Jul 18

5 Typography Tips

By social | Uncategorized | No Comments

Typography is essential to almost all forms of design. To ensure your typography is clean and precise keep the following 5 tips in mind.

1. Take Your Time

Picking typefaces can take a lot of work. Don’t get into the bad habit of choosing the same ones over and over. Spend time to discover new options. And put more effort into how you treat your typefaces to make them shine.

2. Don’t Use Too Many

If you have 4 or more different typefaces on one page you look like an amateur. Limit yourself to using 2-3 different ones. You can achieve more variety in your design with the size, weight and case of a typeface.

3. Create Hierarchy

Consider how headings, subheads and overall content should be arranged in relating to the importance of your information. Assign typefaces according to how they will be used and stick to your decisions. Setting up a system will make designing your layout easier and clearer for the viewer to navigate.

4. Let Type Breathe

Use leading, kerning and tracking to allow your type to be read and understood properly. Typography is meant to support communication, so the best practice is to make sure it isn’t cramped together or cluttered.

5.Don’t Forget Legibility

This tip is the most obvious. At the end of the day the single most important aspect of good typography is that everyone is able to read it. Keep in mind; some viewers may have a hard time reading anything below 11pt font size.

Jul 14

1

Social Media Do’s & Don’ts

By social | Consulting, Marketing, Social Media | No Comments

If you’re a small business owner, there is a chance that you are maintaining your own business social media pages. The posting process may be simple, but there are many factors to consider when writing and curating content for your brand.

The line between personal and business accounts can be somewhat blurred. If you are in the “spotlight” think about implementing these tips for your personal social media accounts. When your brand starts out on social media, cross-promoting on your personal accounts is the easiest way to establish a fan-base. Make sure to maintain similar brand standards when using your personal accounts to promote your business pages. If you’re unsure how to interact with your audience, check out these 10 social media do’s and don’ts for your business.

DO’S:

Keep a consistent voice

There should be 100% consistency in the voice of all posts across all of your channels (social media accounts, website, blog). Establish your brand guidelines and a overall brand voice. This is especially important if there is more than one content creator. Train content managers in the tone of the brand and how to respond to your audience. Your audience shouldn’t notice any difference between posts curated by yourself versus your administrator.

Post relative, industry related links

Be strategic in your content sharing. Showcase your influencers, grasp of the latest technologies and what resources you use to stay on top of your industry. Your audience is already interested in your field, so give them relevant industry content to further their knowledge. Posting non-trending content or articles that are not related to your field, can lead to unfollows and discourage your audience from using your services. Share posts by business pages/people you admire, follow or are connected to. This is also a great networking tactic and can lead to shares of your online content.

Request engagement

Write thoughtful and engaging social media content. Your content should help you connect with your audience by requesting specific engagement. Ask questions, opinions, advice or personal experiences. Interact with your followers by requesting feedback on your services or asking for recommendations on how to better serve them. Find a creative, indirect way to ask for likes, shares and retweets. When people are engaging with your content they are connecting with your brand, gaining trust in your services and driving your organic reach.

Give Expert Advice

Offer your audience solid industry advice to showcase your expertise. Position yourself as a subject matter expert in your field. This is self-promotion in a way that helps your audience and doesn’t come across as spammy. Posting free expert advice develops audience trust and helps create brand awareness. Post links to your blog with more info on the posted topic, or offer your services with links to your website.

Know what social platforms to use

Your business does not necessarily have to be on EVERY social media platform. There are several factors to consider when choosing what the right social media platforms are for your business.

Determine why you need social media. Do you want to drive traffic to your site, increase customer engagement, or improve SEO? Once you have determined these goals, you can make an educated choice on what platforms are best for your business.
Identify your audience & social media platform. Who are they, what social media platforms are they already using and what kind of content do they enjoy? These questions are all important when determining your audience. Evaluate each social network to decide which will be the most effective in reaching your social media goals.
How much are you capable of? This is some professional’s eight hour a day job. Producing original content, curating shareable online content, engaging with your audience and scheduling posts can take up a lot of you or your staff’s time.
Be picky about your platforms. Only chose two or three social platforms. Use your earlier findings to determine where your presence will be the most effective. Make sure that you are posting engaging content on your social media pages and keeping a regular social media schedule.

DON’TS:

Like your own posts as your business

Liking your own posts is a big no-no in the marketing world. You created the content, so it is already known that you “like” what you posted. Your audience is smart enough to know that you are trying to bump your content back into the newsfeed. You don’t want to be seen as someone who is taking shortcuts or is a spammer. It is unprofessional and gives the impression that your brand doesn’t have a grasp on social media.

On the flip side, do share your business content from your personal accounts. This is especially helpful on social media sites like LinkedIn. You should also encourage your employees to share, like and comment on posts by your brand. Set up an employee sharing plan that will make them brand ambassadors and boost your organic reach.

Dish out too much personality

This is your business, but it does not give you a free pass to post anything you want on your social media page. Keep in mind your company’s reputation and to keep postings within your brand standards and voice. Be professional and only produce content that your audience would approve of.

Things you really shouldn’t post: ton of selfies, political or religious views, family on-goings, how you are feeling sad a lot, airing out personal or family issues, negative feelings about people or companies, any negativity in general.

It’s ok to use humor, as long as your audience would think it’s funny. If you are targeting millennials, you can be more edgy in your posts. If your audience mainly consists of baby boomers, use more caution in what viral content you serve them. If your audience consists of all ages, try to keep your content PG and family friendly.

Use hashtags where they don’t belong

Don’t abuse the power of the hashtag. The best places to use hashtags are Twitter and Instagram. Using hashtags on sites like Facebook or LinkedIn, shows a lack of social media know-how. Don’t use too many or irrelevant hashtags when starting out on social media. Take a less is more approach. Research shows that Instagram posts with three hashtags get the most interaction. Try to only use five hashtags at the most and don’t use “spammy” hashtags. Social media pages that abuse hashtags to reach more users, come across as unprofessional and not very authentic.

Take a social media hiatus

Don’t take long breaks from posting. Most importantly, don’t give a dramatic reason as to why you are leaving social media. It’s ok to take a break for personal reasons, but don’t make a big deal about it. Create a social media calendar and use a scheduling tool to keep your pages active while you are away. Ask a member of your staff to monitor the accounts and keep the engagement going. Make sure someone is responding to questions, comments, complaints, check-ins and reviews.

Have incomplete profiles

When people visit your social media, they shouldn’t question the authenticity of the pages. Things like no profile photo, missing phone numbers, no website link, and lack of location send warning flags to visitors. They should see all this information upfront and be able to find the answers they came to your page for initially. Keep everything current and updated, including profile and cover photos, website links and company descriptions.

One last friendly reminder. Do always ways check spelling, grammar and the source of your links and shares. Don’t use ALL-CAPS and don’t use too many exclamation points!!!!!

Jul 07

0

3 Facts to Consider When Implementing Facebook Live in your Practice

By social | Consulting, Marketing, Social Media | No Comments

Facebook Live is gaining momentum, as the social network’s latest addition helps businesses get exposure, and get in front of more of their customers. Although navigating this new broadcasting feature can be difficult, it can provide your practice with not only vital video content, but the ability to reach more and new users in an appealing, millennial driven way. Per Facebook’s figures, on average, users watch a live video more than three times longer when it is live. Facebook also says users comment over 10 times more frequently on Facebook Live videos than other videos. Keep in mind these 3 simple steps when integrating Facebook Live into your practice:

1. Keep your Focus Singular

Understanding why you are diving into Facebook Live is really the first step in adding it to your social and online marketing strategy. Do you have a big event to promote, or are you trying to connect with your customers on a deeper level? Make sure you keep a singular focus when you start to broadcast your video, and keep the conversation on point.

2. Timing is Everything

Keep in mind not only the length of the video, but when you want to go live. Is your audience working professionals? Consider 1-3 p.m. during normal lunch hours, or from 6-9 p.m. after work. Good news about after-hours posting, videos are encouraged to be shorter in length… between 8-12 minutes in fact.

3. Consider Partnerships

Most practices don’t have an existing large following, let alone one that regular engages with you. Think about utilizing Facebook Live as a more impactful tool when considering other partnerships in your community. Ask for endorsements from influencers that you may have partnered with. Ask for influencers to do a Live video of their post-op visit. Stage an interview with the doctor with a popular Q&A session to utilize the live comment feature. Remember to keep it a light, informative and authentic. Watchers will want to see something genuine and somewhat spontaneous.

Lastly, don’t be discouraged if you don’t have a large audience at first. Since a non-sponsored post only reaches a small percentage of your audience, and Live videos will reach the large majority, it’s worth trying out to engage your current audience and possibly re-engage with those that have fallen off.

Have fun!

Jun 29

0

Not All Printing Is The Same

By design | Graphic Design | No Comments

Understanding Your Options

There are a wide variety of printing options available. Most printing techniques were developed for very specific applications. The main printing processes we frequently use are Offset, Digital and Screen printing.

Offset Printing is the most common printing process today. It offsets ink from metal plates to a rubber blanket and onto the paper. Almost all commercial printers do offset printing. This method is the most dependable for superior image quality. You receive the most value, as it is the least expensive technique for creating top quality work in large volumes.

Digital Printing is the newest printing process. This method includes Inkjet (use of print heads that spray ink) or xerography (uses electrical charges that attract toner particles) to create prints. Digital printing is best for short-run and fast turnaround work. With this method you are very limited in color, paper choices and quality. However, due to its rising popularity, this technology is fast rising.

Screen Printing is also known as silk-screening. Ink is transferred onto a substrate following a stencil pattern. One shade of ink is printed at a time. Several screens are used to create multicolored graphics. This method is best suited for clothing, stickers and billboards.

Finishing Touches

There are also some really amazing finishing techniques available that can add more visual interest to printed work. We most commonly use Embossing, Varnish, Die Cuts and Foils.

Varnish is a liquid coating applied to a printed surface to add a clear glossy, matte, satin, or neutral finish.
Embossing creates a raised impression on a surface.
Die Cuts involve cutting of shapes in paper or paperboard using a die.
Foils are affixed to a certain material by a heating process.

Choosing the Right Printing Techniques

It’s very important that both printing supplier and consumer know the answer to these 6 questions in order to choose the proper method for any given project:

How many print copies are needed?
When is the deadline?
What must be printed and why?
What additional finishes must be completed after the printing?
Which printing tools are available?
Which method can meet the project’s budget?

So when you’re looking for a printer, make sure you know that they can deliver what you need. Printing is a complicated process. The more you ask, the better your printed results will be!

Jun 23

0

4 Tips To Optimize Your Web Page Load Time

By social | Consulting, Web Design | No Comments

We’ve all experienced the joys of staring at a computer screen or mobile device while embracing the warm glow of the benevolent loading screen. Wait no… no we haven’t. Usually when you need information the quicker the better. A lot of people would agree considering that 47% of people expect a web page to load in two seconds or less. Up to 40% will abandon the site all together if they have to wait more the three seconds. This can hurt your bottom line. When people don’t even bother to stick around to see what your site has to offer, you lose out on conversions.

Have you noticed this problem on your own site? Are you worried that you are missing out on sharing your message or service to potential patients? If you are experiencing these problems, try out these four tips to optimize your site for the best possible load time.

1. Optimize images and design elements.
When the site begins to load, it has to load all the images from the entire site. This is how the user can actually see them. This process can take a lot of bandwidth, which in turn slows down the load time of the site. Make sure to optimize your images to be web friendly by reducing the resolution or size, by using an image editor. Don’ts use unnecessary large sized images and plan ahead when selecting your images and design elements.

2. Javascript and CSS files should be external files.
They should not be directly placed into your HTML. This allows your browser to cache these files and will reduce page load time. You should also place any javascript files at the end of the body or use the ‘async’ attribute to load them asynchronously. If there is an error in your javascript files and you try to load them first, you might cause your page to render improperly or not at all.

3. The less HTTP requests the better.
If you can reduce the number of image requests by using CSS Sprites it will speed up your load time for images. This is because you are making one request for an image that contains a variety of the images that you actually need. You should also consider combining javascript files together, as well as combining CSS files. Every time you load an image, javascript file or CSS file, your browser makes a request for the files and has to wait for a response. These requests can significantly bog down your load time if not managed properly.

4. Reduce the size of cookies.
Cookies are used to store data that needs to persist between requests. This data is sent on every request and adds to the load time when it’s big. By reducing the size of the cookies you reduce the size of the data that is transferred, and decrease the page load time. Eliminate unnecessary cookies or reduce the size of the cookies.