It’s January again, the holiday spending spree is over for most people, and it’s time for marketers to do some re-evaluation as we start gearing up for the spring. In the midst of the holiday hullabaloo, it can be easy to lose sight of the bigger picture in terms of branding and purposeful marketing. So now is the time to take a deep breath, look at your brand image, and determine where you need to step up your game. If you’re ready to kick off 2014 with a smarter branding strategy, start with these five resolutions:

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Interested in partnering with a creative digital agency? HMG is looking for likeminded, compatible businesses in the Austin area to partner with. For the first time ever, we’re trialing a partnership program to forge relationships with local business that have a similar mindset as HMG.

So what is this partnership program, exactly?

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It seems just like yesterday I was frantically calling the office on my way in for my first day at HMG.  I think I passed the office building about three times before I actually realized that was where I needed to be.  Ha, what a newbie!  After a friendly greeting, these eager beavers put me straight to work, which has been the best part of my internship—there was always plenty of work to be done.  No matter how big or small, there was always something I could be doing and no, it actually didn’t require me to make a coffee run!  There are many more aspects I loved about being an HMG Creative Intern that I’d like to share with you in one of my final blog posts.

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I’m Emily Weeks, our new PR and Social Media intern, and I couldn’t be more excited to kick-start my summer working to schedule instagram posts here at HMG Creative with such a great team. A bit about me—I’m an up-and-coming senior at the University of Texas at Austin (Hook ‘Em!) and will be graduating next May with a B.S. in Public Relations and a certificate in Business Foundations. Although originally an East-Coaster at heart, Austin’s climate and eclectic culture brought me down South. I love taking advantage of everything this city has to offer, including the music scene, hiking and exploring Austin’s amazing restaurants. Last semester I interned at Wellington Group PR, a local PR and Marketing firm in Austin, and prior to that I served as the Public Relations intern at Laura Mannes Design, a small interior design firm. I hope to take skills from my past experiences and expand on them here at HMG Creative. On campus, I am involved in my sorority, Alpha Epsilon Phi, several clubs including the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), and needless to say I love attending football games!

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To say the least, it’s been an exciting couple of weeks here at HMG! On top of rolling out some exciting new changes to our brand, we recently got nominated for Austin Young Chamber’s FAVE Awards. As you can imagine, we’re absolutely thrilled to have been chosen as a finalist—but we need YOUR help to win! The FAVE awards recognize local Austin businesses in a variety of categories and the winner will be announced at an awards ceremony at the Hyatt Regency Austin on October 18th.

We’re nominated under FAVE Professional Services Company and the voting deadline is Friday, September 6th. You can vote in as many or as little categories as you’d like for example cognitive enhancers. We’d sincerely appreciate your vote—thank you in advance. And if you vote, don’t forget to let us know! Send us a shout-out using the hashtag #VoteForHMG on our Twitter @hmgcreative or our Facebook page.

[button size=”large” type=”square” color=”light-blue” icon=”circle-arrow-right” url=”http://www.aycawards.org/vote/”]Remember – Vote Here![/button]

We’re excited to announce that this past Friday, October 18, HMG took home an Austin Young Chamber FAVE Award! The AYC FAVE awards recognize and honor local businesses in sixteen various categories that cater to young professionals in the Austin area. Within the Professional Services Category, we competed with Capitol Factory, 3 Point Partners, De Leon & Washburn P.C. and Kennedy Creative.

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We’ve been operating in the digital marketplace for ten years now, and things have changed a lot in that time. New technologies, new online marketing solutions, and new best practices are always clamoring for attention, and that sometimes makes it difficult to stay on track as a company. For more info visit http://titantransline.com . To think that there was no such thing as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter when we opened our agency. Can you even remember what life was like before these CPA Affiliate Networks forever changed how we engage and communicate with friends, family and brands throughout the world? We’ve also seen the rise and fall of MySpace from the front seat. But some things don’t change. Businesses that succeed in the lightning-paced world of digital marketing do so by staying true to some universal guiding principles. Here are three of the things we’ve learned during our decade-long adventure.

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It looks like the San Francisco 49ers couldn’t quite make it past the Baltimore Ravens in this year’s Super Bowl. In business, we also strive to pull ahead and stand out among leading competitors. Winning customers in a business arena can be a challenge. So, when faced head-on with competition, will your website stack up or are you just throwing a Hail Mary?

1st Down – Branding: Does your website and homepage reflect your product or services and who you are as a company? If the first impression of your website does not resonate with your demographic, you have lost their attention at kickoff. A cohesive brand image and identity is essential to gain credibility among your consumers or clients.

2nd Down – Layout:  Ease of navigation is key to pull readers into your content without overloading them with data and endless text. Think of your layout like a game plan where you want clients to look, click and how they drive into your website will steer them to take action or forfeit the search altogether. Simple, organized layout wins hand over fist against dense copy, dozens of tabs and multiple, competing messages.

3rd Down – Subscribers: Capturing visitors is a must; and integrating email marketing is the first step to turning these new subscribers and leads into loyal customers. Make the call to action simple and provide something immediate of value. Continue educating and send relevant communication for these prospects to stay engaged with you and your company.

Touchdown! Fans:  Done all of the above? Fantastic. Now integrate a blog and social media channels that your business utilizes. Get up close and personal with customers and clients, hear their praise and criticism of your industry and learn to be transparent- love this. Knowing your audience on a personal level will be invaluable, and the insights can leverage your business ahead of the game.

Extra Point – Content Strategy: From the copy on your homepage, to articles on your blog and pictures and questions asked on social media, creating a compelling message and valuable content unites all elements of your brand. Know your voice, where you want to position your business in the industry and your customers’ trust and loyalty will follow.

Need a conversion?
Think you may be lacking in one or more of these areas? No problem. Give us a call or shoot us an email today and we will get you and your website trained and ready for the big game.

Break!

Valentine’s Day has come and gone and The Crew at HMG Creative has put on another successful campaign.  The past couple of weeks have been dedicated to promoting social media interaction, through our Facebook and Twitter channels, in order to generate donations for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. From February 15 to midnight of Valentine’s Day, we were able to:

• Gain 87 new Facebook Fans
• 346 Facebook Shares on St. Jude photos
• 500+ Likes on St. Jude photos
• 41 Retweets on Twitter for St. Jude tweets
• 24 New Twitter Followers

Through these efforts, we were able to bring in $300 to donate to St. Jude and we couldn’t be more proud!  Although we did not reach our goal of $500, this is our very first donations-based initiative and we feel confident that this experience will leave us with the knowledge to create an even stronger campaign for the future. Not only were we able to share our love with children in need but we also created an incentive for those who helped us in the final push of our campaign.  Those who shared the St. Jude photo during the last two days were entered into a drawing to win a $100 Apple Gift Card.  We are thrilled to be giving the prize to Ms. Alayna Boyd, student at The University of Texas at Austin! (Who could be more deserving than a poor college student, right?!)

Despite the fact that the “Share the Love” campaign was able to stretch our social media efforts and gain more awareness for our company, what truly matters is that we were able to do all of this for such a great cause.  It is our hopes that through our donations we will be able to further assist the children of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and that they will be able to enjoy their Valentine’s Days for years to come. We thank everyone for all of your help in making this donation possible!

Think WordPress is just for blogs? Think again! WordPress is a great option for small businesses looking for an easy, professional way to create great designs for their website content. Let’s take a quick look at four easy WordPress design techniques for creating a killer site.

1.     Choose a Theme
The sky is the limit when it comes to WordPress themes, but keep a couple of points in mind:

• Choose a theme that meets your needs—The theme should reflect the personality of your company. It should also include any essential elements you need to present the type of content you have. Spend some time researching available theme options before you just pick one that strikes your fancy.
• Consider your willingness to dabble in the code—If you are familiar with coding and enjoy tweaking things, you can choose a theme you love even if it has a few elements you’re not really happy with. If you’re the type of person who gets nervous just looking at a block of code, stick with a theme that meets your needs as is.

2.     Customize Your Theme
Do a quick Google search and you’ll come up with thousands of widgets and plug-ins for your WordPress site. They’re the best way to customize your theme, incorporating special capabilities such as social media buttons and other common website elements. Just about any WordPress web design goal can be accomplished with the right plug-in or widget, so take some time to familiarize yourself with what’s out there and how to make it work for you.

3.     Include Well-Chosen Images
We’ve all seen those mind-numbing, generic stock photos of people shaking hands or sitting at a computer in an office. Don’t be boring with your images. Choose something that directly supports the message you’re trying to communicate. If you can’t find something already out there, design your own graphic or snap some photos yourself.

4.     Consider a Blog
If your business lends itself to a blog, WordPress offers a great platform for including one on your website. WordPress web design makes blogging easy. Regular updates are the key to a great blog, so don’t commit to one if you’re only going to post every six months.

Like any new platform, WordPress web design takes some experimentation and research to learn. However, it’s also one of the easiest ways to quickly design and format content for a small website. Need more help creating a killer WordPress website? HMG Creative can help you make the most of the latest plug-ins, widgets, and themes to create the website of your dreams.