Get Engaged

This is a quick post. And it's about some of the things that make a great website. Many people focus on design elements rather than design function. And part of that design function, according to Ooba Creative (www.oobacreative.co.uk) is down to four things - Brand, Focus, Integration and Digital Leverage.

i.e. what makes a great company. Follow the rules of what makes a good company on your website and you'll get it right. Have workshops, segment your target audiences and make sure your website delivers and engages them with the right Brand, Focus, Integration and Digital Leverage.

Here's what I mean.

Businesses that understand their brand and who relentlessly protect and communicate everything it stands for are, quite simply, more robust. Their clients will feel safer, their staff will work harder (for less), price is less of an issue as a perception of value is maintained and they can access greater finance due to their brand value. Is it time to really define your brand and see how you can communicate it better?

For the Small and Medium sized businesses, it is the ones that Focus exceptionally well on a select few products and/or services that have managed to stay alive. Doing what they do (remarkably well) means they are actually sort out, recommended and, because they know their craft in such depth, can think of creative ways of delivering great value and still maintaining some decent profit margins. It's time to see what really works for your business. What's delivering the results? And Focus on these items successfully.

It is the cunning business that fully understands that, if you had a £1 coin left in your pocket - spend it on Marketing. And do it in a beautifully integrated way. Get your reason for existing communicated consistently across everything you say, everything you do, every campaign, every phone call, every email, every web page... everything...  and a truly amazing thing starts to come alive. And sales flow. Integrated marketing communications is one of the most powerful things in business. It is one of the best ways to get more from a marketing budget that is constantly under pressure to out-perform. Integrated communications is an artform - and a science. Difficult to do. Yet simple in concept. Focused companies that get their brand messaging correct and communicate it in a truly integrated way will reap the rewards. It's time to assess your entire marketing communications mix and make some magic happen.

So, that just leaves Digital Leverage. This is a way of 'thinking'. It's often understood as "how do I get more for less". But that is too simplistic a way to look at it - and often seen as an exploitative mind-set. At the Ooba design studio in Reading, Berkshire, we encourage clients to look at it as a creative challenge.

We all have an amazingly powerful tool that can (in theory) generate almost infinite leverage when truly understood - the internet. Everyone knows the power of the internet. Everyone knows it has huge revenue potential. Everyone can see the money flowing. But few can navigate the pathway to actually using it. It's time to ask the question, "How can I really use the internet to streamline my business, increase efficiencies, communicate better (and faster) and engage with my customers in real time". It's not hard to do. It's just about moving your thinking up a level. 

Ooba Creative have launched their "Four Concepts for Marketing Success" workshops to help businesses within Berkshire and Hampshire see through the options and the challenges of restricted budgets, think more creatively and take their business forward. If this sounds interesting, you can contact Adam Clark on 0845 644 0537 or visit http://www.oobacreative.co.uk for more information.