This document provides guidance on developing an effective website through a "crawl, walk, run" approach. It first crawls by discussing goals, objectives, and target audiences. It then walks through branding, call to actions, and color selection. Finally, it runs by providing examples of completed website designs and emphasizing the importance of an overall marketing strategy beyond just content. Color, photos, goals, and audiences are highlighted as important elements of an effective site.
In the January 2020 edition of Masters of Marketing, join ITC project Manager Karly Baker as she goes over the steps you should take when redesigning your insurance website.
Our goal with this project was to create a warm caring feeling through this hospice website. There are many misconceptions about hospice and we want our client to be able to use it as a platform to help people understand it on a deeper level.
Selling a new product or service, doesn't have to be a headache.
Search for a way to position your product at the top of its own ladder. Here are some useful ideas.
Win more listings - DISC based listing presentationsDebraConnell
Mega Camp 2013 presentation from the Market Leader and Trulia TruLeader theater. Kris Olsen, Senior Trainer and Instructional Designer at Market Leader, shows how Keller Williams associates can win more listings with DISC based listing presentations.
In the January 2020 edition of Masters of Marketing, join ITC project Manager Karly Baker as she goes over the steps you should take when redesigning your insurance website.
Our goal with this project was to create a warm caring feeling through this hospice website. There are many misconceptions about hospice and we want our client to be able to use it as a platform to help people understand it on a deeper level.
Selling a new product or service, doesn't have to be a headache.
Search for a way to position your product at the top of its own ladder. Here are some useful ideas.
Win more listings - DISC based listing presentationsDebraConnell
Mega Camp 2013 presentation from the Market Leader and Trulia TruLeader theater. Kris Olsen, Senior Trainer and Instructional Designer at Market Leader, shows how Keller Williams associates can win more listings with DISC based listing presentations.
Masters of Marketing -- Teach Me How to MarketDarmini Kara
In the September 17, 2015, Masters of Marketing webinar, Marketing Sidekick Phillip Long discussed insurance agency marketing, all its parts, and how to tie it all together.
Presentation given to Penn State University students in spring 2017 as the Bishoff Entrepreneur in Residence (visiting lecturer) to students in Minor in Entrepreneurship and Engineering Entrepreneurship courses. CPPx5 model is based on 15 key concepts necessary for success as an entrepreneur.
In today's Masters of Marketing webinar, we discuss responsive vs. adaptive mobile sites, the end of Flash, and more trends for today's insurance websites.
Recipe For A Successful Customer Advisory BoardInfluitive
Stephanie Hartsog
Sr. Manager, Oracle Service Cloud Executive Programs Customer Advocacy
Karen Rihs
Principal Product Manager And Oracle Service Cloud Cab Program Manager
Pictures communicate a great deal, so it's important you are using the right images on your insurance agency website to engage visiting customers and prospects.
Masters of Marketing -- Let's Get Digital: Five Digital Marketing Trends for...Darmini Kara
In the January 15, 2014 Masters of Marketing webinar, Product Manager Jennifer Fitzsimmons discussed five digital marketing trends you should know in 2015.
Cost-Effective Social Advice for Budget Conscious Local SEO'sContent Equals Money
As a local SEO, it can be tempting to get your social campaign running and then ignore it. Upgrade your basic social tactics using these 3 cost-effective tips!
Do you dwell too much on marketing strategies and overlook the importance of having marketing plan goals? You’re committing the biggest marketing blunder!
Virtual Flipbook: Spiceworks Spice Up Your IT PromosTodd Darroca
This was a virtual flipbook I created for a Spiceworks demand-gen project. The goal was to provide current customers and potential spenders with key ways to engage IT buyers via Spiceworks. The book include key take aways/advice from our creative services team.
Australian Marketing Institute Workshop - Doyle Buehler - Digital Brand Leade...Doyle Buehler
What is Digital Brand Leadership?
Authority - Brand credibility
Influence - Brand “active” audience
Knowledge - Expertise in your industry/niche
Combining all the elements of digital media is what digital leadership is about. It is about combining all of the different elements of what is needed online to work with your brand.
This is my presentation for the Australian Marketing Institute Annual 2014 Congress in Perth, WA
The Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce sponsored this session for area business owners and leaders. The session was facilited by Tim McAdow, Director of Marketing and Communication for Integrity Insurance; Tom Clifford, Director of Digital Development at HC Miller, Susan Finco, Owner and President of Leonard & Finco Public Relations; Patrick Hopkins, President of Imaginasium; Robert Jahnke, President of Top Hat Marketing; Diane Roundy, Director of Business Development for Schenck SC
Masters of Marketing -- Teach Me How to MarketDarmini Kara
In the September 17, 2015, Masters of Marketing webinar, Marketing Sidekick Phillip Long discussed insurance agency marketing, all its parts, and how to tie it all together.
Presentation given to Penn State University students in spring 2017 as the Bishoff Entrepreneur in Residence (visiting lecturer) to students in Minor in Entrepreneurship and Engineering Entrepreneurship courses. CPPx5 model is based on 15 key concepts necessary for success as an entrepreneur.
In today's Masters of Marketing webinar, we discuss responsive vs. adaptive mobile sites, the end of Flash, and more trends for today's insurance websites.
Recipe For A Successful Customer Advisory BoardInfluitive
Stephanie Hartsog
Sr. Manager, Oracle Service Cloud Executive Programs Customer Advocacy
Karen Rihs
Principal Product Manager And Oracle Service Cloud Cab Program Manager
Pictures communicate a great deal, so it's important you are using the right images on your insurance agency website to engage visiting customers and prospects.
Masters of Marketing -- Let's Get Digital: Five Digital Marketing Trends for...Darmini Kara
In the January 15, 2014 Masters of Marketing webinar, Product Manager Jennifer Fitzsimmons discussed five digital marketing trends you should know in 2015.
Cost-Effective Social Advice for Budget Conscious Local SEO'sContent Equals Money
As a local SEO, it can be tempting to get your social campaign running and then ignore it. Upgrade your basic social tactics using these 3 cost-effective tips!
Do you dwell too much on marketing strategies and overlook the importance of having marketing plan goals? You’re committing the biggest marketing blunder!
Virtual Flipbook: Spiceworks Spice Up Your IT PromosTodd Darroca
This was a virtual flipbook I created for a Spiceworks demand-gen project. The goal was to provide current customers and potential spenders with key ways to engage IT buyers via Spiceworks. The book include key take aways/advice from our creative services team.
Australian Marketing Institute Workshop - Doyle Buehler - Digital Brand Leade...Doyle Buehler
What is Digital Brand Leadership?
Authority - Brand credibility
Influence - Brand “active” audience
Knowledge - Expertise in your industry/niche
Combining all the elements of digital media is what digital leadership is about. It is about combining all of the different elements of what is needed online to work with your brand.
This is my presentation for the Australian Marketing Institute Annual 2014 Congress in Perth, WA
The Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce sponsored this session for area business owners and leaders. The session was facilited by Tim McAdow, Director of Marketing and Communication for Integrity Insurance; Tom Clifford, Director of Digital Development at HC Miller, Susan Finco, Owner and President of Leonard & Finco Public Relations; Patrick Hopkins, President of Imaginasium; Robert Jahnke, President of Top Hat Marketing; Diane Roundy, Director of Business Development for Schenck SC
Developing a digital marketing strategy to drive business growth - LexisClicklexisclick
A good written digital marketing strategy will work in a very similar way to a map. It'll give you your chosen route to business growth as well as other options in case of potential events. http://www.lexisclick.com/
Developing a digital marketing strategy to drive business growth - LexisClicklexisclick
A good written digital marketing strategy will work in a very similar way to a map. It'll give you your chosen route to business growth as well as other options in case of potential events.
Marketing and funnel activity overview. Presentation for small business owners group about what to think about when looking at their marketing and acquiring new customers
This workshop will provide you with the tools, techniques, and sales strategies on how to effectively penetrate your dream clients, as well as save you time and money.
Let’s face it, most startups do not have the budgets to spend on the fancy and expensive software products and hiring a full-blown sales team. In turn, they need to find alternatives that can still get the job done. To add, many buyers in today’s markets are bombarded by sales people each and every day so it’s important to understand the best approaches in order to differentiate yourself amongst the noise.
Below are a few areas that will be covered during this workshop:
- Creating a Powerful and Compelling 1-Pager – Value Proposition
- LinkedIn Outreach Strategies
- Sales Software - Email tracking / Databases, CRM etc.
- Email / Cold Calling Strategies
- Building your Prospect List - Research / Targeting
Presented before young community leaders during the breakout session of TechCamp Philippines on March 10, 2018 at Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro City.
All the online marketing tools you need for your small business or nonprofit.
Grow your business using Constant Contact®, connect email, events, surveys, promotions, and Facebook.
In this workshop, we'll discuss the unique marketing needs faced by nonprofits and small organizations. With the vast “Universe of Marketing Possibilities”, many organizations don’t know where to start, what to implement, and how to prioritize marketing initiatives. We'll discuss how to work within a framework and methodology that is simple, effective, and cumulative.
Large organizations launch integrated campaigns that include social media, online advertising, search engine optimization and much more. Oftentimes small- to mid-sized organizations are unable to mirror this kind of success because they can’t fund hiring a search agency, a PR agency, an ad agency, a social media agency, etc. But, with the marketing roadmap you’ll now be able to create, you too can build an integrated system that works – even without a big budget or staff.
This jam packed session helps you create a plan to address your biggest challenges, including:
• Driving online (and offline) traffic to your website
• Getting more qualified leads
• Increasing donations, volunteers, registrations, etc.
Presented during the Cagayan de Oro leg of TechCamp Philippines last March 2018.
This was for youth leaders supporting various organizations and causes.
The New Social Media Landscape; Welcome to SomaliaAdrian Blake
Lecture from Creighton University covering the new, massive competition among media brands. Every brand is now a media company, and that means every brand will have to learn how to think like a media company and use emotion in their messages.
Strategy to Execution: Tips to Execute Your Strategy With Excellence.Avi Mizrahi, MBA, BBA.
Strategy is sexy. Execution is really difficult. Perhaps that's why so many strategic initiatives fail. I believe that transitioning from strategy to execution is the biggest challenge facing today's organizations. Execution is a leader's job and this presentation will lay out a practical approach to ensure your strategy is executed with excellence.
Slides from my presentation at the Home-Based Business Fair in York County, VA. Given the title, "How to Get the Word Out", I split the content into three sections. 1) How to (the big picture), 2) Get the Word (branding and messaging), and 3) Out (outreach and promotions). Enjoy!
Tell Your Story Founder George Rafeedie gave a recent breakfast seminar with the Chicago Business Marketing Association where he taught a group of B2B marketers how to develop and share stories on any budget.
In our first roundtable, we held three presentations: 1. What Does Your Marketing Strategy Look Like? 2. The Importance of a Digital Strategy 3. Integrated Marketing & Sales
There are millions of registered users on LinkedIn. Relatively few of them seem to have any real understanding of how to effectively use LinkedIn or how powerful a tool it really is.
Although the usage of LinkedIn is exploding, there are very few resources that teach what users are craving – solutions to increase their desired business results. In this presentation, we share our powerful 4 part methodology and then provide you with planning, tactics, techniques and success stories to help guide you toward generating business success through LinkedIn.
Similar to Crawl, Walk, Run: Using Your Agency’s Branding to Reach Online Prospects (20)
In the latest edition of ITC's Masters of Marketing webinar, Marketing Automation Expert Henna Javed spoke about A/B testing and how to use it to your agency's advantage.
In our latest edition of Masters of Marketing, Website Coordinator Steven Gibbons discussed what landing pages are and how to use them effectively to generate more conversions and leads for your insurance agency.
In the June 23019 edition of Masters of Marketing, ITC's Internet Marketing Product Manager, Phillip Long, discussed how SEO is already changing in 2019 and what your agency can do to prepare.
In the February 2019 edition of Masters of Marketing, AgencyBuzz product Manager Heather Cherry discusses how to write the perfect insurance email for your agency's clients and prospects.
In the final Masters of Marketing webinar of 2018, SEO Consultant Darmini Kara outlines how insurance agents can garner local online traffic from their websites.
In the November 2018 edition of Masters of Marketing, AgencyBuzz Coordinator Henna Javed discusses the most common misconceptions about email marketing.
In the September 2019 edition of Masters of Marketing, SEO Consultant Dylan Brooks discusses strategies for your agency's short and long term SEO goals.
In the August 2018 edition of Masters of Marketing, AgencyBuzz Product Manager Heather Cherry explains how answering the who, what, when, where, and why, can help create a successful email marketing strategy for your insurance agency.
In the June 2018 edition of Masters of Marketing, SEO Consultant Dylan Brooks explains how independent insurance agencies can weather the oncoming disruption in the insurance industry caused by technological automation.
In the January 2018 edition of Masters of Marketing, ITC Marketing Coordinator Emily Nguyen discusses how ideation can help insurance agents, small business owners, and entrepreneurs to attract business, streamline processes, and innovate.
The Secret to Engaging Modern Consumers: Journey Mapping and Personalization
In today's digital landscape, understanding the customer's journey and delivering personalized experiences are paramount. This masterclass delves into the art of consumer journey mapping, a powerful technique that visualizes the entire customer experience across touchpoints. Attendees will learn how to create detailed journey maps, identify pain points, and uncover opportunities for optimization. The presentation also explores personalization strategies that leverage data and technology to tailor content, products, and experiences to individual customers. From real-time personalization to predictive analytics, attendees will gain insights into cutting-edge approaches that drive engagement and loyalty.
Key Takeaways:
Current consumer landscape; Steps to mapping an effective consumer journey; Understanding the value of personalization; Integrating mapping and personalization for success; Brands that are getting It right!; Best Practices; Future Trends
5 big bets to drive growth in 2024 without one additional marketing dollar AND how to adapt to the biggest shifting eCommerce trend- AI.
1) Romance Your Customers - Retention
2) ‘Alternative’ Lead Gen - Advocacy
3) The Beautiful Basics - Conversion Rate Optimization
4) Land that Bottom Line - Profitability
5) Roll the Dice - New Business Models
In the digital age, businesses are inundated with tools promising to streamline operations, enhance creativity, and boost productivity. Yet, the true key to digital transformation lies not in the accumulation of tools but in strategically integrating the right AI solutions to revolutionize workflows. Join Jordache, an experienced entrepreneur, tech strategist and AI consultant, as he explores essential AI tools across three critical categories—Ideation, Creation, and Operations—that can reshape the way your business creates, operates, and scales.This talk will guide you through the practicalities of selecting and effectively using AI tools that go beyond the basics of today’s popular tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Midjourney, or Dall-E. For each category of tools, Jordache will address three crucial questions: What is each tool? Why is each one valuable to you as a business leader? How can you start using it in your workflow? This approach will not only clarify the role of these tools but also highlight their strategic value, making it perfect for business leaders ready to make informed decisions about integrating AI into their workflows.
Key Takeaways:
>> Strategic Selection and Integration: Understand how to select AI tools that align with your business goals and how to conceptually integrate them into your workflows to enhance efficiency and innovation.
>> Understanding AI Tool Categories: Gain a deeper understanding of how AI tools can be leveraged in the areas of ideation, creation, and operation—transforming each aspect of your business.
>> Practical Starting Points: Learn how you can start using these tools in your business with practical tips on initial steps and integration ideas.
>> Future-Proofing Your Business: Discover how staying informed about and utilizing the latest AI tools and strategies can keep your business competitive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
10 Video Ideas Any Business Can Make RIGHT NOW!
You'll never draw a blank again on what kind of video to make for your business. Go beyond the basic categories and truly reimagine a brand new advanced way to brainstorm video content creation. During this masterclass you'll be challenged to think creatively and outside of the box and view your videos through lenses you may have never thought of previously. It's guaranteed that you'll leave with more than 10 video ideas, but I like to under-promise and over-deliver. Don't miss this session.
Key Takeaways:
How to use the Video Matrix
How to use additional "Lenses"
Where to source original video ideas
The Forgotten Secret Weapon of Digital Marketing: Email
Digital marketing is a rapidly changing, ever evolving industry--Influencers, Threads, X, AI, etc. But one of the most effective digital marketing tools is also one of the oldest: Email. Find out from two Houston-based digital experts how to maximize your results from email.
Key Takeaways:
Email has the best ROI of any digital tactic
It can be used at any stage of the customer journey
It is increasingly important as the cookie-less future gets closer and closer
Unleash the power of UK SEO with Brand Highlighters! Our guide delves into the unique search landscape of Britain, equipping you with targeted strategies to dominate UK search engine results. Discover local SEO tactics, keyword magic for UK audiences, and mobile optimization secrets. Get your website seen by the right people and propel your brand to the top of UK searches.
To learn more: https://brandhighlighters.co.uk/blog/top-seo-agencies-uk/
Is AI-Generated Content the Future of Content Creation?Cut-the-SaaS
Discover the transformative power of AI in content creation with our presentation, "Is AI-Generated Content the Future of Content Creation?" by Puran Parsani, CEO & Editor of Cut-The-SaaS. Learn how AI-generated content is revolutionizing marketing, publishing, education, healthcare, and finance by offering unprecedented efficiency, creativity, and scalability.
Understanding
AI-Generated Content:
AI-generated content includes text, images, videos, and audio produced by AI without direct human involvement. This technology leverages large datasets to create contextually relevant and coherent material, streamlining content production.
Key Benefits:
Content Creation: Rapidly generate high-quality content for blogs, articles, and social media.
Brainstorming: AI simulates conversations to inspire creative ideas.
Research Assistance: Efficiently summarize and research information.
Market Insights:
The content marketing industry is projected to grow to $17.6 billion by 2032, with AI-generated content expected to dominate over 55% of the market.
Case Study: CNET’s AI Content Controversy:
CNET’s use of AI for news articles led to public scrutiny due to factual inaccuracies, highlighting the need for transparency and human oversight.
Benefits Across Industries:
Marketing: Personalize content at scale and optimize engagement with predictive analytics.
Publishing: Automate content creation for faster publication cycles.
Education: Efficiently generate educational materials.
Healthcare: Create accurate content for patients and professionals.
Finance: Produce timely financial content for decision-making.
Challenges and Ethical Considerations:
Transparency: Disclose AI use to maintain trust.
Bias: Address potential AI biases with diverse datasets.
SEO: Ensure AI content meets SEO standards.
Quality: Maintain high standards to prevent misinformation.
Conclusion:
AI-generated content offers significant benefits in efficiency, personalization, and scalability. However, ethical considerations and quality assurance are crucial for responsible use. Explore the future of content creation with us and see how AI is transforming various industries.
Connect with Us:
Follow Cut-The-SaaS on LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Medium. Visit cut-the-saas.com for more insights and resources.
What’s “In” and “Out” for ABM in 2024: Plays That Help You Grow and Ones to L...Demandbase
Delve into essential ABM ‘plays' that propel success while identifying and leaving behind tactics that no longer yield results. Led by ABM Experts, Jon Barcellos, Head of Solutions at Postal and Tom Keefe, Principal GTM Expert at Demandbase.
Come learn how YOU can Animate and Illuminate the World with Generative AI's Explosive Power. Come sit in the driver's seat and learn to harness this great technology.
First Things First: Building and Effective Marketing Strategy
Too many companies (and marketers) jump straight into activation planning without formalizing a marketing strategy. It may seem tedious, but analyzing the mindset of your targeted audiences and identifying the messaging points most likely to resonate with them is time well spent. That process is also a great opportunity for marketers to collaborate with sales leaders and account managers on a galvanized go-to-market approach. I’ll walk you through the methods and tools we use with our clients to ensure campaign success.
Key Takeaways:
-Recognize the critical role of strategy in marketing
-Learn our approach for building an actionable, effective marketing strategy
-Receive templates and guides for developing a marketing strategy
How to Use AI to Write a High-Quality Article that Ranksminatamang0021
In the world of content creation, many AI bloggers have drifted away from their original vision, resulting in low-quality articles that search engines overlook. Don't let that happen to you! Join us to discover how to leverage AI tools effectively to craft high-quality content that not only captures your audience's attention but also ranks well on search engines.
Disclaimer: Some of the prompts mentioned here are the examples of Matt Diggity. Please use it as reference and make your own custom prompts.
When most people in the industry talk about online or digital reputation management, what they're really saying is Google search and PPC. And it's usually reactive, left dealing with the aftermath of negative information published somewhere online. That's outdated. It leaves executives, organizations and other high-profile individuals at a high risk of a digital reputation attack that spans channels and tactics. But the tools needed to safeguard against an attack are more cybersecurity-oriented than most marketing and communications professionals can manage. Business leaders Leaders grasp the importance; 83% of executives place reputation in their top five areas of risk, yet only 23% are confident in their ability to address it. To succeed in 2024 and beyond, you need to turn online reputation on its axis and think like an attacker.\
Key Takeaways:
- New framework for examining and safeguarding an online reputation
- Tools and techniques to keep you a step ahead
- Practical examples that demonstrate when to act, how to act and how to recover
Most small businesses struggle to see marketing results. In this session, we will eliminate any confusion about what to do next, solving your marketing problems so your business can thrive. You’ll learn how to create a foundational marketing OS (operating system) based on neuroscience and backed by real-world results. You’ll be taught how to develop deep customer connections, and how to have your CRM dynamically segment and sell at any stage in the customer’s journey. By the end of the session, you’ll remove confusion and chaos and replace it with clarity and confidence for long-term marketing success.
Key Takeaways:
• Uncover the power of a foundational marketing system that dynamically communicates with prospects and customers on autopilot.
• Harness neuroscience and Tribal Alignment to transform your communication strategies, turning potential clients into fans and those fans into loyal customers.
• Discover the art of automated segmentation, pinpointing your most lucrative customers and identifying the optimal moments for successful conversions.
• Streamline your business with a content production plan that eliminates guesswork, wasted time, and money.
[Google March 2024 Update] How To Thrive: Content, Link Building & SEOSearch Engine Journal
March 2024 disrupted the SEO industry. Websites were deindexed, and manual penalties were delivered—all to produce more helpful, more trustworthy search results.
How did your website fare?
Watch us as we delve into the seismic shifts brought about by Google's March 2024 updates and explore strategies to not just survive, but thrive in this dynamic digital landscape.
You’ll learn:
- How to create content that is valuable to users (not just search engines) using E-E-A-T.
- How to build links that can boost rankings and withstand algorithm updates.
- Best practices for content creation and link building so you can thrive during algorithm updates.
With Vince Ramos, we'll examine the implications of the latest algorithm changes on content creation, link building, and SEO practices, and offer actionable insights from businesses like yours that have remained steadfast amidst the volatility.
Using real-life case studies, we’ll also show you the effectiveness of manual link building techniques and person-first content strategies.
Whether you're a seasoned SEO professional, a budding content creator, or anyone in between, this webinar will help you weather the changes in Google's algorithms and capitalize on them for sustained success.
Check out this webinar and unlock the secrets to thriving in the new Google era.
[Google March 2024 Update] How To Thrive: Content, Link Building & SEO
Crawl, Walk, Run: Using Your Agency’s Branding to Reach Online Prospects
1. Crawl. Walk. Run.
1.) How to Decide on Your Website’s Goal.
2.) Using Your Agency’s Branding to Reach Online Prospects.
Karly Baker
Website Coordinator
2. Join Us Next Time.
• Thursday, August 16th at 12:00 p.m. CT
• “Using the 5 W’s to Create a Successful Email Marketing
Strategy” hosted by AgencyBuzz Product Manager Heather
Cherry.
• [The 5 W’s are; Who / What / When/ Where/ Why ]
• Find a recording of this webinar at
resources.getitc.com/masters-of-marketing
• Join the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #MastersMktg
(Follow us at @InsTechCorp)
3. Crawl.
“Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like
a ship that has set sail with no destination.”
— Fitzhugh Dodson
4. Be Cool.
• Goals and Objectives
Understanding your goals and objectives will
increase your ability to not only better serve your
viewers but also the chance for online success in
converting visitors to customers.
6. Getting Warmer.
• Who is your target?
• Who are you trying to reach?
“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like.
Design is how it works.”
– Steve Jobs
7. Hot. Hot. Hot.
• Identifying Target Audience.
• Branding.
“A target audience is a specific group of consumers that
will be the most receptive to your products, services, and
promotions.”
- Kristen McCormick
8. Fire.
• Call to Actions (CTA)
“A combination of words or phrases that seek to
inspire action”
- Alex Birkett
15. Colors & Branding
“Choice of color has the ability to generate a positive
impact to the visitor and as a result, make the visitor
stay longer.”
- Cyriac
16. Color Matters
“Color can sway thinking, change actions, and cause
reactions. It can irritate or soothe your eyes, raise
your blood pressure or suppress your appetite.”
- J.L. Morton
17. How do I choose colors?
What color makes you happy? What's your favorite color? What’s your product?
18. Run.
“A successful site requires an effective, marketing
strategy beyond presenting a collection of products,
services, images, videos or other files.”
– Craig de Fasselle
Hi everyone!
Today we are going to Crawl. Walk. Run.
We are going to cover a couple different topics.
How to decide on your websites goal
And Using your agency’s branding to reach online prospects
My name is Karly Baker, I am lead website coordinator here at ITC. I have been apart of the ITC team for going on 4 years now!
So just a few housekeeping items…
Our next Masters of Marketing is:
Thursday, August 16th at 12:00 p.m. CT
Using the 5 W’s to Create a Successful Email Marketing Strategy” hosted by AgencyBuzz Product Manager Heather Cherry.
[The 5 W’s are; Who / What / When/ Where/ Why ]
You can find a recording of todays webinar at resources.getitc.com/masters-of-marketing
You can also; Join the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #MastersMktg and (Follow us at @InsTechCorp)
Where do we start? We Crawl.
Read Quote
Be Cool. Identify your Goals and Objectives.
Read quote.
The importance of having “Goals and Objectives” with your website cannot be understated. Your web designer can help you achieve an attractive website. However, having goals and objectives is vital for a successful online presence; to make your site “work” for you. The end result is having a website that you can use as a tool vs an online business card.
It’s very easy to get caught up in all the “fun stuff” when creating your website. Even though the bells and whistles are important; it is not the starting point. Step one is understanding your goals and objectives with the website.
S – Specific
Be Specific. Make sure your goals are focused and identify a tangible outcome. Without the specifics, your goal runs the risk of being too vague to achieve. Being more specific helps you identify what you want to achieve. You should also identify what resources you are going to leverage to achieve success.
M – Measurable
Measurable. You should have some clear definition of success. This will help you to evaluate achievement and also progress. This component often answers how much or how many and highlights how you’ll know you achieved your goal.
A – Achievable
Achievable. Your goal should be challenging, but still reasonable to achieve. Reflecting on this component can reveal any potential barriers that you may need to overcome, to realize success. Outline the steps you’re planning to take to achieve your goal.
R – Realistic
Be Realistic. This is about getting real with yourself and ensuring what you’re trying to achieve is worthwhile to you. Determining if this is aligned to your values and if it is a priority focus for you. This helps you answer the why.
T – Timely
Timely. Every goal needs a target date, something that motivates you to really apply the focus and discipline necessary to achieve it. This answers when. It’s important to set a realistic time to achieve your goal and ensure you don’t get discouraged.
We are warming up… but first, Who is your target audience? Who are you trying to reach?
Read Quote
It is crucial to identify your “ideal visitor”. If your website is “aimed at everyone it may attract no one”. Your website is a part of your “brand” which is a direct representation of who you are.
Your website needs to instantly appeal to your target audience by answering their questions. Prove to them that you ARE worth their time; and you CAN be a valuable asset.
The steps to understanding your target audience are typically taken during the planning phase of your business. When you are designing your product of service, one of the many questions you ask yourself is, “Who is this going to appeal to?” or “Who do I want to appeal to the most?” It is important to identify your target audience, so that you can maximize the effectiveness of your marketing.
This group is based on factors like age, location, income, and more.
Read Quote.
McCormick gives a great example, “If you are a physical therapist, your target audience might be athletes who are recovering from injury; senior citizens looking to maintain mobility; or middle-aged men and women with back pain”
It is important to have a target audience because the language, channels, and information you use to communicate with and appeal to one demographic, may not be as effective with another. Having a target audience gives you direction in your marketing; gives more consistency in your messaging and allows you to deepen your connection with your customers.
Now that we have identified our Goals & Objectives; we now understand our Target audience and who we are trying to reach. Now is the fun part – choosing a design with Call to Actions that focus viewers in the direction you are trying to communicate.
Call to Actions – commonly referred to as CTA
Refers to any message designed to prompt an immediate response or encourage an immediate sale. It really is as simple as it sounds: a call for someone to take action.
READ QUOTE
Birkett also states:
That there are generally two questions that help you with CTAs. Which are:
What is my prospect’s motivation for clicking this button?
What is my prospect going to get when she or he clicks this button?
If you can answer these questions clearly, you’ll have a quality Call to Action button.
Okay so using some of our design layouts… I have circled the main call to actions.
This is our Onyx Design
Slogan – Insuring your needs today!
This is Speaking directly to the viewer
What Can We Help You Cover at the bottom.
This is a Drop Down of Products
Keep I mind, every viewer is different – the graphic elements that I see first might be the 2nd or 3rd elements you see. Which is why a good design focuses all attention to one specific area, as much as possible.
Similar to Onyx, the Concept design has the drop down, ‘What can we help you cover’ at the top, as well as the four main lines on business buttons, at the bottom of the screen.
On this our perception design, it is very clear what the CTAs are: Slogan “Providing Solutions with unique experience and knowledge” and the three Main Buttons
Manage My Policy
Request A Quote
File A Claim
Easy! Right smack dab in the middle of the screen.
Our Cereza Design has a good amount of Call to Actions.
The phone number is very large – grabbing the viewers attention
Next, is the four main lines of business buttons with color images – since the main image is B&W these color images really pop out.
Lastly, the quick contact form on the right, which is a simple way to submit a request.
Easy – Simple – Straight Forward
Here are some other Call to Actions.
Having a Call to Action saying “YES!! I want to save money and get instant quotes!” with blinking yellow arrows - is probably going to be a bit annoying and pretty extra.
These examples are simple ways to draw focus to a specific area for a specific purpose.
Explain the above CTAs.
Your Call to Actions do not have to extravagant, they don’t have to have bright colors and blinking lights saying “Click Here! – Click Here!” they just need to be simple and clear. Steer your viewers where you want them to go.
Goals & Objectives – Check
Target Audience – Check
Call to Actions – Check
Now that we have all three of those areas identified, we can discuss - Branding to reach online prospects.
Color and Branding
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However, you cannot have any one without the other.
Knowing your brand is key. Do you have a logo? Do you have specific colors for your logo? Keep in mind your target audience.
“Who is this going to appeal to?” or “Who do I want to appeal to the most?”
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Choosing an appropriate color combination in the website design process is considered one of the most important (yet often overlooked) elements in creating a successful website. When deciding on the appropriate color scheme for a website, consideration should be given to the target audience. It is important to relate your product / service to a color relevant to your industry.
For example, “Red means STOP, Green means GO”
Colors used for a product, web site, business card, or logo cause powerful reactions.
What color makes you happy? What's your favorite color? What’s your product?
Get in touch with the colors that resonate with you.
For me I enjoy the first two colors schemes the most. Cool colors, blues and greens, nature… because when I think about the outdoors - I get a since of peace, calmness, happiness – being at ease. So find what colors connect with you and build on it. But remember keep it simple.
Your brand is a direct representation of who you are. It needs to reflect your likes, your product and the feeling you are wanting to portray.
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Layout goes hand and hand with spacing. The website must be clean with an easy-to-follow navigation system to contribute to a usable webpage layout. A layout that is easy to follow will give the site’s visitor easy access - valuable and important information. A good layout will also encourage the visitor to view more pages on the site.
So Bringing it all together for one final product.
Goals & Objectives
Target Audience
Call to Actions
Colors & Branding
We are going to take a look at ITC Designs and compare them to current customized agencies websites.
First we have our TresMar Ultra Design.
Calm, subtle colors… this design’s CTAs are the two buttons top left corner next to logo, the product drop down in the middle of the page and the 6 main LOB buttons and
Here is Pacific Coast Insurance Services using our TresMar Ultra Design.
This agency already had a logo, therefore we simply matched the website to the branding colors. The main CTA with this site is the product drop down in the middle, “what can we help you with?”
This site is very clean, open and pleasing to the eye. Notice how the main photo has slight blues throughout. This was a very subtle, yet intentional decision. The photograph creates a smooth transition throughout the website design.
Flip back and forth.
See structure stays the same but the design elements change, depending on what the agency specializes in and their branding.
Here is our Method Premium Design.
CTAs is the logo, nice and large, the three buttons in the middle, “Who we are, Products, Contact Us” and a nice welcome intro about the agency.
EK Agency using our method design – this design was finalized earlier this week.
Again, the evening photo choice compliments the dark logo perfectly! The pop of the lights on the bridge gives a very classy, maybe even a little bit of a romantic feeling, with the golds and the blacks.
The Call to Action here is the three buttons, “Who We Are, Products, Contact Us” as well as a small welcome intro about the agency.
Flip back and forth.
See structure stays the same but the design elements change, depending on what the agency specializes in and their branding.
This is our Perception Premium Design.
Main call to actions here is the slogan, “providing solutions with unique experience and knowledge” and the tree buttons, “Manage my policy, request a quote, and file a Claim”
Chun and Reynolds using the perception design.
This agency was completed last month. We did a little bit of customization on this website… they wanted the main call to action to be the drop down, which originally this design didn’t have.
We also have three main buttons, “Manage My Policy, Testimonials, File A Claim”
Again, the photo, logo, colors, buttons; all creates a smooth transition throughout the website design.
Flip back and forth.
See structure stays the same but the design elements change, depending on what the agency specializes in and their branding.
This is our Concept Ultra Design.
Main CTAs here is the drop down, “what can we help you cover” and the four main lines of business buttons.
Interstates Insurance Agency using the concept design.
This agency also had a logo already. Therefore, we simply chose images and matched the color scheme to the logo.
The Main CTA for this site are the four main lines of business buttons and the drop down at the top, “what can we help you cover”
Notice again the gentlemen on the right’s shirt. Matches perfectly with the agencies brand.
Flip back and forth.
See structure stays the same but the design elements change, depending on what the agency specializes in and their branding.
Again this is our Perception Premium Design.
And the main call to actions are still the slogan and the tree buttons.
Alicia Kines Insurance Agency using the perception design.
With this agency, they only wanted one button vs the three. They wanted to focus all attention on “request a quote” and the slogan.
Notice how perfectly the main photo compliments the logo. The golds in the photo is a prefect highlight for the gold in the logo.
Same design as the other, but looks completely different because of the agencies brand and CTA.
Flip back and forth.
See structure stays the same but the design elements change, depending on what the agency specializes in and their branding.
With all 5 of these examples, I touched on how the photo choice compliments the agency branding. We didn’t go into detail about the importance of choosing strong images. However, I want to take a second to stress the importance of truly taking your time to choose images that strengthen your overall website design.
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O’Neill makes a great point, “When you ask people what possessions they would rescue from their burning house, one of the most frequent answers is the photo album or a computer with digital images. This impulse to save our recorded memories is a powerful force which tells us much about the role of photography in our lives.” We preserve the important events and people in our lives.
With that being said, choosing your photos should be a conscious decision. Photography communicates with your viewers just as much as text and Call to Actions.
Your photos should enhance your branding, not distract from it.
Now that we have Crawled. Walked. Ran. – time for the Cool Down.
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Having a great looking site will only catch the viewer’s eye for a split second. At the end of the day it comes down to the quality of content and the ability to successfully assist your clients. Therefore, knowing your audience will greatly assist in making your website not just a representation of your brand but a “tool” to convert a prospect into a customer.
Alright, well I hope this has been informative and useful – again you can find todays webinar at resources.getitc.com/masters-of-marketing
Have a wonderful day!