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      4 Lessons We Learned Through a Year of Remote Working

In March of 2020, tens of millions of American workers jumped into a brand new world as they began working from home.

Nearly a year later, the trend continues. Google announced in July that its roughly 200,000 employees will continue to work from home until at least next summer. Mark Zuckerberg has said he expects half of Facebook’s workforce to be remote within the decade. Twitter has told staff they can stay home permanently.

How have we fared?

While many have a love/hate relationship with remote working, it seems one win has occurred in the area of productivity. In a recent survey of 800 employers, 94 percent said productivity was either unaffected or was actually improved compared to its pre-pandemic levels.

And as people have found this stride, many want to continue. When the pandemic is over, one in six workers is projected to continue working from home or co-working at least two days a week, according to a recent survey by economists at Harvard Business School. Another survey of hiring managers found that one-fifth of the workforce could remain entirely remote after the pandemic.

If you plan to continue remote working in the near future, maybe you could benefit from pro-tips others have discovered. Here are a few observations.

1. Create Tangible Cues

Without arriving or departing from the office, it can be hard to create -- or sustain -- momentum.

Use consistent physical cues to block your day. This can be simple, like watering the plants daily before sitting down at your work station. Or taking a 20-minute walk after lunch each day. Some find it best to “close” the computer as a signal that the workday is over.

2. Over-Communicate

Communication without body language is hard, and there are many ways to offset this challenge.

Prioritize clarity by over-communicating as much as possible, including questions, clarifications, and expressing appreciation. When you can’t rely on body language and facial cues, emojis and GIFs can be a fun way to bridge that gap. And since the potential for misunderstanding is high, assume the best intentions from others in absolutely all interactions!

3. Build "Closed Door" Blocks in Your Schedule

Technology has curbed our ability to "shut the door" at work without interruption.

You are at your best when you are undistracted, so guard your schedule and carve out key moments to hone your productivity.

If you can swing it, batch your meetings and syncs into one day (or one part of each day) so you can work heads-down at other moments. You may find it helpful to block off certain days or hours to receive no calls, emails, or notifications from your phone.

4. Consider Long-Term Strategy Changes

As companies consider a long-term commitment to remote working, substantial sacrifices may be required.

Whether it’s productivity software or flexible instant virtual office spaces (like Slack or a private Internet Relay Chat), remote teams that thrive will require a genuine investment to succeed.

Many tech companies are increasingly opting for is hiring a head of remote work. The position is intended to help create a cohesive experience for all workers, says Brynn Harrington, vice president of people growth at Facebook:

“We’re looking for the person with influence, skills, and experience who can help us pivot the company. When we think about the transformation to remote, it’s a wholesale shift in how we run.”

Thriving Through Change

If Heraclitus was right, change is the only constant in life.

While remote working is new to many, it will continue to change the face of the workforce as 2021 ticks ahead. Whether you despise or adore it, your attitude toward this change can make all the difference in how you overcome challenges a new season will bring.

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5 Ways to Grow Brick-and-Mortar Sales Amidst a Burgeoning E-commerce Landscape

The ongoing pandemic has proven that no business is immune to its impact – companies of all sizes and across all industries have been hit. With consumers often opting for an online experience, many companies have quickly shifted resources and budgets to chase this new shopping behavior. While a digital transformation was needed by many companies, it’s important to focus on omni-channel growth and not lose sight of the value that brick-and-mortar provides.

Let’s consider the importance of a strong retail presence. To start, many local stores are trusted subject matter experts to their loyal customers. They focus on finding their shoppers the right product – not just upselling them. A strong partnership with these stores gives manufacturers an opportunity to extend their reach directly to customers needing help and solutions. Secondly, now more than ever, consumers are looking to shop locally. Abandoning brick-and-mortar could have an adverse impact on overall brand perception. Finally, brick-and-mortar stores are how many brands get their foot in the door and are often instrumental to growing large scale.

While it is critical to keep up with changing consumer behavior, including online sales, the retail channel should not be abandoned. Here are five ways to support brich-and-mortar sales while continuing focus on a growing e-commerce presence.

1. Ensure MAP (minimum advertised price) standards are adhered to across all channels

The internet gives e-commerce companies the opportunity to launch 24-hour “flash sales” in front of millions of people within seconds. This capability has led to many e-commerce giants predicating their business on extremely deep, short promotions. While these promotions can be alluring, they can also train customers to strictly shop while products are on promotion and only look online. To combat this, have a MAP policy that is strongly enforced, preventing any online sale to be promoted more deeply than what a retail store can do – leveling the playing field.

2. Consider channel-specific pricing and merchandising strategies

To build on the above, put together a strategy that sets a premium for the online business or prohibits certain products from being sold online altogether to drive people back to stores. For example, in third-party marketplaces like Amazon, we only offer our products in four-packs, while retail stores can sell singles. Furthermore, the individual unit price of each meal online is higher than retail MSRP. In doing so, online traffic becomes a customer-acquisition vehicle that ultimately brings people back to stores.

3. Use digital advertising to drive people to stores

Digital advertising has revolutionized the way marketers spend budgets; within 30 minutes, a targeted ad can be launched that garners thousands of impressions in no time. However, these advertisements don’t have to exclusively drive traffic to online sales, they should consider the full funnel – and sometimes have multiple objectives at once! A digital ad can direct people to stores with promotions, newly-launches sales, or to key partner stores.

4. Look for new ways to get coupons and samples into consumer hands Though in-store demos have been the traditional medium for trials and getting coupons into customers’ hands, the pandemic has led to most retailers prohibiting them. Even when in-store demos resume in the future, it’s likely that consumers will still have an aversion to these interactions. With that said, you shouldn’t abandon driving trial and awareness through sampling and coupons. Rather, consider alternative ways that you may be able to reach consumers – email newsletters, direct mailing campaigns, localized apps like Nextdoor, and sampling through digital providers are all great ways to continue these programs.

5. Offer exclusivity

Finally, there is no better way to drive retail sales than offering exclusivity to the channel. If you don’t have the resources to develop a litany of new products to keep all of your retail partners happy, there are other ways to offer exclusivity. For example, a new product can be given to a single retail chain weeks earlier than other stores or channels. Similarly, you can keep a new item exclusive to the retail channel for a period of time before offering it up online. Exclusivity always drives excitement and it is more attainable than many manufacturers realize.

As we enter a new year, keep in mind your retail partners in mind and consider how you can help work towards a mutually beneficial relationship amid the ongoing pandemic. Though consumer behavior points towards an increasing focus on online shopping, it’s crucial to not leave behind the stores that offer your products in-person.

Katie McCarron founded Portland Pet Food Company in 2014 after finding success formulating  meals at home for her aging poodle, Rosie. Prior to launching the company, she worked as President and CEO for Academic Network LLC, a medical communications company where she led and organized medical advisory consultants to educate consumers about nutrition, such as The Milk Mustache Campaign.

Brick-and-mortar stock photo by Iakov Filimonov/Shutterstock

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            Craft First-Class Flyers with 4 Quick Tricks

For decades, flyers have been a go-to marketing tool for businesses of many stripes. But are flyers still effective in the digital age?

Angela Brown, the “House Cleaning Guru,” says the answer is emphatically YES.

“I am a huge fan of running flyers. My book, ‘How to Start Your Own House Cleaning Company,’ has a huge section on flyers,” Brown said. “Flyers are a great, cheap way of advertising your business, and if you do it the right way, you can have business coming in within a day or two. And lots of people save the flyers. If they are not ready to hire you today, they can hire you when they are ready. And once you have clients, you can work from referrals after that.”

Brown has moved repeatedly, and each time, she’s had to start her business from scratch. Flyers have been a key marketing strategy each time, with similar, conclusive results. “No clients, same business,” said Brown. “New neighborhood, new clientele. Running flyers is an old-fashioned way of doing business, but it’s effective!”

Flyers that Move People to Action

Flyers may seem insignificant, but they get the job done.

Though these simple bits of paper often end up trampled in puddles or buried in a pile of bills, they always grab attention. And, if they’re designed well, they’ll move people to act! (Attend this grand opening; subscribe to our monthly newsletter; visit the new farmer’s market.)

Want to build momentum for your event, promotion, or group? Flyers are a low-cost form of mass communication that can be mailed, personally delivered, or posted in public places. Flyers are fun to create and allow you to experiment with unusual images or layouts.

As you explore the possibilities, here are four strategic areas to sharpen your design:

Magnetic Focal Point

When you begin your design, clearly identify the theme of your message.

Look for an image or headline that best communicates this, and build your entire design around it. Every flyer should have one thing on the page that is huge, dominant, or captivating. Bright, bold color palettes give flyers punch and attract tons of attention, even from across the room.

Logical Design Flow

After the focal point, your flyer design should have a sensible layout that intentionally leads the reader through the page: left to right, top to bottom, or using visual cues like numbers or a “map” of dashed lines.

Strong subheads should allow viewers to scan the page quickly. And simple, elegant designs bring impact all their own. Keep text to a minimum and space your design elements generously.

Cohesive Alignment

Choose one alignment for the entire flyer.

Don’t center the headline, then set the body copy flush left. Don’t center everything on the page, but also squish extra elements in the bottom corners. Be confident in your layouts: try all flush left or flush right. Your design should feel brave and bold!

Appropriate Content

What should you include in a flyer?

While brochures or foldable flyers come in various formats, a basic rule of thumb is this: the “where” determines the “what.” The delivery of your publication has everything to do with its content. If your piece arrives in the mail to someone on your mailing list, you can include much more on it. If it is for public display, it should be readable at a glance.  

Made You Look, Made You Look!

Flyers are fun to create because they allow you to abandon restraint. Your flyer will often go head-to-head with dozens of competing pages, so grab their attention and really go wild.

Anything out of the ordinary will make people stop and look, and that’s 90 percent of your goal.

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 Simply Irresistible: Best Practices for Writing Compelling Lead Magnets

Have you ever made an impulse buy at the grocery store? Or been drawn to an online store that you knew was probably fakey clickbait?

Sometimes, when the right offer hits you at just the right moment, it seems impossible to resist! And they don’t call this “magnetic” appeal for nothing.

In marketing, Magnets are an effective technique for gaining a prospect's contact information and/or drawing them into your sales funnel. Sometimes called lead generation, this process of stimulating and capturing interest (to develop a sales pipeline) allows you to nurture a lead until they are ready to buy. 

Sounds easy enough, right? But how do you build this curiosity or engagement with your target audience? According to Hubspot, about 63 percent of businesses believe their biggest marketing challenges relate to generating traffic and leads, and 60 percent of marketers say lead generation is a key pain point for their company. Leads typically hear from a business after they receive and respond to some type of content, and knowing where to build this bridge can be a challenge.

Looking for some ways to engage your next VIP customer? Here are five time-tested options to consider:

Provide a Free Onsite Course or Webinar

People love information.

And giving it away for free is bound to create a sense of reciprocity with your prospects because humans naturally want to respond when something has been given to them.

Look for a point of need in your prospective customers and offer them valuable information in a podcast, an in-person event, or a consultation, and people will jump right in!

Compile Case Studies and Reports

Insider information about a company’s sector is always valuable.

This may be a quarterly white paper (like a comprehensive guide on the latest technology or trends in your industry) or a case studying outlining the benefits of certain methods, products, etc. Trade this information for your prospects’ contact information, or send a flyer with the introduction but release the full content only if people sign up to receive it.

Offer a Demonstration or Free Trial

A good way to secure customers is to give them a way to try your service or product without cost; or receive a free quote from your team.

Mailed postcards or website promo codes are an effortless way to get this offer in front of them.

Promote Contests and Free Products

A no-fail way to generate leads is to make generosity fun.

You can offer a free product, a BOGO offer or bundle promotion, or even a monthly drawing for a goodie bag of some kind. The more creative the offer, the better!

The Road to Opportunity

No matter what magnet you use, your lead generator should:

• Position you as the guide. (Share empathy and authority as one who can help solve their problem.)
• Stake claim to your territory. (Differentiate yourself from competitors and share unique knowledge in key areas.)
• Qualify your audience. (Speak to the specific audience you are trying to reach with a succinct, irresistible headline.)
• Create trust by solving a problem. (Even though your product should be the ultimate solution to their problem, your lead generator should provide an immediate benefit too.)

When you implement a lead generation program, you increase brand awareness, build relationships, generate qualified leads, and ultimately close deals.

And the better your leads are, the more successful your sales will be!

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 Creative Ideas for Local Brands to Run Paid Ads in 2021By Hiral Rana Dholakiya

One of the most eye-opening insights that local businesses have gained after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic is that they need to go online, ASAP. The ones who caught up with the trend have been able to survive better through these tough times.

Though organic marketing strategies such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and organic social media strategies work, they take a lot of time to show results. 

So, if you are looking for a quick boost of traffic and leads for your local business, then paid advertising is something that you should consider.

In this article, you’ll learn some creative ideas to run paid ads for your local business. These strategies are used by thousands of top local businesses and have proven to show tangible results. 

1. Run Geo-Targeted Facebook Ads

Running Facebook ads is one of the easiest and quickest ways to generate leads for your local business. Facebook is one of the most widely used platforms, and thus it is highly likely that your target audience is active on Facebook.

You can create hyper-targeted Facebook ad campaigns by customizing your audience based on their interests, demographics, and job-descriptions. 

You can also target local customers by limiting your audiences to a specific location. This way, the chances of conversions increase by multiple folds.The most important thing to keep in mind is your ad visuals and copy. Without the right messaging, all your ad spends will go down the drain. 

You should also consider creating attractive visuals and illustrations. You can use blank infographic templates and design your ad creatives using them.

2. Use Remarketing

Remarketing is the strategy where you target the users who have already engaged with your brand in some way. This includes your website visitors, your social media followers, your email list subscribers, etc.

But, why spend money on advertising for people who already know about your brand? It is because they already are familiar with your brand. You need to ensure that they cross paths with your local brand again, and again. And are finally convinced to convert.

3. Create and Leverage Lookalike Audience

Lookalike audiences are one of the best possible ways to bring about a massive increase in your conversion rates. Lookalike audiences are nothing but users who exactly fit your existing customers’ persona.

As a local business, you would definitely have an idea about what are the most common traits of your ideal customers. What demographics they fall in, what are their interests, etc. 

You can leverage this fact to create and target lookalike audiences on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.

These platforms allow you to import your existing customers’ details and help you create custom audiences with similar persona. Since the lookalike audiences will fit your ideal customer profile, the chances of conversions are maximized with little efforts.

4. Experiment with Different Types of Paid Advertising Platforms

The usual paid advertising platforms such as Google ads, Facebook, Instagram, etc are good. But, the competition on these platforms is too high. Hence, you should also look for other niches, lesser-known platforms to advertise your local business.

For instance, if you are a local restaurant owner, there will be a very high competition on platforms like Facebook. Instead, you can choose other niche platforms that are specific to food and restaurants.

You can niche down based on category, age, gender, demographics, and many more. For example, if your target audience consists mostly of Gen Z, you can try to use Snapchat, as the audience there is more relevant.

It is important to do your research prior to experimenting with new platforms. Ensure that the platform consists of users who match your target customer persona. Also, try starting with a smaller ad budget and gradually scale your ad spends.

5. Hold Contests and Giveaways

Contests and giveaways are the most fun and engaging forms of marketing. After all, who doesn’t like to engage in fun competitions and win exciting prizes?

You can start by brainstorming creative and engaging contests for your local leads. Ensure that it aligns with the interests of your target audience. 

You should also make the contest easy and achievable. Do not complicate your contest or people might choose not to participate.

The most essential part of your contest is the final prize. Make sure the giveaway prizes will be loved and desired by most of your local prospects. This will be the eye candy of your contest.

Lastly, promote your contest or giveaway on paid advertising platforms. Use highly attractive ad creatives, and make your CTA as prominent as possible. Another thing to take care of is to make the signup process as hassle-free as possible.

Final Thoughts

There you go! Now you have a list of creative paid ad ideas to kill your local business’ marketing campaigns. So, start implementing these ideas now. Make sure to keep an open mind and be open to experimentation.

Hiral Rana Dholakiya is a Digital Marketing Consultant with over 10 years of experience. She’s passionate about all things Digital & Social Media and has conducted training programs at institutes like GLS University and L.J. Institute of Media & Communications. Hiral also shares her insights and knowledge with the audience of publications like AdWeek, Entrepreneur Magazine, Social Media Today and Social Media Examiner to name a few. You can follow her on Twitter @IamHiralRana.

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Local business stock photo by mavo/Shutterstock

4 Design Trends to Watch for in 2021

2020 was a year we had to go with the flow in many ways.

In design trends, creativity flowed in liquid patterns, 3D realism, funky geometric shapes, innovative typography, and more. But while these concepts borrowed from sci-fi and futuristic tech, new styles may pivot toward bringing reality back in focus.

Here’s a sneak peek of four graphic design trends to watch for in 2021:

Back to Nature

One well-documented side effect of the coronavirus pandemic was a thirst for nature.

Creatives can capitalize on this by bringing the outdoors inside, highlighting gorgeous natural ambiance. Expect 2021 designs to mimic nature, natural lights, softer earthy colors and tones, natural gradients in color schemes, flowing lines, and more. Want to try it yourself? Use color filters to create natural ambiance in your images, or grab textures featuring wood, stone, waves, and more.

If you can’t go to the forest, let the forest come to you!

Simple Data Visualizations

When you’ve done your homework, you want to make this information matter.

Complex data is hard to understand, and simple data visualizations (like graphs, charts, educational posters, or infographics) make communication much more effective. Stats show that visual content is processed 60,000 times faster than text, and 72% percent of marketers agree that visual content is more effective than text.

Seek to transform great ideas into powerful images through creative alternatives like custom symbols, photo manipulation progressions, educational posters, animated gifs, personified maps, and more.

Non-Conformity

After 2020 limited our freedom in so many ways, many will be looking to push back by breaking the rules.

Watch for this in design as trends teeter toward more rebellious features that create a feeling of brazen defiance.

 “What we were first taught not to do, we now do by intention,” explains graphic designer Michal Sloboda, who’s also the founder of graphic design aggregator Trend List. “There are many more rules to be broken, and by doing so, we can come across something seemingly bizarre, but also unique or beautiful.”

What might this look like in your designs? The more imperfect, the better. Use clashing font, psychedelic photos, irreverent characters, chaos typography, surreal imagery, and wild colors like lush lava, phantom blue, and aqua menthe.

Blurred Backgrounds

Gradients and color transitions have been a popular trend for a few years now.

In 2021, many designers will look to add another layer, blending gradient hues with blurry and blended background images. Grainy filters can bring a sense of grunge and grime or rustic and vintage. And a blurred image can evoke emotions of what hides beneath the exterior.

Whether it’s a grayscale cityscape layer or a forlorn silhouette background, combining textured photos with blended gradients can bring a transitory -- yet authentic -- contrast to your design.

Stay Ahead of the Curve

2021 will be nothing if not interesting, so kickstart the new year with a style all your own.

To get started, it’s helpful to reflect on the past and decide what you’ll do differently in the future. Stay ahead of the curve with these design trends, and let us know if we can help infuse your designs with a fresh look in the months to come!