Mario Diaz, Author at Enfuse Creative Design

Establish Your Brand: A Quick Guide to Leveraging Promotional Marketing

Posted on September 1, 2019September 17, 2019 by Mario Diaz

Over 627,000 businesses are started each year, making it increasingly difficult to stand out among the crowd. Which explains why so many businesses are consistently looking towards promotional marketing strategies to help draw in new customers.

Still, you may feel intimidated or unsure of where to begin when it comes to these marketing techniques. You’re not alone. Many businesses face the same struggles, but by following some of the tips listed below you’ll find promoting your business is easier than it seems.

Finding the Right Kind of Promotional Marketing

Before we dive into promotional marketing techniques, it’s important to know that every business is unique and therefore every business will get different results from different strategies.

The key is to look towards your data and analytics to learn which methods are truly helping your business and which are not.

We also suggest taking the time to identify your target market. Learn as much about your target market as you can before starting any marketing efforts, as this will help clarify which platforms and content types may be effective.

Hold a Contest

You’ll find that at the heart of every promotional strategy is a strong incentive. People simply won’t give you their time without something in it for them, which is why contests are a great strategy to implement.

Not only can a contest encourage a consumer to buy, but it can also be used as leverage to help them spread the word. Consider a contest that involves social media engagement as part of the fun, but be sure to stay within platform rules.

Post Sale Surveys

Feedback is your best friend when it comes to promotional strategies. Not only does it give you the opportunity to enhance your brand, but it can also bring some clarity on which marketing avenues are working for you.

Consumers also love knowing that you’re taking every opportunity you can to provide them with better value and customer service.

Email Marketing

While many follow the false belief that email marketing is dead, it actually continues to be one of the leading marketing efforts with the strongest ROI.

By taking a bit of time to learn how to craft an enticing email (or hiring someone that does) you’ll find that your emails build strong consumer relationships and can even encourage better brand loyalty.

Turn to the Professionals

The world of marketing and promoting is constantly evolving, taking a good chunk of your time and energy. Which is why many businesses turn to marketing professionals to do the heavy lifting for them.

Whether it’s crafting an annual marketing plan or enhancing your business’s website design, a marketing agency can help you get the exposure you’re looking for.

The Right Team

Having the right team to back you with promotional marketing can make all the difference, especially when working with those that are experienced in helping businesses expand.

If you’re looking to increase your marketing outreach, contact us today to see how we can be of assistance.

Time for a Change: 4 Signs You Need a Logo Redesign

Posted on August 15, 2019July 25, 2019 by Mario Diaz

It takes just 10 seconds for someone to make up their mind about your brand.

If that’s all you get, you better make those 10 seconds count.

When potential customers see your logo for the first time, you need to make a lasting impression. An outdated logo can leave them thinking you’re outdated, too.

If you’re unsure if it’s time for an updated logo, we have you covered. Here are four signs it’s time for a logo redesign. With a new logo, you can make an impact that lasts with customers for a long time to come.

1. You’ve Grown Out of It

Companies change over time. You might add new products or services to your offerings or step into a new industry.

Your company logo should grow as you do. If your tagline, offerings, or even the company name has changed, it’s probably time for a logo redesign.

2. It Breaks the Brand

According to this research, color increases brand recognition by up to 80 percent.

After a few years, you might decide to update your entire brand with new colors, fonts, and visuals. If your brand is using new visual elements, your logo deserves an update, too.

Otherwise, your marketing materials will start to clash. Customers might even have a difficult time recognizing your company.

The right combination of creative materials can help your entire corporate identity stand out. People are also more likely to recognize a brand that remains consistent across print and digital materials.

Instead of breaking the brand, a logo change can help your entire brand make an impact.

3. New Audiences Are At Play

If you’ve expanded your business, chances are you’re attracting new customers too. In fact, you might choose to target a new demographic.

A logo design can help you attract this new target audience.

Your competition might change, too. If they’re up-to-date with the latest design trends, it can make your logo look behind the times. A logo refresh can tell clients you’re keeping up with the competition.

4. It’s Just Plain Old

If your logo was created in the 80s, a logo redesign can bring you into the 21st century. Otherwise, an old outdated logo tells customers your company hasn’t changed since the Internet was invented.

Design elements develop over time. Your old logo might not work well for a mobile-optimized website or social media platforms. With a logo refresh, you can make sure your logo appears crystal clear on any device.

Remember, this sends a sign to your competitors, too.

A new logo tells everyone you’re stepping forward, whether it’s with a new marketing strategy or fresh offerings.

4 Signs You’re Long Overdue for a Logo Redesign

Take a look at your logo. Then at this list. Now back at your logo.

If you can identify with any of these points, it’s time for a logo redesign… consider making a change. A new logo can help you attract customers with a brand that makes a lasting impact.

Ready to make a change? Let’s get started with your new logo design today!

Hardening WordPress: 5 Tips to Protect Your WP Site

Posted on August 1, 2019July 25, 2019 by Mario Diaz

WordPress is one of the most popular website creation tools out there. Did you know that WordPress runs 34% of the entire internet? Since it’s so popular, hardening WordPress is also important.

Security is the foundation of any website, without it, it could be hacked and taken over. Your information and security could be open to hackers, so it’s important to take measures for protection.

In this article, I will cover 5 tips to protect your site so you don’t have to worry as much!

Read on to discover these 5 tips to secure your site!

1. Hardening WORDPRESS

Did you know a two-step authentication will increase security on your site? That is a great way to make sure you’re the only person who can log in to your site. The way it works is there will be two different components in order to log in; often a code is texted to your phone.

You can download a plugin through WordPress to add this feature!

2. Updating WORDPRESS

According to WordPress.org, updating your WordPress is important because if a security issue is discovered, then the update will protect you from that vulnerability. Keeping older versions will leave your site open to attacks. An attack to your site can result in malicious content being added within your pages, redirects to third party websites, getting locked out of your site and loss of data to name a few. Goes without saying that keeping backups are important!

If you would like help updating and backing up your WordPress, check out our update and backup service. Includes off-site backups!

3. Use SSL to Encrypt Data

Implementing an SSL certificate is a good move to secure your site. An SSL secures data transfer between the server and user browsers. That essentially makes it extremely difficult for a hacker to break in.

You can purchase one from your hosting company or go to a third-party provider if you prefer.

Would you like help with securing your site? Check out our different WordPress security services.

4. Set Strong Passwords for Your Database

Does the thought of thinking up a strong enough password overwhelm you? You’ll want the main database’s password to be strong since it gives access to your entire database. Here’s a great feature that’ll generate a strong password for free!

If you’re creating your password manually remember to use a mix of upper case, numbers, lower case, and special characters. Never make your password something easy to figure out!

5. Protect, Against DDoS Attacks

A DDoS attack is actually pretty common, it’s an attack against your server bandwidth. The attacker uses multiple systems and programs to overload your server.

It doesn’t put your site files in danger but it can crash your site for an extended period of time. There are different solutions out there to combat that.

Next Steps

Hardening WordPress is important so that you can avoid unnecessary hacks into your site. Following these tips will make sure your site is more secure, but of course, there are numerous ways to secure your site.

Check out our blog for more information about topics including site security, marketing, and many more!

9 Exciting Social Media Marketing Trends

Posted on July 15, 2019July 9, 2019 by Mario Diaz

Facebook boasts a record of 2.23 billion monthly active users. And that’s only one of more than five commonly used social media platforms.

Social media platforms are creating novel innovative features. Anyone who wants to remain relevant must align their strategies to every change that comes their way.

This guide will boost your knowledge with the latest social media marketing trends. This knowledge will ensure you gain followers and make sales on your social media platforms.

1. Visuals in Place of Texts

Video content has increased recently with percentages going beyond 200% from previous years.

These new trends in social media need anyone who wants to remain relevant in advertising to shift to using more video content in place of texts.

2. Live Streaming

Live streaming will be worth billions of dollars by 2021. To succeed as a marketer, it leaves one with no choice but to use this powerful tool to engage the audience to build loyalty.

3. Social Media Marketing Trends on Improved Engagements

Now more than ever before, it is no longer possible to ‘cheat’ the system by telling people to like or comment without engaging them. Algorithms are now getting smarter to detect meaningful engagements.

4. Engaging Micro-Influences

While operating a small enterprise, it gets expensive to hire celebrities to influence your brand. Micro-influences who command as small as 3,000 followers will be beneficial as their costs are affordable.

5. Transparency Wins

Social media has led to more accountability for businesses, so transparency is of great concern to develop a brand for your company. Transparency trends require companies to give more behind-the-scenes looks of their businesses.

6. Messaging Apps

Current trends in social media show that messaging apps get used more than social media. Marketers must, thus, use messaging apps for better engagement with their consumers.

7. Creating Niches

Competition on social media is greater than ever before, and it can only grow stiffer. A target audience then becomes necessary to establish oneself in a particular niche. You can even limit yourself to one channel rather than casting your net wider to people who are not interested in your product or service.

8. Sales Enablement

Customers learn about products through social media before making a purchase. This phase of a product is called product discovery. It helps create awareness to prospective customers.

Social media trends show that creating awareness is not enough but the motive is to enable sales.

9. Stories

Trends in social media reveal that more and more people are consuming stories on a daily basis. Hence the need to integrate stories on social platforms.

For an advertiser, story ads can prove to be very useful to push a brand. This is in consideration of the increase in people’s desires to consume stories.

Consider These Current Trends

Small and medium businesses that want to prosper must adhere to the current trends. Social media platforms are always coming up with more innovative features day after day. Succeeding as a marketer requires a business to be proactive towards these changes.

To gain more helpful insights on social media marketing trends, please contact our experts and learn how you can survive as a new business despite the competition.

A Guide to Content Optimization

Posted on July 1, 2019July 9, 2019 by Mario Diaz

More than 40% of online businesses capture revenue through organic traffic.

But before you can start capitalizing off organic traffic, you need to optimize your website.

Content optimization not only helps businesses increase traffic but also improves conversion rates. Your margins will thank you.

Want to know how to start optimizing your online content? Keep reading for the top secrets you need to get started.

Keywords

The #1 most important thing your optimized content should include is a high-quality keyword or two. Gone are the days of over-optimizing posts with keywords stuffed everywhere.

Instead, your keyword should appear:

In the title of the page or post
In at least one heading
In the introduction and the conclusion paragraphs
Sprinkled throughout the body paragraphs

Before you start writing, though, make sure you do your keyword research. One thing to keep in mind is that today’s searches are dominated by the mobile voice search. So make sure your keyword research considers this fact.

Internal Links

Internal links should appear in your content and point Google toward the most important pages on your website.

Often, the most important page is your Services or Products page. Or you may consider your Contact page the most important. There are even some sites that link to specific pieces of blog content they are trying to rank for.

Which page is important doesn’t matter. Just make sure you identify yours and link back to it on your site whenever relevant and possible.

Word Count

Google likes content over 300 words. Google really likes content over 600 words. But if you want your site to rank on the first page of Google search results, you will probably be better off writing 2000 words of content or more.

This word count specifically applies to blog articles and longer form content. After all, it can be difficult to write 2000 words of content on your product pages.

One trick for non-blog content is to look at the pages that are already ranked for your keyword. As long as your content has the same or a larger word count, you are all set to outrank them.

Readability

In today’s online world, people aren’t reading your posts– they’re skimming. That’s why you need to make sure your content is skimmable. Use bolded font, bullet points, numbered lists, and paragraph breaks to add more white space.

Your optimized content should also include videos, images, and graphics. Because if you aren’t, your competition definitely is since 88% of marketers claim they use graphics in more than half of their content.

Another reason to use visuals is that online readers tend to trust information learned from videos than words alone. That means educational videos can help build your brand authority.

7 Ways to Create an Exciting Email Newsletter

Posted on June 15, 2019June 4, 2019 by Mario Diaz

An email newsletter is more than a marketing campaign — it’s the easiest way for you to let your customers know just how much you appreciate them.

That said, not all newsletters are equal.

Some campaigns can be instrumental in nurturing and building relationships with returning customers. But, when done incorrectly, a reoccurring newsletter can be a fast way to annoy even the most loyal customers.

Here are seven must-have email newsletter tips that will help you craft a highly effective campaign.

1. Keep it Consistent

Your final schedule for your newsletter depends entirely upon your company. That said, you should strive to adapt one trait no matter who you are: consistency.

It doesn’t matter whether you plan on releasing newsletters once a week or once a month. You should always be consistent with when you send the emails out and the quality of their content.

2. Be Brief

Nobody wants to open up their inbox to a wall of text.

When putting together your newsletter, you should try to convey as much information as you can in the least amount of words possible.

There’s no need for flowery, convincing language. If your customer signed up for your newsletter, then you’ve already convinced them. Now, all you need to focus on is spreading any new information they may find interesting.

3. Information First

The primary goal of your newsletter should be to educate your customers.

The best way to do this is by playing journalist and using the old inverted pyramid trick.

Never bury your lead. Any essential information that may be of interest to your customers and clients should be at the very top of your newsletter.

4. … Sales Second

As we said before if your customer is already signed up for your newsletter, then you’ve already sold them on something. You don’t need to sell them again.

You should use your newsletter to inform your customers about new products and services. But, you shouldn’t try to push them into buying them.

5. Pictures Are Worth a Thousand Words

While words are essential when it comes to spreading information, they can only go so far — especially when it comes to marketing.

One of the best ways to build an influential email newsletter is by supplementing your text with relevant, high-quality images.

And remember, any images you use should be correctly formatted!

6. Branding is Everything

If you run a website, then odds are you already have a bit of a handle on branding.

That said, you should make sure that the branding you use on your website and any social media accounts extends to your email newsletter.

Make sure you’re using the same color palette, fonts, and graphics. And don’t forget to flaunt your logo!

7. Make it Personal

Finally, a newsletter is a bit more personal than say a social media marketing campaign. Any time you send something directly to your customers, you should take the time to make it feel like it’s intended for them, not a mass message.

Include your customer’s name and take steps to tailor the content of the newsletter to suit their interests.

If you make an effort to let your customers know you care, they’ll pick up on it and pay you back in kind.

Must-Have Newsletter Tips

Newsletters can be a powerful marketing tool — when used correctly.

By following these seven newsletter tips, you’ll be able to create an effective email newsletter your customers are sure to love.

Need some extra help in getting started? We’ve got you covered!

5 Ways to Increase Traffic to Your Website

Posted on June 1, 2019June 4, 2019 by Mario Diaz

If you have a website, but no one visits it, do you really have a site at all?

A website with no users cannot accomplish whatever the goal of that site may be. So, the question is, how do you attract people to your website?

Fortunately, driving online traffic to your site can be a breeze — if you know what you’re doing.

Here are five easy methods that can help you drive traffic to your website.

1. Video Killed Blog Star

Ok, so maybe that statement isn’t entirely true. But, it’s an undeniable fact that video is the new king of online content.

Which, is why one of the best ways to boost traffic to your website is by creating a YouTube channel and cranking out a couple of videos.

On top of guiding new users to your website, YouTube videos can help organically boost your search engine rankings. And, videos can even help you generate a little extra income if you play your cards right.

When done correctly, you can post videos across multiple social media platforms. So, you can exponentially increase the size of your audience, without having to generate a lot of extra content.

2. Become a Social Butterfly

While video rules the internet, pictures are still worth a thousand words — and, are much easier to produce.

Another fantastic way to drive traffic to your website is by taking advantage of the social media platforms that are available today.

Platforms like Instagram are excellent places to advertise your website and interact with users.

On top of that, all the big name social media sites allow you to post videos. So, you can double up the benefits of social media interaction and video content.

3. Going Mobile

We’re living in a mobile world. So, it’s time for you to become a mobile girl.

More people access websites via a mobile platform now than ever before. So, if you haven’t optimized your site for mobile users, then you could be missing out on a lot of web traffic.

If you already have a standard desktop site, you may not see the importance of using time and resources to create a distinctly mobile version.

But, the differences between mobile sites and desktop versions go beyond looks alone.

Mobile sites work uniquely and are even optimized differently than their desktop counterparts. So, keeping that in mind, you may want to consider bringing on an expert to help you get your mobile website squared away.

4. Advertise That!

Compared to everything else on this list, paid advertising may seem a little old fashioned. That said if something works, why change it?

Advertising your website on social media, and even on other sites, can significantly boost your online traffic. Assuming you’re willing to pay, of course.

5. Everybody Loves Listicles

If you’ve reached this part of the article then congratulations — you just read a listicle.

While video is the favorite for online content formatting, some slightly more old-school formats will never go out of style. And, the listicle, or list-based articles, is one of those formats.

Publishing consistent and high-quality content is an excellent way to boost your SEO and increase your online traffic. Listicles provide a built-in format that readers and users can’t seem to get enough of in the online world.

How to Drive Traffic to Your Website

Building and optimizing a successful website doesn’t have to be a confusing or daunting task. Now that you know how to drive traffic to your site, it’s time to get to work.

Need a little help? We’ve got you covered.

How to Design a Website That Reflects Your Brand Identity

Posted on May 15, 2019May 23, 2019 by Mario Diaz

Your business is more than the things you make and the products you sell. It’s the connections you make and the values you bring people together under. People don’t just see your logo when they look into your company; they also see everything your company is associated with.

That’s known as your brand identity, and it’s crucial that you take control of it. If you don’t have a branding strategy, it’s easy for your business to be associated with unsavory groups and values. Without a plan on how to take control of your brand, you may lose customers as you fade into the background of your industry.

The first step to making an effective branding strategy is to make a good website. Your website is usually one of the first impressions you can make on people. So, make sure it’s a good one by staying in line with the brand you want.

Keep reading below to learn how you can design your website to truly reflect your unique brand.

Keep Your Brand Identity Consistent

The most important step to creating a good brand is to keep it consistent. Your Facebook page should be similar to your Twitter page, as well as every other social media presence you may have. You should post about the same things, in the same attitude, with the same logo.

Your website shouldn’t be any different, either. Make sure that when someone lands on your homepage, they’ll immediately recognize your company. If the brand you show on your website is different than the brand you show anywhere else, customers will feel lied to.

They’ll leave your customers, and your branding strategy will backfire.

Use the Same Color Scheme as Everything Else

Your website should echo the same themes your other web presences show off. If your web presence is usually dark and edgy, you should design your website in a similar theme. It’s the same if your brand identity is oriented around a particular community, reflect that community’s colors on your website.

Your color palette is fundamental to your audience’s experience on your website. Make sure it’s in line with your overall themes.

Your Content Shows Who You Truly Are

To express what your company stands for, you should focus on creating content that’s in line with your values. Your content should always cover your industry in some way, just like your competition likely does. Yet, you don’t need your content to cover your industry in exactly the same way as your competition.

Instead, you can try to find an angle to your content that is both compelling and unique. If your brand is unique, then your content needs to be unique. Find a voice for your blog posts that nobody else uses, film things from unusual angles, and don’t be afraid to express yourself!

Your Brand Identity is How Your Audience Knows You

Your brand identity is fundamental to your company’s success. It’s more than just a calculated way to connect with your audience and drive traffic. Your brand includes everything you stand for and everything people associate with you.

By designing your website to be consistent with your brand identity, people will feel like they know you better. They’ll have a clearer idea of what they can expect when they do business with you and will be more confident in working with you. First, though, you need a well-designed website.

For that, we’re here. Just contact us about what you need for your company, and we’ll get to work connecting you with your audience on a deeper level.

6 Principles of Clean Website Design

Posted on May 1, 2019May 23, 2019 by Mario Diaz

Web design is becoming one of the hottest careers out there. In fact, it’s considered one of the best-paying entry-level jobs available.

But there are keys to developing a clean website design.

Wondering how to design a website like the pros? We’ve picked out the top six web design principles for expert sites. Read on for the elements that the best-designed websites share.

Why a Clean Website Design Matters

The modern consumer lives on the web, but a browser’s attention span tends to be short. In fact, less than half of all internet users spend more than 15 seconds on a page.

That means businesses can benefit from a clean website design that keeps customers on the site. Good website design can cut down frustration and keep people coming back for more.

Wondering how?

Here are the pro-approved web design basics:

1. Focus on Simplicity

It can be tempting to add lots of complex elements and features. But this can lead to distractions and a frustrated user.

Using a simple, clean website design can keep the site fresh. It usually makes it easier for visitors to find what they’re looking for as well.

2. Seamless Navigation is Key

Internet users stay on websites longer when they can find what they’re looking for with ease. A key staple in web design basics is the three-click rule. This means users should be able to get to the info they need within three clicks.

It’s a good idea to boost navigation through things like clickable buttons.

3. Consistency Matters

Good websites should have a consistent theme and look throughout. This helps reinforce a brand, and it improves the user’s overall experience. That means keeping consistent fonts, font sizes, and heading layouts.

It’s a good idea to plan out things like color schemes and styles right away. From there, stick to the plan with everything from menu bars and fonts to buttons.

4. Pick Typography with a Purpose

Text can control a user’s experience. No matter how snazzy a website looks, if readers can’t read the text they’ll get frustrated.

Focus on fonts that are easy on the eyes and readable. It’s also a good idea to pay attention to things like keywords to boost SEO.

5. Center Around Communication

The best-designed websites remember why users are visiting websites. Users want information. That means it’s crucial to communicate clearly and effectively.

How?

Focus on organizing information through headlines and subheadings. Take advantage of bullet points, and try to cut down wordy sections.

6. Optimize Layout

This means paying close attention to how info sits on the page. Use things like the F Pattern. This design takes advantage of the natural way viewers scan a screen.

It’s also smart to make sure the site’s design is scalable and set up for a solid mobile experience.

More in Website Design

These six principles of a clean website design should map out the basics for a user-friendly site, but we have more professional solutions for website design.

Check out our website design page here to see how we can help businesses get the most out of a website.

Web Wisdom: Don’t DIY – 3 Reasons to Hire a Custom Web Design Company

Posted on April 15, 2019May 21, 2019 by Mario Diaz

Wondering if a custom web design company is really necessary for your needs? Consider this.

When you order a pizza, do you look at the menu and pick the specific toppings you feel like? Or do you tell the waiter to pick toppings at random?

Obviously, you’d want the pizza that’s specifically designed with your personal preferences in mind.

Now, think of your website as a pizza. What kind of pizza are you serving your audience?

Is it the one they would order? Or is it not really their type?

These questions are to illustrate a point: DIY website templates are not made-to-order. They aren’t designed with your audience in mind.

It may function okay. But if you want your audience to keep coming back, you need a website that’s built just for them, a custom website.

Find out more about why you need a custom website below.

1. Personalized User Experience

A website template is a one-size-fits-all product geared toward as wide an audience as possible. By definition, it is not personal.

And chances are, your business or organization is the very opposite. You’re pushing your unique brand in your niche to your target audience. So, by definition, a generic template design is not for you.

But a custom website is intentionally crafted from scratch just for you. The designer will take into account all the things that are important to your organization when creating the design.

They’ll find out about your niche, your competition, your target audience, your goals, etc. Then they’ll come up with a design that’s optimized for your specific needs.

That means it’s optimized for your specific target audience, too. They’ll take your main target demographic into account and come up with a design that appeals most to them. Using their up-do-date design expertise, they’ll personally model the site organization and functions around meeting your target audience’s needs.

2. Better Performance

Here’s another stupid question: is it easier to hit a target by aiming at it or by closing your eyes and shooting at random? Obviously, you’ll have a better chance if you’re aiming.

For this same reason, you have better chances of reaching your target audience when you’re specifically trying to appeal to them. Surely, in all your other advertising efforts, you strive to create personalized ads that resonate with your intended audience.

Your website is the central hub of all your digital advertising campaigns. If it’s important to personalize ad campaigns, personalizing your website for your target audience is most important of all.

As we said before, template websites don’t do anything personally because they’re specifically designed no to. And as we also said, your custom web designer will craft a site that’s personalized just for you and your audience.

That means better success reaching your audience in search engine results and a better conversion rate. Your site will be better equipped for success in all the goals you need it to accomplish.

3. Better Support

Lastly, what happens if DIY your site starts glitching? Who do you call to fix a problem with your website?

The answer’s in the question. You’ll have to Do It Yourself.

Are you equipped to handle that responsibility? Because a professional web designer certainly is.

Most web designers will show you how to make updates to your site when necessary and offer ongoing support as well, in case site problems arise in the future.

But please don’t take our word for it. Make sure you check with the designer before you hire that this is, in fact, the case.

Hire a Custom Web Design Company For Your Site

If you spend $0 to create your website, you can expect to get what you pay for.

Hire the best for your website. Invest in a custom web design company.

Now read 3 Ways to Achieve a Higher Search Engine Placement.