Our new name, Fig Creative incorporates the old (Fig stands for First Impression Group) but celebrates the new. It’s fresh, modern and represents our team of creative sales and marketing professionals. We will still offer the services you might know us for, print and design, websites and email marketing and our customers can still choose that we provide these services.

But, if you are serious about achieving real results you need regular, targeted marketing activities which is why we are formally launching our Marketing Partner Programme.

It’s having incredible results for some of our clients, one has seen a ten fold increase in business in under a year and another has achieved £1 million pounds in just 6 months. As a Marketing Partner with Fig Creative we deliver all or part of your PR and Marketing requirements, effectively becoming your ‘outsourced’ marketing department.

Our newly refreshed website is now live http://www.figcreative.co.uk/ and take a look at the pages on our Marketing Partner Programme and some of the testimonials of customers already benefiting from this service.

It’s day 10 of our 12 marketing tips. Today is all about internet marketing and some SEO top tips to help you promote your website. If you click on the link here you can still access days 1 to 9 also.

Just 2 more days to go and we will be revealing what is happening at First Impression in the New Year!

• Wider reach- As of August 2011 mobile browsing accounted for 7.84% of UK internet usage. Can you afford to miss out on making the experience an enjoyable one for these visitors?
• Quicker load times – The majority of mobile visitors will be browsing your site over the 3G data network. While this method suffices for small tasks like checking email etc, loading a full website can take a long time. Therefore, serving an optimised and more efficient version of the website will help to reduce load times and potential frustration (waiting for websites on your phone can be a pain), especially if they are on a PAYG data plan.

  Speed test examples for www.christmasattheoldhall.co.uk…
  mobile site = 2.3secs
  desktop site = 5.7secs

• Design/presentation – After spending hours designing and perfecting your website, it can be disappointing when you look at it for the first time in a mobile browser. The trouble is, the built-in browsers on iOS, Android, and modern Blackberry devices can display full desktop sites, but this doesn’t always have the desired effect and your desktop site which looks great on a laptop can look out of place and are often hard to comprehend and navigate. Offering a mobile version of the site optimised for mobile browsers will allow you to incorporate an improved design which is more user-friendly for visitors with a smaller screen size and appropriate navigation.

How we created a mobile version of the Old Hall Hotel’s “Christmas 2011″ website..

We understand how difficult it is to market your businesses effectively, particularly in the current climate. Technologies are changing; there are new channels to consider, your clients want to engage with you in different ways and what used to work for you doesn’t any more. And of course, no one marketing activity is going to transform your business.

We can help.

First Impression is a highly effective creative, design and marketing company based in the High Peak. We have been delivering successful marketing solutions for our clients across the North West since 1996, from designing and printing leaflets and brochures, to building websites and running email marketing campaigns

The change in the economy affected the way our clients did business. Rather than tactical activity – one off jobs, they needed a more strategic approach. That is why we launched our marketing partner programme earlier this year.

What is our marketing partner programme?

As your marketing partner we keep you ahead of the game, saving you time and money by getting your marketing right first time. We know that successful and cost effective marketing is about a mix of targeted activities. Companies using our partner programme range from sole traders to mid size corporates. No matter what stage your business is at, whether you are a start up, a company struggling to survive, an established business planning for growth or even wanting to build the business to sell, we can help you.

For a fixed monthly fee, (which is agreed at the outset, depending on your budget and what you want to achieve), we take on your entire marketing activity. It means you only have one relationship to manage rather than many relationships saving you time and money. It also means we get the opportunity to understand a lot more about your business and can drive the right marketing activities that are going to get results for your company.

We manage everything from your website, to social media, design and print, to PR and events. And it works. We can provide customer testimonials that show our support has turned their businesses around.

Move your business forward today, talk to Martin Duncan about working with
First Impression on 01457 857111

Here are a few tips to help you get more twitter followers.

1) Twitter Follower Exchange

If you were to follow 1000 Twitter users today, how many would you expect to follow you back? – 60%, maybe 40% or it could be as low as 20%. That said, it means if you follow 1000 new people, at least 200 will follow you back –  and if you were to keep this up on a consistent basis you can have thousands of Twitter followers for free!

2) Website referrals

If you have a website, blog or facebook page which is getting traffic, then now might be the time to begin using it as a means of getting more followers on Twitter. Mention to the readers of these sites that they should go and check out your company on Twitter and become a follower. Also, if you haven’t yet added a Facebook or Twitter button to your website, be sure to do so as you may be missing out on a great deal of traffic and possible followers.

3) Be Interactive

Don’t be a “hit and run” tweeter! In other words, don’t just log into Twitter to tell people what you are doing or link to your post and then leave. Respond to tweets, ask questions, and answer questions. Twitter is a conversation, not a monologue, and the more you participate, the more you will get out of it. For example the more people are re-tweeting you or recommending you to their friends, the faster your community will grow.

4) Optimise your twitter profile page to make it more engaging

Your profile page is the first thing new followers will see and it is your main visual presence on the site. It is important that you optimise this page to its full potential.

Two simple ways to optimise your profile page include:

Utilise your Profile “Bio” to your Best Advantage.
Your profile bio gives you a chance to be clever, be witty, or just be yourself! In a few words, sum up who you are and make it sound interesting. A good bio will help to instil trust in potential followers and inspire them to follow you. This is also a great opportunity to point your audience somewhere else, for example, your website.

Create a Custom Profile Page Background

Since the visual impact of your Twitter background is the strongest tool you have available, customize it to really maximise your promotional opportunity here.

You can use your twitter background to give people an insight to what you do. This can be achieved by including a list of your products or services, adding your strapline and even product images. You may also wish to carry on with the branding from your main website to be consistent i.e. logo, colors, fonts etc. You can also use this space to tell people how best to contact you by including your email address, phone numbers and website url.

You can make your own image on your computer and upload it under Settings – Design – Change Background Image. The first 200-250 pixels width on the left hand side is a great place to put additional profile information and list websites.

Here are some examples of great twitter backgrounds, demonstrating the above factors…

Strapline – http://twitter.com/#!/bickov

Services and contact info – http://twitter.com/#!/heartinternet

Branding – http://twitter.com/#!/sitepointdotcom

5) Content is king

Having great quality content will help to keep your followers interested and feel impelled to read your content and engage with you by re-tweeting etc. This can help grow your following as you will start to get people who like what you say and they may have even found you by searching for related terms/hashtags. If you do not have good content, you may get empty followers who are not actually listening to you.

Bradbury & Son have been in the cheese business since 1884, operating from their High Peak headquarters in Buxton. They needed a website that reflected the modern-thinking company they had become, without losing sight of their historic background. They work with major retailers, convenience stores, wholesalers, food manufacturers and suppliers to all types of food service companies, sourcing and delivering the cheese products that they need. Bradbury & Son have also developed an exciting range of their own brands of cheese that fill gaps in the marketplace.

First Impression have written the new content, designed and built the website. Chris Chisnall, Marketing Director at Bradbury & Son said, “We are very pleased with the website First Impression has developed for us. We are continually moving forward here at Bradbury & Son and the new website will enable us to keep it fresh with new products and the latest news. Bradbury & Son is an exciting place to be so watch this space for more to come.”

To visit the new site go to: http://www.bradburyandson.co.uk/

In this issue get our top tips for marketing yourself out of a recession, how to promote your website and some fantastic spring offers on leaflets – half price on our top silk stock so not one to miss.

If you wish to get Communicate every month sign up on our website http://www.firstimpression.co.uk/

Does your website no longer refect the company you are? Or maybe it’s out of date, with a twitter feed or blog that hasn’t been updated for months?

Then you need help!

At the very least a website should be a window for your business. If your dream customer lhappened to look at your website, are you confident that they will be impressed with what they see?

If the answer is no then your website needs a refresh. Get in touch and get it sorted now, because you could be losing business. Ask for a content management system so that you can keep your website updated yourself with new products and new going forward, to keep it fresh. If you will use it, get a blog or twitter account. It’s easy to do.

At First Impression we try to make it easy for you. Give us a call, have a chat about what you would like your website to do for your business on 01457 857111.

More ideas of how to wise up to the web here> http://www.firstimpression.co.uk/resources/wise-up-to-the-web.php?campaignkw=wise-up-to-the-web

The new site stands out from other craft supplies websites, it has a personable feel and look. It’s a site that creates an experience rather than just a transaction. And having just launched the new site she’s delighted to have received her first order!

Visit website > >

So you’ve got a website that you think looks the part, is easy to navigate and gives potential customers all the information they need to know – but do your website visitors feel the same?

By adding Google Analytics to your website you can receive monthly reports on its performance. It is a fantastic tool that can help you identify if your website is working for your business and where it may need work to improve it. And what’s more, the basic analytics application is absolutely free!

An example of Google Analytics Dashboard:

As shown in the image above, the Google Analytics Dashboard provides you with key information about the performance of your website. Here are just a few of the useful stats that the monthly report includes:

Visits – this is the number of people that have landed on your website. If you have carried out a marketing campaign that aims to drive people to your website you can compare the number of visits prior to the campaign with the results after the campaign has finished to find out if it was successful.

Bounce Rate – this is when a visitor leaves your website, the statistics will show which pages of your site have the highest bounce rate. If your statistics show that one of your pages has a particularly high bounce rate it may be worth re-designing or re-thinking that page. If your homepage has a high bounce rate you are in trouble as it is likely that your website is not getting your message across clearly or engaging the user to read on and find out more about your business.

Average time on site – this shows you how much time your visitors spend on your website (on average). Again this can give you a good idea of how engaging the visitor is finding your site and if it is providing them with the information they need.

Map – if your business is international you can see where in the world people have been viewing your website and help you recognise those countries who don’t visit your website. You can then produce a marketing campaign to target those countries and see if this improves your visits from those areas.

Traffic Sources – this shows you where the traffic is coming from you your website, is it from a search engine, direct to your website or via a back link. This information allows you to recognise how people find your website and identify how you can better promote your site.

Google Analytics is free, simply set up an account at http://www.google.com/analytics/ You do however have to put some code onto your website. Your website developer can do this for you. If you would like help. First Impression can set up an account and add the code to your website for just £60 + VAT showing you how to access your account and make use of this fabulous tool.

If you already have analytics and you are finding that your website isn’t performing as well as it should be, contact First Impression on 01457 857111