I’ve heard sales people say many times, “Oh just slap a picture of the product sheet write up, that’s all it needs.” It’s unfortunate that some companies and sales people don’t quite understand how impactful (yes it’s my new word) GRAPHIC DESIGN can be to attracting, generating and closing a sale of a product or service.

There are dozens of great statistical surveys out there to quantify how significant a high impact visual, placed in the most effective position can be to catching a prospect’s attention and keeping their attention much longer than a less powerful or appropriate image.  Remember a time when you passed a business or a bus shelter and a high impact visual caught your eye?  It probably sat in your mind about 3 to 5 seconds longer than the next advertisement.  And that extra 3 – 5 seconds of your mind’s attention is all that the seller needs to stimulate a response, an emotion or a memory in your mind associated with their product.  It really is that effective.

Graphic Designers use a combination of art and science to produce visual displays that:

1.  Capture your attention

2.  Focus your awareness

3.  Hold a prospect’s  attention longer by motivating their eyes to look longer or deeper into the image

4.  Evoke an emotional response with the image

5.  Imprint an association with the product.

Graphic Design uses a combination of colour, tones, shading, movement, peripheral density  and simplicity or chaos in the image to motivate different behaviours in its viewers.  Our team at Navigator ensures that when we use images for web design, for example and we want the web visitors to focus on the product, we will purposely not include the face of the model in the image but only part of the model’s face or we have the model looking away from the web visitor.  The reason, people naturally look into people’s eyes for the most part and having  the model looking at the web visitor takes the attention away from the product and places it on the model – which we don’t want.  It’s the same when we are featuring mining equipment for our customers.  If we place mine personnel on the equipment, we usually have them looking at the equipment or away from the camera so that they person viewing the image, focuses their attention on the product or part of the product we want them to purchase.

Expert Graphic Designers take your message and through the art of word placement, key visual images, strategic colour and layout accomplish the following:

Increased message comprehension.	Increased message retention.	Increased eye attraction to your message.
Increased emotional tie to your message.	Increased response or engagement to your message.	Focus their attention on your message

So it’s important to look at the images you use in any marketing and advertising or web design , where you use them, how you use them and what feelings, emotions or behaviours they may influence.  Graphic Design plays that important role in converting sales.

VIEW SAMPLES of impactful graphic design portfolio here.

 Dawn Larsen is the President of Navigator Marketing & Strategic Planning Experts.  She is a keynote speaker on the topics of web design,  internet marketing, mobile marketing and social media marketing.  Dawn’s articles have appeared in Profit Magazine, Sales Inc and Success From Home Magazines.  Gather more great marketing tip from Dawn Larsen on LinkedIn, Facebook, You Tube or Twitter.

• Price or purchase information, such as “40% off” or “Download it at our website”
• Contact information, such as web address, email, mailing address or other information intended for your page’s About section
• References to user interface elements such as Like or Share, or any other Facebook site features
• Calls to action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends”

They want your cover photo to be the face of your company, not a promotion or a marketing campaign.

Give our team a call if you’d like help in developing your new Facebook look for your personal or business Facebook pages.

705.918.2090

View samples of Facebook Fan Page Samples:

Navigator Marketing

Add-Vantage Bookeeping

Bob Hibbs, Insurance

Simon’s Gallery Grill

Hp $olutions, Financial Planner

Throughout time, it’s been proven that the organizations that have some sort of formalized strategic plan stay in business longer, attain more sustained growth and generate higher net revenues than those that don’t. The best result for those that undertake strategic planning is the organization’s ability to adapt to change much easier.

Strategic planning aligns your total organization – people, processes, and resources – with a clear, compelling, and desired future state.

The best time to undertake a strategic plan?
When there is a change about to happen:

1. Opening new markets
2. Change of ownership or business model
3. Adding new locations
4. Merging with other companies
5. Adding new processes to a company

Below are some time-tested tips to help you through the Strategic Planning Process.

1. It is a PROCESS, not an EVENT.

   This is not something you do as a single event. It is a part of a continuous improvement process. It never ends. It is not something you do, check off the list, and then move on to something else.

2. Hire a Strategic Planning Facilitator/Strategist

   There is a lot involved in the Strategic Planning Process, but the ROI is huge for companies who see it through to fruition. The best solution is to hire a Strategic Planning Facilitator or Strategists who’s focus is to move the company through all the stages in the Strategic Planning process, document, engage, educate and communicate the company’s progress within the Strategy.

3. Keep it SIMPLE.

   Strategic planning, when done right, is not simple. It is actually very comprehensive and complex. However, in order to effectively develop it, communicate it, and weave it into the fabric of your organization, you need to adopt a simple framework that everyone can easily understand. We believe that the entire process can be broken down into five essential questions as follows:

   1. Who are we?
   2. Where are we now?
   3. Where do we want to go?
   4. How will we know when we have arrived?
   5. How do we plan to get there?

   Continuous Improvement Cycle

   If you think about it, these five questions are not only at the core of effective strategic planning, but are also at the core of effective project management. Once this framework has been adopted, it can actually be used throughout the entire organization for a variety of purposes i.e. district strategic plan, technology plans, facilities plans, school improvement plans, project plans, etc.

4. Involve ALL stakeholders

   Effective strategic planning is not done in isolation. This one cannot be over emphasized. Stakeholders need to be involved early and often. Don’t wait until you have already developed a plan to engage them. Make them a part of the process before, during and after. After all, the stakeholders are the ones that you will have to depend on to implement the plan.

5. Measurable Results & Timelines

   Your plan must include measurable results. We call them “Performance Measures”. If not, then people will never know when the goal has been achieved. If you don’t have a due date, then there is also a good chance the work will never get done. Setting due dates help prioritize the work and provides the framework for allocating resources to get things done.

6. Accountability

   People are the ones who get things done. If your plan does not get down to the point of having specific people responsible for initiatives within your plan, then the work will never get done because nobody will have ownership in it.

7. Costs

   All initiatives have a cost, whether hard or soft. If they are not defined, then it is likely that they will not be planned for in your budgeting process. Nothing can be more frustrating than going through the planning process only to find out that the things you said were important have not been accounted for in the budget. Budgeting is not separate from the strategic planning process, it is actually a part of it. Budgets are where you put your money where your mouth is. If your strategic plan says one thing but your budget says something entirely different, then you have a problem.

8. Align it.

   Your strategic plan cannot be separate from everything else. The strategic plan comes first and then everything else you do must be aligned back to it. This should include things like your budget, operational plans, school improvement plans, project plans, meetings (both board and staff meetings), policies, evaluations, etc. If it’s not aligned then you should be asking yourself…why are we doing it?

9. Communicate it

   You can never do too much of this. Communicating the plan has to be done in multiple ways to engage and inform all stakeholders. Everyone should know what the plan is and what their role is in executing it. Find out how your various stakeholders prefer to receive information and try to meet them where they are.

10. Track it

    If you have no way to track it, then even the best of plans can fall to the wayside simply because it became too complicated or too time-consuming to keep up with it. Tools are now out there to automate and streamline this process…use them!

11. Live it

    For it to be labeled as “effective” planning, it must produce “effective” results. It has to become a part of the culture and climate of your organization. It has to be infused in everything you do . It should start from the top. If the board and leadership team “live it”, then it is more likely that people at all levels of the organization will too.

Strategic planning when done right is not easy. It takes a lot of time and hard work. There are no shortcuts. However, once embedded into the culture and climate of an organization, it does get easier as it becomes “the way” you do things. And most importantly, it DOES produce transformational results.

Learn more about starting a Strategic Plan for your company.

Dawn Larsen is a Business Strategist with Navigator Marketing. She helps businesses with change management and facilitates the Strategic Planning Process with companies in Sudbury, Timmins, North Bay and Thunder Bay.

There are 5 billion mobile phone users and only 1.25 billion PC’s in the world.

• 73% of mobile phone users send and receive texts daily?
• Mobile searches have quadrupled in the last year.
• Imagine 10 of your friends who searched mobile last year….
• This year it’s 40…of your friends.
• 1 in 3 searches are local…that means out of a 100 people 33 people are searching locally.

Facebook now has 200 million MOBILE users (and they’re twice as active on their phones as on desktop PC’s)…

… and that means the chance to engage local customers on mobile websites right when they’re on the move and ready to shop.

Even 39% of smart phone users are searching while……
yes, even while they are in the bathroom.

Who Needs a Mobile-Friendly Website?
6 Tips to Mobilize Your Website

1. Go mobile. Get a mobile website now.

If you don’t have a website for your business right now, then developing a mobile website is your quick, simple and much less expensive answer to getting some marketing on the web. It is important to have a regular website and a mobile site, but if you have to choose one option right now…….It is strongly recommended to get a mobile website. A mobile website can be created in days compared to a regular website for PC’s that usually takes weeks. The average cost of a simple mobile website is $500 compared to $5,000 for a regular website.

If you have a regular website, chances are it is not mobile-friendly. Your web visitors are having difficulty seeing enough of the website screen, challenges navigating around your site, difficulty trying to enlarge buttons to move through pages and they are only seeing 1/10th of the website page. Most times they abandon their search on websites like yours in search of mobile-friendly sites.

Want to see how your website looks on different mobile devices?

Go to http://www.mobilemarketingsudbury.com and add your website url into our mobicheck software.

2. Go to a company you can trust to program your mobile website.

According to the Mobile Marketing Association Google is starting to differentiate mobile websites and offering them higher ranking to mobile phone users. Many web programming firms neglected the mobile aspect of website development and it is now holding their clients back. It is important to find web programmers who thoroughly understand mobile marketing and know how to code to the highest standard possible. XHTML is generally ideal. Seek out programmers who are up on the HTML5 and Mobile AJAX to optimize the mobile web experience.

The design aesthetic is also a bit different for a mobile website. Your programmer/website designer should be drawing ideas and inspiration from mobile apps, rather than your existing website.

3. Understand what you mobile visitors want out of your mobile website when they visit.

You have 3 clicks and less than 3 minutes to win over mobile web visitors to take action with your company.

When a person pulls out their smartphone and searches “Wireless Router” they may have a different intent than someone who performs the same search on a desktop device. The mobile searcher may be looking for the nearest place to buy a router, or perhaps even wants to quickly compare online prices to the price of the router they are holding in their hand. The desktop searcher of the same term may be just beginning their search and looking for more general information on what wireless routers are, how much they cost, and where they can buy one.

A study by Google and Ipsos OTX MediaCT claims that mobile searchers are further down the funnel than your average desktop searcher. So take the time to think carefully when selecting which keywords to add to a mobile marketing campaign, and what landing page you are going to send the traffic to.

Just having a landing page that is compatible with mobile devices isn’t enough. You need to make sure it is optimized for the task that mobile searchers will likely want to perform. This includes making sure the buttons on the page are easily clickable with a finger or thumb. The phone number should also be easily clickable without having to zoom or unintentionally clicking a different option.

4. Make sure your mobile website offers more than a static brochure.

Include video, sign ups, contests, coupons or incentives because most of your mobile web visitors are on the go and looking to be influenced or for something to catch their eye. You will also want to integrate two-dimensional barcodes or QR (Quick Response) codes into print to drive traffic to your mobile web site.

5. Integrate your mobile site with your offline offers.

Use every opportunity you have to make your existing customers aware of your mobile site. They are going to be the easiest people to get to the mobile site. This means including a list of features with screen shots in newsletters, social profiles and on your desktop site. It also means setting up a mobile PPC campaign, at least for your brand-terms, and maybe even adding a line about it in your standard email signature line for a couple weeks.

Like any launch, you should create and push a press release about the new mobile content, and if you are running traditional media ads like print, direct mail, TV or radio, you should also mention the mobile site there.

6. Ask for their mobile number.

Mobile marketing is fast becoming go to marketing platform for instant ROI. Sending out text messages with key promotions secures higher promotion uptake.
Email read rates are down to 20% compared to 95% for mobile marketing messages. Conversion rates are even lower at less than 2% compared to an average 20% for mobile marketing. Direct mail is also believed to continue its decline in 2010 as postage rates increase and redemption rates also average 2%. The time, money and labor associated with direct mail compared to the instantaneous effect of mobile marketing make communicating with your customers through the mobile channel and reaping instant rewards the clear choice for businesses.

The mobile phone is where people will continue to access the internet, fill their down- time and find information to guide their daily lives… the opportunity is there for your local business to gain increased market share with your mobile website.

Dawn Larsen is the Web Marketing Expert with Mobile Marketing Sudbury a division of Navigator Marketing). Mobile Marketing Sudbury helps businesses build their mobile visibility to generate more traffic, leads, customers and sales. Dawn is a keynote speaker on the subjects of Internet Marketing and Social Media Marketing. Her articles have been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, Selling Power, Sales & Marketing Excellence and Franchising Magazine.

Have questions? Looking for more answers? Join the online marketing conversation on LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

Web video is a great way to stimulate the senses of your audience. Each of us absorbs information differently. Some people learn better by hearing, others by seeing, and still others by reading. So if you aren’t yet thinking about ways to market with video, you’re ignoring a very compelling communication channel.

So why isn’t everyone creating a web video presence?

A few reasons I hear from my clients are:

1. You don’t like being in front of a camera.
2. You don’t have the technical competency to shoot, edit and post video footage.
3. You can’t afford to buy the equipment and software you think you need.

Well, the great news is, making a web video does not require expensive gear, tech-geek prowess, or you to magically morph into the perfect TV persona. I’ve broken down the process into 4 easy steps, so you can get a web video up in no time!

STEP 1: Examine Your Goods

If you own a digital camera, you’re already equipped with all you need to film a web video. Most digital cameras have a video feature, and you might want to check your cell phone as well—a lot of the new models shoot video. But for best results, pick up a solid, small video camera like the Flip Mino, which shoots and then plugs right into your computer for instant upload to your desktop. My team and I use the Kodak Zi8 because you can plug in an external mic for best sound quality.

STEP 2: Shoot to Minimize Errors

To keep your editing process simple, I highly suggest breaking up your shoots into small chunks versus doing one long take. That way you reduce your chance of errors and you won’t have to bother with cutting out parts that are boring, or have any blunders.

Here’s how to segment out your video: Let’s say you have an intro, then point #1, point #2, Point #3, the call to action, then contact information. Write up a loose script that you can follow as you shoot each take, or keep an outline nearby so you can reduce room for errors.

In Step 3, you’ll see how beautifully these short takes will work with transition slides to pull together a really polished video. Wear solid colors that pop, and powder your face if your skin gets shiny. And a big time-saving tip: Try to shoot more than one video at once. Often what takes the most time is all the setup, so you’ll save time in the end. (And ladies, why not only do your hair and makeup once?)

Step 3: Create Slides to Aid Your Message (or Replace You)

PowerPoint slides are a great way to elevate the quality of your videos, and it’s also perfect for those of you who are too shy to get in front of the camera. If this is you, all you need to do is put together a nice-looking PowerPoint presentation and narrate over as you click through your presentation.
Let’s say you do want to be the star. PowerPoint slides are a great way to cleanly transition between your points and reinforce your key messages (like your pitch, your website, etc.).
A basic slide setup would look like:

1. Introduction Slide: include your topic, name, website.
2. Title Sequences: this gives your video a sense of structure, as you present the information (ex. Lesson #1, Question #1, Problem #1, etc.). Keep this to a minimum though, maybe 2 to 3 max.
3. Call-to-Action: tell your viewers what to DO next. (Should they go to a certain web page to learn more? Call your toll-free number? Click on a link elsewhere on the page the video will be posted on?) Another idea for those of you who are shy is to instead (and sometimes even better) feature your star clients and highlight their successes.

Step 4: Edit Your Video and Post It Online

These days, there are many free, user-friendly options for editing your video. Two popular and simple ones are Microsoft Movie Maker and Apple iMovie. For more fancy editing and effects, take a look at Apple’s Final Cut. Take an hour or two to go through some of the built-in tutorials and you’ll be uploading a stellar sales video in no time!

Post your video online using YouTube or other easy upload sites like Vimeo.com, where you can then fetch the embed code and put the video on your own site easily. And also consider Facebook which has the even better viral effect.

All the Ways You Can Use Video Now

A few ideas are: for your home page as a welcome/intro to your site, explaining a specific service or product, driving traffic from Facebook and YouTube to your website, motivating people to sign up for your teleseminar or webinar, as a replacement for a long-form sales letter, or as a thank you message to your clients.

And that’s just a start! Don’t wait… record your first video as soon as possible, and get it up there.

Have questions? Looking for more answers? Join the online marketing conversation on Linked In, Facebook or You Tube and Twitter.

One way is by using the right kind of content — the kind that will elicit a response or get your fans to take action. Ready to engage some more on Facebook? Here are 5 simple ways:

1. Use photos.

According to a recent report from digital marketing agency Navigator Marketing, Facebook posts with photos are the most likely to engage users. These posts showed a .37% engagement rate, compared to a .27% rate for text-only posts and a .15% rate for just links. If you think about it, this shouldn’t really come as a surprise. Photos, obviously, grab attention visually and people must click them to get a closer look. So use an intriguing photo to get people’s attention. Be sure to say something about the photo too. We’ve seen people using this space to write more without having to link off Facebook.

2. Use video.

Video is engaging because you can see and hear the speaker. Like photos, people must click on something to get a closer look at a video. They also take up more real estate in a newsfeed, making them easier to notice. Perhaps that’s why, in the Web Liquid study, video posts had the second-highest engagement rate (.31%).

3. Ask questions to increase comments.

When you ask questions you’re giving people permission to engage with you. They know you want their opinions. Not everyone will comment, but you’ll encourage those who are already predisposed to do so. Just be sure to ask your fans explicitly for a comment. See next tip.

4. Use clear calls to action.

Would you like someone to comment, share, or “Like” your update? All you have to do is ask. Another recent report, this time from Momentus Media, showed that posts asking users to “like” them had an engagement rate of .38%, compared to an .11% rate for posts without that call to action.

5. Write longer updates.

You may think short and sweet is the way to go but you shouldn’t be afraid to share longer stories with your fans. Longer Facebook status updates show higher interaction than shorter ones. So elaborate when you need to. This may give readers a better chance to connect with your update.

The Challenge:

KPI is an industrial mine supply company providing services in underground mine power, automation controls and instrumentation.  The company had a website that had no keyword programming, search engine optimization or visuals on the website that reflected the products, services or culture of the company.  The old KPI website did not show up on any Google page listings for any of the company’s key words or services and KPI didn’t show up on Google maps either.

The company was focused on significant growth over the next few years locally and internationally in particular Mexico.  They needed tools to communicate their products and services to the mining industry, engage an audience to communicate with long-term and get ranked higher than industry competitors on Google and other search engines.

Navigator’s Solution

The Navigator team interviewed the key KPI stakeholders and managers and key customers to understand the following:

1. Company vision and mission
2. Competitive advantage (from their perspective)
3. Why customers purchase from KPI
4. Highest revenue generating products and services
5. The KPI prospecting and sales process.
6. Research and learn about KPI’s products and services.
7. Research how mining industry prospects search for and purchase products similar to KPI’s.

Action Steps

The Navigator team generated an online and offline marketing strategy to accomplish:

1. Develop a branding strategy to internally and externally communicate what the KPI brand represents to the world.
2. Re-design the old  auto-cad logo.
3. Develop a keyword rich internet presence for key products and services.
4. Develop a website with key word rich content, product visuals and customer testimonials to  position KPI as a leader in their industry.
5. Develop a video overview of KPI products and services that can be added to ALL online sites and  profiles and used as an offline marketing tool at tradeshows events.
6. Develop an online  catalogue of products and services that could be distributed world-wide for 1/5^th of the cost of a hard copy catalogue and used at tradeshow and events.
7. Navigator Marketing haven proven its long-term value is now the Marketing Agency on Call for KPI.

Impact & Results:

1. 960 % Increase in web traffic.
   Old Website stats for 2010: average monthly 50 web visitors
   New website stats for first 30 days in 2011: average monthly 480 web visitors
   Average stay on website: 4 minutes
   Number of page views per web visitor: 4 pages
2. Increase in sales locally and internationally.
3. Increase in employee engagement.
4. 627% increase in Linked In opt-ins
5. $10,000 savings in catalogue printing and mail distribution costs.
6. 400 online eflip catalogue viewers in 30 days
7. Average 9 daily views of online video.
8. High praise from KPI’s customers on website design and navigation.

Products and Services

Logo Design

In a short time frame, our team enhanced the old KPI logo, focused on a strong color that and added depth and perspective to it.  The ISO certification and processes are an important aspect of the KPI culture so the ISO certification was incorporated into the logo design.  We provided KPI with 6 different formats of their logo, a Logo Use Guideline Booklet and an email signature set up and stationary set up with their logo.

Corporate Branding & Positioning

Website – Keyword rich domain names

Our team researched all the key words KPI’s prospects, customers, and industry professionals use to search out the products and services they sell.  A complete competitor analysis was completed to understand how and why KPI competitors attract their prospects and customers.  A final analysis was completed using cutting edge word tracking tools to understand the behaviours and key word searches for online web visitors in KPI’s niche industries.  A final report of key words was developed and new domain names were suggested and strategically purchased.  KPI now has established a first page listing on all search engines for its key products and services that generate the highest profit for them and in some cases pushing their competitors off the first page of Google.

Web hosting

We provide unlimited email signatures, and daily website back up for KPI with a 99.9% uptime guarantee.  KPI’s old hosting provider was riddled with constant downtimes and email failures.

Photography

Over 150 photos and images were shot, enhanced, tagged and used in multiple marketing formats.  The KPI staff was trained on how to capture product shots when devices come into the shop for servicing.  The KPI staff was trained on how to file and save key images for company use.

Product & Services Eflip Catalogue

The 12 page double sided Eflip catalogue was created to visually showcase all the KPI key products and services.  Full reporting analytics were included in the catalogue to track open rates, social media shares, top page views, top click throughs and calls to action.  The online catalogue was uploaded to the KPI website, slideshare.com, all KPI LinkedIn Profiles, Google Maps and the KPI Facebook Fan Page.

Email Sign Up

The KPI website was programmed with email collection software to enable KPI to collect emails to maintain long-term permission based relationship with its prospects.  Web visitors can sign up for the KPI Catalogue and newsletter.  KPI now has a growing list of interested and engaged web visitors to communicate up-coming specials, new products and services to.

Google Maps

Our team set up a company profile for KPI in Google Maps, added key word programming and the KPI Catalogue and online video to their Corporate Profile. They now rank higher in their Google listings than their competitors locally and internationally in their key product areas.

Linked In Corporate Profiles

We created a corporate profile for KPI complete with a key word programming for Search Engine Optimization.  Each product and service is categorized in the Company profile. In addition, the KPI video, Eflip catalogue and any product sheets are attached to the corporate profile.  Finally, we designed some rotating advertising on the KPI LinkedIn Corporate Page that drives traffic to their website for their top 3 revenue generating divisions.

Linked In Individual Profiles

Our team designed individual LinkedIn Profiles and a Corporate LinkedIn profile for KPI.  The corporate profile includes all the keyword-rich industry terms that KPI’s audience would be searching and all their products and services are listed in their LinkedIn Corporate Profile.  Each KPI staff team’s personal profile was redesigned and we used keyword rich information, set up the information so it is easy for people who scan to read it and secured a top 3 listing for each KPI employee in the LinkedIn search database for their keywords.

We trained the KPI staff team on the importance of networking and prospecting on LinkedIn.  Each KPI team member grew their LinkedIn connections by 200% in fourteen days.  KPI’s General Manager, Bryan Bonsall realized immediately results with LinkedIn.

Facebook Corporate Fan Page

The Facebook Fan Page offers KPI another opportunity to claim internet and Google real estate and push out competitors from the first page search engine listings.  The Corporate Fan Book page offers KPI an opportunity to instantly add or update their fans with new products, product discounts or products that are now discontinued.  High impact images, continuity with the KPI branding and using the 5 key mini photos focus the facebook fan to the key KPI offerings and if clicked, the link drives the fan to the KPI website.

Online Video

You Tube is the 2^nd largest search engine and holds a lot of value in the search engine presence for any company selling products and services locally or internationally.  Having a video on your tube and other video sharing sites helps solidify your company’s presence and first page listing on the search engines.  With a very small marketing budget, we developed a script, used our professional voice over talent to add the narration to the video and created an eye catching video with several calls to action.  The online video was then uploaded to You Tube, keyword optimized for search engines, tagged, titled and a couple of different titled versions of the video were uploaded to you tube and other video sharing sites.  The video was embedded on the KPI website and the video link placed on the KPI LinkedIn profiles, the KPI Facebook Fan Page and several other mining directory sites.  The video enjoys high viewership with great feedback from viewers.

On Hold Voice Over

Navigator wrote the On-hold phone script for the KPI phone systems and used our professional voice over talent to add narration to the script.

Mining Database

Our team worked with all KPI employees to develop a comprehensive mining database of contacts that include key decision makers and their email and phone contacts.  The database is enhanced and cleaned up after each tradeshow and marketing campaign.  The database that we’ve created now is over 5,000 mining stakeholders world-wide that is in a format that can be used in many online tools and technologies to develop long-term relationships and motivate sales.

Mining Directories

KPI’s key products and services were listed on all major mining directories with links back to the KPI website, LinkedIn, Facebook Fan Page, SlideShare and key contact information and product and service offerings.  The website analytics inside the website, LinkedIn and Facebook pages easily identify which mining directories drive the most effective web traffic.

Online Newsletter

Our team designed a high impact online newsletter for KPI.  The goal was to maintain the KPI brand, communicate KPI’s key services in a very soft sell and help industry decision makers keep on top of the power, automation and instrumentation industry with Industry News.  In the first issue, KPI sent out the KPI Services Catalogue and announced the new website.  In subsequent issues, KPI focused on Industry updates and asking for referrals to the newsletter.  As a result, the KPI newsletter database continues to grow and the reporting analytics within the system offer key business intelligence on viewer behaviour in reading, sharing and clicking through the newsletter to the website.  It also provides a listing of bad emails.

Embedded Video Email Signature

KPI, like many mining supply companies sends out hundreds of emails per day to key mining industry decision makers.  Their email signatures provided key contact information but nothing else.  Navigator Marketing reformatted the KPI video and put it into a format that can be added to your staff’s email signatures and easily pass through strong spam filters.  The result is a high impact image that communicates the KPI brand with a strong call to action to “Click the image to watch our brief video.”  The results- a very high uptake on video email views.  The email video comes complete with reporting analytics.  KPI can see how many people viewed their email video, how long they watched, what time they watched and if they clicked through to the website.

Customer Comments

“KPI uses Navigator Marketing as our Marketing Agency on Call. KPI was growing locally and internationally. Our prospects needed to find technical information to make decisions. The Navigator team were great to work with.Despite the highly technical and industrial nature of our business, they were able to research and determine our customers’ needs and the team produced a high impact website, electronic flip services catalogue, online video and social media profiles for our company.

Our customers love the new look, especially how our information is so accessible and easy to navigate. The Navigator team exceeded our expectations.”

Bryan Bonsall
General Manager
KPI Industrial Controls Inc.

Do you know anyone who could benefit from our services?  Please share.

The company was looking for a brand identity that would position them well in the farming community and communicate their unique value they bring to the farming community with respect to Farm Succession Planning.  They were also convinced that an internet presence would attract more prospects and customers to their company and enable them to better service and build relationships with their existing customers.

Navigator Marketing’s Solution

The Navigator team interviewed Steve Steinman and researched the Financial Planning and Insurance industries to understand the following:

1. Company vision and mission
2. Competitive advantage (from their perspective)
3. Why customers purchase from Steinman Financial Network
4. Highest revenue generating products and services
5. Best regions for prospecting new clients.
6. The Steinman Financial prospecting and sales process.
7. Research and learn about Steinman’s products and services.
8. Research how farming industry prospects search for and purchase products similar to Steinman Financial Networks.
9. Steinman’s industry competitors in Ontario and across Canada.

 Action Steps

The Navigator team generated an online and offline marketing strategy to accomplish:

1. Develop a branding strategy to internally and externally communicate what Steinman Financial’s brand represents their target audience.
2. Create a logo and corporate look and feel.
3. Develop a keyword rich internet presence for key products and services.
4. Develop a website with key word rich content, product visuals and customer testimonials to position KPI as a leader in their industry.
5. Incorporated many photos of the business owner, Steve Steinman to help establish a relationship with web visitors and garner recognition and profile for his extensive industry knowledge.
6. Develop a video overview of Steinman Financial’s products and services that can be added to ALL online sites and profiles and used as an offline marketing tool at tradeshows events.
7. Develop a high impact lead generation piece that web visitors could download and start a permission based relationship with Steinman Financial to send future industry updates to.
8. Developed an Industry Updates Newsletter to attract new clients, build stronger relationships with new clients and maintain existing relationships with existing clients.
9. Steinman now uses Navigator Marketing as their Marketing Agency on Call.

 Impact & Results:

1. High impact brand for Steinman Financial Networks – well positioned in farming industry (online)
2. Instant uptake for web traffic – 229 qualified & unique visitors in first 20 days site went live.
3. 3% of referrals to the Steinman website came from their facebook Fan Page and their Linked In Profile.
4. Average stay on website:7 minutes (longer than the industry 3 minute average)
5. Increase in interest and through the targeted regions.
6. Average 10 daily views of online video.

 Customer Comments:

“Dawn, all I can say is I’m not worthy. Wow, great work.”

Steve Steinman, CFP
Steinman Financial Network

Navigator’s Solution

The Navigator team interviewed the store owner and surveyed 100 of the store’s target  propsects to understand the following:

1. Competitive advantage (from each perspective)
2. Why customers purchase designer shoes & handbags (what motivates them)
3. Heels N’ Handbag’s prospecting and sales process.
4. Research and learn about Heels N’ Handbag’s products and services.
5. Research Heels N’ Handbag’s target audience search online for competitors’ products.

Action Steps

The Navigator team generated an online and offline marketing strategy to accomplish:

1. Develop a branding strategy to externally communicate what the Heels N’ Handbag brand represents to the world.
2. Designed a website with vibrant images of the store’s products and recruited well-known female community influencers  as models.
3. Programmed the website with key word rich content, product visuals and customer testimonials  to position Heels N’ Handbags as the go-to-supplier of designer heels and handbags in their geographic region.
4. Purchased key-word-rich domain names that their prospects search for when looking for heels,  handbags and jewelry and directed each domain to the Heels N’ Handbag’s main website.
5. Produced a day-long photo shoot of photo layouts that captured the store’s spirit, energy, products, key customers enjoying the product and high profile  local females wearing and loving the products.
6. Develop an online catalogue of products attached to each key-word rich Designer name.
7. Offered the web visitor many options while viewing products: share, purchase and comment.
8. Added all social      media links and social media sharing features.
9. Added a customized blog for the owner to communicate to her audience.
10. Web Hosting:  We provide web hosting, monthly reporting analytics and referral source analytics.
11. Lead Generation System: We created a newsletter sign up system to collect emails and opportunities to win upon sign up.
12.  Incentive Coupon: We created a rack card format incentive card for $25 off – can be distributed at tradeshows, direct mail and it is positioned on their website for download.
13. Word-of-Mouth: We photographed and captured key product testimonials with customers wearing their favourite Heels N’ Handbags from the company to establish credibility and promote word-of-mouth.
14. Engagement:  We  created a Shoe-Aholics’ Confessional on the website.  It is a place where bonafide Shoe-Aholics can go and confess  how many pairs of shoes they really own and they could win a designer pair of shoes that month.  The winner’s names are promoted on Heels N’ Handbag’s social media sites and their website.

Impact & Results:

1. High impact branding for Heels N’ Handbags – website  well received by customers for visual presentation and navigation.
2. Instant uptake for web traffic using target keywords and domain names
3. High uptake on Shoe-Aholics’ confession entries – 100 in the first 90 days.
4. Average stay on website: 5 minutes (longer than the industry 3 minute average)
5. Strong analytical tools to report which Media Partner websites generate the most referrals to the Heels N’ Handbag’s      website pages.