Think of your website as a business storefront. Your best deals should be in the window of your business, right? Are they?

Or do visitors have to enter the store and shop around till they find the ON SALE NOW section? A landing page- when created correctly – takes the visitor directly to the enticing sales pitch designed to target them- without their having to go through your “About Us”, “Services”, “Location” etc. sections first.

You will need a GRAB ‘EM FAST headline that honestly makes them think, saying “wha?” to themselves- or better yet, aloud.

The visitor who clicks will also expect a serious payoff for obeying your call to action. A 10% discount won’t do. Go BOLD with your reward in the way of savings or advantages for doing as you ask. You will be repaid with sales and social, word-of-mouse advertising.

Much like a print ad created for a specific target, you can create a landing page that looks nothing like your site if you wish – whatever it takes to get noticed and convert that lead. This makes it a smart money-and-time-savvy-way to find out what is working, as well as decide whether or not a new look and feel for your site and/or other marketing tools might be worth the investment.

Westokes is happy to make all these advertising and communication tools work together brilliantly for you. Just keep in mind landing pages rock if the visitor feels the exchange for his or her time in clicking is really worth it. Hope this helps!

Just a reminder that while we agency types love to be clever- clever ads don’t have to cost the client an arm and a leg.  So many uber-expensive ads go unremembered for their brand, touted only for their cool idea.  The ‘Big Game” coming up is the perfect example.

This reminder is from ADAGE- Sketchers had a new product launch last year that caused sales to soar 30%!  The message and the spokesperson were the key- smart ideas, not fiddle-playing beavers or herding cats…  Those are fun to watch [and my personal reason for watching the game at all] but recall on the actual brand advertised is usually low.

http://adage.com/superbowl/article?article_id=148482

OKAY, I’m a sap.  I found myself watching Charlotte’s Web on HBO and could NOT change the channel.  That Dakota Fanning is too cute and a great little actress [Trapped 2002 –age 8/amazing]. They managed to give Charlotte a fascinatingly sweet spider face and with the voice of Julia Roberts- the little arachnid was quite lovely, actually. And Wilber -never has a piggy been more adorable. But I digress.

At one point in the movie Wilber tells Charlotte that she has worked a miracle, to which Charlotte A. Cavatica replies, “No, my webs were no miracle, Wilbur. I was only describing what I saw. The miracle is you.”

It reminded me of the “big reveal” days when a client sees their new logo options/ads/web site ideas for the first time.  For me, there is nothing like seeing a client’s face light up with pride at seeing the their company shine like it should have all along.  They gush about how we created a miraculous look or fantabulous makeover. Truth is, like Charlotte — we just see their potential and bring it out.

You need a site that will grow with your company. Most simple, [let’s be honest here, cheap] alternatives end up frustrating the owner of the site because they can’t get updates when and in the way they really want and need them. As with most things in life, you get what you pay for.  We’ve had tons of clients tell us they sent money to an online web builder who gladly cashed the check and then, ummm… Disappeared off the face of the internet planet and ummmm… “We’re sorry, the number you have dialed is not in service …” You get the sad picture. Go pro from the start for a solid, smarter, more savvy solution.

Well, we’re moving offices.  I hate moving almost more than dieting. There is no easy way but just to trudge through all the stuffs you probably should have thrown away long ago and keep only what you need.  When we moved into our current office we had to hit-the-ground-running.  Our biggest client had expanded and needed us to do the same.  T-shirts, beach balls, uber-huge signage had to have a place and being very single at the time, I was able to stay at the office till 1am, 3am, whatever it took.  I added employees and desks, etc. and never really took time to “brand” our space. We’re in a spectacular old Cone Mills factory building with mammoth ceilings and lovely ancient warehouse windows. We had cool tropical plants and fun, creative items about the place- but as our image changed professionally- our actual office stayed the same because I didn’t make time to change that image as well.

I heard/saw a cool idea on HGTV this weekend and it has me thinking. It said to pare down your clutter/accumulated accessories when moving- put all the things you know you HAVE to have in the new space and then “shop” the remaining items.  And Westokes has the have the perfect opportunity to do this because we’re only moving down the hall to a more savvy spot! I can ask myself if I would honestly choose this or that  for the new space if I were buying it for the first time. Anything that doesn’t fit the new updated image, color scheme, etc. will be sold [anybody know someone interested in 70's style passenger plane dividers?  I hate cubicles so this is what I’ve loved & employed for 6 years but they don’t fit the brand any more.] Things not sold can be given away.

Finally, the inquiry to which all this is geared: I’ve often been asked- why should I change my logo/web site/tv ads?  Why fix it if it ain’t broke?  And my answer is a actually another question- “is it working for you as hard as it could?” If it were an employee- how would you rate it?  If it doesn’t merit a raise then perhaps it’s time for a change. How much of your current brick & mortar office, your click & mortar web site, your advertising period- fits with who you really are right now- moving forward? Does it target your real audience of today & tomorrow? If not, we’re happy to help.