Prepare to the Fall - Monthly Ticket - September 2024
Hello,
Just like the holiday season or long weekends, the back-to-school period is important in virtual sales.
Several sales opportunities must be prepared, in addition to the annual planning for the following year and the design of all the visuals and the writing of promotions.
This is how I suggest you prepare everything calmly, and in advance, via the September Monthly Ticket. Also featuring:
The SME and startups Marketing Column #itSAMarketingThing: How to plan the annual company publications and posts.
The Website Edition Column Office News: Web techniques for a good Customer Management.
Design Report: The 2025 Media Kit and how to create images in batch. 48 promo designs in 3 hours babe! What’s for dinner?
MusicScore: For this edition of the blackberries theme, while reading this e-mag, I suggest you listen to the country-rock group Blackberry Smoke and the song Hammer And The Nail. Marketers, remember not Hammering Nails tho!
Get the complete list of Project 12 musical topics on the YouTube channel - The Fruit List Score.
The Marketing Blog proposes for the September edition to prepare our Fall and Holiday promotions in advance. So, they finally returned to school hen!
Finally, back to school!
Our world of marketing, communications and media, we always live six to 8 months in advance. During writing these lines, the final touches in the preparation of the content direction of W+M e-Mag have been put in place and the visual for the next year revealed. The 2025 media kit has just been programmed on the website and an article has appeared, like any good season to launch or the announcement of a new tour of shows for sale.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I listen to Christmas music when I create the visuals for the holiday editions in the summer, although sometimes when I reveal a test, I’ll sing It's Time!!!, like Mariah Carey’s song! The Best Xmas song ever.
In another subject, with the back-to-school editorial, let’s remind us, self-employed workers and business start-ups and SMEs, to take care of ourselves, both our bodies and our soul. And, not just for this busy time of year, but all the time!
This was actually my main learning for 2024. Solving a positioning problem in front of a screen affecting my back. I invite you to read this report Working at home - The tyro with small arms, his back straight at the office. Continuing with last July’s edition on working at home, the Tyrano promises you the study of the bureau space for professionals, students and freelancers at home.
You will also discover the visuals of the W+M Office News! A space full of music and a lot of plants at the moment! Are you a marketer who loves plants in the office too? Welcome to the W+M world.
Enjoy reading, see you next month.
Jeff
Presentation of 2025
Back to School Vote! 2025 #MusicScores
Yes! Vote for your favourite music score of every 2025 edition of the Monthly Ticket!
Until the end of September, choose your favourite song for the first quarter!
January - February - March
Yes, there is music in the 2025 Media Kit presentation. We can also vote for the featured song of the month! Votes for the first quarter are already open!
Vote in the Subcription Page!
Marketing Trends - Monthly Ticket - January 2025
Content marketing, now associated with data insights and artificial intelligence, was a major trend in the virtual selling world of 2024. With technological advances evolving hour by hour, what movements will we follow and what announcements will we put on the calendar for next year? The month of January will keep us informed of the situation.
About Pages - Monthly Ticket - February 2025
It’s always interesting to observe the percentage of views of pages telling the story of a company, the team and the relevance. Let’s examine the elements of this web page together.
Facebook Business - Monthly Ticket - March 2025
Whether using paid options, posting according to popular principles or participating in discussion groups, Facebook is a must for businesses. It would be a shame to miss this post dedicated to this service.
Let’s not forget Fall 2024!
Fall for W+M Fall!
The virtual magazine for digital marketing pros promises a colorful, thoughtful and entertaining season. Follow the W+M adventure!
October 24 = Understanding search tools
November 24 = Web analyzes and statistics
December 24 = Blogs and entertainment content
Sign up for Free to read everything!
Music is also taking up more space on W+M
Discover the reports on the musical production of the #demoTaklMusicArt project partially published in the editions of the Monthly Ticket. A presentation from annual partner JM Musique. Read the Music tag reports on the blog:
Creation of branding and image
Last month also saw the publication of the article on web design and serial image design. Discover the steps of creating the brand image of the W+M media kits in this Monthly Ticket e-Mag.
Creating 48 images in 3 hours, not bad!
Project 12 is Revealed (2024 Mix) - The Branding Presentation of the First W+M Virtual Magazine
The process of creating the visuals is very simple for the images of the virtual magazine W+M. It is a main model without color with general slogans on which a background color and a title are added. From this model are shaped the 12 header images of the Monthly. Each with its color and title.
Last fall, the purchase of fruity colored pencils, the pack of 12 fruit-scented felt-tip pens that you find in stores, became the inspiration for the creation of the covers of the W+M e-Mag.
12 pencils teamed up each month to create the basic models on a 1920 x 1080 pixel image. On these 12 fruity colored images, a title, a month, a slogan and an edition in several image dimensions were added.
Liking to give titles to everything, like a music composer, this new branding was named Project 12.
The production of these series of images serves as the main image for each issue.
A second production was carried out to produce the 12 secondary visuals used to illustrate the sales document for each edition. (In editorials, this sale document is commonly called a media kit.)
This is the principle of creating images in sequence. This process is also often used to highlight a product to be launched, an annual promotional campaign that will always have a visual branding signature with the logo, and any campaign of repetitive images. The goal is to produce quickly and this is how visual professionals earn their living.
We prepare a model like pastry chefs follow their recipe and when we have to use it the following year, like the Christmas log, we prepare everything. So, from year to year, the recipe improves, because the pastry chef executes it more and more quickly by developing new techniques learned during the year. After several years, baking a log is done!
The articles on web design give you a lot of tips on creating images, promo and distribution and using inventive visuals for social media, and mass preparation to save time.
Discover everything for your designs with the featured articles:
Monthly Partner Advertising
The chronicle of different and low-cost marketing for startups, businesses and entrepreneurs. It’s a marketing story is told every month in the Monthly Ticket of the Marketing Blog.
Chronicle 9: How to plan the annual company publications and posts.
Preparation for the Year
Blog articles, social media posts, thank you cards and invitations, there are a lot of corporate communications to organize in a year. And of course, all these ads need a visual in several sizes.
As in any good factory, it’s possible to increase our production, in speed and organization, by using the required applications. Therefore, we must list what we need to organize. The goal is to produce the year’s promo and campaigns in a single period of time.
Experience Helps
With many seasons scheduled, we have a good idea of the preparation and communications to produce for the public. It’s my case since 1998. By using appropriate digital tools and listening to some tips in this paper, we will save time, avoiding emergency calls to the graphic designer at the last minute or worse, correcting erroneous publications already sent to the public.
Come on! Welcome to the marketers who are celebrating the camper’s Christmas by designing holiday cards and happy new year greeting visuals in the middle of June! And it’s fun too!
The Annual Schedule That Can Be Prepared in One Minute
To make a list of the material to be produced, it’s necessary to establish the annual publications to do. So when you have an overview, and you know the number of photos required and their format, it’s easier to consolidate your preparations and avoid costs by producing several campaigns at once. Also, the schedule of its publications repeats from year to year and organizing in advance allows you to keep your eyes open for specials.
Here Are Some Ideas For Annual Publications:
Founding and anniversary dates of your company and its members
World days whose subject is related to your products and services
Holiday periods (New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, national holidays, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas, etc.)
The first days of the seasons
Back-to-school periods and school holidays
Important events in your city or neighbourhood (festival, related activities and leisure activities, the opening of a service, the birthday of your partners and staff, etc.).
Partner activities and trade fairs and conferences.
Take Note of the Visuals to Create and Their Dimensions
So I have a list of 10 event dates. These communications require a rectangle image for social media, from which a square version and a vertical rectangle version for Instagram, briefs and reels will be derived. Two of these publications require image preparation for press releases, so plan to prepare photos with logos and credits for these communications*. Here is the list of example formats:
Format of each image for the website and YouTube clip: 1920 × 1080 pixels. (The following images will be extracted from these images, as the image is finished in the dimension tool, therefore saving time in writing.)
Facebook and LinkedIn publication: 1200 × 630 pixels.
Instagram post: 1080 × 1080 pixels.
Story and Reel: 1080 × 1920 pixels (requires a vertical graphic of the background colour).
*Press gallery images: 1920 × 1080, 1200 × 630 and 1080 × 1080 images with the company logo on the visual and credits in the file title.
Of these 10 events, three communications will also be publicized in the media with the purchase of promotional banners. The advertising formats to plan and add to the list are:
The 728 × 90 pixel leaderboard for ads at the top and bottom of the page, and ads inserted in articles.
The Box, or Big Box, is the square image of 500 × 500 pixels that we often see in page side tabs and in member emails.
The Photographer’s Turn
And here we’re with 10 events, and their list of visual dimensions, to dress up with images. This is when the choice of using original images, a photo bank, a personalized design or the service of a graphic designer arises.
Regardless of the option, I believe it’s important to think about being original in the annual visuals. Simple photos, which resemble and respect the dynamics of the company, with branding and a simple slogan will have an impact throughout the year.
I also like to be alert for spontaneous photo shoots. A snapshot from a trip to Quebec could well serve as the backdrop to a message from Good Saint John, for example.
And Finally the Editor
Yes, I always wait until I have created the visuals, or have the official images in hand, before producing the final and corrected version of the communications texts. Too often I have had to start over good texts, corrected and translated, to adjust to a new, newly decided visual, or items that were finally discontinued, for example.
Since writing texts is the most easily malleable part of the work in establishing corporate communications, we only adapt the editorial content of the campaign when possible, which is much less expensive than redoing images or return corrective proofs continuously.
I therefore ideally compose the publication messages, the press releases and dispatches and the accompanying and presentation texts after having seen the final images which will accompany them.
Title of Image files
Finally, from experience, I create nomenclature in establishing file names in advance, so that all visuals are named the same way, helping SEO. A file title must omit accents or special characters. Also leave spaces in case of an apostrophe.
Examples of nomenclature: event(space)month(space)year(space)media.png.
The file name of the image will be: Launch September 2024 instagram.png.
Another file will be: Roman the French writer Oct 24 press release.png.
Of course, when I name files, I always think SEO and keywords. This also facilitates web programming work when disclosing the communication.
Budget: Creation budgets are different depending on the communication to be planned and our knowledge in writing, correction, graphics and publicity. Whether or not you use an external service, the production to be carried out isn’t necessarily counted in monetary expenditure, but in labour. It must be remembered that any communication requires time, whether by a third party or by oneself, which doesn’t directly result in an inflow of money; it’s an investment.
Tip: I always suggest limiting the number of image formats to produce. With the possibility of adapting the layout of websites, for example, why not use the same image size as those produced for social media?
Take the example of the famous image format for publications of the size of 1200 × 630, this photo dimension can also be that of your main table at the start of the article on your blog; such visual production will be shorter, use less space on the server, etc. A new idea with the square image format of 1080 × 1080 for publications on Instagram and which can be easily used in Story and Reel; no need to produce a different 500 × 500 ad for external marketing, but try to use one image template for both publications with only one line of text to change. Another way to save time when producing a design.
Tools: Free applications for creation, design, logos and visuals are very useful. It’s often possible to use the sharing option directly from the software, freeing up time for social planning. The images are transferable in video, Story and Reel format. My favourites: CapCut, Photoshop and Canva.
Consult all the Digital Marketing columns
Office News. The chronicle of the daily digital activities on virtual sales tools published in the Monthly Tickets of the Marketing Blog.
No 9 : The web practice and the customer management
How to Properly Manage Web Customers
Help and tips to promote yourself, or a business, with an effective website, marketing tools and even social media communications. Management adapted to your customers and the reality of the digital world. A method of writing content that serves customers, rather than annoying them or creating problems. The art of providing adequate and current information about your company for your customers.
The Web User, a Difficult Customer Who Only Reads
We all received special offers with links that don’t work, tried to buy tickets in vain on a sales system or even walked in front of a closed business door when the online opening hours default. We all know this feeling of dissatisfaction.
For a marketing strategy, this is one of the worst things that can happen in product promotion, technical negligence. The technical difficulties in a communication that could have been avoided and which turns into a problem. These are difficulties that don’t necessarily arise in a physical business and yes, this web clientele is very alert of all kinds, than a physical clientele whose language is often more respectful. We type faster than we sometimes think hihi.
Take the Lead in Distributing Information
In short, communication and instructions on digital tools are essential to get the respect of our customers. Whether it’s the disclosure of opening hours, a change of address, a last-minute promotion or a site under maintenance, it’s our responsibility to take the lead and disclose our information to our customers. The time our customers devote to us is important for good business relationships. Unnecessary and technical waste of time is often unforgiving.
The information content of our digital tools must not be composed lazily, considering the readership will understand on their own. It’s necessary to write in a precise and dynamic manner, without detours but direct links and info, to take advantage of the reader’s enthusiasm to take action.
Instead, we will take the time to click on the links to test all the technicalities of the communication before sending. We also take the moment to check the landing places of our links to ensure the reception of the transmission is indeed the special offer in question on the website. Let’s avoid a 404 page for our customers.
Use a Universal Language
When writing for your digital tools, take the time to choose the right vocabulary. Let’s use the expressions of our visitors and our target audience. Let’s think about content for all generations, cultures and social classes. No one wants to be offended by a poorly selected word in the text of our corporate mission. Let’s avoid dubious or double meaning phrases and slogans.
It isn’t always easy to decide web content. Many platforms have restricted spaces with few characters. By adding the text of legal notices, adaptation to search tools and SEO techniques, it’s sometimes difficult to tell the difference between a complete page and an overloaded one.
You shouldn’t hesitate to be guided to have the right word. Let’s ask someone to use our test to get a different perception. If we see the test users always ask the same question at a stage of our communication, we make the changes immediately before the official sending, thus reducing our incoming emails of fan questions when everything is published.
Everything Is in Place for Everybody’s Happiness
Moreover, to increase our efficiency, let us keep our past communications with our customers in a file. We can use them as a starting example for future correspondences. You can also make a document and write the correct turns of phrase that you read daily. This is how you become a good communicator, organized and ready for all eventualities. We save a lot of time by creating pre-written message templates.
Administration of Digital Tools
Take the time to read your visitors’ questions, comments and criticisms regarding digital tools, as they’re sometimes the result of errors or poor layout. Fixing a problem on our website for one customer can help several others. This way we can avoid a lot of emails and service responses, or frustrations in our social media remarks.
If you think about it, a consumer, who took the time to write to us and let us know a trouble on our site, helps us. We shouldn’t be offended, but rather use this opportunity to improve our service. Additionally, it’s sometimes difficult to follow up on all the feedback we receive, but it’s worth the effort. The simple fact of assuring a visitor that their email has been read will be considered and transferred to the appropriate person will put several customers in our pocket and for a long time. A consumer who is listened to feel confident and will often come back.
Finally, let’s not scatter ourselves in explanations and justifications to react to bad comments. This will regularly backfire on us, since we fuel discontent by adding other reasons. Instead, we respond by demonstrating our understanding of the situation, our agreement to work to find a solution, and our appreciation for participating in improving our company’s service. So, who would stay angry for long? Isn’t that right?
Read More
Access to the other papers of this column to discover digital marketing tips that will improve the performance of your website and visibility in search tools.
Read the Webmaster Columns here
Annual Partner and Audio Production JM Musique presents the music track of the Month!
Credits. A 80’s Rock Tribute
October 2024 - SEO and Search Tools
The rules for good website SEO evolve with technology and the algorithms of search tools. It’s normal to do an annual SEO check of your site, and to adjust to new features as quickly as possible.
The month of October offers a summary of the techniques of the year and future trends in SEO and website search by users.
This will ensure your site is up to date for the holiday season and end-of-year sales.
The closing of this edition thanks you for reading and encourages you to vote for the MusicScores of 2025! As the band Deee-Lite sings: Vote, Baby Vote!
Thank you and see you on the Blog.
Jeff
Sources:
Urban dictionary Hammering Nails.
Cr Images: W+M Services
Monthly Ticket and Editorial Theme: Under the Clouds by JM Musique
Production: W+M Services
The 25th anniversary version. Here is Credits 25. Musical report of the rock instrumental score written by Jeff Maheux and produced by JM Musique.