Drive Success with PPC - Use the Best Google Ad Extensions

Ad extensions are the additional pieces of information that extend the scope of your advertisement in order to make it more useful and appealing to the viewers. Google Ads offers various types of ad extensions including directions, phone numbers, price, location, additional services/products and many more.

Setting up these extensions won’t cost you anything extra. These have the power to boost your CTR (Click Through Rate). Use these extensions strategically to make your ad stand out from the crowd and entice people to click on your ad. Today, we will outline the most useful ad extensions and how to implement these in your campaign. Before getting started, let’s mention the pre-requisite - having a Google My Business (GMB) account. If you engage a PPC management company, the professionals will create a GMB account for you.

We will explore which ad extensions you can add in your GMB account. Let’s proceed then.

PPC management company

Useful Google Ad Extensions - A Take by PPC Management Company

1. Location Extensions
Google’s Location extensions enable you to mention your business’s address in the ads. This is helpful for any retail store. If you want to drive people to your store, featuring the address in your ad can garner attention from the target audience.
Go to your Google My Business account, link up your address and the ad will pull information directly from there. For that, go to the drop-down menu and add Address to a campaign. If you have stores in multiple locations, you can add different locations for different campaigns.

2. Call Extensions
If your business relies heavily on phone calls to earn leads, there’s no way you can skip adding a call extension to your ad. You may think “I can write the contact number in my ad copy itself; what’s the big deal”. Well, it is a big deal. The extension allows you to display a click-to-call phone number on the ad. In such a fiercely competitive digital realm, you cannot expect the web traffic to memorize your number, type the number on the dial pad and call/save your number.

A click-to-call button gives a respite from all the hassles. The viewers can simply click on the number and call you. Remember, ensuring user convenience is the only way to drive people to your business.

Google also allows you to optimize the call extension. You can schedule to display the call extension only during the business hours and not the entire day. Setting it up is really easy. Select Call extension from the drop-down menu. Enter your business phone number and that’s all!

You can also leverage Google forwarding phone numbers feature. It will allow you to track the calls you are receiving from Google Ads. That way, you can realize the efficacy of your campaigns and modify accordingly. However, remember that you have to pay Google per call forwarding. The cost will be similar to the charge you pay per click on your ad. If you are ready to do this small investment, it will offer you a greater insight into the efficacy of your campaigns.

3. Sitelink Extensions
Sitelink extensions enable you to display several links to the internal pages of your website on your ad. That way, you can drive the potential customers directly to the internal pages. There’s yet another advantage of these extensions. The extra links under your ad copy make the ad look bigger and you can occupy more space on the SERP (Search Engine Result Page). It provides more brand exposure. Further, sitelinks allow the customers to directly visit relevant pages without putting much effort.

Here’s how to add sitelinks - select a campaign, click the Ad Extensions tab and then select the Sitelink Extensions in the drop-down menu. You can also create new sitelinks. For that, simply click the New Sitelink button. Here, you have to set up a link headline along with a destination URL. You can create two to six sitelinks for each campaign. The experts of PPC services in India and abroad suggest to make distinct campaigns addressing your different products and services. Then club relevant internal pages in the sitelinks section of each campaign. You can also feature blogs, special offer, coupon, menu, pricing page, and reviews as the sitelink extensions.

4. App Extension
Do you have a business app? Nowadays, many eCommerce and SaaS businesses prefer to engage mobile app development services to craft a user-friendly application. And Google allows you to promote the app along with any campaign. Use the App extension to feature your app on the ad and let the viewers install it in one click.

5. Review Extensions
Reviews are gradually becoming extremely crucial for businesses. According to a study by Qualtrics, 93% of the customers read online reviews before purchasing a product. If you want to earn people’s trust, reviews are indispensable. It’s better to feature reviews on the ad by using the Review extension.

6. Callout Extensions
Callouts are a unique way to promote offers and additional advantages of your products or services. Callouts may cover different things including a Flash Sale, New Event Today, Limited Product Available, or Free Shipping. These easily grab people’s attention and lead them to check your ads.

Select Callout Extension from the drop-down menu in the Ad Extensions tab and specify the callouts. You can add as many callouts as you want but make sure to limit each callout text within 25 characters or less.

7. Offer Extension
One of the easiest ways to drive people’s attention and entice them to click your ad is by featuring an attractive offer. So, we recommend you to highlight an offer running at your store through your ad. Simply add an offer extension to your campaign that may read “35% off on t-shirts”. Customize the copy as per your requirement and watch people rushing to your store!

Wrapping Up
Ad extensions demand nominal effort but they totally pay off. Add these to your advertisement and enhance users’ convenience (and your CTR rate!) So start using the ad extensions mentioned above and reap the maximum benefits of running a PPC campaign.

Golden Rules of Designing a Brochure - A Brochure Design Company Guide

As digital strategies are dominating the current marketing trends, do you really need a traditional brochure to market your products and services?

Businesses often get confused at this point. Is creating a marketing brochure a wastage of money and effort without any gain? Is it essential for a business or just a fancy item? If it’s essential, are there any strategic tips to design a stunning marketing brochure? Does it need to be creative or have a definite and intuitive structure?

Questions are many but thankfully, we got all the answers! Stick to the end to find the answers to all your doubts and concerns.

Effective Tips to Design a Stunning Marketing Brochure – A Brochure Design Company Speaks

1. Define the Target Audience

You may think that the brochure is all about your business, why does it have to take your audience into account. Well, that’s because, all of your marketing efforts should be directed at your audience’s interest and let us tell you, a marketing brochure is just another promotional material. However, remember that a brochure will produce a long-lasting marketing impact on your business, so you better think long term.

Your marketing brochure should target a specific niche in the market and aim to drive some specific metrics. Your segments can be classified by buying cycle, location, age, income, lifestyle preference, and so on. This step is crucial as it will determine the imagery and messaging of your brochure.

An example will be handy here. A life insurance brochure targeting 25 years old people will look very different from a home insurance brochure dedicated to the 45 years old homeowners.

2. Determine a Metric

We already hinted at this point in the earlier section but it needs more explanation. Before starting out, it’s important to figure out which action will be effective in persuading your targeting audience to take an action. Here are a few instances:

• If you want to compel people to visit your retail store, your brochure needs to showcase a newly launched item, discounted price, or include a coupon that can be redeemed at the store.

• If you are offering a consultation service, your brochure should outline what the clients will learn or gain from the consultation.

• If you have launched an online store and handing out brochures at the retail store, it must contain all the details of the online store, discounted price in the e-store, promo code for the first time users and so on.

As you can see, a brochure can have both immediate and long-term motives. Depending on your requirement, you need to customize the brochure.

3. Create Compelling Messages

Once you have determined the structure of the brochure, start writing the copy. Here’s a quick tip by a professional brochure design company. First, write the entire content you want to publish on the brochure. Then strategize what to present on the front, middle, and the back of the brochure.

Here’s a quick guide on how to strategize the content in the front, middle and back section of the brochure:

• Front Page

This is the part that will compel the readers to turn the page. So make sure to design a stunning front page. You can briefly mention how your service is going to help the customers. You can also evoke people’s curiosity with a question.

Make sure that the write-up is simple, catchy, and short. Also, pay attention to the image on the front page. It can display the product you offer or a lifestyle that your customers can expect after availing your service. It can also feature an abstract concept but make sure that the image syncs with your business nature.

The front page must include the company name (contact details – optional) and the brand logo.

• Middle Page

This is the main brochure content. It should elaborate on your business / products / services. You can also cover the most of the page with images. This strategy is helpful mainly for tourism companies or restaurants. If you offer innovative service or products that users may want to know, explain its details.

Make sure to keep the language simple and maintain a formal tone of language. However, many start-ups prefer to experiment with the informal tone of language. This completely depends on your target audience and the nature of your business.

Write small paragraphs and use catchy headers. Use a reader-friendly font and proper colour so as not to strain the readers’ eyes. A rule of thumb is to use light coloured font on a dark background and a dark coloured font on a light background. You see, it’s all about contrast.

• Back Side of the Brochure

This is the space to feature any remaining information. Make sure to include your contact details (name of the company, address, email ID, and phone number). Add a call to action text to drive people’s attention.

Quick tip – make sure to leave adequate white space so as not to strain people’s eyes. This tip is effective for the entire brochure design.

4. Maintain a Harmony between all Branding Elements

Maintaining harmony across all your branding elements evoke a sense of professionalism. To achieve this, you can use the same brand colour across your website, brochure, business card, product packaging and anything you can think of.

This triggers memorability and the viewers can easily identify distinct elements as the parts of your brand. According to the experts of corporate branding services, this is helpful for brand building in the long run.

5. Use Shapes

Gone are the days of traditional rectangular or square brochures. Companies are experimenting with diverse shapes of brochures. Hearts, triangles, circles – you can pick any shape you want. However, make sure that the shape syncs with your brand identity. A heart shape brochure is nice for a wedding planner but not so cool for a digital marketing agency India.

6. Keep It Simple

Most often, people think that only tricky designs or writings are attractive to people. This is a sheer misconception. Remember, this is a brochure – not a book. The readers are going to take a few seconds or minutes to check it out. You need to grab their attention to rely on your service. If they simply appreciate the innovative design or cannot really make a proper sense of technical jargons or abstract concepts you used in the brochure, your purpose will not be served.

Save creativity for the blogs, keep your brochure simple, easy to understand, and compelling. Use intuitive formats - say, the contact info should be given in the backside of the brochure. This will allow the users to easily find it out during a crisis.

7. Pay Attention to the Materials

So, you got amazing copy, excellent graphics and innovative structure – good for you! But there’s more to be done. Have you checked the material of the brochure? This is an integral part of brochure design and you should never skip this.

A brochure is not only about the looks or information but also about the feel. If the readers come across a pamphlet-like brochure or the one with substandard paper – they are not going to rely on your service. It will look and feel cheap and not reliable. So invest in high-quality materials that instantly offer a sophisticated and professional feel.

Wrapping Up

These 7 handpicked tips will help you to create a stunning and compelling brochure. We hope you have found the ideas useful. Try these!

Is Parallax Scrolling Still Relevant in Website Design

Parallax scrolling effect made its debut in conventional web design back in 2011. 9 years have been passed and as we know, website design trends rapidly change with time. So, what’s the case with parallax scrolling? Is it still relevant? We discussed with a leading website design company and here’s what the professionals have to say about it. Keep reading to learn all about it.

Before diving to the relevance, let’s first take a brief look at what is parallax scrolling.

Parallax Scrolling – A Quick Overview

This is a web design technique where the background design moves at a slower pace than the front design. Though both the designs are 2D the pace of the movements results in a 3D effect. It adds a sense of depth and creates an immersive browsing experience when the users scroll the site.

Parallax effect is based on optical illusion. The human eye can perceive objects that are nearer to the eye as larger than the objects placed farther away. Parallax scrolling effect capitalizes on this.

Curious fact – the first use of parallax effect was in traditional animation – in Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and video games like Super Mario.

It later evolved into the world of website design with the advancement in HTML and CSS. We will discuss this in brief in the later part of the blog. So keep reading.

Examples of Parallax Effect

Now that you have received a comprehensive idea about the technique, let’s take you through two examples of it for a complete understanding.

1. Protea

This is a restaurant website that uses box-based website layouts featuring various snippets of their Napa Valley location and Caribbean cuisines. A subtle parallax scrolling effect creates a smooth transition through the array of images.

2. Chris Covert

The Aerospace engineer Chris Covert’s website brilliantly implements parallax scrolling effect. Throughout the site, Chris’s skills, educational background and experience lists are interactively injected in the website design. The background swiftly changes as the visuals (images, business cards) stay put.

Answering the Question – the Relevance of Parallax Effect

We started the blog with a question – whether parallax effect is relevant even to this date or not. Let us tell you that in the 9 years (from 2011 when parallax effect was introduced in the contemporary practice of web design), many trends have come and gone. But parallax scrolling has been established as a substantial design asset and it’s here to stay!

Why so? Precisely for three main reasons:

1. Creating parallax effect doesn’t require an exhaustive tech expertise. It’s possible to craft this design with a combination of HTML and CSS. So the business owners can easily arrange for any reliable website development company professionals who can create this design for their sites.

2. Day by day, user experience is becoming the last word for keeping the users hooked to a website, rely on it and become a customer. Parallax scrolling is an excellent technique to add depth to the site design and create an immersive experience for the users.

3. A beautiful website may turn the traffic’s eyes or make them stay on your site for a little longer than usual but without proper substance, you cannot earn their trust. Also, a site may contain lots of content but you need to direct the users how to find everything without breaking a sweat.

Simply developing a website cannot drive revenue if you don’t plan for user journey. Parallax scrolling effect does just that for you. It highlights the major content on your site without making the site look clumsy. You may check out Protea’s website (stated above) for an understanding. Here the boxes contain distinct content and as a user (say, you) scrolls down, each segment is highlighted and drives attention.

How to Create a Parallax Scrolling Effect

At this point, you must be curious about how to create a parallax scrolling effect? We will outline it in this section.

You can incorporate parallax scrolling into your site using CSS. Here’s a basic CSS code snippet to obtain desired results:

.parallax {

background-image: url("image.png");

/* Set the height */

height: 400px;

/* Create a parallax effect */

background-attachment: fixed;

background-position: center;

background-repeat: no-repeat;

background-size: cover;

}

Wrapping Up

Gone are the days of text-saturated static websites. It’s time to design an engaging website to achieve a competitive edge. Parallax scrolling can ensure you just that. Simply make sure to use it strategically for optimal impact and witness a transformation on your website!

Got a thought? We are all eyes!

Types of Logo You can Create | Not only Geometric Shapes!

Every company you see around has a distinct type of logo. Have you taken the time to analyse those? Usually not, but when you are planning to launch a new business, you must pay attention to design a stunning logo. Every business has a distinct charm and the logo should reflect it. Remember, the logo and the company name are the first interaction points between your business and the audience. So don’t compromise the quality of your brand logo.

logo design company

Here are a few types of logo that you can try for your business:

1. Mascot

One of the reasons behind the popularity of a mascot logo is that it has a human appeal since it involves a person or a character. It can be a human or an animal or any famous figure. For instance, Pringles’s Julio Pringles, KFC’s Colonel, Cheetos’s Chester Cheetah, etc.

However, ensure that the figure is in some way connected to your brand image. If you engage digital marketing services (which every start-up should), you may present a story revolving the mascot in the logo. It will add more to people’s memorability.

2. Wordmark

Wordmark logos are easy to read so many brands prefer to experiment with this. Its adopters include Google, Canon, CocaCola, and others. Since the entire brand name is outlined in the logo, it is favourable to many brand owners. However, make sure to use catchy fonts that correspond with your brand image so as to avoid getting lost amidst the huge competition.

3. Symbol

Pictorial or symbol logos are visual representation of the brand. For that, you need to set up a story or idea that your brand promotes. Then convey this thought to the audience. However, make sure not to use an extremely complicated symbol. That way, people who are not familiar with your brand (which is quite common for a start-up) won’t comprehend the logo.

Two of the famous examples include Twitter and Apple. Come up with such simplicity along with deeper level of thoughts.

4. Abstract
Do you think an abstract logo is just the same as a symbol? No, it’s not. Basically, a symbol has a precise shape and people can relate to it. On the other hand, an abstract logo seems to be a random shape at first. However, this doesn’t mean that an abstract logo lacks a deeper meaning.

Let’s analyse it with an example. Apple has a symbol or pictorial logo of an apple. On the other hand, Nike’s logo is more of an abstract logo. It’s only after some analysis that people can understand that the logo is a swoosh – a representation of speed – which corresponds with the brand image. Take a look at the neuro design principles before sketching a logo to immediately grab the attention of the audience.

Some other instances of an abstract logo may include those of Pepsi, Adobe, etc.

5. Emblem
Remember the logos of Starbucks, NFL or Harley Davidson? Don’t they look like a seal or badge? Such logos are called the emblem logos that carry a traditional crest type look. It also offers an official appearance. Most of the schools or government agencies prefer to use such logo. You can also experiment with such a logo but going overboard may mess up the design. Consider engaging a reliable logo design company India to get an impactful and professional-looking logo.

6. Combination Logo
Experiment and innovation are the two pillars of a successful logo design. True to its name, a combination logo combines a watermark and a symbol. Take Dove or Amazon for instance. Such logos are heavy and you should be cautious while experimenting with these. Make sure that the font of the wordmark doesn’t overshadow the symbol or a clumsy symbol doesn’t affect the simplicity of the wordmark.

7. Lettermark Logo
Wondering what’s the difference between a wordmark and a lettermark logo? In the latter type of logo, instead of writing the entire brand name, only the initials are curbed. These are ideal for the brands with three to four letters. Usually all the letters are designed in a bold manner to grab people’s attention. Some of its examples include HBO, BBC, and NASA.

Conclusion
As you can understand, a balance of all the elements in a logo – colour, font and white space is crucial to ensure the overall impact of the logo. No matter whichever type of logo you pick for your brand, maintain a balance and come up with a stunning idea.
Do you want to add more types of logo to our list? Feel free to comment below.

5 Social Media Strategies that Can Do Wonder for Your B2B Brand

It is 2020 and the craze around social media is a settled fact. If your B2B brand is still far from making the most of social media, you are at a disadvantage, friend. Do you say B2B companies are not a good fit for social media because they serve a niche audience? Well, that notion has become a thing of the past.

With social media becoming commonplace, leveraging this part of digital space can help your business reach more audience, foster collaboration, and improve communication flows. No wonder 83% of B2B marketers are using social media for brand promotions today! (source: contentmarketinginstitute.com)

Humbly speaking, after having developed social media strategies of several B2B companies, we too think your B2B company needs to ride the social media wave sooner rather than later. So, here we are to share the strategies for building & strengthening your social media presence.

Pro Strategies – Detailed Overview

1. Choose Diverse Platforms

Like the saying goes ‘Do not put all your eggs in one basket’, we would suggest you something similar when you are choosing the social media platforms. Instead of concentrating all your resources on one platform, think of leveraging a few other options as well. 

With 80% of B2B marketers using Linkedin for generating leads, the channel has certainly been effective in boosting B2B promotions (source: hootsuite.com). But, you know what? Do not turn a blind eye to other social media channels. Along with LinkedIn; Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram deserve to be in your list of priority as well. Wondering why? 

With 25 million business profiles on Instagram, the platform plays a catalyst in the B2B lead generation today. Further, over 75% of B2B companies are marketing their services & products on Twitter (source: oberlo.in). And with 1688k + likes, the Cisco’s Facebook Page proves that the channel can be effective in sharing insightful posts and driving community interaction for B2Bs as well. 

So, you see, the more you grow your presence on social media, the better is its impact on your business and brand building.

2. Humanize Your Brand

Sticking to a strict, cold, and mundane tone of communication is one of the biggest reasons why B2B brands continue to fail on social media. Keep in mind that B2B customers are humans too and you should make them relate to your brand. That's why the experts at any reputed internet marketing agency India recommend businesses to open up and be a little flexible.

If you want to connect with your audience, put aside the corporate vanity. Your brand should come across as authentic, personable, and considerate of its audience on social media. Besides, whoever said humour is underutilised in B2B marketing is correct. Most of the B2B brands are too afraid to take that risk. 

But, MailChimp has been one of the brands to have nailed it! Be it the witty one-liners or creative artworks, this B2B brand can very well tap into the emotions of the audience with its good sense of humour. So, what are you afraid of? Liven up your B2B marketing with some doses of humour and humanisation. 

3. Diversify Your Content

We understand you have a niche audience to cater to, but you can survive without those jargon-loaded articles. Instead, create easy-to-digest content and help people understand how hiring your services is going to benefit them. Bench, an accounting firm, has been exemplary in this field. The firm has won the hearts of all Facebook followers by posting atypical content on self-employed or small business owners who have been benefited from engaging their services. 

Moreover, with 87% of B2B brands investing in video marketing, it is clear that the popularity of this content form is on the rise (source: hubspot.com). Along with videos, you can explore other options like infographics, ebooks, success & case studies, webinars, blogs, interviews, and so on. So, focus on content variation to make your brand stand out from the crowd.

If you want to learn the art of utilising diverse & vibrant content, then take inspiration from Salesforce, a cloud-based software company. From long-form content to humorous GIFs and interesting social graphics, its Facebook and Twitters pages are fun & interesting to scroll through. 

Do you want the same for your business? Consider engaging professional SEO services India to create engaging as well as search engine friendly content.

4. Focus on Social Media Listening

Social media is not just about talking or engaging with your audience but it also involves listening. Wondering what it is? Simply put, it is the process of collecting data and monitoring them to boost your B2B brand success on social media.

It helps you to know how your brand is perceived by the audience. That is not the end, for you can analyse your competition and understand your target market better with social listening.

To get started with B2B social listening for business, you will have to choose from the popular social listening tools. You can go for either free tools like Google alerts or social publishing platforms such as Hootsuite and Sprout Social. Next, you must track hashtags to listen to the mentions of your brand and its products or services. Once you measure the metrics, you can plan your responses and readjust your social media interactions accordingly. 

5. Invest in Paid Social Media

Organic social media is certainly useful in building your brand and connecting with your audience, but it can get unpredictable due to changing algorithm. Hence, paid social media ads should be on the priority list of all B2B brands. 

Contrary to popular belief, investing in paid ad campaigns does not mean breaking your bank always. Based on your gross revenue goals and overall marketing budget, you can chalk out a budget formula that fits your business the best. So, essentially, it is your choice how you would want to diversify your marketing budget.

If budget is not a constraint for you, we suggest you invest in paid social media campaigns and drive better website traffic, maximise quality leads, and increase the prospect of conversions. Moreover, killer ad campaigns by Airtable on Instagram and Hootsuite’s Facebook have proved paid social media is worth fitting into any B2B marketing strategy. So, are you ready to follow suit?

Conclusion

Social media marketing has become a rage that has no sign of slowing down. Taking the social media route is essential should you want your B2B brand to stay competitive and earn more leads. That being said, we must also remind you of the growing importance of hiring professional social media marketing services. Creating a detailed social media strategy is the forte of seasoned marketers, so why not leave the task to the experts who can handle it the best? Hire the right people and create a winning social media marketing strategy for your B2B brand.

Want to talk to us about your requirement? We are all ears!