Author: Raffye Memon

What to Ask When Choosing a Web Design Agency

Having options is a good thing, but having too many options can be overwhelming. With hundreds of web design companies across the country, deciding which digital agency is best for your business could have you stressing, but if you understand your position and what you’re ultimate goals are then it should be a stress-free process.

Does an agency do branding, marketing, and print-based design work?

While some agencies try to separate themselves by focusing on one type of design work, others try to excel across the board and leave no avenue unexplored.

You may only be interested in print-based design… for now. But down the road opportunities for branding and marketing may arise and now you’re back to square one of finding another agency to tackle those additional needs. By expanding your mind and getting familiar with all the areas of expertise certain agencies possess, even if some don’t interest you at this particular moment, it can help you see into the future for what options might come to the forefront in years to come.

What content management system (CMS) do they work with?

The agency can get your website off and running, or it can revamp it with a complete makeover. But understanding the content management system being used can ensure the level of functionality stays at an all-time high long after the initial unveiling.

If the CMS is relatively new or unfamiliar, adequate training time will have to be provided to teach employees how to upload their own content. This can be done while the site is being constructed so everybody is up to speed and ready to hit the ground running once launch day arrives.

How is the marketing team structured?

To make sure everyone is on the same page, it’s best to gather information about the marketing team to know exactly who will be working on the design. Some companies may choose to outsource portions of a project to third parties who you know nothing about. Working with an agency that uses a collective, in-house team is more suitable to make sure there are no hiccups or communication issues along the way.

Would you rather have multiple people, across multiple states and time zones, trying to collaborate on your website? Or would a team working together, from inside a single office, better suit your preferences?

What is their Web Design Process?

Familiarity is crucial. While you likely want your layout to be unique and stand-out in the eye of the viewer, having a designer who is familiar with website structure and implementation will be what separates your site from the competition. Their ability to analyze and effectively use data along with other proven methods can take an already above-average design and make it extraordinary.

Do they align with the latest web design tools?

Out with the old and in with the new. Or in our constantly evolving society, out with yesterday and in with tomorrow!

But you still have to be patient. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is your web design. Wouldn’t it be better to make sure all the kinks are out before launching? Even if it means waiting a few extra days, weeks, or even months for large projects in order to prevent minor errors or editing flaws that could immediately eliminate your agency from consideration. If you’re willing to sacrifice a large investment, be willing to sacrifice a large amount of development time as well.

Do they offer additional Digital Marketing Services?

People are busy. Always busy. There’s simply not enough hours in the day to check everything off the to-do list. But one thing more than 90% of Americans have in common is that they are online multiple times throughout the day.

While traditional marketing methods are still plenty effective, the reach pales in comparison to digital marketing. Being up-to-date on the cutting edge methods to attract consumers digitally is essential with our constantly evolving culture.

Do they have a portfolio and do their clients have a strong online presence if so?

Agencies should be proud of their work. It should not be hard to find samples of what they’ve done in the past. As a prospective client, you can gain a lot from researching some of your top candidates. See how they compete against each other, how they orchestrate creative and unique industry trends, and how they differ from client-to-client.

What better way to check someone’s work than by browsing through their previous clients’ web designs! How does it flow? Are the colors clashing? What would you do differently? Is the text too big/small? How many clicks does it take you to find what you’re looking for?

 

After your own evaluation and analysis is complete, have a co-worker take a look and get their insight as well. As with most things, it never hurts to have a second set of eyes look it over.

Will you get the most bang for your buck?

We’ve all heard the old adage ‘you get what you pay for’. And choosing a web design agency is falls into this category.

If you are only willing to invest a small amount of capital, expect a small number of enhanced features and capabilities on your site. This is where defining your intentions comes into play. If the goal is simply to create a design with basic colors, text, and a stock photo, that’s great. But if you’re wanting to implement the latest technology trends with motion, up-to-date information, enhanced video capabilities, and interactive avenues, then understanding the money you spend will be rewarded with a great return on your investment.

It’s also important to fully understand what all is included in those costs. Don’t let some of the details slip through the cracks. Are you paying for new website design and to have code applied? Not being transparent could cause you to look elsewhere for coding if the agency only agreed to design the site.

In Summary

If you find yourself mulling over the stressful decision of choosing a web design agency just remember, it doesn’t have to be! Contact us at The frank Agency and we will help you meet all your design development needs for your to stand out in the eyes and ears of your consumers.

Ways to Utilize Direct Response in Your Marketing

When marketing and advertising come to mind, many people think of brand giants like Apple, McDonald’s, and Coca-Cola. These large businesses use elaborate campaigns that really stick with the viewer. As a small business, seeing campaigns like this may lead you to the belief that you need to create a similar larger-than-life campaign for your business. However, you have another method at your disposal which is much more simplistic, and also happens to be trackable, measurable, and very effective. This method is direct response marketing.

A Quick Breakdown of Direct Response Marketing

Essentially, direct response marketing is all about driving your target audience to a specific action. This is achieved by showcasing an offer that is relevant to your targeted audience, providing adequate information that outlines the offer’s benefits and having a clear call to action.

Different Way to Utilize

Below is an example of direct response marketing, and some of the many mediums to which you can apply the strategy:

Email Campaign — a standard way to implement this marketing strategy in an email campaign would be to first acquire an audience. Many people find success in giving one of their products or services away in exchange for a user’s email address. Once you have their email address, you know they are interested in whatever your free item was, and can then further target them with a similar product.

For instance, let’s say a user creates an account with their email in exchange for a shoe discount on your website. You know they are in the market for some new shoes, so you target them with an email that showcases a shoe sale. You display the savings that are going on and, assuming your desired action is for the customer to purchase a shoe, you choose “Buy Now” as your call to action. This would meet all of the criteria for direct response marketing, since it is targeted, trackable, measurable, and has a clear call to action.

You can apply those same principles to many different mediums such as TV commercials, direct mail, billboards, social media, and more.

Sales — as described in the example above, this is a very common way to use direct response marketing.

Upselling — some businesses thrive on upselling through monthly reminders to current customers with their new deals.

Nurturing customers to the next stage — a main goal may be to drive a customer to a sale, but sometimes they are not ready to buy. When trying to guide a customer through the sales funnel, make sure your call to action reflects taking them to the next step.

Recruitment — remember, this marketing strategy is not exclusive to sales. You can utilize it for whatever action you are trying to accomplish, which in this case, could be recruiting employees for your company.

Growing your customers through referrals — this is a great way to grow your customer base with added benefit, as a referred customer’s lifetime value is 16% higher than a non-referred customer.

In Summary

Direct response is a tried and tested technique for all businesses to utilize in driving action now instead of later. It is adaptable and will help you in achieving the specific goal you are after. Being trackable and measurable are added benefits, as you can keep a close eye on your return on investment to see what is working, and what to cut.

To learn more about direct response marketing, or how to incorporate it into your business, contact us at The frank Agency.

Why Vertical Videos are the New Norm in Social Media Marketing

When I was in college, I was taught that shooting vertically oriented videos was a big no-no. They said the human eyes are not built to watch videos that way and all TV shows and movies you see are horizontal for a reason. Are they supposed to make vertical TVs now? That was a while ago, and with recent new trends like the launch of IGTV and the new mobile ad format on YouTube, I don’t think what I learned in college is true anymore. The consumer market has spoken and vertical videos are the new black.

When people use their smartphones, they hold them vertically. It’s only natural. The MOVR Mobile Overview Report says smartphone users hold their phones vertically 94% of the time. Vertical is more comfortable, don’t you agree? When people watch videos on their phones, even if it’s a horizontal video, most choose to keep the phone vertical and watch a compacted video with black bars on the top and bottom. They probably won’t watch the whole thing if it’s like that because it’s hard on the eyes. A vertical video, however, takes up all space on the screen, providing more room for your brand to tell a richer story. According to research from MediaBrix, the average viewer will watch 14% of a horizontal video on mobile, but 90% if it’s vertical. This is why Snapchat has evolved so much since it launched in 2011.

Mobile is increasingly the most popular way to receive content, and video is increasingly the most popular form of content to engage consumers. Therefore, a video ad on mobile is the jackpot of digital marketing. Graybo reports that 85% of all web traffic is on mobile and at least 60% of that traffic is video-based. The ratio of mobile viewing to TV viewing is now roughly 50/50, with mobile viewing likely getting the upper hand in the near future.

Software company Animaker did an experiment to prove how vertical videos perform better than horizontal. They created a fun and engaging minute-long video and made two versions of it, one horizontal and one vertical. The videos were promoted separately on Facebook and targeted to the same audience both times. The vertical version reached 58% more people, had 25% more engagements, the cost per click was 150% lower, and 79% more people watched the entire video from start to finish.

Major television networks and movie studios are getting in on the vertical trend as well. According to iab.com, 38% of vertical video ads are for the media. Full-length vertical trailers have been released on social media, CBS This Morning now converts its stories to vertical format and publishes them on IGTV the day they air, and now we have HQ Trivia as the world’s first live mobile game show. Shall I go on?

If you continue your video marketing with horizontal videos, you’re losing lots of potential impressions and engagements. A social media agency that knows these trends inside out will get you on the right track. To join the rise of vertical videos and step up your social media marketing, contact us at The frank Agency.

Color Lights The Way For What is to Come

Look down at your shirt, what color is it? What emotion does it imbue? What does it say about your mood, or was it an afterthought, a default of what’s clean in the closet? If you chose the latter that’s ok, so did I. But if you consider yourself a fashionista or trendsetter, you may already know that PANTONE 18-3838 ULTRAVIOLET, is THE color for 2018.

Pantone, the gold standard of universal color forecasting, is largely, if not singularly, why color informs everything from what we notice to what we taste. Have you ever wondered why Target has pants that somehow match the housewares, or that all of the sudden you see copper everywhere? The gig is up— it’s all planned! A colorful conspiracy of sorts to lightly guide consumers to embrace bronze-colored handles and lighting in our kitchens and bathrooms, or splashy yellows for Gen Z’s after 6 attire.

Seriously though, Pantone color forecasting touches our lives in ways we could never imagine. They self-profess: “The Pantone Color of the Year has come to mean so much more than ‘what’s trending’ in the world of design; it’s truly a reflection of what’s needed in our world today.” – Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone Color Institute. As an art director, these trends help us inform brand and consumer buying behavior, which impacts every client in both subtle and overt ways.

According to Pantone, this year’s Ultraviolet Purple is described as “Complex and contemplative and suggests the mysteries of the cosmos, the intrigue of what lies ahead, and the discoveries beyond where we are now. The vast and limitless night sky is symbolic of what is possible and continues to inspire the desire to pursue a world beyond our own. Nuanced and full of emotion, the depth of PANTONE 18-3838 Ultraviolet symbolizes experimentation and nonconformity, spurring individuals to imagine their unique mark on the world, and push boundaries through creative outlets.”

The truth is there is a collective sway that happens from the runway to your walkway, from your house to your local eatery. Our world reflects the color collective and shape-shifts what inspires us to change. Try that brash Gen Z yellow dress (that shouts counterculture), but paired with a muted slide. If you’re a naturalist, the contrast of greens and soft pinks may inspire balance for your go-to palette.

Color both reflects our current state from which we approach life and that which we aspire to. Blink and you may miss the next trend. My art director heart is humming Roy Rogers, “Don’t fence me in…”

For help with your brand’s creative needs, contact The frank Agency for a consultation today.

What are Micro-Interactions and Why They are Important in Web Design

Microinteractions are an important concept in web design used to measure and evaluate the smallest level of interaction between the user and the product. More specifically, the term “microinteraction” describes a single moment or interaction in a single use-case or task that a person encounters when using a product. A web designer is primarily concerned with implementing a strong user experience for a wide-range of different possible interactions of an open-ended nature. For example, a web designer strives to build a site navigation design that is easy to use, aesthetically appealing and directs visitors to all the essential content hubs. Microinteractions help web designers interpret and build around tangible common website use.

1) Microinteractions Reflect User Experience and Engagement

Web designers define microinteractions by looking at cues, routines, and rewards in a loop to examine how an individual performs a task with a product1. You can break down a “login microinteraction” using this system: a user sees a login screen (cue), enters their credentials (routine), and gets logged-in to the service (reward). Web designers can analyze the login process to see if it offers an engaging, positive user experience2. The microinteraction helps designers establish:

  1. if the process makes sense
  2. if the user can easily follow the process
  3. if the user is engaged in the process
  4. if the process could be done in an easier way

Web designers can use this information to make changes to the platform to improve the overall experience.

2) Web Design Testing

Microinteractions are also important in the Quality Assurance process for web design. Unfortunately for a web designer, they are a poor representation of the product user experience because they are so familiar with the design. So microinteractions come in when developing a set of criteria the Quality Assurance team will examine when testing a new design. Essentially, the microtransactions are a list of tasks like “search for articles about pizza,” “log in to the platform,” and “open the main news story.” Developers use feedback to make adjustments.

3) Debugging and Error Checking:

Microinteractions also play an important role in many debugging, error checking, and performance testing applications. Microinteractions are important when programming automated tests for a website that track performance. They also play an important role in the debugging process because they help the team break down the user experience into actions that are both based on real-world use and can pin-point programming errors.

Need assistance creating a stellar website user experience? Contact The frank Agency, Kansas City’s premier advertising agency.

Cited Sources:

  1. https://uxplanet.org/best-practices-for-microinteractions-9456211aeed0
  2. https://uxplanet.org/micro-interaction-great-experience-for-user-engagement-b37446bf6306