blogs and articles
Marketing

How to Hook Your Audience: Blogs & Articles

blogs and articles

The art of writing is a bit of a niggly one. If we could describe it simply, you’re either really good at it or it’s just not your thing. That’s not to say you don’t know what you want to communicate, it just means it’s a little harder for people who are more hands-on or technical to put their ideas down on paper. In marketing, copywriting is one of the best tools to have when it comes to gaining interest in your product or service from your target audience, keeping them there, and then convincing them that investing in what you have to offer is worthwhile. Whether you’re a start up business or a seasoned entrepreneur, if you don’t have the right messaging in your marketing, your voice is going to fall on deaf ears. 

Copywriting

This is tricky, because so much of business marketing relies on good copy. From the information you write on your website landing page to your social media posts, blogs, email newsletters, brochures and so on, writing is one of those things you’ve just gotta get right. Fortunately, marketing agencies like us exist for that exact reason. We get that running a business is a huge amount of work (trust us, we’ve been there), and finding the time to either teach yourself how to write for marketing or even just conjure something up when it’s needed, is often at the bottom of your list of priorities.

The good news is, we’re here to help. There is no doubt in our minds that you are good at what you do. Whether you’re a clothing designer, an accountant or an all-round handyman, if you’re a business owner, you’re going to know your stuff. We want you to focus on that, so we can focus on how to help you grow your business and get that return on your investment from your marketing efforts.

Writing for Marketing

If you need an ad campaign written, a personal profile for a magazine feature, or a story about your journey as a business, we can do all the writing for you. Our process might involve re-doing something you’ve written and making it more enticing and SEO friendly, or it could be that we start from scratch by talking to you about what it is you’re wanting to say and communicating that for you. Whatever you want written in order to increase your brand awareness and convert that to sales, leave it with us.

Articles & Blogs

There’s no doubt about it, articles and blogs are not only a great way to give your customers a more in-depth look inside your brand, but they’re also a game changer for SEO. When you have the right keywords scattered throughout your website, you’re going to gain way more traction on your products and services because it drives traffic right there. Tell us what you want to write about, and we’ll do the rest for you.

Social Media

Posting consistently on your social media platforms is one of the best methods to get your target audience to turn their attention to you, engage with what you have to say, and give you a bit of control over the algorithm. Knowing how to write social media copy and how to carry out those marketing techniques is a bit of a fine art, and it’s something we’re more than happy to help you with.

Websites

Having a website and something for customers to Google search is a super important one. If your website doesn’t have the right keywords on it, the copy isn’t informative and it doesn’t show your uniqueness as a brand, it’s not going to be effective. We help to boost your website’s SEO and appeal through writing team bios, eye-catching landing page copy and can work with you to tell your story in the most impactful way.

Advertising

Whether it’s an ad campaign, an event poster or a brochure, your advertising needs to make a statement. A huge part of that is the messaging that’s on those marketing materials. We work with you to come up with the best way to communicate your story through words, so you can promote your business on every piece of collateral you have.

Subscribe

Marketing

Creating Killer Promotional Material for Your Marketing

promotional material

If you’ve got a website for your business, you’ve set up your social media accounts and you’re running Google Ads, first of all — give yourself a big old pat on the back. These marketing must-haves are hugely beneficial when it comes to connecting with your audience, building trust, and then convincing them that what you have to offer is exactly what they’re missing in their lives. While we don’t want to take away from that and how pleased we are that you’re onto it in that department, we do have to talk about promotional material. Let’s just say it’s a big one.

Whether you’re a start up business or an established entrepreneur looking to have a bit of a rebrand, having the right promotional material is the best way to keep your business in the back of people’s minds and at the front of them when they need a service or product you can provide. The bottom line is, your brand isn’t complete until you have the tools to sell it. 

Business Cards

They’re one of the most used types of promotional material on the planet and there’s good reason for it! Having your logo on a business card works to legitimise you as a business owner, it creates brand awareness, and of course, it’s a great place to put your contact details for whenever you’re at a networking event or meeting a client for the first time. While it may very well end up at the bottom of someone’s handbag or briefcase, we guarantee by the time they find it again it will act as a little reminder of the meeting or encourage them to give you a call and reconnect. 

Notepads, Invoices and Envelopes

There’s nothing more professional than having all of the above stamped with your logo. Whether you’re sending information out to people, thanking them for doing business with you or handing out a notepad for a client’s fridge, having your brand displayed loud and clear on the front is a great way to make your mark and become a business that is memorable. 

Business Flags

If you’re a business that loves getting out and about in the community, attending industry-related events or need something a little extra special in your building’s foyer, a flag with a promotional purpose is a fantastic way to build brand recognition and get noticed. Especially if you’re in a position where you need to stand out from the crowd (and your competitors!). 

Brochures, Posters and Flyers

Again, if you’re a bit of a sucker for an industry event or show, having information presented in an eye-catching and enticing way that people can take home with them really is a must. You might have had a good chat with someone and they want to take something away from that to read in their own time, or you’re wanting to build momentum for an upcoming event or deal — brochures, posters and flyers are the way to go. They also come in handy when kept at your reception desk for customers who want to know more about your services.

Car and Shopfront Signage

Nothing stands out quite like some bold signwriting. We’ve all seen that same fleet of vans driving around town that have a logo on them you just can’t get out of your mind — and that’s exactly why we do it. The same goes for a shopfront, how are people supposed to know where you are if you don’t have your branding on the building to lead the way?

You get the point. Promotional material is crucial to establishing your brand and getting seen among the sea of businesses in your industry. The good news is, we can design and organise all of the above for you. We also work with a whole bunch of amazing local businesses to bring your ideas to life. Just ask!

Are you ready for us to lend you a hand? Contact us here.

Subscribe

logo design
Marketing

The Big Why: Designing Your Dream Logo

logo design

Whether you’re an entirely new business that needs to make a strong statement with your image or an existing business wanting a little brand freshen-up, rest assured, you’ve come to the right place.

Brand Awareness

At Elm, we’re all about helping your business grow. Our slogan says it, so we sort of have to be. As a growing business ourselves, we’ve been on the rollercoaster that is gaining brand awareness and have learnt a thing or two we want to share with you. After all, you can’t be good at everything! Our team has a whole host of groovy talents, but when it comes to design, we reckon we’re not too shabby at it.  

One of the first steps to establishing yourself as a business or re-claiming your place in the market is to have a logo that sticks in people’s minds as much as a painfully tacky radio jingle. While some people may think that making a logo is just about being good at drawing, it’s got a bit more depth to it than that. Well, actually, a lot more. 

Tell A Story

When people look at your logo, they’re not just seeing the lines, the colours and the curvature of the letter or icons — they want to know what it means. That’s why we knock all of our heads together and pull on our individual strengths to come up with a logo that not only sticks out like a sore thumb in the best way possible, but also tells a story about you. 

We take the time to learn about your brand, the people behind it, its history and where it sees itself being projected in the future. It’s sort of like an interview, but with less sweat and nerves. We’ll walk and talk you through the whole process, step by step, to get to the guts of what it is you envisage for your logo, and work with you until you’re absolutely infatuated with it. 

Subscribe

product packaging
Marketing

The Power of Product Packaging: Positioning Yourself in the Market

logo design

When you think of product packaging, it’s likely you’re going to turn your mind to its purpose. Of course, packaging is necessary to hold whatever you’re manufacturing or selling. Maybe it needs to be airtight to prevent moisture from getting inside or the product from getting out, or it could be that it needs to be durable and won’t damage during delivery — whatever it is, the functionality of your packaging is a biggie. However, what you’re packaging looks like is arguably just as important when it comes to making it desirable enough for people to want to buy it. 

Logo Design

Before you even think about what your product packaging is going to look like, you need to have settled on your logo design. If it’s not consistent or doesn’t come with a set of brand guidelines, you’re going to struggle to get any recognition in the market. Consider that step one. Once you’ve got that set in stone, the next step is to incorporate that into your product packaging. Having design material that represents your brand and reflects your business’s values means you’ll have far more chance of establishing your brand identity and encouraging customer loyalty.

Digital Marketing

Another thing to keep in mind with product packaging is the type of environment you’re putting it into. Nowadays, you’d struggle to find a retailer that doesn’t have its products online, showcased on one form of e-commerce website or another. Just in case you haven’t noticed, pretty much everything has become digital. While this might be not so great for those who don’t consider themselves to be very tech-savvy, it is great for business owners. The benefits of being able to sell your products online include more marketing opportunities, little need for contact between the buyer and seller, and of course, a wider reach in terms of your target audience. But! If you don’t have the right product packaging, you’re not going to get the traction your pining for. Think of it like a present to your customers.

Packaging Type

How you display the product imagery, copy and even the fine print are crucial, but it’s also about the finer details of your packaging. For example, with an increasing focus on sustainably sourced and created products, the types of packaging you choose to use matter. While a lot of consumers actively seek out sustainable products, it doesn’t mean yours has to be (but we do encourage it!), it just means that you have to consider these kinds of elements of your packaging — as well as its functionality. 


Need help with your product packaging? We’ve got you covered! Contact us here.

Subscribe

website
Marketing

Building The Perfect Website for Your Business

It’s not enough to just rely on word of mouth anymore. While this method of marketing was once the best and in some cases, the only way to do it, the business world has evolved so drastically over time — so much so that a lot more is required to market effectively. In fact, even in the last 10 years, it has become even less common for people to look for a business’s phone number if they want to find out more about what it is that they offer. This is where the power of the website comes in. 

Brand Awareness

One of the largest benefits of building a website for your business is that it creates an online presence for your brand. Plus, it’s available around the clock. Whether someone is wanting to book a holiday in the early hours of the morning or to buy your products from a different time zone, having a website means having the ability to reach a global audience, whenever and from wherever. It also takes the pressure off your customers. When they can search for what they’re looking for in their own time, from the comfort of their own home, and they don’t have to talk to someone if they don’t want to, they’re going to be more inclined to engage with your business than if you were to, say, door knock them and tell them about it.

Becoming User-friendly

The next big bonus is that it acts as a way to exchange information seamlessly between the seller and buyer. By using informative and entertaining copy, as well as images and videos, you can explain to your customer what it is you’re presenting them with and hook them in that way. It’s also a place to list your opening hours, contact details, social media links, the latest business news and events, and provide a section for any enquiries people may have. When you can’t interact with your customers face to face, it’s as easy as a few clicks to do it in the online sphere!

Building Trust

Having a website also goes a long way toward legitimising your business. With so much false information out in the world and the feeling that scams are following us wherever we go, customers want to know that they can trust your brand. When you have a website with your logo plastered all over it and they can see who or what kind of people are behind it, they’re more likely to invest in you. Even better, if your website is easy to use, it’s going to appeal a whole more to your audience.

Advertising and Reporting

Last but not least, websites enable the use of tools like Google Ads to further market your business, and everything can be monitored. Whether it’s at the end of the month or the end of the year, you can look back on how your website has performed in terms of how many people have visited it, added to their cart and made purchases. This will act as a guide for what approaches you need to get rid of and those you need to improve on for future success.

Website Building

There’s a whole heap of web developers out there, and if you’re game enough to try and build one yourself, platforms like WordPress, Wix, Squarespace and Shopify are great places to start.

 

Are you ready for us to lend you a hand? Contact us here.

Subscribe

brand design
Marketing

Make an Impact: Designing Your Business Brand

brand design

They say a picture speaks a thousand words, and when it comes to marketing design, it’s really no different. How you communicate your brand through visuals is everything, which is why it’s so important to have someone with the right design skills to walk alongside you when building your brand image. We start with the basics and work all the way up to an all-encompassing brand package that tells your business’s story and sets you apart from the rest. Want to know how? We’re about to give you a bit of an idea.

Brand Development

In a nutshell, brand development is the process of distinguishing everything from your products or services to your imagery and tone of voice. It’s about figuring out the ways in which you want to come across to your audience, and whether or not this aligns with your business ethos and what you want to achieve. A lot of this also has to do with how you position yourself in the market and how you stack up against your competitors. We work with you to help you through this development stage so that you can walk away with a solid understanding of who you are and what your mission is as a brand. 

Website Development

Marketing your business well has a lot to do with how accessible you make your brand to people. One of the best ways to do this is by having a website people can be directed to when they search for your business or keywords relating to what is that you are offering. There is a huge emphasis placed on online presence in digital marketing, and having a website is definitely one of the first things we recommend you do, which of course, we can help with!

Packaging Design

Thought of, designed and created an incredible product but don’t know how to make it marketable? That’s what we’re here for. Having clean, modern and sophisticated product packaging can take a really impressive product from the safety of your home and onto shelves worldwide. Unless you’re design-inclined and have the skills and tools to do it yourself, working with a marketing agency to make your vision for the brand a reality is the best place to start. We can’t stress enough how key it is to get your product or service design right — we can make it happen.

Logo Design

Much like packaging design, your logo absolutely has to hit the nail on the head when it comes to telling your story and selling your brand. When people look at your logo, they’re not just seeing the lines, the colours and the curvature of the letter or icons — they want to know what it means. That’s why we knock all of our heads together and pull on our individual strengths to come up with a logo that not sticks out like a sore thumb in the best way possible. 

Promotional Material

From brochures to business cards, branded envelopes, invoice templates, flyers and everything in between, you’re almost always going to need some form of promotional material to market your business. Having your logo stamped on paperwork might seem a little insignificant, but trust us, it doesn’t go unnoticed. The more people see your brand, the more they identify it and the more they begin to build trust with it. We do all types of design for promotional material and will have you armed with everything you need to market your business.

Are you ready for us to lend you a hand? Contact us here.

Subscribe

grow your business
Marketing

Elm’s Seed Pack: Grow Your Business from the Ground Up!

At Elm, we’ve been where you are — let’s face it, everyone has to start somewhere. Growing your business can be overwhelming when you don’t know how, which is why we’re taking our years of experience in the marketing industry and helping others do just that. 

The Business Idea

Whether you’ve got an established business that needs a boost or a pretty crash-hot idea for a product or service, the Seed Pack is a first-steps marketing plan that’ll have you hitting the ground running. In this bustling digital age, it’s a lot harder to get seen. Gone are the days of being the only one in town doing what you do best — having a point of difference and then turning that into success is far more difficult than having a shop front people can see from the road. The Seed Pack has everything you need to get set up and start seeing that return on your investment. 

Marketing Setup

The Elm team will work with you to develop your vision and create a logo that highlights exactly who you are as a business and what you’re all about. In addition to this, we’ll build a single-page website that reflects your brand and acts as a launching pad that’ll grow as you do. The pack also includes setting up your Google My Business, as well as Facebook and Instagram accounts to increase your visibility, educate customers on the problem you can solve for them, and encourage them to want to find out more. And to really get you cooking with gas, we’ve included our ebook to help you “Grow Your Business From the Ground Up”. 


You’ll learn how to build a brand, communicate your message and gain an audience that wants a slice of what you have to offer.

Are you ready to plant those seeds? Reach out, we’ll get you growing. Contact us here.

quantitative research
Marketing

Why Quantitative Research Is Key to Mastering Your Marketing

While the term might seem a little overwhelming at first, there’s no need for it to be. Believe it or not, it’s not rocket science, it’s actually pretty basic. Quantitative research is essentially the process of collecting and analysing numerical data — it’s basically numbers. Once you learn to understand them and the role they play in your marketing, you’ll be well on your way to seeing results! 

Marketing Research

In order to get a return on your investment, you need to be able to work with a bit of trial and error around how you market your business. Luckily for us, the way the digital world has evolved means we can track almost anything. Whether it’s your social media engagement, likes or how effective it has been in getting visitors to go to your online shop, or it could even be measuring how on the mark your keywords are in your Google Ads. Being able to review your numbers and how things are performing is the only way to know what is and isn’t working so you can get it just right.

Performance planning

Too often, businesses put so much time and energy into their marketing, from posting regularly on their Instagram account to spending hundreds of dollars on their ad campaigns. When they look back on it after a month and see that it hasn’t got them any new leads or increased their following, they can very easily be left feeling pretty disheartened. On top of that, they’ll be questioning why it didn’t achieve the reaction they were hoping for.

Analysing Insights

 This is why it is so important to use quantitative research, to go through our marketing efforts with a fine-toothed comb. This type of research can be experimental — running two slightly different ads alongside each other and seeing which performs best, done through surveys — how many of your customers use a particular product of another, observational — what time of day you make the most sales, and using secondary research — how have trends around your industry changed over the past 10 years.

By looking at the numbers and figures, we’re able to determine how best to market our brand and take a deep dive into the way our customers behave, as well as how they want us to behave. 

Are you ready for us to lend you a hand? Contact us here.

Subscribe

ROI
Marketing

Marketing: How to Boost Your Return on Investment

Marketing Strategy

There is nothing more frustrating than putting a whole heap of time and energy into your marketing to find that you’re not seeing any results. After all, the whole point of marketing is to sell what you’re offering and see a return on your investment. From establishing your brand, creating content, sharing it with your target audience and then analysing how it has performed in order to see what is and isn’t working, it takes a lot more work than you might expect. However! We don’t say this to scare you, it’s actually the opposite. We want to help you understand that learning about how to market your business and reaching out to a marketing agency are one of the best ways you can ensure that your marketing pays off.

Copywriting

From blogs and articles to advertising copy, website copy, media releases and everything in between, knowing how to write specifically for marketing is something a lot of people don’t know how to do. Words have so much power in terms of hooking your audience, keeping them interested and then convincing them what you have to offer is worth buying. We work with you to determine what type of copywriting is best for your marketing strategy, where it can be utilised most effectively, and teach you exactly how to do just that. And if you don’t know how to write copy for your business marketing, we are more than happy to do it for you.

Content Marketing


First things first, you’re going to want to decide what platforms you’re going to use to market your business. Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn, there has to be a reason behind why you’ve chosen to market this way. This decision is mainly going to be based on who your target audience is. Once you’ve got that sorted, the next step is to consider what type of content you’re going to post, as well as how frequently you need to do it in order for the messages to be effective. Despite the ever-changing online landscape, we’ve had plenty of experience with content marketing and can teach you how to adapt to it.

Advertising

Paid advertising is an optional but potentially hugely beneficial part of marketing your business. Whether it’s Google Ads (search ads and display ads), newspaper ads or social media ads, putting some money into them can have a lot of sway in terms of your return on investment. You can easily monitor how your ads are performing, and it’s also incredibly specific, so you can narrow your target audience down to reach relevant consumers who are interested in your brand, fit the demographic of your buyer persona, and show them in the exact geographic location you’re wanting to target. Plus, paid digital advertising also allows you to retarget consumers that have clicked through your ad, engaged with your business, and visited your page or website — to encourage them to complete the sales process. 

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

SEO is essentially a way to increase your brand visibility in the digital sphere by including keywords, which are commonly searched words relating to your industry, in all of your writing. This can include anything from website copy to ad campaigns, and is an incredibly common technique for gaining traction in your business marketing. Not sure how to incorporate SEO into your marketing strategy? Let us show you how or leave it with us.

Analytics, Business Insights and Reporting

There’s no way to know how your marketing is working if you aren’t able to reflect back on it. Luckily, these days, online technology has become so advanced that we can analyse pretty much any form of marketing you’ve put into place — from social media to websites and Google. With pretty much all of our clients, depending on the work we’re doing with them, we meet monthly to review how their marketing has been performing so that we can see what is and isn’t working, and take that information to improve your results. While there’s inevitably a bit of trial and error involved, we can help you get the most out of your marketing.

 

Subscribe

Design
Marketing

The Big Idea: Designing Your Dream Brand

They say a picture speaks a thousand words, and when it comes to marketing design, it’s really no different. How you communicate your brand through visuals is everything, which is why it’s so important to have someone with the right design skills to walk alongside you when building your brand image. We start with the basics and work all the way up to an all-encompassing brand package that tells your business’s story and sets you apart from the rest. Want to know how? We’re about to give you a bit of an idea.

Brand Development

In a nutshell, brand development is the process of distinguishing everything from your products or services to your imagery and tone of voice. It’s about figuring out the ways in which you want to come across to your audience, and whether or not this aligns with your business ethos and what you want to achieve. A lot of this also has to do with how you position yourself in the market and how you stack up against your competitors. We work with you to help you through this development stage so that you can walk away with a solid understanding of who you are and what your mission is as a brand. 

Website Development

Marketing your business well has a lot to do with how accessible you make your brand to people. One of the best ways to do this is by having a website people can be directed to when they search for your business or keywords relating to what is that you are offering. There is a huge emphasis placed on online presence in digital marketing, and having a website is definitely one of the first things we recommend you do, which of course, we can help with!

Packaging Design

Thought of, designed and created an incredible product but don’t know how to make it marketable? That’s what we’re here for. Having clean, modern and sophisticated product packaging can take a really impressive product from the safety of your home and onto shelves worldwide. Unless you’re design-inclined and have the skills and tools to do it yourself, working with a marketing agency to make your vision for the brand a reality is the best place to start. We can’t stress enough how key it is to get your product or service design right — we can make it happen.

Logo Design

Much like packaging design, your logo absolutely has to hit the nail on the head when it comes to telling your story and selling your brand. When people look at your logo, they’re not just seeing the lines, the colours and the curvature of the letter or icons — they want to know what it means. That’s why we knock all of our heads together and pull on our individual strengths to come up with a logo that not sticks out like a sore thumb in the best way possible. 

Promotional Material

From brochures to business cards, branded envelopes, invoice templates, flyers and everything in between, you’re almost always going to need some form of promotional material to market your business. Having your logo stamped on paperwork might seem a little insignificant, but trust us, it doesn’t go unnoticed. The more people see your brand, the more they identify it and the more they begin to build trust with it. We do all types of design for promotional material and will have you armed with everything you need to market your business.

 

Subscribe

Load more posts

A full suite Marketing Agency based in Invercargill.
Helping your business grow.

Facebook-f Instagram Linkedin

Quick links