How to Effectively Use Images for Online Marketing

Having a great content marketing strategy means having great text, obviously, but it also means having great images to go along with that text.

Having good images with your text adds a lot of value! It will add a lot of good SEO value to your posts via captions, meta descriptions, alt tags, etc. and it will also make your post much more appealing to the human reader. Images get noticed. According to research, content that has an image has a 94% better chance of being read than image-less content. If you do social media marketing, then posts/tweets with images are much more likely to get liked, retweeted, favorited, and shared than posts/tweets without images.

Depending on what your strategy is, then there are different images to suit you. What types of images are best to include in your strategy?

• Blogs. When doing a blog, an image is a must. Look at this blog, we have an image. They are used to wrap up the core message of the content and be helpful visuals for social media shares. 
• Products. When you have an e-commerce site, then images are an even bigger must. You can't have a successful e-commerce site without images. "The description says, "Awesome gray shirt" so I'll just take its word for it." Make sure the images are high-resolution. 
• Even if your site is non-ecommerce, using images helps your appeal. 
• Infographics. These can be huge for content. These are fantastic for social media, people love infographics because they share well and are often full of information people like to know. 

A main thing to remember is that you need to optimize your images! For proper optimization tips, contact Integraphix about search engine optimization and other marketing assistance. 

Top 10 Marketing Slogans in History

We have all heard and seen marketing slogans all over the place. They are what companies use to identify themselves in the world. A slogan or tagline says what they company believes in, their goals, their mindset, etc. all in one sentence, phrase, or word. So what are the top 10 in history? Our brilliant minds put themselves to work and created this list: 

10. What happens here stays here. -- Las Vegas

What is great about this one is that it gave the impression that going to Vegas was like going to an exclusive, incredible party. The party is so great that you not only will not have the ability to describe what occurred but you're not allowed to. 

9. The best a man can get. -- Gillette

Men are tough and require tools for hygiene and personal care that can deliver. A man can use a razor that is going to break and/or give a poor quality shave. 

8. Melts in your mouth, not in your hand. -- M&Ms

One thing that is sad about chocolate is that it melts in your hand if you hold it for more than a second or two. However, M&Ms are special, they have the candy coating to prevent them from melting in your hand (the coating will still melt a bit, but the chocolate is intact). 

7. When it absolutely, positively, has to be there overnight. -- FedEx

When you send packages, you don't want them to take a month to arrive! You want them there the ASAP! Sometimes, timeliness is more than a luxury, it's a necessity. 

6. A diamond is forever. -- De Beers Diamond Company

You can get your love a bouquet of roses but they will die in a short amount of time. You can buy her some chocolates but those will be gone in minutes, hours, or a few days at the outside (What? Chocolate doesn't survive long in my home. Regardless of who it's given too.)

5. Great taste. Less filling. -- Miller Lite

When Miller introduced the light beer, it was a struggle for guys to catch on. Fewer calories? That's more of a feminine thing but beer is a manly drink. However, once they mentioned how it is just as great tasting as full beer but you won't get a beer belly, guys were okay with it. Until craft beer became a trend.  

4.Got milk? -- California Milk Processor Board

The California Milk Processor Board created this ad campaign to get people to drink more milk. It is healthy for us and tastes great. A simple question. Effective. 

3. We try harder. -- Avis Rent-a-Car

Anyone can say that they try hard but what does that mean? What's the definition of trying hard? 

2. Just do it. -- Nike

Whatever you're going to do in terms of physical, athletic, etc. decisions, don't hesitate or worry, be confident and just go for it. Thinking about running that 5K? Just do it. Thinking about draining the game winning three next game? Just do it. 

1. Where's the beef? -- Wendy's

We all know the classic TV ad with the old women and the one stares at the tiny patty and says, "Where's the beef?" This made people realize that other burger joints used small patties. Wendy's was paving the way for consumers to get a REAL burger. 

A good advertising slogan can be tough to create. The thing is, you don't create slogans and taglines to be iconic, they become iconic. When it comes to creating a slogan or tagline that is effective, you have to find a great marketing firm. For that, contact Integraphix. 

5 Brief Reasons Your Business Must Advertise

Social media marketing is free, publicity is free, emails are free (unless you utilize a service for email marketing), cold-calls are free, referrals are free and often effective, however, advertising costs money. Why would you do advertising when you have all these free marketing efforts available?

Advertising is one of the marketing tactics that comes with a nice price tag. You have to pay money to run ads and send direct mail and sometimes you have to wait until you see any ROI. However, there is great strategy in advertising and it will be one of the best marketing decisions one could make… if they do it right.

In order to get good ROI from advertising, you have to:

• Be focused on a target market
• Have an effective call to action
• Pay attention to any leads and conversion rates

So why would you advertise? 

• It is a medium that you have control over. When it comes to advertising, you can say exactly what you want the ads to say, how they look, where they should go, etc. Nothing is left up to chance, except for their reception by the consumer, technically. 
• You say who is targeted. Knowing how your target market interacts with the world enables you to know how to publish an ad so only they get appealed to. A personal message aimed at one market is not going to be effective when it is carelessly put out there. 
• It helps create awareness for content. If you have content to share, say like blogs, books, catalogs, guides, etc. then you can use advertising to talk about it. 
• It helps with credibility. People believe that business must be going well when a business is running ads. Now, if the ad is for a "Going out of business sale" then clearly, things are not going well. However, this is generally the case. People pay attention to you and what you have to say because your knowledge has [allegedly] paid off before. 
• It amplifies your other efforts. Advertising helps consumers take notice of other marketing efforts that you are doing. 

When you advertise, journalists find you, referral consumers remember you, you develop fans and brand loyalty, and develop a sense of pride for employees. 

If your business needs to advertise, then hire a Chicago marketing company. As a marketing firm in Chicago, Integraphix has over 25 years of advertising and marketing experience. 

5 B2B Marketing Trends for 2015

Here we are in the 9th month of 2014; we are officially 3/4s of the way done with the year. If this was a football or basketball game, we'd be in the 4th quarter. That being said, we in the corporate world are looking at 2015 and wondering what is on the horizon for our industries. When you are in the creative industry, like marketing, then each year brings something different.

So what is in store for 2015 for the marketing and advertising industry?

1. Micro-targeting. Well this one has been on some radar's for a year or so already. It is now time to really get to know your customers and clients. We need to move past the plans and strategies that are one-size fits all and really get into making custom ideas and plans that fit people uniquely. These strategies will find the small, likely profitable, subsets of our target markets. Why go for these consumers? Well, doing so will allow you to capture more market without doing something you shouldn't already be doing. It will require data parsing to make the one on one conversations that we need for micro-targeting. 
1. Get into buyer persona development and learn how the people think, live, and what motivates them. We do this with major target markets but it's time to give that love to subsets. 
2. Paid placement is here for the long-haul. Social networks, as well as some large publishers, are moving away from earned media and towards paid media. This means that great marketing teams will have to spend more money and especially time on paid placement in order to get noticed by consumers. We have all see an increase in promoted Tweets, sponsored Instagram posts, and how few of our posts on Facebook reach nearly the amount they used to (a 44% decline). 
3. Mobile. Mobile. Mobile. Mobile users are rampant now with the incredible access to smart phones and tablets… now even phablets. We are consumers 24/7 now, no matter what time of day or where we are, we are able to buy, view, and talk about anything. The challenge this coming year will be to create amazing digital experiences that will fit with the lifestyles of our target markets. The time has come for mobile-optimized elements and activities as well as dynamic content that offers an incredible, personalized experience in digital form. Mobile marketing is a fantastic place for engagement with consumers and even in real-time. 
4. Marketing automation that changes the game. In the past, marketing was about responding to things that happened; nowadays, we have tools that allow us to stay a move ahead. The term "real-time marketing" is more real than ever. we have tools like CRM, email marketing, content management, search engine optimization, analytics, lead generation tools, etc. that all help us boost our ability to give quality content and in great time. 
5. Quality content. We have seen the shift to content marketing and a more explosive use of tools such as blogging, articles, and social media to get more words out there. We like to connect with consumers and give them stories to enjoy while the brand loyalty gets stronger. This means that the need for professional writers will be put at the forefront instead of just a luxury. 

Getting the right marketing trends and knowing what will happen before it happens can be tricky. This is why so many businesses hire a marketing firm rather than try to devote non-existing time to it. Hire an agency that can help your business stay current and grow. Contact Integraphix. 

Does Product Placement Harm Entertainment?

When it comes to advertising, it has somewhat struggled to keep great pace with the media of today. In the past, commercials on TV & radio, paired with print ads, would be the bulk of the ads we would see throughout the day.

Now, we have things like online video streaming, DVR, etc. all things that make it hard to run commercials with the same effectiveness they once had. There is one form of advertising that has held its ground with such strength as it always has: product placement.

We see our favorite brands and products show up in shows, movies, etc. and be utilized by our favorite characters. This mental connection is made between the product and the love we have for the character(s) and we become more connected to that product or brand. This effectiveness has made product placement one of the biggest and most popular topics of discussion for any marketing group, just ask the people at our Chicago marketing agency!

Watch any show or movie and look for the product placement; be watchful because it can be very subtle. If you watch one of the hottest shows on "TV"-- Netflix-- House of Cards, you will notice Claire Underwood uses an iPhone and Frank uses a Blackberry. Or, look at the hit show Breaking Bad, Walter White drives a Chrysler sedan later in the series and they also drive a Pontiac Aztec earlier in the series.

One thing to consider is that product placement makes movies and television more realistic. You would not see someone in real life using a cell phone or drive a car that does not feature a logo on it (unless they manipulated it, it wouldn't be bought from the store like that). A bag of chips in the average household does not say "Potato chips" on it without some sort of product name on it.

Create a Great Marketing Plan with 3 Simple Questions

Any company that exists, whether you are a startup or a global business, needs money to survive. It is no secret. Even the nonprofits need money to survive or they could not do their work, though their money may be from donations.

What is interesting is just how many entrepreneurs in the world put their money into marketing efforts that do not have ROI. It is all about the marketing plan and strategy that is put into place that will determine if your marketing plan yields any ROI. The way you market your business is dependent on your industry and your demographic of consumers. Maybe you will gain sales from print advertisements, radio, TV, social media, search engine optimization, etc.

So what are the three questions you need to ask yourself in order to create a great marketing plan?

• Why should someone buy your product or service over someone else? 

This is a question that can be tough to answer legitimately. We like to think, "Well, because mine is better, duh." Every business owner must be able to answer this question; if you are not able to answer this question, that is not a good sign. If you are not able to say why your product or service is better, than no one in the world will be able to figure that reason out in their head and if they can't do that, they won't buy your product or service over competition. If you are not able to figure this out, then you need to hire a Chicago marketing firm.

Once you can successfully answer this question, you will know what your competitive advantage is and this is what you will deliver to your target market(s) in your marketing. 

• Is there a market segment that will appreciate your differences? Are they a big enough group to support your business? 

You will need to be able to differentiate your product or service and identify your target market. You also have to realize if there is a segment of the market that will be interested in and be able to support you with the sales. You might have a unique product, like body-odor scented candles but will people want that? No. 

• What is the best financial way to reach this target market? 

You have to realize this market and the way they are accessible. Is it via ads? Which kind? Or is it social media? Which platform? Etc. You have to research the way they communicate and how they like the messages to be delivered within that medium. 

Hire a Chicago marketing company that is able to help you get noticed and in the right way to gain ROI. Contact Integraphix. 

How You Can Rock Your Corporate Social Media

Having a corporate presence on social media is a must these days. Basically, every company has at least one social media account, if not 2, 3, or more. However, having a legitimate presence on social media for a company is much more than just posting your merchandise, your deals, etc.

Being successful at social media often means having a long list of things you need to do and many of them are correct; having a corporate social media presence that doesn't flop means doing things right, even the small stuff.

So how do you dominate your Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, and other platforms? Don't worry your noggin, my friend, we'll tell you how!

• Be good at:
• Communicating. This means that you will need to be a good writer. Now, you're not writing dissertations on your social media, so you don't have to be that worried about writing exceptionally; however, you have to be good. Punctuation, grammar, write like a human (not a robot), and be concise (why use 5 words when you can use 2?). 
• Using images. When you can use an image to draw attention to your post, especially when it helps with the message, then do it! Now, do not go image crazy but use them when you can. 
• Using video. YouTube and Vimeo are great for this. When you have a video that you can share, especially informational, then go for it! 
• Utilizing more than one social network. Sure, your business has a Facebook page but you can also use other platforms as well! Depending on what your business does and where your target market is (in terms of social media), then join more than one! If you're a visual business (perhaps a bakery), then Pinterest and Instagram would be great since you can showcase your pastries and even share recipes (more so on Pinterest). 
• Responding. When you let days go by before you respond to someone on social media, if you respond at all, then you're not doing social media right. Social media is a fantastic tool for customer service and if you respond to things right away, it can vastly help improve (or maintain) your image. If it's a response to a complaint, then you contain the damage that much faster! 
• Not being emotional but having emotion. Do not get angry or frustrated when someone complains about you; do not give your negative emotions a chance. However, show that you have emotion! Say you're happy (and other positive feelings) about stuff. "We're so excited we could get deep dish pizza for our company lunch!" 
• Avoiding "ME". Sure, you want to promote your business but remember, a little of that goes a long way. The majority of your posts should be answering questions, giving tips, conversing, referring your people to someone else's great info, and commenting. Share, retweet, +1, repin, etc. If you can share someone else's post, they will notice and so will your followers. Which kind of person do you like better (in real life): the person who always wants to build themselves up or build other people up? 

Doing corporate social media marketing is not always super easy but it can be done. If you have any questions, then feel free to contact Integraphix. We are a Chicago marketing firm.