Robert Pfeifer

Let’s face it, QR codes are fugly — and take up valuable design real estate.
Additionally, if they’re not used correctly, you just messed up a perfectly good design for no reason. I’ve seen them used correctly and they can work, but I have to say, incorporating them into smaller marketing materials like a business card design for instance just cuts a third to a half of your valuable design space and alternatively if they’re too small on a billboard, what’s the point?

I was recently in Times Square and saw a QR in one of those huge building type of billboards, but the code was so dinky that unless you were up 5 floors and directly in front of it the QR would not capture. Either use them the right way or don’t at all. Here’s a shot of one used in a billboard right above a Starbucks that the designer thought they’d get cutesy with and guess what, that cute idea ended up with a non-functional QR. You’d think this would have been tested before it went to press. This stuff drives me nuts. Don’t assume something will work — ever, test it, then retest it.

Look, only time will tell for sure whether or not customers like to interact with QR codes on their smart phones and if designers will learn to live with them as part of marketing and design projects, but for now there are a handful of reasons to think they will continue to be a powerful way to increase your business for a long time to come. You may want to start getting use to them whether you’re on board with them or not.

Here are just a few things to consider or be aware of about QR codes:

The numbers don’t lie.
Sales of iPhones and Droids are only accelerating, with phones by Samsung and other manufacturers picking up steam, too. The one hundred million plus web-ready mobiles currently in use already make them an important marketing avenue… the fact that those figures only represent the tip of the iceberg means that QR codes are likely to become more common, not less.

QR codes are quick, easy, and cost-effective for marketers of all sizes.
It takes almost no time to generate and implement a QR code, have it ready for use, and start measuring the results. Like pay-per-click ads, the ease with which they can be put into place makes them even more attractive than they otherwise would be. Who doesn’t love an idea that they can try and test almost instantly?

Customers and businesses both love QR codes.
We’ve already covered the reasons that businesses love QR codes, but what about customers? As of this posting, QRing is an exciting app novelty that could get old fast or on the flip, become ingrained in how we do our day to day interactions with brands moving forward. Perhaps there will come a day when we are inundated with too many of them, but at the moment, the fast nature of QR codes makes them an unmatched tool for marketing through e-mail, brochures, billboards, and other outlets.

I’m personally on the fence with these new tools. Whenever a client says they want to integrate it into a marketing piece I think… “there goes the design.” I don’t think I’m resistant to new tech, there’s something about this one that has me pulled in both directions. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they’re here so like anything else adaptation is the inevitable step.

Until you have tried pay-per-click (PPC) advertising for yourself, it can seem a bit daunting to trust Google and the other major search engines to deliver new leads and sales directly to your virtual doorstep. After all, cyberspace is littered with companies that have wasted untold fortunes, on AdWords and elsewhere, because they didn’t understand how to get the most out of search marketing.

Still, Google AdWords offers the best chance, by far, for new advertisers to grow their businesses over the Internet. There are just four things you have to know and remember:

1. It’s effective.
The plain and simple truth is that tens of thousands of companies use AdWords for online advertising because it works. Whether you’re looking to bring in a few highly targeted visitors a day, or thousands from all over the globe, it would be hard to find a more efficient advertising medium, online or off.

2. AdWords works quickly.
It literally takes only moments to set up a new account, add keywords and marketing messages, and have your offers displaying to potential customers. Unlike a number of print ads, or even online affiliate programs, AdWords offers results with virtually no waiting.

3. It’s all about targeting.
The fact that AdWords can be set up quickly, however, shouldn’t be taken to mean that you can just throw anything online and expect to turn a profit. The real secret to AdWords is in researching your market, writing compelling ads, and then following up with strong landing pages. The more focused you can get on your buyers, the better return you’ll see on your investment over time.

4. Your AdWords campaigns become more profitable over time.
Speaking of time, the great thing about AdWords is that you’re likely to see a higher return for every week, month, and year you keep using it. That’s because you get better at finding the right customers and marketing messages, and customers come back to your site in higher numbers.

Need help getting started with AdWords? Talk to the team at Effusion about a free consultation today.

(By the way, we did NOT create the logos you see above.)

How did you end up with a bad logo in the first place?
There are a lot of reasons you could end up with a bad logo: Maybe you went with a low-end designer who didn’t know what they were doing. Maybe a family member or friend that dabbles in design on the weekend offered to help you out because you had a limited budget at the time. Maybe you inherited the logo from another owner, executive, or marketing firm. Or, maybe your business has just changed over time, and your look hasn’t evolved with it.

One way or another, you might be asking yourself how much work (and money) it should take to fix a bad logo. Can you simply tweak what you have, or should you pay for something new?

Here are a few things to think about:

In some cases, a few changes can drastically improve things.
Although we’ll admit this is very rare, there are times when simple fixes to an existing logo can fix what’s wrong with the design… or at least make it less painful to look at. Usually these situations have to do with the colors being used, or that the logo has been done in a very old style that simply needs to be updated with a more modern look.

Be open to the process.
If you do decide to redesign, be very open-minded. The biggest downfall of a redesign is if you are married to your current logo and you just can’t let go, even if it’s hurting your company image. If a logo has been with a business for sometime, the evolutionary steps to bring it up to snuff can be quite drastic aesthetically depending upon how dated or poorly crafted the current identity is. So be open, very open to seeing how solid design can truly make a difference in how your company is perceived from potential and current clients as well as your competitors.

Here are some great logo makeovers (that we did not do) but give you an idea of how a company can evolve successfully:

A great logo is a long-term investment.
In other words, if your design team can salvage what you have with a few simple alterations – and let’s be honest, they usually can’t – starting over isn’t such a bad idea. That’s because your logo is going to be with you for a long time to come, and changing the look and feel of your most important visual is the complete opposite of good branding. So, painful as it might be, your best choice might just be to have a quality design team come up with a fresh identity piece.

A reputable design team can help you find the answers, and spot the best way forward.
As with all things, every piece of advice is situational. If you aren’t sure about your logo, don’t know whether you should be looking at a new look, or just want to see what your options are like, the best thing to do is schedule a free consultation with a team like ours. At the very least, you’ll walk away from the meeting with a professional opinion to fall back on.

Logos tell the public what your business is all about in a matter of milliseconds. If you need help sending the right kind of message with yours, contact the design and branding team at Effusion today.

Business web design firms like to encourage clients to work with professional copywriters, but do you really need one?

There are two ways to look at this question. On the one hand, you probably don’t need one in a very strict sense, since you already own a keyboard and some word processing software. On the other hand, however, a good copywriter can bring you three strong marketing benefits:

1. Professional copywriters do a better job than you will of convincing people to buy from you or use your service.
In the end, isn’t this the point of your new business website? Unless you, or someone on your team, are polished and crafty enough at putting words together in a persuasive way, then working with a professional copywriter is almost always going to be an investment that pays for itself over time.

2. An outside writer adds a new perspective to your project.
Believe it or not, an outside copywriter can be a huge benefit simply because they don’t know much about your company. While that might mean a little more meeting and research time, it also means that they can spot opportunities, benefits, and obvious questions that you or your staff might not.

3. A copywriter will finish the writing in a timely way.
While we don’t have an exact industry percentage for the number of new website launches that have been held up because the content wasn’t ready, it’s a safe bet that figure would be shockingly high. Here at Effusion, most times when content is left in the client’s hands, 10 times out of 10 the project is delayed from 1 month to several months waiting on the content to be written and delivered to us. The truth is, writers are used to working under tough deadlines, they can keep your project moving forward and help your new website to find its way online much faster.

So, while hiring a good copywriter might not be life-and-death, it is almost always the best move for your bottom line and timeline. If you have any questions about copywriting for your next project, let us know, we’d be happy to help you out.

To answer this question, you first have to make an important distinction: When you work with the right kinds of online marketing and search engine optimization firms, the results will speak for themselves. In time, you’ll have more visitors to your business website than ever, and they’ll be targeted traffic, likely to convert into leads and sales.

If you work with the kind of SEO partner who likes to take shortcuts, however, then all you’re likely to get for your trouble is a stack of invoices.

With that in mind, here are a few things that business owners and executives have to understand about the search engine optimization process:

SEO does indeed work.
Any reputable online marketing firm is going to be able to show you case studies where they have improved their clients’ rankings, and how new sales ultimately came from those improvements.

The numbers don’t lie.
A first-page ranking on Google, for a major keyword or phrase, typically results in 25 to 30 times more traffic from the world’s largest search engine. If you have a quality business website, that means more phone calls, leads, or online sales.

A good search plan can take time.
The right kinds of web design and online marketing companies aren’t going to fill you with false promises. Depending on your market, a good search engine optimization plan can take anywhere from a few months to over a year before you see substantial results. It’s hard work, and it requires some patience, but it’s worth the effort.

There is a big difference between traffic and sales.
Another trait of a good web design and SEO team is that they won’t focus solely on search traffic – they will also help you to convert a greater percentage of visitors into buyers. It isn’t enough to have traffic; you need new sales for your SEO campaign to pay off.

Research is a big part of the equation.
In the same way, you don’t just want to attract any kind of buyer from the Internet, but someone who closely resembles your perfect customer. To find those people, and reach them with the right marketing messages, takes a good deal of research before your SEO campaign begins.

Having the right team on your side is invaluable.
As you’re probably starting to see, a lot of your success or failure depends on having the right team on your side. SEO is part art and part science, so it pays to have a committed team of experienced professionals working for your company.

Want to see the right kinds of search engine optimization results in 2012? Talk to Effusion about your marketing goals, and we’ll help you reach them.

As any veteran Internet marketer or business web designer can tell you, there are a lot of things that go into building a successful e-mail newsletter campaign. The smallest factors, like the wording of your subject line, can make an important difference when it comes to the response rate and return on investment you see. Add in the fact that there are dozens of variables to work with, and you can see why it’s important to keep learning and testing new ideas.

If you’re just starting out, however, or haven’t had the kind of success you expected with e-mail marketing in the past, then it’s important to get back to the basics. When we are working with new clients, we explain the process of building a killer e-mail newsletter in four easy-to-understand steps:

1. First, you have to start with the right list. It’s no use sending marketing messages to recipients who don’t have any interest in them, so it’s important you start out with the right, highly targeted list. A list full of good potential buyers will respond to a decent offer, but a random collection of e-mail addresses isn’t going to be profitable, regardless of how good your message is.
2. Next, you need a strong design. A good e-mail marketing design is one that’s eye-catching and easy to scan, but doesn’t take a long time to load or understand in your customers inbox. Finding that balance between something that’s interesting and something that looks “quick” isn’t always easy, but it’s important to your response rates.
3. Third, the right kind of marketing messages are a necessity. Combining irresistible headlines coupled with an article or idea that fits nicely with your customer’s interests is the key, not just writing about what you want to sell them at the moment. Think about things from your buyers’ point of view, and you’ll almost always end up with the right themes and topics.
4. Finally, you want to finish with a strong call to action. At the end of your e-mail newsletter, give your customer something to do – a special landing page to click to, a coupon code to enter, or some other step you want them to take. Not only will this helps you better track your response rates, but it will compel more customers to advance toward a sale.

Want help designing a profitable e-mail marketing campaign? Let the team at Effusion help you get started.

In sports, coaches and managers often remind fans that certain things just can’t be coached: speed, height, and raw physical talent are all things that certain athletes are inherently born with, and that teams can’t win without.

Believe it or not, it’s the same with design professionals.

Some are more talented, patient, and harder-working than others… and if you don’t take the time to find the ones with the right qualities, your business web design and marketing materials will suffer. That’s because no amount of coaching, prodding, or pleading on your behalf is going to change a designer who isn’t talented or open to suggestion into one who is.

That means that finding the right creative team isn’t just part of getting a great finished product, but one of the most important steps. Like you, your customers can tell the difference between design that’s decent and something that’s truly compelling. They might not be able to put a finger on the exact reason, but they know an eye-catching layout when they see one. What’s more, they respond to it on a deeper level than they do something that’s just not as imaginative or well-thought out.

The bottom line is that a great designer or design team can give you an enormous return on investment for your marketing budget, but the wrong one is likely to leave you wishing you had made a different choice, and there isn’t a lot you can do to change that after you’ve made your decision. Sales skills, or the ability to use design software and smile in client meetings, can all be taught and learned with experience. There’s no substitute for talent and perseverance, though, so make sure you choose the right creative team the first time around.

Like most new Google ideas – or relatively untested marketing ideas from any company, for that matter – Google Remarketing has been met with a combination of excitement, yawns, and complete confusion. What most business owners and marketing managers really want to know, however, is this: Is the program a great step forward in online advertising, or simply another gimmick that costs a bit more?

The first step to answering that question is understanding what Google Remarketing is. If you aren’t familiar with the term, then you’ve probably already seen it anyway. Basically, the search engine keeps track of sites you have visited (via cookies on their advertisers’ sites), and then shows you ads from those sites later, as you continue browsing. In other words, Google gives you more chances to return and buy from the companies you have already visited or searched for.

While the concept will undoubtedly change over time, it’s already a powerful tool for online advertisers of all sizes and has become the next best thing since sliced bread for three good reasons:

1. It allows you to stay on top of your customer’s mind. As any veteran marketer can tell you, getting customers to think about you when they aren’t on your website is a major challenge. Anything that can help you stay in front of them more often can only be good for sales.

2. It also keeps you in the mix when your customer visits competitors. What happens when a potential buyer clicks away from your site to visit a competitor, check out their products, compare prices, etc.? If they haven’t bookmarked your pages, or don’t remember the name of your site, then you may have no way of getting that sale back… unless you’re using Google Remarketing.

3. It gives you more mileage from your advertising budget. One of the continual themes on our blog is finding your perfect target customer and doing a better job of reaching that specific group. Obviously, Google Remarketing makes it easier to accomplish that.

Don’t believe us? Check this out…

Before we even knew what Google Remarketing was months ago, I had visited a website for a design project when to my surprise a colleague’s ad came up on the site I was on. I was shocked, and sent him a screen cap to let him know how cool it was I saw his ad on a popular designer website. I later came to find out because I had visited my colleagues website days before and also that he was using Google Remarketing that his ad sort of was following me around the internet. Sort of creepy but darn cool at the same time. Here’s what I had seen below:

Only time will tell how much more effective Google Remarketing is over regular AdWords spots, but we are willing to bet it’s going to be a winner. Why not contact us today to get help with your online advertising campaigns?

It’s funny how sometimes standing by your ethic guns may cost you money, but integrity I think… is priceless.

Recently, we had a returning client that absolutely loved our work on a very large project that took 4 months to complete last year. We spent weekends and vacation time mind you, to ensure everything was done and ahead of schedule and more importantly within budget.

A few months later the client came back to us for the exact same project for the 2012 campaign, but this time they wanted to have us (along with other design firms they’ve worked with in the past) do spec work to garner their business for 2012 — the best design direction “won” the project. Since all of the design firms came in at or near the same price point, the budget didn’t come into play, the one deciding factor was seeing “our creative vision” on the project theme before we were actually hired. This type of request just doesn’t fly around our design firm.

You certainly don’t ask DaVinci to paint the Sistine Chapel and if you like it you might hire him. (granted we’re no Leonardo but you get the analogy)

The question is — and to me it’s still a mystery — if you loved our work, were enamored with our customer service, thought we were reasonably priced and we hit or exceeded every deadline, then why in the heck are we even having this conversation?

If the work was solid and there were no hiccups and we have I dunno about 200 samples in our portfolio what is there to see that we can’t pull off?

We all know the evils of spec work and why giving your creativity away for free devalues your work as a design firm. In this case, it’s no different. We received an email recently that said they awarded the contract to a firm that provided graphic samples as they had requested — bottom line, that company was either subpar or they do not truly value what they design as a commodity.

It’s very sad that as a solid company you can be punished or excluded from a project for your design integrity. If anything it should be applauded and R-E-S-P-E-C-T-e-d.

Personally, that’s the price we have to pay for being able to sleep at night and knowing the true value of what we do as a company is not compromised by giving away our creativity for free.

We never compromise your value and either should you.