Marketing professionals are often faced with pressures relating to measurement, evaluation and return on investment when selecting design agencies. Effectiveness in graphics design doesn’t necessarily mean effectiveness with the marketing campaign.
A few useful points to consider when dealing with design agencies:
- Don’t get personally attached to the graphics designs provided by the agency. Design work is subjective. Always remember it needs to work for the target audience and this may differ from your own perceptions.
- Test out design work across a sample audience and ask them if it works … are they receiving the message you are trying to convey. Messages can easily get overpowered by over design, content must prevail. Only add design when it provides added value to your message.
- Always check the graphics design agency’s client list, give them a call and ask them about their experience of using the agency. Does the agency have a successful track record in terms of retaining clients?
- Above all always check the agency has prior experience in your field or at least the ability to adapt t to your sectors requirements quickly. Graphics designers who know how to create for dog food campaigns don’t necessarily have the experience or understand the complexities of creating for the jewellery sector.
Here is an interesting video, if not a little eccentric. A little strong on the expletives for me but the underlying message that some people just don’t want to get social media is very clear. In many ways this video highlights the unique language that social media is developing in order to create a realm that only the savvy can understand.
The challenge for us marketers is how to shape and influence social media channels to become increasingly effective for our needs.
Do we encourage the growth of unique audiences for ease of targeting or do we break down the barriers, encourage wide scale adoption of social media, so we can bring our messages to people on mass?
:: view the full video
Hyperlocal sites and microblogs are becoming the way forward to empower local communities … and the way for a new generation of journalists to make their name!
This Wordpress article extract makes the point well:
“If you’re a trainee journalist in the UK, a hyperlocal news site is your new CV, its content is your cover letter. Here’s a real rare opportunity for your journalism to precede you [...]
Those students that do grasp the nettle will, more than ever, be best placed when graduation comes around.”
:: more on the full article
Going hyperlocal is becoming the next big challenge for local government. Local authorities will need to find these local voices and empower them in local decision making in a way that is published across the transparency of cyberspace. It will also add to the growing pressures on traditional media, whose sales are declining due to news that is not local enough for communities.
The challenge for us all will be how we manage the massive array of information sources that going hyperlocal creates, filtering out the worthy voices and influencers. On its surface hyperlocal gives those who would normally find it difficult to have voice a way to have an equal place at the communications table … but will hyperlocal really become the preserve of those who are better educated, technologically enabled and vocal at the expense of further marginalising the most venerable in society.
I guess we will have to wait for some good solid metrics to find out the real impact of going hyperlocal on local, regional and national society.
A great source for information on hyperlocal at Twitter: @podnosh
My links:
Twitter: @JasonKWhyley
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonwhyley
Welcome to my first blog about the world of marketing and communications.
I hope you find the posts to follow informative and engaging.
Over the next few days I will start to share what’s currently interesting in the field of marketing and some of the best practice that is out there.
If you have tips, information, questions or just would like to discuss anything contained within the posts feel free to ‘chip in’.
So it’s an hello and good bye for now … back in a couple of days.
Jason