First impressions count, so getting design and print work that makes an impact is important. 

To help get it right, we’ve put together the top 5 things to keep in mind when it comes to design and print work, so you can promote your business successfully: 

 

1) Target Audience 

One of the most important things to consider before you create print and design work is your target audience.  

Think about their demographics, interests and needs so you can tailor your design to make sure they engage with your brand.  

 

2) Consistent Branding 

It’s worth setting up clear brand guidelines to enhance your design and help customers instantly recognise your brand. That way anyone creating design and print work on your behalf will be able to deliver something that looks and feels the same.  

Choose colours and fonts that are easy to read and work well with the tone and purpose of your design. We recommend sticking to the same colour palette, typography and logos for a cohesive brand. 

3) Layout 

Creating design work with a clear layout is essential, so you can deliver your message effectively. 

It works well to position text, images and other design elements in a balanced way, to clearly promote your business. 

For print work, it is vital to work to the exact print size and specifications, to make sure the design fits well. 

 

4) Image Selection 

Be careful to select relevant quality images with a high resolution, to make sure they look good when printed. 

Remember to pay close attention to any copyright restrictions to avoid any hefty fines. 

5) Proofreading 

Making errors in print work can be costly, so it’s worth asking someone else to double check everything for any typos or mistakes that may have crept in.   

 

Whatever your design needs, our experienced graphic designers Caroline and Shadie are always here to help!  

 

For inspiring design work that speaks to your customers, call us on 01962 600 147 or email info@tlc-business.co.uk 

Thinking about running an email campaign, but not sure if it’s worth it?

To help you decide, we’ve put together some of the top ways email campaigns help businesses like yours.

If the thought of email campaigns seem overwhelming and like a big task, don’t worry, our team of email marketing experts are always here to help.

 

How can an email campaign boost my business?

 

Increase your reach

Email campaigns will help you to instantly reach a large audience at the click of a button.

The costs of email marketing is generally much lower than other types of marketing, such as advertising and print, so it makes it possible to reach a larger audience without a significant expense.

It’s easy to scale up using a large mailing list, as well connect with specific individuals using a targeted and segmented email list.

 

Reach your audience (more effectively than via social media channels!)

Email campaigns typically have a low bounce rate (emails that fail to reach the recipient), the expected industry standard is 2% but often it is much lower. So if you send 10,000 emails you should expect to reach at least 9800 people. That’s impressive!

Emails have a much greater reach than similar posts on social media, which due to complex algorithms are not guaranteed to be seen by your audience. For instance, if you post an update to your 10,000 followers on Facebook, only about 200 of them will even have a chance of seeing it in their News Feed. This means your message is over 45 times more likely to be seen using email than Facebook!
Increase sales

Well-designed email campaigns can help drive sales, including compelling special offers, discounts, or exclusive content that will encourage your reader to click and make a purchase.

 

Lead generation

Email campaigns are a great way to sound out prospects and develop strong leads.

Sending promotions, incentives or insightful content, is a proven way to gain new clients.#

 

Generate traffic

Email marketing is a fantastic way to share your latest news, events and product launches and drive traffic to your website or social media channels.

 

Build brand awareness & brand authority

Be seen as a trusted industry expert by sharing relevant blogs, top tips and advice to build your reputation and credibility.

The more people learn about your business, the more they hear about your business, the more they will trust your business.

 

Understand your audience

Sending emails is a great way to collect feedback and find out what your customers want.

Using information from customer satisfaction surveys will make it possible to tailor future marketing campaigns and stay relevant.

 

Engage with your audience

Email campaigns give you the perfect opportunity to personalise your messages based on customer preferences, demographics or previous interactions.

By tailoring your content to each recipient, you can provide a more relevant and personalised experience, increasing the chances of engagement and sales.

 

Customer retention & loyalty

If a customer has opted in to receive emails from you, then you shouldn’t be shy about actually sending out emails and making contact with them. Your subscribers want to hear from you – so keep them updated with your latest product launches, events you are attending and any other newsworthy activities.

Regularly communicating with your existing customers through email campaigns helps build stronger relationships, keep them engaged, enhance customer loyalty and encourage repeat business.

 

Easy to share

Emails are easy for people to forward and share your content, building your reputation by word-of-mouth to reach even more people. So why not give it a try!

 

For a free virtual marketing ideas session with our email marketing campaign experts, call us on 01962 600 147 or email info@tlc-business.co.uk

The world of marketing is constantly evolving with innovative ways to engage with customers.

So we’ve put this blog together, so you can keep on top of the latest marketing trends, to build your business’ reputation and customer loyalty, as well as generate additional revenue:

 

1) Personalisation

 

A customised experience is becoming a big factor in customer spending, with 48% of millennials expecting personalisation. So businesses are adapting to offer a personalised service through customer profiling and targeting individuals directly.

Getting the marketing right helps to increase engagement and brand loyalty, resulting in happy customers who are proven to spend more.

 

2) Interactive content

 

Interactive content is a popular trend for 2022 and 93% of marketers have confirmed that video content is a vital part of their marketing strategy.

Many businesses are investing more in short videos as they are successful at capturing an audience’s attention and have the highest ROI (return on investment) of any social media strategy.

Sharing live content allows real-time engagement with your posts and is a really positive way to interact with your target audience. 80% of people like to engage with live videos instead of pre-recorded ones.

The open dialogue also encourages audiences to share information that can be used to create customer profiles and a more personalised service.

Other interactive content like quizzes, calculators and competitions all help to boost customer engagement and brand loyalty.

 

3) Influencer marketing

 

Influencers are industry experts with a great reputation. They create engaging content, which their followers will be highly influenced by.

Collaborating with influencers and creating shareable content helps businesses build brand awareness and reach a wider audience.

 

4) User-generated content

 

Great customer feedback will sell your service for you, so make sure you shout about it.

Aim to share customer feedback regularly and use case studies to help boost your business’ credibility and sales.

 

5) Voice search tactics

 

The rising popularity of virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa and Google, has created a new opportunity in SEO (search engine optimisation).

Writing your content so it answers popular questions will help virtual assistants pick up your content and share it with users.

41% of marketers plan to increase their investment in voice search tactics in 2022.

Check out our recent blog for more top trends in SEO.

 

6) Promote brand values

 

What your business stands for is becoming increasingly important to customers and this will continue throughout 2022. Research shows the customers are willing to switch to a brand that shares their values.

So the right brand messaging and content is key. Sustainability is high on the agenda, as is inclusivity.

In 2022, many businesses are including an ‘Accessibility Help’ button that activates alt text descriptions and sign language content, so content is more accessible to everyone.

Showing your business to be ethical and eco-conscious will help you connect with your target audience.

 

7) Social e-commerce

 

Social e-commerce is the winning combination of using social media to generate online sales.

Social e-commerce is already high on businesses’ agenda, with 73% of businesses including social e-commerce in their marketing strategy and even more looking to sell on social media in the next 3 years.

Social e-commerce is most successful when there is a clear call to action and users can easily click on photos, videos or in the copy itself to purchase services. Showcasing positive customer feedback and endorsements from influencers will help to generate sales.

To keep up to date with the latest marketing trends, join us for a free virtual marketing ideas session. Call our friendly team today on 01962 600 147 or email info@tlc-business.co.uk

With 4.2 billion active social media users in the world, it’s never been more important for small businesses to get their social media right.

So here’s some top tips to help:

Think about your audience

Consider your target audience and which social media platforms they use most. There’s no point spending time creating the best Instagram posts, if no one in your industry uses it.

Using the right platforms will help you build brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, engage with customers and sell online.

Regular content

Posting content regularly will help your business get noticed and targeted content will help with SEO (search engine optimisation) and get you more followers.

But you can have too much of a good thing! There’s a danger of losing people’s interest if you post more than once a day. For many, once a week is ideal.

Schedule posts

It’s worth putting together a plan with interesting content ideas and deadlines. It can be tricky to break away from something when you’re in the middle of it, so creating and scheduling your posts in advance will give you a chance to focus – and make sure you don’t forget to post!

Scheduling posts for key times of the day, when people are most likely to be checking their phones or social media accounts, will help you reach a wider audience.

Mix it up

Changing the format of your social posts is also a great way to boost engagement. If you usually post a photo, try a video or a GIF, adding emojis and hashtags is also an effective way of breaking up text.

Don’t forget to change the tone, style and content of your posts when using different social media platforms. What you post on Instagram doesn’t have to be the same as what you’d post on LinkedIn.

Connect

Social media is a great way to connect and build relationships with your customers. It’s also an instant way to respond to your customers and start conversations.

It’s good to keep an eye on social media trends in your industry, to understand what people are looking for, helping you to create engaging content and remain current.

A simple way to stay connected in your industry is to reshare posts and show appreciation for your staff, customers and industry innovation.

Call to action

Attention spans are short, so adding images is a great visual way of getting your post noticed.

Now that you’ve got your customers’ attention, make sure you follow it up, give them a reason to get in touch.

Check it’s working

Take a step back and see which posts your target audience are engaging with – and to put it simply, do more of them! Posting unrelatable content will cause you to lose followers.

There’s no denying planning, creating and posting attention-grabbing social media content takes time and experience. If it’s really not your thing, why not enlist the help of social media experts.

For a free marketing ideas session with social media experts, contact us on 01962 600 147 or email info@tlc-business.co.uk