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As the digital landscape evolves, trends and staples in the digital marketing world are changing with it. Since 1987, our mission at Neff is to make our customers’ brands more successful. We’re a one-stop shop for all your marketing wants and needs. Along with winning countless awards, we’ve found ourselves listed as one of the top rated companies on Clutch. We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve been selected as a top Pennsylvania B2B company in advertising and marketing!
Based in Washington, D.C., Clutch connects users with other agencies to tackle their business challenges. The company covers a variety of service lines, ranking providers on their past experience, market research, and client reviews. Clutch is an objective platform that collects a myriad of feedback about skilled firms, just like us. Clients interviews are an important piece of the awards process. Thanks to help of our clients, we’ve received consistent 5-star ratings.
Our social media has grown, and impressions, comments, and page visitors have all improved significantly… We’ve seen growth across all the campaigns they’re involved in.
Ashley Dennon, Oliver Heating, Cooling, Plumbing & Electrical
In addition to our rave reviews on Clutch, we can be found on both of their sister sites. The Manifest, a business news and how-to website, has our company recognized as one of the top 35 web development companies in Philadelphia. We’re also listed on Visual Objects, their newest platform. Visual Objects is a portfolio site that showcases the best work from top creative agencies.
The CEO of Neff commented: “the entire Neff team is excited to be recognized as a Clutch Leader!” We’re thankful for our clients and their involvement. Their reviews are crucial to our success. Contact us to see how we can creatively-spark your company’s brand.
When it comes to branding, the benefits are hard to overstate. So it’s almost as though it isn’t a question of why small businesses should brand, but why not.
Branding is all about communicating with your customer. It’s about telling them who you are, what you do, what they can expect, and creating a relationship with them. Each and every point of contact with a customer is an opportunity to grow your brand.
There are myriad factors that go into branding and just as many positives that can result. In this article we will look not only at why branding is a smart idea to begin with but why it’s so important for small businesses in Penn State.
Branding Gives Your Business A Visual Identity
Many think of branding as the visual aspect of a company, such as a logo design or the font choice for the sign. And those things are definitely included in a brand.
But they aren’t the only factors that define your brand.
A well-designed and memorable logo, a catchy name in a user-friendly font, a useful and informative website, a presence on social media — all of these are parts of your brand. And all of them should coordinate to create a harmonious visual identity.
Creating a style manual for your brand and sticking to it across all platforms will help to build your brand and make it instantly recognizable.
A style manual will include everything from a selection of fonts and sizes, to a style of graphics, to your color palette.
Each of these aspects carries a weight of importance for your brand.
Just as some examples:
• 92% of consumers say that visuals are the most important factor in purchasing.
• Web users have two major complaints – font choice and low contrast.
• 80% of consumers believe that color enhances brand recognition.
Branding Helps Your Business To Stand Out From The Competition
The Small Business Development Center of Pennsylvania defines any business with fewer than 500 employees as a small business, though most have 100 or fewer. Obviously, that covers a lot of business sizes!
The US Small Business Administration states that Pennsylvania has one million small businesses. In a single quarter of the year 2015, more than six and a half thousand small businesses were started. Though Penn State, in general, has a slightly smaller growth rate for businesses than the national average, that’s still a hefty amount of competition for our local businesses.
Branding is key to making your business stand out from the rest.
Just as mentioned above, the visual aspect of branding can do the most to differentiate your business from anything that comes close — as long as you pay attention to the competition, and steer clear of any possible look-alikes in terms of your style manual.
Branding Helps To Establish The Personality And Values Of Your Business
Since branding is about more than just the look of things, there must be more factors to consider apart from the visual, right?
Absolutely.
Branding also helps to define the personality of your brand. It communicates to the viewer what they can expect, not only from the goods and services you provide but from your business itself.
So it’s vital that you know what the personality of your business is before you get into setting your brand.
Is your business warm and friendly? Trustworthy and reliable? Unique and quirky?
Along with your style manual, the content that you create for your website and social media accounts will help to establish that personality. And people are much more likely to trust and engage with a brand when they know and like the personality behind it.
The personality of your brand will also help to establish and promote the values and goals that drive your business. And 64% of consumers state that “shared values” are actually the main reason behind their loyalty to a certain brand.
All of that adds up to customer loyalty because they know and like your brand.
Branding In Pennsylvania
This has just been a very brief overview of a few aspects of branding. Obviously, there’s a lot more to it.
And just thinking about everything that can — and should — be done can get overwhelming!
Luckily, there’s never been a better time for a small business to brand. With everything from DIY online software to marketing specialists available, even a business branding beginner has a great chance at success.
Author Bio
Emily Woodward is a digital marketing executive who follows her passion for writing via freelance work.
Companies looking to reach today’s typical consumer have a myriad of ways of doing so. From digital copy on smartphones and display advertising in print to eye-pleasing websites and enticing emails hitting their inbox, there’s no one “right” way to get the message across. There’s just one problem: Finding the full-service marketing agency capable of working on multiple fronts simultaneously – and producing results-driven products in the process.
Enter Neff Associates and the 30 awards for excellence this Old City, Philadelphia-based firm picked up last year. Neff’s branding, public relations, social media, videography as well as its website design and development departments were all recognized with awards in local and national competitions. Not bad for the firm founded 30 years ago and clearly committed to staying ahead of the curve to this very day.
“Our team is proud to save our client’s time and resources by offering all of our services in-house,” said David Neff, president and CEO of Neff Associates. “Each department delivers strategic and innovative work that leads to compelling, and award-winning results.”
Here’s why your company should consider the all-inclusive offerings of a full-service marketing agency:
Art and its message: Design, branding and videography efforts by our combined art departments were recognized in various competitions in 2018. The W³ Awards, for example, gave us “gold” awards for TV commercials and video projects we produced for our clients. If your company is considering multimedia as a way to reach potential customers, knowing that you’ve got an award-winning full-service firm on your side should instill confidence in the final product.
Poignant and to the point: Neff took home “gold” honors from Bulldog Awards for its social media and public relations campaigns in 2018. This competition, which is judged by journalists who are no stranger to pitches of varying quality, celebrates “the best and brightest in corporate communications and public relations,” according to its website.
Invested locally: When running an intensive marketing campaign, tweaks to the plan are probably going to be needed. Those in New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania have an immediate and accessible partner in Neff. It’s no wonder why the Philadelphia Business Journal bestowed two awards upon our agency in 2018 and The Philadelphia Inquirer recognized the good we’re doing, too. What makes more sense: Dropping by the office for a visit or calling your marketing company that’s in a different time zone when time is of the essence?
With a recently-built in-house photography studio among new offerings for 2019, this year is already shaping up to be another productive and successful one. If your company needs a reason to hire a full-service marketing agency in 2019, Neff Associates has 30 of ‘em.
Since 1987, we’ve specialized in branding, advertising, and web design becoming one of the most prominent public relations firms in our area. We tailor our recommendations to our clients’ needs, knowing that every business faces unique challenges and targets specific customers. No project is too large or too small for. Our consistent performance has caught the eyes of Clutch, a B2B ratings and reviews firm based in the heart of Washington DC. They’ve recently featured us in their 2019 report on the top agencies in Philadelphia. The full list of leaders was published on 27 March.
“The Neff team is proud to be recognized by Clutch as one of Philadelphia’s branding leaders in 2019,” said David Neff, President and CEO of Neff Associates. “Our agency strives to continually deliver thoughtful, impactful branding solutions for our clients, and to be featured among our respected industry peers is an honor.”
Clutch is dedicated to connecting businesses of all sizes to business solutions and services providers that will help them overcome their next business hurdle. They evaluate thousands of businesses across a variety of sectors based on their technical capabilities, market presence, and unbiased client reviews. Based on this evaluation, we’ve been named among the top 15 branding agencies in Philadelphia! A Leaders Matrix provides a broad overview of the top performing companies in a particular industry or location. We’re proud to be in such good company on this vetted list.
Without a doubt, we’ve reached this level of acclaim and credibility in the industry because of our clients. Unlike other industry awards, which evaluate a specific account or project, Clutch weights client feedback the most. Our clients have spoken directly to Clutch analysts, and were prompted to discuss the services we provided, our business acumen, project management skills, and other relevant criteria. As the COO of an architecture firm noted in their review, “the project has been a tremendous success, and we’re very happy with the new website.”
These reviews have also led to our presence Clutch’s sister sites: The Manifest and Visual Objects. The Manifest is a business news and how-to site that provides industry reports and other metrics that helps businesses narrow their search for their next provider. We are listed among the best web designers in Philadelphia, along with a recent project and list of our notable clientele.
But reviews are not the only significant criteria in the buyer’s purchasing journey, which is where Visual Objects comes in. Visual Objects is a portfolio website for creative, design, and development agencies to display their work, helping businesses visualize a future project before hiring their next business partner. The top brand consultants are listed alongside some of their most impressive logo designs and other marketing collateral.
All that said, we’re ecstatic to kick off 2019 with an accolade based in client feedback. Our clients have been nothing but supportive, and we look forward to evolving our skills and knowledge with their continued loyalty as well as through new partnerships.
Did you know that 81% of Americans have a social media profile? And the rest of the world is catching up. Billions of people are on social media, which means businesses cannot afford to not take their social media campaigns seriously. A viral post is the white whale many social marketers hope to find in the creative process. There isn’t an exact science to developing a social media campaign, but there are some ways you can increase your chances of creating viral content that will help you reach a larger audience. Here are a few things to keep in mind:
Consider the Type of Platform You Use Before You Create Your Content
Every social media platform is different and offers tools that you can utilize for content. For example, Instagram includes hashtags, so you may be able to start an online conversation with other users searching for the same hashtags. A lengthy, well-researched post, on the other hand, about the industry would be best served on LinkedIn. Play around with the various social media platforms to see which ones make the most sense for your business and content.
Know Who Your Audience Is
This will tie in to your research on which platforms you decide to use. For example, Snapchat and Instagram users tend to attract younger audiences in comparison to other platforms, and the majority of Pinterest users are women. Social media marketers need to get to know their target audience and determine what they like, what they’re viewing and reading, and what they’ll want to share. They may want to consult real and potential customers to get a better idea of their interests.
Create Original Content
The most viral media campaigns are also the most original. If you are copycatting previous campaigns or including elements your target audience has seen before, it’s less likely your posts will be shared. As you create content, ask yourself if you have seen it before. And try to make it as engaging as possible to encourage viewers to share.
Partner with Experts
Every business person isn’t an expert in social media. If you can’t afford to hire your own in-house team, it may be advantageous to hire professionals. For example, businesses headquartered in the City of Brotherly Love should search for the best social media companies in Philadelphia available to help them deliver original, engaging viral campaigns that will increase exposure and revenue. You can also search for and partner with social media influencers to improve your reach.
Do you know what people are saying about your business on social media? Social media listening enables you to do so. All too often, social media monitoring and social media listening are used interchangeably when discussing social media strategy. While both are incredibly important, they are also very different.
Let’s say, for example, that a customer complains about a product you sell on his Twitter feed. As you are monitoring for mentions, you see the tweet and respond to the customer directly in an effort to mitigate the problem. This is an example of social media monitoring. You monitor mentions and address customers’ questions and complaints one at a time.
Social media listening, on the other hand, requires a business to take a bird’s eye view of how the brand is perceived by users on social media. By using aggregated data from various social media tools of social conversations, leadership can take steps to resolve macro-level issues, assess overall brand health, set up new campaigns, and deliver content friends and followers will like and want to engage with.
In describing the difference between social media monitoring and social media listening, Dan Neely, CEO of Networked Insights, said the following:
“Monitoring sees trees; listening sees forests.”
Social media monitoring is very important and should be done daily. You are tracking mentions and interactions to taking immediate action when necessary. Dominique Jackson of Sprout Social makes the point, though, that there are over 25 billion social interactions that take place on Twitter every day. It may be impossible for most companies to go through every mention and doing so would make identifying Big Picture trends more difficult.
By using social media listening in tangent with social media monitoring, you can gain the best perception of your business in social media, identify key trends surrounding your business and industry, and create the best brand strategy to reach your customers.
There are many platforms out there that can provide tools and analytics, including Hootsuite and Sprout Social. In addition to that, you can also get help from the experts. As one of the best social media companies in Philadelphia, our team can help you launch successful cross-platform campaigns that will allow you to communicate effectively with your clients and customers. Contact us today at 215-987-5500 to learn more.
Creating an image for our clients is at the core of what we do at Neff Associates and sometimes there can be obstacles, but we are up to the challenge. We deliver expertise in marketing, social media, branding, media buying, and public relations for our clients, and our work in 2018 has already gotten us some new recognition in our industry.
Clutch is a D.C.-based independent, third party reviewer of B2B companies around the world. The main way they conduct their research is through client phone interviews, which then become reviews on each company’s Clutch profile. Neff Associates joined Clutch a few years ago and we’ve since grown our presence on their site as one of the top branding agencies in Philadelphia in 2018!
We know that Clutch’s reviews are based solely on our clients, and that’s what makes us proud of our accomplishments. We dedicate a huge portion of the branding process to understanding the person behind the brand in order to create the right image for them.
Fostering relationships and good experiences are what we do. Zavino Hospitality Group told Clutch: “Their core values coincide with ours and I love working with them because of this. We have personal meetings every two weeks with their team. I couldn’t speak any higher of them, from their support, to every other aspect of their work. They’ve been amazing in terms of turnaround times as well.”
We have also been recognized on Clutch’s sister website, The Manifest, amongst the top 10+ branding companies in Philadelphia!
With all these accomplishments under our belt, we will continue to create great results for our clients and work to become even better than we are now.
When it comes to representing your brand, you always want to put your best foot forward. From your marketing initiatives to your sales plan, everything needs to work for one common goal: The best visibility of your company. For this reason, some companies choose to keep their marketing needs in-house, relying on a small team to get the job done. Others find it much easier and more efficient to hire an agency to handle their marketing needs for them.
Taking the proper steps to choose the right agency for your company is crucial. The right marketing agency fits more like a partnership, a team coming together to help one another. Essentially, you’re choosing someone to help you run your business from a different perspective. The right agency needs to be able to easily execute the vision you have for your company. With a highly saturated industry of marketing agencies, finding the perfect fit can prove to be difficult. Good news! It’s not impossible. Keeping that in mind, we share a few things you should keep in mind when finding your perfect agency match.
Talented Team
A portfolio of work speaks volume. It shows ideas, breadth of work, capabilities, and gives an idea of what you can expect from the agency. A good portfolio shows a wide variety of work and case studies that cover every aspect of what the agency does. In addition to a solid portfolio, you need to also consider the team. A diverse team leads to more forward-thinking ideas and creative expression. Diversity in cultures, backgrounds, education, and specialties can really help determine the difference between a subpar team and a team that’s excelling.
Understands the Brand
One of the most important components to finding the right marketing agency is choosing a company that understands your brand and goals. An agency that can truly live and breathe your brand complementary to the way you do is crucial to the overall success of any campaign. In this case, it may be in your best interest to choose a local marketing agency. Marketing companies in Philadelphia certainly understand the importance of the perfect cheesesteak more than an agency in Chicago or Los Angeles. The same is true for most industries or products are that niche to their location. An agency that understands your brand and business goals is an agency that you can trust to deliver every time.
Budget-Friendly
Unless you’re a major company that has tens of thousands of dollars to spend on marketing alone every month, you need campaigns that won’t break the bank. The right agency isn’t about taking you for all you have. Most marketing agencies scale their services accordingly, but few choose not to. The ones that are worth your time are willing to work with you and help you find solutions that are comfortable enough for your pockets and your results. Transparency in financial allocation is important as well. The right agency is upfront about their billing practices, provides accurate quotes, and explains what costs are associated with which service. You don’t want to waste your money or your time, and neither do they.
It’s important to understand that when you’re choosing an agency, you’re doing more than just choosing someone to throw together campaigns because you don’t have time. You’re relying on an outside partner to represent the voice and vision of your brand. Be mindful in your selection. Do the hard work and research now so you and the marketing agency can focus on the future.