Marketing & Analytics Archives - Page 3 of 5

17/02/2020

Our values: the heart of 22

Maybe it’s our Manchester roots that make 22 Group friendly, straight-talking, and confident. We're committed to our responsibility to deliver incredible results, with heart.

There’s more to crafting an effective and distinct brand than a knock-out logo or a sleek website. Whilst important, these more tangible aspects of brand identity work best when combined with what already exists at the beating heart of any solid brand: its values.

Strong marketing is built upon clear brand values. Integrating the message of a company into its marketing increases engagement with customers who admire and align with these ideals.

Showing what the company stands for - its personality, so to speak - resonates with people and reaps results.

For example, think of brands like IKEA who celebrate simplicity and are known for their minimalist style and easy to build products. There’s Spotify’s playful spirit, easily pinpointed in their 'Listen Like You Used To’ adverts. Or Dr Martens, who recently captured both their long-standing rebellious image and product durability in the ‘Tough As You’ campaign. Good branding also has a ripple-like effect, sticking with customers and helping to build brand reputation.

Essentially: think of your values as your brand DNA.

Brand values show your ‘true north’ (no geographical bias intended) as they act as an orientating guide for both your clients and colleagues. They define the business. The blueprint the business. They also show us here at 22 Group what each individual client strives towards and what, together, we’ll focus on conveying.

Distinguishing the message of a company goes a long way. And, whilst it’s important for us to be attuned to the brand values of our clients, we also realise it’s probably important to outline the 22 Group team’s shared ethos — so you know exactly who you’re taking the dive with. Of course, communicating these values is also key so prospective clients can clearly identify connecting strands between our brand and theirs.

So, we’ll go first ... Here’s what our brand stands for:

Friendliness.

A cornerstone of our company’s culture, we put this shared value into practice daily. Cultivating positive and long-standing working relationships amongst ourselves and with our clients is genuinely important to us. It’s all about being our best selves and bringing out the best in each other.

Straight talking.

Honesty and authenticity sets us apart. In a world inundated with options, decisions and choices to be made, it’s nice to know who you can rely on to get the job done. We won’t set unrealistic goals or mess around with your expectations. Building open and honest relationships is always our aim.

Confident.

We believe in ourselves - and you should too. Our passion for each aspect of what we do shines through into our work and you can trust us to give it our all. We recognise our capabilities and are comfortable to try new things in order to make the most of our talents.

Committed.

We take pride in what we do. Loyal and long-standing client relationships are just as important to us as project details. Each and every one of us is dedicated and genuinely invested in our work - and to upholding our brand values.

If it sounds as though we’re kindred spirits, or you’d like to make your brand stand out in a crowd, get in touch with our team: jess@22group.co.uk

Published by twentytwo in Brand & Strategy, Company updates, Marketing & Analytics

07/02/2020

Weaponise your copy now

Harness the power of copy - the neglected marketing force you never knew you needed.

If you’ve never considered the importance of copy before, it may well be the hidden pain point your business doesn’t know it has.

What exactly is copy?

Isn’t copy just words on a page?

If this is your first thought, you are most probably underestimating a vital component of your business’ branding. Copy is content, but the intentions of good copy extend much further than merely ‘filling a page.’ A good business is a business which understands the marketable potential of every word that is associated with their brand. A good business understands that all copy becomes an opportunity to shape and curate brand identity. Copy may take the form of web content, blogs or articles, campaign content or event materials. Each piece of copy should be subtly reinforcing your company’s mission statement. Think of copy as a call to action – a siren call, even. Good copy reinforces engagement; great copy has the potential to be the unifying voice of your business.

First impressions are everything

Imagine this scenario. You are approached by a salesman. He is wearing a stained suit, battered shoes and has a clammy handshake. Instead of direct eye contact, he avoids your eye and mumbles towards the ground. Does this sound like the best first impression? Decidedly, no. Many businesses pride themselves on their excellent websites, innovative branding and enthusiastic demeanour in person, but utterly disregard the state of their copy. This can be an overlook with potentially disastrous repercussions. Copy may well be the first port of call your customers have with your business and brand. Now imagine your copy is in the same state as the salesman: shabby, unconfident, utterly off-putting. Is this the first impression you want your brand to make? Good copy enhances the first experience your customers have with your brand. And quality copy can be weaponised as a powerful marketing tool. We may take words for granted as we encounter them so often, but the emotional sway they deliver can be potent. As the human voice of your business, copy had the ability to travel where design and branding cannot reach.

Interested? We can help

Here at 22 Group, we appreciate that producing good writing may eat into your valuable time. That’s why we offer a new in-house copywriting service for all your content requirements.

Harness the marketing force your business doesn’t know that it needs. Contact me to discuss a fresh and exciting content strategy now: jess@22group.co.uk

Published by twentytwo in Brand & Strategy, Marketing & Analytics

15/03/2019

Try talking to everyone

Who can buy your product?

I’m guessing there’s more than one answer to that question, and it’s the same for our business.

We do websites and digital marketing, so – in theory – pretty much any business that needs a website and some marketing could be our customer.

And because any business could be our potential customer, it’s tempting to try and create a message that resonates with – well – any business.

But here’s the problem: when you try talking to everyone, you end up talking to no one.

Instead, your message comes across as general and bland, and it’s ineffective as a result.

What’s the solution?

It’s simple: choose a specific target market and talk directly to them.

Make your website address their specific pains.

Showcase testimonials from people similar to them.

Drive specific, targeted traffic rather than general traffic.

Tell stories that resonate with your exact prospect.

Just to be clear: this doesn’t mean you have to work with one target market for the rest of your days; it just means you have to work a bit harder, with specific messages for specific groups.

Our business is a great example. 22 Group is our umbrella brand, but our two sub-brands PropertyStream and FinanceStream allow us to target our message and our marketing to clearly defined groups of people, and get us better returns from our marketing spend as a result.

If you want to talk to your audience more effectively than you do right now, let’s talk.

Robin

Published by twentytwo in Brand & Strategy, Marketing & Analytics

06/02/2019

Buzz phrase but for good reason

No doubt you’ve heard every man and his dog banging on about the importance of “online presence” and how businesses that are serious about success in 2019 need to have one.

They’re not wrong. Having an “online presence” is important.

But unfortunately, most people who tell you that you need an online presence don’t give you anything more tangible than that.

So, today, I thought I’d just be really clear about exactly what your online presence needs to look like in 2019, and how you can create yours:

Your website

Obvious, right? Facebook, Twitter and Instagram may be responsible for a lot of web traffic, but if you’re going to be successful online this year, you’ll still need a website.

What should be on it?

Well, your contact details are a must, as well as the geographical areas you work in and the properties you sell, as well as the ethos behind the business.

Customer testimonials should also be included, to ensure that any prospects know that you’re trustworthy.

SEO

Once you’ve got your website, you need some visitors! Most people looking for most things will hop onto Google, and that’s also the case in the world of estate agency.

The process of optimising your site is called “search engine optimisation”, and in layman’s terms, it’s about creating content that Google likes, bumping you up their rankings as a result.

Social Media

Social media will play a vital role in you getting found online, and as an estate agent, it’s vital you have a presence and that you engage with people who talk to you online.

A lot of companies have found that focusing on social media can help you get in touch with your customers in a more personal and direct way, allowing your enquiries to be dealt with much more quickly and effectively.

When you map out your social media strategy, it’s vital to consider how you’d like to “sound” – each brand will have a tone of voice, and it’s important to know how you want to come across to your prospective customer – this will inform the things you say and the words you use.

We won’t pretend that this is the whole list of everything you need to do to build your online presence, but it’s a good place to start – get a website, get people to it and get people talking on social.

If you need help with any of it, just give me a shout. robin@22group.co.uk

Speak soon

Robin

Published by twentytwo in Brand & Strategy, Marketing & Analytics

11/01/2019

Top 5 marketing predictions for 2019!

22’s Marketing Manager David reveals his predictions for what’s going to be big in the marketing world this year.

The year of the brochure
Print is not dead! You have read our recent email campaign informing you that printed literature such as brochures will be a huge part of B2B marketing this year. A well thought out brochure reinforces your brand identity and gives customers and prospects something ‘tangible’ to hold onto in the digital age. This helps create a more personalised feel and can ensure your offer is remembered amongst all the email marketing and Facebook ad campaigns. Ambitious companies combine these with their targeted digital marketing to get the best results.

Video will be big!
Use of social platforms continued to rise over 2016 and that’s likely to increase with integrated video marketing taking more of a front seat. Developments such as the ‘Facebook Live’ has offered that immediate real-time experience that clever companies are mixing in with social campaigns. Customers require attention right now and as such we will see ‘live chat’ become more mainstream across all sectors. Watch out for the term ‘immersive marketing’ (meaning bringing the consumer into the experience via video).

Social gets analytical
Social media marketing is still huge in many industries, however, marketing experts across the board believe that this year it’s due to get more detailed and granular with integrated CRM options and better reporting. Social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have dominated previously due to their potential for cleverly crafted ‘reach’ campaigns, in 2017 though we could see Instagram and Snapchat increase in B2C marketing as they leverage their remarketing offers.

Things get personal!
‘Big data’ has been a big thing for a while with it used globally for everything from the US presidential elections to the restructuring of frontline NHS services. In the case of the elections Team Trump was able to ascertain where the impact was the greatest to predict where to advertise to floating voters and monitor early voter demographics to see where disenfranchised rural and minority voters were less active and focus campaigns on higher voter turnout demographics). Big data may have been an ongoing trend but we are only really starting to see its full potential and so many in the marketing world think 2019 will be the year it increases personalisation. Big corporates such as Amazon and Netflix are already demonstrating the benefits of personalisation to increase customer experience and I can see some of the smaller but equally as ambitious brands start to go this way.

Augmented reality goes big
It goes without saying one of the biggest marketing successes of 2018 was Pokemon Go. Adult humans running around to obscure places on the hunt for Pokemon may have annoyed some of us but at $10m in revenue per day at its height it undoubtedly made the grade for ‘campaign success’. Following on from this I can envisage companies more actively using AR games, apps and experiences to engage consumers in a simulated version of reality. As the real world becomes ever more connected and digital with the increase of the ‘internet of things’ I see this becoming more and more popular.

Join me at the end of the year when I review how these predictions fared in the world of commerce and what failed to make the marketing grade!

Published by twentytwo in Marketing & Analytics

23/11/2018

Charities, what makes a great homepage?

We know charities are taking their web presence more seriously now, with more investment in going responsive and mobile friendly, more focus on engaging the right audiences and more charities ensuring their website have eye-catching call to actions. For any business or organisation, a website is often the first contact someone has with your brand. Your homepage is effectively your shop window, it’s the first impression you make before the user decides to delve further...and as the saying goes “you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression”.

With this in mind, the aim of your website’s homepage is to engage your users further, driving them through the site to engage and identify with your brand, take the required actions and remember you!

Here’s 5 things your website homepage should have in place to achieve this:

Tell the world who you are and what you’re about!

Unless you’re a globally renowned brand, a good website homepage should effectively communicate who you are and what you do, to encourage your audience to stay on your site and find out more. It’s thought that you need to engage them within the first 16 seconds to ensure you’ve captured their attention! If you are unsure about your key message and what your brand is trying to say, spend some time refining this first. Water Aid do this well, with punchy content that communicates their core objectives in an easy to digest way.

Great design and use of images

The best content and copy in the world can get overlooked if the design and use of images doesn’t engage people. A well crafted homepage will combine use of graphics, text and multimedia where necessary in a creative way, to ensure the main purpose of the page is communicated effectively. The Red Nose Day website makes primary use of images to speak directly to their target market - families.

Include CTA’s

An effective homepage will include both primary and secondary CTA’s (or call to action points). The aim of these is to direct the user to take the next logical step - for example ‘read more here’ (secondary call to action), or DONATE NOW (primary call to action). As the aim of the homepage is to encourage users to dig deeper a strong call to action helps guide them in the direction you want to take them. As a large part of site traffic goes to the homepage you want to ‘convert’ as much of it as possible! The WWF are great at this with a bold ‘join, donate, support’ button in the top navigation and a ‘help protect Selous game reserve’ button further down.

Highlight your benefits!

As we said at the start, it’s critical to explain who you are and what you do but it’s equally as important to tell your users how that’s of benefit to them. Any company will be keen to use their homepage to promote their key USP’s. It’s slightly different for charities but you will still want to tell them about your cause and focus how their support can really make a difference. Save the Children do this well by featuring current issues such as the plight of child refugees and linking out to pages on how your money is actively helping to save lives. They also have a sidebar with a clear list of ways people can get involved.

Show some...humanity!

Far from being some faceless corporate brand which struggles to communicate a more human angle, your charity will naturally convey a more personal approach. You consist of a team of people passionate about what the charity does and keen to make the world a better place. Cancer Research do this brilliantly by featuring stories that resonate, such as a Mother beating cancer and being able to attend her daughter’s wedding.

Published by twentytwo in Marketing & Analytics, Website Design & Build

19/10/2018

Getting social at the Northern Business Expo!

On October 14th and 15th we had our first Tradeshow as 22 Group - The Northern Business Expo! I was honoured to be asked to run a workshop on social media at such a high profile event (particularly with our award winning Creative Director Robin Arnold and supermodel Caprice already on the billing)! Social media is such an integral part of a cohesive marketing plan and I felt this would be a good chance to talk to businesses about how they utilise its impact and reach to support their business objectives.

I wanted to ensure every participant went away with some new knowledge which they could apply on a practical level, so we covered some of the basics such as how Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn (the most used social channels in a business context) differ in how users engage. This gave participants the opportunity to think about how to craft the appropriate content for each channel and look at what the banner, profile images and bio say about the company. Each of 3 social channels we looked at offer a range of measurement tools to really help businesses be strategic about their social media activity and we spent some time focusing on the benefits of each of these. We then moved onto how to manage complaints and took a look at some of the things the big brands are doing.

This was followed by a practical exercise, getting everyone into the habit of following, sharing, retweeting, scheduling and posting content! It was great to see how involved everyone got and see some real connections formed amongst participants - that's what social is all about after all! Towards the end of the session we started to put together a social strategy for each participant so everyone could take something useful back to the office with them. It was fantastic to see so many people there and everyone getting so involved!

If you would like to receive the slides for the presentation or want to discuss how 22 Group can support your social media efforts please email: amber@22group.co.uk

Published by twentytwo in Company updates, Marketing & Analytics

18/04/2016

Northern Business Expo – Marketing

OFFER EXTENDED: Sign up to either of our marketing packages before the end of April and get the first month FREE (when signing up for 6 months minimum)

Starter package/

£600 per month

We'll produce a full audit of your current marketing activities and put together a starter package which makes use of traditional, inbound and digital channels to help meet your business objectives.

Package includes:

— Set up/review and management of all social accounts

— Social media banner designs

— Daily content updates and engagement

Full service package/

£1,100 per month

Full service marketing support to meet your wider business objectives. Review of benchmarks, targets and KPIs, with regular reporting throughout.

Package includes:

— Set up/review and management of all social accounts

— Full time Account Manager

— Social media banner designs

— 5 Tweets per day

— LinkedIn strategy and content push

— 2 Blogs or news pieces per week

— Pieces of print/collateral

— Google Ads - review and campaign strategy

— Google Analytics set up

NB: Costs for Google Advertising not included. All packages subject to terms and conditions

Email us at hello@22group.co.uk - Offer only available until the end of April .

Published by twentytwo in Company updates, Marketing & Analytics

13/04/2016

Come see us at the Northern Business Expo – We’ll make it snappy!

The team at 22 Group are exhibiting at the Northern Business Expo on 14th and 15th April. The renowned business exhibition, which is free to the general public, provides business owners with the opportunity to forge valuable relationships with potential customers and suppliers, gain solid business advice from over 150 exhibitors as well as the chance to take part in free seminars and skills packed workshops. Two of those will feature 22 Group members this year in the Digital Marketing hub. The Expo has always attracted leading speakers and thought-leaders, this year featuring supermodel Caprice talking about how she built up her global enterprise.

Our award-winning Creative Director, Robin Arnold is holding an ‘Introduction to Branding’ workshop at 10.30 each day, which explores how understanding the difference between branding, marketing, design and advertising can lead to business success. If online is more your forte, at 2.15 you can head over to hear from Marketing Manager, Amber Stevens at a fun social media workshop which will provide you with the basic skills and knowledge to get started online and advice on how to make your social media campaigns an ongoing success.

If you fancy a break from developing new skills and knowledge, pop over to stand A22 to meet the rest of the team and get your selfie snapped for a chance to win a luxury 2-night stay in the prestigious Mayfair hotel, 9 Hertford St, just moments away from Buckingham Palace.

You can register here for your free tickets http://www.northernbusinessexpo.com/tickets/

See you there!

Published by twentytwo in Brand & Strategy, Campaigns & Creative, Company updates, Marketing & Analytics, Website Design & Build

07/04/2016

Charities – What’s your angle?

Did you know that, according to figures released by the Daily Mail, there are more than 195,289 registered charities in the UK? So other than a huge budget and a worthy cause, what can make a charity stand out? Simple, effective marketing campaigns with the right angle.

Finding the right angle is critical in determining the success of a campaign. As we've mentioned before, the ALS ice bucket challenge had over 17 million participants, the videos were watched by 440 million people a total of 10 billion times and they raised almost $80 million but do you know what they raised in the same period the year prior? ... $2.5 million.

ALS didn't have the huge marketing budgets available like Cancer Research or NSPCC, so how did ALS manage to achieve this level of brand exposure in such a short period of time? They found the right angle. The chilling sensation participants feel when the ice hits their body is supposed to represent the pain and discomfort ALS sufferers feel simply when moving. This allows people to try to empathise with the sufferers and their daily struggles. This applied with the thrill of pouring ice cold water over a friend or family member created the perfect angle for their campaign, which ultimately became the largest and most successful global charity to date!

22 Group were challenged by the NHS to come up with an angle for an NHS Smokefree marketing programme. Smokefree is an initiative sponsored by the government to encourage people to quit smoking. Key research found that quitting smoking for loved ones is a highly motivating factor for a majority of smokers. Inspired by this, our team created a message that would resonate with parents, especially dads. The message was "don't miss out on your family's future" and was executed poignantly by showing fathers enjoying time with their children. The "Miss out. No chance." campaign used on posters and information leaflets was often strategically placed i.e. football club locker rooms. You can see more of our NHS Smokefree project here.

Is your angle working for you? Are you achieving significant increases in donations and brand awareness? If not, it may be time to take a new approach. If you need help with this contact hello@22group.co.uk or call 0161 672 7822 and we would be more than happy to assist.

Published by twentytwo in Marketing & Analytics

24/03/2016

Icons from the past

Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Marlon Brando, Coco Chanel… just some of the icons from the past that have become ingrained in popular culture. Their pictures are still seen on posters, billboards, TV and the web, decades after their death. What was it that has meant their image has stood the test of time so they are ingrained in popular culture? Was Marilyn Monroe the best singer, or the best actress of her generation, probably not, but her personality, her reputation, her glamour, her beauty and ultimately her brand is timeless? I do wonder if current day celebrities such as Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus will become such enduring symbols for decades to come.

Attention to detail, glamour, always making an effort to look and be your best. There is a lot to be said for this way of thinking in branding and marketing. Whether we like it or not, humans can be fickle. We are judged on the way we look, and the things we say and do and this can determine whether a customer would buy into our products and services. They need to buy into our brand before making a decision.

At 22 we believe that a company's brand is it’s reputation. It is the perception that others have. A reputation is formed, from a number of factors including: personality, customer service, value, style in the form of your corporate identity, and voice, as within your marketing.

This is why we have chosen the launch theme of the 22 website to be ‘icons from the past’. Relating back to a time when glamour, attention to detail, and reputation was everything. Going above and beyond to stand out from the crowd made these icons timeless.

Not only do they look cool but, this ethos mirrors our own company approach to branding, digital and marketing. Following a fashion helps you fit in. Setting the trends gets you noticed. As Coco Chanel eloquently puts it, “In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.”

We treat each branding, digital and marketing project as a blank canvas and aim to help our clients convey their key messages, their personalities, in the most original and creative way possible. With the aim to get them noticed for today and tomorrow.

Published by twentytwo in Brand & Strategy, Company updates, Marketing & Analytics

29/02/2016

Social Media – Are you getting the most from it?

You don’t have to be an expert marketeer to know that social media platforms are a little piece of heaven swarming with potential new customers. Businesses, both small and large, will begin their social media journey connecting with their target audience and investing in promotions and advertisements to generate more sales.

Despite what many may think, there is more to handling a social media account than the tingle of pride one feels when a Tweet gets more than 10 retweets or a status gets 20 likes and a few comments. Just take a look on LinkedIn and you will see thousands of ‘Social Media Executives’. So why are businesses investing so heavily in this job role?

If you are posting generic updates like ‘good morning’ or blabbing on about how great your company is, the chances are nobody is listening… This is where social calendars come into play. Planning content to post on social media on a weekly or monthly basis is a must. This way upcoming events, topics, dates and company news can be carefully incorporated without the unnecessary 20 minutes staring at the computer screen wondering what to post. Posts can also be scheduled for optimum times to ensure the right content is getting to the right people at the right time. Don’t forget you can also use Twitter tools such as Hootsuite to help you with this.

Another mistake that many businesses make is ignoring bad publicity and hoping it goes away. Long gone are the days where companies were allowed to delete their Facebook reviews and besides, imagine if you had received bad customer service and then found your complaint had mysteriously vanished… would you be even angrier? A big part of handling a business social media account is reputation management. Resolving issues as they arise publicly and effectively. This is also why regular monitoring is crucial, by the time you respond to a bad review left 3 weeks ago chances are 100 potential customers have noticed this and your lack of response only makes you look guilty. We’ve all seen the Tesco banana with a spider inside clog up our news feed!

Finally, it is common sense to most that social media is amazing for communicating effectively with your target audience and promoting the brand. What many fail to realise is that social media is literally a lead generation and conversion machine! New features such as Twitter’s ‘conversion tracking’ allow you to measure your return on investment by tracking what your potential new customers to after interacting with your ads! Also, a simple social media promotion can literally result in thousands of new email addresses to market yourself to!

Social media is the future of marketing and by investing more time in this, the return on investment can be phenomenal. If you need help managing your company’s social media accounts or want to discuss our social media packages, give one of our social gurus a call on 0161 884 0112.

Published by twentytwo in Marketing & Analytics

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