In today’s digital age, most people find businesses online, making websites the first impression they get. (more…)

Everyone knows how much good graphic design can improve the user experience. Well-made graphics will make your message clear, engage an audience, and can even convey a sense of universal branding. That value is why today we will give you some tips on how to do graphic design. If you follow some simple guidelines, making your companies graphics can be easy. But good graphic design requires consistent work. So, where do you start?

Today, we will focus on three areas of graphic design that Kallen Media uses to ensure our content is impactful. This blog covers design principles that companies use to create branded art and clever tips for consistent messaging. Finally, we will discuss research and the first steps designers take to make sure people appreciate their work. At its core, graphic design is all about making art to communicate or reinforce a message. But how exactly do graphic designers make branded art?

Branded Art

Art is appealing to a wide range of people because it offers unlimited expression. But your company has a brand and a message it wants to express, so the art you need has to be in line with that. one easy way you can make sure all of your designs blend cleanly into your content is by using your brands color scheme consistently. If your company has a logo, try and use that color or complementary colors consistently in your designs. Similar to paint, branded art has to keep the business at the center of the visual hierarchy.

colored pencils

A design’s visual hierarchy increases when a designer changes an element of the website to draw users’ attention. To promote a brand, you always want to make sure that content directly related to your business is easily noticeable and draws in the user. The easiest way to increase visual hierarchy is by adding a border or using bold texts. If you make sure that your logo and message are always the focus, people will walk away from your designs, remembering your brand. Now that you know how to create art for your brand let’s talk about consistency.

Consistent Messaging

You form a brand by deciding on your messaging and sticking to your plan. So for any brand, sticking to a consistent message is incredibly important. Creating beautiful and impactful graphics is essential, but it’s only effective if you can consistently replicate your work. Two easy ways to ensure consistent design are to have a set color scheme and to utilize repetition. A color scheme is helpful because, after some time, people will associate it with your brand. After that bond, you can use the colors to evoke your brand anywhere! Repetitive messaging is the easiest way to make sure your brand links with your graphics and content.

a spiral of windows

Consistency can come up in other areas too, and the easiest way to ensure your work is consistent is to set standards. If you utilize a font a lot, consider making that your standard typography. by setting up a code of rules and norms you design within, you can be sure your graphics are always on-brand. In a worst-case scenario where your content can’t follow any of these rules, make sure you use your logo to tie it back to your brand. So far, we have covered basic design principles and guidelines for consistent branding. But how do you know what kind of graphics your customers want to see?

Graphic Design for Your Niche

Just like all advertising and marketing efforts, identifying your niche is a critical first step. If you want to be successful in graphic design, you’ll need to know who your audience is. In graphic design for marketing, your niche is the group of people you want to find your designs appealing. Researching your niche is vital to understanding what makes a good design for a particular company. At Kallen Media, our niche is businesses, so our designs focus on establishing security and trust. If you can identify your niche and their desires, you can make more appealing designs faster.

You can learn more about researching and identifying your niche by checking out some of our other blogs. But when thinking about design elements, you also have to focus on more personal research—identifying what kind of colors or themes your niche associates with a successful company can save you time and money in the long term. If you follow all of these principles, you’re well on your way to designing branded content for a business!

How to do Graphic Design

Are you curious about how digital marketing agencies tackle graphic design? Then our how to do graphic design blog was the right article to read. Today we covered some of the essential design elements of creating branded art, like color schemes and visual hierarchies. But we also talked about strategies for consistency that can help your brand build trust. Finally, we addressed the importance of understanding your niche and how that relates to graphic design. If you combine all the tips in this blog, you could do your graphic design. But if you want to save time and money by hiring a professional firm, Kallen Media is always here to help.

Kallen Media often finds companies we want to support in any way we can. And as a marketing firm, this usually means we want to step in and help promote their work. Here at the Kallen media blog, we have talked a lot about some of our nonprofit partners. But today, we want to focus on some of the places we volunteer. Welcome to the 10th company spotlight for Kallen Media’s pro bono partners.

Today we’re going to talk about some of the companies where we’ve volunteered, and we will talk about how we establish self-sustaining marketing practices. We will also tell you about some of the services we use to connect to companies looking for pro bono partners. And, of course, you’ll learn more about what some of our partners do every day! Let’s start by explaining some of the work we’ve done free of charge.

Pro Bono Work

Nonprofit marketing is an integral component of Kallen Media’s business strategy. And we are forever grateful for our incredible paid partnerships with nonprofits. But we know firsthand how hard it can be for a newer nonprofit to help its clients. Kallen Media has worked with 100’s of nonprofits and watched many teams struggle to help their target audience. But it’s always inspiring to see a nonprofit learn about marketing. And it’s refreshing to help a nonprofit reach a broad audience of clientele and supporters alike. That personal fulfillment is why when we find a small Nonprofit whose mission we care about, we will often offer them free services!

kid and adult hand

We have talked about all of the excellent free resources available to nonprofits who need marketing help in the past. But connecting to these tools can be easier said than done. Plugging in like this could be impossible for an average person, but we connect people to this resource every day as a marketing firm. Because of those circumstances, when we work Pro Bono with a company, we like to ensure when we finish, they feel empowered, not abandoned. By linking companies to teams like Google Ad Grants, Catchafire, and more, we make a situation where ads are self-sustaining. By connecting these smaller companies to systems that give them ongoing support, Kallen Media fosters a culture of effective and affordable advertising.

Nonprofits We’ve Worked With

Over the last year, we’ve done more pro bono work than ever in response to the pandemic. Rather than tell you about every single company, we found two cases where our work shined. This year we helped tons of local Arizona charities get access to google ad grants. One group we were able to earn ad grant revenue for was the Arizona Youth Partnership. The AZYP is combating substance abuse, homelessness, access to education, and many more problems facing Arizona families. In 2006 the AZYP expanded to serve the greater Arizona area and, as a result, needed to expand its marketing efforts. Free advertising like we enabled for them is a massive benefit to the companies budget. In addition to helping local children, Kallen Media works with education-focused charities nationally.

Turning The Page was founded in the ’90s and has spent the last 20 years engaging families to create successful students. By working directly with families, lobbying for high-quality public education, and building long-term programs, the organization is changing lives with education, shifting to a from-home model over quarantine. Turning The Page adapted to new and complex problems. Kallen Media was so happy that we could step in and help spread their message for free. The work we did with Turning The Page was only the beginning. Because we gave them access to running grant programs, they can continue to benefit long after our partnership ends.

Medical Nonprofit partners

surgeons operating

In addition to helping child-focused nonprofits, we also had a big focus on medical-centered organizations. One of these organizations was Cape Ivy. Cape Ivy tries to accommodate the chronically ill by offering them practical solutions. Programs from Cape Ivy include things like fleece poncho donations to patients who regularly need to have IV’s which prevents the wearing of sweaters. This nonprofit has helped thousands of people in critical condition find a moment of warmth and comfort during their care. And we hope our work helps them reach thousands more!

We also worked with Brigid’s Path to establish a nonprofit marketing strategy that works for them. Brigid’s Path primarily works with infants exposed to addictive substances, an incredibly challenging area to operate during the pandemic. For a newer charity forced to handle uncontrollable external factors, they are thriving! We were proud to step in and manage some Google Ad grants for a company that is fighting to protect vulnerable infants. 2020 was hard on everyone, but Kallen Media’s pro bono work helped us see the silver linings.

10th Company spotlight for Kallen Media’s Pro Bono Partners

Kallen Media was lucky to work with some fantastic people, so our 10th company spotlight for Kallen Media’s pro bono partners addressed some of them. We were able to help companies like the AZ youth partnership and Turning The Page help children in Arizona and many other states. We also worked with Brigid’s Path and Cape Ivy organizations who provide valuable support to patients who need assistance. Kallen Media is proud to do pro bono work that ensures that charities thrive. If you want to learn more about companies we’ve worked with, check out our last company spotlight!

Millions of new businesses are created every year, but only a small percentage will achieve sustained success. While the internet has made it easier than ever to develop a new company, it has made the market significantly more competitive. You’re not alone if you’re struggling to determine exactly what your target audience wants in the modern era. If you need help perfecting your business model, market research is a must. Join Kallen Media and learn 3 ways to optimize your market research.

As an entrepreneur, market research is one of the most important skills you can develop. Understanding your target market will inform everything from product development and customer service to marketing and sales. As a digital strategy agency, our job is to help you learn more about your audience and leverage that information to maximize sales.

Consider Customer Needs

Consumer preferences change every year, and forward-thinking companies are always looking for ways to stay on top of the latest trends. Gathering customer information starts with fundamental data points like age, gender, location, and income.

Beyond those basic details, you should also target a deeper understanding of what your customers are looking for. Learning about your audience’s needs and desires will help you build promotional content that targets their unique preferences.

Focus on Data

Strong data analysis skills are critical for your marketing performance, and your data gathering practices will affect every other area of sales. Again, basic data points are no longer enough in a data-centric landscape.

Asking customers directly is the best way to learn about how your brand is perceived. Talking with customers will also help you see where you stand versus your competitors. Both qualitative and quantitative data have major roles to play, and you need to ask the right questions to get the answers you’re looking for. From there, the next step involves finding ways to synthesize your data and use it to generate actionable insights.

Never Make Assumptions

We all bring our own biases and tendencies into market research, but the best marketers understand how to account for those latent assumptions. In fact, market research centers around the process of replacing your internal biases with cold, hard data.

Unfortunately, there’s only so much you can do when it comes to undoing your own assumptions. Involving other perspectives in the decision-making process is a fundamental aspect of accounting for your own limitations.

Market research is a constantly evolving field, and the best way to improve your skills is to continue using them in practice. Thank you for reading Kallen Media’s 3 Ways to Optimize Your Market Research. These tips will help you continually optimize your approach and gain a deeper understanding of your target market. But if you need more help, feel free to reach out to Kallen Media!

Running nonprofits is hard, and without the proper visibility, it can feel like an uphill battle. But the appropriate support and team can help anyone thrive in the nonprofit space. Kallen Media is proud to do work that supports a wide range of charitable organizations. Today’s blog is going to focus on a specific nonprofit and the work they do. Welcome to our 9th company spotlight for New Destiny Housing.

We like to use our company spotlights to tell you all about the clients Kallen Media is proud to call our partners. Today we want to talk about some of the fantastic work that New Destiny Housing does and why they do it. We will also break down some of the ways we are involved with helping and how you can get involved too! Lastly, we will talk about the simple ways any nonprofit can save a fortune on marketing costs. To start, we will tell you about what New Destiny does and how they formed initially!

New Destiny Housing

two houses on a block

The primary objective of New Destiny Housing is to end domestic violence. New Destiny was founded in 1994 in New York and has worked ever since, providing housing and other services to vulnerable populations. Since its inception, New Destiny has set up over 16 residential projects providing nearly 400 year-round residences. New Destiny’s housing efforts and education programs impact well over 100,000 people every year. Victims of domestic violence account for 40 percent of homeless families in some areas. Without organizations like New Destiny, many people don’t have the resources to secure their safety. New Destiny Housing provides more than just affordable housing developments for people.

The facilities also have on-site services designed to help create and foster safety for domestic violence victims. There are additionally empowerment and information branches of New Destiny. Empowerment projects focus on maintaining someone’s control over their life with housing knowledge and subsidies. New Destiny’s information branch works both internally and externally. Internally information about fair and safe housing practices is disseminated to ensure residents know how to find appropriate housing. Similarly, people involved in New Destiny are always spreading awareness about their mission.

Kallen Media and Nonprofits

Kallen Media was happy to help spread information about safe housing for victims of domestic violence. And working with New Destiny Housing was a fantastic experience. New Destiny Housing is a recent client in a long string of charities that have worked with us. Nonprofit marketing is a large part of the work Kallen Media does. And services like Catchafire help connect us to nonprofits seeking campaign help, fundraising, and much more.

a house

We were able to help New Destiny with a wide range of marketing services, but none more impactful than Google ad grants. By connecting New Destiny Housing to the proper channels, we could save thousands of dollars by providing essentially free advertising services. Similarly, the right campaign can help generate fundraising and long-lasting engagement from your donors. With a quality campaign and the right message, a nonprofit can effectively accomplish anything. And Google ad grants are a tremendous service, but they can seem complicated if you don’t know about them.

Google Ad Grants

Google ad grants are an essential section of Kallen medias’ nonprofit marketing plan. These Grants offer the space charities need to increase their reach or visibility for free! By connecting registered nonprofits to the google ad grant system, Kallen media has helped hundreds of nonprofits save incredible amounts of money! Ad grants are a big part of the help we provided New Destiny housing and many other charities.

Google ad grants are official Google banner ads only available to registered 501(C)(3)s. If your charity qualifies, you could save upwards of ten thousand dollars on advertisements that utilize Google’s coveted algorithms. We have talked about how effective these grants can be for a business that needs exposure in the past. So if you want to learn more about google as grants, check out some of our other google ad grant blogs. New Destiny Housing uses these grants, and if you qualify, you should be too.

Company Spotlight for New Destiny Housing

You’ve made it to the end of Kallen medias 9th company spotlight for New Destiny Housing. This blog talked about how new destiny began, their original mission, and their current programs. We talked about the marketing services we offer nonprofits and our customized advertising approach. And Lastly, we spoke about Google ad grants and how they can help any registered nonprofit save money!

The nonprofit space is incredibly demanding, and marketing can be a huge time sink in this industry. If you’re working with a charity and struggling with advertising, Kallen Media is here to help. Our customized nonprofit marketing services are affordable and proven to be effective. Join the long list of companies who have saved time and money by joining the Kallen Media family and get a quote for our nonprofit marketing services today.

What is Conversational Marketing?

Messaging is changing the way people communicate with each other. Instead of wasting energy and money on an hour-long telephone call, information can be delivered within seconds via a simple text message. It’s the most used form of communication because it’s easy, fast, and feels real. Businesses worldwide are using this strategy to communicate with their target audience. Here’s everything you need to know about it:

This marketing strategy involves using real-time conversations to push buyers through the marketing and sales funnel. It focuses on building a relationship with the buyer, in turn creating a customized and authentic experience. Because customers no longer have to wait for days to get a response to their message; representatives use chatbots to interact with visitors on the website.

However, it’s important to remember that implementing a conversational marketing strategy doesn’t mean putting your PPC on hold. This is just an additional tool to enhance the overall customer experience and increase conversion rates.

The conversational marketing strategy is based on the following framework:

1. Engage with the audience
2. Understand their unique needs
3. Recommend your particular services and products
4. Repeat the entire process

What Are Some Examples of Conversational Marketing?

Conversational marketing isn’t only focused on automated chat tools and social media platforms. Some other examples of conversational marketing include email marketing, live customer support, customer loyalty programs, customer feedback, lead generation, customer success program, sales, support, and more.

One of the most common examples of effective conversational email marketing is that of Domino’s Pizza. And with the AnyWare initiative, customers can order pizza at any time and anywhere. Because of this process involves conversational tools like Facebook Messenger, Twitter, Slack, and text message. All customers have to do is text the pizza emoji. They’ve made ordering pizza simple, easy and quick.

What are some of the Best practices for Conversational Marketing?

1. Find key areas: Before starting, it’s important to analyze your business’s key areas that drive most customer attention.
2. Don’t eliminate traditional marketing: While new marketing practices might seem promising, they work best in combination with old marketing strategies.
3. Focus on customer journey: Map your customer’s journey on the site and try to find ways you can improve it.
4. Conversational Tone: Try to be as conversational as possible, so your customers don’t feel like they’re talking to a robot.
5. Simple Messages: Don’t prolong the process by providing unnecessary information.
6. Follow up: Route your customers to human support at times when a solution cannot be found.

What Are the Benefits of Conversational Marketing?

1. It’s an easy and informative way for customers to get their desired answers.
2. It’ll help you  gain new, valuable insights about your customers
3. Help build strong build strong customer relationships.

Our professionals at Kallen Media offer affordable website design packages, blog writing and posting services, social media marketing services, and other SEO Services. So give us a call today to learn more about our comprehensive services in Arizona,

When it comes to designing business and personal websites, responsive design has always been the key format. However, now with growing technology and the importance of smartphones in our lives, mobile optimization is a new and preferred strategy. Can Mobile Optimization Increase Your Conversions? Here’s everything you need to know about it:

What Is Mobile Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

When designers design a website to fit perfectly on a mobile screen, it improves user experience and ensures greater reach. With responsive design, some web page elements would be hidden when viewed via a mobile phone. Users would have to access the complete website by using their desktops and laptops. Web designers don’t only compress and rearrange the content but redesign the entire page, keeping in mind the size of a mobile screen to ensure users can enjoy easy navigation.

What Are the Key Feature Of Mobile Optimization?

A mobile-optimized website typically includes the following

1. Responsive Design
2. No sidebar
3. Bigger, bolder buttons
4. Uncluttered design
5. No popup ads or menus
6. Images are compressed to ensure quick loading
7. Text is scannable
8. Clear Call-to-Action (CTA)

What are the Benefits of Mobile SEO?

One of the main benefits of mobile SEO is the improved mobile user experience. A website that is easy to navigate and use helps boost conversions and brings a higher return on investment (ROI).

Next, you can expect increased website traffic. According to reports, Millennials and Gen Z spend the majority of their time on their phones. Online shoppers use their smartphones to purchase from different websites. With a user-friendly interface, more customers will open and check your website, in turn generating traffic.

Other benefits of mobile SEO include lower bounce rate, increase time spent on-site, and reduce page load speed, giving your business a competitive edge.

What’s the Link between Mobile SEO and Increased Conversions?

Once a customer has decided to purchase from you, it’s essential to remove any obstacles they might encounter during the process. The time between adding a product to the cart and reaching the checkout page is crucial.

This is where implementing mobile SEO comes to play. A one-step checkout with quick loading times will help make the transaction process faster. No popup ads or screen errors will distract your consumers from buying the product.

With more and more businesses going online, it’s important to ensure that your website is mobile SEO friendly to ensure the best return on investments and greater profits. Our professionals at Kallen Media offer affordable website design packages, blog writing and posting services, social media marketing services, and other SEO Services.

Mobile SEO helps makes it easy for visitors to sign up for a service, make a purchase, or take any other call-to-action (CTA) that’s on the site.

Give us a call today to learn more about our comprehensive services.

As marketers, we’ve been focusing on millennials for more than a decade and often forget the new generation who now buy from brands. Yes, that’s right, we’re talking about the technology-driven Gen Z. Learn how to tailor your marketing strategy for gen Z audiences?

To many, millennials and Gen Z seem similar. But there are tons of behavioral differences between them when it comes to consuming media and purchasing products. Here’s how you can tailor your marketing strategy for Gen Z audiences:

Understand Generation Z

Before diving into strategies, it’s essential to understand who Gen Z is. This group includes anyone born between 1995 and 2012, making up 32% of the world’s population. They are all online, active on social media, and have a great understanding of how technology works. According to research, Gen Z has a shorter attention span than millennials. This means when designing a marketing strategy, effectiveness and timeliness are critical.

Create Engaging Content

Gen Z’s aren’t passive consumers; they are active and take time to make informed decisions when purchasing a product. They’re always on the lookout for new innovative products and ideas that can make their life simpler. The content you create should be customized and have a personal touch. Try to get them involved so they can experience your products rather than see them online.

Be Direct

When it comes to Gen Z, it’s important to avoid beating around the bush. Your content should be upfront and direct.

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Include More Videos 

According to a Google survey, Gen Z turns to YouTube for entertainment. This is why it’s essential to focus on video content. The kind of content you create should appeal to your target audience. For example, Red Bull has millions of subscribers on YouTube. The content they create isn’t only advertisements about the products but also playlists and Vlogs that the audience can associate the drink with. Their playlist includes songs that Gen Z would listen to while enjoying a can of Redbull.

Before creating any videos, find out how Gen Z can enjoy your product and then use this as the basis.

Get Influencers Onboard 

Gen Z follows several influencers, from fashion, makeup, food, lifestyle, and even gadgets. They appreciate the idea of honest reviews; this is why marketing your products via an influencer will be more effective than a TV commercial. Influencers will talk about the pros and cons of each product, helping their followers make an informed decision.

Attention To Privacy 

Privacy is key for Gen Z, and they’re usually hesitant when asked to share their details online. Make sure that you’re completely transparent with your consumers and highlight your commitment to privacy.

Our professionals at Kallen Media offer affordable website design packages, blog writing and posting services, social media marketing services, and other SEO Services. Give us a call today to learn more about our comprehensive service in Arizona.

In the world of online businesses, your position in search results directly impacts your business. For e-commerce, these rankings are like physical locations for brick and mortar stores. If you are the first result, you get traffic that your competitors will never see. But how does a company improve its position? Today we will talk about Google SEO ranking and the best practices for improving your Google rank.

This blog won’t cover every detail that will affect your SEO ranking because there are thousands! We will focus on some of the critical areas where we’ve seen clients struggle in the past. This blog covers areas like site security and mobile programming. We will also give tips about ways you can optimize the content of your website. Lastly, we talk about general ranking tips and how to target your niche. These topics are essential, but having a secure site is necessary to achieving a decent SEO ranking.

Secure Websites

For search engines like google to rank your site at all, they will need to analyze it. Areas with improper URLs or poorly designed web managers might not be secure or accessible enough to rank. Because of this, you should take care to make sure your companies site is easy to reach and safe. The first step here is using a well-designed web manager. Programs like WordPress will ensure that all of your URLs are proper with minimal hassle on your part. Security is equally easy to manage.

code

Nowadays, most people are familiar with HTTP and HTTPS sites, but they may have noticed a rise in the popularity of HTTPS. This uptick is due to the security features that encrypt content in HTTPS sites. These URLs link to sites that protect both users and hosts from malicious third parties. Enabling SSL security like this on your website will help your ranking because Google will identify your site as a safer landing page than sites without protection. Similarly, Google will also rank more inclusively designed sites higher.

Responsive Web Design

Responsive web design refers to websites that operate differently depending on the hardware you use to access them. For instance, a site with a mobile version of its landing pages has responsive features. These websites tend to rank higher because users will have an easy time navigating them in multiple ways. So what are some responsive features you should consider implementing?

The most common responsive design is mobile sites. These sites improve load times and help mobile users navigate your page. If you don’t have mobile landing pages, your site will naturally lose out on a large segment of web traffic. Another responsive feature is image scaling. Appropriate image and video formats will improve your website’s back end and make your content more appealing to Google SEO ranking. Responsive design takes some planning, but it is worth it in the long run; Just like optimizing your content.

Optimizing Content and Links

So far, many of our tips have been significant one-off events that will provide dramatic boosts to your rankings. But content optimization is an everyday process that will slowly improve your Google SEO ranking. Content optimization is the process of ensuring that everything you post is both on brand and formatted to appeal to search engines. Practices like backlinking and cornerstone content maintenance aren’t glamorous, but they’re still essential.

SEO

Optimizing your content and efficient backlinking will create a website that is fun to browse but also attractive to algorithms. This combination of features will mean that new people are pushed to your site, while your active users are more likely to stay. If your site is optimized correctly and contains well-placed links, you can be sure your rank will benefit. Another valuable way to encourage web traffic is targeting a niche.

SEO Ranking and Your Niche

While a lot of SEO management is analytical work, some of your care focuses on creative content. A healthy brand will do more for SEO than any algorithm; you can only build a brand if you know your audience. identifying your niche and studying its members is vital to creating a healthy website. And once you have a target audience, all of your content should be geared toward their wants and needs. If algorithms notice that you satisfy your active users, you’ll get promoted to similar users, which creates a domino effect. Understanding your niche is a crucial factor in determining where you’ll rank.

Google SEO Ranking

Today we covered tips in fields like content creation and web development to ensure your site is attractive to search engines. We are confident that if you follow all of this advice, you could make a site that has a stellar SEO rank. But web development and maintenance are hard. If you’re looking for an affordable and reliable SEO service, Kallen Media is here to help. Head over to our SEO landing page to learn more about how we can optimize your site.

55% of Americans get their daily news from social media. So join Kallen Media and learn important social media trends for 2021! Social media has given brands a chance to stay in touch with their customers and continue their marketing efforts. (more…)