Tag: New Jersey

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Branding Services

From business to brand. It’s not just about the logo

Let’s make it bigger.

Can you make it the same but in pink / yellow / blue / green?

Dekh ke maza aana chahiye!

If you have given or received such feedback, you know what we are going to talk about today.

Yes, LOGOS! Every time there’s a conversation around brand building, the first thing that comes to mind after a brand name is the logo.

Discussions over logos notoriously take over branding meetings, leaving precious little for the other crucial aspects of business promotion and advertising. And it’s time to realize that … a brand is more than just its logo. A brand is a living entity that walks, talks, grows and influences the people around it. Wish to know what makes your business a brand? Scroll down!

Your brand must have a PURPOSE

PURPOSE

So, what does your brand deliver? What does it want to be? Who does the brand speak to? Who should sit up and notice the brand? How would your ideal customer describe your brand? If you never asked these questions about your brand, then you must NOW.

For instance, your business might be that of making artisanal chocolates; but what it actually does as a brand is provide joy to the consumer, the experience of enjoying a delicious treat. That is the actual purpose of the said chocolate business.

Similarly, every brand has its purpose, a problem it solves, and questions it provides answers to. By defining this PURPOSE, the mission and vision of your business is formed. And this should be the first step you take in the process of branding, even before you think of a logo.

Your brand has a PERSONALITY

If your brand was a person, who would it be? How would he/she dress, what would be their favourite food, in which language would they talk? These questions help you define a personality for your brand. And when your brand has a personality, it is able to connect with the kind of people it wishes to serve.

So, how do you want your brand to be?

PERSONALITY

Approachable, genuine, validating and emotional, having an impact on the customer every time he/she engages with it.

Basically, MAKE YOUR BRAND HUMAN. To come up with a personality for your brand, you must…

  • First consider the purpose and the message you want to convey.
  • Study your competition and think of what will make your brand stand out from them.
  • Come up with adjectives and phrases that describe your brand, like, Sophisticated yet Rugged, Intellectual but Street Smart, Honest and Friendly.

See what we did there? This is how you define your brand’s personality.

Use VISUALS to convey your brand’s PURPOSE and PERSONALITY

What comes into your mind when you visualize a 3-pointed star inside a circle? Mercedes, right? What comes to your mind when you imagine the colour red? Coca Cola, Ferrari, KFC…. You get the drift.

KFC
mercedes

Once your brand’s purpose and personality is defined, it’s time for strategy on how to convey it to your existing customers, and the ones who could become one in future upon engaging with the brand.

A strong visual element is important for every brand, to leave an imprint on its customer. And for this, you must pick an attractive colour palette, an identifiable font family and graphics that support the brand’s persona. These visual elements like colour are the silent ambassadors of your brand.

Your brand has its own VOICE

Now, this is where the language comes into play. And no, we aren’t just talking about linguistics here. But the conversational style of the brand, the way it speaks to its consumers.

VOICE

The purpose and personality comes into the picture here again, as they decide the style in which the brand will talk. Is your business providing facts to its end user? Then the tone of the brand is going to be informative and very formal, like Encyclopedia Britannica.

But at the same time, a brand named Diply Facts on Instagram does the same thing, but its language is polar opposite to Britannica. Why? The audience, their age groups and the purpose behind the end product is different from each other.

While the former is used by students, academicians and writers for educational purposes, the latter is used by a younger, casual audience for informal activities like sharing with friends on social media.

Now that you know that building a brand goes much beyond creating a logo, simply hiring a graphic design or logo design company to create one is not enough. You need a creative agency that specializes in branding. Wondering where to find one? Click here to get in touch and start a conversation with us at Flora Fountain!

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SEO

Reasons why your website must be SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZED

Reasons-cover-img

What did you do the last time you wanted to look for a doctor around you, or check out a good place that could home deliver your favourite Baklavas on order? You asked Google about it.

Over 90% of the searches on the internet are done on Google and there’s only a 5% chance that we go beyond the results shown to us on the first page of the search window.

businessman-looking

And if you’re a brand that wants to be the first option of your consumer base, then you must feature on this first page every time someone searches for your name or a product or service you offer. The only way to be placed on top of the searches organically is through SEO, or Search Engine Optimization.

Wondering what is search engine optimization all about and how is it going to help your business or brand online? Here’s everything you need to know.

What is SEO anyway?

Search Engine Optimization or SEO is an internet marketing strategy where you improve the quality and quantity of your website based on the relevance of what your consumer base is looking and searching for on the internet.

The content on the website is optimized in a manner that ranks higher on the search engine pages of Google or Bing. And when someone looks for something which is even closely connected to your content, it shows up on the top of the search results.

applications-be-connected

And this optimization is done by putting up content that’s very relevant to what people are searching for, feature media that’s labelled correctly, contains references and links which support and make sense to the content, and contains the right amount of keywords and phrases which people use to search for your content.

And if you’re still not convinced on how SEO is going to help your business online, here we provide you with 5 benefits of having a website that’s Search Engine Optimized.

Improve Brand Visibility online

We’d like to start with an absolute no-brainer. Just imagine, you are a business that sells premium quality tea through your ecommerce website. While your business and its website appear on top of the search window every time someone looks up your brand name specifically, but whenever someone searches for “premium tea”, it’s your competitor’s name that pops up first. So frustrating, right?

This wouldn’t happen if you use the right keywords which people use to look for your product and service and link it to your website. This way, your brand name features on top of the search results and it gets etched into the minds of people who search for products and content related to your brand. The higher you rank on the search results, your brand’s visibility gets better.

Drive organic traffic to your website and convert them into sales

Apart from improving the visibility of your website, SEO also drives genuine visitors to your website, who hold a higher chance of getting converted into a paying customer for your product or service.

When you use original content, insert the right keywords, use genuine links to establish the authenticity of your content, and provide exactly what your customer is looking for, it is going to show up on the search screens on top.

Understand what and how your consumer thinks

Search Engine Optimization begins with research, about the consumers of the product, their background, their interests, and the time they spend on the internet seeking what they like. And with the data that this research throws up, you can understand the language that your probable customers are talking about and where do their loyalties lie when it comes to a certain product or service offered by multiple brands.

woman-casual

This helps in using the right keywords in your website, creating content for your website in a language that your consumer base will understand, and keeps them hooked on to it for a longer duration. This, in turn, increases your chances of converting them into a customer.

At the end of the day, your customer is the king and you must create and provide what they wish, and not what you want them to use. And search engines will push only the former on top.

No paying for “Ad Space”

No, you never have to pay Google, or any search engine to rank your website on top of the search results. The positions you see on the results page of the search engine are purely based on who did their SEO perfectly and ticked all the boxes.

We know, you might argue that what about the search results one gets to see with a tiny marker which reads “Ad” in black. They are Google Pay Per Click ads which, just like the name, are paid, advertised links of websites that pay a sum to google for every time someone clicks on that link.

They are not connected to SEO anyway, and all the results you see beneath those links, are purely organic. So technically, if you’re doing your SEO right, you never have to pay for an “ad space” for visibility like businesses have to do with OTT advertising.

Improves credibility of your business

A website that ranks on top of the charts of the search window tends to hold over 70% attention of the viewer compared the ones even in the 2nd or third position. It goes without saying that most of us won’t even bother clicking on the second page to see what more options do we have.

The credibility of brands that rank in the first 5 results is always higher compared to the others. Which means if your brand has done its SEO right, people will prefer clicking on your link if they see it first. This way only the right people get targeted, it results in higher organic footfalls on the website and in turn have a higher chances of getting converted into a valuable lead for the business.

Stay ahead of your competitors

And of course, when you’re on the top the charts every time someone searches for something, you’re miles ahead of your competitors. Just like we mentioned in our first point, you’re able to beat your competitors if you use the right keywords and links that connects with your business, and your visibility is going to peak higher than all.

And if you’re wondering whether your website is SEO friendly or not, how about you drop us a line here for a free consultation with our SEO expert.

Categories
Social Media

How colours are the silent ambassadors for your brand

ambassadors for your brand

There are so many instances where one sees a colour and associates it with or recognises the brand. The colours not only help bring out the personality of the brand but it also helps evoke an emotional connection. It attracts people and lets them know more about you. Whether you are starting or expanding your company, here are some key points you should have in mind.

The right colour matters!

brand personality

Call it colour psychology, but according to research, customers will make a subconscious decision based on colours. One has to choose their brand and logo colour wisely and see what message they deliver indirectly. The colours represent the brand personality which can range from being feminine or masculine, playful or serious, modern or classic, loud or subdues etc. The colours attract customers to choose you. For example-

The famous Starbucks, with its green colour makes it look rich, welcoming, friendly, and healthy. A lot is translated about their coffee and services.

Dark blue is heavily seen in a lot of motor and technology brands. The corporates love it but don’t forget the medical and healthcare industry which uses light blue. It is a safe colour as research shows that a lot of people’s favourite colour is blue.

Starbucks logo
McDonald’s logo

One can never forget to mention McDonald’s. The yellow catches the eye immediately and is visible clearly in daylight while the red is an active colour. Well, yellow is also related to happiness. You can spot other food brands too using red in their logos. Your colours communicate what you stand for. Knowing what the colour denotes in different cultures and places is important.

How to choose the right colours?

After you have decided on what your brand wants to emote and what your personality is, you have to decide on the background, base and accent colour. Looks like a lot, but it’s not. Consider this a method for you to arrive at the right colours for your brand. With a wide range of colour options, your brand requires the right shade. Hence, deciding on the background, base and accent colour is important.

  • Your background colour scheme has to have options.
  • The base colour shows your personality and appeals to the target audience.
  • The accent colour has to complement and pair well with your background and base colour.
background logo colours

For the logo design you can spin the wheel. Take a look at the picture and see where you fit in, which shade and colour is right for you.

  • Monochrome when you are focusing on one personality trait.
  • Analogous is safe as you convey the same meaning and connotations.
  • Complementary colours would mean bold and dynamic visuals.
  • Triadic colours are stable but one has to see if it matches the brand personality.
logo design

Colourful names

Own your colour and its name too. It has been found that quirky and fancy colour names are more pleasing to people. Even though people were shown the same colour, mocha is preferred over brown. The colour brown can be bifurcated in cinnamon, cedar, brunette, tawny, tortillas, chocolate, gingerbread etc. Naming your unique colour makes it stand out. Create your own colour palette to establish the identity.

On the whole visuals affect the consumer. As a brand, one has to build trust and loyalty through its colours. It is important to analyse your competitors, know what your brand stands for and what personality traits it emotes. Choosing the right colour and associating it with your brand requires variations and background, base and accent colour. Making the right mixture and naming it is crucial. People are attracted to fancy names.

Flora Fountain provides branding and logo services. We help you build and enhance your logo designs too. Leading business into the new creative ventures and reaching success. There is no right or wrong, it is all about exploring and creating one’s colour palette. Get in touch with us today to know which colours suit your brand and how it will help you propel your positioning among your customers.

Categories
Social Media

Why DESIGN is the hero of your digital marketing strategy

Facebook Engagement 3

Social media is no longer a child’s play. With more people having access to high speed internet connected to devices with the latest technology, a mere text post will get lost in the sea of millions of pieces of content being put out online daily. And this is where your design intelligence makes your stand out from the herd.

The idea behind a design

There is no dearth of written marketing content trying to sell you things online on websites though blogs and articles, but what sets the social media apart is its fusion of visuals and text. And in order to garner the attention of a potential consumer, one must use these elements in balance to create an impeccable design that speaks to him/her.

By picking the right colour and font for your brand and using them consistently in your designs, you convey the mood, meaning and feeling of the brand, and thus targetting a specific set of audience. And when you fit all this together with your content in the right copy space, you are effectively delivering your message to the consumers.

social media image size

Size matters (a lot!)

One of the biggest mistakes businesses make in order to save costs on design (BTW, a big NO NO!) is create one graphic image or poster for both Instagram and Facebook. But one needs to understand both platforms have different post sizes for both desktop and mobile. This is to provide the user with the best quality in visuals of the graphics.

If one doesn’t optimize their posts according to the social media platforms, the image or graphic will pixelate, thus killing the design and the entire message you wanted to convey. Given below are the sizes one should use while designing for Facebook and Instagram

Facebook Post: 940 X 788 px
Facebook cover: 820 X 312 px (desktop) & 640 X 360 px (for mobile)
Stories & IGTV: 1080 X 1920 px
Instagram Post: 1080 X 1080 px (Square), 1080 X 1350 px (Portrait) & 1080 X 608 px (landscape)

More visuals, fewer text

Visuals always have an upper hand over text when it comes to social media. It has been observed that more people respond to images and videos than written content. Hence it is advisable to involve more visuals in your social media marketing.
You will attract more eyeballs when the images are original and the videos have real people in it and not just graphics. Use text only if it is necessary to convey a specific message, like an address, phone number, website or slogan. But make sure your visuals always have space for your logo.

Where to source your visuals from?

While it is important to use original images and videos for visual posts on social media, we understand it is not possible for a small or medium business to spend on a promotional photo shoot for every campaign. And this is where free stock images and videos come to your rescue.

Given below are best sources for you to find high definition videos, images and icons for free and use them to create stunning designs.

Pixabay: With over 4 lakh stock images available for free, this is one of the most sought after sources for images of real people and products.

Unsplash: This website mostly has images from photographers who take artsy snaps and put it out for free use. It has a good source of such images that can go well with a subtle poster for stories and banners.

Pexels: This is a free content aggregator website that displays images and videos from sources where creators put out their content for free, which include Pixabay and Unsplash too.

Videvo: This is a free video source where you can get short video clips perfect for social media, consisting of places, people and products.

How to edit by yourself

While we’d always suggest that you take the services of a professional designer or agency (like us) to create your images and video posts for social media, we understand sometimes you need to pick up the mantle and do stuff by yourself. And if you are someone who does have a basic understanding of colours, fonts and design schemes, then you can use the below tools for a quick edit or post creation.

Canva: This is free photo and video graphic editing tool available for both computers and mobile phones. The best part about this application is that it has some beautiful, predesigned themes for almost all types of social media posts, from banners, posters, stories to covers.

Lightworks: This is a free video editing tool available for desktop, using which you can edit and create good quality videos using its basic tools available for no cost. If you want to use its advanced version, it does have a decent subscription plan.

Categories
Social Media

Digital Crisis Management During Corona [COVID-19] | 10 Steps To Maintain Your Business’ Digital Health

Business’ Digital Health 3

As the world fights a pandemic, it becomes all the bit more essential for a business person to innovate different ways to educate their customers. While everyone is focusing on cost control and reducing marketing activities, here’s how a smart business person can make a huge difference while being at home during the Corona [COVID-19] lockdown by following these 10 simple steps.

1. Website Health:

Check whether you website is working as it should be. Remember your website is your digital store and it is now more important to maintain an A-game. Hence check all the pages, specially your contact us or any other enquiry form.

2. Branding & Reputation:

Once you are through with website checklist, ask yourself, “Why did I build this website?” I am sure like most of us the answer is, to market your product and services. But during the CO-VID 19 lockdown 90% businesses can not sell because of logistical challenges. At this point we can focus on proper branding and reputation management.

social media platform

3. Which Platform to target?

To do proper branding or marketing you must be visible to the world out there on social media platforms and hence it is important to play to your strengths and identify which platforms to target. For example, jewellers’ best bet is to be on a visual social media platform like Instagram or Pinterest. Those in the counselling sector should focus on creating engagement through Instagram and blogs. While, those in the B2B segments should focus on disseminating information via blogs on website, LinkedIn and newsletters.

4. Ask yourself where is my audience?

It is important to understand and create audience profiling. Age, sex, interest, geography and income are some important factors to consider. Instagram is for younger millenials, Facebook is a community based application and has a mixed audience of slightly older people, YouTube is a video based application which focuses on awareness & education, Twitter is ideal for user engagement and feedback, LinkedIn is perfect for B2B, Pinterest is for portfolio building and for ideas, while Tiktok is used to target small-town and suburban audiences through video.

5. Optimize the profile/page

If you are a small business then creating an id or a profile is advisable versus creating a page on Facebook. If you are a comparatively established brand then create a page on Facebook and a profile on other platforms such as Instagram. Optimize your profile by mentioning all the details about the company, such a bio, contact details, Google Map location etc.

Facebook profile page

6. Follow the right influencers

In order to create a strategy for your brand you need to remain up-to-date with the latest trends of the industry and to what actually attracts people. Following the right influencers (people who know the industry and influence buying decisions) can sometime lead to collaborations, when the opportunity is right.

Content share

7. Share content regularly

Content is king everywhere, including social media. Content is what we put out and what gets shared on social media platforms. This can be a combination of Image, Text or Video. Remember, don’t get too technical and don’t try to sell immediately. Educate your followers about your product, the industry, the benefits of using the product or service etc.

8. Use proper hashtags

In order to grow followers on Instagram and Twitter you need to reach the maximum audience and that can be done by using proper hashtags in your post caption. In Instagram, you can use any number of hashtags between 3 to 30 in your copy as well as comment section. To get familiar with trending hashtags related to your business visit www.all-hashtag.com

9. Interact with your followers

All successful brands must care about their followers. This care can be shown in many ways. Sometimes a simple “thank you” can convert a commenter into a follower into a fan and eventually a future buyer. Communication is an essential tool once your page or profile is up and running.

10. Be patient

Remind yourself that you are here to educate and spread awareness about your product/services. Don’t be impatient by pressurising yourself to generate leads or business in initial months. If you follow the above 9 points diligently then slowly, but surely, business is bound to happen.

To know more about Flora Fountain and our social media marketing services, begin your journey here www.florafountain.com