Markeona’s provides its clients with a broad array of marketing services that cover every business’s marketing needs. All companies understand the importance of marketing and either have in house employees to take care of all marketing efforts or rely on an external supplier for marketing services. Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t really understand the difference between marketing, branding and advertising and tend to use these terms interchangeably. Markeona’s marketing services include:
All SERVICES
MARKETING SERVICES
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is responsible for increasing the business’s exposure and traffic through online social media sites. It entails creating accounts for each individual business on different social media and linking them to the business’s website to increase the traffic and achieve higher visibility. It also involves creating posts, ads and extensions on different social media channels. A very significant part of proper Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the strong presence through social media links. Social media marketing utilizes -but is not limited to- the following channels:
- Google Plus+
- Youtube
Copywriting
The content copywriting service includes creating content for company profiles, mission and vision statements, websites, print advertisements, advertorials, press releases, online banners, outdoor advertisements, forms, proposals, sales kits, gift vouchers, discount coupons and pay per click ads. content copywriting services also cover proof reading and editing which enhance sentence structuring, writing style and formatting. content copywriting for websites includes creating relevant content as well as keywords and descriptions that achieve higher rankings in search engine results known as ‘organic’ Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Marketing Consultancy
Marketing consultancy is a service responsible for helping businesses receive professional advice related to their products or service marketing matters. Markeona’s marketing consultancy service takes the form of one-on-one meetings with clients. During these meetings, a marketing consultant from Markeona acts as an external consultant providing expertise and advice for a variety of key marketing and branding decisions and processes. Marketing consultancy covers, but is not limited to:
- Marketing strategy
- Positioning statement
- Market segmentation
- Identifying competitive advantages
- Branding strategy
- Marketing material
- Online presence
Marketing Strategy
The marketing strategy identifies the goals that any given business needs to achieve through its marketing efforts. People often have difficulty understanding the difference between a marketing strategy and a marketing plan. To clearly identify what a marketing strategy is vs a marketing plan simply think of the strategy as the “what” and the plan as the “how”. The marketing strategy is “what” the business goals are, while the marketing plan is “how” the business intends to achieve its goals (marketing strategy) through its marketing efforts (marketing plan). The marketing strategy covers:
- Market Analysis
- Organization Analysis
- Industry Analysis
- Organization Mission
- Overall Objectives
- Marketing Objectives
- Financial Objectives
Marketing Planning
A marketing plan is a thorough blueprint which describes all the marketing efforts that any given organization needs to carry out to implement its marketing strategy. A marketing plan covers strategic marketing planning for the achievement of the clients’ short and long term business goals as set by the marketing strategy. A typical marketing plan covers:
- Mission Statement
- Goals and Objectives
- Competitive Advantages
- SWOT Analysis
- Industry Analysis
- Competitor Analysis
- SWOT Analysis
- Target Market
- Market Positioning
- Marketing Mix (4Ps, 4Cs, 7Ps or 7Cs)
Marketing Mix
The marketing mix is an essential marketing tool used to describe the brand’s product or service offering. The initial marketing mix was defined through the 4 Ps, those being: Product – Price – Place – Promotion. Recently with the rising awareness of the importance of customer driven organizations, the model was redefined through the 4Cs, these being: Commodity (Customer Needs) – Cost – Convenience – Communication.
For the newer models to incorporate the service offerings, the term 7Ps and 7Cs was introduced. The 7Ps “Extended Marketing Mix” adds: People – Process – Physical Evidence to the initial four. The 7Cs “Compass Model” places the Corporation and Competition in the center surrounded by: Commodity – Cost – Channel – Communication and then around these four comes: Customer – Circumstances.
Online Advertising
Online advertising, also often called internet advertising is a relatively new form of advertising that uses the internet to communicate promotional messages to the prospective customers. Channels for Online advertising include social media marketing, website banner advertising and search engine advertising. The most common types of ads include Pay Per Click ads (PPC), Pay Per Impression ads (CPM), pop up ads and banners. The service of Online advertising manages online ads by ensuring the proper verbal and visual look and feel of the ads and that they adhere to the brand identity and contain a strong content with an appealing catchy design. The service also includes market segmentation which identifies the right market segment/s that the business targets to ensure delivering the message to the right audience.
Pay Per Click Advertising
Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC), or Cost Per Click, is one of the strongest and most effective types of online advertising. It is designed in a way that the advertiser would only pay once the viewer actually Clicks on the ad as opposed to the Pay Per Impression (CPM) ads which would charge the advertiser for every time the ad was displayed to the viewer even if not clicked. Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC) is usually charged in a fixed cost per click or in the form of a bidding system, where the advertiser would bid on the click cost and accordingly get the number of times the ad is displayed. Some of the best channels for Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC) are Google AdWords and Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn, Yelp and YouTube’s Pay Per Watch.
BRANDING SERVICES
Markeona offers a comprehensive range of branding services designed to create a strong brand identity that identifies and differentiates a business and its products or services from other businesses. To create a strong brand, Markeona researches, analyses and defines different criteria that go into building the right brand identity which reflects the desired brand positioning. Markeona‘s branding services start with analyzing and understanding the customers’ needs and are concluded with managing the brand to ensure brand image consistency throughout every visual or verbal communication with the public. Markeona‘s branding services include:
- Branding Strategy
- Brand Identity Creation
- Brand Management
- Rebranding
- Graphic Design
- Print Production
- Print Advertising
- Photography & Photo Editing
Branding Strategy
The branding strategy is responsible for designing a plan to increase the brand equity and customer brand loyalty by enhancing the exposure for the brand in the market. In order to do that, the branding strategy often covers creating the brand’s vision, promise and competitive advantages. The brand’s competitive advantages also called competitive edges are what differentiate it from competitors in the eyes of customers and prospective customers. The branding strategy also identifies the brand’s position in the market according to the targeted market segment/s and how this is communicated both verbally and visually.
Brand Identity Creation
The brand identity is a combination of visual elements (name, logo, slogan, fonts, colors, etc…) that identify and differentiate a brand from other brands. The brand identity creation service involves brand concept creation, brand analysis, corporate naming, corporate color choice, font choice, logo design, word mark, symbol, slogan, shapes, styles, corporate identity and website look and feel. Markeona is also specialized in brand identity creation for specific businesses such as restaurants, cafés, doctor clinics and more. At the end of every brand identity creation project, Markeona produces a branding manual when requested by clients to use as a guideline for all future brand management and new material production.
Brand Management
Brand management is a process which creates a relationship between the brand’s products and/or services and the targeted market audience composed of customers and prospective customers. The ultimate goal for brand management is to build brand loyalty through customer satisfaction. Brand management covers the tangible elements of the brand’s products and/or services manifested in the actual quality, look, feel and price of the product or service as well as intangible elements such as the customer’s experience or emotional connection with the brand.
Rebranding
Rebranding involves creating a new brand identity for a company’s existing brand, product or service. It is often made to reposition the brand in the market with the goal of upgrading the brand’s image and moving it up the market. Another reason for rebranding is getting rid of an undesirable image associated with the initial branding in the minds of customers and prospective customers. Rebranding usually covers making minor or major changes to the brand’s name, logo, slogan, corporate colors, fonts, design look or one or more of these elements.
Graphic Design
Markeona’s graphic design service creates captivating designs that capture the prospective customer’s attention and portray the desired brand image. Creative graphic design concepts are custom made for: logos, corporate identity/stationary (business cards, letterheads, envelopes, folders, notepads, CD covers, etc…), catalogues, brochures, menus, flyers, sales kits, gift vouchers, discount coupons, restaurant branding, uniform branding, vehicle branding, event branding and product packaging. Markeona also utilizes out of the box, unique, conceptual graphic design ideas for print advertisements, outdoor advertisements, roll ups, online banners and pay per click ads.
Print Production
Print and production services include managing the entire printing and production processes from the moment the design is completed until the final product is delivered to the client’s premise. These services include all printed marketing materials as well as branded give-aways, signage light boxes, illuminated signs, outdoor directional signs, promotional display units, branded cladding for shops, branded uniforms, print vinyl for vehicle branding, branded product packages, branded event stands and laser print acrylic signage. Print and production services also cover advertising roll-ups, indoor display units and outdoor advertising units.
Print Advertising
The print advertising service is responsible for creating the design look and feel for any advertisement that is print on paper. The service also includes creating the content of the ad in terms of text and promotional message. The final product could be in the form of magazine advertisement, newsletter, brochure, flyer or any advertisement that is print on paper. The print advertising service covers choosing the right medium for advertising according the targeted market segment/s. Another criterion taken into consideration while working on print advertising designs is to ensure that the ad visual adheres to the brand identity and reflects the brand’s market position.
Photography & Photo Editing
Photography and photo editing services entail taking high quality photos needed for all marketing materials and making any necessary photo editing through Photoshop. They also cover photography for products, business interiors, employees or any required photos for websites, online publications or print publications. At times the client needs images that are not necessary shot from his actual products, in this case the image selection service is provided. This involves searching for high quality content relevant images and purchasing them exclusively for the client or finding free pictures through internet search with the availability of the photo editing service as well. Markeona’s photography and photo editing services always start with brainstorming with the client the image photography or selection criteria then choosing content relevant pictures accordingly.
SEO SERVICES
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a process which utilizes a set of tactics and techniques that higher the rank of a website making it appear on the earlier search results of search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, MSN, etc… The ultimate goal for SEO is to get more visitors to the website and accordingly increase its exposure and/or sales. Optimizing any given website usually involves editing its content to better match the most common keywords that people use to search for the product/service this website provides. Search Engine Optimization also includes creating certain relevant search keywords, page titles and descriptions that are placed in the website code to help search engines find these web pages. Other Search Engine Optimization tactics include removing the barriers that might be hindering search engine indexing and adding inbound back links to the website. Many more SEO tactics and strategies are used such as social media linking and online advertising.
- On Page Optimization
- Off Page Optimization
- Manual One Way Backlinks
- Manual Search Engine Submission
- Manual Directory Submission
- Blog Directory Submission
- Article Directory Submission
- SEO Maintenance
On Page Optimization
On Page Optimization is defined as all the activities that take place on the webpage itself. These include but are not limited to choosing the right domain name, writing rich and relevant website content, choosing the right keywords and utilizing the right tactics to highlight these keywords in the page content. For the On Page Optimization service, we start with a thorough research of our client’s industry, targeted markets and competitors before we attempt to start the optimization process. Through competitor analysis, we examine keywords that bring our client’s competition the highest traffic and add these to our list of suggested keywords. While doing On Page Optimization, Markeona’s team capitalizes on the most optimal SEO strategies through analyzing the different algorithms for the top search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo and MSN.
Off Page Optimization
Off Page Optimization covers all the activities that take place on other pages away from the given website page. This includes optimizing any webpage not through the website itself but rather through links pointing to the website such as backlinks or what are often called one way backlinks. Prior to doing Off Page Optimization, Markeona’s SEO specialists put a great amount of time into researching directories, blog directories, article directories, social media networks and keywords that are used for connecting our clients’ websites to such forums. After this phase is completed, Markeona’s team proceeds with social media optimization which composes a huge building block for Off Page Optimization.
One Way Backlinks
One way backlinks are links that point to any given webpage from another page not on the same website. It also means that the page which has the link pointing to it doesn’t point back to that external link. The reason one way backlinks are so important for link building and Off-page Optimization is because search engines view these one way backlinks as a form of vote or recommendation pointing to this webpage. This is considered by search engines to be more credible than reciprocal links which simply means a two way link pointing to a site and back from it. This is usually done through an agreement between the two websites which search engines devalue and consider spam. Other techniques for link building include article submissions, free Blogs and directory submissions.
Search Engine Submission
Manual search engine submission refers to manually submitting a website to search engines so that the pages on this website can be indexed by search engines for visitors to be able to find this site. It is very important to submit any website to the main search engines and others not just to Google because Bing, Yahoo and MSN still get millions of visitors so do many more less famous search engines that are still used by certain visitors. The reason Manual search engine submission is so much more effective than using an automated software tool is that search engines recognize the submission practice and prefer the Manual submission to protect themselves against spam. It takes anywhere between one to four weeks for the submitted web pages to be indexed in search engines. That is more of a reason why Manual search engine submission actually saves time as it ensures that the pages do get indexed after this waiting period and don’t need to be resubmitted if the indexing fails through the automated software tool.
Manual Directory Submission
Manual directory submission is the process of manually submitting a website to searchable online directories. This process is an integral part of link building for Off-page Optimization as it helps search engines find the submitted website and identify it as more important than other non directory indexed websites. Because there are thousands of page results for any given keyword, search engines evaluate these results to determine which are more valuable and accordingly give them a higher rank. Websites that are properly indexed and categorized in online directories are perceived by search engines to be more valuable and deserve a higher rank. Now, the reason Manual directory submission is the preferred submission choice verses automated software tools is that these tools are often used by spammers which is why link directories don’t accept this method of submission. The directories want to ensure keeping themselves clean and that is why Manual directory submission is the only practice which guarantees that the website submissions will be approved.
Blog Directory Submission
Blog directory submission refers to the activity of submitting the posts of a certain website’s blog in online directories. A blog is a webpage on which visitors write comments and opinions related to a particular blog post. Blog posts are placed or regular basis and this is why a blog is more dynamic and more valued by search engines than regular web pages that are not updated as often. Search engines love fresh data and newly posted information and accordingly give it a higher rank than stagnant data. The reason blog directory submission is crucial to achieving a higher rank is that when a blog’s posts are indexed in a blog directory this helps search engines find these posts so much faster through the directory than had it been trying to find them independently. Furthermore, blog directory submission helps attract more traffic to the website blog which increases the number of visitors to the website in general leading to a higher rank.
Article directory submission
Article directory submission is the process of submitting articles related to the website topic containing the website link into online article directories. An online article directory is a directory that compiles a collection of articles written about different subjects. The reason article writing and submission is so important to search engine rank is that it is perceived by visitors as general information not marketing or advertising material. Visitors find it more credible and rely on it as a source of information. Article directory submission allows visitors to find their search keyword/s related articles quickly through these dedicated article directories. In addition to that, each article including the website link can be utilized by other websites that might use it to educate their visitors which in turn counts as more backlinks and supports Off page Optimization. Article directory submission also helps the website by publishing each article on an individual webpage which strengthens the backlink quality and makes search engines love it even more.
WEB SERVICES
Web Design
Web Design
Markeona’s web design service covers designing websites that portray an image of value and credibility for the brand as well as attract audience. Markeona creates custom web designs and user friendly interfaces which are tailored to accommodate future website additions and expansions. For our clients’ at most convenience, our interaction designers combine their experience in visual design and information architecture to produce a website wireframe for every project. This shows the client the web pages layout representing website site map content and navigational systems. Wireframes also allow the quick production of page prototypes that facilitate client’s decision making for approval or requesting modifications. Once approved, our team presents the client a mock up with visual colors, graphics, fonts and all style elements composing the web design.
Web Development
Web Development
Markeona’s web development service covers all programming languages, interactive elements, databases and Content Management Systems (CMS) nowadays imperative for mastering all web function requirements and facilitating website expansions. Web development programming languages include HTML, PHP, CSS, JavaScript, Flash and jQuery. Content management systems include Joomla, Drupal and WordPress. We also provide Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to ensure our clients’ websites the proper rank on search engines that their businesses deserve. Web development services are also available with content management systems that allow the client full control over editing, adding or deleting text or image content.
ADVERTISING SERVICES
Markeona’s offering for advertising services includes a select choice of the most commonly needed advertising tools and methods used in today’s modern world. Advertising is no longer restricted to television ads, radio ads and newspaper ads, there is now a whole new world of instantaneous, cost effective and creative modern advertising methods. Markeona’s advertising services focus on the smart, low cost advertising channels that allow target focusing and instantaneous results. Markeona’s advertising services include:
Online Advertising
Pay Per Click Advertising PPC
Print Advertising
Online Advertising
Online advertising, also often called internet advertising is a relatively new form of advertising that uses the internet to communicate promotional messages to the prospective customers. Channels for Online advertising include social media marketing, website banner advertising and search engine advertising. The most common types of ads include Pay Per Click ads (PPC), Pay Per Impression ads (CPM), pop up ads and banners. The service of Online advertising manages online ads by ensuring the proper verbal and visual look and feel of the ads and that they adhere to the brand identity and contain a strong content with an appealing catchy design. The service also includes market segmentation which identifies the right market segment/s that the business targets to ensure delivering the message to the right audience.
Pay Per Click Advertising
Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC), or Cost Per Click, is one of the strongest and most effective types of online advertising. It is designed in a way that the advertiser would only pay once the viewer actually Clicks on the ad as opposed to the Pay Per Impression (CPM) ads which would charge the advertiser for every time the ad was displayed to the viewer even if not clicked. Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC) is usually charged in a fixed cost per click or in the form of a bidding system, where the advertiser would bid on the click cost and accordingly get the number of times the ad is displayed. Some of the best channels for Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC) are Google AdWords and Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn, Yelp and YouTube’s Pay Per Watch.
Print Advertising
The print advertising service is responsible for creating the design look and feel for any advertisement that is print on paper. The service also includes creating the content of the ad in terms of text and promotional message. The final product could be in the form of magazine advertisement, newsletter, brochure, flyer or any advertisement that is print on paper. The print advertising service covers choosing the right medium for advertising according the targeted market segment/s. Another criterion taken into consideration while working on print advertising designs is to ensure that the ad visual adheres to the brand identity and reflects the brand’s market position.