SEO – that’s search engine optimization – and SEM – search engine marketing–are two sides of a very powerful marketing machine. Knowing how they integrate and what you need to do to make the most of them is a key piece of your marketing program. Read on to learn the key parts of each and how you can leverage them to get your message out to the right audience, on time and on budget. 

Finding a baseline for SEO and SEM

Search Engine Optimization is the art and science of looking at the content you already have and the content you’re going to create and optimizing it so that it creates a great customer experience that is also tapped into how search engines evaluate it when they’re displaying results when users search.

Search Engine Marketing is the platform that we use to promote content through paid search mechanisms. It draws on some of the elements of SEO to help decide which ads to show and how much we pay for each ad.

The Search Engine Results Page is where all the magic happens. Combining both paid search results at the top of the page and SEO links below, it’s the space you want to win in order to be found.

The steps that make SEO work

To know where you’re going with Search Engine Optimization, you need to know what you’re starting with. There are elements of SEO that will help your content win those precious locations on the SERP (search engine results page) and elements that will hurt it.

High quality, well-researched fresh content that’s rich with appropriate keywords can rocket you to the top. Keyword-stuffed content that you’ve borrowed (that’s plagiarized for anyone really keeping score) that can’t be found by search engines will make things worse. There are multiple tools that can be used to audit your site like a search engine will–check out Screaming Frog–where you can start to evaluate if you’re doing the right thing.

From there, establishing which keywords your audience is using, along with keywords that are adjacent can help guide you in revising your existing content as well as setting out a path for any future content you create.

SEM secrets to success

Pay Per Click or PPC ads are what you’ll find at the top of the SERP. Winning placement into that space isn’t simply a matter of throwing money at the problem: Google’s algorithm for both selecting appropriate ads and determining what to charge for them comes down to a few key things:

• Keyword Relevance
• Click-through rate
• The landing page your ad points to
• How relevant your ad is to the destination
• Historic performance of your ads
• And the X factor: things Google won’t tell us

Together, these things give you your Quality Score.

A good SEM campaign starts with finding the right keywords. Google Keyword Planner is one free tool you can use to help figure this out. From there you can also start to plan your bid for each ad.

Just like SEO, high-quality, relevant content on a relevant landing page is essential. After launching a successful ad you can go one step further as you start to optimize your campaigns using a peel-and-stick method that takes successful ads and runs them in their own unique campaign, helping to supercharge your relevancy.

SEO and SEM are disciplines that can take years to master, but the above information is a solid way to start to sink your teeth into. Now that you know roughly how these things work, you can make the call as to whether this is a task you want to take on yourself.

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Are “Vanity Metrics” dead?

If you’re trying to follow along with the social media metrics that matter in 2021 it might be giving you whiplash. The stern lectures that we’re getting in blogs, YouTube videos, and tersely-worded social posts is that “Vanity Metrics” are out and a whole host of new track-ables are in. Don’t worry, though, there are dozens of social media wizards who will set you right.

What are Vanity Metrics?

Vanity Metrics feel like the greatest hits of social media strategies of yesterday: they were the numbers people were trying to increase because that’s what success looked like, right?

Likes, Shares, Followers, Subscribers, Pageviews, Retweets… these numbers were easy to track, and they felt good when you made them go up… but they didn’t tell the whole story.

Is there any truth to it? Yes, there is, but it’s not the whole story. The “Vanity Metrics” that felt like the thing for you to pay attention to for so long are still important, but these new indicators are the reasons why our “Vanity Metrics” go up or down. So the change we’re seeing is that analysis is letting us know not the “what” of those numbers but the “why” of how they happened, and what we can do to enact positive change again

5 Social Media Metrics that Matter in 2021

The metrics that matter for 2021 have a few things in common: they take more work than pulling some numbers from an Excel spreadsheet from your social channels, and they all use a little bit of math. Thankfully you can find templates that will handle most of the math for you. In fact, we’ve built one for you. You can get a copy of it by giving us your email here

1. Social Media Conversion Rate

A conversion happens when you get someone to do what you want them to do. Social Media Conversion happens when a social media post is what’s driving that action. When you create compelling content, your audience will follow your CTAs (calls to action), doing things like signing up for your newsletter, creating a new account, or downloading a piece of content that puts them in to your sales funnel. For the time being social media conversion requires a cookie to track users through their journey; with that setup we’ll take the total number of conversions created by a specific posts and divide it by the total number of clicks the post received. We want a percentage, so multiply that number by 100 and we have our Social Media Conversion Rate.

2. Social Media Click-Though Rate

Alright we’ve just looked at the number of clicks a post received in our Social Media Conversion rate; what if we wanted to find our Click-through rate? After all, that’s a good indicator as to whether or not the content is driving interest. To find our click-through rate we’ll take the total number of clicks on a social post’s link divided by the total impressions for that post. Make it a percentage by multiplying by 100 and you have your click-through rate.

3. Engagement Rate FTW.

The evolution of the most basics measurement of social media–the number of likes, shares, and comments–is your engagement rate. It’s the figure that illustrates whether your content is finding your audience authentically and getting that reaction using those factors listed about–likes, shares, and comments. Engagement takes the total number of likes, shares, and comments, and divides it by your total number of followers; this still doesn’t account for individual users over indexing in their engagement, so if your audience has a few hyper engaged members who run up the numbers, you may want to adjust that down to find a more realistic figure. As always multiply by 100 to get your percentage.

4. Effective Post Reach

Effective post reach can be useful for a few things: see how many people have engaged with your content since it was published, along with giving you indicators as to whether you’re posting your content at the right time and/or if the audience finds it useful. You can determine your Effective post reach by taking your post reach dividing that number by your total of followers; this is where you multiply by 100 to get your percentage. 

5. Social Share of Voice

To find out how things compare when you’re looking at who’s talking about your brand and your competition online, you’re looking to find your Social Share of Voice. This stat tracks down mentions about your brand: direct mentions like using your band name or social media handle, or they can be indirect: the quiet mention without the tag. It’s this metric that lets you know how visible your brand is. To find Social Share of Voice you’ll need to find the sum of your mentions–direct and indirect, and then find the sum of mentions of your competitors. Add these together and you get your total industry mentions.

Take the number that represents your mentions, divide it by the total, and multiply by 100%

There are plenty of great articles that go into even further depth as to why these–and other social media metrics–can play such a crucial roll in your success. So, while yes, you’re going to need to put some elbow grease into switching over from vanity-focused to value-focused reports, but it’s time well-spent. If you’re looking at what you think is a daunting job, give us a call at Blink. We’ve got a team who can help you out.

The post 5 Social Media Metrics That Matter in 2021 appeared first on Agency Blink.

Do Not Track isn’t the adpocalypse and with the right partner you can get the same powerful results we’ve come to expect. The difference comes from strategy, creativity, and execution. 

The world of marketing exists in a delicate space: as a client you want to get your message in front of the right people, as a marketer you want to deliver results for your client, and as a consumer you actually do want relevant ads.  

The challenge for all three groups emerged over a decade ago as major players in both digital and social media marketing began to rise: Google and Facebook, at the centre of a search engine marketing network and a social media marketing network respectively, and each partnering to create their own third-party digital ad networks, found themselves on the ground floor of a lucrative new series of advertising channels. With no rules and few in a position to compete, both groups seized the opportunity to create products and services that would yield the most profit; the casualty of this calculated approach was user privacy, but at the time very few users had given any thought to the value of what they were unknowingly surrendering. 

Apple Takes A Stand With Do Not Track

In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal and nearly half a decade of users suffering through privacy breaches and ads that seemed to follow them everywhere, Apple took a stand. Leaning into their new corporate identity as the guardians of user privacy, Apple followed FireFox in implementing Do Not Trackin their Safari browser, culminating in the launch of a platform-wide Ask Apps Not To Track feature as part of 2021’s spring iOS 14.5 update.  

The update was controversial when it was introduced; Apple obliged developers who felt their business models were threatened by giving them an additional five months to adapt. When it launched it was elegant in its simplicity: by default, apps could no longer use the unique identifier of each iPhone in a variety of ways. Being able to display targeted advertisements based on third party data, sharing location data or email lists, or using third-party ad networks that matched up a user with outside lists was all gone; anonymized user data was one of the last pillars of in-app advertising that remained. 

While some app developers, Facebook in particular, didn’t receive the launch well–even using a nag screen to plead with users to turn tracking on with the threat of charging for the app if users didn’t comply–it was a hit with consumers. Reports have stated that over 90% of users have not turned-on app tracking.  

Marketing Returns To Its Roots

For many new marketers and clients, the new Do Not Track paradigm is a scary one; anyone starting a career in the last half decade may feel lost without the power and leverage that tracking systems yielded. For others however, those who weathered the rise of digital and social marketing tracking, this is familiar ground; we didn’t have tracking and we were successful before, and we’re already finding success without it again.  

The secret isn’t secret at all, it’s what has always been at the heart of good marketing. 

Start with strategy.

The ready, fire, aim approach to marketing has never been more reckless. The temptation to “just do it” may be high, but a strategic approach identifies your goals, helps you create ads and content that are in-line with who you are as a brand or company, and identifies who you want your audience to be so that you can speak to them more directly in ways they find appealing. 

Your strategy will be unique to you; when we’re working with clients the first step is analysis–figuring out who you are, what you do well, what your goals are, and who your audience is. For us that process can include interviews with your team, an in-depth look at your past marketing efforts, building business and user personas among other things.  

With a strategy in place, you have the destination, the map to get there, and the guide to unlock solving that problem effectively with good creative.  

Be ferociously creative.

Attacking a problem with creativity can take on different forms. Sometimes that creativity is expressed directly, through tight copy, brilliant art, brought together with meaning for your audience. It could be building the content resources that give your customers the insight and confidence they need to make a with decision with you. 

It’s hard to overstate the effectiveness that comes with the breadth and flexibility of a cross-functional team like Blink, with collective experience spanning traditional marketing channels, digital and social media marketing, video creation, branding, package design, white papers… you get the picture. Pick a partner that isn’t constrained by creative limits. 

Execute effectively.

When you know the plan and you’ve built your program, it’s time to make it happen. This is where the biggest change is happening now that Do Not Track is a reality, and where experience is going to be a differentiator for agencies that have it.  

Understanding your audience allows you go to where they will be without having to track them. Understanding your business means creating content that is beneficial, content that your audience will seek out.  

Understanding the tools, platforms and channels available means maximizing your campaign in the places that matter. 

Do Not Track isn’t the end of marketing. It’s our next beginning.

We get it: you’re good at what you do, and now that you’ve got a clear picture of what this Do Not Track future looks like you’re looking for someone who is good at this to handle it for you. That’s where we come in: Blink is a full-service marketing partner, an agency trusted by our clients to stay one step ahead of the curve.  

Give us a call and we can work with you find the best way forwards together.   

The post Making marketing work in a Do Not Track future. appeared first on Agency Blink.

eCommerce in 2020.

There are no words needed to describe how the world was hit by the global pandemic but out of bad things come good things.

Businesses needed to shift or shut. Many business out of necessity adapted in order to survive and for the majority of businesses this meant going online and offering a connection to their customers that they could no longer meet in person. It was possibly the proverbial kick up the back side that some business needed.

Sales boomed in 2020

“Ecommerce penetration in the US grew by 10 years in a 90 day period in 2020, reaching about 33%” *

With the inability to spend money face to face, customers turned to the Internet in masses. Business tools that most of us had never heard of became part of everyday language (Zoom, Teams etc) and businesses that we had heard of went out of business.

Consumers spent $861.12 billion online with U.S. retailers in 2020, up 44.0% from $598.02 billion in 2019, according to the latest Digital Commerce 360 analysis. Online spending represented 21.3% of total retail sales last year, compared with 15.8%  the year prior *.

The Customer Journey was changing.

Brands quickly realised that work need to be completed to retain current customers and attract new.
That’s where the brands that have a true omnichannel experience, with well thought through and serviced customer experience are winning. This all starts by putting the customer at the centre of any thinking (Human centred design). This is important as it realigns the brand back to what is important, the customer. What is the customer journey in the current state and what should be the customer journey in a future improved state?

Working this out is hard but it starts with DISCOVERY 

• what is important?
• where are the gaps in service?
• what customer touch points are working?
•  which are not etc?

 Once this is done you can start to DEFINE the offering, whether it is a new website hooked up to curbside pick up, text reminders, email flows or old fashioned telephone calls. Build out the solution and launch to the world.

Your customers will still find faults and that is why the service should always be living, allowing brands to adapt in an agile fashion to react to the changing needs.

Curbside pick up was born (or matured)

With stores in lockdown, many turned to curbside pickup to keep both the staff and customers safe. Whilst this omnichannel trend has been on the rise for a couple of years, the sharp increase in 2020 brought it to maturity.  Curbside pickup became another saying for 2020 and for online stores the pandemic highlight the service and helped it become part on online shopping habits. For the consumer it meant no long lines to get into the store. Just rock up, ring a number and the product(s) is brought right to you car.

Eddyline Kayaks (a Blink client) sell the vast majority of their Kayaks through speciality outdorr and watersport retailers. When these stores closed their doors in March 2020 many thought it would be a very tough year. However, the pandemic increased the public’s desire to get outside and away from other people. This meant venturing into the outdoors. What better way to socially distance each other than sitting in a kayak with a paddle floating on the water – PERFECT.

The closed stores started to offer curbside pickups, and stocks of kayaks ran dry vary quickly. This industry had just figured out how to pivot to online.  

See our Eddyline Kayaks Case Study >>

 Habits have changed for good

Some customers will probably stick to their new purchasing behaviour with many being more comfortable with ‘online and digital tech’ post pandemic. Customers worldwide are buying items rarely purchased online before. Online innovation, like augmented reality, is allowing online consumers to experience the products without being physically there.
(The engineering of a virtual paddling simulator may yet to come to Eddyline Kayak customers!)

Does this impact you?

Many brands are not equipped to compete on customer experience which is was of the largest differentiators online. Brands that are truly able to marry a strong real world customer experience in with an online experience (seamlessly) are the brands that will stand out and survive.

The competition is larger and stronger and brands will need to capitalise and optimise commerce across multiple channels, social media, retail and wholesale. This means that technology must be the foundation that will link the brand experiences to the customers. It doesn’t matter whether it is offline or online as the customer will flop backwards and forwards between the two.

* https://www.mckinsey.com/about-us/covid-response-center/leadership-mindsets/webinars/five-priorities-for-rapid-revenue-recovery-during-covid-19#

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Comany

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How can Blink help you? 

Please get in touch.
We like to listen to and then solve problems

Read how we helped Eddyline Kayaks with their website transformation and eCommerce rebuild. 

The post How did eCommerce habits change in 2020? appeared first on Agency Blink.

From social videos, corporate videos to Kickstarter or broadcast series visions, Blink is your partner on your video production. Research shows that video content outperforms other medium in generating engagement, brand awareness and conversions. When wanting to educate, inspire or create awareness, combining visuals, vivid colour, movement and bold graphics, sound (engaging speech or emotional music) through the magic of video. Together, these elements make your message memorable.

More people engage with video than any other content.

• Seventy-two percent of consumers prefer video to learn about a product or service.
• Fifty-three percent of consumers and 66 percent of millennials say they’ve engaged with a brand after watching a video on social media.

Video content is more memorable than other forms of advertising.

• Eighty percent of users can recall a video ad they’ve seen in the past 30 days.
• Viewers retain 95 percent of a message when they watch it in a video.

Video is the most shared content.

• Videos are shared 1200 percent more times than links and text combined.
• After watching a branded video they enjoyed, 83 percent of consumers would consider sharing it with their friends.

Video is shared more than your average photo or blog post and is favoured by social media and search algorithms, meaning the reach of a marketing video can be almost unlimited. This shareability opens you up to even greater brand awareness and sales. We hope our portfolio inspires you for your next video project:  

GetConnected

GetConnected has been a trusted source of Canadian technology journalism on television and radio since 2000. Mike Agerbo and team have been reporting on breaking technology news, testing gadgets, interviewing experts, and bringing technology to you for nearly 20 years. We aim to entertain, educate, inspire, and empower our community to understand and appreciate technology like we do. Watch us on TV, listen to our podcasts or live radio, and follow us online. Join us and get connected to tech stories that matter to you.

AMI Accessible Media Inc.

Are you prepared for an emergency – floods, earthquakes, tornadoes or wildfires? Everything can change in an instant when a disaster strikes. Imagine weathering such an event, but you’re blind or visually impaired; what else would you need to prepare? Our new “AMI Emergency Series” with host Ness Murby tackles the challenge, guiding this dedicated audience to the right preparation. We’re excited to announce the launch of this exciting 20-episode series. Visit AMI to see the series unfold.

Home Depot

To feature the wide range of Smart Home products available at Home Depot Canada, our GetConnected editorial team breaks down new tech so everyone can understand it. To drive wide consumer engagement, the short bite-size videos are created in a conversational tone as the tech experts share easy to follow instructions, while highlighting the product’s features and benefits. Where should you start when choosing a new smart assistant? What are the benefits of a smart thermostat? What is smart home lighting and how do you customize for each of your home’s multiple rooms? What can you do for your home’s security? GetConnected is creating several monthly videos you may see in Home Depot’s ad campaigns, their website and social channels.

ESPRO

ESPRO, makers of coffee and espresso tools for connoisseurs, turned to Blink to bring the features and benefits of their new “Bloom Pour Over Coffee Brewer” product to life, and to attract coffee consumers to support the exciting product launch on Kickstarter. “My Best Cup” – a campaign for coffee lovers and baristas, filled with compelling content and imagery to fuel the ESPRO Kickstarter Campaign. Learning from the insights into the lives of coffee lovers and those in the coffee business, the “My Best Cup” leads us through the daily rituals and the importance of brewing a great coffee with the finest tools. As crowdfunding continues to grow rapidly in Canada and businesses increasingly turn to this to grow awareness of a launch, stand out content is key. Blink created compelling content to use across the multiplatform launch, including a feature lifestyle video, how-to videos and supporting product and feature visuals to create excitement and intrigue for coffee lovers, including:

• Kickstarter Crowdfunding website
• PR and Media announcements
• Trade Event signage and collateral
• Social Media platforms
• BLOOM Pour Over Packaging

The ESPRO Bloom Pour Over Kickstarter achieved their pledge goals after just one day, and have more than doubled their original goal after the first week. This ESPRO video series took home a Platinum and Gold Hermes Creative Awards as well as GOLD at the MUSE Creative Awards 2020 Visit our full case study to see more

Bring your message to life

We specialize in creating content from ideation to completion for brands or publishers for broadcast, digital or social media. Blink brings high-performance professionals combining our many different disciplines and expertise: directors, writers, storytellers, producers, cinematographers, motion graphics and advertising creatives. The secret to our success is an unique blend of talent that can connect people with stories and brands, always with a twist.

ESPRO - wins Platinum and Gold

The post Why Use Video? Our Award Winning Video Production appeared first on Agency Blink.

You don’t have to evaluate your presentation readiness alone. As part of what we do Blink offers consultation on audio quality, video quality, and connection types to ensure you’re connecting to your audience in the best way. We can even supply a ready-to-present kit that will take you from middle-of-the-pack to best in class in one easy-to-use package. 

The Call 

Zoom, Teams, Skype: pick your poison – no matter which solution you pick, on their own they’re a half-measure at best.  

Let’s break the call down into its constituent parts: 

The Video 

Video is a function of four things in your call: the quality of your camera, the quality of your internet connection, the speed of your computer, and lighting. These pieces are carefully interlocked: a weak link anywhere can mean choppy, low quality video that–whether you like it or not–reflects poorly on you and on your brand or your product.  

The Audio 

If your audience will forgive poor video, the won’t forgive poor audio. Poor video can still be understood by your audience, but poor audio is a dealbreaker; it’s the comprehension wall that your audience can’t climb on their own. 

The Content 

When we started off with this “new normal” the vanilla PowerPoint or PDF was good enough but it has become clear that the flat, static, text-filled slides of board room meetings simply won’t cut it any more.  

The Host 

If you’re reading this, that’s probably you. You booked the meeting, you’ve got things you need to say, and you’re running the show.  

The Keynote 

There are people succeeding in connecting with their clients, investors, or audience online right now. The reason? They’ve already made the shift from thinking of these interactions not as bidirectional calls, but as keynote presentations. Elevating their presence takes strategy, skill, and talent, but the differences are clear: presenters are capturing imaginations, communicating clearly, and getting results.  

There are three key elements to a good presentation: 

• Production Value 
• Content 
• Presentation Skill 

We can break our call from above into these categories: production value encompasses video, audio. Your content is the main event. You as the host are on the line, delivering a memorable presentation that hits the right notes. Let’s look at how to do things properly. 

Production Value  – Video 

We talked earlier about how video is a function of a four things:  

1. Camera 
2. Connection 
3. Computer Speed  
4. Lighting 

All of these things are important. Here’s what you need to know:  

Most laptop webcams fall short of presentation quality. If you’re relying on a camera from an IT-supplied corporate machine, it may be time to put in for an external camera. Part of the problem is the camera quality, which in most laptops isn’t stellar–but the other element is what your camera sees. If you’re like most, your laptop is on your desk, meaning that your camera is delivering an up-angle shot that highlights the underside of your nose; an external camera mounted on a stand can bring that view to eye level, making it far more comfortable for your audience. You’ll find that external cameras are also typically higher quality.  

Can’t find an external camera? Take a look into NDI® apps for your mobile phone; they can provide higher quality video feeds that will give your audience a far better experience.  

Connection 

Your internet speed matters–but it might not be the number you’re used to looking at. Your download speed isn’t the important one here: your upload speed is. If you’re on a basic package from home, spring for an upgrade. At least 20Mbps will give you the bandwidth you need to deliver a higher quality video feed for your audience.  

Computer Speed 

If you’ve ever needed a reason to upgrade: this is it. Basic one-to-one video calls aren’t very demanding, but when we get to calls that push the limits of audiences on Zoom, Teams, or Skype, you’ll hear one thing from seasoned presenters: this is a torture-test for PCs and Macs.  

The rule of 3 is simple: if your computer is more than 3 years old, it’s probably time to upgrade. That’s not a hard and fast rule: high-powered computers from 3 years ago can still handle the task–but if you’ve got a mid-range or lower machine from that era it’s time to upgrade. 

Lighting 

A better camera is the first step to better lighting: better cameras have better lenses, wider apertures that let in more light, and better processors that can handle bad lighting–but you’ll do your presentation the most good by adding a lighting solution. Lights don’t need to be expensive, a small investment into a lighting solution can take you from “home office” to professional presentation instantly. 

The Space 

That leads us to the quiet fifth element of good video: a good place to present. While Zoom, Teams, and Skype can all insert digital backgrounds or blur the space there’s no replacement for a clean, professional background. That means either a space with minimal distractions, or a green screen setup. Green screens over some interesting opportunities, but the minimalist approach is something we at Blink recommend.  

Production Value – Audio 

This section is short: the microphone built into most laptops isn’t adequate: they’re a compromise at best and a detriment at worst. So what should you do? 

Opting for a headset can seem daunting, especially with the larger models on the market, so while that can be an option, you can choose a bluetooth lavalier microphone (sometimes called a lapel microphone) or a podcasting microphone.  

Better quality microphones are simple solutions that are plug-and-play, so there’s no reason to suffer with something sub-par. 

Content 

The heavy, text-laden PowerPoint is an anchor; it weighs down good brands, good projects, and good teams. I’m going to throw some cliches at you: 

Less is more. 
Show, don’t tell. 
Keep it simple. 

Part of the work we do is distilling the core message of your presentation to find out what your audience needs to see and what they need to hear. The text-filled slides of PowerPoints from pre-2020 don’t translate well to the different screens your audience may be using to participate in your keynote, so finding a way to convey information visually in an elegant, minimal way is key.  

 If this sounds like a pitch: it is. We’ve been working with clients to find that core message, to bring it on-brand, and to elevate it to that keynote level. Here’s what some of our clients have to say about us: 

Take a look at your deck. With the above in mind, if you think you need to take your deck to the next level, give us a call. 

Presentation Skill 

In-person presentation skills are a good starting point, but the art of presenting online is a unique application of those skills.  

As a presentation coach for TEDx Vancouver and the head of marketing for CastingWorkbook.com, my friend Christopher Bennett had this to say about it: 

“The online keynote is a hard beast to tame: the things you would usually rely on your audience for–faces, audible reactions, the vibe in the room. If you’re really going to nail it, you need to know your material inside and out. You have to rehearse.” 

The truth is that your presentation needs an audience that you can test with before you step into focus with your audience. That’s where we come in (again) to help: a presentation coach can take your time with your audience from good to closed deal with careful analysis and detailed notes.  

The Next Step 

Great Production Value, a good deck, and great presentation skills put you ahead of most of the pack, but what if you could take it one step further? 

If you’re looking to land your message in an unforgettable way it might be time to take your presentation to the next level. When we think about great Keynotes, we think about Steve Jobs, Tim Cook, and the team at Apple: rich, seamless media, flawless execution, and a production that is a step above what you’ll find anywhere else. 

That kind of production value is something you can achieve. How?  

There’s the pitch again. We can help. Let us know that you’re ready and we’ll show you the way. 

The post Your presentation needs to be more than just a video call. appeared first on Agency Blink.

There are thousands of public and private companies in North America competing for the same capital and attention every day. We’re here to help you stand out from the crowd. We start with your marketing and positioning strategy, developing your strategic branding, designing your materials, investor deck, then apply those insights to your investor-focused website, storytelling video offerings, and comprehensive ongoing marketing support.

We begin our process with a deep dive into your company’s purpose and the opportunities in front of you. Through strategic messaging and positioning, we’ll collaborate to develop your unique investment brand, one that helps you stand out in your sector, to reach new investors, and to raise development capital.

Your brand deserves the best, not just at launch, but everyday. Our in-house team has everything you need for any campaign in any medium. Work with us and see why Blink is synonymous with success for so many of our clients.

We’ll apply your investment brand to your key investor relations tools, including:

Branding

Branding is a statement that conveys your identity in an instant. We work tirelessly to build brand identities that investors connect with, crafting compelling brand messaging and visual elements. The results are cohesive brands that leave an indelible impression on consumers and our clients’ bottom lines.

Marketing and Positioning Strategy

Connecting with the right audience at the right time is the key to profitability. We’ll work with you to define those variables, delivering the step-by- step solution for maximized growth.

Website

Your online home needs to work for you, so work with us to build something elegantly functional and on-brand. Whether you’re starting with a simple brochure site or you’re looking for an eCommerce solution to serve customers around the world, we have the skill and the experience to deliver what you need.

Presentation

The art of the investor deck has three key elements: story, substance, and style. We work with our clients to identify the compelling elements of each narrative, key differentiators, and the stunning art that makes people pay attention.

Digital Marketing

Rising above the noise in the crowded digital marketing space, we’ll make sure your message is heard by the right audience.

Videos

The magic of motion storytelling can express so much more for your brand. Our award-winning team can capture the essence of your campaign with powerful dialogue, beautiful cinematography, and flawless editing.

Trade Show Materials

Make your trade show efforts pay off by capturing the attention of your audience, educating them rapidly with insightful content, and land your spot on their to-do list with relevant take-aways.

Ongoing Marketing Support

Your brand deserves the best, not just at launch, but everyday. Our in-house team has everything you need for any campaign in any medium. Work with us and see why Blink is synonymous with success for so many of our clients.

The post Creative Solutions for B2i – Business to Investor Solutions appeared first on Agency Blink.

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• Brand Identity, Creative Production

The Unboxing of Product Packaging

Did you know...

Blink’s award-winning design goes beyond digital and social marketing, landing pages and video to brand strategy and product packaging solutions?

Packaging design is an opportunity to build brand value and communicate the key benefits and features of your product in a meaningful, memorable, and eye-catching way. 

From beauty to beer to artisan coffee creation to personal face coverings (PPE) our latest packaging uses stand-out design, creative materials, and concise copy to differentiate, educate, and excite at first sight.

Taylight

Blink is thrilled to share our partnership with Taylight Brewing and the launch of our beer label! Capturing the essence of their refreshing and exciting combination of guava and lychee flavours, this is designed to jump off shelves and appeal to a new customer.

Glowology

We’re so proud to share the work we’ve done with glowology. We helped our client launch a charming and exclusive spa and beauty collection with a strategy to grow the brand into its next phase, which includes a skin care collection. We helped glowlogy find its identity: inspired by organic products and centred on relaxation and personalized care, it’s the science of beautiful, encouraging a glow from the inside out. Stay tuned for the 13-product skin care launch.

For more on what we have designed for Glowology brand see our case study.

Micron Covid

Life is definitely different these days, and a new safety necessity we all have purchased is the personal mask. Blink is proud to support Canadian-made Micron Technologies. To support their product development and critical speed to market, Blink designed the Micron branding and packaging (including custom illustrations and main photo). This bold packaging will catch the attention of consumers and enable them to differentiate the product from competitors. Look for Micron Technologies in TBD stores or online at TBD.

ESPRO

One video, endless creative assets. As a part of the Blink solution for ESPRO’s new product launch, our team captured video and still images that powered the multi-platform campaign. Used across the Kickstarter website, PR and media announcements, trade signage, social and on the new BLOOM Pour Over Packaging.

To see the award-winning ESPRO launch project, check out our case study.

Thank you.

Effective packaging strategy, sourcing, branding and design should generate visibility and consideration for your product, and even spark an emotional appeal, so the consumer searches out your brand and becomes loyal to it. If you have packaging needs, contact us. We would love to hear from you.

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The post The Unboxing of Product Packaging appeared first on Agency Blink.

Eat Beyond Branding

Gold – Corporate Identity in the 2020 MUSE Creative Awards

With submissions submitted from more than 57 countries, Blink is so proud to receive a Gold award for “Eat Beyond” Corporate Identity in the 2020 MUSE Creative Awards competition. Congratulations to everyone involved.

ESPRO “My BEST CUP”

Platinum and Gold Hermes Creative Awards 2020

Gold MUSE Creative Awards 2020- Marketing / Product

We are thrilled to announce that our ESPRO “My Best Cup” project has been awarded a Platinum and a Gold Hermes Creative Award for Best Video in Marketing/Product. “My Best Cup” brought the launch of the new ‘Bloom Pour Over Coffee Brewer’ product to life and helped surpass Kickstarter pledges 4x over the original goal.

Globally recognized by over 125 countries, the Hermes Creative Awards honours the creators of the information revolution who bring ideas to life.

Thank you, high fives and congratulations to our friends at ESPRO, the team at Blink and our creative contributors. And thank you to Hermes Creative Awards for this awesome honour. 

To see more on this project and video, see our Case Study.

Gold Seal “Full of Good”

Gold MUSE Creative Awards 2020 – Marketing/Promotional

Gold Seal’s latest “Full of Good” campaign takes home Gold in the 2020 MUSE Creative Awards competition in the Marketing and Promotion category.

Gold Seal is a truly Canadian brand, so Blink took the opportunity to exploit the beautiful scenery and nature around us. Water and landscape scenery was the foundations to the illustrations. The campaign featured beautifully crafted localised scenery using iconic and recognisable landmarks. All hand drawn and executed using Procreate by Blink’s own creative team.

With submissions received from 57 countries this year, we are honoured to be recognized for our creative and strategic efforts. Congratulations to all Blinkers for their hard work on this amazing project!

First Responder Technologies 

Platinum Hermes Creative Awards 2020 – Newspaper

Blink received a Platinum Hermes Creative Award for the First Responder Technologies Launch Newspaper Ad Wrap.

As part of the integrated & ongoing launch First Responder Technologies wanted to announce their company and subsequent listing on the CSE (Canadian Securities Exchange) to a wider Canadian audience. Reaching potential retail investors and introducing the solution to potential customers, whether there are government, security companies, universities, museums and theatres.

The advertisement wrapped the outside and inside cover. A clever tear on the front page revealed content and shocking facts about shootings and attacks. The inside then reveals the character is carrying a gun in his bag – that would be detected by the solution.

Unique thought-provoking newspaper creative and nation-wide impact cover positioning deemed highest praise from the judges.

Globally recognized by over 125 countries, the Hermes Creative Awards honours the creators of the information revolution who bring ideas to life.

See more of Blink’s work with First Responder.

D56

Gold Hermes Creative Awards 2020 – Company Branding

Blink and D56 are honored to receive a Gold Award in Company Branding from Hermes Creative Awards.

Inspired by elements of the new unique mass timber buildings, this branding features a powerful figure in the T, stretching up and out over the rest of the word, like the canopy of a tree. The natural wood lines evoke the different types of timbre that make up construction. The rich colours feel natural and warm, a beautiful contrast from the cold, hard concrete and glass found in so many new developments.

Globally recognized by over 125 countries, the Hermes Creative Awards honours the creators of the information revolution who bring ideas to life.

See more of the branding project in our Case Study.

EPSON EcoTank Challenge Training 

Platinum Hermes Creative Awards 2020 -Video / Training

Breaking out of typically bland training communications, Blink and EPSON are honoured to receive a Platinum Hermes Creative Award for Video/Training for the innovative “EPSON EcoTank Challenge”.

EPSON needed to show retail employees that they had a superhero to answer customer printing challenges in a fun and exciting way. Making the trainer the hero in printer solutions, a comic-book creative was created and distributed to North American retailers including Staples and Best Buy, making learning fun and engaging.

Globally recognized by over 125 countries, the Hermes Creative Awards honours the creators of the information revolution who bring ideas to life.

See Video and Case Study

The post Blink Award Wins appeared first on Agency Blink.

While each business has to respond differently to world challenges in their own way, we’ve seen consistent success with some strategies we want to share with you.

We had the chance to chat with VP of Marketing at Ocean Brands, Nola Martin and and Scott Holley, President at Eddyline about how they have pivoted their marketing during Covid and our ever-changing world. Read our blog and watch the chat on how to not only survive but thrive now and the recovery that will follow.

“Think. Reflect. And plan. We began a new conversation with our customers, and they were ready to share their stories, hopes and dreams.”

Scott Holley, President at Eddyline Kayaks

“Our marketing shifted so quickly. Our current messaging wasn’t going to resonate. We adjusted our schedule to be more timely, changed our tone and spent a lot more time listening. What can we do to help people?”

VP of Marketing at Ocean Brands, Nola Martin

Watch full live chat video here 

See the way forward.

Looking back over the past decade and a half of Blink’s history we’ve weathered economic cycles and downturns; it’s never pleasant, but we have found that our most effective clients have been successful through careful planning and preparation for a market recovery.

We’re all watching the situation carefully, but the consistent element when weathering and emerging from a downbeat in the economy is vision, communication, and execution.

Vision is the art of see where we’ve come from, what our position in the world is right now, and where demand is going to be as the economy shifts back into a more productive state. Planning in a bull market it easy: you know what you’re good at, so keep doing it. It can be more challenging in more austere times, but the ultimate question is: what are you bringing to the field that’s unique, and how are you making the best use of your resources?

As a strategic full-service agency this is where our job starts; we’ve had a lot of questions about how we’re doing right now, and the answer has two sides. While some clients have chosen to wait this time out without deeper engagement, others have doubled-down, and we’re already seeing powerful results.

Which brings us to communication and execution: your vision for your business plan is your own–and while we do work with some of our clients to help sharpen that vision–our core strength lies in helping our partners communicate what makes them great and executing on bringing that message to their existing audience, expanding that audience, and bringing more a more actionable message to market.

Here are three tips to be ready for what’s next:

Don’t lose touch: have a communications strategy

This market change is different from others that we’ve seen. Now, more than ever, your audience is paying attention. Keep in touch with them by connecting with valuable content that will help keep you top of mind and show them you’ve got a plan.

Do you have a clear picture of who your current audience is, where they’re spending their time, and how to talk to them?

Pay your user for their time

Even though many of us are a bit of a captive audience, value your client’s time. Create insightful, revelatory content that is worth the time they’ll take to watch, listen, or read. Give them a reason to interact with you, and be present when they do.

Content is more than just your social posts or blogs; think about richer content opportunities like insightful videos, ebooks, white papers, and both audio and video podcasts. The more value you present to your potential clients or customers, the more they’ll value you.

Expand your audience

You’ve earned the audience you have already, but there are tools and strategies you can use to leverage what you know to build your audience even further, in an authentic way.

Do you have an idea of a new audience that you want to address? Now is the time to do that work, establishing audience personas, and developing that will connect with them in a meaningful way, no matter where they might be.

We want to be clear: we can help you with all three. Whether you’re looking at a digital or social marketing strategy, creating great content, or strategically applying analytics and tools to expand your audience, we’ve got you covered. We’ve built a cross-functional team with decades of experience and creative talent that punches well above our weight class.

You could wait until this all blows over to continue your own journey–or you can get out ahead of the curve with the right strategy and the right message.

Our contact information is below, we’d love to hear from you.

The post How can your business thrive in a Covid world? appeared first on Agency Blink.