Category: Business

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Business Digital Marketing

Boost Your Sales During the Holiday Season

The holiday season from November to the end of December is the most lucrative time of year for retailers. Is your business ready for the shopping frenzy? With the holidays quickly approaching, now is the time to formulate your marketing strategies to attract customers and generate those sales! Check out these marketing tips below to see how your business can maximize its sales during the holiday season.

Make Your Cyber 5 Strategy Part of a Bigger Game Plan

Those extremely important shopping days from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday are referred to as the “Cyber 5”. A common misconception is to get your ad campaigns up and running just in time for Black Friday. While it is crucial to recognize the Cyber 5 as huge shopping days, implementing a more comprehensive advertising approach will result in a more consistent and effective campaign. In 2018, marketers devoted 19% of their search budgets to Cyber 5 spending, but those days make up for just 9% of holiday shopping. This year, more businesses are looking to adopt a strategy that encompasses the Cyber 5 as well as the whole extended holiday season. This results in catching the attention of both the October early-bird shoppers and the last minute shoppers.

Optimize for Mobile Use

A growing number of consumers are visiting websites from mobile devices.
Your business must be optimized for mobile use if you want customers to find your store and stay to shop. A responsive web design is crucial for grabbing the attention of consumers and will result in greater engagement and higher sales numbers. The National Retail Federation projects 105 billion in online sales this holiday season with an estimated 127 million shoppers predicted to shop on Cyber Monday. Of these Cyber Monday shoppers, 25 million said they would specifically use their mobile devices for purchases.

Take Advantage of In-Channel Buying

Consumers are more connected than ever before. A recent study found that 64% of customers are using multiple channels to complete a single transaction. This translates to many touchpoint across numerous different platforms. In 2018, holiday traffic to digital sites from social media channels grew by 22% year over year. This year, even more shoppers are expected to be buying in-channel. This means that retailers should be ready to push their brand where the consumers already are, such as social media platforms.

Royal Highnies’ Holiday Success

Royal Highnies is a growing luxury loungewear and undergarment retailer. From boxer shorts to lounge pants, to tee shirts and more, Royal Highnies provides ultimate comfort for the whole family.

During the 2017 holiday season, Royal Highnies wanted to boost its online advertising in order to attract more consumers to the brand. This is where Spectruss came in. Our team worked with Royal Highnies to implement digital marketing strategies that would result in a huge ROI.

First, we conducted detailed market research to identify a specific target market for Royal Hignies. Based off this audience, we did rigorous keyword research to ensure their brand would be seen by the right consumers.

Once we defined a specific customer base, we developed a digital marketing plan that included creative email campaigns, shopping ad campaigns, display ads, social media ad campaigns and fresh graphics.

This campaign utilized new approaches and creative materials designed specifically to reach Royal Highnies’ target market. The end result? Royal Highnies saw a 25% increase in online sales and a 10% increase in wholesale sales.

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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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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!

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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!”

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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.

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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.

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Business

The Spectruss Creative Team Welcomes New Design Intern

Chattanooga marketing agency expands design team by providing new internship opportunity

 

Chattanooga, TN- May 31st, 2019– Spectruss, a full-service creative agency based in the Chattanooga, TN area, is excited to welcome a new graphic design intern, Bruno Benna, to the team. Spectruss is pleased to provide an internship opportunity that will provide substantial design experience by working directly with the creative director. The creative team at Spectruss prides themselves in providing excellent visual design for clients in order to dramatically set them apart from competitors.

Bruno Benna, originally from Dallas, TX, moved to Collegedale, TN four years ago to attend college as a graphic design student. Currently a senior at Southern Adventist University, Bruno will be graduating in December of this year. Having a background as Public Relations Director and Creative Director for his university’s Yearbook has helped shape his perspective as a graphic artist. As a designer, Bruno tries to derive his inspiration and influence from pop culture and current design trends. Practicing Animation and motion design is his current obsession.

“If there was one concrete word to describe my work, it would’ve been easier to just scrap this whole introduction and just slap a bold san serif above one of my photos and called it a night,” said Benna.

Growing up I would always get in trouble for scribbling on walls, books, furniture and literally anything that my short arms could reach. I loved making art and building my own board games. When he’s not behind a computer screen designing, you will most likely find him jamming out to Ariana Grande, scrolling on Instagram for Corgi videos, or playing the switch.

 

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ABOUT SPECTRUSS

Spectruss is a full-service creative 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.

 

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Business

Spectruss Continues to Grow with Recent Hires

Local marketing agency experiences continued company growth and gains two new hires to their sales department

Chattanooga, TN – April 8th, 2019– Spectruss, a full-service creative agency based in Chattanooga, TN, is growing their sales department with two additional account manager hires. Spectruss is excited to welcome Brandon Curtis and Preslie Gifford to the team. Spectruss values business development as a crucial part of engaging with current and future clients to build and maintain professional relationships.

 

New Account Managers

Brandon Curtis brings eight years of experience focused on growing businesses through relationship building and marketing solutions. Brandon is from Chattanooga, TN and studied Recording Arts at Middle Tennessee State University outside of Nashville, TN.

After years of working in the studio and on tour with several bands, he decided he wanted to settle down and make a big career change. When it comes to marketing your business, he believes that there is no “one size fits all” solution.

When he is not working in the office, you can find Brandon watching old episodes of Shark Tank, hiking with his two dogs (both rescues of course), getting his hands dirty with various woodworking crafts or playing soccer with his son.

 

Preslie Gifford is a soon to be graduate of Auburn University with a degree in public relations and marketing. While in college, she interned with the former legend Coach Pat Dye where she worked as a social media intern for the Coach Pat Dye Radio Show which aired on Auburn radio.

Her love for marketing started when her dad invented a hunting product called Hitch-N-Skeet. Trying to get Hitch-N-Skeet in stores, she reached out to major companies like Cabelas and Bass Pro Shops. It’s safe to say she’s pretty good at skeet shooting.

In her free time, she is starting a hair and makeup business with her college roommate called Capre Beauty. So, most all of her weekends are spent beautifying women or traveling to new cities. She also loves meeting new people and trying new restaurants.

 

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ABOUT SPECTRUSS

Spectruss is a full-service creative 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.

 

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Business

Spectruss Welcomes a New Addition to the Team

A Chattanooga-based marketing agency continues to grow with business development hire

 

Chattanooga, TN – Dec. 5th, 2018– Spectruss, a full-service marketing agency based in the Chattanooga, TN area, is excited to welcome James Knicely to the team as Account Manager to engage with current and future clients to build and maintain a consistent pipeline for Spectruss.

James Knicely joins Spectruss with an extensive background working with large commercial accounts including Comcast, IKEA, NBC, and Marriott. During this time, James began to realize his passion for building relationships to help grow businesses. As the account manager, he will drive all aspects of business development and sales at Spectruss. Some of the responsibilities include developing new customer relationships, reviewing and responding to inbound leads, lead evaluation and qualification, engaging in outbound lead generation activities, and identifying business opportunities and performing targeted outreach.

“I’m excited to be joining the team at Spectruss where I can exercise both my technical and relational sides in tandem to provide value and a unique perspective. It’s a group of really talented people and it’s a great opportunity to work with amazing companies as we help them grow their brands and businesses,” said James.

James hails from Virginia, where he was born, raised, and educated at the University of Virginia with a Bachelor’s degree focused in International Relations and Affairs. He thrives in collaborative environments where he can work with teammates, customers, or partners to achieve common goals.

Together as a team at Spectruss, they provide clients with a full breadth of advertising and digital marketing services including video/photo production, brand identity, paid media, web development, e-commerce, PR, and specialized services in the form of a virtual CMO. The agency enables their clients to put their best foot forward in the market, so they can focus on their business, while Spectruss focuses on letting people know where to find them.

When James is not in the office or meeting with customers, he can be found hiking the many trails around Chattanooga with his wife and dog, or on the field playing ultimate frisbee. He is a self-admitted beer snob but also is a firm believer that who you are sharing a drink with, matters more than what drink you are sharing. Whether it’s personal or for business (or both!,) James enjoys connecting with people and building the Chattanooga community.

Seriously, shoot him an email (james@spectruss.com), and he’d love to grab a drink (beer, coffee, water, kombucha, whatever…).

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ABOUT SPECTRUSS

Spectruss is a full-service marketing 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

Spectruss Sees Record Growth with Innovative Marketing Solutions and New Hires

A marketing agency reaches new milestones by providing profitable, scalable growth

 

Chattanooga, TN – Aug. 13th, 2018 – Spectruss, a full-service marketing agency based in the Chattanooga, TN area, continues to see rapid growth through its innovative virtual CMO service. It provides clients with direct access to the expertise of an in-house marketing team minus the premium salary of hiring a full-time marketing director. Additionally, the agency recently hired multiple new team members to support their continued growth in servicing complex B2B and B2C markets.

Spectruss’s vCMO services develop and tailor profitable marketing strategies for their clients which includes initiatives, execution, tracking, and more. Every vCMO client is partnered with a dedicated team of marketing professionals that consists of a Marketing Strategist, Creative Director, Copywriter, Graphic Designer, Videographer, Photographer, Programmer, Data Analyst, and Social Media Manager.

To learn more about the Virtual Chief Marketing Officer services, click the link below.

https://spectruss.com/spectruss-services/vcmo/

“I am proud of the diverse and extremely talented team that we have assembled at Spectruss. We now have the ability to develop and manage every aspect of marketing systems, ranging from e-commerce technology, to design, video and digital advertising. With all of these services being managed under one roof, time to live and overall ROI for our clients drastically increases,” said Sam Silvey, President of Spectruss.

Over the years, Spectruss has grown to become one of the leading players in the dynamic landscape of digital marketing by transforming Fortune 500 companies with tremendous growth. The Certified Google Partner and Hubspot Partner is the only local agency to effectively provide every service in-house for businesses. With experience in complex industries, Spectruss has seen a demand in B2B shifting their process online through direct to consumer e-commerce systems.     

“A lot of traditional manufacturer buyers are becoming accustomed to online purchasing. At Spectruss, we provide unique B2B markets with a customized E-commerce platform for each of their clients. In addition to strengthening their buyers’ relationships, our seamless online interfaces eliminate wasted time in the ordering process,” said Jordan Layao, Business Development.

In addition to B2B markets, Spectruss has successfully positioned their B2C clients as #1 subscription box featured on the Today Show, #1 in Wired Magazine, and on some of the top brand influencers in the world.

 

The agency’s continuous growth also consists of four new hires:

 

Amanda Tracy produces designs that visually communicate Spectruss clients’ messages across in an effective and aesthetically pleasing manner. Amanda received a BFA in Graphic Design from Tyler School of Art at Temple University, and has over 7 years professional design experience, working in both small branding studios and large advertising agencies. Her work has been featured in Print Magazine, Awwwards, and Creative Quarterly.

 

Nick Friend joins Spectruss as the Photo/ Video Director with an extensive background in filmmaking from major sets. Like Terminator: Genisys and Planet of the Apes, and Jack Reacher, as well as TV shows like True Detective, VICE, and Togetherness. He is in charge of making sure that Spectruss’s vision, along with their clients, is realized through photography film, and videos. Nick has a Bachelor’s degree focused in documentary film from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, with a minor in creative writing.

 

Jordan Layo oversees business development to grow and retain existing clients by presenting new solutions and services. His deep interest in leadership led him to receive a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Marketing. Jordan had the privilege of working with several startups in the Chattanooga area, most notably Muse + Mettā, to help build their brand and order of operations.

 

Evan Norton comes to Spectruss as a web developer/programmer ensuring that the functionality, navigation, and overall performance of websites meet the needs of clients. Knowing development was his passion, he attended Covalence, a coding bootcamp, straight out of high school, receiving a certification in full stack development. After a few months of building experience working on personal projects and freelance work, Evan joined Spectruss.

 

If you would like more information about Spectruss, please call Erin Taylor at 423.800.8633 or email info@spectruss.com.

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About Spectruss

Spectruss is a full-service marketing agency based out of Chattanooga, TN that specializes in Marketing Solutions utilizing custom website development, graphic design, photography, online and print advertising, social media management, review management, and data analysis. Its mission is to exert passion through every project, design, or website development they touch.