Author: Sam Silvey

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Business Marketing

What is UGC and Why are Brands Using it?

In a fast paced, digitally-run world, it is becoming increasingly harder to grab the attention of consumers. If brands want to stand out in this highly competitive market, they must get creative with their messaging and their marketing strategies. Customers are looking for authenticity in a brand and one of the best ways to establish this is with user-generated content (UGC).

UGC is content related to a certain brand that is voluntarily produced by individuals with the potential to drive conversation and build engagement. If a customer has a great experience with your brand, they are inclined to share that experience with their peers. Word-of-mouth referrals are extremely profitable for businesses because it provides authentic information from previous customers, boosting brand credibility and recognition.

The power of user-generated content has proved to be so beneficial that brands are integrating this into their marketing campaigns.

Share a Coke With…

When Coca Cola launched its “Share a Coke” campaign, people went crazy over the personalized bottles. Coca Cola changed its traditional label to “Share a Coke with” followed by a name. This multi-national campaign, which used 250 of the country’s most popular names, aimed to have people find a coke bottle with their name on it and then share it with friends.

To keep the hype going, Coca Cola asked customers to share pictures of themselves enjoying a coke with their personalized bottles on social media. This lead to massive amounts of user generated content, raising awareness and increasing user engagement with the brand. This massively successful campaign resulted in Coca Cola’s customers stepping into the role of advertiser.

The Royal Wedding

We all remember the highly anticipated royal wedding of American TV star Meghan Markle and Prince Harry of England in 2018. The lavish royal weddings of the past have always been real affairs, but this time, things were a little different.

Along with sending traditional reporters, the BBC news channel also sent 50 people from the general public to watch the wedding and share their experiences on social media. This built a connection with the public by providing them with a way to view the wedding through the eyes of every day people.

The individual stories shared from these 50 viewers were a form of user-generated content. The BBC news used this strategy as a way to attract more viewers and engagement from the public.

People trust the opinions of peers which is why it is so important for brands to incorporate UGC. The more trust and transparency a brand can establish with its customers, the stronger the brand will become.

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Uncategorized

Free Strategy Consultation with Our CEO

What can a full-service all in-house advertising agency do for your business? The opportunities are endless, but you may have some questions. What services do we offer and which ones are best for your brand? And how much does it cost? Well, our services aren’t a one size fits all. We customize pricing for each client based on their specific business needs. At Spectruss, we love to learn everything we can about your company so we can develop the best plan of action for you!

Over the past 10+ years, our team at Spectruss has studied everything from video creation to web programming to become experts on how each aspect can benefit and grow a company. Our agency offers a vCMO service which encompasses all aspects of web programing, graphic design, videography, photography, content writing, advertising, digital marketing, and social media management. The vCMO package comes in four different levels including: entry level, silver, gold, and platinum. Each level provides more hours of service with a lower cost per hour.

Not sure if you are ready for a vCMO package? We also offer a la carte services which means you can take advantage of individual tasks such as branding, website design, etc. The best way to know what you can get for your budget and what services are ideal for your company is to give us a call! In fact, we are extending an offer to you to schedule a FREE 30 minute strategy consultation with the founder and CEO of Spectruss, Sam Silvey!

Categories
Business Design Marketing

Spectruss Now Offers Month-to-Month vCMO

Month-to-month means no long term commitment. We all know the painstaking process of signing to a year long commitment. If things don’t go right, you still have to finish out the contract. We give the freedom and ability to go month-to-month with our vCMO service and give you the peace of mind to cancel at any time. But, we are sure that’s not going to happen, because you’re going to love our services!

We offer four different vCMO levels: entry level, silver, gold, and platinum. Each level provides more hours of service with a lower cost per hour. That’s the beauty of having no long term commitment. You can change the level of work you may need each month!

So what exactly is vCMO? Well, vCMO or virtual Chief Marketing Officer, is a service we provide that covers all strategic marketing for your business. Our team of professionals strategize the best ways to maximize your company’s growth and then implement those methods to provide the largest ROI for your business. Within our vCMO service, we provide all aspects of web programing, graphic design, videography, photography, content writing, advertising, digital marketing, and social media management. And if your company already has a Chief Marketing Officer? Great! We will work along side them to assist with any and all outsourcing needs. Since we do everything in-house, we provide strong brand consistency and high quality results.

We realize not everyone is ready to sign a contract, which is why we are excited to offer our month-to-month vCMO services to demonstrate the work we can do to grow your company. Ultimately, our goal is to establish a long lasting relationship with our clients. When you grow, we grow too! We are confident in what we do and we know that when you experience our work for your company, you’ll want to stay with us!

Categories
Marketing

3 Ways of Working with Spectruss

  • How does Spectruss work with their clients? 
  • What is the preferred method to work with a full service agency? 
  • What is the best way to hire an agency? 
  • How do you pay for advertising and marketing agencies? 

We get asked these sort of questions a lot, and we know, it can get very confusing. Over the last 10+ years, we have narrowed down the ways we work with clients to three main options. 

Before we dive into these options and why we chose them, let me explain an important piece of the puzzle. Most agencies out there are specialist, meaning they focus on one area of advertising or marketing. While this seems like a good idea to those companies looking to outsource a few areas, we have seen it cause major problems in brand identity, leading to a decrease in ROI.  

That said, Spectruss has set out to change the marketing and advertising industry by providing everything in house. This comes as no easy task, but our founder Sam Silvey is stubborn and believes in his mission of building the strongest brands in the world. Having everything in house not only strengthens brand consistency and identity, it also lowers the overall cost of labor for the client, thus providing a stronger ROI. 

Now, on to those three ways that we work with our clients:

Our preferred method of working with clients is referred to as the Virtual CMO. Basically,   it’s a retainer package that rewards our clients with lower cost per hour as they commit to more hours per month. Our goal with the Virtual CMO package is to build a mutually beneficial relationship with our clients, acting as an extension of their marketing department. We not only provide all of the technical aspects of programming, videography, photography, design, content writing and digital advertising, we also act as consultants to help brain storm and build cutting edge campaigns and high-level marketing strategy. And don’t let the name confuse you, we have no dreams of eliminating the valuable position of Chief Marketing Officer, our goal is cultivate relationships, including not biting the hand that feeds you 🙂

Many new clients come to us with individual tasks that they’d like us to do. We call these a la carte services. Typically we see clients coming to us to build their new e-commerce site, help manage their digital advertising, send out monthly email campaigns, or manage social media accounts. We are always more than happy to bid on these a la carte services, but please know, at Spectruss we get really psyched on building complex strategies that provide the largest ROI for our clients. The feeling we get when we see our strategy pay off for our clients is like a drug to us. Again, we are more than happy to start small with any client, but we love the opportunity to grow as you grow. 

Finally… we arrive at campaign based projects! This is the Mad Man approach to advertising, working on a percentage of your total advertising budget for the year. You’ve heard some people refer to this as the Agency of Record, but we avoid that work like the plague due to it’s recently obtained negative connotation. In short, we will work with companies who have already identified their total advertising budget for the year, or for an individual campaign, and take a percentage of the total budget to build and execute said campaign. The one monumental thing that we do different at Spectruss as opposed to the typical Agency of Record model, is we have everything in house. If you have questions about what I mean, check out this video where I cover the flaws in the Agency of Record. 

So there you have it, the three ways that Spectruss works with their clients. To recap, we offer the Virtual CMO Package, A La Carte Services, and Campaign Based Projects. I imagine the last question you have is “how much does it cost?” So, I’ll give you a hint, it’s not free… But seriously, all of our quotes are custom for our clients, but a typical range is from $5,000 / month to $100k+ / month. And yes, we take Amex 😉

I’m sure you are ready to sign on the dotted line, but not so quick! Before we get started, let’s setup a free 30 minute strategy consultation and discovery session so we can learn more about you and your business! All you got to do is fill out the form below and we will give you a shout immediately to set up a chat. 

Awesome! We look forward to chatting with you, and ultimately, helping you build a faster, stronger, better business!

Categories
Business

FULL-SERVICE, ALL IN-HOUSE AD AGENCY

What does that mean exactly? Glad you asked. We are an advertising agency that has everything you need right here in the same office. In the office, we have a web programmer for all your website needs. Behind our programmer is our project manager who handles all lines of communication from the client to team in the office. Our creative director is on the other side of the room creating any and all design work. The social media and advertising manager work closely in creating the best strategic plan for each client. Our photo and video director handles on-location shoots, campaigns, commercials and more. Our full-service, in-house team works together to create a seamless work environment on every project.

WHY THIS IS YOUR BEST OPTION

When companies start to outsource their web design, videographer, etc. the brand starts getting confusing. Each outsourced service doesn’t understand the concept of your brand and many times the brand image gets lost. We pride ourselves in working together as a team to create a brand consistency that will leave a lasting impression on your audience.

A WORD FROM THE OFFICE

We asked our social media manager what was her favorite part about having an all in-house agency. Her response was, “Whenever I need content to post, I simply ask one of our graphic designers to create a unique design. If I need video or photo content, I just ask our photographer/videographer for some new content. Being able to collaborate with everyone in the office makes each project go smoothly!”

Categories
Design

Bring Your Brand to Life

Every company starts off with just an idea. Imagine an idea that can be brought to life surpassing your wildest dreams. That’s how Spectruss treats every design project. We are passionate about creating beautiful designs that proudly reveal your brand to the world!

Our in-house creative director, Justin Aragon, has a Bachelors degree in Architecture from the University of Tennessee. His background in architecture has helped shape his career as a designer. Our creative director says, “My architectural training and knowledge of the classics have helped me identify and incorporate the qualities of timeless design to every project.”

Our design team keeps your brand cutting edge, memorable, and consistent across all mediums. From classic, to modern, graphic heavy, to a more minimalistic approach, the Spectruss design team works in every style to ensure a brand aligns with your company. Whether you’re needing a logo, graphic work, branding voice, web design, or all the above, the creative minds at Spectruss can’t wait to take your idea and turn it into a beautiful, timeless brand.

Here’s just a few of the designs we’ve created. Love what you see? Let’s talk!

Categories
Business Digital Marketing

Spectruss Provides Exponential Growth for Cosmetic Surgeon

Chattanooga advertising agency uses strategic digital marketing to help Sturm Cosmetic Surgery experience growth by five times in a single month

Chattanooga, TN- August 9th, 2019- Spectruss, a full-service advertising agency based in the Chattanooga, TN area, initiated strategic planning and progressive advertising management to increase growth for Sturm Cosmetic Surgery by 380% from June to July. Incorporating research-based digital marketing strategies has been the foundation for building a strong and growing customer base for Sturm Cosmetic Surgery, located in Ames, Iowa.

“Reaching a specific target audience is a key component to Sturm Cosmetic Surgery’s incredible growth,” says Preslie Gifford, Advertising Manager at Spectruss. “In order to market to a focused demographic, it is essential to make sure display ads are seen by the right people. I focus on utilizing Google Ads due to the fact that research indicates potential cosmetic patients search ‘the best of the best’ near their location. This means people in the Ames, IA surrounding area who are searching anything related to cosmetic procedures will see Sturm Cosmetic Surgery at the top of the google search list. Social media advertising isn’t far behind in ranking. The key to social is combining fun, informative and promotional content.”

With consumer research, competitive analysis, and audience segmentation, Spectruss has built a strong brand identity for Sturm Cosmetic Surgery that has produced significant results. Spectruss used digital strategies to drive more traffic to Sturm’s website which in return, drove traffic to the office. Sturm Cosmetic Surgery experienced double the amount of website traffic in the month of July compared to the month of June.

ABOUT SPECTRUSS
Spectruss is a full-service advertising agency based out of Chattanooga, TN that specializes in marketing solutions utilizing custom website development, brand identity, videography and photography, digital marketing, e-commerce, paid media, public relations, review management, and data analysis. Their mission is to build long-lasting relations, living on the cutting edge of technology, advertising, and marketing to provide an unrivaled return on investment for clients.
For more information about Spectruss, its clients, and services, visit https:// spectruss.com.

Categories
Business

Virtual CMO is the Answer to Growing Your Business

The success of a company depends heavily on the way you market your business. Specialized marketing efforts are crucial for creating brand consistency and business growth. In order to take your company to the next level, you must hire a marketing expert; however, in-house marketing directors or chief marketing officers require an expensive salary while still needing to outsource additional services such as videography, programming, design, etc.

What if you could partner with a whole team of dedicated marketing experts who deliver strategic marketing to reach your business goals, without the premium salary? Enter the Virtual CMO.

So what is a Virtual CMO?

A Virtual CMO (vCMO) covers all strategic marketing for your business. It’s an outsourced team of  professionals who work together to lower your customer acquisition cost while freeing up your valuable time. VCMO reduces overhead, relieves the pain of 3rd management, and strengthens your brand identity.

“Every business needs a strong and consistent brand identity, whether B2B or B2C. To accomplish this, you must tackle every area of advertising and marketing. Not only is this expensive for a business to do, it’s also a lot of 3rd party management, which allows for inconsistency in brand identity.” – Sam Silvey, CEO at Spectruss.

vCMO Services Include:

Benefits of a Virtual CMO

Cost Efficiency

One of the biggest benefits of hiring a vCMO is that your business is saving a huge amount of money! A virtual CMO is providing companies with estimated savings between 30-70%. This is because an average Chief Marketing Officer’s salary is $170k, not including additional costs of outsourced divisions. With a virtual CMO, an effective, outsourced team could cost less than a third of that expense.

High Quality Results

With a higher focus and consistency comes a higher quality output. An outsourced vCMO sees your business from an outside perspective which allows for unbiased, honest opinions about your company. Their network of marketing resources will allow them to analyze what works, what needs improvement, and clearly prioritize the problems needed to be solved for your business.

All in one Staffing Solution

A virtual CMO provides expertise across multiple disciplines. If your company launches a new product or service into a new marketing medium (digital media, social media, etc.), an in-house marketing director may not have the experience or skills to effectively execute to the public. When you hire an outsourced vCMO, you will have access to a broader range of expertise.

Consistency

Effective marketing requires consistency to establish brand recognition and positive customer experience. While business owners have every intention of driving their marketing efforts, something more pressing is bound to hit their desk becoming the new priority. An outside team’s priority will always be to provide marketing that delivers proven and measurable results while ensuring you make the right marketing decisions for your business.

Categories
Marketing

Tips to Strengthen Your Brand’s Social Media Presence

Social Media Demographics

In order to maximize your brand’s social media presence, it is important to understand the demographics of different social platforms. You don’t want to waste time creating content on a platform where your target audience doesn’t have a large existence.

Social Media Engagement

It is important to note why consumers follow and unfollow brands. Paying attention to these indicators can help you improve your business profile and create more engaging content.

 

Build a Strong Profile

Strategy

Building a social media strategy for your business is extremely important. It will help you to pinpoint who you are as a brand and give you direction on content to post. Take the time to identify your target audience to ensure you are utilizing the best platform to reach your consumers.

Theme

Using a theme helps boost your presence by creating a visually appealing profile and adding an overall uniformed look. Theming your account is especially effective on Instagram. Using similar filters, imagery and color schemes helps set a mood that reflects your brand to your followers.

Visuals

Use strong visuals on your social media accounts by integrating high quality pictures and videos. Posting eye-catching visuals is a great way to attract a bigger following. Think outside the box with your images such as utilizing puzzle feeds or grid images on instagram.

Captions

Be informative, get creative and use humor. Captions are an important part of your social media posts because they can drastically increase engagement. Asking questions in your captions encourages your followers to comment responses on your post. When a post receives a certain amount of engagement, Instagram’s algorithm actually boosts that post so more users are likely to see it.

Content

Mix up your content and keep it interesting. Utilizing Instagram/Facebook Stories is a great way to add something different to your profile while also reaching a large audience. Over 500 million instagram users engage in instagram stories every single day. Utilizing live stories is another great way to draw in your audience. Since your followers are notified when you start a live video, its a great way to increase engagement with consumers.

 

Categories
Projects

Spectruss Launches CBD Product Line, Kyte Life

Chattanooga-based marketing agency introduces the all-new Kyte Life CBD brand to the market with custom branding and innovative design

Chattanooga, TN- March 29th, 2019- Spectruss, a full-service creative agency based in the Chattanooga, TN area, introduces Kyte Life, a premium line of 100% organic, full spectrum CBD products. With months of market research, Spectruss identified the best avenue to release a CBD line to successfully target consumers. Spectruss integrated this research to build a custom e-commerce platform to propel Kyte Life to the forefront of the health and wellness industry. Kyte Life will be sold direct to consumer at its website www.kyte.life.

The Spectruss team incorporated thoughtful marketing strategies and design techniques to create a memorable and distinct visual identity for Kyte Life. Choosing a catchy name and unique color scheme that would stand out against its competitors was a crucial step to integrate into both the packaging and website design for Kyte Life. The creative experts at Spectruss ensured that Kyte Life’s packaging provided a memorable presentation to attract consumers to the product. Spectruss successfully communicated consistent branding style throughout the design of Kyte Life’s e- commerce website.

“We are excited to introduce Kyte Life and offer a broad selection of premium CBD products online! Through detailed brand development, we have secured a strong visibility for Kyte Life to reach consumers across the nation.”

Kyte Life launched several products including CBD Tincture, Salve, Soft Gels, and Vape Pen and Cartridge Kit. Infused with subtle delicious flavors, each product undergoes quality manufacturing to ensure it is void of any harsh chemicals or metals. Kyte Life’s CBD products are always 100% organic, THC free and Gluten free.

In addition to brand development, Spectruss integrated event sponsorship opportunities so Kyte could stand out against the competition. This provided face to face contact with consumers and paved the way for generating direct contact with Kyte’s target audience.

Moving forward, Spectruss will continue to help Kyte Life create compelling content, secure brand influencers and select strategic partners for growing its direct to consumer customer base. Spectruss is also helping with the setup of the Kyte Life Foundation, including the selection of beneficiaries.