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Think On Your Feet: The Issue of Agility in Marketing

Posted on by Mario

SEO tips

When I landed my first job right after college, I remember being told by my then-manager that to have a successful career with the company, I have to be able to quickly come up with a solution on my own. The professional world generously rewards quick, independent thinking and I’d have no hope of progressing if I’m incapable of thinking on my feet. Or at least, that’s how the thinking goes. From my observation though, I think that philosophy applies more to certain field than others.

In the field of finance for example, independent thinking isn’t always necessary since you’re typically operating within a rulebook where diligence is of utmost importance. In other fields, such as technology where progress is made on a day-to-day basis and in marketing where trends evolve as fast as the public’s attention span, the rulebook gets rewritten at a pace so rapid that you’re going to have to be able to reorient yourself every now and then. This is why for marketers and SEO services, the word agility is of the utmost importance.

Agility in SEO

SEO stands at the crossroad of technology and marketing. As SEO deals heavily with search engines and their algorithms, any progress made in search technologies would no doubt have an impact on the practice of SEO and since it’s not like the likes of Google will ever stop tinkering with their search algorithms, SEO services will never be able to rest on their laurels. At the same time, as SEO falls under the general umbrella of digital marketing, SEO still have to abide by the whims of the public and current trends, making it impossible for you to succeed if you’re content just staying in place.

Agility then comes into play as businesses doesn’t just require the foresight to predict where society is heading next but also be able to react quickly to something that’s unexpected. Avengers: Endgame being the total hit that it is now can be easily predicted, which is why it shouldn’t be hard for your business to come up with marketing materials that subtly references the film. But what about something awesomely unexpected like the bottle cap challenge started by taekwondo instructor Farabi Davletchin where he kicked a bottle cap off a bottle in slow motion over Instagram?

That viral craze began somewhat predictably, with Davletchin challenging several notable figures such as Jason Statham into performing their own version of the bottle cap challenge. As with any viral craze, the challenge soon began to delve into absurdity when the diva we definitely do not deserve Mariah Carey, jumped in by removing the cap not with her feet, but with her impressive vocal range. These viral crazes are pretty much the norm now and it would take clever thinking and swiftness of mind to turn it into something uniquely yours the way Mariah Carey did.

Start with a flexible and immediately actionable plan

The thing with trends is that they leave as fast as they come and as our attention span grows shorter and shorter, making a long-term marketing plan is pretty much pointless. For example let’s say that you were there firsthand when the bottle cap challenge craze started to go viral. Instead of responding however, you went to the drawing board and sit on it for weeks trying to figure out the best way you can capitalize on this trend. By the time your preparation’s ready and that you’ve earn the needed approval to execute the plan, the world has moved on to a new trend, like the 30-50 feral hogs thing from a couple weeks ago.

The moral of this story is that you shouldn’t rely on a rigid, long-term plan for marketing. Setting a long-term goal is acceptable but you should always be flexible in how that goal is reached. Marketing can sometimes be more about being reactionary than it is about foresight and you’re going to be relying on your responsiveness more often than not. Marketing can also takes an iterative form as you might find when your current strategy isn’t working, it might best to tweak them rather than starting from scratch all over again.

Focus on your team

Flexibility and an open mind isn’t a trait that’s possessed by everyone which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as sometimes, being rigid and uncompromising can be useful. The world of marketing however, the latter is a cardinal sin as you’re going to have to be able to see everything not from your point of view but from potential customers. What the public find interesting might not always line up with your preferences and businesses need to find someone who can easily reconcile with this contradiction to handle their marketing efforts.

Take advantage of data

You have to understand the difference between what’s popular and what’s trending. At any given moment, holiday-related hashtags will always have traction even if there are months in which they’re used more. On the other hand, trending hashtags are marked by a meteoric rise over a short period of time and that’s what you want to capitalize on as there’s only a limited window where the public’s interest is at an all-time high. One way you could differentiate between these two points is by the use of analytics.

Numbers, to the dismay of those who hated math in school, help make sense of the world and the can be hugely invaluable in the world of marketing as long as you know what to look for. Looking at a bunch of data isn’t particularly useful all by itself but when interpreted by someone who can translate those numbers into a model of human society, they’re practically golden. Just as you need people that can react to whatever society is up to these days, you’re going to need someone who can actually tell what society is up to.

That’s Why It’s There: The Role of Web Development for Your Business

Posted on by Mario

The importance of web development

Website is no longer an option when it comes to having business. It is a compulsory asset for a business. When you have a business, having a website is one of the best ways to boost your marketing efforts. Let me make it easier for you to understand. Supposing you were just starting out a small business providing light meals or snacks in your area and the only people who knew about your business were your family and close friends – they were your first buyers. At the first two months, your neighbours knew about your business and decided to give it a try. However, unless your neighbours, family and close friends (and each of them) told their acquaintances and friends about your products, you couldn’t expand your business and increase your brand awareness any more than that. For that reason, online marketing is needed. In this day and age, you don’t come to your target audience door-to-door anymore – you reach them through online marketing efforts. Yes, that’s where website comes in. A website is one of your business assets that can help you increase your brand awareness and improve your online visibility so that your target audience, a.k.a the people who need your products can find your business and buy from you. However, creating and building a website is not that simple. You need web development for that. Why is web development so important? What’s the role of web development for your business? Keep reading to find out!

Web development allows your business to be 24/7 at service

You may have your own marketing staff or marketing manager or others with their own roles in your company both online and offline, but at night time, it’s time to sleep, fellas, even you too. However, with your website and its good web development, it can act as your 24/7 marketing staff. People are absorbed in online activities that they will just surf the internet for more information or looking for answers or something they want. If you have a skincare business and you have an active blog on your website, you can still ‘persuade’ your potential buyers even without having to meet them in person. If they are curious with your products in the middle of the night where you and your employees are still sleeping, your website can do your work by providing information and details about your products and your business as a website can be accessed 24/7.

Worldwide marketing

Well, it is not just about being viewed by your local target audience – the world can know too if your website is doing well in other aspects like web design, web development and SEO. With an online website, you can link up to social forums and market your product/service to a massive audience all around the globe. You can regularly advertise and share your work on social forums to gain more than actually targeted audience.

Easy and convenient for your target audience

A well-developed website can not only help you gain more prospects, but it can also help your target audience too. Having a physical location of your business is nice, but not all people can be willing to go there, let alone have time to go there, especially those living in other countries or cities. After all, who needs to go all the way down to an offline store when they can get it all online?

Seen as credible

Your website can also act as your ‘office’. This is where it can provide as much information as needed for your target audience. If your target audience is having a hard time finding your offline store, your website is your online store. Promoting your products or services by a few clicks can grab the attention of consumers from various parts of the world. The website of a company can prove remarkable to gain business not only in a shorter time but also with a much bigger audience. If your website is well-developed, then your website can be considered as a credible source that can be helpful for your target audience.

Yes, that’s why is there. Web development helps your website be accessible anytime and if you put the right content in it, your website can serve as your business ‘customer service’ and even your ‘marketing staff’ for 24/7. If you need more information about website development, feel free to contact us and let our team help you grow your business.

From A to B: 4 Tips in Designing Timelines for Your Website

Posted on by Mario

web design tips

Perhaps because the people I’m close with are all equipped with an engineering degree but I just recently realized that the majority of my friends aren’t fond of history. To me history is fascinating in its capability to infuriate. Time and time again, I visited a museum, watched a historical film or read a historical novel only to be dismayed that the problems detailed in those things are still present in the time we currently live in. History was supposed to help us make sense of the present and avoid the mistakes of our past but it seems that human folly will always find a way.

History, at its most basic form, is a chronological process. To help make sense of the past, history is typically represented as a series of events that happens at particular moments in time showed in a linear fashion. This representation is typically referred to as a timeline and they can help us chart the chronological history of a particular subject. This can be very useful in the world of web design as you can use this particular style of design to help convey certain information that works best when presented in a chronological order, such as the history of your company.

The various uses of a timeline

Depending on what you choose to portray, timeline can be used in a variety of a different ways. In the subject of internet for example, the timeline can be used to detail the history of the internet itself, starting from the use of ARPANET in the United States and up until now with several important milestones included in the timeline. However, the timeline can also be used to portray the chronological transformation of the internet itself. How the internet was used and what kind of transformation it transports at the beginning is vastly different from how they’re used now, and the timeline can be used to show this gradual progress.

The timeline can also be used to detail the journey of a specific subject. For example, now that the issue of environment is at the forefront of society, I’ve seen timelines being used to portray how a product is made to ensure transparency. The timeline details the journey of the product from the sourcing of the material up until they arrive at the customer’s doorstep, ensuring that every step of the process is up to proper ethical standards. For a more practical use, the timeline could also be used as an itinerary when you’re holding an event.

The timeline is useful not just for simple eye-candy, they can simplify even the most complex of histories to digestible chunks and make them easier to follow and understand. However, this capability depends on the design of the timeline itself as you want the information displayed on the timeline to be understandable without overcrowding them. The timeline is like a summary and you have to be smart and selective about what you’re displaying on screen but luckily, the following 4 tips should be enough to get you started.

The labels and explanations must be clear and consistent

I’ve hinted at several uses for a timeline in the above section and in each of those respective uses, the timeline works best with certain types of labels and/or information. In a historical timeline for example, dates would work best as a label accompanied by information of what milestone occurred at that particular date. By contrast, when the timeline is used to detail a particular process, the label should be used to detail each step of the process, accompanied by information of what happens during that particular step.

When designing the timeline, it’s important to keep these labels and information consistent. If the first section of the timeline is signified by a particular year, every succeeding section must also be signified by a year and that you shouldn’t mix and match multiple types of labels in a single timeline. Keep the information short and to the point as well as you wouldn’t want to overwhelm the timeline with text. If you have more information available on hand, include a hyperlink in the timeline if you have to instead of adding more text.

Use color coding to signify different sections

If the timeline is divided into a dozen sections, that doesn’t mean you have to use a dozen colors. You can simply use 2 or 3 colors alternated with each other. The goal here is to increase the legibility of the timeline and to differentiate between one section and the other. This can be particularly useful when two milestones occur in the same year as you can still use different colors to signify that the two milestones are independent of each other.

Stick to simple shapes

The style is referred to as timeline for a reason, because line works best when trying to present information in chronological order. This isn’t to say that using a zig-zagging format is strictly forbidden, they actually make very effective use of space, but you should only use them when you know what you’re doing. Still, timeline is much easier to digest since it’s just a line so unless space is really an issue, stick to a simple horizontal or vertical line.

Use icons or helpful illustrations to help illustrate each section

As I’ve hinted repeatedly, you don’t want to inundate the timeline with text and as a possible solution; you can use small icons or illustrations to help explain what a particular section in the timeline is about. The image doesn’t have to be complex; in fact simplicity is actually preferred as the point is to inform the users, not to showcase your artistic capabilities. If the timeline is used to showcase the evolution of a product or a tool, using photos of the actual product could also work.