Facebook pages are easy to set up and they are free. You can create an individual page via your facebook account and assign it to your company name. Effectively you now have two facebook accounts but they are both integrated within your personal facebook account. Why set up a facebook page? Because you can instantly reach millions of facebook users and you can also reach specific demographics which is another way of enhancing your marketing activity.

Some companies use facebook as their main site; you can add in shopping carts, set up events, keep people updated with new offers and you can grow your network by reaching out to a particular demographic using facebook advertising. This can be for either B2B or B2C.  As a company you might want to promote brand awareness, this would be through interacting with your fans on a regular basis by posting notifications and by adding it to your wall (which in turn adds it to your fans’ walls). This viral activity is an ideal way to market to your fans by getting your name and brand out there.

Thinking of increasing awareness by obtaining more fans?

Maybe you need to increase awareness of your product / company by getting more interest from new fans. You can do this by paying for a facebook advert. The advert will direct to your facebook page and people can have the option of clicking ‘like’. This is a great way to increase your fans, it’s almost like building a database but rather than sending out newsletters in the old fashioned way you have the opportunity to post to your fans walls and via notifications.

How to stay ahead using facebook

• Set up a facebook ‘page’, you can find out more with their product guide here >
• Start by inviting your friends to join your company page
• Consider paying for facebook advertising to reach a specific demographic and by gaining more fans
• Regularly update your fans by posting on your wall
• Add a ‘join us on facebook’ to your existing website

Work in Progress

A website is something that is organic, something that develops over time. As soon as the website goes live there is a sense of ‘what if we try this’ or ‘when will we update that’. If you are a really organised client you might already have milestones for making those changes. It could be extra pages for a campaign or icons for a new service you are offering. For those who do not foresee changes being made in future then don’t be fooled because you will be amazed how outdated some of your pages can appear over time and prospective clients can instantly tell when your website is looking out of date or jaded.

Some tips on how to make your website look current

• Change some images
• Update your client list
• Make sure you’re posting blog posts regularly so clients can see you are active (we can all be guilty of not updating the blog!)
• Make sure you change your promotion icons as soon as the promotion is over. You would be amazed about the amount of companies who still have xmas graphics in February!
• Think of your website as a shop front. People can easily be put off when you haven’t made an effort to keep your company looking like it is going places

The crucial factor is that having a web presence can increase company’s profits. Fact. Say, for example if you had the option of choosing an interior design company to overhaul your Victorian property, would you choose one with or without a website? Ok if you have a lot of time on your hands maybe you could get someone to pay you a visit with a portfolio. The simple fact is that it’s easy to check out a company’s products and background on the web and this can be done at lightening speed. A simple search on google will do and you can provide half an hours research with good results.

For those companies who have yet to delve into the world wide web or for existing companies that need a re-fresh here are a few simple tips to help you make that move:

Start-up company?

• Ask yourself a few questions about your company, who is your website aimed at? Is it a niche market or do you offer more of a general service? Do you already have a logo and have you thought about how you want your brand to visually communicate? 
• Having a good brainstorm can free up a lot of ideas and it will also help the designer achieve your vision while giving your more direction.
• Find company websites that share your sector. Check out how other people have communicated their product and brand.
• The technical side. Get a web designer or web design company to explain in simple terms, this will ease communication and will prevent alienation of you (the client).

Marketing your Business

• Think of new ways you can entice new customers by updating your image and brand values.
• Search the internet for articles on how to market your business. There are 100s of free articles out there which will help you gain more information to help you move your company forward.
• Think about clever ways of gaining people’s email addresses. Maybe you could capture people’s email addresses by offering something free on your website? This gives you a chance to send your prospective clients newsletters increasing the chance of potential new business.

For companies 2009 is a year for taking stock and getting rid of some of the stuff that is no longer needed. Everyone seems to be in the midst of tightening their purse strings and this can be a good thing for you and for clients. If existing clients have tightened their budgets then see this as a challenge. For graphic designers it’s time to be a bit more creative in coming up with flexible and practical solutions. How can we do this for less while still keeping the creativity? Affordable does not equal shoddy. There are means and ways of working around budgets. Some of the best projects come from working to tight budgets. Money can detract from the creative process. 

Five things to help keep within a client’s budget

• Think 2 colour rather than 4 colour. Think of creative ways of colour usage
• A powerful idea and a clear message can outshine the item is is printed on
• Ditch the extravagant dye cutting and embossing. Stripping the design down can lead to more experimentation
• Drop the size down from A4 to A5 and see what happens
• Search for different paper and understand how different stocks can effect the overall message

How does your brand compare to your competitors? What is unique about your business and how does it appeal to your target audience. Do you offer a degree of difference?

A company’s branding and image can become diluted against their competitors if there is no unique hook or difference. Are you a market leader or follower, look at the the brand ‘Innocent’, this has spurred a whole new array of companies trying to mimick their friendly and honest outlook through their language, imagery and simplicity. If you are going to go this way then you must implement it through all your communications, Innocent have delivered their brand through everything they do, visit their offices in ‘Fruit Towers’ and you are treated like one of the team, offered free smoothies (one love) and offered to write your comments about what you like and dislike about Innocent. 

Now if you are setting up your brand then you need to seriously consider your values and how you are going to communicate these to your target audience. You need to deliver your brand message at every opportunity, there’s no point saying you are going to target young go getting 20 somethings with your ultra funky brand while having a stuffy corporate office. Think and feel your brand at all times and then you will become believable, send out mixed signals and you are sending out confusion to the consumer or customer. 

• Design and print a placard with your logo and details to be hung in your business premises
• Online Advertising - Flash banners, directories
• Print Advertising - Brochures, leaflets, flyers
• Your website - your shop window to what you offer
• Stationary - letterhead, business cards and compliment slips
• Promotional items. Get your logo on a range of promo items for potential clients
• Your invoice

And it doesn’t stop with design and print. Your brand values can be communicated through picking up the phone or the way you phrase an e-mail. As long as your values are consistently communicated then you have more of a chance of building rapport with people which in turn leads to trust. 

Do not send out mixed signals - your design output needs to adhere to your corporate identity (What does your logo / branding say about you?). It needs to have a uniform approach which consistently delivers the same message. Sending out a mixed signal will confuse your target audience and will likely turn customers elsewhere.

If you are a new company then ask yourself:

• How do you want others to see you?
• What are your differentiators?
• What is your company’s core message?
• How do you want to place yourself in the market place?
• Who is your target audience?
• What are your company values?

Yes we can design a website but to truely bring strength to a brand we need to integrate the logo and create a look and feel which will be consistent across all online and offline media.

This moral of the story is that as a start up company they may well be on a budget but they need to understand where their company is going and what signals they want to give out. It will cost less money if it is put right initially than if they have to re-evaluate and re-brand at a later date.

Let us know what you think, opinions or suggestions greatly appreciated.