INSTAGRAM RE-POST

September 10, 2017 by

Instagram Repost

Instagram does not have a share or repost feature as their intent is that content be original, rather than the same material shared around. There’s two ways you can repost on Instagram, with or without an app.

Instagram Re-poster App

WITH AN APP

Visit Google Play or the App Store from your smartphone and search for “repost for instagram” or “repost for instagram”. You’ll get a lot of options – read the reviews and pick the one that works for you. Free apps have been fine for us.

Directions will vary for each app and type of phone, but this should give you enough info to work it out. 

Once you have the app installed:

1 – Be sure you are logged into the Instagram account to which you wish to post! If yes, go to #2 below. If not, you’ll need to be sure to memorize the Instagram handle of the post you wish to repost, and when you are logged into your correct Instagram account, search for the handle of the poster, and find the post you wish to repost.

2 – Click the three little dots at the top/right of the post – you’ll get a drop-down with several options if the poster’s settings allow a re-post.  Select “Copy Link”.

3 – Open your repost app and the post you just copied will be waiting for you at the top of the list. Click on it.

4 – You’ll have options for where to put the attribution mark and how it will look, whether to copy the original poster’s text as well as the photo (you’ll get to edit the text at the next step), and whether to post to your story or feed.

5 – You’ll be in Instagram now. If you wish, add multiple photos or videos to the post or apply a filter. Go to “next”.

6 – If you copied the text from the original poster, double tap the “caption” area and paste. Or write your own copy. Either way, you can edit the text or add hashtags.

7 – Add your location if you wish, and share.

 

 

Instagram Repost No App
 
NO APP

(Technically, not a re-post, but it gets the job done.)

On your phone, do a screen capture of the post.

Note the poster’s Instagram handle.

Open Instagram and use the cropping feature to crop out everything except the photo.

Then post as you do usually. Thank the poster and use a @hashtag with their Instagram handle.

(If you want to be re-posted, be a brand ambassador and do as this poster, @mercygoddard did – be a brand’s dream Instagrammer. She tagged the photo with our clients name so it was easy for me to find the post. Plus she made a great photo that fits our client’s brand and looks beautiful with her Halo Fab Blow Out.)

 
 


TIMING YOUR EMAIL CAMPAIGN LAUNCHES

August 10, 2017 by

Infographic credit: AdWeek Infographic based on Experian study

What are the best days and times to send your email marketing campaigns?

According to research from an Experian email marketing benchmark study, the best open rates tend to be in the evenings Tuesday though Thursday, but these are only general guidelines. When working with our client’s specific email lists we test different times and compare open rates. But if there is a call to action including a phone number to make an appointment we won’t send an email after closing time. For example, one of our clients best open and interaction rates comes with launch at 8pm, but the campaigns generate phone calls, and they are closed at 8pm, and so they can’t launch most campaigns at the peek time. So as with so many things in life, there’s no clear-cut answer–“It depends!”

From the study: “…recipients are surprisingly active late at night. Unique open rates averaged 21.7 percent from 8 pm to 11:59 pm and 17.6 percent for 12 am to 4 am. Moreover, this late-night group was more likely to click through, with open rates of 4.2 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively. These night owls also had the highest click-through rates for all times of the day. Revenue per email was also the highest in the 8 pm to 11:59 pm group. Additionally, more than 54 percent of emails are now opened on a mobile device.“


GOOGLE MY BUSINESS LISTINGS

July 9, 2017 by

+ Free ad from Google!*

Google My Business Listings are free and an essential component of any modern company’s online marketing.

  • Being listed gives you a boost in organic (un-paid-for) search results and therefore leads to more traffic.
  • You can set up multiple service areas if you have more than one location so your customer sees the closest location when they look for you.
  • Connects directly to Google Maps so your customers can easily find your location on their mobile devices.
  • Makes it easy for your customers to leave reviews for your business.
  • Adds credibility to your business when your business is properly listed, with hours, photos, videos, service descriptions, etc.

Google My Business Listings show on the right side of a Google search engine page.  Please see the sample listing For Halo Blow Dry Bars.

*Now, Google is offering a free ad posts which shows within your listing.  Please see the Keratin ad on the sample listing.

Ads can be up to 300 words, include a graphic, and a call to action: “Learn more,” “Reserve,” “Sign up,” “Buy” or “Get offer.”

Ads are designed to be dropped from the listing after one week, but if you want an ad to run continually, we’ve got a work-around to do so.

We manage the Google My Business Listings for several clients and are contacting them about adding a promotion.

Please contact John to set up your business listing – or to add one of these new promotional resources to your existing listing.

 

OUT TO PASTURE!

June 15, 2017 by

Our Non-responsive Websites

We love the websites we have worked on and maintained through the years. And we are grateful for all our clients who trust us with their website projects. But, as there’s no need for a portfolio to contain non-responsive sites anymore, and even although these sites are still working for our clients, we are moving non-responsive sites from our website portfolio to this post for posterity. So even though these websites are still working for our clients (some for over a decade, wow!), we need our portfolio to show sites which work on mobile devices.

Here they are, likely our final non-responsive website projects:

hubbardgodfrey.com

Built in 2007.  We love that when we visit AT&T Park, we see their work.

brandaubrandau.com

Built in 2007.  George and Kerrie are the best cut and color team out there!

donnadesmond.com

We started working with Donna in 2013.  We still love the look of this site.

Homeowner Association Websites

These sites follow the same template so the property management company can offer their HOA clients sites at a lower cost, have site samples to demo as a sales pitch, and simplify the development process.  Each site has a password-protected area for HOA members with an events calendar, group e-mail and messengering, work-order forms, HOA policies, board meeting information and more.

HOA Websites

earnosethroat-sanramon.com

Made in 2011.

menloville.com

Another ten year old site going strong!

hpdpublicrelations.com

Running since 2012.

3state.net

Built in 2008.

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A MOST DELICIOUS PROJECT

May 28, 2017 by

Artisan Macarons

Thank you, HPD Public Relations, for introducing us to Chef Alex and Artisan Macaron. It’s been a fun project, and a tasty one because you gave us samples too!

Artisan Macaron needed some brand standards, so we started with new fonts, and finalized colors for print and web.  Moving forward, they have a brand package, so all designers and employees have access to the same branding elements for cohesive marketing collateral.

New Fonts

 

We made new business cards, special offer folded mini-tent cards, a tri-fold brochure, and two large banners.  My favorite part of this project was combining photos of individual macaron vignettes into collages making them look like they were all photographed together.  The collage for the tent cards is in the header above, and this is the inside of their new tri-fold brochure:

Macaron MenuIs your mouth watering yet?  (The salted caramel is to die for! This from someone tiring of this food trend, but Chef Alex knows how to get that perfect caramel bittersweet taste.  Naturally [wink!], I had to sample many macarons during the design process.)

All brand ingredients came together last weekend at a trade show in Long Beach (under the professional eye of Hope Daly, PR Queen.)  We heard all the new items looked great.

Trade Show Display

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CUSTOM PHOTOGRAPHY

April 16, 2017 by

Custom Food Photography

Love it when I am able to create my own photo to fit with a design. So much nicer than searching for stock photos and then trying to customize them.

For these food still-life shots, I knew what colours, what layout, and what vibe I wanted for the brand and shot it with food found in the house and garden.

Here’s the final rack card:

The image on the front is a mix of photos taken at events catered by Palace Cafe Catering. It’s the same image you can see in a magazine ad in this post, “Catering Company Re-Brand.”  Photographers: Michelle Walker Photography and Michael James Buchanan.

And here’s the gift certificate:

Thank you, Palace Cafe Catering, for working with us on your new branding. It’s been a special experience.

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CATERING COMPANY RE-BRAND

February 22, 2017 by

Re-Brand

Last year our client, Palace Cafe Catering, decided to close their Sunnyvale cafe and focus entirely on the catering side of their business.  They have begun construction on a huge and fabulous new kitchen with offices in Belmont.  We are looking forward to participating in moving their business forward.  Thank you, Palace, for including us in your exciting new business plans.

Along with this move, they are updating their branding.  They’ve new colors, style, design, and fonts.  New print collateral is in the works and their new web site is almost ready for launch.

PREVIOUS AND NEW LOGO

blog-palace-logoNEW MAGAZINE ADS

blog-palace-gentry-ads

E-MAIL CAMPAIGN

Yesterday, we finalized their new e-mail campaign template and launched their Mardi Gras Menu.  As always, our mouths watered while we work – we know how delicious the food is.

MANGIA!

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AN ADWORDS CAMPAIGN DONE WELL

January 25, 2017 by

(2025 review – lots has changed over the last ten years, but you can see, much remains the same.)

Our client wanted to attract new customers for a high-value treatment they provide, and to help pay off the high-end equipment they just purchased.

If only one method of online advertising to get new clients is possible due to budget constraints, we always recommend Google AdWords campaigns, which reaches the largest audience in a targeted area, such as within a ten mile radius of your location.

We set up the campaign and wrote the ad copy, made a landing page, chose quality keywords and a specific method of keyword matching to maximize their daily budget.

We measure whether the ad is performing well in a few ways. (Please refer to the graphic below for the numbers in parentheses.)

  • Placement on the results page: Ideal positioning is either the first, second or third place on the page (6).
  • “Click Through Rate”: The percentage of time someone clicks on the ad (3) compared to the total number of times the ad is displayed. Above 0.5% is considered very good. It means the keywords we selected are a good match to what the user is seeing in the ad copy and is responding well to it.
  • “Conversions”: This is a big one. There are a number of ways to measure this, but it always refers to a way of tracking when the user takes a desired action. In this case a conversion is counted when the appointment form is submitted (7). The cost per conversion (8), is the total number of conversions divided into the total amount spent. In this case the cost per conversion is currently $89. Considering that the treatment being marketed typically brings in a few thousand dollars in revenue, paying ninety bucks for a likely new high-value client is money well spent.

adwords-screenshot

It should be noted that conversions don’t measure all of the success. Visitors who click on your ad may also call your business for an appointment from your phone number on the landing page (the page we create specifically for the ad offer), and even if they don’t call or make an appointment right away, they have seen your company name and your offer. Repeated exposure to your business is one of the keys to brand layering and attracting new business, so every click to your site furthers your efforts.

We realize most of our clients aren’t seeking such high-value clients where $90/conversion is a reasonable number. This is just one example. A reasonable cost for a new customer or sale depends on your business. And it is not always possible to track just how much new business you are getting from any sales promotion, but a well-executed AdWords campaign should be high on your online marketing agenda.

There are many more important aspects of Google AdWords, enough to fill books, but the info presented here is the very core of how to measure the success of such marketing campaigns.


INSTAGRAM ADS

October 3, 2016 by

blog-instagram-ads-header-ani-off

Instagram advertising allows you to reach a large and targeted market, using a variety of media, and with options for calls to action and objectives.

There’s an initial, one-time, set up phase which takes considerable time and work.  This is a project for John!

First, you’ll get the opportunity to consider your objectives which is a great way to solidify your goals and help you set in stone what will make Instagram advertising a success for your business.  We’ll have you choose one objective from the choices below:

Instagram Ad Objectives

These objectives will allow Instagram to funnel you to the best ad choice for your business.

We’ll then ask you to go through the targeting list below to be sure you are not paying for ads for people out of your targeted market.

City, state, region, country? Age range? Gender? Language?

You’ll also be able to target with user interest keywords.  For example, this sample ad we are setting up is for a pickleball lifestyle products company, so we are targeting anyone who has shown a social media interest in pickleball.

You may also narrow down your targeting by selecting mobile or desktop devices or both if that’s relevant to your ad and/or business.

Then there’s some general book-keeping:

  • ad start and end date/time,
  • do you wish your ad to run all the time, or at just specific times each day,
  • how much do you wish to spend,
  • do you wish to be billed by impression or by click?

These are the ad options:
Instagram Ad Objectives

Carousel ads which scroll images or video upon which you may put a text caption.  We selected carousel for our pickleball client and that’s what’s shown in our header graphic.

Static, single image ads with text overlay.

Video ads, which can be a set of images with captions as a slideshow, or full video, up to 30 seconds.

Nearly done!

You’ll need a landing page.  We recommend a page on your web site which is customized to your Instagram ad.  It will be more effective and will allow you to better track your ROI.

What would you like your call to action to be? Apply Now, Book Now, Contact Us, Download, Learn More, Shop Now, Sign Up, Watch more?

Because Instagram is owned by Facebook, ads are actually set up through Facebook’s business portal.  You may also run these exact ads on Facebook which can be a big time-saver.

We’ll walk you through every step of the way.  We’ll also ask you how you would like to see reporting.