5 Predicitions for 2015

You've probably read a post or two that recaps the past year (yes, we did one of those, too.) But now that it's 2015, it's time to start looking ahead instead of behind.

It's time to make plans, to get prepared for the future, and to build a strategy that helps make this year more successful than the last.

None of us can see the future, but we can make some predictions that will help guide our paths based on trends, new areas seeing growth, and by evaluating what works (as well as what doesn't anymore.)

Here are a few of our predictions for marketing in 2015:

1. Paid Advertising on Social Media

Facebook has already jumped into paid advertising with both feet and even announced that in 2015, business pages will pretty much have to pay if they want their promotional materials to be seen by, well, anyone. The good news is Facebook's advertising platform has improved dramatically over the past year and enables pages to target users better than ever before.

But you can expect to see this trend continue to grow on other platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, too. As all of these social networks find their footing with revenue-generating opportunities, advertising seems to be the first area they'll push.

2. More Copywriting, More Content

Content Marketing is no longer just for the early adopters. Everyone is doing it, and if you're still not, it's time to get on board. 2015 should be a year in which you regularly publish valuable blog content, create lead generators (like free eBooks, templates, checklists, etc.) and start collecting email addresses so you can stay in touch with your audience and help them through the sales funnel.

3. Video, Video, Video

Online video is quickly becoming one of the most powerful marketing tools throughout social media. Old and new platforms like Vine, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and many others are making video creation easier than ever. And since video combines both audio and visual elements, you can communicate a powerful, concise message in just a few seconds.

4. Influencer Collaboration

One of the most popular ways to expand the reach of any marketing effort is to partner with a powerful, relevant voice within your target community. Whether that means collaborating with a popular blogger, YouTuber, or Podcaster, finding ways to connect with new audiences starts in this arena.

5. The Growing Importance of Design

Design has always been important, but now it's becoming critical to businesses' success. The everyday consumer is valuing it and taking it into consideration when make purchases or signing up for products. A recent study found that design was a reason that 46% of people trusted a website. If you have a website, marketing materials, or social media presence, it may be time to refresh the look.

As you look forward into 2015, think about the areas you can surge ahead and get on board with new strategies before your competitors. Don't rush it, but do your homework and see how you can thoughtfully transition into new territory.

What would you add to this list? Send us your suggestions at @wearelumen on Twitter.

You Need Email Marketing...Today

You've probably been told before that having an e-newsletter is one of the best marketing tools out there, right? Well, if not, it's true.

That's why today, we want to explain in a bit more detail why you need to start collecting email addresses and sending weekly or monthly e-newsletters.

Let's get right to it.

1. The numbers

You might want some hard facts and numbers on why you should be investing your time and energy into yet another online marketing venture. We've got those.

• People who buy products marketed through email spend 138% more than people who do not receive email offers.

• 91% of people check their email daily.

Many companies view email marketing as a better return on investment than many other marketing efforts such as online advertising and direct mail marketing.

So, your audience is using this medium. They have emails come through right to their phones, which is on them at all times. Why wouldn't you want to tap into that type of connection?

2. Buttons = Buyers

With email newsletters, you're able to not only create the content, but design it. Email newsletters today can showcase your offering with beautiful text and images as well as include a call to action button. Call to action buttons help scanning email readers find what they need quickly and efficiently. Any time you can help a potential customer make a conversion (to buy a product, sign up for an event, etc.) it's good news.

Think about it: When you open your emails, don't you just want to get to the good part? You're not always reading word for word--you're on a mission to get that coupon code or buy tickets to see your favorite band. Give your reader a button that leads them right where you want them (with no other distractions.)

3. Control

Social media is extremely helpful as a tool for communicating with your audience, but email gives you much more control over how your content is seen. With the limitations on Facebook business pages of who sees what posts organically and the ever-moving stream of content on Twitter, it can be easy to get lost in the crowd.

But with email, your message gets equal weight and is just as important as every other message that comes to an inbox. Tie in an interesting subject line that informs the recipient of a direct benefit to opening and reading more, and you've established a relationship with your customer.

4. Automation

One of the beautiful things about email marketing is that there are many options for automation. So while you're free to focus your time on new projects, your system helps manage customer correspondence efficiently and keeps you in touch with both old and new acquaintances. 

These four reasons are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the benefits of email marketing. We hope you'll take the time to sign up for our bi-weekly e-newsletter below to learn more helpful tips and tricks in the future.

A Year in Review

This month marks the one year anniversary of Lumen. And over the past 12 months, Brandon and I have learned a wealth of information about running a business, so I wanted to share a few of those insights today.

1. Working with clients & efficiency

In the beginning, we started with a very concentrated base of clients, but then grew to working with over a dozen different businesses at various times this past year. As the workload and variety of tasks expanded, we realized efficiency was a top priority.

To streamline our processes while ensuring a high level of quality, we implemented a few different tactics:

• Using more software and apps to help track, monitor, and stay on top of tasks & accounting

• Improved on defining each project's scope and timeline for completion

• Incorporating scheduling tools to have content published at the optimal times

As a team of two, these tactics helped us make sure we had ample time for project completion, that we weren't tied to manually publishing every piece of content, and that we were automating our processes as much as possible to cut down on unnecessary man hours.

2. Valuing time

Another insight we learned quite a bit about was in the value of time.

I think that in the beginning, I personally felt like I had ample time to dedicate to assignments and there was little pressure to get things done quickly. But as our client base grew, time became a very precious resource.

So, we made a change. We experimented with pricing changes. I boosted my hourly rate for copywriting. Due to the results that our work was producing for our clients,  this change was met with little opposition.  We also began to take on less work. Thankfully, that reduced workload meant we had more time to dedicate to quality work for those who saw value in our product.

3. Speaking

Becoming known as a trusted expert in our field was one of our goals when we first started out. And one of the best ways to do that was to get some public speaking engagements. Over the first year, we represented Lumen at:

• Benedictine University

• The Illinois Women in Leadership Symposium

• @Midwest Social Media Conference

• Central Illinois Volunteerism Conference

We plan to continue expanding our reach through these public speaking opportunities and already have some new, exciting events for the next year.

4. Achievements

We weren't sure what to expect going into this business, but were delighted to see some goals achieved this year. And no, we aren't too humble to share a few examples of how exactly we helped some of our clients.

• One of our articles was featured by LinkedIn Pulse and resulted in 200% more leads for our client as a result.

• Another article earned the #1 spot in Google search and has dramatically impacted that business's website visits.

• A Facebook ad campaign (with a small budget) we oversaw garnered 3,200 new unique visitors to a client's website.

• Our social media management helped a non-profit sell out several events, gather invaluable partner feedback, and enlist new volunteers throughout the year.

• Helped grow a client's Facebook page by an additional 15,000 likes through a targeted campaign.

Through advanced tools and tracking, we're able to see how those increased website visits translate into sales and increased brand awareness.

This first year in business has been exciting, challenging, and a fantastic learning experience. This jump into small business ownership was scary at first, but has been more rewarding than we ever expected. 2015 will be even better.