01/10/2021

What is a landing page?

Have you been hearing “Landing pages are great” or “You should be using landing pages”? If you’re not in the digital industry, it's probably a foreign term to you. 

So, what is a landing page? 

A landing page is a standalone web page that a consumer can land on by clicking a link. It is designed to convert visitors into leads. 

It’s common for a landing page to have no navigation bar, it ensures the visitor is not distracted and led elsewhere. Along with no navigation bar, there is typically a form to capture the visitor’s information. 

person at a laptop about to fill in their credit card details online.

How do landing pages work?

  1. A user sees a call to action, clicks it and ends up on a landing page with a form.
  2. The user fills out the form and becomes a lead. 
  3. You receive the information the user filled out and have it in your database.
  4. You can now market to the lead. 

Once they have filled out the form, they should be redirected to a ‘thank you’ page. 

What should be on a landing page? 

Start with a compelling heading to keep your visitor on the page and then a brief description of what is being offered. 

The content on the landing page should be concise and encourage the visitor to fill in their information - identify their problems and mention how you can solve them while benefitting them. 

As well as the informative content, you may opt to have trust building elements like testimonials or professional industry logos. 

It’s important to keep the consistency of the content so that it matches the visitor’s previous source. If the message is not the same, it can confuse the visitor and they’ll most likely hit the back button thinking they’re in the wrong place.

pencil drawing of a landing page plan

Why use a landing page? 

Now you know what a landing page is, these are the reasons why you should use them: 

  • Drive traffic

By having concise, straightforward information you’re enticing visitors to your landing page and encouraging conversions. 

  • Improve SEO

When creating a landing page, using targeted keywords and SEO best practices will help drive organic traffic to your website. 

  • Great as a PPC strategy

The dedicated content will target what your potential customer is looking for and quickly meet their needs, leading to a conversion. 

  • Target your audience

By having content for a specific audience, that touches on their pain points and offers a solution unique to them, they will first find your content more interesting and secondly, they’ll be able to relate more.

  • Generate leads and conversions

Landing pages help to generate qualified leads. You can bet the person who has just clicked through to your landing page and filled in your form is legitimately interested and ready to have a chat. 

  • Direct and to the point

Landing pages are designed to be free from distractions with no navigation bar and a focused message, this increases the chances of conversions. 

Are you interested in landing pages for your business?

At 22Group, we are a team of talented web developers, branding experts and marketing pros. We can help you create a landing page, design it in line with your branding and write captivating copy. 

We’d be happy to help answer any questions or discuss further - get in touch

17/09/2021

Time for a business autumn clean?

The start of September saw the introduction of autumn goods in the shops, children going back to school and people getting back into routines. And, with a change in season coming an autumn clean is just as important as a spring clean. But, we mean a business autumn clean.

Ensure your website, branding and marketing are all up to scratch and look the way you want it to. Keep content up to date, fresh and think about if these three aspects are still aligning with your business goals. 

desk with a computer, pot of pens and a mug

Website

Wondering if your website requires an update? Check if everything is still working, this could be the forms on your website, internal or external links or the customer login section. 

Once you’ve done that, is there now something you think could be added to your website to make it a better experience for your customers? A feature that allows them to do more or perhaps it’s something that has been suggested by your customers. 

Keep this in mind and not only will website updates improve the user experience but they will help with site security and your bounce rate. 

Branding

Right this moment, would you describe your branding as fresh? Does it fit in with the 21st century? 

From the colours used to the typeface, every aspect of your branding will influence how someone perceives your company.

Rebranding or a brand refresh can make you more relevant and can even help you reach and engage with a new audience. If you’re trying to tap into a new market or target audience, check if your branding is applicable to them as well as your current audience. 

Marketing

Are you following trends and managing to keep up with marketing tasks? 

Ensure your marketing goals still align with your overall business goals. It’s good to take a step back and look at the wider picture to see if you’re on track. 

Also, if you’ve been trying a marketing method for a while and it’s not getting you anywhere or getting you the leads you expected, take time to evaluate and try something different. 

When you update your marketing it will not only become more effective but it will also save you costs. It’s time to make wise marketing decisions. 

billboard with different colourful words

How can 22Group help? 

We’re proud to say we can offer many of your digital needs under one roof. Whether you are thinking about refreshing or creating a new website, brand or marketing we’ve got experts to help. 

Want to see what we’ve done before? Our latest case study is on a financial company who came to us for a website refresh, take a look at our work - click here

We’d be more than happy to have a chat about what you’re looking for or answer any questions you have - get in touch

26/08/2021

How to make social media accessible

Is your social media content accessible? 

While social media continues to expand with new features, so do its users. By having inclusive content, that is accessible, you can reach a larger audience. 

Especially with the last year and a half, people have been relying on social media and online platforms to interact and keep in touch with people throughout the many lockdowns. For people who are blind, visually impaired, deaf or hard of hearing, these small, easy changes make a huge difference in their social media experience.

It’s good to take note that smartphones already have some built-in tools to make their device more accessible, including text to speech, enlarging the text and in addition, lots of apps that can do all sorts. 

Tips to make your social media content more accessible: 

  • Image descriptions

Sometimes known as alternative text (alt text), an image description allows a screen reader to describe an image out loud. A lot of content on social media platforms are visual and the image descriptions really allow them to imagine the post.

Tip: keep it short and concise, the key features will help paint a picture.

  • Subtitle videos

Where possible for video content, create subtitles for them. There are many apps which can help do this for you or if you are posting on Facebook, it does have the functionality to automatically create subtitles, however, it may not be 100% accurate.

  • CamelCase hashtags

By capitalising the first word in a hashtag, it makes it easier to read not only for screen readers when they read aloud but also for everyone else. 

#MakeSocialMediaAccessible

  • Emoji usage

If a screen reader is being used they will pick up on the emojis, so if you use a lot in one go it could go something like “Hugging face. Hugging face. Hugging face. Hugging face. Hugging face.”. Now, that’s pretty annoying! 

All of these are simple yet effective ways to make social media more accessible. 

While technology develops, keep an eye out for new accessibility tools being revealed on platforms. 

Need help with your social media? 

At 22Group, we can slot right in where you need help whether that’s creating impactful social media assets or doing the leg work and posting on your platforms. Our flexible, experienced marketing team are happy to listen to your needs and work with you to achieve your goals. 

Ready to have a chat? Get in touch with us today

11/08/2021

National Tell a Joke Day

National Tell a Joke Day is coming up on Monday, 16th of August, so we’ve searched far and wide to find the digital related jokes that made us laugh the most. 

Jokes about websites

  • Grandmothers are like websites
    • They keep telling you to accept their cookies
  • I was placed under arrest for downloading the whole Wikipedia website
    • I told the officer “Wait! I can explain everything!”
  • What is the most common job amongst spiders?
    • Web design
  • How do you comfort a JavaScript bug?
    • You console it

Jokes about branding

  • How do you deliver fonts? 
    • By Courier
  • Things aren’t always #000000 and #FFFFFF
  • Two fonts walk into a bar
    • The bartender says “we don’t serve your type here”. They called the Serif.
  • I’m very font of you because you are just my type.

Jokes about marketing

  • Why are SEO experts always late to work? 
    • They love traffic
  • Why did the marketer get fired as a tap dancer?
    • They wanted to get paid per click
  • Why was the SEO guru upset when she found out she was going to have twins? 
    • Duplicate content
  • I made a joke about organic reach on Facebook
    • … nobody got it
laughing crying emoji on an iphone

Ok, they might not of all had you laughing your socks off but we hope they put a smile on your face! 

Share the laughter and send on some of these jokes.

Great websites, branding and marketing are no joke to us. If you need help in creating or refreshing yours then get in touch with us today.

14/07/2021

Why reviews are important for your business

When was the last time you looked online for reviews before purchasing a product or service?

It was probably quite recently. With the increase of online businesses, the importance of online reviews has never been greater. 

But it doesn’t mean if you are not primarily online, it doesn’t matter. Think about going to a new restaurant, so many of us check on Google what their rating is or what people said about them. 

lady on her iphone

Industries most affected by online reviews are: 

  • eCommerce

Buying online can be a risk. You don’t get to touch and feel a product so is it really like how it is pictured? 

This is when you would turn to online reviews to check if the eCommerce website was legit and that the product lives up to expectations.

  • Restaurants

As previously mentioned, you’re probably going to look up a new restaurant and see what others think to make sure you enjoy your meal. 

With so many places to eat out there, having your customer reviews along with good word of mouth are going to be one of your most important marketing tools.

  • Services

This encompasses a lot of businesses, including beauty salons, estate agents and even web design companies like ourselves. These customer-focused, tailored services often rely on positive reviews.

Customers will often check if there are any negative reviews and the response made by that business. It says a lot about them. 

  • Hotels

Going away to a new place and with the variety of places to stay, travellers want to get their money’s worth and ensure where they stay will be what they expect. After all, it’s going to be their home away from home. 

Negative reviews can really impact consumer decisions. It’s important to monitor any mentions or reviews and respond to show you care and protect your brand. 

It’s never a good idea to just ignore negative reviews, your brand image is on the line. It will say more about your business so you want to come across as professional and respectful. 

From your Facebook reviews to Trustpilot, acknowledging and responding to all reviews are recommended, it’s part of reputation management.

At 22Group, we know the importance of reviews and the impact they can have on your business. We can incorporate it into your website or help you shout about the great reviews as part of your marketing

Ready to get started or want to learn more? Get in touch

01/07/2021

Social media scheduler

Wimbledon is back this year and it got us thinking, is the ball in your court? Social media marketing can be a handful when you’re on several platforms. Keeping up with social media dates as well as trending topics and conversations is constant. Do you use a social media scheduler? 

Planning in advance is a great way to get on top. There are certain dates in the year that don’t change like Christmas and there are also social media calendar dates too like National Siblings Day. 

It’s great if you’re able to get ahead with creating assets or even what the caption for a post will be, but where can you put it to ensure you don’t forget when the time comes? 

That’s where social media schedulers step in. They’re there to make your life easier, help with planning and even execute the posting so if you’re busy elsewhere or don’t have the time on the day, the post is done for you. 

notebook and post-it notes for noting down social media scheduling plans

Why use one? 

  • Manage multiple accounts

Instead of logging in and out of different social media accounts, manage them in one place. Login once and see all your accounts from there. 

  • Save time

As well as logging into one place, if you’re doing the same post across all channels, many will allow you to select those accounts instead of individually posting.

  • Visually see your schedule

If you’ve been planning ahead and already put posts in your schedule, check and visually see all your posts on a calendar or similar format. You’ll be able to see if you already have posts going out that day or see how many are planned to go out that week or month. 

  • More than scheduling

A lot of the social media schedulers go beyond scheduling. To help with engagement or other parts of your digital marketing there can be other tools like a keyword researcher to help with SEO. 

  • Analyse results

Want to find ways to improve your digital marketing? You’ll be able to monitor and see results and after some time you can then see what might need to change or what is working. 

How to choose one? 

There are many social media scheduler platforms out there so you’re probably asking yourself “How do I choose one?”. 

They’re not all the same so there are some questions to ask yourself to help choose: 

  • What is your budget? 
  • Which social media platforms do you use the most?
  • How many people will need access to it? 

Most of the scheduling tools will have a USP and that might be that they specifically tailor more to one platform than another. 

22 group employees discussing social media scheduling

Downsides of schedulers? 

Although they sound great, like most things there are downsides:

  • Instagram 

A popular platform that is very app focused. There is restricted functionality outside of the app for scheduling posts on the grid, IGTVs and Instagram stories. 

Stories have become increasingly popular with many saying they prefer to watch stories than scroll their home feed. Do thoroughly check when a scheduling tool mentions you can schedule Instagram stories because there might be an asterisk mentioning it doesn’t publish it but reminds you to do so. 

  • Number of users

When looking at the pricing plans for different social media scheduling platforms, you most likely just look at their price per month. If you have a few people that need to use the platform, check the number of users allowed. On a lot of plans, they just allow 1 user on the platform at a time and anymore incurs extra charges. 

  • Full functionality

Social media platforms are advanced and constantly changing making them complex. Unfortunately, the scheduling tools might not be able to do absolutely everything you’re looking for. Whether that be posting videos on some platforms or creating Facebook carousel posts.

Most of the scheduling tools offer free trials or demos, we highly recommend making use of these so you can see what it’s like using the platform. 

  • Limitation with the free option

You may be a small business owner or just need a little help. A few of the scheduling tools offer a free option however, it is very limited in what you can do. This could simply be the number of social media accounts you can have on the platform or how many posts you can schedule. 

diary and pencil for writing down social media plan

What can 22Group help with?

If you are struggling with your social media marketing, whether that be keeping on top of it, generating content or creating visuals, we can help!

Our talented and experienced marketing team are passionate and proactive when it comes to social media marketing.

Ready to get started or want to learn more? Get in touch.

03/06/2021

Promote feature on Instagram

With algorithms on Instagram making it increasingly harder to reach your organic audience, have you been thinking about putting money behind your Instagram post? The promote feature on Instagram allows you to do this. 

This can be done directly on the app - along with anything else Instagram related, it is generally easiest done through the app. 

In the past few years, Instagram has seen a big increase in users and the app itself has developed to compete and improve its offerings.

instagram app open on an iphone on a table

How do I create a promotion on Instagram? 

The first thing to check is that your Instagram profile is set up as a business profile. 

Click ‘Promotions’ on your profile and from there you can select a post to promote. Another way to do it is if you have already created the post, there is a button on the bottom right of the image that says ‘Promote’ and when you click on it you’ll see the following steps:

Step 1: Set a goal

What do you want to achieve from your promotion? There are three options to choose from: more profile visits, more website visits or more messages.

Step 2: Define your audience

You have a choice between ‘Automatic’ or ‘Create your own’, an automatic audience means Instagram will target people similar to your followers. If you choose to create your own, you just need to choose locations, interests, age and gender.  

Step 3: Choose your budget and duration

Once you select how much you want to spend and for how long, you can see your estimated reach.

When reviewing your promotion choices at the last stage, you can preview your ad on Feeds, Stories or the Explore page.

Then just click ‘Create Promotion’. 

Pretty simple right? It’s similar to boosting a post on Facebook. On Facebook, you actually get the choice when you boost your post if you want it displayed on Instagram too. 

lady scrolling through instagram on her phone

Is it worth promoting on Instagram? 

If you are looking to improve your reach and brand awareness, then yes, promoting is definitely an option you should be looking at. Promoting on Instagram will help improve your vanity metrics - increase your likes and follower count.

Additionally, promoting on Instagram only takes a few clicks and is easy to use. Compared to creating a Facebook Ad, there are a lot fewer steps to advertising. 

What’s the drawback?

We mentioned there were more steps in creating a Facebook Ad, this is because there are more sophisticated advertising options. 

From selecting your goal to targeting your audience, you can be very specific about it whereas promoting on Instagram is vaguer. In addition, when creating a Facebook Ad you can reach more than one audience at once. If you want to see if your post does better with men or women, this testing can be conducted but not with promoting on Instagram.

hands pointing to a laptop screen evaluation an instagram and facebook ad

If you didn’t know much about promoting on Instagram or didn’t even realise it was possible we hope this has helped you to understand it. 

If you’re interested in advertising on Facebook, read our Facebook Ads vs. Boost blog where we explore the differences, benefits and when to use which one. 

What can 22Group help with?

We have a talented and experienced marketing team who can help you create social media adverts. From creating the assets, writing the content to reporting on how it performed, we’re here to help. 

Ready to get started or want to learn more? Get in touch

28/05/2021

Facebook Ads vs. Boost

Trying to reach more people or promote your Facebook posts? Heard about Facebook Ads and using the boost feature but not sure what the difference is? Or how to choose which one?

Both boosting and creating a Facebook Ad are advertisements since they both require a budget to reach a wider audience.

Let’s bring it back to basics and break them down. We're going to explore the difference, benefits and learn when best to use which one. 

iphone with the facebook app showing 2 notifications

What does it mean to boost? 

To boost on Facebook is putting money behind an organic post. This is the easiest and fastest way to advertise on Facebook. Choose the target audience, the amount of money to put behind the ad and how long you want it to run. 

When you have boosted a post it appears on your audience’s newsfeed as an advert mentioning ‘Sponsored’. Additionally, you can choose to advertise that post on Instagram. 

What is a Facebook Ad? 

A Facebook Ad is created through Ads Manager and has advanced customised options for a user to choose from. 

When creating an ad there are many campaign objectives to choose from. The three main categories are awareness, consideration and conversion. Match your objective to your business goals and target specific audiences.

So, what’s the main difference?

Boosting a Facebook post allows you to improve page likes, comments, shares and overall brand awareness whereas a Facebook Ad allows you to do more, optimise website conversions, shop orders, video views and more.

Benefits of using the boost feature

  • It’s quick - the option to boost is prevalent and you can choose the options of your ad in a few clicks.
  • Easy to use - boosting a post only takes a few steps and all options are completed on one page.
  • Targeting - choose a specific audience or where you would like to target. Pick their interest, age and gender. 

Benefits of using Facebook Ads

  • Choose your ad placement - boosting gives you the option to advertise on Instagram but when creating a Facebook Ad, you can select from multiple different placements including Messenger ads, Instagram stories, Instant articles and more.
  • Specify ad objectives - by defining your ad objective early on you can align it to your business goals.
  • Creative control - when creating an ad there are more features than boosting, you can add specific descriptions and choose how you want your post to be shown.
  • Advanced targeting - with additional options like selecting Lookalike Audiences, you have more options and control over who will see your advertised post. 
facebook ads manager showing results and a graph of an advert

Which one should I use? 

Deciding on what you want to achieve with your advertisement is how you’ll decide which one to use. If you’re looking to maximise visibility and grow your audience then boosting a post is suited but if you’re wanting more control and advanced ad features creating a Facebook Ad is the way to go.

It’s always worth noting that Facebook regularly updates and changes the way they let people advertise on their platform, or even just the layout of creating ads. Keep an eye out!

How 22Group can help you 

Our team is filled with talented people who can help you take care of your Facebook Ads and look after your social media. From creating assets to reporting on how an ad performed, we’re here to help. 


Ready to get started or want to learn more? Get in touch.

29/04/2021

Benefits of email marketing

Some people think email marketing is dying out, but how many times do you check your emails? How many times have you clicked on an email that offered a promotion? Or opened an email because it contained some useful information about new store policies due to COVID-19?

With an abundance of devices at our disposal - smartphones, tablets, laptops - we’re checking our emails daily. 

A major benefit of email marketing is that it’s an incredibly cost-effective method of marketing. It really is still one of the most valuable and powerful marketing tools a company can have. 

bag and man looking at his emails on his iphone

So, what are the benefits of email marketing: 

  • Create targeted content

The content you put in your emails can be very specific and relate to the targeted audience. For example, if you have a promotion for UK Mother’s Day that would not apply to your US customers as their Mother’s Day date is another month.

  • Nurturing leads

Email marketing allows you to build up a relationship and share information with the customers that are sitting on the fence. By keeping in touch with them you’ll hopefully, one day, turn them into your loyal customers.

  • Sharing company news 

Keep your audience up to date through email marketing or share a new marketing campaign to build interest. Do you have new opening times? Or are you going to be sponsoring a charity that means a lot to your business? Let your audience know. 

  • Build your brand

Email marketing allows you to build your brand image as you’re sharing content. While you share relevant and valuable information, trust increases amongst your audience. This trust is so important for turning them from leads to customers.

  • Increase traffic to your website

Lead customers from your email marketing to your website by CTAs, this increases traffic and improves SEO. Maybe you ended up reading this blog because you opened one of our emails!

  • Reaching people at the right time

Your email marketing allows you to reach people at the right time. You’ll be able to learn a lot about your audience through your email marketing, including the optimum time they will open and click on their emails. This is great to know for specific marketing campaigns, like a new product launch.

22 employee drawing our lead nurture journey for email marketing on a whiteboard
  • Provide valuable content 

By providing valuable content to your audience, you’ll keep them coming back. Even those who aren’t actively your customer will see the value and pay attention to you. 

Hopefully, you found the above benefits of email marketing useful and understand why it’s important to utilise it as part of your marketing. 

If you need help or simply don’t have the time, 22Group can help. We’d love to have a chat with you. We’re a Manchester based web design company that also offers branding and marketing all under one roof. 

Get in touch and discuss a project!

15/04/2021

Top brands on social media

Social media doesn't just keep us connected with friends and family, but it also keeps us connected to all walks of businesses and brands. 

The top brands on social media have a powerful impact, authentic engagement from their followers and clearly showcase their brand identity.

Going onto a brand’s social media, whether that’s Instagram, Facebook or the other platforms, has become part of the shopping experience. People look for validation through pictures, posts, videos and even comments from other customers. 

With social media being a necessity for any business these days, getting some strategy inspiration from the brands that are doing it right is always a good place to start. 

Let’s take a look at the top brands on social media

screenshot of GoPro instagram
  • GoPro

Making the world’s most versatile cameras, GoPro not only showcases their products and how great their cameras are, but they also interact a lot with their followers. They use user-generated content to show the quality of their cameras, it acts as a review for potential customers.

screenshot of Nike's twitter
  • Nike 

Nike focuses a lot on people and athletes on their social media channels. They have attracted the audience’s attention by showing the people who make the brand rather than constantly plugging their products. Nike is also very good at jumping on current affairs and sharing their thoughts, from Black Lives Matter to recognising frontline healthcare workers during the pandemic.

Screenshot of Starbuck's Facebook account
  • Starbucks

Starbucks has managed to grab the attention of its audience by using engaging and colourful visual imagery. Another great brand for voicing and creating campaigns around current topics, they create a lot of relevant content and create products in line with trends.

Screenshot of Greggs twitter post with a girl running on a treadmill.
  • Greggs

Greggs is a well-established brand and often uses humour through its social media. Whether retweeting with a witty comment or using a punny one-liner, Greggs has managed to maintain their image and actively engage with their audience.

Screenshot of etsy instagram account
  • Etsy

Selling a variety of handmade and unique items, Etsy uses its social media to display the work by independent, creative designers. The pandemic increased the message to support small businesses and local independent shops, Etsy’s platform allows customers to do exactly this. The visuals and content posted shows off Etsy’s very warm, welcoming and authentic branding.

screenshot of Farrow & Ball Facebook post
  • Farrow & Ball

A brand inspiring people to use eco-friendly water based paint and handcrafted wallpaper, Farrow & Ball have become well-known. They create a lot of content that is useful, inspiring and gives their individual paint colours personality. 

Did having a look at these top brands help inspire some new and unique content for yourself?

Adding value is very important through social media, don’t just push products and promotions. Give them information that is useful and relevant - connect with your audience, relate to them and create relationships. You want to create a lasting impression.

Are you using your social media to showcase and build up your brand image? 

man on phone browsing through a business' instagram


22Group can help if you’re looking for branding, marketing or web design services. Make a splash! Get in touch, we’d love to help.

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