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The Switch: CC's Blog

The Many Benefits of Instagram - Part Two!

11/26/2019

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We are back at it again, finishing up our blog about how and why Instagram can be such a wonderful tool for you and your company! 

“Content is the reason search began in the first place.” - Lee Odden 

I just love this quote - because, during this whole process of really digging into Instagram more than we usually do on an everyday basis, it was fun to go searching. It's so fun to think of the people who are interested in our clients going on a mission and searching for what they can offer them. It's a modern-day scavenger hunt that makes all that screen time worth it at the end of the day! 

Welcome back to the blog, I hope you've been doing well since our last post. Being excited about turkey day and spending time with family, I have been making the most of my working hours before that vacation starts. It's been fun to come back and work on this two-part blog series - and I can't wait to pick up where we left off and share with you some more tips and hints on how Instagram can give you and your company a serious boost! 
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  • Let's start with something called "batching". Batching is not cooking up some holiday cut out cookies, as much as you want it to be. It's creating a bunch of content at one time to make your workflow as simple as possible. To run any part of a business, it takes time. Social media for a lot of companies is the first thing to suffer when there just isn't enough time to go around. This is such a shame, as social media is one of THE LEADING platforms of advertisement - and as I mentioned before - FREE advertising, sometimes! There are tons of programs (be careful - not all of them include Instagram yet) that allow you to plan out all of your posts for the upcoming days, weeks, or months, all at one time. You sit down and make a plan of what your posts need to be based on your company's needs, create the content, and schedule the content for every day from now until whenever you deem necessary. Once they are scheduled in these programs, they will be posted manually so you no longer need to stop what you're doing and post them manually. It is SO handy. 
  • Stay in touch with your followers, customers, and future dream clients. You need to respond to any direct messages or comments as quickly as possible. It's polite and it makes the people who took the time to engage you feel appreciated and that they're being listened to. Turn around time on emails are still terrible, and can hurt your business if you let it get out of control. Using this platform of a more social environment can open up a comfortable space of communication. Your followers might feel the freedom to ask things and make supportive comments that they wouldn't feel comfortable doing in any other form of communication. Plus, everyone loves getting a glowing comment or two. You aren't the only one who sees these posts either. Potential clients will be paying attention to those as well, and it could influence their decision to buy something or use your services. 
  • Stay consistent! Make sure your profile is clean, crisp, and gets right to the point. Don't leave your followers or future followers feeling unsure of what you do or what you offer. Make it consistent with all of your social media platforms. That profile page laying out all of your content on Instagram always needs to echo your voice and your brand, and it is the first thing followers see when they find you on Instagram. This will be your first impression. 
  • The use of hashtags has always been an interesting debate. But in fact, they can help you in more ways than just looking "hip". When you start researching the concept of hashtags and thinking seriously about adding them into your Instagram posts, don't get overwhelmed. Start with creating a company hashtag. You can start by adding this to your posts, and as you gain more followers encourage them to use the hashtag every time they post about using your product, visiting your store, or when they receive your services. It's an easy little thank you that can draw new eyes to your Instagram page without even trying. Tons of apps can help you generate appropriate hashtags. Pick ones that have a decent following for more eyes on your account (it's true, people are now following hashtags on Instagram, not just accounts!). Make sure every hashtag you use is appropriate to your post and to your company. Make sure that it is an appropriate hashtag in general. Sometimes a hashtag can have multiple meanings. Make sure you aren't attaching yourself to something you don't want to be. Studies currently show using 3 to 5 hashtags a post is your best bet. But, you can use up to 30 per post. You just need to figure out what number works best for your company. Not all social media platforms benefit from the use of hashtags, but that is a story for another post. 
  • Always connect, collaborate, and share with others. Social media was created to be a SOCIAL gathering space, a new-age place to make friends. Who doesn't love new friends? Share other's posts, collaborate with other local businesses or charities that you support, always tag companies or people you're working with in your posts, and give credit where credit is due. When tagging other accounts and giving them a little free press, their followers tend to come over and visit your account. This whole process brings more eyes to your account, can help you gain more followers, and show off another human side of your company. Creating content is a form of art, please be respectful of that. It's harder to catch but still just as painful if you steal someone's work and call it your own or share something and don't give credit. Continue to make social media a positive place, and give that credit out! 

There you have it! There is so much to Instagram, that this could turn into a ten-part blog. But I want you to find your groove with the help of these last two blog posts and see where that takes you. Social media is constantly changing, you just need to find out what works for you. Most of all, don't be afraid of it and give it the time it deserves. If you don't have that time, that's where we come in! Don't hesitate to give us a call or visit our website. We love our social media at Creative Consulting and love to talk about it! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Stay caffeinated and we will see you next time! 

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How To Create A Business Marketing Plan for 2020 - Part 3

11/25/2019

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Hello again everyone! I hope you all are having a great week and a fantastic pre-Thanksgiving November.

First, let’s take a quick second to recap the second part of this five-part series.
 If you haven’t read the first or second part, please do so now. Don’t worry I’ll wait. Just click here
Part 1
Part 2

When we last left our marketing/business plan for 2020, we had partially set up our daily goals by calculating our close rate. Don’t forget at anytime, if you start feeling overwhelmed, I can always meet with you in person or over the phone and answer any questions you have!

Phone: 843-469-0216
Email: sslappey@creativeconsulting.marketing

Today we are talking about your Impression Conversion Rate or your ICR.  ICR is the amount of people that you have to talk to, have to see your business, or have to be told about your business to want to gain more information. 

In online marketing this is mainly used to denote the amount of people that have to see your ad or post before clicking on it to want to learn more about your business. Marketing professionals have to also factor in click through rates and other percentages before they can figure out the exact impression conversion rate, but for the sake of this lesson we are trying to figure out the overall ICR - so don’t worry about that until you call us for help on next week’s lesson.

Across all industries in the US, the ICR is 2.35% which means to get one person to actually pay attention to your business you have to get in front of 43 people. Now again, let me be clear that DOES NOT MEAN that if your social media ad has 43 impressions that you should have gotten a phone call. Once click through rates are added in, it is more likely to be around 4,300 impressions but like I said this isn’t about marketing yet. This is about you. 

So to finish out our example from before, if your goal is to get one new client a week. You need to set up four meetings. To set up those four meetings you will need to get in front of 172 new people per week. So, drum roll please……..

This means working Monday through Friday that you need to talk to a total of 35 new people every day about your business. Please note this is the amount based on the example above not what you or your company should do. Your numbers should be different based on your goals from the previous lesson.

“Stephen, that isn’t possible. There is no way with everything else I have to do each day that I can talk to that many people per day.”

 I completely understand but don’t worry, you don’t have to do this alone. You do however have a choice to make. Either you are going to do it by yourself and you may need to readjust your goal (see I told you last week) or you will have to sit down with a marketing firm (I know a great one you can contact by clicking here) and decide what you will be responsible for bringing in and what your marketing should be helping to bring in.

Please also understand that this doesn’t just mean your online marketing but
all of your business’ marketing.


Pretty simple right? Fantastic! As long as you're still with me, tune in next week as we take your and your marketing’s daily goal and create a daily actionable plan to achieve that goal.

As always this has been Stephen Slappey, owner of Creative Consulting. The #1 Marketing Firm for Graphic Design, Social Media, and SEO (Search Engine Optimization. Have a great day! 


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The Many Benefits of Instagram

11/19/2019

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We've talked about how to use social media and other online tools to better your business and not to shy away from them. They are there waiting for you, so use them! Instagram has become one of the biggest platforms to build your business today. Do you know all the tools and options this budding business tool has to offer? 

"Design is the silent ambassador of your brand."  
-Paul Rand 

Happy November friends! How excited are you that Thanksgiving is almost here? The turkey is on its way, but it's not quite time to relax just yet. The holidays are an incredibly busy time for any company, ours included. Don't get overwhelmed with this, instead ride the wave of the good it can do for your company. I discovered this quote while working on our first blog of the month, and I thought it was the perfect food for thought before we settle into our big Thanksgiving plates. We are so focused on creating a brand, that it's so easy to forget about the powerful tools that are at our fingertips waiting to be taken advantage of. They are there to make your company and brand stronger than you could ever imagine. What is even crazier to think about, a lot of these tools are free! That's right - FREE! There is something to be said about the adage that you do need to spend money to make money. But when there are moments to save money and still help your company grow - take them! This is why our next two blogs will be focused on tips on how to use Instagram to build your business into a powerful platform one day at a time! This is a holiday gift from us to you, and we are happy to share what we know! 

  • Don't just drown your followers with constant posts about all the products you sell and the services you provide. Their brains will shut down and turn off. They will begin to scroll right past. Instead, creatively show your audience that you can offer them a solution to an everyday problem, that you would make their life better, and that your company can give them joy if they decide to choose your business or to buy your products. This can be SO FUN for your image and content creators! You can truly connect to your audience and followers in such a unique and personal way once you understand who they are and how your company can give them something special. Show that through your ad campaign and enjoy the process. 
  • Instagram is an app that is all about visuals, it's just a plain fact. But you do need to recognize your audience as a whole. Some will just scroll for hours and will need a beautiful picture to make them stop and take the time to read your content or even earn a "like". Once you've had that moment that got them to stop, you still have to put just as much work into the content that you write below your image as you've put into the image. There is still also an audience out there who is looking for good content. Yes, they will enjoy a beautiful picture, but they are looking for humanity, truth, and reality in what you have to say to them. They want a good story, and one they can believe in. 
  • Always put some kind of call to action into your content, this is a great opportunity that should NEVER be missed. Cute content is nice and has a time and place. But always invite your audience to do something. Have them comment below, invite them to the like the post, share the post on their own stories, to have them visit your website, or even your blog. Each post is creating a conversation, so why should it end with the post? Let it go beyond that one picture, and invite them into your whole world. 
  • When you are writing your content, make sure you have established your voice and how you want to talk to your audience. Always make sure this is used consistently. Having multiple voices can quickly confuse an audience, make them subconsciously uninterested in who and what you are as a company, or just not trust you or what you're selling. Also, be genuine when you're talking. Using flowery cute wording that is popular at the moment is fun to throw into any post. But if this isn't your voice, don't fall into peer pressure and feel like you have to use it. Throw it out! Always be authentic in how you talk. Make sure it's a real, honest, and human voice than anyone can connect to. The first subconscious goal you want to reach is forming trust between your future followers and yourself. No one will spend time following you or buying from you if they don't trust what's beyond their phone or computer screen. The first step to earning their trust is showing who you are to the world. Another human will always trust the real human behind the screen. 
  • Make sure you are using all the tools that Instagram is offering you. Use your stories, highlights, and pay attention to your audience and insights tab. These tools are giving you so much free information to quickly access your followers and to get your information in front of them at the best times possible. These awesome tools are there for a reason. The more you use and understand them, the more you can grow with less work on your end. Use the insights to see when your followers are online the most so you can get as many eyes on all of your posts as possible. Use these times to get as much foot traffic to your whole account as well. It all starts with a picture leading them to look at your whole site to see what you're all about. It's almost like free advertisement. You can also use the stories and highlights to show a human side to any business. You can keep your feed chock full of beautiful graphics and perfectly written prose. But in the stories, you can lift the veil to give a behind the scenes look to everything you do. Your followers can get to know the people behind the company. They can see the funny things that happen, relate to the bad days, and celebrate victories with you right there in real-time. 

Are you getting as excited as we are about Instagram? It's easy to have a love-hate relationship with apps that you use as part of your advertising goals, but if you spend the time getting to know them, it'll be worth it. Enjoy these tips for now, but don't worry, there are more coming. Until next time friends, stay safe, caffeinated and excited about your company! 

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How To Create A Business Marketing Plan for 2020 - Part 2

11/18/2019

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Part 2 - Your Daily Goal

Hello again everyone!
​I hope you all are having a great week and a fantastic pre-thanksgiving November.
​

First, let’s take a quick second to recap the first part of this five-part series.
 If you haven’t read the first part, please do so now. Don’t worry I’ll wait.
Just click below!
How to Create Business Marketing Plan - Part 1

Now when we last left our marketing/business plan for 2020, we had set our ( most likely going to be changed) yearly goal. We identified our busiest and slowest seasons, used math (sorry for putting you through that), and broke our yearly goal up into monthly goals based on the ebbs and flows of our year. We then left it off by breaking our goal even further down from a monthly goal to a weekly goal. Everything fresh in your mind? Great! Let’s move on to the next part. 
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Don’t forget at anytime, if you start feeling overwhelmed, I can always meet with you in person or over the phone and answer any questions you have!
You can contact me via:
Phone: 843-469-0216
Email: Sslappey@creativeconsulting.marketing

Your daily goal should encompass everything that you (key word # 1) AND your marketing (key word #2) should be trying to reach together (key word # 3) to make sure that statistically you are doing everything you need to so you can reach your weekly, monthly, and yearly goal. So how do we know what our daily goal should be? Well, first we need to understand what our close rate and impression conversion rate is. For this year, both of these percentages will most likely be guesses, as you won’t have the hard data that you need to accurately plan. In the last part of this series I will outline the important information that you need to record. Not just personally but to hold your marketing firm accountable for their part as well. For today we are going to touch on the first part, the close rate.

For those of you not in sales, your close rate is the amount of meetings you have to go to before you close a new client. You may hear people boast about excessively high close rates but don’t worry, this isn’t about raising your close rate, it is about understanding it. If your close rate is lower, then you think it should be, however, let me give you a little pick me up.
 
A lion, one of the world’s most amazing predators and touted as the world’s best hunter, has a close rate of 25% so if you have better than that good for you! Hopefully you know where I am going with this. Your daily goal must factor into all of the meetings you are going  to have before you actually close a sale. So, as an example, let’s say your weekly goal is one new client a week. If you are using the close rate of a lion of 25%, you have to attend four meetings a week to reach your goal.

Now we are done right? Not quite - because now you have to decipher and understand impression conversion rate. But that is for next week.

Pretty simple right? Fantastic! As long as you're still with me, tune in next week as we take you and your marketing’s daily goal to the next stage as we discuss your ICR or your Impression Conversion Rate. As always this has been Stephen Slappey, owner of Creative Consulting. The #1 Marketing Firm for Graphic Design, Social Media, and SEO (Search Engine Optimization. Have a great day! 
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How To Create A Business Marketing Plan for 2020 - Part 1

11/12/2019

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Author

Stephen Slappey, CO & Sales Manager
November, 11th 2019


Setting The Wrong Goal
As this year comes to a close, we set our sights on 2020. So how do you prepare for this new year? I hear people all the time say “Next year, is going to be my year! I am going to kill it in business!!!” I always ask them the same questions. “What is your plan?” Which they respond with “I’m going to work harder.” 

Let’s go ahead and add the car screeching noise here; If you don’t have an actionable plan, the chances of you succeeding are slim to none. “Stephen,” I hear you asking, “How do I even start planning?” Over the next month and a half, I will be explaining the process in just enough detail to make you confused and need to call me for the answers.
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This marketing plan is for people that have never made one before. If you have already made a marketing plan, utilize the data you’ve gathered from it and see if this strategy works better for you than your current one.

First of all, you need to know what you are striving for. What is your goal for next year? Make it a stretch goal. Something that you think you can achieve but it would be tough for you. Just a note, you will most likely be changing this goal many times throughout the process- hence the name of part one. Now we move on to the math. If you hate math, you may want to just admit defeat now and give me a call so that I can help.
Phone a friend
 or email a friend!


Still with me? Ok! Let’s do math!

Once you have your goal set, think about what six-months out of the year you are the busiest. Next, what three months are you the slowest and what three months are kind of up in the air. 

During the six-month time frame when you are the busiest, divide 2/3rds of your yearly goal as evenly as possible within the six months. Take the final 1/3rd and put 40% of it in your slowest month. That’s right, presence of fractions - I told you. 

Lastly take the left over 60% of the final 1/3rd (I’m doing this on purpose to see how bad you want it) and put them into the middle three months. You now have your monthly goals for each month of 2020.

 Don’t worry only one more step to go. Now that you have your monthly goals, just divide them as evenly as possible into four and so that you now have your weekly goals for each week of next year.

Pretty simple right? Fantastic! As long as you’re still with me, tune in next week where we will take all of the information you set up today and we break it down into a daily actionable plan. 
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As always this has been Stephen Slappey, owner of Creative Consulting. The #1 Marketing firm for Graphic Design,Social Media, and SEO (Search Engine Optimization. Have a great day!
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Halloween Fun Around Summerville!

11/1/2019

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It's here! It's here! Halloween and Fall fun is officially here in Summerville, and we want to help you enjoy the fun! Check out these fun local events and have a fun and safe spooky week! 

We mentioned in our last blog how much we LOVE fall and any excuse to drink as much fall-flavored coffee as possible. So I'm sure you can guess how excited we are to finally get out our costumes, carve our pumpkins, and eat a few spooky pieces of candy! There have already been so many fun fall activities to do around Summerville, that it's been hard to keep up with all of them. But before the month ends, we wanted to share some of the best activities coming up in Summerville to enjoy before we hit November! 

The Trick or Treat Dance!
This spooky fun evening will be in Hutchinson Square this Thursday, October 31st from 4 PM to 8 PM, actually on Halloween this family-friendly trick or treat event has fun for all! Select merchants will be providing candy to costumed trick or treaters. Even more exciting, Millie Lewis Charleston has organized a GITUP Flash Mob party throughout the evening! To be apart of the Flash Mob, make sure to attend the dance rehearsal at Millie Lewis in Summerville on 10/24 at 7 PM. You will have five chances to dance throughout the evening. This year, this fun event is hosted by Hanebrink Jewelers! 
 
For more information about the event and to learn more about Millie Lewis, please check out the links below! 
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/trick-or-treat-or-dance-tickets-77717959509
https://www.facebook.com/events/2944259212268929/
http://www.millielewischarleston.com/

80's Halloween Bash
This fun adult-only (18 and older!) 80's bash is one of a kind party! Channel your inner White Snake and Madonna this Thursday, October 31st from 6 PM to 11 PM at the Music In Motion Family Fun Center! Make sure to come in your best 80's costume, prizes will be awarded for the best dressed, the most neon, biggest hair, shoulder pads, and fanny packs! Wings and your choice of skates are included in the price of admission. This is going to totally be a rad bash! 

For more information, visit their Facebook Page! 
https://www.facebook.com/events/music-in-motion-family-fun-center/80s-halloween-bash/475009076656785/

Trick or Treat in the Park! 

A classic fun event on Thursday, October 31st and offers safe and spooky fun for the whole family! From 4 PM to 6 Pm at Hampton Park, cars decorated by the city departments, local businesses, and other organizations will be handing out candy to costumed trick or treaters. It is a very safe alternative for going trick or treating for many families, and will be even more fun than walking door to door! The event is free, and there will also be hayrides, jump castles, games, crafts, and much more! Come dressed in your best Halloween Costume to have some super fun! This year Trick or Treat in the Park will be hosted by the city of Charleston Recreation Department, and you will find the fun near the lagoon! 

For more information, visit their Facebook Page! 
https://www.facebook.com/events/hampton-park/trick-or-treat-in-the-park-halloween-event/452144495384593/

No matter what you decide to do for Halloween, stay safe and have fun! Please feel free to share your fun pictures and stories with us, we always love to hear them!! 
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The Benefits of Facebook Groups

10/16/2019

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Are you using all of the social media tools that are waiting at your fingertips? Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin, and the like might be frustrating. But once you dedicate time to any of them, you'll find a plethora of amazing advertising tools that you can use for free. You just have to keep looking and find what works for you. 

Hello friends! We've made it to fall, and we can't surround ourselves more with pumpkin spice and everything spooky. This week's blog will be focusing on the benefits of using Facebook groups for your small business. I can feel the perpetual eye roll, I understand that Facebook can be a beast to use and an even bigger beast to advertise on. But it's a fact of life that you need it, and if you give it enough time this tool can help you and your company grow in new and exciting ways. But you can't just create something and not nourish it. Creating a Facebook group and just letting it sit there is not the end all be all that will allow your company to grow and flourish without putting a little effort into it. You have to put work into it like you would any other part of your business. I'm sure that you know, that any business no matter the size, needs to have a strong presence on social media. This can all be rooted, cultivated, in a well-loved and well designed Facebook group. 

A Facebook group gives you a human connection and removes that big box store feeling and disconnect from your customers. It is a reminder that there is a living breathing human working behind the computer screen. As a business owner, you need to constantly have a presence that's engaging, real, and driven towards your target audience. Thankfully, even though there are some elements of business when running a Facebook group, it can take away the pressure Facebook can put on a business and help create an engaging platform without pushing too hard. 
  • A Facebook group allows more personal engagement between the company and its target audience and followers. Comments and discussions about your products and services that your company offers can thrive in the world of a Facebook group. People feel safer to share their thoughts and opinions in a group, as it is more unlikely to get trolled or attacked in this controlled environment. It allows you to become the face of the group and your business and not just be a fancy name or logo. 
  • You can use a Facebook group to show support and love for other similar groups, businesses, and followers that support you. 
  • Call to actions can be made loud and proud with welcome. If you remain focused on your values and aren't overly spammy when it comes to selling your products, you can gain more members to the group and gain more traffic to your content. 
  • You can immediately get feedback, opinions, and know the needs of your followers right away with the use of polls that Facebook offers or by creating your own. You can begin to understand what your clients want and need from your company. This also allows you to begin a safe conversation around any topic. A Facebook group is the rawest and most honest immediate feedback you can receive from your followers. 
  • You can use Facebook groups to mentor, teach, and help grow together as a group. 
  • You can use a group to announce offers and use the group as a form of free advertisement. You can announce sales and offers ahead of time and get your clients and audience excited about these offers in advance. 
  • You can use a Facebook group to build trust and a relationship beyond just being a seller and a consumer. You can use value to show the humanity and venerability behind your business that anyone could and does experience and can relate to. You can share first-hand experiences, answer any questions first hand with tools like going LIVE or by holding a question and answer session. If you take the time to read the comments, questions, and ideas left by your group members and respond to them, it shows that you respect your followers' opinions and that you are listening to them.
  • You also don't have to create a group just for people who want to buy something for you or to use your services. You can create a Facebook group just for your employees as a safe place for them to share, ask questions, give their opinions, and keep everyone updated with their lives. It's another outlet for them to feel heard and to be appreciated by those who employ them and those who work with them. 
  • You can use a Facebook group to network your business. 

We hope you walk away from this blog with a better opinion of Facebook and how to use the tools it offers. Don't be afraid to use them, your following and target audience is there waiting for you. Don't lose out on a wonderful way of communicating, connecting, and promoting who you are as a person and a business!

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Prepping Your Small Business for the Holidays!

10/1/2019

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We know it might seem a little early to already be prepping for the holidays, but it's always best to get a head start on planning. From prepping your decorations to your ad campaign, take the time to make this year the best year yet! 

Hello everyone! We hope you had a wonderful September, and that you are so excited for October and the fall season to take over. For everyone in the small business world, stepping closer into fall also means starting to prepare for all of your holiday sales, offers, decorations, ads, images, and products. It's A LOT to plan for. Believe me we can relate. We have already started to plan for our fourth quarter, which also happens to be the busiest part of the year. If there is one thing we can recommend right away, it's to start early. That is a huge headache saved, believe me! No matter the size of your small business, you deserve a strong plan and marketing agenda for the holidays. Smart planning for the holidays isn't just for the big box stores or giant corporations. If you employ 1 or 1000, it's time to get started. 

We are so excited to share these few tips of the trade with you. Each of these tips can be used for any holiday, but with everything from Halloween to the New Year approaching, we will be focusing on those holidays and each in between. These tips span everything from social media to your digital footprint on Google. You won't want to miss out on these! 
  • Give your website and social media platforms (and the content you're posting) a holiday look for every holiday you're choosing to participate in! Festive happy websites will make for a festive happy audience! Tie in seasonal twists that are fun for you and your marketing department to create together. 
  • Your marketing campaigns do not need to be cheesy or full of gimmicks. Fill them with what's at the heart of your company and what makes you stand out among your competitors. 
  • Create a successful money-making campaign that will end your year nicely and get your new year off to a good start. Give your follows and audnece a great deal of some kind. Good promotions, sales, deals, and of course - free stuff - are always a good start! 
  • Call in the influencers! Let them do some of the hard leg work for you. It can be easy to get listed on their holiday gift lists or written about in their blogs. Do some research and reach out to some of the most influential influencers and bloggers in the world of your business. Ask if they would be willing to test your products or services. Offer them a small sample of your product services. Then in return, if they do like it, have them spread the word via their social media platforms. Have them blog about it, make an Instagram Story about it, post about it on their top ten best holiday gift list, etc. This can be a great and easy way to spread your name to new markets as the holiday's approach! 
  • Use social media to your advantage! Don't just try and sell things. Try and give back too. Have fun giveaways online, and use this as a promotional tool! Have followers tag their friends to get entered in giveaways so more people know about your company. Pair up with influencers and do a joint giveaway and have followers follow all of the accounts included in the giveaway and tag more friends! Your following will grow and you will have more eyes and foot traffic on your platforms. This shows off your company in a positive non-pushy way. Plus, someone is winning something! The key to this though is that you MUST be very specific in exactly what the contest rules and outcomes are for legal reasons. Make sure to cover all of your bases. 
  • You've spent a whole year collecting those email addresses and information of clients and interested clients. It's time to put them to use! There is an art to the email chain. How to craft a perfect email chain could be a whole blog in itself. But spend the time to craft a good tag line, deciding what the wording and graphics will be on the inside, what your offers will be, add a call to action, and maybe even offer a freebie or two. Make sure you are connecting with your audience, 
  •  Make sure you have a strong, reliable, supported, and well represent presence on Google, Yelp, the Better Business Bureau, and even in the Yellow Pages (yep, they still exist!). Make sure you stand out in the search engine world and beyond. Don't limit yourself. Think ahead of the competition. 

Like we mentioned - there is A LOT to think about when it comes to successfully running a business during the holiday season. But we hope these tips help ease some of your stress and kick off the best quarter of the year for you and your small business! We will see you next time!
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Don't Hate on the Chat Boxes

9/19/2019

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Those annoying popups of the early 2000s are back and better than any of us ever imagined. The next time you're using a website for your job or you're doing some online shopping, take advantage of those online chat boxes. You might be surprised that more often than not, you'll be talking to an actual person! 

Happy September friends! We are happy to see it inching closer to what might be cool fall weather here in the Lowcountry. But we're  also excited for the future fall decorations and any excuse to drink more coffee. With all these new exciting flavors, who doesn't love a cup of hot goodness with a splash of pumpkin? As we are ushered into a new month, it means a new blog! For this blog, we will be talking about the benefit of online chat boxes and how they could help businesses and its users.  

Now, we do remember those annoying chat boxes from our early days of the internet. They were able to maybe answer two questions before directing you to a FAQ site that led to more confusion and frustration than when you started interacting with the chatbox to begin with. But today, the chat box is back and better than ever before. And this time, there are actual people behind the keyboard to help with your questions and concerns faster and more efficiently than ever before. 

In this age of social media, people expect answers and information right away. If it's not received in this timely manner, you could likely lose a customer. On average it takes almost ten hours for businesses to respond to social media comments and 12 hours to emails. For today's standards, that's just too long. Live chat boxes let you have in the moment conversations with your customers while they're visiting your website. The rate of 10-12 hours is cut down to an astounding 1-2 minute response! How amazing is that? But live chat boxes go above than just response time, there are so many incredible assets these little boxes can do for you. 
  • It will help you get sales. Since there is someone right there ready to answer questions, it eliminates doubt and allows you to answer questions right away. 
  • You can handle more customers at one time with these chat boxes instead of being weighed down by answering a ton of emails over a long period.
  • You have the advantage of keeping customers who aren't comfortable with calling on the phone. We get it, sometimes you just want a simple question answered and don't want to call with the chance of reaching a recording.  
  • These chat boxes give you a human connection, forming a line of trust between you and your customer. 
  • It can lead to getting the reputation of having wonderful customer service and providing your customers a great experience while they're online. 
  • You can gain their information faster and avoid having customers fill out forms to gain all of this information. Even if they don't buy something or don't need your services at this time, this provides you with the information you need to stay in touch with them and offer an opportunity to them in the future. 
  • Not a lot of companies out there are using this tool to their advantage. Using it now will put you ahead of your competition, and help draw a following. 
  • These chat boxes allow you to get to know your customer's wants and needs by gathering a lot of information at one time. Make note of repeated questions, worries, frustrations, and other trends. This information can help you interact with your future customers better, and build a website designed better for their use. You can also use this knowledge to focus and drive your Ad and Social Media campaigns.
  • Chat boxes allow you to be proactive in fixing issues for or with your clients. 
  • It can provide better analytics. You can know how many people are visiting your website, what times they're visiting your website, how many chats are received, how long the wait times are, and the performance of your employees on these chats, etc. 

You have the choice of hiring a company to operate these chat boxes for you, or you can do it within your company. It just depends on how much you'd like to invest in this service. 

The great news is that even if you don't have an actual person behind the chatbox, there are now intelligent bots that can be installed into the systems when you're away. You can program them to help with basic questions in such a way that will keep your customers interested and informed, and lure them back to talk with a human once you're back to answer their questions. These bots aren't the annoying and unhelpful bots that were originally created, thankfully. They are now offering quick, insightful, and engaging info while your customers wait.

There is a ton of chatbox software out there, you just need to decide what version is right for your company. Some are free and almost all of them offer a quick and easy setup and they are easy to customize. Some examples to look into are Intercom, Drift, Influx, Autopilot, Olark, LivePerson, and SnapEngage. 

It's been interesting watching this technology make its comeback, and we are very intrigued to see where it will go. With smarter AI growing and the opportunity to connect faster with one another than ever before, this could transform the way businesses are run and how efficiently money is made. Follow this trend with us and let us know how you feel. If you've experienced a chatbox recently with these attributes, share your experience below! 

Have a great week, friends! We will see you next time! 
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Graphic Design Trends for 2019

8/30/2019

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Content creation is a huge part of our business, and a huge part of staying at the forefront of the Social Media Business world is paying attention to new and exciting trends to use in our work! 

There is a lot of creativity that we use in our work every day. A lot of the images, logos, and designs that we use for our clients are created in house and we are very proud of that. But we also love learning and following new trends when it comes to graphic design - and we wanted to share some of the biggest Graphic Design trends that you will be seeing this year if you haven't noticed them already! Because who doesn't love a little inspiration? 

We know that you need to stay on top of the latest graphic design trends no matter what medium you use or don't use. There is nothing wrong with a little extra knowledge! Keep your work fresh and competitive. Don't hang onto the idea that "this is how it's always been done." That is SO dangerous! You want your designs and work to stand out and be able to offer the same if not more to your clients than any competition out there. 

  1. Isometric Design 
This sounds a lot more difficult than it actually is! But this simple method is just that of drawing a 3D object in two dimensions. Its a simple and clean affect that is far superior to flat designs. You will find this trend primarily in icon designs. The effect draws users in and makes them want to use them more! 

2. Powerful Serifs 
The rise of the serif font is at its height in 2019! I'm sure you've noticed the trend of illustrations getting lighter and the fonts getting bolder and much stronger. This year has gifted us with new, bold, ad beautiful serif fonts and they will just continue to grow and become more gorgeous. Custom type is becoming the rage for any company that wants to stand out and be noticed by their dream clients and put them ahead of the competition. The gift of these beautiful new serifs are perfect for the job, and if you're designing for a company that wants to brand or rebrand itself these new fonts will also come in handy! Check out some of these beautiful examples: 

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3. Lighter Illustrations 
Out with the bold, dramatic, and very thick lines of illustration and in with the light and delicate! With the trend of the use of foil (hello rose gold!) embossing and other delicate materials, this feminine and innocent style is the perfect accessory. You will see this trend in packing designs and a lot of gifting and other artisan trade that involves intricate designs.  These designs will often be paired with textured paper backgrounds. 

2019 has been deemed a year of contradictions when it comes to new trends. But when hasn't design been filled with contradictions? This list is very small when it comes to all of the new trends out there - but I can guarantee that these trends are exciting and will lead to a lot of exciting and beautiful growth. Keep your eyes open as you scroll through your phones and as you are looking for inspiration. It's waiting for you to find it! 
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