Category: 2019

Most agencies will agree that DIY websites have their place – in certain circumstances. For example, when you’re a sole trader with simple services and no marketing budget to speak of. If you’re a decent-sized business, however, DIY websites should be approached with caution. At best, it’s a missed marketing opportunity when you choose not to consult with professionals who create websites for a living. At worst, it’s doing your operation a huge disservice.

Possibly one of the hardest pills to swallow as an agency is when you quote on what will be a beautifully designed, developed and copywritten website – only to hear someone say they could do it themselves on WIX/Squarespace/etc. It’s not the same thing; it REALLY isn’t.

When you want to launch a new website for your business or redo your old one, you’ll need to decide whether to go with a DIY website template or engage an agency to create one for you. This decision would have been a no-brainer five years ago, but now we’re lucky enough to have advanced website builders like WIX, Squarespace, Webnode or Weebly. Even if you don’t know a lick of code, it’s true you can create a decent-looking DIY website. It may not have much depth, but it will look the part (from afar).

The question is, do you really want to go down that road? Also, how much is your time worth? Do you have the patience and inclination to ‘trial and error’ your way through the process? How much does perception matter to you? We recommend thinking it through carefully. Some things are worth every penny. In our opinion, a good flagship website that’s worthy of your business definitely falls into that category.

Frankly, there’s a lot to be said for collaborating with objective experts who see the big picture and want to see your business succeed, who take the time to get to know you and open your eyes to new possibilities. Experienced website designers and developers understand the full potential of content management systems, and they’re heavily invested in completing the project to a high standard – on time and on budget.

Here are some questions you need to ask yourself before you decide to go for a DIY website or an agency original:

What’s the purpose of your website?

When tossing up between DIY and agency, it’s critical to understand what you need. Perhaps your business is based on pre-existing relationships and you only need a site to verify credibility. In that case, fair enough… A standard brochure-style DIY site is probably a good option. On the other hand, if you anticipate generating new business from your website and you actively want to be found online, you should treat it as an investment and expect a return. Understanding the level of functionality you require is important too. Is there an e-commerce element to how you transact with customers or do you require integration with other systems? How important are these things to running your business?

What about strategy?

When you engage professionals to develop your website, you’re right to have high expectations. Look for an agency that specialises in web design, UX and development. If they’re worth their crust, they’ll approach your project holistically. The first piece of the puzzle should be website strategy. Your agency will want to understand who your site is targeting, and how they can be better served through layout, user journey, graphics and language. They’ll explore where data-capture points can be best positioned for maximum uptake. This sort of strategic planning can make a massive difference to your bottom line in the future, and it’s something you just can’t recreate with a DIY website.

How much do you value originality?

When you’re doing your own website, chances are you’ve chosen a design theme from a selection. While this option is perfect for some businesses, there are certainly limitations with design and layout that can cause issues and frustration. ‘Square peg, round hole’ comes to mind. Website design templates are an interesting point because the truth is that many marketing and web agencies also use standard website design themes – and unfortunately they’re not always upfront and honest about it. Cookie-cutter, lookalike sites are not good for anybody’s brand. If you’re chasing an original site to strengthen your brand, look for an agency that promises custom-designed websites.

How comfortable are you at writing copy?

Opting for a DIY website means you’ll be responsible for creating your own website content – including all the copy. If you’re a bit of a wordsmith or you have one on staff and your website isn’t a key tool in your marketing mix, go for it! In the case that your website will be visited frequently by prospective clients or has a complex value proposition, you may want to pay careful attention to the language you use. Website copywriting is a craft; it’s nothing like writing an essay, an email or even a brochure. Experience and skill are required to communicate what you have to offer in precisely the right way. Particularly with crucial elements like calls to action that encourage your visitor to take the plunge and enquire or buy.

Would you describe yourself as creative?

Some of us have ‘the eye’ for design, which means a good sense of aesthetics and visual balance. Others, not so much… Our designers at Sketch Corp. say you either have ‘it’ or you don’t, and it can’t really be taught. If you’ve always had a flair for this kind of thing, good on you! Designing your own website is the perfect outlet. When creativity in that respect is not really your thing, you may want to take a look at websites or brands you admire and find out who created them. Working with a designer whose aesthetic sensibilities align with your own will lead to a beautiful website you can be proud of.  

Do you have a lot of time on your hands?

When considering a DIY website, it’s important that you’re honest about your skill level and how long it’s really going to take. If you’ve never done this kind of thing before, it will take A WHILE. It’s not the kind of thing you can knock over in an afternoon… Yes, the website-building sites make it seem easy, but it takes time fiddling around with templates, finding images, proofreading and planning. False starts and learning the program should be factored into DIY website projects.

Something that would take you an hour or more would take a professional a fraction of that time. If, for example, it takes you weeks to pull together a 10-page PowerPoint presentation because you can’t seem to get it to ‘look right’, using a website builder isn’t going to be a great experience. Expect it to take ages. If you’re just starting out and you have the time, great! Write it off as an important learning experience. If you’re a busy business owner or decision maker whose time is literally money, the cost of hiring the pros could in fact be much more cost-effective than a DIY website (and that’s just considering the time investment, not the chances of increased conversions online).

– Sketch Corp.

For years now, strategic Instagram users have adopted the good old follow-unfollow strategy to ‘organically’ boost their audiences for free. Cue a slew of follow-unfollow farms, bots, apps and other types of automation that do the hard work for you!

Not long ago, Instagram started cracking down on this type of thing. There are now tighter restrictions on the number of actions an account can perform in one day, and the number of people it can follow and unfollow.

There are many theories about why this has happened, and some are more credible than others. It is not yet known if these blocks are intentional (apparently it’s also happening to accounts that have never used automation before) or if it’s a new spam filter. It may be that Instagram is testing the waters to find a sweet spot.

Once upon a time, Instagram was incredibly permissive with its daily limits on the follow tool. Insta mavericks with bots used to be able to follow-unfollow 5000 accounts a day! Now it’s down to about 500 a day.

Whatever the reason, it’s clear that Instagram is serious about stopping certain types of activity. And we have to ask the question: is it favouring accounts that spend money on its ad platform?

Speculate all you want, but we’ll probably never know the real reason. All we can do is deal with the problem at hand using the tools we have at our disposal.

First of all, we need to understand that the days of following and unfollowing 1000+ people a day are gone. We need to focus on new strategies to grow our accounts.

For those who were using the follow-unfollow (automated) method, you may be finding it hard to see the bright side. ‘Now how will I get more followers (!!!)!’ Never fear, there is a silver lining:

* Many spammers will give up on Instagram automation, which means that targeted audiences will receive fewer notifications and yours will stand out.

* New strategies for building an audience are bound to come up. Until then, take this time to improve the content on your account and work on your other business channels, like Google My Business listing.

Why was everyone using the follow-unfollow method so much?

Because it really worked! Every Instagram ‘marketer’ read about that strategy first. Follow and unfollow enough people and sure enough your account would grow. From now on, you’ll have to create a strategy and do everything you can to get more targeted eyeballs on your account.

What now?

Fortunately, there are other ways to attract attention on Instagram:

• Use the DM feature more: This doesn’t mean you should spam thousands of people with messages. Be smart, take it easy and be authentic. Take a genuine interest. Start slow and when you’re comfortable (remember, authenticity), build up. A good place to start is to DM people who have engaged with your posts.
• Update your Stories regularly: Supplement quality posts on your main feed with frequent, creative uploads to Stories. This is a great way to encourage engagement with your account. Stories are a wonderful place to experiment and nurture a community.
• Branch out from Insta: Social media platforms are nothing if not fickle. Who knows if Instagram will even exist in five years? Besides, it’s never a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket. We recommend casting the net wide by structuring your social media marketing strategy in a way that incorporates a variety of platforms.

Remember, there’s no such thing as ‘the end’. It’s just a new beginning. Don’t give up on growing and changing. Do your best to adapt and you’ll do just fine! You might even end up better off because there’ll be less competition.

– Sketch Corp.

We often work with clients to define and develop their ‘brand personality’ – a concept rooted in classic psychological profiling!

Psychologist Carl Jung posed the theory that 12 essential characters exist in everyone’s unconscious mind – each one jockeying for dominance. Over the years, marketing and branding experts have taken this idea and run with it, asserting that each brand fits into one of the 12 archetypes or ‘characters’.

These characters each exhibit traits that form the brand personality. So that you can identify yours, we’ve summed up each of the 12 options below – what they’re like and how they make people feel.

THE MAGICIAN

The change-maker. The enchanter. The mystic.

The Magician injects a little wonder into every interaction and insists on doing things differently from their competitors. They have big ideas to change the world and pride themselves on questioning the status quo. Amazement and wonder are their key traits. In the hands of the Magician, obstacles turn into opportunities and perceptions are altered. Nothing is as it seems. Magicians have the knack of taking an age-old problem and pulling a totally out-of-the-box solution out of their hat.

THE HERO

The idealist. The winner. The champion.

The Hero is the motivational speaker of brand personalities, with an insatiable drive to optimise the world and make it a better place. Performance-oriented Heroes aspire to inspire with every interaction. ‘You can do it!’ shouts the hero from the side-lines. ‘Live better. Demand more. Raise your expectations.’ Agile and dynamic, the Hero works hard towards their goals and never gives up. Unsurprisingly, many sports brands fit this brand personality.

THE CREATOR

The creative. The artist. The inventor.

The Creator craves individuality. With an intrinsic need to stand out, Creators set high standards and strive to create authentic and unique work that will endure throughout the ages. At their worst, the Creator is self-indulgent and histrionic. That said, given the right environment, the Creator can push boundaries or even break them, driving innovation and changes in perception that have long-lasting societal implications.

THE EXPLORER

The adventurer. The seeker. The wanderer.

Discovery and inspiration drive the explorer, who wants to soak up all the world has to offer. ‘The Explorer’ archetype is a practical adventurer – intrepid but never caught without everything they need for their journey. This brand personality takes calculated risks that create a rich tapestry of varied experiences. All they want is freedom and a life lived out of bounds. Independent, self-sufficient and resourceful, the Explorer lives to traverse uncharted terrain and overcome challenges standing in the way of adventure.

THE OUTLAW

The wild one. The mutineer. The lone wolf.

The Outlaw appeals to the wild side we all have, stirring feelings of ‘F*** this, I’m doing it my way’. Refusing to fall into line, the Outlaw plays by their own rules and rebels against societal norms that don’t make sense to them. The thing about the outlaw though is that, as much as they like to shock, deep down they’re softies with a heart of gold. A hardened exterior belies honourable intentions. If you’re a brand that wants to defy the mainstream and throw caution to the wind, embrace The Outlaw.

THE JESTER

The clown. The light relief. The party-starter.

If your business isn’t afraid to have a sense of humour, you just might be the jester! Often your communications are tongue-in-cheek and self-deprecating (without trying too hard). You bring a smile to people’s faces. You prove that business can be FUN and it’s OK to be a little silly and immature sometimes. This playful brand personality is light-hearted and lively – even when the product or service they’re selling can be serious and practical. Their enthusiasm and enjoyment of life is infectious.

THE LOVER

The romantic. The confidante.  The sensualist.

Romantic love is one thing, but the Lover brand personality is interested in all types of close relationships. Communications and visual cues are centred around the bonds between parent and child, husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, and entirely platonic friends. Appreciative, sensitive and sensuous, the Lover aims to warm hearts, build intimacy and authentically reflect all the special relationships in our lives. Evoking emotion and celebrating human connection are the calling cards of the Lover.

THE CAREGIVER

The nurturer. The empath. The protector.

Selfless to a fault, the Caregiver is naturally nurturing and wholly focused on the needs of others. The caregiver is compassionate, sensitive and always knows the right thing to say to someone who’s grieving or experiencing hardship. Caregiver businesses are a safe haven for their customers, offering understanding, support and protection. Their products and services are known for being reliable and trustworthy. Many non-profits, healthcare organisations and baby product manufacturers align with the Caregiver archetype.

THE EVERYMAN

The democrat. The egalitarian. Mr Relatable.

Accepting and affable, the Everyman gets along with everyone and judges no one. This brand personality is good natured and likeable without appealing to any particular group. Lots of people can relate to these businesses and feel fondly towards them because every interaction is warm, welcoming and laidback. Often these are middle of the road, mass market businesses that cater to families and the middle classes. Make no mistake though – the Everyman is not boring or dull, merely genial and universally charming. Popular. The opposite of an acquired taste.

THE INNOCENT

The child. The dreamer. The peacekeeper.

Above all, the Innocent is kind. They radiate contentment, harmony and inner peace. The Innocent is an eternal optimist who’s gentle, spiritual and zen. Wholesome without being judgmental or puritanical (and anything but cynical), the Innocent is deeply pure, values simplicity and assumes that everyone else does too. This brand personality appeals to all that’s good and true in consumers.

THE RULER

The patriarch. The statesman. The old guard.

Destined for role model status, the Ruler sets the bar in their industry and maintains exceptionally high standards. They exude success, stability and profitability, effortlessly exerting power and control. An air of self-assurance and sophistication wafts around these brands, who are unfailingly polished and on message. Unsurprisingly, the Ruler believes in rules and process. Accountability and action. This is an old-school brand archetype that evokes old money and demanding the best of everything.

THE SAGE

The instructor. The truth-seeker. The coach.

Forever wanting to get to the bottom of things, the Sage brand archetype seeks wisdom and what we can ‘take away’ from any situation. Sage brands are inherently wise and don’t dumb things down for their audience. An ‘educational’ brand lexicon the trustworthy sage promises answers to questions you never knew you had, and solutions to the world’s problems. This is an archetype often favoured by news and media organisations.

Still unsure about your brand personality? Consult our branding experts on (07) 3369 6100.

Over the years, many clients have called us about SEO spam emails they’ve received. Some have been led to believe they need to take action immediately or else their business is doomed!

This blog is designed to comfort you (you absolutely don’t need to take action ASAP), and shed some light on these sometimes crafty, sometimes terrible, sometimes plain ridiculous SEO spam emails.

SEO spam emails usually originate from someone purporting to be a ‘concerned’ writer. Someone who reckons they have all the answers and knows how to make your ranking woes disappear. These emails come in various forms, yet essentially assert the same thing (‘Your website isn’t ranking. I’ll help you get to No.1 quickly. Get in touch. I want your $$$$.’).

If you’ve ever been the recipient of SEO spam, these sentiments might ring a bell:

• I’ve noticed your website, which is great, but it could be ranking so much better
• Currently you’re not ranking and it must be hurting your business
• Want to get to #1 on Google quickly?

Often these emails originate overseas. You can tell by the broken English, spelling errors, and unlikely greetings (Dear Great Sir (!)). It’s no wonder these sorts of shenanigans happen with SEO because, as a discipline, SEO is one of those things… the majority outside the industry rarely understands it, and the goal posts are always shifting (Google’s changed its algorithm, oh no!). What people do gather from what they hear and read online is that they need it. Now.

Naturally, when you receive an email from someone who sounds like they know what they’re talking about and promises the world, it can be tempting to take them up on their offer. 

Unfortunately, these types of emails are nothing more than SEO spam and should be treated with cynicism. If something sounds too good to be true, it almost definitely is.

Don’t get us wrong – if your business has the resources to implement a long-term SEO strategy from a legitimate provider with a proven track record, SEO can be highly beneficial. Well planned and executed SEO is a craft and, like all masters of their craft, a high degree of knowledge and experience is required. As with any discipline, the SEO industry is full of exceptional professionals at the top of their game who approach client relationships with integrity.

The thing with SEO is that it’s a long game. Done properly, most SEO strategies take a minimum of six months to yield results. Also, not all SEO tactics are created equal. Some are high quality and sustainable, others are cheap and nasty. If you go down the path of engaging a faceless email writer promising the world, there’s no guarantee that the tactics they’re using will be ethical and legitimate. Careless ‘black hat’ SEO tactics have the potential to damage your business’ reputation and actually work against your Google ranking.  

A word of caution: Google will penalise your website if it identifies black hat SEO practices on your website. 

If you are interested in doing SEO the right way, it’s far more complex than those concerned writers would have you believe. Our recommendation is to do your research on highly regarded SEO providers. Request a meeting. Meet face to face. Understand the strategy they’re offering you. Ask questions about what type of content will be created, how they’ll go about obtaining backlinks and how long, realistically, the strategy will take to yield results (12 months isn’t unusual).

Here at Sketch Corp, we have our preferred SEO partners we’ve worked with for a number of years. Ones we know respect their game and your business. If you’re looking for a recommendation, let us know.

As we’re always saying to clients, the importance of online visibility in your digital marketing strategy cannot be overstated. Raising your profile online doesn’t have to be complicated though. Here, we’ve outlined 7 relatively easy strategies (algorithm and alchemy-free!) for beginners.

1. Tweak the names of your URLs

Each page on your website has its own unique URL (https://www.xxx.com/xxxx/xxxx). When deciding which websites to rank highly, search engines weigh up many variables, and URLs are high on the list. So far so boring, right? The brilliant thing about URLs, however, is that you can easily optimise them for online visibility and doing so makes a difference. All you need to do is include keywords (the phrases your customers are likely to search for) relevant to that page. An example of a good targeted URL would be http://www.xyzaccountants.com/BAS-accountant-brisbane. We recommend keeping your URLs short and punchy, and digging deep to identify words that best describe the content on the page and what your customer is looking for.

2. Look at how many pages are on your website

If you’re preparing to launch a new website or redesign your existing one, it’s worth thinking about the number of pages to include. The magic number for online visibility is 51-100 pages. Businesses in that bracket receive 48 per cent more traffic than companies with 1-50 pages. At Sketch Corp, we develop site maps for our clients that are based on a solid foundation of core pages that can become ‘parent pages’ for pages that expand on key products and services.

First you have all your basic pages – the building blocks of your site (Home, About, Services, Contact, etc.) – which branch out to supporting pages for individual services or products that address the specific needs of your customer.

This approach goes against the old-school website wisdom of having all your services grouped together on one page. Sending your customers to the exact page with the service they need will save them scrolling mindlessly as they attempt to locate what they want. Giving them what they want on a dedicated page in turn helps your SEO because Google will assess your pages for the individual service or product you’re talking about. Win win!

3. Get a Google My Business listing & optimise it

If you haven’t already, read through our April blog, Why Google My Business is everybody’s business. Having a high-quality Google My Business (GMB) listing that’s frequently updated with clear, correct contact details and opening hours is a fantastic way of upping the visibility of your website. Not only that, spending a bit of time on your GMB has a host of other benefits. People in your local area will be able to find you more easily, and you can start collecting reviews and implementing feedback. To increase the effectiveness of your GMB listing, we highly recommend reaching out to your clients and customers and asking them to write you a Google Review. Consumer reviews have become the go-to for verifying credibility – they hold a lot of power.

4. Get your blog on (news items and articles count too!

Fresh content is seriously like fertiliser for online visibility, so share your expertise and point of view often. Publish blogs, articles and news updates to your website, and then push them out into the world via your email, LinkedIn, Facebook, Insta and Twitter accounts. While we know it can be challenging to blog regularly, it’s worth committing to it and sticking to a schedule because the benefits are manifold. Yes, there’s the online visibility factor, but blogging can also be a conduit to building a relationship with your audience that translates to cold, hard sales.

Consider engaging a professional copywriter to word up your blogs if you don’t have a wordsmith in-house. Providing you give your writer sufficient direction about what you want to say (rough bullet points is usually fine), it generally won’t take them longer than 2-3 hours to craft a 400-500-word blog.

5. Take that raw content and optimise

On board with creating content regularly? Fabulous. Take it a step further by installing an SEO plugin (it’s easy, we promise!). This will help you tweak some of your content formatting so that it’s more SEO friendly.   is a fantastic example. It only costs about 80 bucks a year and is compatible with WordPress websites. One caveat: as a design agency, we’re against writing purely for SEO. You can spot those sorts of keyword-stuffed, wishy-washy articles with no point of view a mile away. They always ring false and hollow. It’s far better to respect your audience by delivering good writing that’s informative and takes a clear stance on the issue at hand. Integrity wins in the long run.

6. Be present with your social networks/Social-ise often and with enthusiasm!

With such an array of social networks available, focus your efforts on two or three (one is fine if that’s all you can manage). We recommend choosing the ones that your target audience is most active on and go from there. Start consistently sharing your knowledge and activity with them and create a community. Support your followers by promptly responding to messages and comments, and engaging with their channels too. It’s all about getting in front of your audience. You should be hanging out on the same channels they are.

7. Play the long game

When it comes to online visibility, experience counts! The longer your business is online and ‘ageing’, the better. Google favours older domains over those that just popped up overnight – no matter how many bells and whistles they have.

It’s also true that your years spent in business sharing articles and refreshing your site add up and score points online. As you build your body of content over the years, it becomes easier it is for potential customers to find your business.

No matter what industry you’re in, Sketch Corp. can deliver tailored digital marketing advice for your business.

Over the past few years, social media influencers have crept into social marketing strategies the world over. The social media influencer movement is big business, and we’re often asked: ‘Are they worth it?’ and ‘Do I dare go down that road?’ We’re here to tell you that yes, it can work. It works exceptionally well for certain products and services (a little too well, if you ask some business owners who sold out of everything within minutes of an influencer’s Instagram post or story).

In this article, we give it to you straight about what a social media influencer is and whether they should form part of your marketing strategy. We also tell you how to go about selecting an influencer that’s right for your business – if at all.

Breaking down the role of the social media influencer

Basically, a social media influencer is a social media user who has established credibility in a specific industry. They have access to a large audience of highly engaged followers and can influence behaviour and purchasing decisions due to their reach and perceived authenticity.

In many cases, a social media influencer’s audience respects them, looks up to them and wants to be just like them. People put their faith in what the influencer says and does and, in a business sense, what helps them become successful, what products work for them, how they live their best life and so on.

Now you might be a sceptic and say, ‘No way that would never happen!’ But it has. Big time. Social media influencers make and break businesses every day. Here are three examples of influencers making BIG bucks and wielding tremendous influence.

Kylie Jenner (@kyliejenner)

We’re not Kardashian people here at the studio, but there’s no denying the enormous success of the youngest Kardashian sibling, Kylie Jenner. Considered Instagram’s most valuable influencer, just one sponsored post from Kylie is worth over a million dollars in ‘ad equivalent value’. It’s no wonder Kylie became the youngest billionaire ever (at age 21) earlier this year – a fortune amassed from her company, Kylie Cosmetics, which is marketed almost entirely on social media.

Kayla Itsines (@kayla_itsines)
Softly spoken Adelaide-born personal trainer, author and entrepreneur Kayla Itsines is the ultimate fitness social media influencer with a following of 11.4 million and a net worth of around $486 million – largely thanks to her Bikini Body Guides ebooks, clever use of hashtags and the meal-planning and workout app Sweat With Kayla.

Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee)

Our studio loves what Gary V has to say about pretty much anything – especially when it comes to social marketing strategy. With a comparatively humble Instagram following of 5.4 million, Gary has built up super-engaged social media audiences across Facebook and LinkedIn. The social media technology advocate also hosts his his own podcasts and vlogs. An early investor in Facebook, Snapchat, Venmo and Uber, Gary’s forcefully delivered, no-bullshit opinions have captivated the world. He often uses his thriving socials as ‘proof’ that content crushes in material for his company, VaynerMedia.

There are PLENTY more where these three came from, but they are prime examples of three wildly diverse characters killing it as social media influencers.

It’s indeed a lucrative business and a very attractive career path for young people finishing school and weighing up their options. To younger millennials, the perception is that social media influencers have it all and live the high life 24/7 at the hottest restaurants and nightclubs. They appear to have the best clothes, bodies, cars, friends, you name it. It’s easy to assume they’re having more fun than anybody. You can understand why taking a crack as a social media influencer is a more appealing option than starting in the mail room of a top tier company with 10+ years of grind ahead of you (if you even make it to the top). Us older millennials know it’s not that simple and the easy street of a social media influencer has to be too good to be true. Ironically, Gary Vee’s messaging teaches that you learn your best lessons during the grind phase of life.

Finding success as a social media influencer is actually much harder now than it used to be. These days you need a clear strategy on how your social account is going to wield influence. Influencing successfully requires a long-term, consistent commitment to content.

So what part can social media influencers play in your social marketing strategy?

Although there is more to it than this, we’ll put it crudely: you either pay them or do a contra deal (#gifted) to promote your business to their beloved followers.

There are many ways to go about this. One is cold hard cash – pure and simple. You propose an offer: ‘I’ll pay you $$ to post about my product x number of times using my handle and hashtag.’ Some influencers are also willing to receive free products/services/experience in exchange for posts, stories or a write-up. ‘Come and enjoy a free dinner at my venue. If you could please post a photo of yourself there and use these hashtags, that would be great too.’

Sounds easy enough, right? Well, it is and it isn’t. The problem is there are a gazillion social media influencers to choose from. How on earth do you find the right one for your brand? Some clever people have kindly stepped in and solved this dilemma. Cue a slew of new marketing platforms and dedicated social media influencing companies – firms established with the sole purpose of helping brands, businesses and marketers connect with social media influencers who are the right ‘fit’ for them. Check out some of these examples to get the gist.

AspireIQ (https://www.aspireiq.com)

A self-service platform with access to over 150,000 influencers across major social media platforms. This makes it a good fit for agencies or brands that create their own marketing campaigns in-house.

Mavrck (https://www.mavrck.co)

The Mavrck influencer marketing platform provides end-to-end relationship management, workflow automation and measurement for integrated influencer, advocacy, referral and loyalty marketing programs.

Lefty (https://lefty.io)

A content creation platform that helps brands and agencies identify relevant influencers and collaborate with them at scale.

Essentially these platforms connect your business with appropriate social media influencers using formulas. Many take it a step further and do the hard work for you in terms of negotiating pricing, requirements and all the Ts&Cs.

If this approach isn’t right for your social marketing strategy, you can also approach social media marketing agencies (yep, these are growing in numbers too). These agencies have their own black books of social media influencer contacts and preferences. Taking a more personal approach, they tap into platforms and handle all the complexities.

So the option is there, but is using social media influencers even a good idea?

Having read the above, you’re probably thinking it’s time that you at least looked into how social media influencer marketing could help your business. We should note at this point that it’s not right for every business. Some products and services are definitely more social media-friendly than others. Make-up and skincare = amazing fit. Fitness stuff = couldn’t be better. Plumbing and carpentry = hmmm, it has to be extremely well executed.

It also goes without saying that when you align your brand with an influencer, you’ve made a commitment. You’re effectively saying that this person’s values and attitude reflect yours.

The following industries are all extremely well suited to a social marketing strategy: fashion, accessories, baby products, pet products, tech, supplements, anything organic, luxury brands, travel, hospitality, motor vehicles and gaming. Social media influencing as part of your social marketing strategy is practically mandatory if any of the above describes what you do.

Other industries, for various reasons, just don’t seem to lend themselves to the influencer sphere (a la law, engineering). That could all change overnight of course! Socials still have a place for these businesses, but it must be approached differently.

Determining if a social media influencer is right for your business will come down to key metrics such as reach and engagement, as well as authenticity, values and personality. They all need to match up if you are to foster a positive working relationship with a social media influencer.

Need help with your social marketing strategy? Call our studio.

When you’re a business owner with a website, we strongly recommend incorporating Google My Business (or ‘GMB’ as it is often called around the internet) into your digital marketing strategy.

Like it or not, people Google everything. Even if they receive a word-of-mouth recommendation, the first thing they’ll do is Google it.

Basically, Google My Business is what pops up (on the right hand side of your search) when people Google you – your map location, reviews, phone number and business hours. Keeping this information current, relevant and refreshed is most definitely in your business’s best interest.

A lot of business owners don’t realise that Google My Business is free and that they’re in control. It’s an easy-to-use tool for managing your online presence across Google – including Search and Maps. You can use it to verify and edit your business information, tell customers more about what you do and help them find you. It’s also a nifty activity to add to the mix in your digital marketing strategy. The benefits of keeping your Google My Business listing nice and tidy are huge for visibility and SEO.

Google My Business basics: why local search results are so important to your digital marketing strategy

The vast majority of online searches usually generate results based on location. Appearing in local search results is lucrative and makes it easy for customers to review your business. Google My Business is where all your business’s vital details can be seen at a glance on any device, including what time you close, what your phone number is and how long it takes to drive to your office.

The main thing is to get yourself a listing in Google My Business stat – it’s free, it’s easy to use and it’s a more effective marketing tool than it has any right to be. Simply maintaining an up-to-date and complete Google My Business page will do wonders for your local searchability.

Where do these Google My Business results appear?

You know when you type something into Google and three local search results (A, B and C) come up below a map? All are Google My Business listings. Your Google My Business listing comes up when someone in your local area searches for services you offer.

Why GMB is worth your while

Proactively taking charge of your Google My Business page puts you in the driver’s seat regarding what information you want to share. You can make sure all key information is correct and all descriptions are accurate.

Once you get all those details right, it’s time to share posts via your Google My Business account and scrutinise reviews. As it happens, we’ve seen SO MANY listings for perfectly wonderful businesses that have one standalone bad review bringing their whole rating down. If this is you, you can encourage your fans to leave reviews and drown out this lone naysayer.

One-star reviews are no indication that a business is bad, but of course random Googlers don’t know that. It’s human nature that people are more driven to vent about a negative experience than take the time to share a good one.

We recommend putting a strategy in place that encourages your repeat customers and clients to tell Google how much they love you. This is entirely worth adding to your digital marketing strategy because just a handful of strong reviews will crush one person’s not-so-good experience.

Don’t just do the bare minimum – optimise your listing

As with most pursuits in life and certainly with almost all digital marketing activity, you get out what you put in. Making an effort with your Google My Business listing by updating and tweaking it often will help you appear most frequently and prominently in local Google search results.

Optimising your page involves making sure all information and pictures are correct and appealing, and it also requires that you make sure your business is listed with those exact same details on places like Yelp, Trip Advisor, Zomato and other smaller, highly regarded consumer review sites.

Whatever works, right?

Look, this is an assumption, but GMB is a Google initiative and Google loves Google right? No doubt there’s a bigger strategy at play with Google My Business, and whatever it is, it’s not going anywhere

Want help optimising your Google My Business page? Contact Sketch Corp. and we’ll break it down for you.

As far as website development platforms go, it’s hard to beat WordPress, which will celebrate its 16^th birthday in May this year.

THE ORIGINAL & THE BEST

While there are some fabulous alternatives out there (Shopify, Wix and SquareSpace all serve their purpose), you really can’t go past WordPress for layouts, features, themes and flexibility.

WordPress powers something like 30% of all the websites in the world, making it by far the No.1 web development platform on earth. It’s definitely No.1 in our studio, where we develop most of our custom websites on WordPress.

We say 75+ million people can’t be wrong! While we can’t speak for all of them, here are the top reasons our design and development team say yes to WordPress.

1. IF IT’S GOOD ENOUGH FOR BILL GATES

We love that WordPress is completely democratic. The platform is suitable for bloggers, freelancers, mum and dad businesses AND many of the biggest corporate players in the world.

Just a few massive brands with WordPress sites are: Microsoft, Go Daddy, IBM, Sony Music, BBC America, Beyonce, Mercedes Benz, The Rolling Stones, Etsy and any number of news and entertainment sites.

2. IT’S FREE TO GET STARTED/IT’S INCREDIBLY COST-EFFECTIVE

While you are still required to pay for website hosting via your hosting provider, WordPress is a free platform. This means you will not be locked in to a proprietary platform that requires ongoing payment for access.

3. IT’S GENUINELY EASY TO MANAGE & CUSTOMISE

Our developers love that WordPress’s selection of plugins, layouts and themes is constantly evolving – hence why it’s the natural choice for one-man bands, small businesses, large corporations and organisations of all shapes and sizes.

One of the best things about WordPress is that it allows you to easily make changes to your own website – at your own pace and in your own time – without having to rely on your agency or another third party to do it.

Another key benefit is that it allows for easy customisation and enhancement via plugins. New functionality can easily be added at a later date if required.  

4. IT’S AN OPEN SOURCE CMS (AND THAT’S A GOOD THING!)

People are mistaken in their assumption that ‘open source’ implies your website is wide open to hackers. On the contrary. All open source means is that WordPress’ building code is free and accessible to developers. An open-source CMS in no way means that your website is vulnerable to attack. WordPress core software is audited regularly for security by hundreds of developers. 

Your developer can easily download and customise the WordPress code as required. What they need to keep in mind is that not all changes will be accepted by the WordPress team.

5. IT MAKES SEO EASY

The fact that WordPress has a responsive and highly logical design means search engines tend to prefer it. The platform is written using standard compliance high-quality code and produces semantic mark-up. For more precise search optimisation, WordPress gives each page and post unique meta tag keywords.

At Sketch Corp, we often install the WordPress Yoast SEO plugin for our clients because it provides a comprehensive solution for onsite SEO that allows you to add SEO titles, meta descriptions and meta keywords to each post and page.

6. IT LETS YOU HOST WHEREVER YOU WANT

Using WordPress means customers can host their website anywhere. Since around a third of the web is powered by WordPress, virtually any web host accommodates it. The majority of hosting plans include instant installation for WordPress CMS or already have it installed.

7. LOTS OF HELP IS AVAILABLE

If you ever find WordPress overwhelming or you get stuck, the answer will definitely be either on the WordPress community forum (which is moderated by staff) or elsewhere on the internet. So many people use this platform that you can basically just Google your question and be rewarded with a solution.

Hundreds of articles and entire websites are devoted to WordPress solutions, which means the answer you’re seeking is never far away.

– Sketch Corp.

While our trained eyes can identify a copypasta digital strategy a mile away, talking to a client the other day made us realise that not everyone is wise to this type of tactic.

So what on earth is copypasta?

Usually our team loves anything to do with pasta, but copypasta we just can’t get into. Wikipedia defines copypasta as blocks of text that individuals copy and paste across the Internet using online forums and social media– a practice often compared to spam.  

 

The most common (and highly irritating if you ask us) copypasta examples are when people guilt-trip their friends, family and followers into copying and pasting – a bit like a modern-day chain letter!

Examples of this include:

• ‘Normally I don’t do this…but if you really care you’ll copy and paste this into your feed…’
• ‘If you want good luck for 5 years or a billion dollars, just copy and paste this.’

 

Seriously, a billion? But you’d be surprised how many people do as the copypasta says.  

 

Memes – the one acceptable form of copypasta

Undoubtedly there are some very funny memes out there. With shrinking attention spans and the rise of social platforms (they’re SO user-friendly on socials) and the innate hilarity of memes, they’re perfect for quick take-up.

 

Not just for fun, memes can also be used to drive engagement, which is great because we marketers are always searching for ways to deliver a client’s message and brand strategically to their audience. Crafting content that gives customers a moment of light relief and engages them on an emotional level (when delivered properly) can result in increased brand recognition.

 

It’s worth considering that some memes have a very short shelf life – a lot shorter than your digital campaign – and that many pop culture references are more niche than we realise. That said, other copypasta memes employed for marketing purposes are beautifully simple and timeless, crossing the generational divide with ease. As always, judgment is key.