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Client success story: FCAP WEBSITE PROJECT

Posted on by dorazmarketing in website design

Doraz Marketing recently completed a website design project for Farias College Admission Partners (FCAP). FCAP is a private, boutique college admissions counseling firm that helps students and families navigate the college search and application process. You’re invited to check out their new website at www.fcapcollege.com

We asked FCAP’s President, Beth Farias, to tell us a little bit about her experience working with Doraz Marketing. Here’s what Beth had to say about the project.

What major factors led you to want a new website and to seek Doraz Marketing’s help?

– I have wanted a website for my small business for several years but hadn’t been able to get the project off the ground. I sought Doraz Marketing’s help because the company caters to small businesses like mine and Dawn was immediately able to keep my project on track through goal setting and regular check-ins.

How do you think our companies are aligned?

– Both Doraz Marketing and FCAP are passionate about providing individualized services to our clients and supporting them in their unique needs.

What key things were you looking for in a solution?

– I was looking for a website to be an online presence for my company and detail its services and mission. I also wanted a way for families to reach out for more information. Most of my business comes through word of mouth and I know that potential clients search on the internet for me before reaching out. Not having a website was an important missing piece in connecting with prospective clients.

FCAP HOmepage Screenshot

How did Doraz Marketing help with implementation?

– Dawn helped me organize the pages and content I wanted for my website. She walked me through each part of the process, one step at a time, to keep my project on track while also not overwhelming me. She gently reminded me to keep making progress when I needed it and helped me get across the finish line to the website launch!

What are your 3 favorite things about your new website? 

– I love the design and layout, how professional the site looks (on mobile devices, too!), and the ease with which I can make updates and changes.

FCAP Homepage Screenshot 2

What types of goals or tasks are you using the new site to accomplish?

– I’m thrilled to be able to add my website URL to business cards, professional memberships, and my social media accounts. This will help me market my business effectively because I can direct customers to a website to learn more.

What have you been most impressed with about working with Doraz Marketing?

– Dawn was professional, knowledgeable, and organized, and great to work with! She explained everything and gave advice and best practices for my website content and every aspect of my site design. The entire process was seamless and fun.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

– Launching a website has been a goal of mine for 6 years and I hadn’t found a way to get the project off the ground. Working with Doraz Marketing not only helped me achieve this goal but created a professional website that I’m very proud of! Thank you!

9 Tips to Grow Your Social Media Following Organically

Posted on by dorazmarketing in branding, social media

Are you looking to grow your social media following organically? Here are 9 tips to help you grow without spending money on paid advertisements or sponsorships.

1. Provide Valuable Content

Your social posts need to be crafted in a way that gets your audience excited and keeps them engaged. Here are four categories of content that can provide real value to your followers:

  1. Educational – articles, blogs, e-books, webinars, market data, pain point solutions, etc.
  2. Entertaining – GIFs, memes, behind the scenes, funny, etc.
  3. Shareable – community happenings, emotional, inspirational, etc.
  4. Giveaways – contests, sales, promotions, etc.

It’s best to use a blend of all four types of content to provide your customers with varied experiences.

2. Create Visual Content

Visual content performs much better than text only content. Photos, videos and infographics are all ways for your brand to stand out and be seen. According to socialmediatoday.com, content with relevant images gets 94% more views than content without relevant images.

3. Publish Content Consistently

It’s extremely important to stay active on your social channels so that your content does not get stale. When visiting your page for the first time, potential followers will expect to see fresh and updated content. Content needs to be delivered in a consistent flow that your followers can count on and look forward to. A content calendar is a great way to stay organized and deliver consistent and timely messages.

Social Media

4. Use Hashtags

It can be tough to stand out and be seen in the busy social media world. Hashtags help to organize social posts in topics and help users find content that might be relevant to them. There are 3 different types of hashtags: trending, content and branded. Trending hashtags are popular hashtags that are being used right now and they can generate massive awareness for your company if users find the content interesting. Content hashtags offer an effective method for your content to be found and build your brand’s visibility. Branded hashtags are brand specific and help make it easier for you to promote your company’s message to your target user.

5. Be a Human

Your social media posts should have personality and give a human touch to your brand. You do not want to come across as a faceless corporation. After all, social media is all about connections and users want to connect with people, not robots.

6. Utilize Live Events

Many users prefer to watch live streams instead of a pre-recorded, branded video. These live events are more authentic and allow for interaction from your social community. They are also a low cost alternative to expensive video productions.

7. Connect in Real Life

You can grow your social following outside of the digital world. For example, put postcards in your product packages that invite customers to follow you on your social channels. Or you could even place physical signs in your retail environment inviting your customers to follow you online.

8. Work with Other Brands

Forming a partnership with another brand that has a similar audience to you is a great way to help both businesses grow. Work together to create a post that promotes both of your brands and invites your communities to come together. For example, a restaurant might create a post that highlights the amazing produce they get from a local farm. This post supports both the restaurant and the farmer and gain crossover followers for both businesses. Just be sure to make sure that both businesses are tagged properly and that the message is on brand for both companies.

9. Watch the Data

After putting in the effort to create relevant and engaging content, it is imperative to analyze the posts analytics to make informed decisions about what to post next. Be on the lookout for the types of content that are most successful and for the days and times that your posts are getting the most traction. 

Need help with growing your social following? Doraz Marketing can help!

5 Best Practices for Email Marketing

Posted on by dorazmarketing in branding, Email Marketing

Email is an effective marketing method for nurturing leads, building customer relationships and increasing brand awareness. Email is a vivid and engaging way to connect with your entire customer base. Here are 5 best practices that should be followed when creating email campaigns.

BRanding

Your email campaigns should put your company’s branding front and center. Clear and noticeable branding helps your customer realize that they have engaged with your company before. Studies show that most email users will look for company logos in the upper left corner of an email, but centering the logo in the header is also acceptable. To keep your email readable and cohesive, experts suggest using less than 3 typefaces in the body of your email.

Brand consistency is important across all marketing channels, including email blasts. Your email templates should follow your company’s brand style guide, especially when choosing color palettes, fonts and photo styles.

“A picture is worth a thousand words” which makes images a great way to help tell your story. Be sure to keep image sizes small to keep email load times down. All images should include alternative text descriptions which keeps emails accessible for visually impaired users and also helps describe an image when a subscriber’s email client blocks images.

EMAIL TIMING

Email blasts need to be mailed out in a consistent cadence that your customers can count on. Consistency is key here and more isn’t necessarily better – we suggest sending between 2 to 5 emails per month. It’s very important to track your email campaign statistics (opens, clicks, unsubscribes) to learn what timing works best for your business. Using these analytics, you can learn about the best days/times to send your emails. Monitoring statistics is a continual process where you will learn, change and test again.

Email branding, design, timing and analytics

SPECIFIC CALL TO ACTION

Emails should be crafted carefully with a specific call to action (CTA) to get your customers to complete an action that you desire. The CTA needs to be direct and appealing and it should be repeated 2-3 times in the email body. 

Additionally, don’t forget to include social media links at the end of your email! Social media is a great tool for keeping customers connected to your brand and engaged throughout the sales cycle.

KEEP IT SHORT

The average office worker receives over 120 emails per day. Very few people will read a long email, especially when checking emails on their phone. The best email blasts ensure that their CTA appears above the fold, which means that it is visible in the email without needing to scroll down to see it. We also suggest using a button, instead of just linked text, to highlight your CTA and increase click-through rates.

Because many users will be opening your email on their phone, it is essential to optimize email preview text. Keep it short and sweet! Ideally, your preview text should be between 30-50 characters. 

SPECIAL OFFERS

Sales, coupons and discounts are great incentives to include in your email campaigns. Be sure to take time and careful execution to craft a good value proposition that explains the benefits of the offer.

When sending out special offers, it’s a great idea to send time sensitive emails that create a sense of urgency for your customer. Concepts like “hours left before this sale ends” can help develop a pressing need, or even a fear of missing out, that can be a great sales motivator.


Do you need help with creating or managing email campaigns for your business? Reach out to learn how we can help!

The Importance of Marketing Consistency

Posted on by dorazmarketing in branding

Brand consistency is one of the most important tools in a marketers tool box. Branding is more than a few pretty fonts and colors, it tells your customer that you take pride in your product and that you routinely deliver on your promises. Additionally, consistent branding is an opportunity for your company to show off its personality and mission.

Why is consistency important in marketing?

Consistent branding repeatedly exposes your customers to core messages, visual branding, and other marketing elements. Over time, consistent marketing efforts strengthen brand recognition, evoke positive emotions and build loyalty and trust with your customer. There are many competing voices and distraction in your customer’s experiences and brand consistency is one of the best ways to stand out from your competition. Consistency also boosts sales revenue by building customer relations and confidence, both of which generate leads and increase communication.

How can a business improve its consistency?

Memorable brands use consistent styling that maximizes customer recognition and trust. Using a brand style guide is a great way to establish a uniform company presence. Style guides should include a company’s mission, logo layouts, color palette, fonts and photo styles. Additionally, the style guide can include company voice and copywriting guidelines. Small businesses shouldn’t feel overwhelmed by putting together a style guide. Your initial style guide can be a simple document that is easy to follow and apply to company collateral.

Content Planning for Consistent Marketing

I’ve created a style guide, what’s next?

Now it’s time to create consistent content and publish it regularly. Content creation takes time, effort and dedication. A regular cadence of branded content keeps your business relevant and at the top of your customers mind. The best way to make sure your content is being published regularly is to create a content calendar and stick to it. Many small businesses struggle to create consistent, on-brand content because it takes time and focus that many small businesses do not have. This is where Doraz Marketing can help. We assist with creating branded collateral and ensuring that it is published on a regular cadence that your customers can count on. Reach out to learn more about how we can help.

Reasons Why You Need a New Website

Posted on by dorazmarketing in website design

Your website is the digital face of your business and is often the first place that a customer will encounter your brand. This is your opportunity to grab their attention, impress them and call them to action. Here are some reasons that you might need a new or updated website:

Mobile First!!

Did you know that more than half of internet traffic is conducted on a mobile device? Mobile search has exploded in recent years and it is more important than ever to optimize your website for mobile traffic. Have you ever visited a website on your phone and the text is too small or navigation is hard to follow? This can be avoided with a mobile first design that creates a seamless user experience across device platforms.

Design

Does your website have a fresh, relevant design that portrays the quality of your brand and products? Good design keeps your customer engaged and leads to longer on page time which earns you more conversions. It’s important that your website has a professional appearance that gives your users a sense of trust and confidence in your brand. Also, website navigation needs to be pleasant and efficient so your customer can easily find what they need and their expectations can be met.

Updated Web Design

Security

Today’s customers are very concerned about their security and privacy on the internet. Additionally, google and other search engines penalize websites that are insecure with lower search rankings. Your website needs to be secure to build trust and engage with your user.

Search engine optimization (SEO)

A great website has beautiful design, but it also has to be built properly on the inside to make sure that search engines will find and display your content. SEO work is an important part of achieving your best google and search rankings. New websites are coded with important SEO factors including image optimization, keywords, page canonicalization, page titles, meta tags and many others.

Speed

Speaking of search rankings, page speed is another important factor in your ranking. New website design can optimize page speeds that will improve your search ranking and will also help with user retention. Human attention spans are shorter than ever before and many users will not tolerate slow page load times. It is extremely important to optimize page load times to increase customer engagement and prevent high bounce rates.

gathering intelligence

Making data driven decisions is essential for any business and your website should be no exception. Websites can be integrated with analytical tools, like google analytics, so you can collect important information about how your website is running and being used by customers. When you understand user behaviors, you can identify areas of opportunity and make decisions that deliver better results.

need help?

Websites are the centerpiece of successful digital marketing plans. Do you need help with updating your site to earn more traffic and drive conversions? We’d be happy to discuss ideas and options for your site – just let us know!