Tag Archive for: design

3 Secrets to Creating a Marketing Plan That Works

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Have you started your marketing plan for 2024?

No pressure – but now is the time to be analyzing, strategizing and budgeting for marketing
your business in the New Year. Of course, recent experience has proven that none of us can
predict what might happen over the next 12 months (or 12 hours!) But here are three concrete
steps to creating a marketing plan that will support the goals you set now – and any pivots you
make as the year unfolds.

1. Resist the Urge to Recycle (Last Year’s Plan)
With so much on your year-end plate, it’s tempting to simply look back at what worked in 2023
and plan to do more of it in 2024. But returning to the tried and true is not exactly a “strategy.”
If your company is evolving, your marketing objectives need to support your evolving vision.
Assessing last year’s marketing successes – as well as evaluating what did not work so well – is
an essential first step in developing your new plan. But don’t stop there. Identify what you want
your business and your team to achieve in the year ahead, then consider how to tweak or
revamp your marketing efforts to support these objectives.

2. Map Out the Right Mix
How do you determine what to keep, what to toss and what to add to your marketing mix?
Start by reviewing all of the internal data/metrics you can gather from the past 12 months.
Check in with your customers or clients. What are their current pain points or concerns? Which
of your company’s products or services could address these challenges? And what messaging
and call-to-actions need to be developed?

It’s also important to consider projected trends for your industry or market niche, and be super-
clear about where your target demographic is getting their information. Is it via websites?
Google? Specific social media sites? What they prefer now may be significantly different than it
was a year ago – and it may shift again six months from now.

Many businesses map out their plans by marketing channel, but keep in mind that your
customers don’t necessarily experience your marketing that way. Each interaction they have
with your brand is part of their total user experience. It’s important to spend time evaluating
how your customers are moving through their buyer journey – and designing your marketing
campaign so it resonates with them each step of the way.

3. Build a Realistic Budget
No matter how small or large your business is, your budget needs to allocate specific dollars to
marketing. But exactly how much should you spend on promoting your business?
Industry experts typically suggest calculating your marketing budget based on a percent of sales
or revenue. (Just Google “small business marketing budget” and you’ll see this can range anywhere from 2% to 12%.) But simply using a random percentage doesn’t take into account
your unique challenges and goals.

So, in addition to looking at your current and projected sales, you need to consider the other
key pillars of your marketing plan:

  • Your target audience
  • How to reach them
  • Where to focus your time, energy, and dollars in light of the financial and human
    resources that are available.

Once you have all of these components in place – and factor in the reward vs. the risk – then
you can figure out the budget.

When it comes to marketing, MIFA Media is all in on being innovative. But we also know that
customers want to engage with brands that are consistently authentic. If you want content that
connects with your audience and stands out from the crowd, give us a shout!

Color Makes the Season (and Your Branding) Bright

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Color is one of the most powerful elements when it comes to creating an impactful and effective design, branding, or marketing strategy.

Equally as important as factors like font and proportion, color contributes to balance and hierarchy in design. Choosing a cohesive color scheme in the midst of developing your branding – not as an afterthought – ensures a seamless design where all of the elements work together to convey the personality of your company.

Each color has a meaning and feeling that attracts people (or deters them).

Color sets the vibe for your company, so you want to choose shades that are appropriate for your brand. For example, warm colors (think yellow undertones) show excitement and optimism, while cool colors (blue undertones) symbolize calm and harmony. If you are a therapist, you’ll want to steer clear of using bright red for your logo and go with cooler tones to convey a more peaceful ambiance. On the flip side, if competitive brands are all using soft green in their package designs, choosing a notice-me color will help your products stand out on the shelf.

For proof of color’s power to influence customer behavior, look no further than the role it plays in holiday marketing.

The signature colors of each holiday have become so ingrained in our culture and traditions that they communicate layers of meaning without a single word. An orange and black window display tells us it’s Halloween; yellow and brown food packaging symbolizes Thanksgiving; black, red, and green are the colors of Kwanzaa; and a sea of red and green can only mean it’s Christmastime.

Colors stir our emotions, evoking specific feelings and conjuring up memories.

Let’s take a look at the psychology behind a few of the popular color pairs that make this season bright.

ORANGE & YELLOW: Yellow is vibrant and cheerful, evoking feelings of optimism and happiness (the smiley face embodies the power of yellow!) Orange is associated with energy, enthusiasm, and warmth. Together, they mirror nature’s changing leaves and abundant harvest, making them the classic palette for autumn’s biggest holidays – Halloween and Thanksgiving.

RED & GREEN: Red and green have been linked back to traditional winter solstice celebrations, where Celtic people used green holly plants with their deep red berries to welcome the shift in seasons. Today, this iconic color combo is synonymous with Christmas. The energy, passion, and urgency of red, paired with green’s connection to nature, growth, and freshness, instantly lifts our spirits and conjures up joyful holiday memories.

BLUE & WHITE: White symbolizes purity, simplicity, and innocence, while blue is often linked to feelings of reliability and serenity (a blue logo projects a sense of trust and dependability.) The origin of the colors’ association with the celebration of Hanukkah is up for debate. Some say the colors are rooted in theology (the Jewish prayer shawl is white with one blue string), while others believe they were inspired by the Israeli flag.

SILVER & GOLD: There are no “official” New Year’s colors, but silver and gold are the go-to choice for ringing in the new. These classically elegant colors symbolize opulence, luxury, and success. Gold and silver sparkle like the ball dropping in Times Square. They are also the color of money – and isn’t abundance something we all wish for in the coming year?

At MIFA Media, we understand that every element of design plays a role in capturing people’s attention and engaging their emotions. By strategically using colors that align with each client’s vision and values, we help them create a unique brand identity – and memorable customer experiences that drive results.