RISING WOMEN EXPERT ADVICE...

I’ve been in business for five years and want to refresh my logo, business cards and website. Is there a way I can do this without compromising my existing brand while keeping a tight budget?
    By Alicia Lucyszyn of Citrus Marketing Group

Spring time is around the corner. Spring cleaning, spring showers and spring flowers! We all look for new beginnings and fresh ideas in this time of year. Many businesses want to revive and refresh their company look without it being too costly and most importantly, without compromising their brand. Here are a few simple ways to refresh your business logo, corporate website or marketing material.

Firstly, make a budget that is within reach since this is only a “refresher” and not a full branding and marketing change.

Secondly, sit down with a marketing and advertising firm to determine what is important to you. For example, this can include changing your company business card by adding in a new background color or accent color to the existing design, and perhaps adding a slogan or tag line if you don’t already have one. Or maybe adding a couple key points to the card summarizing your service or product is all that is needed. To completely change your logo will be more costly since all marketing material may (or should) be revised to keep your brand consistent, however a color change to the logo without changing it entirely, is more cost effective.

Thirdly, update your website. This should be done frequently especially to keep your content up to date and relevant. Just like a house, your website needs an annual spring cleaning to make sure the technical building blocks are working properly so the site functions at peak performance. On a budget, you can easily revise the layout, change the font, choose a new color palette and refresh content. A few minor changes and updated content is vital. If your web content is stale, visitors will search elsewhere for the things they need. Studies show that sites that are updated regularly have more returning visitors and higher page views. Search engines will also give you more attention if you regularly update your pages with fresh content.

These few key points will keep your business and information fresh, up to date and pertinent for existing and potential clients. A few small and budget friendly changes that can be implemented this spring will bring positive and profitable results to your business.

For more advice on giving your business a visual facelift, contact Alicia Lucyszyn of Citrus Marketing Group at 403.863.6739 To learn more about Alicia’s services, visit her website at www.citrusmarketinggroup.com