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The design of your website can mean the difference in converting a new customer versus losing a potential customer. Building a strong design foundation should be the first priority. You should be designing with user experience in mind. How do potential customers flow through your website? Is it easy for them to locate the information they are seeking? If you aren’t using basic design principles, you run the risk of losing potential customers because of your website design.

Design Principles Convert

Using basic design principles increases conversion rates and customer engagement. Visual hierarchy is one of the key components of design, the flow should convert clients with ease. Visual hierarchy includes calling attention to important elements with color, size, shape, etc. With this flow, customer engagement increases because the design leads users to the end product.

Make Users Happy

Design is an integral part of any highly functional website. If your website is a trap that sends potential customers in circles, they will become frustrated and leave. You only get one chance to make a first impression, don’t frustrate your site visitors with bad design!

For more information or to schedule a consultation, please call us today at (866) 611-6267 or submit our contact request form.

The definition of a “brand” doesn’t begin to scrape the surface of what branding means when building and/or growing a business.

brand/
verb
1. A mark made by burning with a hot iron to attest manufacture or quality or to designate ownership.

Technically, just a company logo would meet the defined term of “brand.” While the logo is necessary, it’s important to understand that your logo is just one piece of a larger brand strategy.

Of course, there’s a correlational relationship between your logo and your “brand,” but I’m asking you to think bigger. Think about your BRAND STRATEGY. Think about your identity in the marketplace. Think about your positioning.

Your brand is the promise you make to customers. Your brand is a value statement. Your brand is a way of life. Afterall, 64% of people cite shared values as the main reason they have a relationship with a brand.

GUT CHECK:

• Does your website convey who you actually are or who you want to be?
• Does your brand invoke feelings of happiness and loyalty?
• Are your customers having experiences that they can’t wait to tell their friends about?
• Does your brand make people smile?
• How do your potential customers perceive you?

For more information or to schedule a consultation, please call us today at (866) 611-6267 or submit our contact request form.

It’s just a normal Friday morning shopping for shoes on Zappos. You like the shoes, you really do, but you’re being budget-conscious. So, you close that window. You’re proud of yourself because you showed some restraint. Well done! Fast forward to 4:47 p.m., and your work day is almost over. You find yourself wondering what the weather is going to be like over the weekend. You hop over to the Weather Channel’s website, and there it is. Like BAM! It just hits you in the face—an ad for the shoes you salivated over a mere six hours earlier. You click on the ad (because who can’t at this point) and find out that you can get a 20% discount if you buy the shoes now. You buy them because you may never get a deal THIS good again. So, how does this happen?

It’s a fancy little trick that we digital marketers call retargeting. In reality, it isn’t actually fancy at all and is something that you can and should be doing for your business.

THE STANDARD DEFINITION

“Every time a new visitor comes to your site, the code drops an anonymous browser cookie. Later, when your cookied visitors browse the Web, the cookie will let your retargeting provider know when to serve ads, ensuring that your ads are served to only to people who have previously visited your site” (Retargeter.com).

WHAT THAT REALLY MEANS

Now, let’s back away from the technical talk! Basically, this functionality allows you to continue marketing to potential customers long after they’ve visited your website. The functionality is so sophisticated, it allows you to place specific products in front of the right people when they are visiting other websites.

WHY WE LOVE RETARGETING

In marketing, we talk about impressions a lot! They’re important. Without going total marketing nerd on you—an impression is the number of times your message has the opportunity to be seen by a potential buyer. Impressions are inherently more valuable when they are served to an audience who has already expressed an interest in your product.

Have we piqued your interest? For more information or to schedule a consultation, please call us today at (866) 611-6267 or submit our contact request form.

 

Leverage Digital Recently Received the Highly Coveted Google Partner Designation

TAMPA, FLA. (Feb. 25, 2016) – Leverage Digital recently received the prestigious Google Partner designation. Being a Google Partner is an achievement that only a select few agencies reach, and is a way for Google to ensure advertisers work with vetted agencies that follow best practices in search, display, video, and mobile advertising. Agencies that receive this designation must pass Google-administered certification exams every 12 months, use industry best practices to manage their campaigns, have AdWords Certified individuals on staff, and manage over $10,000 in ad spend over a 90 day period.

“It is an honor to receive the Google Partner designation, and further differentiates Leverage Digital as a top tier digital agency in the marketplace. More importantly, this designation provides our clients with peace of mind knowing that they work with an agency which has been endorsed by Google.” says Jay Taylor, Managing Director at Leverage Digital.

About Google Partners

The Google Partners program is used to vet and qualify agencies on behalf of advertisers. In order to qualify for Google Partner status, agencies must show that their business is healthy, their clients are happy, and that the agency follows Google’s best practices. For more information, please visit https://www.google.com/partners

About Leverage Digital

Leverage Digital is an award-winning digital marketing agency that specializes in custom web development and online marketing solutions that provide brands with tangible offline results. For more information, please visit http://www.leveragedigital.com/.

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Media Contact

Nicole Heubusch
Leverage Digital
P. (813) 489-4494
nheubusch@leveragedigital.com

Leverage Digital Receives Platinum, Gold, and Silver Honors from MarCom Awards, W³ Awards, and Davey Awards

TAMPA, FLA. (Nov. 5, 2015) – Leverage Digital recently added seven new awards to its rapidly expanding list of industry honors. The Tampa based web design and digital marketing agency received the prestigious Platinum MarCom Award, the organization’s highest honor, for its work with Trent Cotney, P.A. Construction Law Group. The agency also received a Gold W³ Award, Gold MarCom Award, and Silver Davey Award for its work with Bayfair Homes, as well as a Silver W³ Award, Silver Davey Award, and MarCom Awards Honorable Mention for its work with Alvarez Homes.

Only 16% of the 6,500 entries to the MarCom Awards received a Platinum Award, and less than 10% of the 5,000 entries received by the W3 Awards earned a Gold Award. This is the second year in a row that Leverage Digital has received honors from the W³ Awards and Davey Awards, and the first year the agency has won a MarCom Award.

“We are very honored to be recognized by these three highly respected organizations, the W³ Awards, Davey Awards, and MarCom Awards. It’s humbling to be included in the ranks with some of the world’s leading agencies and brands. These awards are a testament to the hard work and dedication our team brought to these projects, and will continue to bring to all our work.” said Jay Taylor, Managing Director at Leverage Digital.

The addition of these seven awards brings the total number of awards won by Leverage Digital in 2015 to twelve. Earlier this year, Leverage Digital received three Gold Hermes Creative Awards, and two Silver Communicator Awards.

About The W³ Awards

The W³ Awards honors creative excellence on the web, and recognizes the people behind award winning websites, marketing programs, social content, mobile apps and online video. The W³ Awards is sanctioned and judged by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts (AIVA), an invitation-only body consisting of top-tier professionals from a “Who’s Who” of acclaimed media, advertising, and marketing firms. For more information, please visit http://www.w3award.com/.

About The Davey Awards

The Davey Awards is an international award focused exclusively on honoring outstanding creative work from the best small agencies worldwide. The 2015 Davey Awards received nearly 4,000 entries from ad agencies, interactive agencies, production firms, in-house creative professionals, graphic designers, design firms and public relations firms across the U.S. and around the world. For more information, please visit https://www.daveyawards.com/.

About The MarCom Awards

MarCom Awards is administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP), an international organization consisting of several thousand creative professionals. Judges are industry professionals who look for companies and individuals whose talents exceed a high standard of excellence and whose work serves as a benchmark for the industry. This year the competition received about 6,500 entries from throughout the United States, Canada and more than a dozen other countries. For more information, please visit http://marcomawards.com/.

About Leverage Digital

Leverage Digital is an award-winning digital marketing agency that specializes in custom web development and online marketing solutions that provide brands with tangible offline results. For more information, please visit http://www.leveragedigital.com/.

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Media Contact

Nicole Heubusch
Leverage Digital
P. (813) 489-4494
nheubusch@leveragedigital.com

Whether yours is a product or service oriented brand, customer retention is essential. When executed properly, email marketing can be a very effective tool for making customers want more of what you’re selling. Here are a few ways this can be accomplished.

Promotions & Incentives

Promotions and incentives through email marketing are a great way to get customers back in the door. The hard part is often getting your customers to subscribe to your emails in the first place, so offer an incentive to encourage customers to sign up. Then, send out promotions at a reasonable frequency to reward your customers for subscribing, but avoid offering the same promotion too often. This will lessen the promotion’s perceived value, and customers will be less inclined to take advantage of it.

Announce New Products or Services

Does your company release new products or services occasionally? Make sure to incorporate new product and service announcements into your emails, and consider including an incentive to encourage customers to try out your new offerings.

Loyalty Program

Consider incorporating a loyalty program into your email marketing strategy, or leverage your email marketing to promote an existing loyalty program. You can offer exclusive email promotions to loyalty program members, and award points for purchases associated with these promotions.

Provide Value & Expertise

Share your expertise and provide your email subscribers with not only promotions and incentives, but valuable information. For example, a chiropractor’s office might send out tips to their patients on how to maintain better posture while at work. This is information that is free and helpful to chiropractic patients. Receiving expert advice is just as rewarding as getting a promotion or discount. It shows that you understand and care about your customers’ needs, which in turn makes them appreciative and loyal.

Segment Your Email Subscriber Lists

Not everyone is going to be in the same phase of the sales cycle, and sending out a promotion to entice a customer to save 25% on something they bought last week isn’t going to settle well with them.

There are three main categories to divide your subscriber lists into: prospective customers, existing customers, and loyal customers.

1. Prospective customers should receive emails that encourage them to take the first step to buying your product or service.

2. Existing customers have already experienced your product or service, so emails appropriate for this segment should entice them to buy again, and join your loyalty program if you have one.

3. Loyal customers should be rewarded for being loyal. Send emails thanking them for being such great customers, and provide this group with special incentives tailored to their specific interests that no one else receives.

To learn more about executing a successful email marketing strategy, please call us today at (866) 611-6267 or request a consultation.

Leverage Digital Takes Home Three 2015 Gold Hermes Creative Awards And Two Silver 21st Annual Communicator Awards

TAMPA, FLA. (May 27, 2015) – Leverage Digital, a web design and digital marketing agency based in Tampa Bay, adds five new international awards to a growing list of professional accolades.

The agency received three Gold Hermes Creative Awards for work on two client websites, Alvarez Homes & Alvarez New Concepts and Trent Cotney, P.A. Construction Law Group, as well as the agency’s own website. The agency’s website also won two Silver Communicator Awards in two separate categories.

The Hermes Creative Awards is administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP) with winners ranging in size from individual communicators to media conglomerates and Fortune 500 companies. Approximately 6,000 entries were submitted to the Hermes Creative Awards from 23 countries, and only 22 percent received the Gold Award.

The Communicator Awards is sanctioned and judged by the Academy of Interactive & Visual Arts (AIVA), an invitation-only group consisting of top-tier professionals from acclaimed media, communications, advertising, creative and marketing firms. AIVA members include executives from organizations such as Conde Nast, Coach, Disney, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Estee Lauder, Lockheed Martin, MTV Networks, Pitney Bowes, Time, Inc., Victoria’s Secret, Wired and Yahoo! Of the over 6,000 entries submitted to the Communicator Awards, between 18 and 25 percent of participants received the Silver Award.

“We are honored to receive international recognition for our creative communications work from these two highly respected organizations. Leverage Digital will continue to push the envelope with the blending of design and technology in order to give our clients the results they’ve come to expect from us,” says Leverage Digital Managing Director, Jay Taylor.

About the Hermes Creative Awards

Hermes Creative Awards is administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP). The international organization consists of several thousand marketing, communication, advertising, public relations, media production and freelance professionals. AMCP judges are industry professionals who look for companies and individuals whose talent exceeds a high standard of excellence and whose work serves as a benchmark for the industry. For more information, please visit http://www.hermesawards.com/.

About the Communicator Awards

The Communicator Awards is the leading international awards program honoring creative excellence for communication professionals. Founded by communication professionals over a decade ago, The Communicator Awards is an annual competition honoring the best in advertising, corporate communications, public relations and identity work for print, video, interactive and audio. This year’s Communicator Awards received thousands of entries from companies and agencies of all sizes, making it one of the largest awards of its kind in the
world. For more information, please visit http://www.communicatorawards.com/.

About Leverage Digital

Leverage Digital is an award-winning digital marketing agency that specializes in custom web development and online marketing solutions that provide brands with tangible offline results. For more information, please visit http://www.leveragedigital.com/.

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Media Contact

Sarah Edmiston
Leverage Digital
P. (813) 489-4494
sedmiston@leveragedigital.com