Splash Omnimedia Blog:

AIGA, the Professional Association for Design, describes graphic design or visual communication as the use of any visual medium at all. Designers work across many mediums -- be it hand-drawn illustrations, typography, paint, design software, or (often) a combination of several of these.  It is the designer's job to know how to organize the elements of the message to communicate.

 

Augmenting a design with photography, drawings, and other images is great. But many designers have created successful design solutions using type only. The use of typography in design goes beyond font selection. Instead of selecting a font and letting it do all of the work, designers take in the meaning of a word and convey that by manipulating the letterforms. Paula Scher, a superstar in the design world, is perhaps most well-known by her Public Theater posters. Their strong use of typography is a great example of how a mood can be conveyed with just letters.

Image-based design is another way designers choose creative ways to convey a message. When selecting an image for a particular design, many things must be considered: mood, emotion, composition, colors, and personality all come into play. Unexpected manipulations of an image can create powerful results, as with Stephan Sagmeister's "Made You Look" book cover. This clever monograph of a german shepherd dog is memorable and impactful -- both because of its surprising change when the red is pulled away and its playful design.

 

Using type and image together gives designers the opportunity to develop strong, concept-driven pieces. Certain photos might lend themselves well to a specific type treatment, and vice versa. Designers carefully select what font or image to use in order to create the best pairing. Take this spread, art directed by Fred Woodward, for Rolling Stone. The photo used projects a strong and masculine image on its own. It has a centered composition, the subject is sitting confidently with his arms out, and the photo is perfectly exposed. The designer paired the photo with a bold, condensed, sans-serif font. The type emphasizes the "O" in the photo, which also mimics a bullet hole (a play on the word "shot"). It's a perfect example of image and type working together.

 

No matter the design choice or style, graphic design has an important purpose -- to visually convey a message to a target audience. If you have a message to convey (and don't we all?) then get in touch with us to find out the best visual tactics to use as part of your overall marketing strategy.

HVAC marketing has become a necessity for companies trying to get a step ahead of the competition. There are many HVAC companies all competing for the same jobs. And with a slow economy, consumers just don’t have the money to spend to replace air conditioning and heating units. There is too much competition and not enough work. HVAC marketing can help you increase your exposure and help you increase your sales. If you are not effectively marketing your HVAC business, you are missing a golden opportunity to increase your market. There are plenty of ways to increase your HVAC marketing.

 

Online marketing has become essential to business owners who want to increase their profits. By creating a website for your business and developing an online presence you are greatly expanding your audience. Consumers today go online to search for whatever product or service they are in need of. If their air conditioning unit stops working, they will search online for an HVAC company. If your HVAC marketing doesn’t include an online presence, those consumers won’t find you. They will, however, find your competition.

 

The use of mobile marketing has been rapidly increasing. Consumers are using their cell phones and other mobile devices more and more. With mobile marketing, you can send a valuable coupon directly to the consumer’s cell phone. Make sure that your website is mobile phone and mobile device friendly. If your website is not mobile phone friendly, the website will appear disfigured in the mobile device, and important information may not be readable.

 

Social media sites are also a great new tool for HVAC marketing. Create a Fan page on Facebook and add informative videos about HVAC services onto YouTube. Blogging has also become an excellent and effective form of HVAC marketing. Write a blog about the things that bring value to your customers. A good blog post can be about how to winterize their homes and include suggestions to have their furnace check-up done before the cold arrives.

 

Yes, traditional HVAC marketing is still valuable. Yellowpages, coupon mailings, magazine, newspaper and billboard advertising are still effective. You do still need to have an online HVAC marketing strategy to go along with the traditional HVAC marketing to help increase your business.

 

By creating a successful HVAC marketing plan that includes creating an online presence, you will see your HVAC business grow.   Contact us today for a free marketing proposal on how we can help improve your bottom line. 

With a multitude of marketing services and “gurus” popping up everywhere, it can be tough to decide which marketing strategies to budget for.  Most people recognize the value in search engine marketing but may not have a clue to what that means and how to go about showing up in search.  First a few definitions:

• SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and is everything involved in making a website show up in search engines as an organic search result. Below is a screenshot that highlights organic search results in google.



 



• PPC stands for pay per click and is just another term for search engine advertising or paid advertising through sites like google, bing, and yahoo. Below is a screenshot that highlights where the paid ads are on google.

 

 

So now that you know what the difference is between SEO and PPC, which strategies should you use?  There is no simple or universal answer considering creative marketing strategies vary from company to company.

Why SEO?  SEO typically delivers a higher return on investment than PPC and also is trusted more by most searchers.  SEO can take several months to start seeing results but will pay for itself over and over as first page rankings are achieved.

Why PPC? PPC works on a bidding system where companies basically pay more to show up higher on the search engine pages.  PPC is especially useful to gain valuable exposure on search engines before SEO has had time to ripen.  Also, with really competitive keywords, PPC is a solution that will give you the chance to compete with big names when SEO is really competitive.

Typically, the best option is to choose the perfect hybrid between SEO and PPC services depending on how competitive your niche is.  Many times SEO can completely replace PPC in the long run once top rankings have been achieved.

Any successful businessperson will affirm that strategic advertising and promotion is the key to success in business. It is not only critical to do it in the beginning when you are just starting out, but you must also continue to focus on advertising and promotion throughout the life of your business. In fact, those businesses that focus adequately on advertising and promotion when their business is experiencing a slump are the ones who will overcome it.

 

Understanding Recent Changes in Advertising and Promotion

The past few years have brought about significant changes in the world of advertising and promotion. It used to mean print ads, TV, radio, tradeshows and giveaways. While these are all good advertising strategies, and they are still used, the advancement of technology means that they are much less important than they were in the past.

 

The Internet has become the go-to resource for practically anyone looking for anything.

A vast majority of people go first to the Internet to find out where to buy products and services they want and need. Therefore, a strong online business is essential to any business that hopes to survive.  Web-based advertising and marketing strategies include a variety of things such as your company’s website layout and text, online ads, listings in directories, local search result listings, online cross promotion with other businesses and offering freebies through social networks. You also need to use information marketing, such as blogs, article marketing and press releases in order to establish yourself as an expert in the industry.

 

Advertising and Promotion Strategies To Focus On In A Slump

If your business is experiencing a slump for any reason, you need to put specific advertising and promotion strategies in place. Economic recessions, seasonal slumps or anything that causes a downturn in business can be counteracted with the right strategies.

 

-          Focus on learning from customers and potential customers. This means you need to find out what your customers are looking for so you can best provide the solutions they need. In order to do this you need to get your business involved in some interactive marketing strategies. Creating and correctly maintaining a Facebook fan page or a Twitter account will help you get useful feedback for your business. Blogs are also an excellent way to interact with your clients and learn from them.

-          Make sure your local Internet presence is solid. If your clientele is local, you want to make sure that your online presence is targeted to those people in your geographic customer base. If those finding you are across the country, your advertising and promotion strategies are ineffective.

-          Diversify your online presence. The days of having a website as your only web presence are over. You need to incorporate a social network presence, Web 2.0 strategies, video marketing, information marketing and audio marketing in order to be successful. Therefore, spend extra time from slumps in your business on diversifying your presence online.

 

Practically every industry has experienced a slump in recent years. Countless businesses have folded or downsized significantly. Weathering those slumps takes hard work, specialized knowledge and embracing change. Put new advertising and promotion techniques to work in your business and watch positive change come your way.  Contact us today for a free marketing proposal on how we can help improve your bottom line.