New Client Announcement! SFL, leaders in Flue & Chimney Manufacturing choose Sans Frontiere Marketing
A Commercial Campaign to kick off the heating season
This Awareness Campaign for Ferroli ran Sept – Nov for Ferroli last year. We’ve chosen to feature it to demonstrate our HVAC knowledge and encourage those in the industry that are thinking about how to kick off the heating season to think about working with us for an effective campaign. Knowledge is everything and with over 30 years working for Heating and Ventilating customers we know we can help.
This campaign was to build customer awareness around the fact that Ferroli Commercial have a solution for every commercial application, “:Think you know Ferroli? Thing again”! To show this our concept included include images of all the boilers, boiler outputs and applications. We also differentiated the “Light commercial products” of the boiler range
Ferroli Commercial Range consist of 4 Categories: –
1. Wall Mounted Gas Boilers (60kw to 600kw Cascaded) – Force W Boiler
2. Floor Standing Condensing Oil and Gas Boilers (65kw to 1MW) – TP3 COND Boiler
3. Cast Iron Boilers (32kw to 650kw) – Atlas A, GN2N & GN4N
4. Pressurised Steel Boilers (92kw to 6MW) – RSW Boiler
The Marketing campaign included on the page advertising with Trade Press, Print & Online advertising, including E-shots to databases as well as Linkedin, Instagram and Facebook paid Ads as well as Organic posts. The Trade Press selected were all verified, with audited figures and substantial audience and databases included the market-leading building services magazines trusted by building services professionals for their technical, news and feature content. The official magazine of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers The perfect marketing vehicles to reach the manufacturers, buyers, and specifiers at the centre of the HVAC industry, M & E Contractors and Building Service Design consultants.
Activity planned ran over Sept, October and November. We created a new look for Ferroli Commercial that we applied to a set of fresh assets for Ferroli’s Commercial boiler range, including:
Assets
• A4 Advert
• DPS Advert (Ad and advertorial)
• Front Cover – Key Visual (KV) Image
• Eshot headers for Product Range & Force
• Web banners for Ferroli.co.uk & Ferroli.com
• Social Media Assets
Using the copy and images from the creative concept we created Eshots to go to each publications database.
Set up and Design for one Commercial Range and one Force specific.
Featuring
1. A large product portfolio
2. A boiler for every job
3. Available in stock
4. Next Day Delivery
If you’re looking for a HVAC campaign or agency this year, please get in touch.
A great campaign result for Athenry Opticians
For just £600 media spend over a 4 week period our latest campaign for Athenry Opticians, based in Ireland resulted in a total of 242,000 impressions, over 4,111 Link clicks to their website, 62,689 People Reached and the cost per thousand people reached of just £9.57. We certainly got the message across and lots of interest in their dry eye clinic. The success of the campaign speaks for itself. Athenry Opticians have now booked a further 8 weeks of Facebook Paid for activity 😊
If you would be interested in Facebook Advertising for your business please get in touch.
Wish you could migrate your old websites to a new platform without too much fuss & cost?
Is your website and online presence letting you down just because the backend is SO complicated you can’t update content?
It’s a common problem. We have plenty of experience of working with clients that had their website developed years ago using old technology. They’re slow, difficult to maintain, maybe with too much content, or they’re happy with the content but wish they could update it…
Wish you could migrate your old websites to a new platform without too much fuss & cost?
We have just finished migrating a whole host of inaccessible websites into one website. The site has been built on the industry leading WordPress Platform along with a page builder called Elementor. This handles all of the page designs and is really user friendly.
Built using WordPress’s Network Functionality (formerly known as Multisite)it is the perfect solution for multi-site companies that want individual sites for each part of their business or companies that offer franchises. WordPress’s Network Functionality offers the perfect solution for syncing branding across your customers individual sites.
The Network contains one Master Template Site.
This is the one that all future sites are created from and is based on the first site built. This method ensures that every site starts from the same baseline and keeps them all consistent throughout. Each site shares the same installation and key elements are managed from the Network Dashboard – things like plugins and themes. It makes the process of adding a new site incredibly simple and is ideal for this customer as they manage so many websites for different customers. Plus all plugin maintenance and updates can be handled from the Network Admin Dashboard.
At Sans Frontiere we provide everything from state of the art multi-site platforms to affordable website packages – so there’s something for every kind of business. With a track record of building successful websites and as experts in digital media, you can rely on us to help you get your digital marketing in shape.
Our dedicated team of experts have helped 100’s of UK businesses reach millions of potential customers.
If you have this kind of project in your pipeline please get in touch, email audrey@sansfrontiere.com to schedule a call.
Seven simple ways to make your business stand out on social media
With so many people and businesses now active on social media, it can be difficult to know where to start! In this post, we go over seven simple ways to make your business stand out on social media which you might have overlooked.
1. Stand out on social media – just be your brand-self
One of the quickest and easiest ways to help your business stand out on social media is to be yourself or brand-self. Simple, right? Although nailing your brand voice will take sometime to refine it’s worth honing and it will help you stand out from the competition, and subsequently attract the right followers to your social channels.
2. Develop your branding online with theming
Think about your branding online and think about theming your accounts to boost your presence. Theming essentially means sticking to distinct imagery, a colour palette and tone approach, to create a distinct look and feel. Themed accounts are visually pleasing, set the mood for your followers, and reflect your brand’s experience, values or mood. Themes can also change and fluctuate with each campaign you run.
3. Use Strong Imagery
A good, simple way to help your business stand out on social media is to utilise strong imagery. Keep images and video as clear and high quality as you possibly can. Being able to carry your branding and reflect the feel of your brand through imagery can be key to attracting and retaining followers. Remember to get creative and explore ways to use visuals in unexpected ways.
4. Tell your brand story and engage
Let’s combine the elements we just went over – strong visuals, a theme and your brand voice, and use all of these to tell your brand story. Tell your brand story by adding more context to your visuals with captions, using video to engage your brand with your customers. Try to make your brand story compelling, while adding value to your audience. Remember that your working to connect with your audience and build a following – so try creating interest in your brand, and a story they an relate to. Engage your audience! The biggest mistake is to speak AT them.
5. Use all the Tools in the box/mix up content
Another way to help your business stand out on social media is to use the social tools provided to add variety and interest to the ways you reach out and engage your audiences. Be sure to use different posting techniques and content types – in other words, get used to mixing up videos, images, and don’t forget to throw plain text posts into your content schedule. Don’t forget to Boost! Dive into how each network operates and explore features like Facebook carousels, Twitter polls, Twitter lists, multiple image posts, Live videos, Instagram Stories and Live Stories and whatever other tools might be at your disposal for a specific social media network.
7. Have a strategy in place & get creative
And the last, and most important, way to help your business stand out on social media is to plan ahead and have a strategy in place. A schedule of posts, setting time aside for developing your brand story and showcasing your product. Set time aside to get creative, think about ways to get creative develop your online catalogue of product imagery that will help you build your brand online.
A strategy will give you direction for content, and free up time to get creative. A strategy will ensure your team (if you have one) is on the same page and that nothing is falling through the cracks. You’ll be fully prepared for what’s coming up, and you’ll have the time to flesh out creative and effective ways to get the word out and create wonderful content to support your initiatives.
Hopefully this post will get those creative ideas following that will help you develop your brand or business online. At the end of the day social media needs commitment, keeping a regular presence and being consistent is key to success.
With a little bit of creativity and dedication you can extend the brand experience your customers already know and love and multiply the experience online to the rest of the world via your social media channels.
Get the creativity flowing!
There’s nothing new in digital marketing…
“Bananas!” I shouted. “Lovely bananas, 2 lbs. for 50p – last few!”
I looked at the faces of passers-by, engrossed in their Saturday afternoon shop, thinking about dinner, football, telly and pints in the pub later. “I’m not getting their attention,” I thought. “Got to try something else.”
It was 1985. I was standing in the busy market square of a town centre in Essex. 15 years old and working for Williams and Sons, market traders. I was the dogsbody – the youngest person in their employ. I got all the worst jobs. Picking up rubbish under the stall, stacking boxes of fruit, unloading the lorry. This particular job was to go out into the crowd with unsold surplus stock and sell it using the time-worn technique of shouting out offers, adjectives, jokes and trying to charm people – ‘don’t come back with the fruit in the scoop!’ were the boss’s orders.
I had no idea at the time but the techniques that got me through those Saturday afternoons in 1985 were the same techniques that I would use, sitting at a desk, over 30 years later. I am head of digital marketing at Sans Frontiere, a full-service marketing agency in Sussex. I mostly devise strategies to market the products and services of our clients online. It’s loosely called digital marketing but, as I think about what I do on my bike rides to and from work every day, I realise that there is nothing new in it. My boss Richard at Williams & Sons (he was one of the sons) was doing the same things 30 years ago – when Tim Berners-Lee was doing his A levels!
Reach, Impressions, Engagement, Conversions
Like me, you have probably seen these terms a lot in the last few years. They have become part of the language of digital marketing. A few years ago, some clever folk in Palo Alto, or some such place, were sitting in a room brainstorming the terms they would use to denote the metrics that would appear out of the online platforms they were developing that would change the world of marketing. These platforms all lived on the internet and were of course digital, but the terms they decided upon had to be familiar terms from the English language and connect with familiar concepts. They are not digital terms and are not new.
Richard, my boss at Williams & Sons, had a marketing budget, although he probably didn’t call it that. He spent a few quid on paid search, quite a bit on display advertising then invested heavily into engagement 5 days out of 7, every week.
Williams & Sons had a permanent ad in the local gazette, a directory of local traders. Richard spent time and money every week painstakingly building a collection of ‘shows’ on his stall. These comprised the best examples of fruit they had obtained from the wholesaler, each item placed on a little bed of coloured paper, built up into impressive walls of colour that caught the eye of passers-by.
Five days a week, Richard and the people that worked for him (myself included) would stand around the stall, selling as hard as we could, shouting out offers and other things to try to get the attention of passers-by. When it got late in the day he would fill my scoop with something that had to be sold and send me out into the crowd to run targeted keyword campaigns.
“Ripe bananas”
“Cheap bananas”
He had worked out how to boost his reach and drive up impressions in order to increase engagement and ultimately drive his conversion goals. It worked. We also used audience targeting:
“Nice bananas here, mum”
“Lovely ripe bananas, mum”
“Two pounds of bananas for 50p, mum”
Richard did not have the sophisticated tools we have today in order to setup his campaigns – he did it all in his head. He didn’t have powerful tools to measure the performance of his campaigns; he used a blend of anecdotal evidence and empirical data. Being there on the spot he could see if his campaigns had reach and the impressions they made on his audience. He could see his audience in the flesh and take the temperature of their engagement. To know his conversion rate he simply looked down into the large denim money pouch he wore around his waist. His marketing strategy was dynamic, his campaigns continually adjusting in response to their results and the changing audience.
The tech giants of Silicon Valley did not invent any of this. They encoded it into a digital format. It was as much an observational feat as a technical one. Hats off to them, but hats off also to Richard.
Joe Aliferis
Sans Frontiere Marketing
joe@sansfrontiere.co.uk
If you’d like a free copy of our simple guide to a digital marketing strategy, feel free to email me or call Sans Frontiere on 01273 487800
Sans Frontiere is delighted to partner with Plumpton Racecourse
We are thrilled to welcome Plumpton Racecourse to the Sans Frontiere family. We have been fans of Sussex Racing since our work with Brighton Racecourse, and are honoured to add Plumpton to our client roster.
We will be responsible for the paid-for social media campaign development and execution, strategy implementation and reporting. Key areas of focus will be generating awareness and increasing engagement around key race days, while growing the customer base to include families, groups and young adults. Sans Frontiere will also provide strategic guidance and execution targeted to racing enthusiasts and local communities.
“We wanted to bring Plumpton up-to-date with Google ads, remarketing and developing the already established social presence with more engaging content. Sans Frontiere showed us what we could do, and we are really looking forward to the results. Working with people that are like minded, local and passionate about what they do was key, and Sans Frontiere ticked all the boxes,” said Martyn Collins from Plumpton Racecourse.
Audrey Evans, CEO of Sans Frontiere comments; “Building our presence in Sussex has been a top priority because leading the growth of local business excites us enormously. Sans Frontiere has an excellent reputation as a provider of highly specialized campaigns for event venues so Plumpton is a perfect fit for us.”
Horseracing first took place at Plumpton Racecourse in 1884. The foundation and survival of Plumpton as a racecourse is principally due to the foresight and commitment of four men. First in 1876 Thomas Henry Case who founded the venue as the first enclosed hare coursing meeting and subsequently, in 1884, introduced horse racing. Second to Isidore Kerman who bought the course in 1961 and brought about many of the improvements that were needed to ensure the course’s survival and finally to Peter Savill and Adrian Pratt who purchased the course in 1998 to ensure its economic survival and protect it from developers. The Racecourse now hosts a range of hospitality events, including weddings, corporate events and charity days.
Traditional Marketing – Is there still a place for it?
Current conversation around digital marketing may lead you to think that billboards and TV adverts became extinct back in 2012. Of course this is not the case, but there’s no denying that modern marketing channels seem a lot more relevant compared to their analog counter parts.
It is difficult to argue the fact that digital methods offer a number significant advantages over traditional methods like outdoor advertisements, leafleting and print. But the question does need to be asked, does traditional marketing still have relevance in a modern business’ marketing strategy?
Digital marketing’s advantages over traditional medias are compelling. Consumers are constantly becoming savvier, more informed and better equipped when it comes to their buying habits. This is making more traditional marketing methods less appealing, and are therefore losing effectiveness in many markets. People like choosing what content they are seeing, they like interacting with brands and they want to do their own research. Digital marketing appeals directly to these needs, and captivates an audience much more strongly than a billboard or a radio advert.
You don’t need to take my word for it, there are plenty of stats to back these ideas up:
• 89% of customers use search engines to influence their purchase decisions.
• 72% of marketers at the enterprise level consider SEO a successful tactic for achieving marketing objectives like lead generation and increased web traffic.
• 18% of local searches lead to a sale within 24 hours.
• 89% of consumers search for local businesses on their phone at least once per week, and 58% do so daily.
• 61% of consumers have their purchasing decisions influenced by custom content.
• Content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing and creates roughly 3 times as many leads.
• 82% of companies with blogs see positive ROI from their inbound marketing.
Does this mean we should abandon traditional methods for good? Will we never see a billboard again? Will London’s underground escalators be free from irrelevant, jargon filled screen ads forever!?
Despite what these stats might suggest, there is still a place for traditional marketing media…
Tactics such as TV and radio ads can also be highly effective at mass market branding. Brand recognition developed this way can be leveraged to improve the performance of an existing digital content marketing campaigns.
Outdoor campaigns, such as billboards, phone boxes and other physical adverts, when strategicly placed, can be a great way to improve brand awareness.
Unlike other forms of advertising, billboard ads are competing against truly extreme distractors: high speeds (when placed near roads), distances that could make them illegible, general worldly distractions , to name just a few. But these challenges continue to make advertisers more creative:
A fantastic use of outdoor advertising, Alaska Airlines created this artwork to visually demonstrate their route to Disneyland. A compelling message amplified by an unexpected format.
“Bite” for Formula Toothcare.
This strong image reinforces their claim “builds strong teeth” in a real and tangible way.
Ads don’t need to be flat. Think laterally and involve otherwise disturbing elements like corners and cracks to enhance your message.
Use locations where viewers are not expecting to be reached. Disrupt the scenery with an ad where the audience gets, quite literally, immersed in.
Overall, the death of traditional media may not be as severe as suggested, and it does still have a place in the marketing industry. A diverse marketing strategy may yield the best results, as focusing solely on digital or traditional methods may mean foregoing the best medium for a particular message.
3 Reasons Why Maintaining a Social Media Presence is Crucial to any Business
3 Reasons Why Maintaining a Social Media Presence is Crucial to any Business
Tim Martin, Weatherspoon’s chairman, has recently announced that the company will be closing down all social media accounts effective immediately – “It’s becoming increasingly obvious that people spend too much time on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and struggle to control the compulsion,” Mr Martin stated last week.
The reason behind this abandonment of all social channels is still under scrutiny, however it has been mentioned that Mr Martin was unhappy with the large presence of internet trolls taking aim at Weatherspoons social accounts. It is true, social media is sometimes unpleasant. People often write things they wouldn’t dream of saying were they face to face with someone, however there is a lot of relevant research that might suggest that was an ill-informed decision:
1 – Using social media for business boosts your site’s SEO – search engines know which sites are actively getting hits, and which are just floating out there in the internet stratosphere. A marketing strategy that aims at increasing Search Engine Optimisation is a crucial part of any approach, and driving traffic to your page via social channels will allow them to climb much higher in the search engine results pages. By eradicating all social media in one brutal hit, you have to question the benefits Mr Martin is hoping to gain aside from a short term peak in publicity.
2 – Social Media is the most efficient tool to connect with and interact with your consumers – If you’re doing it right, social media will lead to real relationship building. Part of what makes platforms like Twitter and Instagram marketing so valuable is the interaction you get to have with your customer base – you can read their tweets, like their pictures, and reply to their direct messages. Insights are more valuable than ever, and with the ability to spot trends and recognise your audiences at the touch of a button, the question remains, why delete all forms of social media?
3 – Users are receptive – If someone is following you, chances are they want to know about you, may you be a business, and friend, or a funny looking dog. Because users are making this choice, they are likely to be receptive of your accounts activity. Because of the way social media started (purely as a platform created to socialise with friends) people widely still don’t view Twitter, Facebook and Instagram as marketing machines. As a result, they are less likely to see your posts as advertisement and be more interested in what you have to say. Tim Martin assured the press that he would be keeping up appearances via more traditional media and press outlets, however whether or not his target audience would receive this form of advertisement as well as they would a social media campaign is still to be decided.
Regarding the decision, Tim Martin said “We are going against conventional wisdom”, this may be true, but I believe that this will not have the positive impact that Mr Martin is hoping to make. In a few weeks time when this strategic move is no longer being spoken about, Weatherspoon’s will be left under represented in the social media world, the ramifications of which are soon to be discovered.
Helena Haycock
Mobile has overtaken desktop for viewing websites. Are you missing out on sales?
Mobile has overtaken desktop for viewing websites. With today’s mobile workforce, many potential customers are away from desktop computers and accessing your website on their mobile devices. By not having a mobile optimised site, you will be missing out on your key customers and ultimately, missing out on sales.
Common mistakes for websites on mobile
- The text is too small so users can’t read the website without zooming in. Desktop sites are being squashed into a mobile screens.
- Calls to action and buttons are in the wrong place or too small, so users can’t move around your website and make purchases.
- Your company phone number or address is not prominent enough; users on mobile usually need this information so they can get in touch quickly.
If your website is making these mistakes get in touch and we can review your website.
What are the causes of mobile user increase?
- Social media has been a huge driver; 90% of Facebook’s daily active users access it via mobile and users are clicking links to your website.
- Email data tell a similar story; 54% of emails are now opened on mobile so customers are clicking to your website on their mobile.
- People are searching differently; Google announced last year that there are more searches on mobile than tablet and desktop combined
What does that mean for your existing website?
Quite simply, in a World where mobile has overtaken desktop for viewing websites, you could be missing out on sales and revenue. Some argue that customers do not always purchase via mobile, but even so, they will definitely be researching your products and services to make a purchase later. If your website does not supply this product information easily then you may be negatively impacting your sales. An update last year by Google resulted in non-mobile websites falling down search results ranking, so your company website will be harder to find by your customers and competitors will be displayed instead.
Fighting off the sharks. How we do WordPress security.
At Sans Frontiere, we don’t use a single generic approach to security for all websites and web applications.
As an example, for WordPress sites, we employ a WordPress specific security policy that involves a WordPress specific firewall and a WordPress-centric approach to security hardening.
Did your eyes just glaze over reading that last sentence? If so, you might prefer a metaphor or an analogue for all this techie stuff.
Boats versus Sharks!
If your WordPress website or application is an ocean liner (or even a modest yacht or a tug boat), imagine it floating on the high seas, surrounded by sharks. The sharks want to get into the boat and wreak havoc so they circle your boat, trying to find a vulnerability.
Now your boat could be ultra modern or a nice old vessel, lovingly looked after to keep it seaworthy. In either case, seaworthiness and the ability to fend off the sharks are two different things. Anti-shark defenses are an essential addition to any boat, if you’re serious about keeping the sharks out.
At Sans Frontiere Marketing, we don’t just build websites and launch them onto the sea with a fanfare, leaving them exposed to the predators that we know wait, just out of sight. We equip each vessel we build with a host of anti-shark devices and build in real-time communications to keep us constantly in-touch with every disturbance, every ripple in the water, that your boat encounters. So we know when something changes or when something is blocked or when something needs our attention.
Exit metaphor
We use endpoint Firewalls – which basically means an Application firewall, built into your website. This cannot be bypassed like a Cloud based Firewall can and, since its hooked into your website, it knows what type of visitor each bit of traffic is. It can make better informed decisions and filter traffic more effectively. Its just a lot better.
We use WordPress specific security hardening, moving and renaming files, changing default WordPress values.
We install and manage real-time website monitoring and are notified as soon as something changes or needs updating.
We keep your WordPress core and all your plugins up to date. This means all security related patches are applied when they become available.
Why WordPress development can be a great option
WordPress development enables us.
Its true that WordPress development is one technique among many. So the question is: when to use WordPress.
WordPress is ostensibly a CMS (Content Management System). One among many, but also the World’s most popular CMS by quite a big margin. Not without good cause. WordPress is pretty amazing in many ways, especially given that its Open Source and free. But like any good tool, its as much about how its used as what its capable of. The capabilities only create potential. Not results by themselves.
So what can we do with WordPress and what are the advantages of using this amazing tool?
To see some finished examples of what can be done with the WordPress development approach, just take a look at our Portfolio of Work. Much of it has been achieved using WordPress development. The diversity of the websites in our portfolio, both in terms of design concepts and functionality, should convince you of the power and flexibility of WordPress in the right hands.
Our Portfolio
https://sansfrontiere.co.uk/work/
InstallersMate is a membership application that connects to the GasSafe API, allowing users to create their GasSafe notifications in a simple interface then have every other aspect of this process taken care of for them, including annual reminders, warranty certificates and more.
Cola Stoves is a searchable product database providing a simple interface for potential customers to search, filter and browse these sophisticated products in an intuitive way.
The Ecertsecure website is an attractive and effective online marketing device, showing off their products and services in a contemporary style. The same is true of its sister website, Emergesecure.
As well as a powerful marketing tool, the Ferroli website is doing high transaction ecommerce.
The SEAS website is a huge marketing tool also offering an events system and selling an array of memberships online.
What are the advantages of WordPress development?
Here are the core things:
- WordPress is a very powerful CMS, out of the box. This means as well as getting a great website you also get great online tools for managing your site.
- Its Open Source – this means that not only is the toolset free but there is a huge online community supporting WordPress developers. This has been one of the greatest successes of WordPress – to build such a huge online community. Its a big reason why WordPress has become ubiquitous.
- WordPress is flexible and customisable. Unlike some CMS systems, the WordPress templating system is powerful and flexible. It means there are almost no limits imposed on the scope of what can be achieved in a creative sense. As well as this, the underlying logic of WordPress is flexible too, meaning that in the right hands, the application becomes almost a framework that facilitates development of bespoke functionality.
- Its is continually evolving.
- WordPress has an extensible architecture. In short, there are many thousands of very good 3rd party plugins available via the curated WordPress repository – many free and some paid, that add modules of functionality to the WordPress core, extending the scope of what can be achieved beyond almost all limits.
The bottom line however is that, in the right hands, leveraging the power of WordPress can mean huge savings getting an idea or a product off the ground. It means faster, more effective routes from concept to production. A modern marketing agency like ours would be crazy not to be taking advantage of this for our clients.
Examples of solutions that can be built using WordPress plus customisation.
- Ecommerce
- Events systems
- Ticketing systems
- Directories
- Bespoke online applications and services
- Multi-platform apps
- Membership sites and community portals
If you would like to talk to us about leveraging the power of WordPress, please get in touch
Make Your Brand Accessible With User Experience
Your brand needs to be accessible. Today’s consumers have a wealth of resources at their fingertips that will influence their purchasing decision. That means you need to provide a positive user experience from the start so what’s the key to making brands accessible?
Younger consumers especially are very savvy and have high expectations for a smooth user experience when they are doing their research. User experience usually refers to the design of websites and apps, but your brand isn’t separate from the experience they have with your communications in all formats– your website, brochures, stores, social media. Their experiences with all these channels will influence their perception of you and your products.
For example, say a user lands on your website on their mobile phone and find that the text is too small for them to read and it’s slow to load. In those few seconds that they get frustrated and they navigate away from your site, you’ve lost that potential customer.
Or, they Tweet you a question about your product and you fail to answer. They feel ignored, and move on.
Let us also not forget that the first taste is always with the eyes: the presentation of your product is often just as important as the product itself. 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual, and humans gravitate towards the aesthetically pleasing. Do not underestimate the value of a well-designed brochure, a beautiful showroom, and an attractive website.
Remember, you don’t have a second chance at a first impression.
Consider Apple – the master of marketing and branding. Sure, they make great products, but it’s the user experience as a whole that really makes them outstanding and aspirational.
Take their showrooms: sophisticated, airy, creative and modern. They create an atmosphere where their product can thrive. Imagine if Apple showrooms looked like the inside of Poundland – it wouldn’t have quite the same effect.
Plus, their showrooms have highly knowledgeable and helpful staff. Apple has an excellent reputation for customer service. Interaction with representatives of Apple contributes to a positive brand and product perception.
And finally their careful branding that from the start had clear differentiators to make them the hip choice of creative and innovators. Their price points and trendy appeal make their products aspirational.
At each touch point they ensure that their first impression is a positive one that’s on brand and provides an excellent user experience.
Evaluate your own brand from first impressions of your website and showroom through to customer service that’s offered post-purchase. How does the experience measure up?
We think there’s always room for improvement!
The Essential Tip For Your Blog – Evergreen Content
So you’ve set up your blog or content resource. Now what do you write about?
If you’re a small or medium sized team it’s unlikely that you’ll have somebody dedicated to managing your content output full-time.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t maximise the potential of your content though. Evergreen Content is the most efficient way for you to use your content marketing.
What is evergreen content?
Evergreen takes its name from evergreen trees. Trees which are full of life the whole year around. Like those trees, evergreen content is sustainable and long lasting. It doesn’t fade away.
“Of course it doesn’t disappear.” You may be thinking. Your articles or blog will be there as long as your website exists. But many articles quickly loose relevance, nobody is searching for them. Your article is resigned to the Google graveyard never to be read again.
Sometimes it’s easier to visualise these things with an example.
You notice that everyone’s talking about the Rugby World Cup, so you theme an article around this (“What the Rugby World Cup tells us about _____”). Which is fine and good. Plenty of people will be searching for the Rugby World Cup, and you may pick up some website views and some leads.
But a week later, and you’re getting no more views, and no more leads. This is because nobody is searching for anything related to the RWC. And the same goes for any other news/fad/time specific piece of content. It will inevitably become obsolete and stop generating any leads – and stop being a resource for your business.
Why does evergreen content work?
Evergreen content works because it will generate sustainable views and leads long into the future.
Let’s use the Rugby World Cup example, in its first week that article may have gained 5000 views. In its second week that drops to 2500. And then after that it never gets another view. Your evergreen content will generate those views month on month on month.
This doesn’t just make evergreen content an effective content technique, it’s an effective marketing technique. Let’s say that you decide to purchase a call list. Once you’ve exhausted that list, how do you get more leads? You have to pay for another.
With Evergreen content once you’ve paid for the set up of that article, it’s a constant resource that will generate more and more leads as time goes on – without requiring constant reinvestment.
Examples of evergreen content
There are a huge range of formats that fall under evergreen. Below we’ve put some of the most popular.
- Lists
- Top tips
- ‘How to’ guides
These are formats that lend themselves to long-lasting content. Obviously it’s important that there is a focus on your business. That could be ’10 ways to check your boiler is working properly’ for a boiler company or ‘How to get the cheapest deals on flights’ for a money-saving website.
An easy way to come up with evergreen content ideas is to think of questions that people will be searching for. The more niche the better – as if you’re answering a question that nobody else has answered, you’ll be the first resource your customer comes to.
There will always be beginners. There will always be people who are new to your field and need to know the basics. And if they find an answer through you, it’s likely that next time they have a question they’ll come to you again. For these new customers, you become an authority on your subject, and you’ve built up a trust and brand loyalty. And all you needed to do was answer simple questions in an effective way.
In short:- Taking the time to create high quality evergreen content will go a long way towards bringing in new leads, boosting your website’s authority and changing your overall perception as a leader within your industry.
Working with Sans Frontiere
If you want to leave your content in safe hands. We can set up your blog with bespoke web design, create content for your business, and then ensure through paid search and display and organic SEO – that your content gets out to your audience.
Evergreen content is only one method that Sans Frontiere can use to deliver marketing solutions to your business. We also provide a range of services including design and branding and will work with you to find the right strategy for your company.
For a free consultation regarding your business, and the benefits of working with a marketing agency, contact us today.
Why Website Security Should Be A Priority
Website security was, for a long time, a problem for the webmasters of big corporate sites, ecommerce sites or other mission critical sites to solve. Today it affects every website from the smallest blog to the biggest retailer.
In the last few years the Internet has seen an exponential rise in malicious activity against websites. This can range from a crude attempt to brute force user accounts or FTP accounts to sophisticated exploitation of cross-domain scripting vulnerabilities or poor code. Primarily it is about the monetization of other people’s property and resources but it can also be just maverick behavior, a bit of fun or simply showing off!
Hacked websites can be often used to advertise questionable content or recruited into a cluster of zombie sites and simply used as resources. They can have malicious content posted into them or simply ‘taken down’. None of these scenarios are going to be in any way beneficial to the owner of the site and can often destroy the reputation or trust that a site has. In real terms, all SEO with Google can be lost when the search engine detects that a site has been compromised.
Because of the number of malicious attempts we see against the sites we host, we recommend as a minimum, every website now needs the following:
- A web application firewall
- A strong password policy
- Strict permissions for key files
Additionally and ideally, also:
- Failed username / password lockout
- Regular scans for malicious code or core changes
- Real-time alerts for logins, changes or suspicious activity
- Weekly monitoring for upgrades
- Daily backups
- Disaster recovery
At Sans Frontiere we take website security very seriously and treat every site we build with the same level of protection, as standard. We also have options for additional layers of security should one of our clients wish to extend their protection even further.
To find out more about our in-house security policy, please get in touch.
New videos for the South of England Show
Summer time is fast upon us and that means… we’re getting ready for the South of England Show! We’ve just put up these fab new videos that highlight how wonderful the show is.
We were also thrilled to get the news today that online ticket sales are up 350% from last year! We’ve been working with the South of England Agricultural Society on an Earlybird tickets campaign and getting the word out online through social media and digital advertising – and it seems to be working!
Small businesses shouldn’t be afraid to get help with their marketing
Due to time and budget constraints, small businesses often overlook the significance of marketing. Here’s why we think you shouldn’t, especially now that the government has launched the Growth Vouchers programme.
Why ask for marketing advice?
A marketing plan helps make sense of your business environment – understanding your customers, your competitors, how to operate, and sell your product and services effectively. In today’s crowded marketplace how you position your brand and communicate, and on what platforms, is critical to success.
Too often, marketing is overlooked or left to someone who has little marketing experience. Increasingly, operations need to be lean and efficient, particularly for starts ups and small businesses. However, considering marketing as an area that does not merit investment can be detrimental. You wouldn’t leave your accounting to someone with no finance experience (we hope!).
Time and time again we have been approached by businesses that have realised they need a marketing intervention. Often, they have spent time and money inefficiently trying to do their marketing themselves with little knowledge or experience. Often, they realise that they need to backtrack and start from scratch, clarifying what it is that they want to achieve. Marketers can help you realise your goals without the pain of trying to struggle through it on your own, optimising your investment.
Effective marketing isn’t achieved through ad hoc actions or a cowboy approach. There’s deep thought and well-researched planning that backs up a smart strategy or successful campaign. Hopefully, this shouldn’t come as a surprise, as it pertains to every other area of running a business.
How can we help?
We will work with you and advise on how to develop an effective, sustainable marketing strategy. With 18 years of experience, our team can provide invaluable expertise, such as PR & media planning; branding & identity; social media and digital advertising.
As a small business you can benefit from the resources of a full-service agency with precise, targeted campaigns and strategy. You’ll be able to draw on the knowledge of all our team members, each with years of experience in their fields. And as a Growth Voucher Adviser, you can receive excellent value for your investment with Sans Frontiere with government subsidies.
About the Growth Vouchers programme
The government’s £30m Growth Vouchers programme delivers support to small businesses in England through the use of subsidised business advice. You could get a voucher to help pay for business support in Marketing & Customer Services.
As an approved Growth Voucher Adviser you can solicit the services of Sans Frontiere and receive 50%, up to £2000, back from the government. You will have to be able to match the amount with your own funds.
The Growth Vouchers programme is available to small businesses in England who are actively selling goods and/or services, have a turnover no greater than £45m, own 75% or more of their business, and have 250 employees or less.
Learn more about the Growth Vouchers programme
Business Advice on Marketing, attracting and keeping customers
Chantal Yeung Dresner is the Digital Marketing Manager at Sans Frontiere. You can contact her at chantal@sansfrontiere.co.uk or call 01273 487800.
Don’t ignore the value of PPC
If you’re launching a new website this year, chances are you want people to find it straight away. However, Google’s indexing and algorithms mean it can be difficult for new sites to compete for traffic.
Think about it like this – if you open a restaurant on a street that gets no foot traffic, and there are many popular restaurants already on the high street, you’re going to need to get people’s attention on the high street to get them into your new place.
Recently, Sans Frontiere launched a new game site for a long-standing client for a short-term competition they were running. Because the site was set up as a game that is mostly functional, there was minimal text content, making it less ‘crawlable’.
We quickly discovered that despite promoting the URL in all campaign messaging and materials, hopeful entrants were simply searching the competition name in Google. Often this is because Google search bars are set as address bars in browsers, or plain old user habit.
What does this mean? The new website, despite having the competition name as the URL, was not coming up in Google’s search results. Entrants were quick to point this out.
Our client was keen to get people entering their competition as quickly as possible, as it was only running for 6 weeks. They asked us to ‘fix’ it – but unfortunately there’s no magical solution that will get your brand new website instantly ranking number one on Google.
So, we recommended using a Google AdWords campaign to ensure entrants would immediately find their new site when searching in Google. They only needed a very small budget and it worked a charm.
Some think that people never actually click on Google Ads at the top of their search results. However, in our experience, no matter how big or small, the budget gets used up because people are clicking on the ads. There’s no shortage of Internet traffic and searches, and people like to be signposted to relevant pages. If campaigns are costing money – then people are obviously not ignoring the ads.
Many people seem to think of PPC as cheating somehow. To us, PPC isn’t ‘cheating’; it’s a quick win and a vital part of our digital marketing strategies that go hand-in-hand with other activities. It’s particularly essential for new websites or new product launches. Also, it can be key if it is impossible for you to highly rank organically for a search term.
SEO is a slow, long game. It shouldn’t be discounted, because in the end, you will want your website to rank as highly as possible in organic search results. But it doesn’t get immediate results.
If you want maximum impact and are on a limited timescale, or you want fast results for a launch, then PPC should be an integral part of your digital marketing strategy.
Chantal Yeung Dresner is a Digital Marketer at Sans Frontiere. If you would like to learn more about PPC, you can contact her here
Make friends & influence people with a Sans Frontiere online loyalty club
Ferroli’s brand new online loyalty club Installersmate.co.uk is now open for business and signing up members, thanks to Sans Frontiere’s digital design and development expertise.
Installersmate is much more than just a website; as well as a range of benefits for plumbing & heating engineers who install Ferroli boilers, the key offering of the site required Sans Frontiere to utilise the web services of a third party organisation by using their API.
This complex back-end development work allows installers to make their boiler installation notifications with Gas Safe Register – something they are required to do by law – via Installersmate with Ferroli paying the £2.20 fee for them. The success of this project involved precise adherence to Gas Safe Register’s requirements, which we achieved thanks to our digital expert knowledge and dedicated account management.
Building brand loyalty is achieved by giving the customer what they want; Sans Frontiere’s experience of marketing within the energy sector meant that we knew what Ferroli’s customers would be looking for, and it didn’t need to be over-complicated.
As well as free Gas Safe notifications, Installersmate provides installers with a secure place to keep a record of all their Ferroli boiler installations, a quick and simple way of registering their customers’ valuable warranties and regular competitions, plus a points-per-purchase rewards scheme planned for 2015.
Installersmate also comes with a great business-building tool – an email reminder service that tells both the customer and the installer that the boiler’s annual service is due. By programming the system to trigger an email to both parties six weeks before the anniversary of the installation, Installersmate helps to build loyalty between the installer and customer and protects the reputation of the brand by encouraging best practice.
The creative design of the website reflects Ferroli’s branding, which is both striking and familiar to installers, and has a friendly ‘face’ that was meticulously selected to appeal to our target market.
If you would like a loyalty club that helps you connect with your customers and develop your brand, contact Sans Frontiere today – we’re always happy to chat.
Sans Frontiere invited record numbers of visitors to “Tuck into the Best of British”
To promote the three glorious days of the 2014 South of England Show, Sans Frontiere delivered a basket of goodies encouraging visitors to “Tuck into the Best of British Countryside” and enjoy the best of British agriculture, equestrianism, horticulture, food and drink, country crafts, sports and many other activities.
Our creative was rolled out across press, radio, TV, online and social media and attracted over 70,000 people to the Showground, a record number of visitors to the region’s largest event of its kind.
Plans for the Autumn Show & Game Fair on 4th & 5th October are now underway and we look forward to delivering a similarly successful campaign.
The Autumn Show & Game Fair is a great day out for fans of hunting, shooting and fishing, with lots of attractions to entertain the whole family.
