marketing Archives - Marketicity

Let’s Get Digital: Q&A with Carly Antor

November 14, 2023/in News /by Marketicity

If you’ve ever pictured a web designer as someone who stares at Matrix-like lines of code on a screen in a poorly lit room all day, then do we have a surprise for you. We have decided to pull the curtain back on some of our wonderful employees here at Marketicity and provide a little insight to the people behind the brand. This month’s focus is on our digital side: art director and web strategist Carly Antor, whose title may say web strategist, but her hobbies read more like triathlete.

What is your background?

I graduated from Truman State University with a degree in Visual Communications. I worked in different marketing agencies in St. Louis for a few years after graduation before joining Marketicity in 2016.

What types of projects do you work on for Marketicity’s clients/what are your favorite projects to work on?

I enjoy working on the website design projects for Marketicity and I get excited about helping businesses with their marketing by designing a website that helps leverage their marketing strategy.

What hobbies do you have outside of work?

I enjoy running, cycling, and swimming, and I have two huskies. I like to run every morning and am usually training for a race of some kind. I also like to take my dogs on walks every day.

What do you like most about what you do?

I like the fact that we are able to help people. Behind every business are people, and I enjoy working on meaningful projects that make a difference in their businesses and lives.

Marketicity is a marketing services firm whose team members have delivered successful campaigns and have been Moving Brands Forward for some of the best-known brands in their categories – both locally, regionally and nationally. We’re proud of our work but even more proud that our clients are proud of the work produced for their brands. Want to learn more about how we can help you “move your brand forward”? Simply give us a call or visit our Contact Us page. We look forward to hearing from you.

Let’s Get Creative: Q&A with Designer Jennie Jacobs

October 17, 2023/in News /by Marketicity

Here at Marketicity we know that much of the conversation right now is focused on artificial intelligence, its ethics, implications, and possibilities. It is a nuanced and complicated conversation that we won’t venture into here, other than to say no matter what changes lie on the horizon, in our opinion, nothing beats old-fashioned human ingenuity with creative graphic design.

So we thought it would be fun to take a little time to have a Q&A with some of the key creative team members here who make all our great layouts, designs and creative direction work possible.

Today we are going to focus on our creative director and graphic designer Jennie Jacobs.

What is your background?

I received a BFA in photography and graphic design and Illinois Wesleyan University. Right out of school, I worked for small creative firm in central Illinois generating illustrations for their vacuum cleaner account plus a lot of creative work for John Deere tractors. After that I moved to State Farm where I did segment marketing, worked as part of the advertising team, did internal design, and also did video production. Then I came to Marketicity where I am the Creative Director and primary graphic designer.

What types of projects do you work on for Marketicity’s clients?

I work on everything from print to video to social media to keeping our boss Gary on track.

What are your favorite projects to work on? What gets you excited?

I love advertising projects and traditional print pieces. I also love working on video. My favorite is a project that has a feel good component to it.

What hobbies do you have outside of work?

I have five kids, so I don’t have a life! My activities include managing our family’s schedule and running the kids from activity to activity.

What do you like most about what you do?

I love being creative.

What are a few key things that clients should think of when considering a creative project?

Who is the target market? What are they trying to say, sell, or do with the piece? And of course, what is the budget?

Marketicity is a marketing services firm whose team members have delivered successful campaigns and have been Moving Brands Forward for some of the best-known brands in their categories – both locally, regionally and nationally. We’re proud of our work but even more proud that our clients are proud of the work produced for their brands. Want to learn more about how we can help you “move your brand forward”? Simply give us a call or visit our Contact Us page. We look forward to hearing from you.

Planning for Success Vs. Hoping it Shows Up

September 12, 2023/in News /by Marketicity

In any creative endeavor, it’s tempting to wait around for the light bulb moment, the muse, or the perfect idea that suddenly materializes into a complete, workable project. But the truth is, if we were wholly reliant on these means, many of us would still be waiting. And while this is true of single ideas, it’s equally true of plans and strategies. You can get lost in the daydream of a perfect marketing plan, where each new piece perfectly springboards off the one that came before, but at some point in time you actually have to do some work, or marketing planning.

At Marketicity, we prioritize creativity, but not at the expense of production. As we like to say, you have to plan for success and not just hope for it. In other words, be proactive, not reactive. A good plan goes a long way, especially when you give yourself time to think through other options, additional communication means, and memorable ways to capture your audience’s attention.

If your plan is to release new marketing material, planning for it early (many weeks and sometimes months depending on its level of detail) gives you the time and benefit of considering every option. Videos take time. Long-term social media strategies take time. Website creation and print material also takes time. Planning ahead gives you the luxury of choosing which of those you need, and not just which you can manage with the time you have left.

Creativity is often like a conversation, especially when it comes to a marketing approach. Of course, a fully-formed strategy that could be implemented without trial would be wonderful, the reality is that creativity is almost always a back-and-forth process. Our goal is always to plan, and plan early whenever possible, without being so rigid that making an adjustment isn’t possible, while also having a feel of where the conversation is going and where we might want to take it next.

Marketicity is a marketing services firm whose team members have delivered successful campaigns and have been Moving Brands Forward for some of the best-known brands in their categories – both locally, regionally and nationally. We’re proud of our work but even more proud that our clients are proud of the work produced for their brands. Want to learn more about how we can help you “move your brand forward”? Simply give us a call or visit our Contact Us page. We look forward to hearing from you.

Our Marketing Services

August 15, 2023/in News /by Marketicity

We know that most professions, excluding perhaps “nuclear physicist,” have their own version of the armchair quarterback. And “marketing professional” is certainly no exception. In fact, the reality is that marketing probably gets this significantly more than other industries. In its essence, marketing is meant to be commented on, publicly appraised, and deemed effective or ineffective by casual observers, competitors and other marketers… all day, every day.

The advent of social media and digital influencers has certainly only grown the idea that anyone can do marketing. And while that’s technically true, it’s also very true that not everyone can do marketing well. For small businesses or companies simply looking to save on costs, we understand the temptation to handle marketing internally. We’ve heard it before, “I’ve got a cousin that says he can do ‘_insert needed marketing item here_’!” And in some cases, it works out to be adequate, or at least allows you to check something off of your to do list.

We will be the first to admit that marketing isn’t rocket science, but it does take talent, skill, intuition, experience, insights, and a healthy dose of common sense if you hope to do more than “check a box” in your marketing efforts. And that’s where Marketicity comes in. The many ways and forms that creative and marketing can take is borderline endless and the skillset required for print marketing is different than video marketing which is different than social media marketing which is different than website design or public relations.

And if you wanted to be exhaustive about it, you could continue to drill down into the fact that Facebook marketing is different that Instagram marketing which is different than Twitter marketing. In other words, marketing outlets and opportunities are broad and deep, and if you’re going to navigate them, it helps to have a partner. An experienced partner.

Over the years we have helped businesses build their brand, reach their customers, grow their sales, communicate with stakeholders, and so on. When you employ us for any of our services, from direct mail to website design, you can be sure that we will meet you where you are and help get you where you want to go.

In some cases we act as consultants, other times we brainstorm, develop, and implement a full-blown marketing strategy. Our job is to provide you the support, strategy, insight, and out-of-the-box thinking to move your brand forward, and our team has been designed to tackle every angle of your marketing needs with professionalism, wisdom, and joy.

Marketicity is a marketing services firm whose team members have delivered successful campaigns and have been Moving Brands Forward for some of the best-known brands in their categories – both locally, regionally and nationally. We’re proud of our work but even more proud that our clients are proud of the work produced for their brands. Want to learn more about how we can help you “move your brand forward”? Simply give us a call or visit our Contact Us page. We look forward to hearing from you.

Consulting in the Big Things and Little Things

July 11, 2023/in News /by Marketicity

The thing with marketing is that you can make a hundred little decisions every month that seemingly have little impact or they simply have the impact you expected. And you can do this for years. It may not be momentous or extravagant, rather it’s just the daily reality of plugging away at your marketing strategy. And then sometimes you hit on something that takes on a life of its own, in a way you never could have planned and you may never be able to recreate. Everyone wants this lightning-in-a-bottle moment. Rather, they want it in the way that grows the brand, sells more products, and draws in a larger customer base. The inverse, of course, is that no one wants that lightning-in-a-bottle to end up burning them. Marketing, no surprise, and consulting, are fickle.

The truth, as we often talk about, is that there are no silver bullets. But there are good ideas and bad ideas. And though it may not seem very glorious, there is value in the day-to-day implementation of a solid strategy.

What makes for a solid strategy is obviously a different conversation, and something that we here at Marketicity are always happy to help with. Sometimes an outside perspective is the most helpful perspective you can get. There are clients that we have worked with from the moment we became a business and there are also clients who reach out every other year to ask for some consulting or help with a specific project. Sometimes it’s just a matter of teasing apart the good ideas from the bad ones.

Our philosophy is about delivering what the client needs and not overwhelming them or overstepping. We approach some consulting here and there with the same energy and enthusiasm as we approach a client who wants us to develop a multi-year comprehensive marketing strategy. The truth is, everyone needs a little help sometimes, and Marketicity is always happy to be there.

Marketicity is a marketing services firm whose team members have delivered successful campaigns and have been Moving Brands Forward for some of the best-known brands in their categories – both locally, regionally and nationally. We’re proud of our work but even more proud that our clients are proud of the work produced for their brands. Want to learn more about how we can help you “move your brand forward”? Simply give us a call or visit our Contact Us page. We look forward to hearing from you.

Customer Service

June 13, 2023/in News /by Marketicity

It’s probably no surprise to say that the term “customer service” is a bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it brings to mind images of being helpful and successfully meeting clients’ needs. On the other hand is pretty much everything else: waiting on hold, overloaded call centers, complaints on Facebook, and so on. Where you’re positioned on the business/client spectrum may directly affect how you view the idea of customer service.

At Marketicity, we are in the unique position of knowing that all of our clients have clients. So we want to make sure that all of the companies and businesses we work with have the best possible customer service experience when working with us.

In our April blog we talked about ensuring that whatever time a client has allotted towards marketing efforts when working with Marketicity is as positive and productive of an experience as it can be. (Read more about that here in our blog “The 95-5 Rule”.) In a similar way, we tailor our customer service to each customer individually. We know that some of our clients want us to bring ideas to the table. Others are less interested in ideas and more interested in solutions. Some want to see our thought process throughout the brainstorming process and others are only interested in seeing where we’ve landed. The point being, our approach to customer service is “what is going to make our client’s life easier?”

Rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach to every pitch and conversation, we work to meet our clients where they are at, give them what they need, and let go of anything they don’t. It’s not the most earth-shattering idea, but it requires taking the time to get to know your clients and understanding what it means to be in partnership with them. We are fortunate to have client relationships that span 10+ years… almost unheard of for advertising and marketing agencies.

Think about those relationships you have with business, brands, and companies you use, if you do not feel valued or are not getting the service you expect, you move on. Well, if your business isn’t getting the service you expect from your marketing firm, then perhaps we should talk. We’ll bring our passion for customer service, creative and planning to the table with us.

Marketicity is a marketing services firm whose team members have delivered successful campaigns and have been Moving Brands Forward for some of the best-known brands in their categories – both locally, regionally and nationally. We’re proud of our work but even more proud that our clients are proud of the work produced for their brands. Want to learn more about how we can help you “move your brand forward”? Simply give us a call or visit our Contact Us page. We look forward to hearing from you.

The Value of Creativity

May 9, 2023/in News /by Marketicity

So often the tightrope walk of marketing is finding that balance between letting the process of creativity play out while still being able to provide something in a timely manner. With the increased options and decreased cost of video editing software, graphic design tools, and social media campaigns, the opportunities for creative work are seemingly endless. Yet, even though the tools of creativity may be more available than ever before, the creative process is less easily expedited.

At Marketicity we have made it our career to find creativity on a timeline. But we’re not just looking at creativity for creativity’s sake. When we work with clients we are always searching for creativity with purpose. Whether we’re working on an email marketing campaign, social media marketing, or print marketing, we are always working with our clients on finding the message or design or look that can suddenly break through all the clutter. But we also know it can’t be all style and no substance. We believe that dependable, usable creativity requires finesse, knowledge, background, and experience.

When wielded the right way, creativity can provide incredible value. A previously invisible brand can suddenly pop with the right marketing. A stale message can grow vibrant again. A hard-to-sell or hard-to-understand product can gain quick appeal. When you work with Marketicity we will first work hard to understand where you’re coming from and what your business offers and then we will apply the value you offer to the creativity we provide.

Marketicity is a marketing services firm whose team members have delivered successful campaigns and have been Moving Brands Forward for some of the best-known brands in their categories – both locally, regionally and nationally. We’re proud of our work but even more proud that our clients are proud of the work produced for their brands. Want to learn more about how we can help you “move your brand forward”? Simply give us a call or visit our Contact Us page. We look forward to hearing from you.

The 95-5 Rule

April 11, 2023/in News /by Marketicity

Here at Marketicity we strive to provide the best possible support, ideation, strategy, creative and partnership to each and every one of our clients. Why, it is based on a long-standing approach to marketing at Marketicity and how we support our clients. We like to call it our 95-5 Rule.

That is all driven by a very simple rule. For many of our clients, 95% of their focus is on the day-to-day issues every company deals with. Their business day is filled spent dealing with research, development, customer service, sales and sales evaluation, R&D, operations, A/P, employee issues, new business development, customer retention, etc.. Whether that 95% is extremely enjoyable, extremely difficult or a mix of both for our clients, our approach is to make that other 5% – the marketing & advertising part that we work with them on, as fun, enjoyable, engaging, and worry free as it can possibly be.

We see marketing as an opportunity to reach out and engage, to have fun, to tell a story, to connect with our clients.. but more importantly, their customers. When we work with a client on their marketing strategy, our goal is not only to provide them with something useful and profitable at the end of the day, but to provide a bit of a spark, perhaps even a reminder of why they should get through the 95% so that they can get to the 5% that they love! So many of our clients are doing incredible, meaningful work, and getting to be a part of their marketing efforts is often an opportunity to remind them of just how important and impactful that work is.

At the end of the day, we want our clients to look forward to every call, email, zoom, meeting and creative presentation that they have with any member of our team or our team as a whole!

We (the collective ‘we’ of clients and our team) all got into our businesses as a way to service a need but to have a meaningful and fun time while doing so.

So, ask yourself. If your company uses an outside marketing firm to help generate and execute your strategy and marketing efforts, do you look forward to meeting with them? If not, maybe its time you see how we can apply our 95% – 5% rule to your company’s needs.

Marketicity is a marketing services firm whose team members have delivered successful campaigns and have been Moving Brands Forward for some of the best-known brands in their categories – both locally, regionally and nationally. We’re proud of our work but even more proud that our clients are proud of the work produced for their brands. Want to learn more about how we can help you “move your brand forward”? Simply give us a call or visit our Contact Us page. We look forward to hearing from you.

Branding: It’s What We Do

March 14, 2023/in News /by Marketicity

If you give most people a few minutes to think about memorable branding or brand campaigns, they will probably be able to cite a handful of Super Bowl commercials, maybe some viral videos, maybe even something from a magazine or a store aisle. And while we’re certainly fans of a good Super Bowl commercial over here at Marketicity, we also understand that a brand is so much more than just a singular splash.

It’s great to be recognizable, but what’s better is when recognition of a brand instantly produces a positive reaction. And the good news is that you don’t have to be Apple to make that happen.

When we work with clients on branding strategies, it usually goes one of two directions. Either we are looking at how to reinforce a current brand or we’re looking at how to update a brand that’s in need of a refresh. In both of those cases our goals are usually the same.

When we do branding work we like to think of it as an evolution instead of a revolution. Each company has its own story, feel, and tendencies. When we’re building or establishing a brand, we’re looking for which of those pieces connect most with their clients. Which of those inspire positive reactions? What’s true of that company that can be amplified, expanded on, or built around?

While we certainly wouldn’t turn away the opportunity to help a brand go viral, we are much more interested in the consistent and repeatable ways a brand can build trust and recognition with current and prospective clients.

Interested in taking a look at a sample of some projects that helped our client’s when it came to “Moving Brands Forward”… click here and have a look around. Interest “Moving Your Brand Forward”… then click here and let’s connect.

Marketicity is a marketing services firm whose team members have delivered successful campaigns and have been Moving Brands Forward for some of the best-known brands in their categories – both locally, regionally and nationally. We’re proud of our work but even more proud that our clients are proud of the work produced for their brands. Want to learn more about how we can help you “move your brand forward”? Simply give us a call or visit our Contact Us page. We look forward to hearing from you.

Planning for Your Brand’s Success in 2023

January 10, 2023/in News /by Marketicity

We think a lot about marketing planning here at Marketicity. Which certainly shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. But marketing is an interesting field. Often, we see it as both overvalued and undervalued in the same breath. It is both assumed that a single piece of marketing can be a silver bullet to solve any sudden problem, as well as entirely underestimated how much work goes into a well-thought-out marketing strategy, or social media plan, or efficient website design.

Marketing is flashy and subtle and practical and creative and a variety of other opposites all at once. The strategy that worked in one industry may not work in another. The engagement with a piece of print material may not translate to digital. For one client, video may be the answer, while an email campaign may be the answer for another. The point being, marketing is a highly varied world where a copy-paste approach just won’t do.

That’s why we approach every marketing opportunity as a multi-faceted problem to be solved. It’s why we spend as much time working with brands on how their products are arranged in the grocery store as we do with brands on how their SEO plays nice with Google. From website design, to traditional print material, to video content, to social media management, to public relations, and everything in between, marketing is an ever-evolving world and here at Marketicity we are evolving with it.

When you decide to work with us, we provide you with a unique plan, specific to your current and prospective clients, fit for your region, and targeted to your industry. Whether you want us to handle every aspect of your marketing plan or provide a little help and consultation along the way, we’re here for you. If you are looking to get started in 2023, or if you are looking for a refresh of your approach, don’t hesitate to reach out.

Marketicity is a marketing services firm whose team members have delivered successful campaigns and have been Moving Brands Forward for some of the best-known brands in their categories – both locally, regionally and nationally. We’re proud of our work but even more proud that our clients are proud of the work produced for their brands. Want to learn more about how we can help you “move your brand forward”? Simply give us a call or visit our Contact Us page. We look forward to hearing from you.

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Moving Brands Forward