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Take it to the next level ... make it POP!
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Pop goes the corn, cork, gum, weasel ... and graphic design? |
As professional designers, we're used to having our creations critiqued. This doesn't upset us. We look at feedback as part of the creative collaboration with our clients.
Client questions and comments - good or bad - help us to define the path forward, avoid dead ends and take the shortest route to a successful final product.
Much more difficult for us than a critical client is a client whose feedback consists of "I don't like it." Thumbs down on the whole shebang. Period. End of discussion.
Equally difficult is blanket criticism in broad clichés, such as: "Make it more creative," or "Take it to the next level" or the ever-popular "It needs to POP!"
Next time a designer asks: "What do you think?" follow these tips for a more productive conversation.
DON'T be shy. Feedback is not taken personally. The designer wants and needs your honest opinion to refine the design in a way that will please you. Don't struggle for the right words, just spit it out.
DO be specific. Try to figure out which element of the design is missing the mark. Is it the colors? The font? Too much X, not enough Y? A comment like "It's not what I was looking for" is too vague to be helpful. A comment like "The type is too big, the colors are too bright" gives the designer something to work with.
DO express feelings. If you are having trouble with specifics, tell the designer the feeling you get from the design, as well as the feeling you would rather get. For example: "It feels heavy; I want it to feel lighter" or "It feels too serious; I want it to feel more playful."
DO focus on the goal. Before the designer began, he or she probably asked you about your company, the offer, the audience and the goal to be achieved. When giving feedback, explain how the design does or doesn't suit the company, relate to the offer or the audience, or achieve the desired goal. It is better to over explain than not explain enough.
Need help with design for print or web? Call Kim Landry at 484-829-0021 or email [email protected].
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Trust us, no one will call you back if your voicemail includes chewing or slurping sounds. |
Edit what you say
... before you say it
"Yo, Yo, Yo, It's me. What up, yo. Hit me. Peace."
"Jeez. Do you ever answer your phone? This is the third message this week."
"Hello! Congratulations! (Chew, chew.) This is your lucky day. You're our ten million dollar winner!!! Call me back. (Slurp.)"
Do you get mysterious voicemail messages? Half-finished soliloquies from strangers that make you want to scream? Even a polite, well-worded message like:
"This is John Smith. I am calling for Sue Jones. Reach me at 215-555-1234," fails when accompanied by a soundtrack of barking dogs or wailing toddlers.
Though emails and texting are useful, sometimes only a phone call will do. And you need to "edit" your voice messages just as carefully as you would a text or email.
That's because phone calls often go straight into voicemail, and if you aren't prepared you'll be caught off guard and leave a garbled or incomplete message. These mindless messages are not only annoying; they confuse recipients, waste time and make a caller look (and sound) bad.
To avoid this, you need to have a strategy for voicemails. You need to think through your voice message - and edit it in advance.
You vastly improve your odds of getting a callback if you are prepared to leave a succinct message that includes all the reasons for your call. Here are some voicemail tips on getting callbacks:
DO find a quiet spot so that background noise won't drown out your voice.
DON'T punch in the number until you know what you will say if you get voicemail.
DO speak slowly and clearly.
DO spell your name if it is unusual or long.
DON'T put anything in your mouth during the call.
DO leave your phone number twice, at the beginning and the end.
DO state what you need, why you need it and by when.
A good voicemail:
"Hi, this is Judy Norkin from Hollister Creative. My number is 484-829-0021. I'm calling you to get information for an article in the company newsletter. I want to ask you about the successful program you ran earlier this month. To meet the newsletter deadline, I need to speak with you by Friday. Please call me back. Again, this Judy Norkin from Hollister Creative, 484-829-0021."
*
"Weird Al" Yankovic is ... well ... weird. But
these real voice mails
he left for his drummer Bermuda Schwartz will make you remember what NEVER to do.
Need help with writing or editing content for your website, blog, email newsletter or brochure? Call Kim Landry at 484-829-0021 or email [email protected].
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How to land a flying prospect
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She's comin' at ya. Are you ready to guide her in for a smooth landing? |
Your next customer is flying around in cyberspace, searching for products and services that serve her personal and business needs. How do you get her to land on your website and either contact you or give you permission to contact her?
First she has to come across the paid or free content you strategically placed in her flight path. This might include:
- a blog article optimized for the right keyword phrase
- an email newsletter she opens because it is always relevant, entertaining or both
- a boosted social media post with a picture that grabs her attention
- a pay-per-click ad or web page banner ad with an intriguing offer
Because you are thinking strategically, each piece of content you share online has a specific call to action with a link. The call to action might be:
- get a free ebook, whitepaper, how-to guide, estimate, consultation or product sample
- register for a webinar
- enter a contest
- download a coupon
Your flying customer heeds your call to action and clicks the link. "Land ho!" she exults, anticipating a quick descent to the land of instant gratification. Don't disappoint her with a detour to your website's home page! She didn't ask for an introduction to all you offer, she asked to obtain the one specific offer that was in your call to action.
She expects to land on a landing page, a special page you created to quickly reward her with the exact thing she clicked to get, in exchange for her contact information. An effective landing page will:
- have a clean, simple design devoted entirely to a single offer
- repeat the offer headline exactly, with additional details that reinforce the offer's value, plus a phone number, email address or chat option for asking questions
- include the shortest possible form to collect the least amount of information you must have to add this person to your list or make a followup call
- prominently display the button your visitor must click to simultaneously receive the desired thing and submit her contact information
Need help with online lead generation strategy, content writing or landing page design? Email Kim Landry:
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Serving the intended and unintended audiences
Client's Challenge
An adult suspects that a child is a victim of sexual abuse. A call is made that starts a chain reaction of responses. Multiple authorities and agencies get involved in various aspects of the investigation. Each one wants to interview the child. That's how it used to work.
It works a lot better now, thanks to the efforts of the
Delaware County Children's Advocacy Center. DCCAC provides a victim-focused response to allegations of child sexual abuse. Among other things, it ensures that the child is interviewed only one time. All of the authorities and agencies involved work through DCCAC, which coordinates the investigation.
DCCAC is a year-old program of the nonprofit Family Support Line (FSL), which has been advancing the prevention and treatment of child sexual abuse for more than 25 years. While working to launch DCCAC, FSL asked Hollister Creative to design the logo and a trifold brochure introducing the new center.
The next challenge was a DCCAC website. It had to serve the needs of two audiences: the families of child abuse victims and the professionals who serve them, including law enforcement, child protection agencies, prosecutors, mental health and medical professionals, and victim advocates.
Our Solution
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Click the image to view the website of the Delaware County Children's Advocacy Center. |
All agreed that, for branding consistency, the site's design
would match the look and feel of the brochure, and pick up the messaging. So our collaboration with the client focused on deciding the best structure and functionality to serve the client's target audiences as well as its unintended audiences.
While it might seem that the two target audiences would want to know different things, it turned out that their top three questions were the same: What does DCCAC do? How does its process work? What resources are available to help me? So we directed visitors to the answers in the top navigation and in three portals on the homepage.
It was also important to address the biggest questions of three unintended audiences who are likely to find the DCCAC website in an online search: those who want to report suspected child sexual abuse, those seeking treatment for victims and families, and those seeking immediate assistance in a crisis.
DCCAC is not authorized to accept abuse reports, so we put a "How to Report" item on every page. DCCAC doesn't provide treatment, but FSL does, so we put a link to FSL in a "Where to Get Treatment" item on every page. For those who need help immediately, we put a big, red "Get Help" button in the page header and a link in the footer.
Client Comment
"Hollister staff helps us organize our goals and agendas. They worked with us to frame the structure so both the brochure and website would be easy to view and navigate. And, they were fun to work with!"
- Patricia Kosinski, Executive Director, Family Support Line
Three Quick Tips
If you are challenged to create a website for an organization that has multiple audiences, here are three suggestions to help you:
- Identify the audiences you want to serve. The site's main purpose, of course, is to serve the organization's target audiences. Will other audiences be drawn to this site by the nature of its content? If so, do you want to serve them, too?
- Respond to the top questions of each audience. Their questions may or may not be the same. The degree to which they overlap will help you decide whether the entry points on your home page should be labeled by audience or by the questions the audiences have in common.
- Make the navigation painless. If your audience is in pain, it's the least you can do. But truly, every audience appreciates a simple, well organized website that makes it as easy as possible to find the information they came for.
Challenges and Solutions are mini case studies that include tips you may find helpful if you are facing a similar challenge. View more Challenges and Solutions on the Hollister Creative website. If you are facing a marketing challenge, call 484.829.0021 or email Kim Landry. |
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