But in order to take full advantage of social media, your content needs to stand out from competitors. And with the social media landscape being so crowded, it can be challenging for your business to cut through the noise.

And that’s why we’re here today with the top five tips to generate social media content that resonates with your audience…

#1 — Understand your audience

The first and most crucial step is understanding who your audience is, what they care about, and what makes them tick.

For example, Pew Research Center reported in 2021 that roughly half of all Americans between the ages of 19 and 29 use TikTok, making it a crucial platform if you’re trying to reach a younger audience.

Remember to…

• Analyze the patterns, needs, and preferences of your audience demographics
• Conduct surveys and ask questions
• Engage with your audience to get valuable insights
• And more

The key is to tailor content that is relevant to your audience demographics. It should always resonate with them.

#2 — Create a content strategy

A well-defined social media strategy can help you focus your efforts on reaching your social media objectives. The best way to create a social media strategy is to first identify your goal — and then, of course, develop a plan to achieve them.

To put it all simply, once you have your determined goals, you need to decide…

• How often you will post
• Which types of content you will create
• What channels you will use
• How you’ll measure your goals
• And more

A comprehensive content plan will save you time and ensure your content is consistent and within your brand guidelines.

#3 — Use visuals

Visual content is a powerful tool to attract and engage social media users. Posts with visuals tend to get more likes, shares, and comments compared to those without visuals.

Infographics, photos, and memes can provide extra mileage to your posts. Use high-quality visuals that are aesthetically pleasing and consistent with your brand. Moreover, don’t discount the power of video content.

After all, “91% of active Instagram survey respondents say they watch videos on Instagram weekly,” according to Instagram itself.

#4 — Leverage trends and hashtags

Trending topics and hashtags provide opportunities for businesses to connect with their audiences and boost engagement. They expand the reach of your posts, increase visibility, and help you stay relevant.

Also, monitor trending topics and hashtags that align with your brand and are highly relevant to your audience. But remember, Instagram isn’t the only platform that uses hashtags. TikTok and LinkedIn both utilize hashtags, too.

“Hashtags on LinkedIn help you discover topics and interests most relevant to you, and give you the opportunity to engage with them,” as explained by LinkedIn. “All hashtags start with a # sign, followed by a keyword or phrase. Some examples of hashtags include: #Productivity, #Careers, or #SocialEntrepreneurship.”

#5 — Experiment and test

Last but not least, truly effective social media content creation comes down to experimentation and testing. Experiment with various types of content and utilize the ones that work best for you. Monitor insights and analytics, like engagement rates, likes, and shares, to determine what resonates best with your audience.

It’s important to continuously evolve your social media content and adapt accordingly so that it continues to engage and captivate your audience.

That being said, generating social media content may seem like a challenging task. However, with the right tools, planning, and mindset, it could be turned into an enjoyable task with measurable results.

The post Our Top 5 Tips for Social Media Content Generation appeared first on Mad Men Marketing.

Some business owners may view a logo as just a graphic they need to put on a business card for legitimacy. Others may think of it as the face of their company, or an icon they can build their entire brand around.

The actual monetary value of a logo may be different from business to business, but some companies out there have shelled out some serious cash for their iconic looks with price tags that are sure to surprise you.

1. Symantec

Price Tag: $1,280,000,000

Symantec is a security program developing company that was established in 1982 in the United States and changed its name to NortonLifeLock in 2019. The business operates worldwide and is one of the largest in its field.

The Symantec logo is a very recognizable one. It’s made up of a simple emblem and a wordmark. The Symantec emblem is a black check encompassed by a yellow circle. This symbolizes protection and quality. The Symantec wordmark, placed on the right of the emblem, is a bold sans-serif typeface, which looks simple yet professional.

The validity of this logo’s price tag is debatable. Symantec purchased a company, Verisign, in 2010 for $1.28 Billion. One of the most valuable aspects of Verisign was its iconic checkmark that Symantec integrated into its brand after the buyout.

2. BP

Price Tag: $210,000,000

The second most expensive logo in the world goes to British Petroleum. BP, formerly known as the British Petroleum Company, is an oil company that was established in the 1950s. Today, the company operates worldwide and has gas stations in over 70 countries around the world. BP is one of the world’s leaders in the industry.

BP is notorious for its impact on the environment, so in 2000, with the help of Landor Associates, it executed a rebrand to help fight that pre-existing stigma.  BP’s current logo is in the shape of a flower, with vivid tones of green and yellow, giving the brand a fresh and exciting look.

3. BBC

Price Tag: $1,800,000

BBC is a British public service broadcaster that was founded in 1922. It’s headquartered in Westminster, London, and it is the world’s oldest national broadcasting organization. Besides the UK, it is the most well-known public broadcaster in the world.

In 2021, BBC began to phase in the first update to its logo in over 20 years. Closely based on its previous version, it maintains its basic form of the existing logo used since 1997, but the blocks have more space between them and slightly smaller lettering. The new lettering is in BBC Reith, the BBC’s proprietary font, introduced in 2017 and designed by Dalton Maag.

4. Citibank

Price Tag: $1,500,000

Citibank is an American banking corporation, which was established in 1955 in New York. Today Citibank is an international institution with more than two thousand offices in almost 20 countries around the world.

The timeline of the bank’s logo can be divided into two periods — the era of First National City Bank, from 1955 to 1976, and the Citibank period, which started in 1976 with the company’s rebranding. The company merged with Travelers Insurance Group in 1998 and started working on its rebrand, in collaboration with the famous Pentagram agency. Travelers Group had a very recognizable logo — a red umbrella, symbolizing protection and security.  Paula Scher, one of the Pentagram designers, created a very minimalist logo, which was instantly accepted by the company and became one of the most iconic emblems in modern history.

5. Pepsi

Price Tag: $1,000,000

Pepsi is one of the most well-known beverage brands in the world.  Its logo is a combination of red, white, and dark blue inside a circular shape, and it looks appealing due to a “smile” effect, created by the white swirl inside the circle.

Pepsi’s logo evolution includes 16 different variations dating all the way back to 1893. The most recent redesign was done by The Arnell Group in 2008 and is reported to have cost Pepsi $1 million.

Obviously, these are insane numbers that companies paid for a rebrand. But the takeaway here is the importance of the logo in brand promotion and marketing strategy.

So, whether you’re in the market for a $1 billion logo, or maybe something a little more affordable, Mad Men Marketing can help you build a brand worth more than you paid.

The post 5 of the Most Expensive Logos appeared first on Mad Men Marketing.

After all, while social media is just one cog in the proverbial marketing machine, it’s coming to be, well, the primary one.

Thus, here at Mad Men Marketing, we’re currently in the midst of our transition to a full-service social media advertising agency. Here’s why:

The Rise of Social Media…

According to Statista, “in 2021, over 4.26 billion people were using social media worldwide, a number projected to increase to almost six billion in 2027.”

In other words, simply being active on social media is one of the world’s most popular activities.

And if we were to shave it down to the United States, specifically, the University of Maine has found that “72.3% of the total US population actively use social media, totaling a number of 240 million people.”

Consequently, it’s easy to see how and why the advertising landscape as a whole is changing.

After all, marketers want to be where their audience is — and these efforts have absolutely proven fruitful. For example, on Instagram alone, “92% of users say that they’ve acted in the moment after seeing a product on Instagram,” as reported by Hootsuite.

And as the community tides turn in favor of social media, so too will the marketing industry as a whole.

… And the Fall of Traditional Marketing

While television commercials, radio spots, and other physical forms of traditional content are all well and good — and still necessary, depending on the context — they are no longer the bread and butter of the marketing world.

This is because, not only do brands lack real-time interactions with their direct audience and prospective consumers, but traditional marketing is just plain inefficient in terms of making edits and adjustments as necessary.

Additionally, “traditional marketing can also be pricier,” Hubspot explains. “For instance, it can cost between $2,000-$160,000 to run a print ad. Further, you never know who you’ll reach with that investment because results are difficult to measure.”

Not to mention a reported “70% of consumers want to learn about products through content as opposed to traditional ad methods.”

So… why not do exactly that? Talk about a single statistic that puts it all in perspective.

Upward and Onward with Mad Men Marketing

Here at Mad Men Marketing, we’re not just going to help you make memes and optimize your direct engagement with your audience. Rather, as your cutting-edge social media advertising agency, we’re going to help you stay ahead of the game and on top of industry strategies!

Specifically, we…

• Produce a variety of visual content for social platforms. Whether you’re looking to produce a short and witty Instagram Reel or an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at your company for Facebook, we can do it all and more.
• Design eye-catching content that will enhance your brand identity. Our graphic designers won’t just create aesthetically pleasing carousels and banners for your business accounts, but they can also generate infographics, create your new logo, and more.
• Craft compelling copy, both long- and short-form in nature. Need a brief but convincing social media caption? No problem. Or perhaps a longer, more in-depth LinkedIn article? We’ve got you there, too.

And that’s only where it starts.

After all, here at Mad Men Marketing, we are rooted in the belief that brands should interact with their customers, not interrupt them. And social media is precisely where a majority of that magic happens today.

So, are you ready to interact? If so, contact Mad Men Marketing today by calling (904) 355-1766!

The post What is a Social Media Advertising Agency? appeared first on Mad Men Marketing.

We don’t need expensive cameras to take quality photos. Our cell phones can take such high-quality photos, and most people can’t tell if they are taken with a phone or professional photography equipment. The camera can’t do all the work, though.

There are a few key tips to keep in mind while you’re trying to capture that Kodak moment.

#1 — Light it Right

Lighting is one of the most important tools you can utilize when taking photos. An easy tip to remember is to ensure your subject isn’t backlit, and that the light is shining down on it directly or coming at it from an upper-diagonal angle. If the light hits it from the back, you’ll be left with a dark, indiscernible green smoothie bowl, which is social media blasphemy.

You can combat this in a few ways:

• The first way is to make sure your light source is coming from behind you (facing the subject).
• You can also take the photo in HDR mode.
• The third option is to fix it in post-production.

#2 — Shoot in HDR Mode

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. In HDR mode, the camera will typically take two, three, or more photos at different exposures in quick succession, and then blend them together into one image with detail in both highlights and shadow.

Smartphone cameras that have the HDR feature usually offer the option to switch the HDR setting to On, Off, or to set it to Auto-HDR. Having HDR set to “On” tells your phone to capture a high dynamic range image every time a photo is taken.

#3 — Understand Depth of Field

Creating depth of field with your phone camera is a really cool way to up your Instagram photo game. When you’re shooting, always take into consideration the foreground, middle ground, and background in relation to the subject of the photo.

Let’s say you’re taking a picture of a subject some distance away from you and you want the subject in focus and the background blurry — simply tap your subject and wait for a yellow square to appear. Shooting in portrait mode on your phone is a great way to effectively highlight the depth of field, too.

#4 — Learn the Rule of Thirds

Rule of thirds, also known as the golden grid rule, is a technique where a composition is aligned to a three-by-three grid.

By dividing a composition into three grids, we section it into nine imaginary rectangles with four intersections. The focus subject is aligned at one of the intersecting points or close to them. This creates an asymmetry in the composition.

In Settings, tap Camera, and then enable the Grid option. That’s all you have to do to turn the feature on! Your next step is to apply the concept: remember to put important things along the lines.

#5 — Have Fun With Camera Angles

Playing with unique angles can help your photos stand out and offer you a variety of options to choose from when it comes time to post. Angles can create the illusion of depth and height, making your images more interesting to look at, thereby generating more views.

TIP: Try lowering the angle to create a new perspective instead of shooting straight down.

#6 — Use Negative Space Appropriately

Negative space is the area surrounding the main subject in a photograph that is left unoccupied. Basically, it’s the space around the subject that helps define the positive space (or main focus).

Leaving a large amount of negative space in the photo can emphasize scale and simplicity, but make sure you are using it correctly.

TIP: If you’re trying to highlight the subject in the photo, make sure you’re taking the photo close up and filling the frame with the subject. This will reduce the surrounding negative space.

#7 — Tasteful Phone Editing

We could break down each category of editing you can utilize on your phone, but for simplicity’s sake, we want to highlight the three tools that can really elevate your photo:

1. Brightness: It’s always a safe bet to bump up the brightness a bit unless your photo is already over-exposed. Indoor lighting rarely provides you with adequate illumination for a decent photo.
2. Contrast: Adjusting the contrast ever so slightly helps to make the darks darker and the lights lighter. This can help your image appear less “flat.”
3. Saturation: Delicately increasing the saturation will help to bring out some of those vivid colors that poor lightning may have counterbalanced. Make sure to not overdo this one or you will end up with some radioactive colors.

With over 4.6 billion people around the world using social media, online engagement is higher than ever. That is why it is so important to have content that is not only engaging but aesthetically pleasing. Take each one of these tips into consideration the next time you are taking a photo with the intention to post and you’ll look like a pro in no time.

And the Mad Men Marketing production crews are always ready to step in and help elevate your content for you! So, are you ready to interact? If so, reach out to our team today by calling 904-355-1766!

The post 7 tips on taking better photos for social media appeared first on Mad Men Marketing.

A thorough brand guideline or style guide is a must-have for any business, big or small. The purpose of a brand guideline is to break down your company’s personality and aesthetic in a document for other creatives to utilize.  By providing a comprehensive manual for designers to use, you can ensure that the message, tone, logo, and design elements are all used properly, thereby protecting the visual identity of your brand.

Let’s Break It Down

Brand guidelines cover seven key points:

• An Overview
• Mission Statement
• Logo Usage
• Color Palette
• Fonts
• Imagery
• Mockups

Overview

An overview is used to set the expectations for both your customers and your team. This is an opportunity for you to explain your business’s core values and history.  Ask yourself what values are unique to you and your business.

Mission Statement

A mission statement is essentially a brief explanation of the organization in terms of why and how you do what you do.  It’s important to explain your purpose and overall intention while supporting your vision and direction.  The main two questions to ask yourself while writing a mission statement are: “What is our company’s purpose?” and “Why does our company exist?

 Logo Usage

Designers create logos to be used in a variety of ways, and people without the proper experience or knowledge can easily use a logo incorrectly.  It’s important to provide a detailed visual breakdown of how to use different variations of a logo, the correct use of different background colors, and proper margins surrounding the logo.

Color Palette

Consistency is key when it comes to your color palette.   It may not seem that important, but repeated usage of specific colors is key when it comes to brand recognition.  Companies like Google and UPS are immediately recognizable due to their color palette. The more people can recognize your brand, the more effective your advertisements can be.

Fonts

The consistency and variety of fonts are just as important as the color palette.  In your brand guidelines, you want to display each font your brand uses, along with their font family (variety of weights the font offers). A good rule thumb is to utilize two to three fonts — one for headers, one for body copy, and one for your logo (which may be one of the previous two).

Design Elements

When designers create a brand, specific design elements other than the logo are created to help with visual recognition. Whether it’s a specific shape, background, texture, pattern, or illustration, having consistent imagery will help consumers link visuals to your brand, making them more likely to interact.

Mockups

Providing a visual representation of how you utilize the brand is key.  This is usually in the form of business cards, letterhead, apparel, and other swag. This gives anyone looking at your brand guideline a cohesive snapshot of how your company visually promotes itself in various ways.

The post Brand Guidelines 101 appeared first on Mad Men Marketing.

Step 1: Know Yourself

Before you choose a font, it’s important to have a solid understanding of your brand’s identity.

Every brand has a personality. Coming up with a few adjectives that describe your business’s character is a great place to start:

• Bold
• Helpful
• Caring
• Serious
• Adventurous
• Imaginative
• Youthful
• Playful
• Vibrant
• Energetic
• Reliable
• Whimsical
• Masculine
• Feminine
• Innovative
• Calm
• Luxurious
• Elegant
• Humorous
• Glamorous
• Healthy
• Old-Fashioned
• Kind
• Light-hearted
• Witty
• Tough
• Sexy
• Authoritative
• Quirky
• Smart

Step 2: Font Psychology

Fonts are broken up into different categories with different aesthetic traits. This is known as “Font Psychology.” Review each font classification and see which one fits your brand most appropriately.

• Serif: Classic, traditional, elegant
• Sans-Serif: Clean, modern, minimalistic
• Slab-Serif: Strong and adventurous
• Script: Chic and exclusive
• Handwritten: Creative and Informal
• Decorative: Unique and stylized

Step 3: Licensing

Not all fonts are free, so it’s important to figure out how you will source your fonts before making the final decision.

Free font resources: 

• Google Fonts
• Dafont
• Font Squirrel

These resources may be free, but free resources usually lack diversity in weight throughout the font family.

Paid font resources:

• Adobe fonts
• Envato Elements
• LinoType

Paid fonts give you more versatility with your designs in that they offer fonts that have a variety of weights (thin, book, normal, semi bold, bold, and black).

Step 4: Find a pairing

Now that we have identified our font classification, it’s time to mix and match. Having a secondary font option can help with visual hierarchy and diversify your brand’s look.

Always make sure to test your font pairings out in real situations to ensure they work well. Don’t forget to make sure your font licensing is covered in all implementations (websites, packaging, print, etc.)

The post Finding the Best Front for Your Brand appeared first on Mad Men Marketing.

In 1947, psychologist Carl Jung posed the theory that 12 essential characters exist in everyone’s unconscious mind, each one battling for dominance.  Since then, marketing experts have utilized this theory, stating that each brand fits into one of the 12 archetypes or “characters.”

These characters are all based on universal patterns of behavior that everyone can instinctively relate to. The following human desires each match with a specific character or “archetype”:

• Power = The Magician
• Mastery = The Hero
• Liberation = The Outlaw
• Freedom = The Explorer
• Understanding = The Sage
• Safety = The Innocent
• Intimacy = The Lover
• Enjoyment = The Jester
• Belonging = The Everyman
• Innovation = The Creator
• Control = The Ruler
• Service = The Caregiver

The Outlaw

The outlaw archetype tends to be disruptive, rebellious, and combative. This is the type of brand that attracts people who like to live life on the edge, encouraging revolution and empowerment. Harley Davidson motors is a great example of an Outlaw.

Related Industries: Automobiles, Tools, & Apparel

The Magician

The Magician is a reassuring archetype that wants to make your dreams come true. They want their customers to feel like anything can happen and that one is only limited by their imagination. A perfect example of this would be Disney.

Related Industries: Entertainment, Health & Wellness, Cosmetics

The Hero

The Hero archetype is honest and brave. They have the determination and desire to make the world a better place. Businesses like Nike and FedEx lean towards the Hero archetype due to their motivation to prove their worth.

Related Industries: Sportswear, Outdoor Equipment, Trade Services

The Lover

The Lover archetype can be sensual and soothing, seeking pleasure from the experience of intimacy. Some brands that relate to this are Victoria’s Secret and Chanel.

Related Industries: Cosmetics, Wine, Food, Travel

The Jester

The Jester archetype is the playful, fun-loving optimist. The Jester is all about living life in the moment and ensuring that the people they surround themselves with are as happy as they are. Some great examples of companies that utilize this persona are M&Ms, Old Spice, and Dollar Shave Club.

Related Industries: Beer/Liquor, Child Services

The Everyman

The Everyman archetype is authentically humble and friendly. They don’t like to stand out from the crowd, so they seamlessly blend in to society. They tend to be very positive due to their need to fit into a group. Target and Ikea are both great examples of brands that fall under the Everyman category.

Related Industries: Foods, Home & Family Life, Apparel, Automobile

The Caregiver

The Caregiver archetype has a warm and caring personality. They are often thought of as maternity figures due to their need to protect others. Toms and UNICEF both have brands that make them perfect caregivers.

Related Industries: Elder Care, Non-Profits, Hospitals, Education

The Ruler

The Ruler archetype has a very refined and commanding presence.  Above everything else, the ruler needs control.   They can be considered intimated at times due to their authoritative actions.  These brands consider themselves to be the best of the best and want their customers to feel the same way. Mercedes-Benz and Rolex are both obvious Rulers in their industry.

Related Industries: Luxury Automotive, Watch Manufacturers, Hotels,  Formal wear

The Creator

The Creator Architype tends to be provocative and inspirational, always wanting to create something incredible.  Imagination and creative expression are two things they value the most. Lego, Apple, and Adobe are all great examples of creator brands.

Related Industries: Arts, Design, IT, Marketing, Writing

The Innocent

The Innocent archetype is always humble and honest. They have a positive view of life due to their inherent optimism. Companies like Dove and Aveeno would be considered Innocent brands.

Related Industries: Beauty & Skin products, Fresh Food, Cleaning Supplies

The Sage

The Sage archetype is knowledgeable and understanding. They seek truth above all else and want to share their knowledge with the world. Examples of sage-like bands would be Google and the University of Oxford.

Related Industries: Media & News, Schools & Universities, Educational Businesses, Search Engines

The Explorer

The Explorer Archetype is exciting and fearless. They have very daring personalities and don’t like to be pinned down. They love to push themselves out of their comfort zones and are on a constant road of discovery. Patagonia, North Face, and Jeep are all true Explorer brands to the core.

Related Industries: Extreme Sports, Outdoor equipment, Automotive, Travel

You may be wondering if your archetype is that of your customer or that of your brand, and the simple answer is both. Archetypes represent all personalities.  First, we must figure out your customers’ personalities and then tailor your brand to the archetype that is most attractive to your customer base. Define your character and begin your story!

The post Brand Archetypes 101 appeared first on Mad Men Marketing.

Here are a few that we recommend:

Get in Touch with Your Intuition

Albert Einstein called the intuition “a feeling for the order lying behind the appearance.” There are patterns in our daily lives, organic ways in which the world moves that we can tune into and harness for our own creations.

Tuning into this natural flow allows us to arrive at conclusions that just make sense. When you can’t find anything new in the patterns around you, ask questions about them. If this doesn’t work, it may be time to switch up your environment: go play.

Shake Up the Pattern

“Our brains are constantly changing, they’re adapting, they’re learning, they’re dynamic,” according to Dr. Sahar Yousef, a UC Berkeley-trained cognitive neuroscientist. “It’s truly a canvas, and you can change and manipulate, depending on what you’re exposing your brain to. You can create different associations.”

You don’t have to go as far as taking a vacation to the other side of the world, but maybe change up your routine a little bit: go for a jog before sunrise, take a drive through a different side of town, listen to a new artist or playlist. There are plenty of ways we can find new perspectives and patterns we never thought about before. Although these changes can spur creativity, it’s not always good for the production side of things.

Keep Your Work Area for Work

“What is important here is intentionality in the environments we choose to do specific types of activities,” Yousef says. So, while switching up your daily pattern can help spur creativity, keep your actual work area for focused productivity so that your brain doesn’t get confused.

When we start allowing copious amounts of emails, meetings, calls, or even meals to interrupt our productivity time, we are training our brains to multitask instead of focus on the task at hand. Set aside some time for these distractions outside of where you are productive so that when you get back to your productivity space, your brain knows it is time to focus.

The post Best Practices for a Creative and Productive Day! appeared first on Mad Men Marketing.