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Making Mass Communication Personal

Thu, 26 May 2022 17:43:56 GMT

Making Mass Communication Personal

How to deliver a message to customers on a regional, national, and global scale.

Advertising appears simple on the surface. This makes sense because the overall goal of advertising is, in fact, simple: to deliver a message to an audience in hopes the y will respond in a desired way. But, for business owners, between strategy, copywriting, design, and media buying, many find marketing their business overwhelming.

Our team at Organic Business Solutions is here to help you figure out which method of communication is best for your business at this stage. Depending on the size and nature of your business, you may either want to advertise to a regional, national, or global audience. Determining your target market is a step that must be taken early in the advertising process so that your team can implement the right method of communication. This article will help you learn how to best communicate with your desired audience.

Regional Audiene

Advertising regionally always builds a strong following no matter the size of your business. When cultivating a regional audience, attractive storefronts play a huge factor, as people respond to branding even if it is subconsciously. If are able to hire a designer, consider print media. Try placing advertisements in local magazines and newspapers. Look into local schools that offer advertising in their p rinted media such as playbills, and find out if they offer other sponsored events. You can also use transportation ads and billboards to really make a name for yourself.

If print media isn’t your thing, consider email and/or text campaigns to attract regional customers. Also, depending on the niche of your business, consider attending local fairs, craft shows, and farmers markets. Brand relationships blossom in-person and lead to more word-of-mouth advertising.

National Audience

Delivering your message to a national audience means that you are taking a big step to expand your brand. Digital advertising will help yo u spread your message across the entire country without breaking the bank. Maintain a strong social feed and utilize paid promotions to attract younger and more tuned-in audiences. In addition to advertising on social media, Google Adsense is one of the strongest tools for targeted advertising.

A more recent way to get your business’ name out there is through advertising on streaming services. You can choose between promoting on radio services like Spotify, Pandora, or IHeartRadio, or on video services like Hulu and Amazon Prime. These methods may cost a little more but they are also more likely to attract new customers.

Global Audience

Bigger businesses need bigger audiences. This is where advertising on a global scale comes into play. When advertising globally, you must keep in mind to whom you are advertising. While tailoring your advertisements to your global target market, you must also tailor your product or service to them as well by taking their overall culture and economy into account. Some great first steps for interacting internationally include overcoming the language barrier, hiring international talent, and localizing your website.

When advertising globally, internet marketing is your best. It can be overwhelming to decide which digital marketing method to implement, but we suggest trying a few to see what resonates with your target overseas. Depending on your product or service, you may find that influencer marketing works better than digital banner advertisements, or that YouTube advertisements work better than paid promotions on social media.

Web Design Mistakes

Thu, 26 May 2022 17:36:49 GMT

Web Design Mistakes To Avoid

3 Common Web Design Mistakes to Avoid

People spend a lot of time making sure that their website looks perfect. Hours can (and will) be spent agonizing over fonts, colors, graphics and more. Regardless of how good your website looks, making one of the following three web design mistakes will quickly deter potential customers.

No Clear Call To Action

A call to action (CTA) encourages visitors to take some kind of action on your website. This may be an element as simple as a contact button or sign up form. Having a clear CTA is important as it tells visitors what to do next now that they are on your website. You want to make it as easy as possible for people to buy your product or sign up for your service, and this gets harder without a clear CTA.

There are two common mistakes people make when creating CTA’s for websites. The first is making too many CTA’s. When someone visits a website flooded with CTA’s, they may find it overwhelming to figure out which route to take. The second mistake is hiding your CTA, or having no CTA at all. It’s important to place at least one CTA on the home page of your website so that visitors have a next step to follow.

2. Not Mobile Responsive

All Organic Business Solutions websites are built with responsive design. This means each website displays beautifully and functions properly on all devices. Making your website responsive is important so that every user has a good experience on your site. Modern technology makes it easier than ever to create responsive websites, but small mistakes can make large impacts when it comes to responsive design.

When building responsive websites it is important not to overlook two main elements, these are imagery and your navigation/header. Reformatting images for all devices can keep users from having to scroll through oversized images or look at a page that is formatted incorrectly. At OBS, our team goes through a quality check to assure that all of your images are formatted properly. Your navigation bar and header are also important to reformat on mobile and tablet devices. If necessary, utilize mobile-friendly features such as hamburger navigation to save space in your header.

3. Overwhelming Design

Adding too much information to pages on your website will confuse visitors. A cluttered home page, for example, is frustrating and overwhelming. While every website features varying degrees of content, it is important to make the websites with more content look as simplistic outwardly as those with less. Keep in mind that not everything needs to go on your home page and utilize tools like drop down menus.

Technology + Trends

asunta@organicbusinesssolutions.com (Asunta Rossi) — Thu, 12 May 2022 14:21:26 GMT

Technology + Trends

When to follow trends in the design industry

The graphic design industry is ever-changing, with quickly evolving tools and trends. Like with all trends, the most popular design styles at any given time tend to reflect a combination of both modern culture and technology. This is happening in real-time with the drift towards futurism and 3D art seen in a lot of current design mirroring the popularity of AI and use of technology in our everyday lives. Due to this heavy emphasis on tech, keeping up with trends is important for designers to maintain sharp skills and avoid dated designs.

Following trends is crucial to producing great work in the digital age, but the misuse of trends can also lead to bad design. It’s not really about being trendy, it’s about using trends as tools and, like in any field, the newest tool is not always the best. At Organic Business Solutions, we work hard to recognize the appropriate times to implement design trends into our advertisements.

So when is the right time to be trendy? Mimicking popular styles is fantastic for short-run projects like social media campaigns or digital banner advertisements. The use of trends in these situations makes clients appear relevant to their audience without sacrificing their brand identity or professionalism. Trends tend to take a back seat for more significant projects that may be used for a long-period of time, like logos or packaging. Projects like these require a more timeless design that will look good for years to come.

The study and practice of trends in design will keep a designers skills sharp, and applying trends into client work is crucial for brands to appear relevant to their audience. In 2022, we are seeing a large drift towards the combination of futurism and vintage design in digital spaces, as well as a lot of 3D work due to increasing accessible technology. Are you interested in learning about how design trends can help your business grow? Get in touch today, because OBS is here to help!

Accessibility In Design

Thu, 12 May 2022 14:15:00 GMT

Accessibility in Design

Making sure your designs can be experienced by all

What is design, other than an art form? Graphic design goes beyond creating beautiful imagery, it is a visual tool used for communication. When designing, it is important to make sure that the information being presented is accessible to all, including those with disabilities and visual impairments. Without accessibility in design, we cut off communication to a lot of potential customers.

The truth is, a lot of designers do not think about accessibility in their everyday practice. While a designer in theory should think about what works first , and what looks good second, for many this is rarely the case. By considering the needs of those beyond your demographic, you directly benefit your own business by expanding your pool of potential customers. So how can you make your designs more accessible? Color, size, and technology all need to be taken into consideration. In this article, we will cover color.

C O L O R

As a graphic designer, I am legally obligated to love color. Okay, maybe not, but I am obsessed with color and how it can impact my designs. This is not the case for everyone, as many people in the world are colorblind or struggle to distinguish colors from each other. For that reason, it is important not to use color as your main visual means for conveying information in a design. Instead, consider scale, size, weight, and other design elements to achieve visual hierarchy.

With color, age also needs to come into consideration. If you design a flier for a senior center, for example, you need to use soft/pastel colors as many people in that demographic find vibrant colors overwhelming and hard to read. The opposite can be said when designing for children, as they are attracted to by bright, attention-grabbing, primary colors.

Regardless of your demographic’s age, another important aspect of color to keep in consideration is contrast. Without contrast, information can, and will, get lost in your design. This is only worse for those with visual impairments. To play it safe, there is a general rule that foreground and background colors should have a 4:5:1 contrast ratio. This can seem a little tricky, but you can learn more about that directly from the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (W3C) and you can also use this tool to make sure your colors are safe to use. A general rule of thumb for contrast is that as you make a graphic element thinner, you must also make it darker to achieve more contrast.

Many designers shy away from practicing accessibility in their everyday work. Accessibility can create some heavy limitations, but these constraints only lead to more creative outcomes. Keep an out out for Organic Business Solutions next blog on accessibility, as we cover more ways to be inclusive and expand your audience.

How Important Is Your About Page?

Mon, 28 Feb 2022 15:12:30 GMT

How Important Is Your About Page?

A hurdle business owners face everyday is convincing customers to buy from them over hundreds of other options. The key to locking in potential customers is by answering their question “Why should I buy your product?” and the best way to answer that is through an About Us page. The About Us page is a significant aspect of website design because it helps to give your business credibility and personality. A well-constructed About Us page answers any questions visitors may ask while navigating through your website and showcases what makes your brand stand out.

It’s All About YOU

Is your business family owned? Are there multiple locations? Is there an office dog that everyone adores? Whatever your quirks, the About Us helps you to highlight your differences and deliver important information about your business to potential customers. Most About Us pages contain contact information and basic business information, but also consider sharing quotes from the owners, photographs of the staff, and telling your business history. People who resonate with your story will have a natural attraction to your brand.

Keeping Up With Credibility

An About Us page helps visitors learn how much faith they can put into your brand. This trust is more important now than ever with hundreds of fake e-commerce websites. Some say that the About Us page is the first thing that they check when visiting e-commerce websites to assure they are not visiting a scam site. The presence alone of an About Us page on your website shows you invested time into your credibility.

Today’s customers are interested in the people behind the brand. A good About Us page helps encourage customers to trust and understand your business.

3 Easy Ways To Boost Your Business

Mon, 28 Feb 2022 14:34:52 GMT

3 Easy Ways To Boost Your Business

In a small business slump? Here are the best ways to boost your business.

Keep Your Website Up-To-Date

It’s essential to have an up-to-date website for your business no matter the industry. You wouldn’t leave your store messy or hard to navigate, so it’s important to avoid the same when it comes to web design. Your website is a reflection of your business. A bad website can ruin your credibility and also makes your competition look better.

To avoid a stale website, review your site regularly to assure all information is up-to-date and that links and features are working properly. Use high-quality photography and avoid graphics that are blurry or pixelated. If web design isn’t your thing, hire a professional. Help from OBS is just a click away ;)

Give Your Logo A Makeover

If you have an established business, chances are that you already have some branding out in the public eye and you understand that logos are deeply influential. Logos are the foundation of your brand identity - they grab attention, help potential customers make a first impression of your business, and foster brand loyalty/recognition long after.

Yes, the idea of updating a logo can seem scary - but when it comes to design, small changes make a big impact. A simple swap such as using a modern font or clearer graphic can make a drastic difference. Our team at OBS can help you identify what’s already working with your logo and what may need to be revised.

Here’s an example of a rebrand we recently completed below.

Stay Active On Social Media

Social media makes it easy for small businesses to connect with their customers. Your success on social media is not measured by the number of followers you have; it’s about your audience engagement which makes it so important to stay active on social media. People interact with small businesses more than big brands on social media because they are more likely to get a response from a small business.

If you want to increase interaction with your followers, start asking questions. Add questions or polls to your stories or try asking questions in your posts. This is a great way to get your audience engaged while also getting some consumer insight! Make your life easier by planning your posts for the week and then scheduling them ahead of time.

Last but not least, use analytics to instantly see how your posts are performing!