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WEBSITE NOT BRINGING IN SALES?

Our twenty part checklist will help you identity which areas of your site may need some help…

Increase sales and leads

Increase sales and leads
hello@refiine.co.uk
02380 275253

refiine vs Lockdown 3.0

2021 may have started off with the longest lockdown ever, but things are starting to really look up now and we wanted to reflect on some of our memories of lockdown #3.0!

We all got outside. Way more than usual!

January kicked off with a 200,000 steps challenge using Stridekick. The team tried as hard as they could to kickstart the year by being healthy and appreciating the outdoors, we set ourselves an individual challenge of 20K steps. Together, we walked over 1,000 miles. Our senior graphic designer Jason nearly made 400,000 steps alone!

 

Some of us ran 10k.

Look what arrived in the post today! 💙🏅

One month ago our Co-Founder Brad, and Marketing Coordinator Ash ran 10k for…

Posted by Refiine on Thursday, 4 March 2021

 

 

We learnt to cook.

In February, we tried and tested new recipes each week to try and impress each other with. We submitted our ‘Rate My Plate’ entries each Monday and voted for our favourites. Masterchef Magda was crowned ‘Queen of the Kitchen’, scoring the most points in this challenge.

 

…and we baked!

Congratulations to our head of creative Simon for creating this ‘on brand’ masterpiece!

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by refiine (@refiinemarketing)

We also hopped on the yoga trend.

We know the physical benefits of Yoga – improved strength, balance and flexibility. But what about for our mental wellbeing? Yoga has been proven to reduce levels of stress and anxiety in the workplace, and in a time where self care is so important we’ve started to feel the benefits on a weekly basis. Our Thursday remote yoga sessions with the 21six Group, hosted by the lovely Natalie Penniall, have gone down a treat!

The first quarter of 2021 has been different to what we are used to, but we’ve enjoyed taking on new challenges, and learning new things that will stay with us post lockdown.

But now, we’re looking forward to our first team get-together, in person!

Turn your website visitors into paying customers

Do you love your website but you’re not sure why it isn’t bringing you many customers? Maybe you’ve completely optimised your site so that it is ready to sell, but somehow you’re still behind.

Let’s make sure the tools to help your interested prospects become paying customers, are working for you.

Call to action buttons 

Firstly, it needs to be easy for web visitors to know what they need to do, in order to solve their problems. For example, if your business is a dental practice, and there’s no obvious “book an appointment” or “schedule your check up” button on site, you’ll probably lose your leads before you can even find out who they are. People don’t like complicated websites or having to make effort to find out what they need to do to solve their problem for themselves. So make sure they have no excuses… put a solid call to action button on your site. If you need help doing this, click here.

Pop-ups

People shouldn’t have to think too hard when viewing a website, and so a pop-up can be a perfect solution to give them that push to do what you want them to do, and save them any thinking time. While pop-ups can sometimes be frustrating, there are some clever ways to implement these. Try putting pop-ups on your site that appear after specific actions, such as the intent to exit your site. As their mouse movement signals the intent to leave, that’s the point to push a pop up with your discount code, or your free download, where you can then capture this visitors name and email address – and they become a lead. You can also set pop-ups to appear after a certain amount of time is spent on the site. This way you aren’t bombarding your visitor the second they visit your site, nor are you pushing them away before they have the chance to get to know you.

Transitional CTA’s

Less pushy than pop-ups or impulsive as a normal call to action are ‘Transitional Call to Action’ buttons.

A transitional call to action comes after the direct call to action, and offers people a less “risky” path to doing business with you. It gives you the opportunity to deepen the relationship first. Transitional CTA examples can be ‘Start your free trial today’ (like on Netflix) or ‘Download our free PDF today’ (like on our site). These transitional CTA’s help to build trust, reciprocity and strong brand awareness, and by offering these less risky options to your clients, you are placing them at the start of their buying journey with you. Once they have provided their contact details in order to receive their free offering, you have the ability to help guide them to solving what it is that they need. 

Nurturing emails

…and one way you can help guide your potential client is by sending them nurturing emails. Once you have their email, follow up with a kickback email that retains their interest in the content they were reading on your site. These nurturing emails could direct them to information sourced and insights on your site that you think may help them, further pushing them down the sales funnel, creating brand recognition, and a stronger relationship.

To summarise, you can have the best designed, developed, visually appeasing, functional, up to date site, but if you don’t push your website visitors in the direction you want them to go, you could be losing out on a lot of business potential.

A day in the life of a Graphic Designer

A Day in the Life of a Graphic Designer

Have you ever wondered what it is like to just be creative the whole damn day for your job? See how our Senior Graphic Designer Jason describes his average day 👇

07:30 AM Good morning! The day starts. Or so, the commute rather. Pre-covid I’d spend my commute listening to relaxing music or the news before it was time to switch on at 9am. However, now we are working from home, my commute is slightly different, but still a very important part of my day. I still leave the house every morning to fill my lungs with fresh air, look for inspirations around me and piece together solutions that may be needed for the day ahead. 

08:30 AM is coffee time. Black. Strong. No sugar. The way it should be! And perhaps a bit of toast to feed the brain.

08:45 AM They say being 15 minutes early is on time. For me this means 15 minutes to catch up with emails and prioritise my tasks for the day. This leaves me with a clear focus and less stress when 9am comes around, ready to face new ideas and challenges for the day ahead. Organising my tasks in advance is the key to ensure I have a structured plan set in place for the day – a routine that never seems to fail!

09:00 AM The morning video call meeting commences! At Refiine we have maintained a light hearted catch up every day at 9am this year since the coronavirus wreaked havoc. Only for 10 minutes or so to keep each other in the loop and up to date with all ongoing projects, and just general keeping in touch/staying sane kind of thing of course…

09:10 AM It’s showtime. As a designer it is not all new conceptual, arty and wacky concepts, you have to remember in a commercial environment there is a business behind all of it so working in an efficient manner is of utmost importance as well as producing fantastic design work. Whether it be new ideas or simply amending existing work, or even repetitions, working smart but with passion are great values to have. I find it best to focus on one project at a time so that each design is dedicated to my full creative attention.

10:00 AM means it is time to turn on some tunes to keep the creativity flowing until the next….

11.00 AM coffee break. Oh and water.. hydration really is key.

13:00 PM is lunchtime/screen break time. As a designer dedicated to their work, staring at details on a screen for hours causes strain on your eyes. Giving your brain a time – out is so important, not only for a clearer mind but having the concentration to produce your best work.

Oh, and so is eating lunch.

14:00 PM from here until 5.30pm the day usually consists of jobs just getting done. Jobs being worked on, ones that are completed, or in progress. There is no ‘I’ in ‘team’, so it is important to have the ability to coordinate among different departments as we are all working for the same goal. Being a designer in today’s world means you have to be multi-disciplined and have the ability to assist and adapt wherever is needed, as well as understanding what your peers strengths and weaknesses are too. Let’s get the last push of the day done 💪

17:30 PM Home time right? In an industry that never sleeps that isn’t always the case, but the brain does need a recharge so if deadlines permit, it’s time to wind down and prepare for the journey home. In our current situation that may mean switching off and listening to music or the news.

18:15 PM Dinner.. or work? Well, work should be left at work, after all that’s why you left the office at 5.30 right? Well, of course but I find it is still good to chat with your loved ones at home so they know how you feel, and what kind of day you’ve had, as that helps with the work/life balance… so talking work is good. I love to cook, so being creative with food is a good way to unwind and get away from the screen and free up your brain for a while. Time to get creative with cooking, and talk about work.

19:00 PM Exercise. For me this is important, keeping healthy helps me deal with life. Outside of work, we designers still have to cope, and solve other issues in our day to day lives so it’s important to relax, and after a workout of whatever sort (whether it be 20 minutes of relaxing yoga or an intense crossfit session!) it helps to unwind so you can let your body prepare for the next day.

3 key tips to ‘refiining’ your website copy

The copy you write for your website (or any marketing collateral), has a strong impact on your sales figures. You’ve optimised your website to convey your brand story, your website homepage is simplified, clear and flows well, and you’ve nailed your tagline. But you’re not done yet.

The fact is, pretty looking websites alone don’t sell things, words sell things.

The human brain is drawn to clarity, hence the importance to be clear, not clever with your copy. The simpler your copy, the easier it is for the brain to digest, and the more likely it is you will keep your visitors’s attention.

Tip #1 – Understand your customer’s pain points

    • Understanding your customer’s problem is vital in delivering a clear message. You need position yourself as their ‘guide’ who can fix it.

Let’s say you’re a landscape gardener. Your customers don’t just want turf for their lawn, they want an amazing looking garden that makes them feel proud. By including copy that focuses on the benefits of your service (which would be having a nice outdoor space, for great relaxing, adventuring or entertaining) rather than the features (lawn-mowing, patio laying, fencing…boring! 😴) you’re helping them visualise their desired outcome.

Your powerful tagline that places the customer at the centre of the story could be… “A lawn that makes your neighbours jealous!“.

 

Tip #2 – Be clear and not clever.

      • Readers have a general tendency to skim what is in front of them. Therefore if you have a longer narrative, it is a good idea to not only break up your copy with paragraphs, but with testimonials and imagery too.  Images can say a lot about your brand and who you are as a company, and testimonials help clients to paint the picture of your brand story, and the successes they can also achieve with your help. Keep it as simple, relevant, and concise as possible. As Jay Abraham famously advises:

        Make your copy straightforward to read, understand and use. Use easy words; those that are used for everyday speech. Use phrases that are not too imprecise and very understandable. Do not be too stuffy; remove pompous words and substitute them with plain words. Minimize complicated gimmicks and constructions. If you can’t give the data directly and briefly, you must consider writing the copy again.

Tip #3 – ‘refiine’ your copy.

      • Read your copy aloud to somebody else. This is a good way to check for unclear sentences, overused words and make sure that the copy reads well and makes sense.
      • Get somebody else to proofread for typos. Perhaps somebody out of your industry, who is not familiar with content and therefore more likely to pick up on things such as spelling mistakes. It is easy to miss these little mistakes when you have been reading the same paragraphs day in and day out.
      • Be clear. Not clever. Cut it down, and spread it out. Delete any waffle or too much repetition.
      • Integrate paragraphs to avoid your prospective clients losing interest or giving up trying really hard to read between all the lines.

1 Minute With Simon

What’s your role at Refiine? 

Head of Creative. 

Where were you before you joined us at refine?

I was Head of Creative at another agency! 

What one moment in your life are you most proud of?

The Bloukrans Bridge Bungee Jump, South Africa (highest bridge bungee in the world)

I did this to conquer my fear of heights, whilst it was an amazing experience it didn’t do much to conquer that fear!

Who would be your dream client?

National Trust, I’d love to be involved with a company that works so hard to preserve the amazing nature/landscapes that surrounds us.

We have a family membership and I always look to see how their branding evolves, packaging solutions that overcome plastic etc. 

Dream holiday destination?

Family holiday to Lapland, Finland. 

I love the thought of staying in a glass igloo with snow all around.

Favourite thing about working at refiine?

Working with a great team of people that help and support each other in difficult times. This only makes you want to work harder for your team.

What’s your favourite quote?

‘Less is more’ 

I first heard this at university in various creative marketing books. Throughout my career I always tell myself this when working on creative projects – it’s very true and I feel it improves my work.

First thing you are going to do when we’re out of lockdown?

Go for a swim! This is my time and keeps me feeling positive, I sometimes plan my day or think of my best ideas when I’m swimming lengths of the pool. 

And lastly, what’s the one song you’re going to add to the team’s Spotify playlist when we’re back in the office?! 

‘The Crazy Train’ (from the Trolls film).

My kids love it and it will always remind me of the good times we’ve had during lockdown.

Three BIG mistakes to avoid when writing a tagline for your business

Your tagline is simply a short, memorable phrase that conveys your brands message, USP, personality and identity. The purpose of taglines are to provide clarity, and for your consumers to feel a sense of connection to your brand, so therefore, they are pretty important to get right!

There are multiple resources out there highlighting the good and successful taglines used in business across the world, and how to create yours, but just before you do that, we wanted to warn you about what it is you need to avoid.

Using technical jargon

There is nothing wrong with insider terminology…when it stays inside. But for your clients and prospects on the outside, it’s imperative to communicate on their level. If you don’t, they will lose interest and focus on your competitor who is saving them time and energy in understanding what they want.

Keep your tagline as concise as possible whilst making sense as to what it is you are offering. At refiine, we offer a whole array of marketing services, from search engine optimization, to HTML emails and packaging design. We’re also part of a wider communications group which allows us to expand our offerings to videography, printing & publishing services. However, in order to avoid confusion, we appeal directly to what the client wants (which is essentially marketing services that do their job, and sell right?)

“Grow your business with captivating designs and websites that sell”

…and once that is understood, the client can then allow themselves to read further into our website/offering, or reach out to find out more about the specific service they want and learn all about the techy jargon that comes with that.

When you are trying to teach a child to read, you wouldn’t start by opening the doomsday book. So why try to communicate with your clients using language they won’t understand, and will lose interest in the process?

Be clear, not clever.

Being too smart

When trying to create taglines without any insider terminology, don’t fall into the trap of making it too cryptic to figure out either.

High street lingerie brand Victoria’s secret were criticised for their cryptic tagline “A body for everybody”. Whilst this can be interpreted as brand inclusive for every body shape and size, for someone who does not know the global brand well or purchase often, it can be slightly misleading, and it doesn’t give away any indication of the products they sell. Victoria’s secret sells underwear and clothes right? Not bodies…

So nowadays, you’ll see the tagline “Lingerie made to be seen”, which appears way more obvious and gives out the clear message that their lingerie is sexy and appealing enough ‘to be seen’.

Talking about yourself too much

How mind-numbingly boring is it when you’re having a conversation with another person, and all they do is talk constantly about themselves? Wouldn’t life just be easier if you could walk away from these kinds of people without feeling rude? Luckily, when it’s a brand or a company talking about themselves, you can! More brands have people walk away and lose interest than you could imagine.

Take this example. An imaginary children’s activity book publisher has a tagline “one of the UK’s leading Children’s book publishers”. It sounds impressive and certainly positive, but compared to the tagline “Fun content that keeps your child ahead of the class” which one appeals more to the needs and wants of the client? The second one of course, because the client wants a product that is going to do the best for their child and dreams of their child getting good grades and being successful. That doesn’t mean to say that being a leading children’s book publisher isn’t important, but this information just doesn’t belong in your tagline.

So to wrap it up, put yourself in the clients shoes, think about what they want and understand, and don’t overthink your tagline so much that it ends up being in a different language!


think. create. achieve.

hello@refiine.co.uk
02380 275253

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