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9 Manufacturing Company Websites That Will Inspire You

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Are you a marketing manager at a manufacturing company who thinks your website could be so much better? Are you looking for inspiration? Besides being visually appealing, there are several more factors to consider while designing a compelling manufacturing website. After all, a manufacturing company’s website is expected to convey in-depth technical information while also revealing core brand values and be easy to navigate?

An attractive website is a strong marketing and sales tool for any manufacturing company. When you have an innovative, thought-led website, it is a lucrative opportunity to ensure great impressions. It helps in showcasing your brand to potential customers. When done properly, it helps in communicating your niche.

For your manufacturing business, it is crucial to have a website for housing all your important information. In case you are starting out or revamping the existing website, you can have a look at other brand inspirations to give your website a great start. You can observe what works, what will not work, and experiment with your website.

In this post, let us help you go through major design inspirations for creating an attractive and functional website. And of course, always feel to reach out to Curve for advice. 

 

Top Manufacturing Website Design Trends 2021

As the digital landscape has changed significantly, there are multiple initiatives that manufacturing businesses are using for executing digital marketing through attractive websites. Manufacturing website trends have changed as generating traffic online has become highly competitive than ever before.

Nowadays, high-end digital procedures like SEO, retargeting, and pay-per-click are making website creation a crucial task. Websites are the foundation of all digital marketing strategies for manufacturing businesses. As per the latest manufacturing website trends, here are some core elements of a manufacturing website on which you should focus:

  •   A clean design working great on tablets, smartphones, and other mobile devices
  •   Attractive visuals along with impressive infographics, videos, or images
  •   A simple conversion funnel with easy-to-use navigation and strong CTAs
  •   Opportunities to garner more information –including lead magnets and right forms

The Best Manufacturing Website Design Examples

We have selected a series of favourite websites to leverage as direction, inspiration, and for showcasing your products and services effectively. None of these sites are Curve clients. But we still appreciate solid work. Have a look:

Andrew Plastics Ltd.

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Andrew Plastics Ltd. is a renowned Plastic Injection Moulding company. It boasts over 70 years of experience in the manufacturing industry. The company was in requirement of a compelling website to deliver them ample exposure, communicate their vision, and improve customer satisfaction.

The website of the company now represents everything that they stand for. The company features a clean, easy to navigate, and simplistic design. The website attractively displays the services, the sectors in which the company works, and the overall company history, and much more. The website also serves to be a hub for learning with the help of effective content marketing. You will find that the blog section is filled with ample resources featuring the best SEO practices in use.

Beta Solutions

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The company claims that it has been the core of the production of heavy-duty industrial cleaning machines for over 30 years. The company is based in the United Kingdom. The team here is specialized in the production of sturdy, hard-working, and durable floor cleaning machinery for fabrication, manufacturing, engineering, food & beverages, warehousing, and several other industries.

Beta Solutions was in need of a website for communicating its incredible range of products & services while positioning itself as the expert brand. Website designers made use of content marketing in the best possible manner. A multi-channel approach is used for targeting the buyer personas while answering questions and educating readers.

The website currently showcases the Beta brand, its impressive range of products & services, and the industries they work with with great detail. The website puts forth all important information that is relevant to the end-users.

On the Level

The company is a reputed trade wet room manufacturer and supplier. The company has its renowned name in the construction industry for its high-end project work along with ample modular expertise for high-end projects. The overall work of the company is quite impressive.

On The Level had been keen on developing a website solution to serve as a long-term digital strategy for the period of 5 years. The final outcome of its website design revealed a current and simplistic website feature with strategic customer journeys and guaranteed customer satisfaction.

The website designers of the company made use of ample immersive videos along with SEO-centric content for engaging the users.

Lockheed Martin

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Lockheed Martin is a renowned name in the field of aerospace brands out there. Therefore, there is no denying the fact that the website design of Lockheed Martin is just as airy and free as it can get.

The design of the website differentiates itself with the smart use of imagery. There is also the presence of a dropdown menu for allowing potential customers to find the respective area of interest quite instantly. Even with the bold design options, the website features a highly responsive design. Therefore, it is capable of working effectively on a wide range of mobile devices as well.

NTS Unitek

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The website of NTS Unitek excels in its use of high-quality imagery along with intuitive content to draw the attention of the visitors. The site features striking images of high-end technology in action. The written copy of the website is concise and well-defined. Therefore, the website allows its visitors to know what they are doing in the right manner.

The website also features a separate “Learn More” Call-to-Action (CTA) icon for inviting website visitors to explore the website more. The icon allows them to garner in-depth knowledge about the organization and the industry as a whole.

Right below the main images, the website presents a detailed menu of the respective services that can be tabbed. Therefore, there is the presentation of a single service at a particular moment unless the visitors would click on additional services. The website designers have been quite flawless in the overall presentation and self-promotion of the brand itself. There is a dedicated testimonial section for offering access to two testimonials at a time.

PR Hoffman

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The company features an attractive website featuring a main hero image appearing as a slideshow moving about every 30 seconds. Every hero image present in the slideshow feature has a unique copy for explaining what the manufacturing company is capable of doing for its customers. It offers its visitors the feeling that the company is advanced technologically while being quite futuristic at the same time.

The website also features detailed contact information at a visible space of the page. There are three distinct categories of products that are placed under the main hero image of the website. These categories invite prospective customers to go on exploring while learning more about the products and services that are offered.

The best part is that the website also features a short video at the homepage’s bottom for allowing the visitors to know about the working of different machines.

John Deere

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John Deere is undeniably one of the leading manufacturing brands in the entire world. As such, it is no surprise that the leading manufacturing brand also excels its website. The brand is responsible for delivering amazing user experiences while providing ample menu options on the homepage with the help of engaging images.

The website is capable of appealing to all its visitors. It makes use of impressive content marketing strategies for adding more value for the visitors. The publication by the company “The John Deere Journal” is situated at the website’s footer section. The brand’s website also showcases real stories to include a human element for resonating well with the customers.

Marlin Steel

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The official website of the manufacturing company performs exceedingly when it comes to using video for the homepage. This helps in effectively drawing the active attention of the site visitors. The site also features specialized conversion elements throughout the design. Moreover, the brand also boasts an extensive product offering.

The site serves to be simple and easy-to-navigate for first-time users. It delivers accurate specifications and a proper quote with the help of just a few clicks on the homepage.

FireRock

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The website is about a leading building solution brand. FireRock provides building solutions for both end users as well as contractors that are planning their customized home projects. Therefore, it is no surprise that the website design of the brand incorporates some of the most intriguing ideas in its B2C designs.

Along with the easy-to-navigate features and accurate subsections, the slogan remains at the front & center of the website.

Conclusion

Our shortlist of manufacturing website examples is a great starting point for those who wish to create an impactful, professional, and informative site. From the navigation layout to colour palette options, you will come across ample inspiration from these websites that are designed by leading designers. If you need help with your existing or new manufacturing website, please reach out to the team here at Curve Communications.

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8 Tips for Your Next Brainstorming Session

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No matter what industry you work in, coming up with creative solutions to problems is necessary – and let’s be honest, sometimes difficult. We bet you’ve seen something somewhere and thought to yourself, “Wow, that’s genius, why didn’t I think of that?” Well, you don’t need to be a genius to come up with an incredible idea – you just need some brainstorming!

Brainstorming is a well-known technique for generating creative solutions, but it might seem like a pointless process to some, if it’s not done right. It’s not like there are rules to brainstorming, but there are definitely some tips and tricks you should follow if you want to have a productive session where everyone is engaged and collaborating, and from which you take away some amazing ideas.

Here are some pointers to bring into your next meeting.

1. Focus on Quantity Over Quality

Let’s establish the most important thing first: the goal of brainstorming is to come up with the highest possible number of ideas. Don’t get attached to how good they are. You might not solve the problem right there and then, but you are probably going to leave the session with a fresh perspective and a few good concepts you can explore further. The golden solution is hidden between 30 other not-so-good ideas.

2. Set a Time

Having a time limit will ensure you don’t waste a second. The goal here is to keep everyone engaged, focused and contributing. A session can be anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes, depending on the size and complexity of the project – so a sweet spot is 30 minutes. However long you choose, make sure to communicate it to everyone before the session starts and stick with it!

3. Prepare Beforehand

You won’t have much time, so spend it wisely. Do some research before the meeting. For instance, if you’re brainstorming ideas for an event, spend a few minutes going over what other events like yours did in the past; you might have missed an idea that seems obvious.

4. Change the Place

To help spark creativity, get the team out of their habitual space. Leave your desks and go to the conference room, the break room, or even better, go outside. Changing your surroundings will help everyone get more inspired.

5. Choose the Participants

Another important limit you should set is the number of people. Choose a group of four to seven to be in your session–less than that and you won’t have enough ideas; more than that and people will not participate. And if you work in a large company, bring in people from different departments or different job positions. You will get great insights from different perspectives. 

You also need to assign one person to take notes. They can contribute with ideas, of course, but their main responsibility here is recording everything that’s said. That way, the other participants can focus on the discussion.

6. Don’t Think About Execution

The meeting is not the time, nor the place, to think about how you’re going to execute each idea! Do NOT think about how you’ll get it done, how much it will cost, how long it will take. Use this time to come up with concepts. LATER, you will select a few that were the best and explore them further.

7. Go Wild

Because crazy ideas can sound implausible, many people avoid them in favour of more practical solutions. However, creativity and craziness go hand in hand. Never dismiss an idea just because you believe it is technically impractical. Often, the crazy one will spark inspiration in others and can be the starting point to the winning solution.

8. Keep Judgements to Yourself

On the same note, remember that there’s no such thing as a dumb idea. Don’t shut people down while they’re brainstorming. If a person feels their ideas are being rejected, they are more likely to withdraw from the discussion entirely. Use this space as a brain dump – people should feel free to say whatever comes into their minds. A “silly” idea might just be what another participant needs to get inspired. 

Follow these simple steps and you’re set for success! Just make sure to communicate this to your team and get everyone on the same page. And if you’re stuck and need help, contact us and we’ll be happy to collaborate to take your ideas–and your brand–to the next level.

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Smart Strategies to Build Brand Awareness

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You have your product, you’re ready to make sales, but people aren’t seeing your product. Brand awareness is the first step for marketing your product or service. It is the degree of recognition your brand receives. Without perfecting the awareness stage, the people that you determined to be your target audience will not find out about your brand.

How do you build brand awareness then? There are multiple ways to go forward with this, and you should not limit yourself to just one.

1. Organic content

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No matter where you decide to take your brand awareness journey, it all starts with content. Without content, no one will be able to learn about your brand, your products and services.

You need a designated copywriter to create content copy. Once you have the copy, start putting out organic content. You will need to determine what social media platforms to post on, whether you want more videos, more photos or more text-heavy content.

2. Paid Traffic

Once you have your organic content out there generating awareness, you can take it a step further and invest money into advertising.

The main channels you should focus on for paid traffic are Facebook and Google. Unlike organic content, once you set your budget, you are guaranteed to have your content viewed by your target audience.

3. Search Marketing

When it comes to search marketing, your primary goal is to get clicks to the site. In order to get to the top of Google searches, you have to build authority with Google and potential customers.

SEO plays a big role in building our brand awareness. Without high rankings on Google, no one will be able to find your content. Make your website crawlable by Google robots. Technical errors can lead to the confusion of the robots, in return reducing your search ranking.

4. Brand Management

Maintain a consistent and cohesive look to make your brand recognizable. In order to do this, always refer back to your brand style guide when creating content.

Remember, brand awareness is the first step in creating a loyal customer base, so you want to focus a lot of your time and money here. Come up with marketing strategies to support this and don’t move past this step until you have reached your goals.

Brand awareness can be a hard aspect of marketing to tackle and can get overwhelming at times. Contact us and let us help you build your brand awareness.

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A Beginner’s Guide to Facebook Pixel

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Starting the journey in online advertising can be scary. There are many things you need to set up before you can run ads. If you have done any research on Facebook ads, you’ve probably read the words “Facebook Pixel” somewhere. So today we’re here to give you all the information you need on what it is, how it works and most importantly, how to set it up!

What is the Facebook Pixel?

The Facebook Pixel is a little piece of code that you insert into your website. It collects data that enables you to measure conversions from Facebook advertising, optimize your campaigns, create targeted audiences for future ads, and retarget to individuals who have already engaged with your website. The pixel tracks and records multiple actions a person takes on a website, such as a purchase or adding a product to a wish list or cart. On Facebook, these acts are referred to as “events.”

How Does it Work?

The pixel sets a cookie on the user’s browser, records their online activity, and allows you to “follow them around” with customized advertising. Facebook provides JavaScript code that you may include on your website. The code then connects with Facebook to track, optimize, and grow your campaigns’ audiences. Once you have advertised to previous site visitors, you can also employ pixels to track their activity on your site. 

By installing and activating cookies, the Facebook Pixel records users’ interactions with your brand on and off Facebook and Instagram. As an example, suppose you visited the Curve Communications website and began browsing our services. You discovered one that is the exact thing your business needs but were forced to leave without contacting us, and you promptly forgot about it. Now, the next time you browse the web, you’ll see that our advertisements are directed towards you. This serves as a reminder that you visited the site and encourages you to pick up where you left off.

According to a well-known study conducted by Retargeter.com, just 2% of online traffic converts on the first visit to most websites. Retargeting is a technique that enables businesses to target the other 98% of consumers who do not convert immediately. Therefore, if you haven’t already configured the pixel for your website, keep reading for a step-by-step guide on how to configure your very own Facebook Pixel code for retargeting.

Why Should You Install a Pixel?

When pixels are used in conjunction with Facebook, businesses get an essential tool for retargeting and nurturing prospects. The insight you gain from the pixels allows you to:

  •       Calculate cross-device conversion rates;
  •       Optimize distribution to those most likely to act;
  •       Create audiences for retargeting website visitors automatically;
  •       Create “Custom Audiences” for visitors to your website who perform specific actions;
  •       Gain insights into your audience (get informative stats about the people who visit your site);
  •       Create “Lookalike Audiences” to identify other individuals who are similar to your most significant customers.

How to Install a Facebook Pixel

Now that you’re familiar with its purpose, the next step is to install the Facebook Pixel on your website. Just follow the steps below!

  1. Establish a Facebook Pixel

The first step is to create your pixel. You’ll need to access your Ads Manager on Facebook and go to the Events Manager tab, navigate to Connect a Data Source and select Web. Then pick Facebook Pixel and click Connect. Input the information asked.

  1. Add the Facebook Pixel to your website

The Facebook Pixel can be integrated in three ways:

  • Manually

Once you’re done with step 1, select Install Code Manually and copy the base code. To install it on every page of your website at once, simply add it to the bottom of the website’s global header section, between <head> and </head>. Then click Save Changes.

  • Using a Partner Integration

In the Events Manager, select the pixel you created in step 1 and click Use a Partner. Select the partner and follow the instructions.

  • Hand it Over to a Developer

If a web developer maintains your website, you can easily email them the instructions and the Facebook Pixel code. After setting up the code according to step 1, select Email Instructions and enter the developer’s email address. 

  1. Set up Events

Now you just need to add the events you want to track using Facebook’s Setup Tool. Click Open Event Setup Tool and follow the instructions.

After adding the code, use the Facebook Pixel Helper to verify that it is functioning correctly. Additionally, Facebook Pixel Helper notifies you of problems, allowing you to retry the installation procedures to verify everything is operating the way it should. If the Pixel Helper displays no problems, you may begin seeing real-time event and conversion statistics for your Facebook marketing campaigns.

Not as complicated as it seems, right? But if, even after reading this blog, you still find it overwhelming, contact us and we’ll be happy to assist you with your advertising!

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Seven Foolproof Tips for Getting Your Content Through Reviews and Approvals FASTER

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Blood, sweat and tears are shed through the planning and execution phases of content marketing. Sometimes it feels like you’re scaling mountains, slaying dragons, and jumping through hoops to check off tasks, coordinate the workload and hit milestones. Everything should be going according to plan. The summit is in sight. But before you are crowned victorious and can celebrate, you find your artfully created content sitting for what feels like an eternity in your client’s review and approval pile.

Now the goals and deadlines that were scheduled suddenly have to be rescheduled. While you monitor and nudge the approval process along, the project that should already be completed just sits there, occupying precious real estate in your mind. It’s tough to see your efforts sitting idle while your content collects dust. 

Here at Curve Communications, we understand it can be disheartening to wait in limbo, so we have amassed seven foolproof tips for getting your content through reviews and approvals FASTER. Read along to streamline your process and reach the summit.

1. Adapt to your various clients’ internal workflow

Your clients’ processes and workflow can vary depending on the teams involved and their chosen work tools. Do they use Google Docs or Asana? Wrike or Microsoft Teams?

Whatever their workflow may be, you need to adapt to it, like a chameleon camouflaging to its surroundings. If you and your team adapt to your client’s processes, then you can ensure you are all on the same page. 

Here are a few questions to ask your client during your project onboarding process to set yourself up to succeed:

  1. What is your current approval process?
  2. Do you use any project management software?
  3. What organizational tools do you use?
  4. Who are the stakeholders involved?

Only by asking, will you find out what is needed for success. You may uncover a steep mountain to climb or a clear road ahead.

2. Draft a template

With your client’s workflow in mind, you can draft an internal template curated to their specific needs. This structure will identify potential bottlenecks and help streamline the process.

Here at Curve Communications, we use Asana to create templates that ensure the team marches along towards approval.

Our typical review and approval template usually looks something like this:

  • Notify clients: Get in touch with reviewers and approvers to let them know when they should be expecting your content.
  • Coordinate internally: Divide work among your team members based on individual strengths. Once everything is proofed you can move to the next step.
  • Round one – reviews: Deal out the first version of your content to your client. Keep in mind they will most likely have comments about it. Give them a heads-up about the asset’s goal and its deadline. 
  • Round one – proofs: Based on your client’s feedback, update the content while improving on it. 
  • Round two – reviews: With your new and improved version complete, send it for reviews. 
  • Round two – proofs: Draft a final version based on round two comments (if any).
  • Distribution: Send and give access to the final version of the content created to the relevant stakeholders.

Launch: Assets are live! You and all parties involved can give each other pats on the back. Go out for drinks or treat yourself to your favourite burger joint.

3. Acquaint yourself with your client’s brand guidelines

Before you strap up your boots and start the climb towards approval, you must first get to know your client’s brand as an old friend.

During the onboarding phase, ask your client for materials that define their brand. This guideline or playbook will set guardrails within which your team will base its efforts. The materials they send over should answer the following questions:

How do they want to convey their brand’s tone and language? What is it that sets them apart from the competition? Which colours and feelings do they want the created assets to evoke? Finally, why does your client do what they do? 

With the answers to all these questions, you can be sure that you are creating content that best represents the essence of your client’s brand.

4. Familiarize yourself with the approval team

To avoid potential bottlenecks, try to get to know the approval team who will have the fate of your content in their hands. Get to know:

Which departments are involved? 
Who does what?
What are their strengths?
Who are the key decision makers?
Who are the influencers? (The person or people who will help move the content along.)

It is as easy as emailing your client with these questions, and introducing yourself to the people involved. Get to know them as they get to know you. Be friendly towards them and be ready to help when needed. Like the saying goes, You win more flies with honey.

If you know your client’s approval and organizational structure, you will have a much easier time with your content and can avoid missing a deadline.

5. Identify your “man on the inside”

Acquainting yourself with the team has the added benefit of establishing or identifying your point person, influencer, “man/woman on the inside.” This person is usually the one who hired you to develop the content, or the one who is most responsive. They care and understand the deadlines and will help you push the approval process along.

Befriend this responsive person and keep things jovial, so that when the need arises (if the process has stalled, for example), this person can go to bat for you. They can talk in person, send internal notifications, text, or call up whoever it is that has the created materials on their approval pile. Your content will either get pushed forward or the person will come back with some information as to why it isn’t moving along.

6. Authenticate yourself with an outstanding first impression

They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but first impressions play a key role that sets the tone between you and your client. One mistake during the beginning phases can cause approvers to be biased against you. Maybe they thought you didn’t quite grasp their target audience or industry, or that you didn’t capture the essence of their brand, or perhaps that you simply conveyed the wrong message. Whatever the reason, once approvers lose faith in you, the content you bring forth is not a priority for them.

Spend some time researching your client’s brand, their team, the materials provided during onboarding, and past content they may have created prior to your arrival, so that you can write from their point of view. Aim for your first draft to be your final draft.

Be flexible so that you not only make a great first impression but also a stellar lasting impression.

7. Relate unapproved assets to missed opportunities and extravagance

Content is not like wine. It just doesn’t age well. Instead, it loses relevance and wastes time and money for both you and your client. You could be on a retainer, so the unapproved work means they are paying for nothing. Perhaps your thoughtfully created Labour Day post sat idle and you missed the holiday. No one likes feeling like their efforts are going to waste; and even worse, no one likes wasting money.

To guarantee your client understands where you are coming from, communicate your desire to help them get their money’s worth. They will know you have their best interests at heart, and will thank you for it when a swarm of leads come through the door from the content you developed.

With these seven tips added as tools to your arsenal, you can scale the tremorous peaks of review and approval, finally reach the summit, plant your flag and bring forth something you can all be proud of.

Interested in more content creation and project management tips? Follow us on social media and read our blogs for more insights about the digital marketing world. Click here to schedule a chat with us!

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Tips to Enhance Your TikTok Marketing Strategy

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TikTok is still majorly underestimated when it comes to advertising and brand strategy, and a lot of companies don’t feel they have a place on this platform. However, TikTok’s user base has grown exponentially since 2019, and now, more than ever is the time to take advantage of the app.

When it comes to TikTok advertising, you can’t approach it the way you do with Facebook or Instagram, where influencer marketing and the push for paid advertising have blurred the line between personal users and advertisers. In fact, in many ways, this has pushed many “regular” users off of those platforms; they are switching to TikTok, which means there is a massive opportunity for advertisers to jump in and experiment with content and storytelling. 

This article will cover why TikTok is such a big deal, who the target audience is, and how to strategically market to them on Tiktok using the right methods. So, let’s get started!

Recognize the importance of TikTok as a marketing channel

TikTok’s main appeal is that your feed is “For You.” The TikTok algorithm ensures that you experience completely different and unique content that is curated just for you and what you like. However this can make targeting ads difficult: while the audiences on Facebook and Instagram are easy to find, TikTok exposure relies on sensation, whim, personality, and trends. 

As a business, your key to navigating TikTok is to keep up with trends and find a way to implement your brand’s voice into them, while still maintaining an organic and “authentic” personality. TikTok’s video formatting allows businesses and creators to get creative with their content, and it has created a more intimate platform for businesses/celebrities/leads to connect with their audience.

For example, Lionsgate Films (@lionsgate) has taken advantage of TikTok’s Gen-Z user base, employing TikTok trends and creating “meme”-worthy content about their newest releases. They also use witty and random humour poking fun at older franchises, such as “Twilight,” which evokes nostalgia in older users and creates new fans in younger users. The result is a massive audience of diverse users who consistently engage with the brand’s content and look forward to seeing new posts, and thus look forward to seeing new releases produced by Lionsgate. 

An older example of this method of advertising is the popularity of the sassy Wendy’s Twitter “roasts.” This brought on the trend of creating advertising that wasn’t just plain and boring copy, and instead, focused on creating a brand voice or character that feels authentic and entertaining. 

So, now that we know what makes TikTok stand out, here are some tips I recommend for enhancing your strategy.

Define Your Target Audience

Start by defining who your target audience is. Yes, TikTok may be known as the “young people” social media app, but so was Facebook at the beginning, as well as Instagram. Don’t take the app for granted when people of every walk of life are signing up now. 

To find a target audience, start by looking at the content and creators similar to your business, see what posts have the most engagement (and the least), and most importantly, read the comments. What are people asking for? Are they asking lots of questions? Can you answer those questions or provide a solution? That is how you find your audience: by looking at the content they’re already watching and finding a gap where you can fit in. 

Engagement on TikTok is about “human to human” interactions. Provide your target audience with valuable content, and TikTok will continue to push you to the right people.

Quality over Quantity

The number ONE most important thing to remember about creating TikTok content for your brand is that QUALITY is always more important than QUANTITY. That does not mean, however, that you need a fancy camera or lighting setup. It means that your content should provide value to your audience and to the people who are experiencing your content for the first time (even if that content is just providing a good laugh). This is because the TikTok algorithm tests content with small audiences first, and if your content doesn’t grab the attention of a small few first, then it will not succeed at all. 

For example, if you’re a plumber, you could take advantage of showing before and after transformations (very popular on TikTok), give basic tips and tricks to younger users who may be moving into their first apartment, or even create content on what to look for in a good plumbing service! A great example of a Plumber/”Handy-maam” that found her brand voice, is the extremely popular @mercurystardust, who created a channel that is both a humorous place for her to tell her brand story, but also a comfortable and open space for people to ask for advice not only on household maintenance, but on life in general too. 

It’s not so much about what you’re selling, it’s about telling a good story. So be consistent with your posts, engage with your audience, and help your audience find a solution to their needs with your content.

It’s Not About Followers

Lastly, don’t invest all your energy worrying about your followers or the perfect hashtag. These things don’t matter as much on TikTok. 

A TikTok account with 10,000 followers and one with five followers both stand the same chance of gaining millions of views if their content is deemed interesting to an audience. Once again it’s about providing value and quality content, or to put it simply, to be featured on the “For You” page. 

As for hashtags, make sure you use hashtags that are relevant to your brand or post. You can also follow trending hashtags and use them on your posts to boost the chance of your video being featured on the “For You” page. However, TikTok captions are very limited in characters, so I recommend using max 4-5 hashtags on each post. 

So don’t stress about followers. If your content is delivering value, the followers will come.

Explore and Be Willing to Experiment

So now that you know some of the best ways to elevate your TikTok campaigns, you should be ready to start posting. However, if you’re still unsure of the best content for your brand, the only way you are going to learn what works is by diving in head first and doing your research. 

Start by getting familiar with the app, use the search features and find other brands and people who are creating similar content like yours. Save trending songs and sounds for later, to help create fun and relevant content, or test out the video editing tool to add engaging captions and pop-ups for informational videos. As well, use the duetting feature to react/speak to people who may be having a problem that you have the solution for. Finally, answering comments in video format is an amazing way to create lots of content once you’ve gained a small following.

At the end of the day, look at what works and doesn’t work, apply it to what you think is achievable with your brand, and enjoy the process. Yes, TikTok is a video platform first and foremost, but it’s also an explosively popular social media app. It stands to reason that if you plan on running a successful social media campaign for your business — TikTok should be part of your strategy. 

Get in contact with us so we can help you build a TikTok strategy.

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5 Ways To Make Your Content Stand Out

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Digital Marketing Agency

Content marketing is a great way to entertain, inform and build a relationship with your audience. So rather than making it dull and overwhelmingly informational, make it interesting, fun and playful, while driving your most important information forward.

You want to spark curiosity in your audience, so that they take the next step and engage with your brand. 

Here are five of our favourite ways to make content stand out. 

1. Set a Brand Tone and Keep It Consistent

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Remember, your content isn’t necessarily unique; it’s your voice that sets you apart. Your voice is the personality that shines through your content. 

The most important things to remember about your voice are consistency and clarity. Every piece of content you put out there should have a consistent tone of voice. Clarity allows you to control how your audience views your brand’s personality. 

A tip for having consistency and clarity throughout your content is to have a style guide, that anyone in your company can refer back to when creating content.

2. Know Your Content Options

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Before starting to produce any content, you need to understand what will be valuable to your specific audience, and what your purpose is for creating this content.

There are a variety of ways to share content:

  • Blog
  • Youtube channels, other video options
  • Podcasts
  • Email newsletter
  • Any other free content

Be sure to include a wide spread of content, while keeping the demographic of your audience in mind. Where does your audience spend most of their time?

3. Have a Detailed Strategy

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What is your goal with each piece of content? Some important questions to ask yourself are: What are you doing, how are you doing it, who are you doing it for, and when are you doing it? 

If you have multiple teams focusing on different aspects of digital marketing, have a content strategy that is applicable across all marketing teams. The last thing you want, for example, is to create a blog, and not have the proper SEO for it.

If all of this sounds too complicated, we can help you get started! Contact us, so we can set you on the right path.

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Quick Guide: Designing Facebook Ads

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Facebook ads are a great way to attract new customers to your business and stay fresh in the minds of people who already know your brand. But in a time where everyone is fighting for customers’ attention, you need to make sure your ad creative will make them stop scrolling and pay attention to what you have to say. 

In a previous blog post, we talked about how Canva can be your ally when it comes to creating an ad. It is a tool we use a lot here at Curve, since you can choose to either design from scratch or take advantage of their templates–the latter option of course being an even easier and faster path towards great-looking ad creative. But even if you choose the template route, there are a few tips and tricks you should keep in mind when it comes to designing Facebook ads:

Before reading any further, remember that the purpose of your ad is to make people stop scrolling through their feed, so you need to create an image or video that will stand out!

1. Consider the basics first

  • Like we mentioned here, if you’re adding text to your design, make sure it doesn’t exceed 20% of the image;
  • Before choosing the colours, images and fonts, consider your brand identity. Being consistent with your colours and style helps customers recognize you more easily.

2. Choose the right format

  • Single image: the most basic (which doesn’t mean boring!) and easiest-to-create option. Go with a square design of 1200×1200 pixels.
  • Video: best option for when you want to tell a history or give a demo of a product or service.
  • Carousel: perfect for showcasing multiple products! You can have up to 10 images or videos and each image can have its own link.

3. Find an image

  • If you don’t have or don’t want to use one of your photos, you can use stock images. We’ve created a list of the best websites out there to source great pictures and graphics for free!
  • Only use high quality photos! A 1200×1200 pixels image is perfect for Facebook.

4. Pick your colour scheme

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  • Take a few minutes to read about the psychology of colours. Knowing what the different colours represent is important so you can match your design to the message you want to send.
  • Because your goal is to catch people’s attention, choose bright colours with high contrast!
  • Stay away from shades of blue – blue is Facebook’s colour and using it will make your ad blend in. If your brand identity happens to be blue, choose complementary colours, like oranges and yellows. Use a colour wheel to help you.

5. Play with text

  • Readability comes first! Stay away from cursive or ornate fonts – you have seconds to catch someone’s attention and you don’t want to make it difficult for them to read.
  • If your image has a lot of detail and the text doesn’t stand out, use elements to create a background; it doesn’t have to be a solid block of colour– just play with the transparency!

6. Use templates

  • As mentioned before, you can use Canva templates to create single images, carousels and even some animation.
  • If you’re creating a video, try out some of the Vimeo templates!

Pro-tip: Always create more than one design. Simply change the images and the placement of your elements. Sometimes the image you loved is not going to appeal to your prospects as much as you would’ve imagined. So set up two or three variations and let Facebook deliver the most successful one.

If you want to learn more about the other components of an ad, we have some extra resources for you! Check out this blog to read about ad copy and targeting, and this blog if you want help with your copywriting.

And if all of this seems overwhelming, get in touch and let our experts advertise your brand for you!

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5 Ideas for Successful Restaurant PR

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Restaurants have had a particularly rough time during COVID, and many of them sadly won’t come out the other side. For those who remain, and for those who have managed to open during the last 18 months, getting diners to support them is key to survival.

Letting people know about your restaurant, and then getting them to come and try your food, and then turning them into repeat customers who will spread the word, is vital.

Restaurant PR can be hard to secure, but there are several ways to get your restaurant noticed and to gain a following that will hopefully be key to long-term success.

1. Do your research

Look at local news sites to find the name of their resident food blogger, or even better the food editor. These people spend most evenings eating out at new establishments, so if you want to get a mention on their all-important pages, reach out to them and invite them for a (free) meal, or even better, for them to experience everything on the menu in tasting form. Invite them AND a plus one, because you’ve got a better chance of them turning up. 

If they accept, make sure you prearrange a day and time for them to come, so you can make sure your front of house and kitchen staff are fully prepared. Ensure you are on hand to greet them (look them up online to see what they look like, although sometimes they go incognito and you can’t find a photo!) and walk them through the menu as you bring dishes to the table. I’ve heard of cases where influential food writers showed up, and were left to fend for themselves AND foot the bill. 

Those reviews weren’t glowing. Some writers may insist on paying, so let them if they want to, as they might not want to be “influenced” by the owner. 

2. Be unique

Come up with something for your menu that no one else is doing. Think along the lines of the $100 burger, or the steak that’s wrapped in gold leaf. Those might not be your style, but the point is, a unique menu item has a better chance of getting you some media coverage. Once you’ve created it, let everyone know about it!

3. Arrange a kitchen tour

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Some food writers like to see behind the scenes, s invite a few of them (they mostly know each other) to come to the restaurant for a full tour of the kitchen, followed by a selection of items to enjoy from the menu. Having people along in a group rather than one on one can reduce the cost of individual free meals, but you need to make it special in order to entice them. Provide transportation and maybe a gift box or a welcome cocktail, and set aside time to talk to them before service so that the kitchen isn’t slammed, but where staff can make food just for them.

4. Give them what they want

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If you serve breakfast, why not make some breakfast items and have them delivered to the local TV and radio stations, as well as the local online news outlet once they start the day? You’re a late night establishment? Deliver something to those media folks who are still at work to get them through the end of their shift. If you want a shout-out during coverage of an event, send your team to deliver food to people who are covering that event – sports commentators, breaking news reporters (only when it’s good news happening!), election night teams etc. These people are usually hungry, always grateful, and will generally give a generous plug for your business if you feed them!

5. Passing it on, and sharing your knowledge

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While the way to go used to be getting on TV shows to do a cooking segment (and that’s still a GREAT thing to pitch if you can), there are fewer stations doing that now, and even where they exist, often the facilities are not as conducive to live cooking as they used to be (thanks to smaller budgets and not as many maintenance folks around to look after the equipment). Organize a public cooking demo where people come to you to watch as an audience. Get involved in community events where you are making and donating food – it’s a great exercise in letting people know about the values you have as a business. Create your own cooking videos where you share recipes and cook things up, sharing your knowledge and teaching people how to make it themselves. 

This provides great online content for your social media channels and you can even send those links to local influencers for inclusion on their blogs. You can then become the go-to person for cooking-related stories when they need a spokesperson!

Interested in more PR tips? Follow us on social media and read our blogs for more insights about the digital marketing world. Click here to schedule a chat with us!

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Seven No-nonsense Tips to (Best) Structure your Workflow in Asana

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Want to make the most out of Asana’s best features to structure your workflow and ensure optimal productivity? Asana is a highly customizable and powerful workplace content management system (CMS). It is built for organizations of all sizes and there are a variety of ways to tailor it for you and your team. Asana is built to streamline projects connecting your individual workflow to the broader organizational objectives. 

 

Asana is user-friendly and anyone can use its basic features without any training. But if you want to gain a competitive edge from this tool, you will need to stop just employing it as a simple to-do list. When you begin using Asana’s various features to structure your workflow (the right way 😉), you will see an increase in productivity. These seven no-nonsense tips to structure your workflow in Asana will help you get started.

1. Declutter “My Tasks”

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“My Tasks” is your home–the hub to use as your starting point for your work day. It’s a place to discover what is coming up and what you need to work on, but you can use it for much more than just a to-do list. 

At the beginning of your day, organize your assigned tasks using the filters on the top right hand corner and prioritizing them amongst sections as “To-do,” “Doing,” or “Done.” This feature comes in handy for staying on track and laser-focused on what’s important. For example, you can hide the “To-do” tasks while concentrating on “Doing” tasks to focus on priorities. Moving completed tasks to “Done” lets you see your completed tasks in one spot, and gives you a sense of what you’ve accomplished. “Done” comes in handy as a quick progress report too!

At the beginning of my work day, my personal filters are set to “Sort by due date” and “Show incomplete,” which ensures my tasks are organized into each priority level section. 

2. Streamline “My Tasks” with automations

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If taking a few minutes each morning to organize “My Tasks” seems daunting and time consuming, worry not. By adding a few rules (automations) to Asana, it will organize your tasks for you. 

To add these Automations:

  1. Click “Customize” in the toolbar
  2. Click “Add Rule”

In the add a rule menu you can create 3 rules to streamline your daily tasks:

  • When the due date is approaching (3 days before) → Move task to “To-do.”
  • When the due date is approaching (due today) → Move task to “Doing.”
  • When the task is marked complete → Move the task to “Done.”

 

Pro-tip: You will know the rule has been deployed when you see a lighting bolt⚡️ beside the section that has a rule.

3. Create tasks (the right way!!)

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So now you know the optimal way to organize your assigned tasks but what if you need to create new ones?

From “My Tasks” you can create new tasks that will automatically be assigned privately to you. Add them to projects to make them visible to the rest of the team. To ensure your newly-created tasks are structured correctly, follow these steps before clicking “Create Task.” 

  1. Add a task name that explains what it’s about in simple terms.
  2. Write a detailed description explaining the task’s specifications.
  3. Assign the task to the team member in charge of it. They will be its lead.
  4. Next to the assignee option you can add the task to a “Project” and choose the appropriate “Section” for it.
  5. Choose the task’s priority level: “Low, Med or High.” (Your team will thank you for the clarity.)
  6. Add a due date. You can further set the task and its due date to repeat daily, weekly, monthly or for a specified range.
  7. Before clicking “Create Task,” edit collaborators, looping in all that need to be added. They will all get notifications when any changes are made to the task.
  8. Finally, click “Create Task.”

You can further click on your newly-created task for more options. My personal favourite is “Subtasks.”

9. Add subtasks to break down work into smaller steps, each of which can be assigned to a different person.

 

Pro-tip: Add a date range to tasks to set a specific start and due date. This will help you pace the work and plan ahead, ensuring everyone involved has enough time to complete their work.

4. Store the same task across multiple projects (multi-home)

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Asana has a key feature when creating tasks that deserves its own section. One of its most underused features is the ability to have one task appear across multiple projects, or “multi-home.” 

Sometimes a task isn’t confined to one project, such as this blog post which is being tracked in the communal “Curve Blog Challenge” project, as well as in my private “Blog Writing Workflow” project. Rather than wasting time duplicating the task and stressing over which project it should go in, I just assign it to both. Now, updates are tracked in one spot, but other teammates involved can visualize the task in the project that makes most sense to them. With that, I can easily check off subtasks from within the “Blog Writing” project while my project manager can scan the “Curve Blog Challenge” project tasks to make sure we are all on track. 

Adding tasks across multiple (multi-home) projects helps the curve team keep work connected.

5. Create private projects to brainstorm ideas

Projects create a succinct process of tasks to achieve a specific goal or initiative. Sometimes when I’m mapping out an initiative, it’s best to do so in a private project that I can use as a rough draft. Once I’ve fine-tuned it then I can make the project public and begin collaborating with my team. 

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Pro-tip: To help you better visualize the project you can choose to view it as a list, board, calendar or timeline.

6. Speed up and document your process with custom templates

You have spent all this time polishing your tasks and creating a project with a precise process, but now maintaining and replicating the process across the board can be laborious. Asana has the solution for that too. Simply go to the finely-tuned project you want to replicate and click the drop-down menu next to the project’s name, then click “convert to a template.” Voila! Creating custom templates is the easiest way to document your process to be used time and time again by you and your team. Anyone can benefit from the fruits of your labour by creating new projects from your refined templates. 

Now your team has a tried and true roadmap so they can know they’re following the right procedures to execute the goal successfully.

Pro-tip: Any repeating process can be turned into a template. A great use for this feature is new employee onboardings.

7. Take advantage of keyboard shortcuts

To streamline your Asana organizational process and work more efficiently, use keyboard shortcuts. Use them to shave off a few seconds, all of which can add up if you are not careful. My favourite keyboard shortcuts are shown below. 

Most start with the tab keyboard key.

 

  • Search within Asana: tab + /
  • Quickly add sections to your projects: tab + N
  • Assign the selected tasks to yourself: tab + M
  • Assign the selected task to anyone: tab + A
  • Create a task: tab + Q
  • Quickly delete tasks: tab + delete

Within a task: 

  • Add the task to projects: tab + P
  • Add subtasks: tab + S
  • Add collaborators: tab + F

Keyboard shortcuts help my teammate and me save time keeping us focused and in the zone when working in Asana. 

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Pro-tip: You can find the full cheat sheet of shortcuts by clicking command + / on a Mac and Ctrl + / on Windows.

P.S: For a little surprise try tab + B.

All of these are seven of my favourite tips to best structure my workflow in Asana. Take full advantage of all these amazing features and wow your team with your expertise. When used as part of your day-to-day it will help you stay productive, organized and on track. 

 
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Interested in more marketing tips? Follow us on social media and read our blogs for more insights about the digital marketing world. Click here to schedule a no-strings-attached chat with us!