a business owner and you have a tight budget for branding, free fonts can be a great choice. They will not cost you a single thing and come with free licenses.
Thanks to the availability of these fonts on various websites such as Google Fonts, Behance, Dribble, Dafont and many others. Also, there are lots of free fonts in your computer’s system.
But whilst free fonts might seem like the best option for all businesses, there are also various potential downsides you should be aware of. Some of them are:
- They don’t always come in all weights (e.g. from extra light to extra bold).
- Most of them don’t offer multi-language support.
- They often lack a wide range of glyphs (i.e. #@&%!) *No, that wasn’t me swearing.
- Good free fonts are common and can be overused and recognisable.
- They might have poor kerning (The distance between letters isn’t consistent).
With the endless options for free fonts, you will still have the quality and diversity in your texts.
Paid Fonts
Professionally created paid fonts are always superior to free fonts if cost is not your main concern.
They are always high in quality compared to the free ones as typographers spend a lot of time developing them.
Here are some of the benefits of using paid fonts:
- They usually come in various font weights.
- They often have a wide range of glyphs.
- They’re higher in quality than free fonts.
- There’s no copyright issue if you pay for them (make sure you get the correct licence!)
Paid fonts will help you build a unique visual identity. They might be expensive, but you get what you pay for.
You can find paid fonts from sources like Adobe Fonts, Linotype, Fonts.com or on the type foundries own websites.
Our Top Ten Tips to remember when choosing a brand font
- Pick a set of brand fonts that match your brand personality.
- Connect with your target audience, which font would your customers like?
- Don’t use messy or hard to read fonts – prioritise legibility over style!
- Don’t use too many font styles across your brand – we’d recommend a maximum of 3.
- Use web safe fonts so they can still be accessed on a browser.
- When using two fonts, make sure there is a contrast between the two.
- Don’t rely on colour. Your font and logo should also look great in black and white.
- Start with your main logo font first before choosing complementary secondary fonts.
- Avoid ‘trendy’ fonts as these can go out of fashion quickly and can seem dated.
- For some brands, the font must be accessible to certain audiences. Keep this in mind if this is required by your target market.
Remember that this isn’t the be all and end all; You can update your font and logo further down the line if you change your mind!
But…make sure your brand font meets the following criteria:
- Brand fonts must be flexible and scalable.
- Brand fonts should have multiple font weights.
- Brand fonts must be legible and accessible.
Conclusion
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Much like any other brand design challenge, picking your brand typography is all about finding fonts that match your brand personality and fit your target audience (and making sure they’ll work with anything you throw at them).
But, by using the above as a guide, you’re well on your way to choosing a font that works for YOU.
And, if you still need more help…
Team Up With a Brand Marketing Agency!
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We’re a family-run digital marketing agency based in Leeds and Belfast, and we can offer full branding packages at affordable rates.
In short, we get big agency results at freelance prices.
We don’t really like to talk about exactly how much we charge people in public. With the exception of one of our services, but we are often about 30% to 50% cheaper than our “Big Agency” competitors.
In fact, one client recently compared us against some freelancers and said we came out cheaper.
Why, and How?
Well, lets just say we know something they don’t.
Like how to be affordable for SME’s, how to cut “bloat” from the budget and also our MD’s background is literally in optimisation.
We’ve taken that approach and built up a set of super affordable services that means we still get awesome results, but you walk away feeling better about your marketing budget.
Just don’t take the mick. We’re affordable, not free.
by Lex | May 4, 2023 | Design and Branding, Market Analysis, SEO, Social, Strategy
As the legal industry becomes increasingly competitive, law firms are searching for ways to differentiate themselves and attract more clients.
One effective strategy is content marketing, which involves creating and sharing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a defined audience. By providing helpful information and insights, law firms can establish themselves as thought leaders in their field and build trust with potential clients.
In this blog post, we will explore the power of content marketing for law firms, including why it’s important, how it can benefit your firm and best practices for creating a successful content marketing strategy. Whether you’re just starting out with content marketing or looking to improve your existing efforts, this post will provide valuable insights to help you succeed.
1. Building Trust and Authority Through Content Marketing
For law firms, building trust and authority is essential in order to attract and retain clients.
One effective way to accomplish this is through content marketing. By creating informative and valuable content that addresses the legal needs and interests of your target audience, you can establish yourself as a thought leader in your field and build a reputation as a trustworthy and reliable source of legal information.
To build trust and authority through content marketing, it’s important to focus on the needs and concerns of your target audience. This can involve creating blog posts, articles, videos, and other content that addresses common legal questions and issues.
Additionally, your content should reflect your law firm’s unique personality and brand values, so that potential clients can get a sense of who you are and what you stand for.
In addition to creating great content, it’s important to distribute it effectively. This can involve using social media, email marketing, and other tactics to promote your content and reach a wider audience.
By using a strategic approach to content distribution, you can increase your reach and build trust and authority with your target audience.
Slater and Gordon’s YouTube channel is an excellent example of how law firms can use video content to connect with their target audience and build trust and authority. The channel features a wide range of videos on various legal topics, including personal injury, medical negligence, and employment law.
One particularly effective type of video content that Slater and Gordon creates is client testimonials. These videos feature interviews with clients who have successfully used the firm’s services to resolve their legal issues.
By sharing real-life stories of how they have helped clients achieve positive outcomes, Slater and Gordon has been able to establish themselves as a leading provider of legal services in their areas of focus.
In addition to client testimonials, they also create informative videos that explain legal concepts and processes in a clear and accessible way. For example, they have videos that provide guidance on what to do after a car accident, how to make a personal injury claim, and what to expect during an employment tribunal.
By using video content to engage with their target audience, Slater and Gordon has been able to build trust and authority as a leading provider of legal services in their areas of focus.
Their YouTube channel has become a valuable resource for people seeking legal advice and information, and has helped them to establish themselves as a trustworthy and reliable source of legal information.
2. Establishing Your Law Firm as a Thought Leader in the Industry
Positioning your law firm as a leading authority in the industry through thought leadership. can be a powerful tool to differentiate your firm and stand out from the competition.
Being recognised as an authority in your area of practice can help you attract and retain clients, improve your reputation and credibility, and ultimately grow your business.
To become a thought leader, you need to focus on building expertise in your area of practice and sharing your knowledge and insights with others.
This can be achieved through a variety of channels, including publishing articles and whitepapers, speaking at conferences and events, hosting webinars and podcasts, and engaging with your audience on social media.
One effective way to establish thought leadership is to identify and capitalise on industry trends and hot topics. By staying up-to-date on emerging issues and trends, and sharing your thoughts and opinions on them, you can position yourself as a go-to resource for your clients and peers.
This can also help you anticipate and adapt to changes in the industry, ensuring that your firm stays ahead of the curve.
Mishcon de Reya is a London-based law firm that has built a strong reputation for its expertise in litigation and dispute resolution.
The firm has been able to establish itself as a thought leader in the industry by taking a proactive approach to sharing its expertise with others.
It regularly publishes articles and thought leadership pieces on its website and in industry publications, providing insights and analysis on a range of legal topics.
In addition to its thought leadership content, Mishcon de Reya has also been active in speaking at conferences and events, and hosting webinars and podcasts.
By engaging with audiences in a variety of formats, the firm has been able to expand its reach and build a loyal following of clients and peers who value its insights and expertise.
Another key aspect of thought leadership is building a strong personal brand. This involves creating a consistent and recognisable image that reflects your expertise, values, and personality.
By building a strong personal brand, you can enhance your credibility and visibility, and create a loyal following of clients and fans who trust and admire you.
3. How to Create Effective Content for Your Law Firm
Creating effective content is an essential part of building a successful law firm marketing strategy.
Content that resonates with your target audience can help you attract and retain clients, establish your firm as a thought leader in the industry, and ultimately grow your business.
Here are some tips and best practices for creating effective content for your law firm:
- Understand your audience. The first step in creating effective content is understanding your audience. Who are your ideal clients? What are their pain points and challenges? What type of content do they find most valuable? By answering these questions, you can tailor your content to address the specific needs and interests of your target audience.
- Focus on quality over quantity. While it’s important to create content on a regular basis, it’s even more important to ensure that your content is high-quality and valuable. Avoid creating content just for the sake of creating content. Instead, focus on providing real value to your audience with insights and perspectives that they can’t find elsewhere.
- Be consistent. Consistency is key when it comes to creating effective content. Establish a regular publishing schedule and stick to it. This can help you build momentum and keep your audience engaged over time.
- Mix up your content formats. Variety is important when it comes to creating effective content. Don’t just rely on written blog posts. Experiment with different formats such as videos, podcasts, infographics, and social media posts to keep your content fresh and engaging.
- Optimise for search. Search engine optimisation (SEO) is important for ensuring that your content is discoverable by your target audience. Research keywords and phrases that your audience is searching for, and incorporate them into your content in a natural and meaningful way.
- Promote your content. Creating great content is only half the battle. You also need to promote your content effectively to ensure that it reaches your target audience. Share your content on social media, in email newsletters, and through other channels to maximise its reach and impact.
By following these tips and best practices, you can create effective content that resonates with your audience and helps you achieve your marketing goals.
Remember to stay focused on providing real value to your audience, and to be consistent and strategic in your approach to content creation and promotion.
4. Using SEO to Optimise Your Law Firm’s Content Marketing Strategy
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a critical component of any law firm’s content marketing strategy. By optimising your content for search engines, you can increase your visibility and attract more potential clients to your website.
To do this, the first step is to research relevant keywords and phrases. Identify the keywords and phrases that your target audience is searching for, and incorporate them into your content in a natural and meaningful way.
By doing so, you can increase the chances of your content showing up in search engine results for those keywords.
Once you have identified your target keywords, it’s important to optimise your content accordingly. This includes incorporating your target keywords into your headlines, subheadings, and body copy, as well as optimising your meta descriptions and title tags.
Meta descriptions and title tags are important because they provide a brief summary of what your content is about and are often the first thing that users see in search engine results.
By optimising these elements, you can increase the likelihood that users will click through to your website.
While SEO is important, it’s equally important to focus on creating high-quality content that provides real value to your target audience.
Avoid keyword stuffing and other black-hat SEO tactics that can hurt your credibility and reputation. Instead, focus on creating content that answers your target audience’s questions, provides valuable insights, and establishes your law firm as a thought leader in your industry.
Backlinks are a key factor in determining your website’s authority and ranking in search engine results.
Focus on building high-quality backlinks from reputable sources to boost your website’s authority and visibility.
This can be done by creating guest blog posts for other websites, participating in online forums and communities, and building relationships with other industry thought leaders.
If your law firm primarily serves clients in a specific geographic area, it’s important to optimise your content for local search.
This includes incorporating location-specific keywords into your content, as well as creating local business listings on platforms like Google My Business. By doing so, you can increase the visibility of your law firm to potential clients in your local area.
By incorporating these SEO best practices into your law firm’s content marketing strategy, you can improve your website’s visibility and attract more potential clients to your business.
Remember to focus on creating high-quality, valuable content that resonates with your target audience, and to stay up-to-date on the latest SEO trends and best practices to stay ahead of the competition.
5. Leveraging Social Media to Amplify Your Law Firm’s Reach
Social media platforms offer a powerful way to amplify your law firm’s reach and connect with potential clients.
By leveraging social media effectively, you can increase your visibility, establish your law firm as a thought leader in your industry, and drive more traffic to your website.
Here are some tips for leveraging social media to amplify your law firm’s reach:
- Choose the right platforms. There are many social media platforms available, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. To leverage social media effectively, you need to choose the right platforms for your law firm. Consider your target audience and which platforms they are most active on. For example, if your law firm primarily serves business clients, LinkedIn may be a more effective platform than Instagram.
- Create high-quality content. To engage your social media followers and attract new ones, it’s important to create high-quality content that provides real value. This could include blog posts, infographics, videos, and other types of content that are relevant to your target audience. By creating content that resonates with your followers, you can increase engagement and build a loyal following.
- Engage with your followers. Social media is a two-way conversation, so it’s important to engage with your followers and respond to their comments and questions. This can help to build trust and establish your law firm as a credible and approachable authority in your industry. Additionally, engaging with your followers can help to increase the reach of your social media posts by encouraging shares and likes.
- Measure your results. Like any marketing strategy, it’s important to measure the results of your social media efforts. Use social media analytics tools to track engagement, reach, and other metrics, and use this information to optimise your social media strategy over time.
By leveraging social media effectively, you can amplify your law firm’s reach and connect with potential clients in a powerful way.
Remember to focus on creating high-quality content, engaging with your followers, and using the right platforms and tools to achieve your goals. With the right strategy, social media can be a powerful tool for growing your law firm’s business.
6. Measuring the Success of Your Law Firm’s Content Marketing Efforts
Measuring the success of your law firm’s content marketing efforts is critical for optimising your strategy and ensuring that you’re getting the best possible results from your investment.
Here are some key metrics to track when measuring the success of your law firm’s content marketing efforts:
- Website traffic: One of the most important metrics to track is your law firm’s website traffic. By monitoring how many people are visiting your website and which pages they’re spending the most time on, you can get a sense of how effective your content is at attracting and engaging potential clients. Additionally, you can track how website traffic changes over time and correlate those changes with specific content marketing campaigns.
- Conversion rates: Another key metric to track is your law firm’s conversion rates. This could include how many people fill out a contact form or sign up for a newsletter after visiting your website. By tracking conversion rates, you can get a sense of how effective your content is at driving potential clients to take specific actions.
- Social media engagement: Social media platforms offer a powerful way to distribute your law firm’s content and connect with potential clients. By tracking social media engagement metrics, such as likes, shares, and comments, you can get a sense of how well your content is resonating with your target audience. Additionally, you can track changes in social media engagement over time and correlate those changes with specific content marketing campaigns.
- Search engine rankings: Search engine optimisation (SEO) is critical for ensuring that your law firm’s content is discoverable by potential clients. By tracking your law firm’s search engine rankings for relevant keywords, you can get a sense of how effective your content is at driving organic traffic to your website. Additionally, you can track changes in search engine rankings over time and correlate those changes with specific content marketing campaigns.
- Return on investment (ROI): Ultimately, the success of your law firm’s content marketing efforts will be determined by the ROI you achieve. By tracking the costs associated with creating and promoting your content and comparing them to the revenue generated by new clients, you can get a sense of the ROI of your content marketing efforts. Additionally, you can compare the ROI of different content marketing campaigns to identify which ones are most effective at driving new business.
Key Takeaways
- Content marketing can help law firms differentiate themselves and attract more clients.
- Building trust and authority through content marketing involves creating valuable content that addresses the legal needs and interests of your target audience, reflecting your law firm’s personality and brand values, and distributing your content effectively.
- Using video content, such as client testimonials and informative videos, can be an effective way to engage with your target audience and build trust and authority.
- Establishing your law firm as a thought leader in the industry involves building expertise in your area of practice and sharing your knowledge and insights with others through various channels, such as publishing articles, speaking at events, hosting webinars and podcasts, and engaging on social media.
- To create effective content for your law firm, it’s important to understand your audience, tailor your content to their needs and interests, use a variety of formats, such as articles, videos, and social media posts, and focus on quality over quantity.
- It’s also important to track your content marketing efforts, analyse your results, and make adjustments as needed to optimise your strategy.
Feeling Inspired?
Take your law firm to new heights! It’s time to revamp your marketing strategy and set yourself apart in the crowded industry. Let’s make it a reality. Email us and let’s chat about unleashing your full potential!
by Lex | Apr 4, 2023 | Design and Branding, Market Analysis, Social, Strategy
In today’s digital age, social media has become an integral part of marketing and branding for businesses in almost every industry. The beer industry is no exception. Breweries can leverage social media platforms to reach a wider audience, increase brand awareness, and engage with their customers in new and exciting ways.
However, simply having a social media presence isn’t enough.
Breweries must use social media effectively to stand out in a crowded marketplace and build a loyal customer base. This means creating and sharing engaging content, interacting with followers, and utilising the unique features of each platform to create a cohesive brand experience.
Crafting Connections
Craft breweries have become increasingly popular in recent years, and social media can be a powerful tool for these businesses to connect with their customers and increase their reach. By leveraging social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok, breweries can showcase their unique beers, taproom experiences, and engage with their audience in new and creative ways.
Building relationships is key to crafting connections and maximising social media for breweries. By using social media to engage with customers, breweries can build a sense of community around their brand and foster loyalty among their followers.
One effective way to build relationships is to respond promptly to customer comments and messages, whether they are positive or negative. This shows that the brewery values customer feedback and is committed to providing excellent service.
Building relationships is key to crafting connections and maximising social media for breweries.
BeaverTown, a UK-based craft beer company, has built a loyal following by using social media to engage with customers. Through regular posts on platforms like Twitter and Instagram, Beavertown has created a sense of community around its brand. They also respond promptly to customer comments and messages, whether they are positive or negative, which shows that the brewery values customer feedback and is committed to providing excellent service. By building these relationships, Beavertown has been able to establish a strong brand identity and create a passionate fanbase that continues to support the company’s growth.
In addition to responding to customer comments, breweries can also create interactive content that encourages engagement. For example, hosting a social media scavenger hunt or a virtual beer tasting can provide an opportunity for customers to interact with the brewery and each other. This not only builds relationships between the brewery and its customers but also among the customers themselves, strengthening the sense of community around the brand.
Choosing the Right Social Media Platforms for Your Brewery
Social media has become a crucial tool for businesses to connect with their target audience, promote their products or services, and build their brand reputation. However, with so many social media platforms available, picking the right one for your business can be overwhelming.
One of the most important factors to consider when choosing a social media platform for your business is your target audience.
Understanding who your target audience is and what their interests are is crucial because different social media platforms have different demographics. For example, younger audiences may prefer Instagram or TikTok, while professionals may be more active on LinkedIn. By understanding your target audience, you can choose a platform that aligns with their preferences and effectively reach them.
It is also important to research your competition and see which social media platforms they are active on. This can give you an idea of where your target audience may be engaging and which platforms may be worth investing in. Additionally, by understanding your competition’s activity on social media, you can identify gaps in the market and find ways to differentiate your brand.
Each social media platform has its strengths, and some are better suited to achieving specific business objectives than others. For example, if you’re looking to drive website traffic, Facebook and Twitter may be a good choice, while Instagram may be better for building brand awareness. By aligning your business goals with the strengths of different social media platforms, you can choose a platform that best meets your objectives.
Further, different social media platforms are better suited for different types of content. For example, Instagram and TikTok are more visual, making them a good choice for businesses with a strong visual brand, while LinkedIn is better suited for professional, text-based content. By considering the type of content you want to create and share, you can choose a platform that aligns with your content strategy.
Consider the resources you have available, such as time, budget, and staff. Some social media platforms require more resources to manage, such as creating video content for YouTube or managing a large community on Facebook. By considering your available resources, you can choose a social media platform that you can effectively manage and get the most out of.
The Importance of Branding in the Competitive Beer Market
The beer market has become increasingly competitive in recent years, with new brands emerging and established ones fighting to maintain their market share.
In such a crowded marketplace, it is more important than ever for breweries to have a strong brand that differentiates them from the competition. Branding plays a crucial role in the success of any business, and this is especially true for breweries operating in the competitive beer market.
Branding is more than just a logo or a slogan; it encompasses everything from the look and feel of the product to the way it is marketed and promoted. A strong brand can help a brewery to stand out from the competition and create a lasting impression on consumers. By developing a unique brand identity, a brewery can establish itself as a leader in the industry and build a loyal customer base.
BrewDog’s branding is a standout example of a brewery that has developed a unique and recognisable identity. From their bold and edgy packaging to their irreverent marketing campaigns, everything about BrewDog exudes a rebellious and daring spirit. Their clever use of humour and pop culture references has helped to create a strong connection with their audience and make their brand more relatable. By positioning themselves as a company that’s not afraid to take risks and challenge conventions, BrewDog has carved out a distinct niche in the crowded craft beer market.
One of the main benefits of branding is that it can help to create a strong emotional connection with consumers. By developing a brand that resonates with the target audience, a brewery can build a sense of trust and loyalty among its customers. This can be particularly valuable in the beer market, where consumers often have strong preferences for certain brands and are willing to pay a premium for products that they perceive as being high-quality.
In addition to creating an emotional connection with consumers, branding can also help breweries to differentiate themselves based on product characteristics such as taste, ingredients, and brewing process. By highlighting these unique selling points, a brewery can attract consumers who are looking for a specific type of beer or who are interested in trying something new and different.
From Hops to Hashtags
In the past, the beer industry relied on traditional marketing methods such as print and television ads, sponsorships, and word-of-mouth to promote their products. However, with the rise of social media and digital marketing, the way that beer companies market their products has undergone a significant shift. Today, many breweries are turning to social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to connect with consumers and build their brands.
One of the main advantages of social media marketing is that it allows breweries to reach a wider audience than traditional marketing methods. By creating engaging content and using targeted advertising, breweries can connect with consumers all over the world and build a global brand. Social media also allows breweries to engage with their followers in real time, responding to comments and feedback and building a sense of community around their brand.
Guinness is a great example of a brewery that has successfully leveraged social media to build a global brand. With over 20 million Facebook followers and more than 1.5 million Instagram followers, Guinness has created a loyal following of beer enthusiasts all over the world. They use social media to showcase their products, promote events, and engage with their followers through contests and giveaways. By creating visually stunning content, they have also managed to create a strong brand identity that is instantly recognisable. Through their social media efforts, Guinness has managed to connect with consumers from all walks of life and establish itself as a leader in the brewing industry.
Further, social media marketing allows breweries to reach a wider audience than traditional marketing methods. By creating engaging content and using targeted advertising, breweries can connect with consumers all over the world and build a global brand. Social media also allows breweries to engage with their followers in real time, responding to comments and feedback and building a sense of community around their brand.
Alongside this, social media marketing is often more cost effective than traditional marketing methods. Print and television ads can be expensive to produce and air, whereas social media allows breweries to create and share content at a much lower cost. This makes it an attractive option for small breweries or those operating on a tight budget.
However, social media marketing does have its challenges. With so many breweries vying for consumers’ attention on social media, it can be difficult to stand out and build a following. Breweries must create engaging content that resonates with their target audience and use targeted advertising to reach the right people.
Despite these challenges, social media marketing has become an essential tool for breweries looking to build their brands and connect with consumers. By combining traditional brewing techniques with innovative digital marketing strategies, breweries can establish themselves as leaders in the competitive beer market and attract a loyal following of fans and customers. From hops to hashtags, social media has transformed the way that beer companies promote their products and build their brands.
Brewing Buzz
Craft beer has exploded in popularity in recent years, and with it, a new subculture has emerged. Beer enthusiasts and connoisseurs are now flocking to breweries and beer festivals across the country, eager to sample the latest brews and discover new favourites. This has created a brewing buzz that shows no signs of slowing down.
One of the main drivers of this trend is the craft beer movement itself. With hundreds of new breweries popping up every year, there is always something new to try. Brewers are experimenting with new ingredients, flavours, and brewing techniques, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the world of beer. This has led to a diverse and exciting beer landscape that appeals to a wide range of tastes and preferences.
Social media has also played a significant role in the brewing buzz. Platforms like Instagram and Facebook have made it easier than ever for breweries to connect with their fans and promote their products. Beer enthusiasts can follow their favourite breweries and keep up with the latest news and releases. This has created a sense of community around craft beer, with fans and brewers alike sharing their love for the beverage.
Beer festivals have also contributed to the brewing buzz, providing a space for breweries to showcase their products and for consumers to sample a wide variety of brews in one place. These festivals have become hugely popular, with some attracting tens of thousands of attendees. They offer a unique opportunity for beer enthusiasts to connect with like-minded individuals and discover new breweries and beers.
For example, Leeds Beer Week is an annual celebration of the city’s vibrant beer scene, which features a wide range of events and activities focused on craft beer. The event brings together local breweries, pubs, and beer enthusiasts to celebrate the diverse and innovative beer culture in Leeds. Throughout the week, attendees can participate in tastings, brewery tours, meet-the-brewer sessions, and beer-themed dinners. Leeds Beer Week also provides a platform for new and upcoming breweries to showcase their products and gain exposure in the local beer scene. The event has become a highlight of the year for beer lovers brewing buzz in Leeds and a testament to the city’s thriving craft beer community.
Key Takeaways
- Social media has become an essential tool for breweries to connect with customers and promote their brands. By creating engaging content and building relationships, breweries can foster a sense of community around their brand, leading to customer loyalty.
- Choosing the right social media platform is crucial, and understanding your target audience, your competition, and your business goals can help in this regard.
- The beer market is highly competitive, and branding plays a crucial role in the success of a brewery. A strong brand can differentiate a brewery from the competition, create an emotional connection with consumers, and highlight unique selling points.
- With the rise of social media and digital marketing, breweries are now leveraging these platforms to connect with consumers and promote their products in new and exciting ways.
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by Lex | Mar 30, 2023 | Design and Branding, SEO, Social, Strategy
As a law firm, you understand the importance of credibility, trust, and reputation in your industry. These factors are even more critical in the digital age, where potential clients are likely to research your firm online before engaging in your services.
Establishing and maintaining a strong online reputation can help you showcase your expertise, build trust with potential clients, and ultimately grow your business. However, it takes more than just a great website to stand out in the competitive legal landscape.
In this blog, we’ll explore various strategies for building a strong online reputation for your law firm, from leveraging social media and SEO to reputation management and ethical conduct. With these tips, you can position your law firm for success in the digital age and beyond.
Understanding the Importance of Online Reputation for Law Firms
In today’s digital society, a law firm’s online reputation is an essential component of its overall reputation. It can shape the perception of the firm and influence potential clients’ decisions to engage in the firm’s services.
A positive online reputation can also help build trust between the law firm and its clients. By showcasing positive reviews and testimonials, a law firm can demonstrate to potential clients that it has a track record of success and satisfied clients. This can give potential clients the confidence to engage the law firm, knowing that they are working with a trusted and experienced team of legal professionals.
On the other hand, a negative online reputation can be damaging to a law firm’s credibility and ability to attract new clients. Negative reviews or comments can create a perception of poor service or a lack of expertise, which can turn potential clients away from the firm.
Law firms need to take an active role in managing their online reputation. This can involve monitoring social media channels and review sites for comments and reviews, responding to feedback in a timely and professional manner, and proactively seeking out positive reviews and testimonials from satisfied clients.
Leveraging Social Media to Strengthen Your Law Firm’s Reputation
Social media has become a crucial tool for businesses to connect with their clients and potential customers, and law firms are no exception. By leveraging social media, law firms can strengthen their reputation and build a loyal following.
One of the primary benefits of social media for law firms is the ability to establish thought leadership. By creating and sharing high-quality content, such as blog posts or infographics, law firms can position themselves as experts in their field and gain the trust of their followers. This can lead to increased engagement, with followers more likely to share and comment on the firm’s posts, amplifying their message even further.
Social media for law firms is the ability to engage with clients and potential clients in a more personal way. By responding to comments and messages promptly, law firms can demonstrate their commitment to excellent customer service and build strong relationships with their followers. Social media also provides a platform for law firms to share news and updates about the firm, such as new hires, awards or notable case wins, further enhancing their reputation and showcasing their expertise.
Clifford Chance is a law firm that has been using social media to its advantage in recent years. They understand the importance of establishing a strong online presence and have done so by creating engaging and informative content across various social media platforms. On their LinkedIn page, they frequently share updates about their practice areas and recent achievements, while also providing insights into current legal trends and news. They also use Twitter to share their thought leadership content, as well as to engage with their followers and other legal professionals.
Clifford Chance’s Instagram account (with over 16k followers) showcases its corporate social responsibility initiatives and its commitment to diversity and inclusion. By utilising social media in these ways, Clifford Chance has been able to connect with a wider audience, establish their thought leadership, and showcase their values as a firm.
In addition to engaging with clients and sharing thought leadership content, social media can also be used for targeted advertising. Law firms can use social media platforms to run highly targeted ads to specific demographics or industries, ensuring their message reaches the right people. This can be particularly effective for attracting new clients or promoting specific practice areas.
Here are a few ways to leverage social media to strengthen your law firm’s reputation:
- Share valuable content. Law firms can use social media to share informative and educational content that showcases their expertise and thought leadership. This can include blog posts, infographics, videos, and case studies. By providing valuable content, law firms can position themselves as a trusted source of information and build their reputation as an authority in their field.
- Engage with followers. Law firms can use social media to engage with their followers and respond to their questions and comments promptly. This can help to build trust and foster a sense of community around the law firm’s brand. By demonstrating a commitment to excellent customer service, law firms can enhance their reputation and differentiate themselves from their competitors.
- Highlight client successes. Law firms can use social media to highlight their clients’ successes and share testimonials and case studies that showcase their expertise and track record. This can help to build credibility and trust with potential clients and demonstrate the law firm’s ability to achieve successful outcomes.
- Participate in online discussions. Law firms can participate in online discussions and join relevant groups and communities on social media platforms. By sharing their insights and expertise, law firms can build relationships with potential clients and other professionals in their industry. This can help to enhance their reputation and position them as thought leaders in their field.
Leveraging social media can be a powerful tool for law firms to strengthen their reputation. By sharing valuable content, engaging with followers, highlighting client successes, and participating in online discussions, law firms can position themselves as thought leaders and trusted experts in their field. These efforts can help to build credibility, trust, and a sense of community around the law firm’s brand, ultimately leading to increased visibility and new business opportunities.
Collaborating with Clients and Colleagues to Build a Strong Online Reputation
Building a strong online reputation isn’t a solo venture; it takes collaboration with clients and colleagues to truly make an impact.
One way to do this is by encouraging satisfied clients to leave reviews on popular review sites like Yelp or Google Reviews. These reviews can help to build trust and credibility with potential clients, and also provide valuable feedback for the law firm to improve upon.
Another way to collaborate with clients is by showcasing their successes on social media. This can include highlighting their achievements in case studies, sharing testimonials, or even creating video content that showcases the client’s experience working with the law firm.
By collaborating with clients in this way, law firms can build stronger relationships and tangibly demonstrate their expertise.
Pinsent Masons is a prime example of a law firm that has successfully leveraged social media to build its brand and connect with clients. Their social media strategy focuses on providing high-quality, industry-relevant content that showcases their expertise and promotes engagement with their followers. Through regular updates on LinkedIn and Twitter, they share thought leadership articles, insights, and event announcements that keep their followers informed and engaged.
Additionally, Pinsent Masons use social media to showcase their corporate social responsibility initiatives and highlight their commitment to diversity and inclusion. By actively engaging with its audience and creating valuable content, Pinsent Masons have built a strong online reputation that reflects its status as a leading international law firm.
Internally, law firms can collaborate with colleagues to develop a cohesive brand message across all online platforms. This can include developing a social media strategy that highlights the firm’s unique value proposition and expertise or creating a unified brand identity across all online properties. By collaborating with colleagues in this way, law firms can build a strong online presence that truly sets them apart from the competition.
There are many ways to collaborate with clients and colleagues to build a strong online reputation, such as:
- Create a podcast or video series. Collaborate with clients or colleagues to create a podcast or video series where you discuss industry trends, share your expertise, and interview other professionals. This can help to build your reputation as a thought leader in your field and create a sense of community around your brand.
- Host webinars. Collaborate with clients or colleagues to host webinars on topics related to your industry. This can help to showcase your expertise and build trust with potential clients.
- Write guest blog posts. Collaborate with colleagues or clients to write guest blog posts for each other’s websites. This can help to expand your reach and build your reputation as an authority in your field.
- Offer workshops or training sessions. Collaborate with colleagues or clients to offer workshops or training sessions on topics related to your industry. This can help to position your brand as a valuable resource for other professionals.
- Participate in industry events. Collaborate with clients or colleagues to participate in industry events, such as conferences or trade shows. This can help to build your network and enhance your reputation within your industry.
By implementing these tactics, your law firm will be able to establish a strong online presence, showcase your expertise, and build trust with potential clients and colleagues. This can ultimately lead to increased visibility, credibility, and business opportunities for your firm.
Maximising SEO to Improve Your Law Firm’s Online Reputation
Maximising SEO efforts for your law firm can be a daunting task, but it is essential to establish a strong online presence and reputation.
Conducting thorough keyword research is the first step in optimising your website and online content for search engines. This research involves identifying the specific keywords and phrases that your target audience is searching for when looking for legal services. Once you have identified these keywords, you can strategically incorporate them into your website’s content, including page titles, meta descriptions, headers, and body text.
In addition to keyword research, other strategies can help maximise your law firm’s SEO efforts. These include creating high-quality, relevant content that is optimised for search engines. This content should be informative and engaging, providing your potential clients with valuable insights and advice related to your area of practice. By creating content that is both informative and optimised for search engines, you can increase your website’s visibility and attract more potential clients.
To further maximise your SEO efforts, you can also consider utilising local SEO strategies. This involves targeting specific geographic areas and including location-specific keywords and phrases in your website’s content. By doing so, you can improve your law firm’s visibility for local search queries and attract more potential clients from your surrounding area.
There are several ways to maximise SEO to improve a law firm’s online reputation, here are some suggestions:
- Optimise your website. Your law firm’s website should be easy to navigate, mobile-friendly, and optimised for speed. This can help to improve your website’s user experience and increase the likelihood of visitors staying on your site for longer periods. Additionally, your website should have a clear call-to-action that encourages visitors to contact your law firm.
- Build quality backlinks. Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your law firm’s website. Search engines view backlinks as a sign of authority and relevance. To build quality backlinks, you can reach out to other websites and offer to contribute guest posts or provide quotes for articles.
- Monitor and adjust your SEO strategy. SEO is an ongoing process that requires monitoring and adjustment. You should regularly review your website’s analytics to track your traffic and rankings. If you notice that certain keywords or pages are not performing well, you can adjust your strategy accordingly.
By following these tips, a law firm can maximise its SEO and improve its digital presence . Optimising the website for speed, mobile-friendliness, and user experience, building quality backlinks, and monitoring and adjusting the SEO strategy regularly can all contribute to better search engine rankings and increased website traffic. These efforts can help to attract more potential clients and grow the firm’s business.
Encouraging and Leveraging Client Testimonials for Reputation Building
Client testimonials can be a powerful tool for building and strengthening a law firm’s online reputation. By showcasing positive feedback and experiences from past clients, potential clients can gain insight into the level of service and expertise that the law firm provides.
To encourage clients to provide testimonials, law firms can make it a part of their post-service follow-up process. This can involve sending a survey or feedback form to clients after their case has been resolved, asking for their feedback and permission to share it publicly. Law firms can also incentivise clients to provide testimonials by offering discounts or other benefits in exchange for their participation.
Once testimonials have been gathered, law firms can leverage them by incorporating them into their website and other online platforms. Testimonials can be featured on the homepage, included on service pages, or even used in social media posts. By showcasing client feedback in a visible and accessible way, law firms can build trust with potential clients and establish themselves as reputable and reliable legal service providers.
It’s important to ensure that testimonials are genuine and authentic, and not fabricated or exaggerated. Law firms should never pay for or incentivise fake testimonials, as this can harm their reputation and lead to legal consequences. By only using genuine testimonials, law firms can build a solid foundation of trust and credibility with their clients and potential clients.
There are several ways law firms can encourage and leverage client testimonials to build their online reputation:
- Make it easy for clients to leave a review. Provide clear instructions on your website and social media platforms on how clients can leave a review. Make sure to include links to review sites, such as Google My Business, Yelp, and Avvo.
- Follow up with clients. After a successful case or project, follow up with clients and ask them to leave a review. This can be done via email or through a follow-up phone call.
- Showcase positive reviews on your website. Display positive reviews prominently on your website. This can include a dedicated testimonial page, as well as displaying reviews on relevant pages such as your practice area pages.
- Share positive reviews on social media. Share positive reviews on your law firm’s social media accounts, such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. This can help to further amplify the positive feedback from clients and demonstrate your firm’s commitment to excellent customer service.
- Use client testimonials in marketing materials. Incorporate client testimonials into your law firm’s marketing materials, such as brochures, flyers, and advertisements. This can help to build credibility and trust with potential clients who may be considering engaging your services.
- Respond to negative reviews. If you receive a negative review, respond to it professionally and courteously. Address the client’s concerns and offer a resolution if possible. This can demonstrate your firm’s commitment to resolving issues and providing excellent customer service.
Implementing this techniques can be a powerful way for law firms to build their reputation online. By making it easy for clients to leave reviews, following up with clients, showcasing positive reviews on their website and social media, using testimonials in marketing materials, and responding to negative reviews professionally, law firms can enhance their credibility, trustworthiness, and customer service reputation. These efforts can lead to increased visibility, improved online reputation and as a result more business opportunities.
How to Build and Maintain a Consistent Brand Image for Your Law Firm Online
Building and maintaining a consistent brand image for your law firm online is crucial for establishing credibility and attracting potential clients. One way to achieve this is by developing a clear brand message that defines your law firm’s values, mission, and unique selling points. Your brand message should be reflected in all your online communications, including your website, social media, and online advertising.
Consistency in visual branding is also important. Your law firm’s logo, colour scheme, and typography should be consistent across all online platforms. This will help to reinforce your brand image and make it more recognisable to potential clients. Your website’s design should also be consistent with your brand image and convey a professional and trustworthy image.
Building and maintaining a consistent brand image is a key factor in content marketing. Your law firm’s blog, social media accounts, and other online content should be consistent in tone, style, and messaging. By providing valuable content that aligns with your law firm’s brand message, you can establish your expertise and build trust with potential clients.
Consistency in online reputation management is also important. Your law firm should have a clear and consistent approach to responding to online reviews, whether they are positive or negative. Responding in a timely and professional manner can demonstrate your commitment to client satisfaction and enhance your law firm’s reputation online.
There are several ways to build and maintain a consistent brand image for your law firm online. Here are some ideas:
- Develop a brand strategy. Develop a clear and consistent brand strategy that reflects your law firm’s values, mission, and personality. Your brand strategy should be the foundation for all your online activities, including your website, social media, and marketing campaigns.
- Use consistent visual elements. Use consistent visual elements such as logos, colours, and fonts across all your online platforms. This helps to create a strong and memorable visual identity for your law firm.
- Develop a consistent tone of voice. Develop a consistent tone of voice that reflects your law firm’s personality and values. This tone of voice should be used consistently across all your online platforms, from your website to your social media posts.
- Provide consistent messaging. Develop consistent messaging that communicates your law firm’s key values, services, and expertise. This messaging should be used across all your online platforms to create a clear and consistent message for potential clients.
Building and maintaining a consistent brand image for your law firm online is crucial to building trust and establishing a strong reputation. This can be achieved through developing a clear and consistent brand strategy that reflects your law firm’s values, mission, and personality. Additionally, using consistent visual elements such as logos, colours, and fonts, developing a consistent tone of voice, and providing consistent messaging can help to create a strong and memorable visual identity for your law firm. By implementing these strategies, law firms can enhance their brand recognition and credibility.
The Importance of Transparency in Building and Maintaining Your Law Firm’s Reputation
Transparency is essential for building and maintaining your law firm’s reputation.
Transparency involves being open and honest about your firm’s practices, policies, and procedures. By being transparent, you can establish trust with potential clients and demonstrate your firm’s commitment to ethical and responsible practices.
One way to promote transparency is by providing detailed information about your firm on your website. This can include information about your team members, areas of practice, pricing, and any relevant certifications or awards. Providing this information upfront can help potential clients feel more informed and confident in their decision to work with your firm.
Another way to promote transparency is by actively seeking and addressing feedback from clients.
Encourage clients to leave reviews or provide feedback through your website or social media channels. If a client raises a concern or complaint, respond promptly and work to address the issue transparently and respectfully. By taking feedback seriously and openly addressing any issues, you can demonstrate your firm’s commitment to providing excellent customer service and building trust with your clients.
Additionally, consider incorporating transparency into your firm’s social media strategy.
Share behind-the-scenes glimpses of your firm’s operations or events to showcase your team’s expertise and build a more personal connection with your audience. By being open and transparent on social media, you can help potential clients get to know your firm better and build a positive reputation in your community.
But how do you achieve transparency? Here are several ways:
- Be upfront about your fees. Many clients are hesitant to work with law firms because they are worried about hidden fees or surprise charges. To build trust with potential clients, be upfront about your fees and what clients can expect to pay for your services. Consider providing a breakdown of your fees on your website or in your initial consultation with clients.
- Share your qualifications and experience. Clients want to know that they are working with experienced and knowledgeable attorneys. Share your qualifications and experience on your website and in your marketing materials. Consider including information about your education, past cases you have worked on, and any professional associations you belong to.
- Be honest about your success rates. While it can be tempting to exaggerate your success rates to attract clients, this can ultimately damage your reputation. Be honest about your success rates and share case studies or testimonials from past clients to showcase your expertise and track record.
- Respond to feedback. If a client has a negative experience with your law firm, it is important to respond to their feedback in a timely and professional manner. Acknowledge their concerns and take steps to address the issue. This can demonstrate your commitment to providing excellent customer service and can help to rebuild trust with the client.
- Use plain language. Legal terminology can be confusing and intimidating for clients who are not familiar with the law. To build trust with potential clients, use plain language in your communications and marketing materials. This can help to make your services more accessible and can demonstrate your commitment to transparency and clear communication.
In today’s competitive legal market, it’s essential for law firms to prioritise building trust with potential clients. By implementing the practices mentioned above, law firms can establish themselves as reliable and trustworthy legal service providers in the eyes of potential clients.
Key Takeaways
- The online reputation of a law firm is crucial in today’s digital society, as it can shape the perception of the firm and influence potential clients’ decisions. A positive online reputation can help build trust with clients, while a negative reputation can be damaging to a law firm’s credibility.
- Law firms should take an active role in managing their online reputation, such as monitoring social media and review sites, responding to feedback, and proactively seeking out positive reviews and testimonials.
- Social media is a useful tool for law firms to establish thought leadership, engage with clients, and advertise their services.
- Collaborating with clients and colleagues can also help to build a strong online presence
- Maximising SEO efforts and showcasing client testimonials can further enhance a law firm’s online reputation.
- Keep branding consistent throughout your social media and website.
Feeling Inspired?
Ready to take your law firm to the next level? Don’t miss out on this opportunity to transform your Law firm . Email us and let’s chat about how to achieve success!
by Lex | Feb 8, 2023 | Design and Branding, SEO
Craft breweries have experienced a surge in popularity in recent years, making it an exciting time to enter the industry.
However, with so many craft breweries vying for customers, it’s important to have a strong marketing strategy in place. Let’s take a look at the top seven marketing tips that you can use in your craft brewery business.
1. Utilise Social Media
Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter can be powerful tools for reaching and engaging with potential customers. By creating a strong social media presence, you can:
- Showcase the unique character of your brewery
- Promote events and special releases
- Build a community of loyal followers.
Utilising social media is a great way to make yourself visible in a sea of craft beer breweries. To effectively utilise social media, it’s important to have a clear strategy in place. Define your target audience and determine which social media platforms they are most active on. You can do this by creating a buyer persona. This will help you determine where to focus your efforts and ensure that you are reaching the right people.
Once you have identified your target platforms, it’s important to create engaging and shareable content. This could include photos of your brewery and its products, behind-the-scenes glimpses of your production process, or information about upcoming events and product launches. By sharing high-quality, relevant content, you can build a loyal following and attract new customers.
In addition to creating content, it’s important to engage with your followers and respond to comments and messages. This helps to build a sense of community and shows that you value your customers’ feedback. You can also use social media to ask for reviews, and conduct polls or surveys to further engage with your audience.
Engage with other users by adding location tags to your social media posts, which could be your store or a British beer festival. This will enhance your presence and reach on social media platforms.
Additionally, it is essential to interact with other craft beer enthusiasts!
Engagement is the key to success when it comes to social media algorithms. If your posts are engaging, they will be more likely to go farther thanks to the algorithm’s boost.
To maximise success, it’s important to regularly create high-quality content and interact with your audience on social media. Doing so can build trust and loyalty and form a community around your brand.
2. Host Events
Hosting events at your brewery is a great way to create a sense of community and build brand loyalty. By inviting customers or key figures from the craft beer industry to experience your brewery in person, you can create a personal connection and give them a taste of your brand’s unique culture.
Offering exclusive experiences can help inspire your followers and create a sense of exclusivity and community among your consumers.
This can drive customer loyalty and encourage them to continue buying your products and following your craft beer business. By offering unique and memorable experiences, you can differentiate your brewery from competitors and build a loyal customer base.
Events can take many forms, from tastings and tours to live music. By offering a variety of events, you can appeal to a diverse audience and create a sense of excitement and anticipation around your brewery.
3. Collaborate
Collaborating with other businesses and organisations is a powerful tool for craft breweries to promote their brand, attract new customers, and network.
One way to collaborate is by teaming up with local restaurants, bars, and other venues. This allows your brewery to expand its reach and gain exposure to new customers who may not have otherwise discovered your brand.
This can also create a mutually beneficial relationship, as the venue can attract customers with the unique offering of local craft beer.
Working with influencers and bloggers in the craft beer community is another effective way to collaborate and promote your brand. Influencers and bloggers have a built-in audience who trust their opinions and are likely to be interested in trying new craft beers. By providing them with free samples or access to exclusive events, you can gain valuable exposure to their followers.
Collaborating with other local businesses can be a great way to promote the local economy and create a sense of community. By working together, local businesses can support each other and create a vibrant and thriving local market. This is demonstrated by Donzoko Brewery Company, who collaborated with Leeds based film lab to create ‘Take It Easy Lager’ a beer that features a peel apart label with images on the inside, similar to a roll of film!
Additionally, many customers prefer to shop locally and support their local economy, so promoting these collaborations can be a great way to appeal to these customers and promote your brand.
Networking with other businesses and organisations can be a powerful way to promote your craft brewery and build a strong sense of community. Whether you’re partnering with local venues, hosting events and promotions, working with influencers and bloggers, or supporting local businesses, there are many ways to build mutually beneficial relationships and attract new customers.
4. Create a Loyalty Programme
Creating a loyalty program for a craft brewery can be a great way to reward loyal customers and encourage repeat business. A loyalty program is a system where customers can earn points or rewards for making purchases or engaging with the brand. These rewards can include discounts, free merchandise, or exclusive access to events and promotions.
Another important aspect of creating a loyalty program is making rewards desirable and valuable to customers. This can be done by offering a wide range of rewards that cater to different customer preferences, such as discounts on beer purchases, exclusive access to events and promotions, or merchandise. Additionally, it’s important to make sure the earning and redemption of rewards are simple and straightforward.
Finally, to increase the effectiveness of your loyalty program, consider promoting it through various mediums such as on-premise, off-premise, social media, and email campaigns. This can help to increase awareness of your program and attract new customers to your brewery.
A loyalty program is a great way for craft breweries to reward and retain customers. By creating a digital loyalty program, offering valuable rewards, and promoting the program effectively, craft breweries can increase customer engagement and drive repeat business.
5. Be Consistent
Being consistent is a vital aspect of any successful marketing strategy, and this is particularly true for craft breweries. Consistency in branding, messaging, and social media posting can help to build trust, establish a strong brand identity, and attract new customers.
Firstly, consistency in branding is crucial for craft breweries. This means using the same logo, colours, and overall aesthetic in all of your marketing materials. This creates a sense of familiarity and helps customers easily identify your brand. Additionally, it’s important to ensure your branding is consistent across all your channels, whether it be on-premise, off-premise, or online. This is particularly important for social media, where customers are likely to come across your brand for the first time. Ensuring that your branding is consistent across all your social media platforms, like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok, will make it easy for customers to recognise your brand and increase the chances of them following you.
Secondly, consistency in messaging is essential to building trust with your customers. It’s important to communicate a clear and consistent message across all your marketing channels, whether it be on social media, email campaigns, or in-store promotions. This helps to create a sense of trust and makes it more likely for customers to believe in your brewery. Additionally, if your message is consistent, it will be easier for your customers to understand what you are all about, what your values are, and what you stand for.
Consistently posting on social media is crucial to attracting new customers and increasing customer engagement. A consistent posting schedule can help to keep customers engaged and build a sense of anticipation. This can help increase customer retention and drive repeat business. Additionally, regularly posting on social media can help your brewery to stay top of mind for customers and increase the chances of them visiting your brewery or purchasing your beer. A consistent schedule of posts can also make it easier for customers to follow your brewery and stay up-to-date on your new beers or upcoming events.
6. Use Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
SEO is a crucial part of any online marketing strategy, and it is important for businesses of all sizes and industries to incorporate it into their digital marketing efforts. By using SEO, businesses can increase their online visibility, attract more potential customers, and establish their brand as an authority in their industry.
One of the primary benefits of SEO is that it can increase your online visibility, making it easier for people searching for products or services in your industry to find your business. When your website and social media profiles rank higher in search engine results, they are more likely to be seen by potential customers.
Additionally, SEO can help establish your brand as an authority in your industry. By creating high-quality content and optimising your website and social media profiles, you can demonstrate your expertise and establish trust with potential customers. This can lead to increased conversions, higher engagement rates, and ultimately more sales.
Furthermore, SEO is a cost-effective way to drive traffic to your website, as it does not require a significant investment like paid advertising. It is a long-term strategy, the results can continue to drive traffic to your website even after the initial optimisation work has been completed. This means that the investment made in SEO can continue to pay dividends for a long time.
Lastly, SEO is an ever-evolving field, with new techniques and strategies emerging all the time. This means that businesses can always find new ways to improve their website’s visibility and reach a larger audience without having to spend a lot of money
In summary, SEO is a crucial part of any online marketing strategy and should not be overlooked by businesses of all sizes and industries. By using SEO, businesses can increase their online visibility, attract more potential customers, and establish their brand as an authority in their industry.
7. Experiment with your Marketing
Experimenting with different marketing strategies and tactics can be a valuable approach for craft breweries looking to stand out and attract new customers. This can help to identify what works and what doesn’t and allow breweries to continually improve and refine their marketing efforts.
Experiment with different platforms and channels to see where your audience is engaging the most. For example, it might be discovered that Instagram is a more effective platform for attracting new customers compared to Facebook. Or, it may be found that beer festivals are more beneficial than hosting a taproom event. Experimenting with different platforms and channels can help to identify where you should focus your efforts, and increase the chances of reaching the right audience with your message.
One of the main benefits of experimenting with marketing is that it allows craft breweries to stay ahead of trends in the industry. With the craft beer market becoming increasingly crowded, it’s important for breweries to find new and unique ways to promote their brand and attract customers. Experimenting with different marketing strategies can help to identify new opportunities and stay ahead of the competition.
In Summary
- Utilise social media to showcase the unique character of your brewery, promote events and special releases, and build a community of loyal followers.
- Host events at your brewery to create a sense of community and build brand loyalty by offering exclusive experiences, tastings and tours, and live music.
- Collaborate with other businesses and organisations to promote your brand, attract new customers, and network.
- Optimise your website for SEO to increase online visibility and reach a wider audience.
- Use content marketing to create valuable and informative content that appeals to your target audience.
- Leverage influencer marketing by partnering with influencers in the craft beer community to promote your brand and reach a wider audience.
- Create a loyalty program to reward customers for their loyalty and encourage repeat business.
Feeling Thirsty For More?
Ready to take your craft brewery to the next level? Don’t miss out on this opportunity to transform your brewery’s marketing strategy. Email us and let’s chat about how to achieve success!
by Lex | Nov 16, 2022 | Design and Branding
In such a competitive market with a product that sells itself, it’s getting harder and harder to stand out from the crowd. With a sea of breweries, wineries and distilleries, it can be challenging to find inspiration for your next social media campaign but it’s not impossible! There are many ways to get creative with your campaigns…here are some of our favourites!
BACARDI : #BacardiHouseParty Campaign
The Bacardi house party campaign brought the fun back into their rum with musicals, partying and other experimental, creative experiences. Created by groups of friends partying, the experimental strategy highlights that you don’t need a massive budget to produce an innovative campaign that brings a sense of fun, excitement and relatability. Whilst BrandChannel coined the campaign the ‘Ultimate Millennial Fantasy’, it’s a fun way to play around with different target audiences. Perfectly executed with Bacardi Party Sessions, urging musicians to create the best ‘Bacardi Party Anthem’ to party with Bacardi, designing an experience alongside a drink.
How to be inspired by Bacardi:
#BacardiHouseParty invites people to the inner circle and enables the audience to feel a part of something special. Alongside the hashtag, the experience is a shareable one! Make your own collaborative experience that is fun and interactive, using unique hashtags to get people talking.
Neill Wine: Commune Magazine
Neill Wine Commune Magazines highlights sometimes the conventional way is best! Whilst magazines are a competitive market, the Commune Magazine is transferable and easily shared. As a result, this is a stable and constant way to get your brand out there and network with others through interviews and collaborations. Neill Wine have demonstrated that they are thought leaders, portraying their impressive expertise and knowledge. Consumers are able to recognise this, as a result the company’s consumers feel loyal to the brand. A magazine is a really fun and creative way to get your brand out there, and once the template is created, you can change the content throughout the seasons, holidays and events!
How to be inspired by Neill Wine:
Like Neill Wine, create your own magazine to be shared across social media, increase hits to your website and strengthen your brand identity. Use issuu.com to make your own flipbook and bring your content to life that will capture your consumers attention. Issuu has all the tools you need to create an interactive and creative magazine, using your own content and images. You can even embed videos, audio and slideshows to create fun, exciting and knowledgeable content!
Smirnoff: Show up, Show off #ServeFlavour
Smirnoff have progressively collaborated with popular drag queens and kings to promote their limited-edition vodka. The company have recognised the campaign isn’t just about the product, but the people behind it. This marketing campaign has had a lot of success as it gives an opportunity for people to be themselves and humanises the brand. Not only has this brought in the HUGE following of popular drag stars to their page, but it has also increased their social media engagement as consumers get a say in the ‘final’ of their Show up, Show off #ServeFlavour competition created between the drag stars. This is such a fun and creative way to get the audience involved, with lots of opportunity to create instagram reels.
How to be inspired by Smirnoff’s #ServeFlavour
Humanise your brand and connect with your customers by having fun with your brand!! Like Smirnoff, bring your brand to life with unforgettable characters, stories and humour. Although your budget might not be as big as Smirnoff’s, you can still create competitions and interactive, relatable stories where your customers can choose what happens next. The best way to do this is by creating a story that will resonate with them on a personal level. You can do this by asking the question, “what would my customers like to see from me?”. People love to feel like they are a part of something bigger, so why not include them in the story? Humans are naturally social creatures, so as a brand, it’s important to give them an experience that is fun, yet relevant to your product or service
Bottlechop : Great hampers, great wine and great art! What else could you ask for?
Bottlechop have expanded their product and brand in a unique and modern fashion. First, their hampers are seasonal, personalised and offer great gifts, which appeal to differing clients and are able to provide an experience alongside their product. However, more notably, the company have kept ahead of the game by collaborating with local artists, such as Ruby Hughes (@sshepaints) which is an innovative approach to expanding their target audience and engagement. Through this, they have been able to reach potential customers from different demographics but also have a cross-over of similar interests. This is a clever way to build up brand loyalty and increase sales by engaging and exciting customers, who will ask the question…who will they collaborate with next?
How to be inspired by Bottlechop:
Look at collaborating with local independents! From artists to sauce makers, there are so many different creatives that would love to collaborate with your product. Collaborating aids in advancing your networking skills and engagement on your social media. It’s a win-win for everyone involved! Alternatively, like Bottlechop, create your own seasonal hampers to appeal to existing and new customers, engaging them with your brand. The holiday season is a great time of year to do this, but there’s no reason why you can’t plan on creating new hampers throughout the year.
War Horse Brewing: Pop Culture Aesthetic
Whilst War Horse Brewing is a fairly small company, they have been able to engage customers with their brand and create something fun using their Pop Culture Aesthetic cans. They have achieved this by using their horse mascot and dressing it up as different historical pop culture icons, such as Marilyn Monroe, Ziggy Stardust and Hulk Hogan. Not only are they a fun and creative way to broaden their consumers, but it keeps existing customers wanting more and creates fun and modern collectables. This product isn’t just about the beer, it’s about having fun whilst drinking their beer!
How to be inspired by War Horse Brewing:
War Horse Brewing is a great example of companies having fun with their products! Similar to War Horse Brewing many brands have created a mascot, don’t be afraid to get creative. Whether that means dressing up your mascot as different historical pop culture icons or doing something more whimsical like creating your own character based on an animal or person, it can help you stand out from the crowd and make people remember your brand. Don’t be afraid to take risks! Some people might say that War Horse Brewing’s branding is too much – but we think it’s just what they needed to stand out from the crowd and remind us how much fun drinking beer can be!
Drinkbabe: MEMES!
The Instagram account @drinkbabe highlights significantly that humour sells! With 164k followers on instagram, the company market their product without really ever showing it through the unconventional and creative approach; memes. This modernises their product that quickly and easily follows trends and contemporary culture. The reason why this strategy works so well is because it’s not just about being funny, but creating a community around their brand. However, the company’s humour is what makes them stand out from the rest of the competitive market. As a result, they have been able to produce memes and posts that are shareable, fun and create a strong brand identity and consumer loyalty.
How to be inspired by Drinkbabe:
Have fun with your social media if it fits the brand – let your personality shine through and people will buy into it. Use humour to create a community around your brand and make it easy for your audience to share and engage with you on social media. Be creative with your content, but don’t overdo it! A great mix of memes, video clips and regular posts will keep people engaged in your brand’s world and help you build an audience that is loyal to your brand.
To sum it all up:
- Create a fun, interactive, sharable experience for your audience.
- Produce your own magazine that is easily shared.
- Humanise your brand and connect with your customers by having fun with your brand!
- Collaborate with local services or creatives to widen your consumer base and increase your engagement.
- Design your own mascot to have fun with, and to make your brand stand out from the rest.
- Be creative with your content to build your brand loyalty.
Further reading:
https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-campaign-strategy/
https://issuu.com/redbreastdemos/docs/commune_6_issuu
https://www.firstpost.com/living/bacardi-house-party-sessions-the-latest-record-label-in-india-aims-to-provide-a-platform-for-young-and-upcoming-artists-4996001.html
https://www.barandrestaurant.com/marketing/dramatically-improve-your-social-media-marketing-your-bar-or-restaurant-heres-how
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/smirnoff-calls-on-kings-queens-and-every-drag-performer-in-between-to-show-up-for-its-most-inclusive-drag-celebration-ever-301577247.html
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/humour-on-social-media-en_gb/
