Before You Hire An Advertising Agency, Ask These 3 Questions

Hiring an advertising agency is a big deal. Whether you need help with a single project, or are looking to revamp your entire marketing plan, it is important to pick the right firm to help. They will have influence over the success of your project and you will likely be working long hours with them. The obvious questions are about experience with your industry and market. While these are important, a few other questions are good to ask, too.

1. Are they capable of creating a comprehensive plan?

Many graphic designers are able to create a one-off project. Hiring so and so’s brother in law could be the best option for your stand-alone email campaign. However, pay attention to how comprehensive the advertising agency is. In order to get the most bang for your marketing buck, it is important to develop a brand, target markets, cross pollinate across products, service lines, and media channels, all with the ability to handle everything under one roof. A solid agency can see the forest and the trees.

2. Do you work well together?

Any marketing project, big or small, can take on a life of its own and take over yours. This means long hours and weeks working with the advertising agency you hire. Gage how responsive they are, how they react to your suggestions, and how they can take those ideas and work them into something you didn’t even think of. You don’t have to be best friends, but a company that is motivated, responds reasonably to emails or calls, and enjoys working with you is worth it.

3. Do they have a broad range?

Sometimes, a creative group hits a home run with a progressive look and then everything in their portfolio slowly starts to look the same. Make sure that the company has a broad range of styles they can show. This proves they have the versatility to create something truly original for you.

If you would like to learn more about an advertising agency in Austin, visit ScreamerCo.

5 Creative Advertising Ideas You Really Should Try

These days, a marketing plan can feel more related to science than creative work. With metrics, indices, graphs, polls, testing, and analytics, a good marketing plan is full of scientific data. However, even the most state of the art process for drafting a marketing plan must include creative advertising. While not every business would be wise to utilize some of the more extreme of inventive tactics, such as guerrilla marketing or wild wraps for city buses, there are a number great options that are creative and can benefit almost every business.

1. Selfie with product contest

Run a monthly contest for people taking selfies with your products or advertisements. Pictures can be loaded onto a social media site or website to share with all. Pick a winner each month that gets free product and a feature on your main page.

2. Community involvement

Creative advertising can also mean getting active in your community. Find what matters to your customers and look into options: trash pickup at the local lake, support for an animal rescue service, or involvement with a community theatre or sports complex. Every town will have a variety of ways for your company to make a difference.

3. Promote key hashtags

Invite patrons to post comments on your site or a social media forum using key hashtag phrases that you provide. The, list an assortment of results on your website. People love to get special recognition, plus you can use this opportunity to gather personal information for a newsletter or separate marketing initiative.

4. Pump up the drama with traditional media

Even traditional print media can be jazzed up with the help of a creative advertising firm. You don’t have to go for an entire branding revamp. Pick a signature event or sale and let a designer have fun with it.

5. Unusual giveaways

Think of the kinds of things that your customers need and develop attractive and interesting logoed items to give away with a purchase or at an event. A credit card holder that adheres to the back of a cell phone, an unusual pen, small earbuds, or anything else that could be used over and again is a great idea.

If you would like to learn more about creative advertising, in Austin, click here.

How to Create An Easy-To-Understand Branding and Style Guide.

A style guide is a necessary tool for any company to stay true to their branding. The guide outlines all of the important information that a person would need to make any sort of communication that represents the company. This includes the kind of language, key words, general style, colors, approved logos, fonts, and anything else that might be necessary to the image. Outside communication is especially important to regulate, since it is directed at customers who might be confused by a mish-mash of messages. Internal communications are also important, because they help cement the brand into the culture of the company and minds of the staff.

For the strongest results with a consistent image, it is best to involve the entire company when launching or promoting a style guideline. While it is customarily created for and used by the marketing department, anyone in the company is capable of writing an email or letter to a customer. They need an understanding of the approved language, style, and general feel that has been selected for branding.

The intended format and guidelines for website updates, emails (external and internal), postings to social media accounts, print advertisements, radio or television spots, and even billboards should all be outlined in the manual. With a thorough approach, the brand can be extended across not only all marketing initiatives, but anything created about the company from entities inside or out.

Once all branding details have been decided, choose one person to be in charge of keeping the guide current with edits and changes. Make the language basic and straightforward, with plenty of pictorial examples and rich graphics. Then, make sure all staff have a printed copy or know where to access a universal read-only copy on a shared drive or in the cloud. Then, the tool can be easily accessed at any time and used by all.

A style guide helps ensure that the branding identity of a company is not diluted. A lot of financial support and staff time and effort went into the design of a brand, so you can stay true to your plan for positioning, message, purpose and target. For all of the brand greats, they used the guidelines consistently and exclusively in every communication for years, even decades.

If you would like to learn more about branding in Austin, click here.

Boutique vs. Full-Service Advertising: What's The Difference?

Many companies use the words “boutique” or “full-service advertising” to describe their size or style. It can be confusing to know exactly what they mean. The problem could be compounded when you are trying to find the best option for your company or project. In reality, it could be that they are one in the same, and not the mutually exclusive options they were once thought to be.

Traditionally, boutique meant small in size (ten or under staff), with a selective client base and a limited skill set, while full-service advertising  implied one of the large national or international agencies with hundreds of staff and a wide menu of solution options. However, with advances in technology, that definition has changed. Now, even agencies with only a few staff have access to a number of highly technical and advanced marketing strategies. That means that while they might be small, they are able to offer a full array of marketing and advertising services, from branding to multi-tiered campaigns, as well as the analytics to back it all up.

The smaller company can often offer a more attractive price point. The s arger firms have a lot of overhead to cover and pass that cost along to the client. Smaller firms can have highly skilled and competent staff, but don’t have the huge downtown office to pay for, along with the army of support staff. Many times, professionals choose to work at a smaller company, because they prefer to work with their clients on a more intimate basis. The myth is that if a company goes with a huge firm, they have access to the top talent there. In reality, only the huge, multi-million dollar accounts get the attention of top executives at large advertising firms. The average business won’t get that level of attention there, as they would through a smaller full-service advertising option.

In the end, the search is about finding an option where the fee schedule is affordable and the customizable service options stand out. A small, or boutique, firm can also offer quality full-service advertising that was once only thought to be offered through larger firms.

If you would like to learn more about full-service advertising, visit Screamer Co.

Does Your Advertising Agency "Get" Your Business?

One of the most difficult things for a business to do is create and the consistently present a brand image. In order for an advertising agency to properly hit the mark with their work, then they need a solid understanding of who you are, your ideal customer, and who you want to become. With those three things as a platform, they can develop a spot-on campaign for your business.

During the interview stage and the first few meetings with an advertising agency, it is important to share your branding guidelines, business vision, and general expectations. Don’t worry about hurting feelings, because without this information, they will never be able to properly represent you with their creative content. Once they have a solid understanding of your company, they can begin the work you need. It is also a good idea to schedule regular monthly meetings, to be sure that all work is on target and to provide a forum for discussing ideas and feedback. If at any time you believe that something is not quite right, it is important to speak up immediately.

A level of tension or disagreement can be expected for any relationship. Often, the best advertising campaigns ask their clients to step out of their comfort zone a bit, so that a truly original ad can get you the attention you deserve. Your potential customers are constantly bombarded with traditional advertisements. They might look pretty and be what you expected, but they won’t garner the attention that your sales team craves.

However, even the zany and off-the-wall ads should still be in line with your brand guidelines and general business feel. A professional services agency probably shouldn't have their name printed on clown shoes, no matter what kind of positive reaction it gets from the public. While your agency may ask you to take a risk, the format of the ad should still represent you fully and speak to your ideal customer.

If you would like to learn more about an advertising agency in Austin, click here.

5 Ideas to Help You Craft a Guerilla Marketing Strategy

Some companies, especially smaller ones, don’t have the multi-million dollar marketing strategy budgets. That doesn’t mean they can’t use another resource to get noticed, namely their creativity. Guerilla marketing is any unorthodox, unusual, and memorable marketing tactic that gets lots of attention, for little money

1. Get creative

The only thing you need to design and orchestrate a guerilla campaign around your business or products is a great imagination. Start by thinking of your best customer, what they like, and where they go. Then, let your imagination go wild. Think of a cleaver action or installation that not only promotes the brand, but also speaks to the customer.

2. Traditional marketing doesn’t count

When it comes to true guerilla marketing, traditional marketing efforts don’t count. Television advertisements, print media, and billboards aren’t what this type of marketing strategy is about. You want some kind of action, like a sweater manufacturer covering lampposts in yarn, or an unexpected stunt at a public gathering.

3. Push the envelope

The idea for an alternative marketing strategy is to push the envelope. You want to shock people, take them a little out of their comfort zone, or make them laugh out of an unexpected confusion. A successful guerrilla campaign requires a company to have a thorough understanding of their customer and their market.

4. Don’t make anyone angry

While the point may be shock and awe, you don’t want to offend. This can be a fine line, so do plenty of research on the message you want to send and the impression you want to leave. When you have a thorough plan, run it by a marketing professional to make sure it doesn't’ cross the line.

5. Go for newsworthy

The point of the marketing strategy is to come up with something that is newsworthy. That gets local, and sometimes national attention for very little money upfront. You want to make a bold statement that gets noticed instantly. This method might not be fitting for a professional services type firm, but almost any small business can find some type of guerilla marketing to suit their needs.

If you would like to learn more about a marketing strategy in Austin, visit Screamer Co.

5 Tips to Help You Build Your Branding Book

A branding book is a listing of all guidelines necessary for proper promotion of your brand. Depending on the strength of the brand, it could be only a few pages long, or be a thick volume. International powerhouse companies use them, but they also benefit small, mom and pop companies, and everything in between. The book outlines everything about your logo, colors, feel, tag lines, and anything else needed in order to post a logo, write about the company, or make any type of marketing piece. The first step to a solid brand campaign is to create a book to house all guidelines.

1. Typography

Branding includes what you say and where you say it, but also how it looks. Certain fonts should be consistently used, as should font color, size, and styles. Different rules may need to be made for use in print and digital applications, because of how typefaces show in those different environments.

2. Images

Pictures help draw attention to your content and providing rules on how to place images and which kinds to use is helpful to maintain a consistent look in your marketing collateral. Decide if they should all have people in them, or be places. List how they should be displayed, in sepia, full color, a particular size, with a box around them, or anything else to help set a distinctive tone.

3. Tone

The tone outlined in the branding book refers to the type of language used to represent the company. For instance, a marketing firm should be smart and playful, while a law firm is better with straight-forward and descriptive verbiage. The tone should always be professional, but can include a wide range of preferred words and content structure. The tone works to underline the characteristics that the brand works to promote, such as hip, playful, smart, reliable, classy, or trustworthy.

4. Color

The colors used to represent your company can have a big impact. A lot of research likely went into your branding stages picking which hues and tints best represent you. Protect that work and keep the color palates to a minimum and have strict guidelines on how to use them. Give clear names to the colors for both digital (RGB) and print (CYMK), and use Pantone numbers when applicable.

5. Logo

The most important step is to perfect your logo. It should be easily viewed small or large, and there should be formats usable in various applications (for the printer, for the newspaper, for posting in emails, etc.). Then there should be rules set for how it should be placed and how it should relate to the other things around it. It is also smart to develop a list of acceptable changes that can be made. Your logo is the main identifier of your brand and should be protected.

If you would like to learn more about branding in the Austin area, click here.