Author: arkhiadmin

08.09.21
Digital Marketing

The Secret To Writing Great Ads: Tell The Truth

You don’t have to be a seasoned advertiser, marketer or creative to distinguish a bad ad from a good one. You just know it when you see it. But why?

Good ads are ones that change behaviour, they are ones that people remember. They resonate because they matter. While creative writing and design are important to create a beautiful execution, we need something more. We need ads to actually say something: the truth.

Nothing resonates more than something that rings true. We feel it instantly and deep in our gut. These human truths are always at the core of great brands and ideas.

While it may seem simple, finding a relevant human truth, or human insight, to anchor your message in is no easy feat. But if you want to make exceptional ads that people will remember—that will build your brand—these truths are essential.

LET’S TALK

Sometimes digital growth is strategically simple—we call it leverage. Let’s start talking.

A human insight goes beyond products and benefits

Human insights are rarely about features and outcomes, but are about people, about behaviour.

They reveal something that’s universally true about what it means to be human. They shine light on something that others might miss. They connect with something deep inside of us—however serious or silly.

Whether it’s our need to belong, to connect, to feel special, to be understood, to reach our potential. When ads are anchored in human truth, they resonate.

Think about Nike’s ‘Just Do It’. Instead of advertising their product features, Nike taps into a human insight: we are dreamers, but we tend to procrastinate.

The result? The simplicity of Nike’s message struck a chord with society’s longing to achieve their goals. It helped people bond to the Nike brand because they could see something true about themselves in it. By becoming the encouragement behind reaching fitness goals, Nike’s message is still relevant and true some 30 years on.

A human insight can sustain an idea

Ads that are anchored in human insights, in bigger ideas, can set your brand up for long term success. When you connect your ad to a truth, your message becomes more ‘sticky’. It can resonate with people in a way they won’t soon forget.

When people remember your ads, they’re more likely to change their behaviour, more likely to bond with your brand, and more likely to share your message. It can build a longer lasting relationship, and you won’t have to solely rely on marketing tactics because people will carry your message.

Think about Snickers ‘You’re not you when you’re hungry’. They tapped into a human truth relevant to their product: hunger can make us act differently, and it’s usually never good. They positioned themselves as the solution. Over ten years later, the campaign is still going strong.

A human insight can make an ad something meaningful

Shining light on a human truth can make us feel something, they can make us see the world in a different way. And that’s what matters to people.

We are constantly inundated with ads purely trying to sell us things. If we make our ads something meaningful—something true and something that matters—they’ll stand out.

If ads are interesting, people will share them because they care about the idea, and that’s worth pursuing.

Are your ads anchored in human insights?

Great ideas that change behaviour only happen when they are based on a relevant truth. People are smart, and phony ads with no substance aren’t good enough. They don’t matter to the real world.

Whether it’s your brand, campaign or a single ad, if it doesn’t resonate with people, it won’t perform as well as it can.

At Arkhi, we can bring fresh eyes to your brand and messaging. We can help you mine for relevant human truths, so you can stand out and resonate. Let’s chat!

Interested in more?

29.06.22

How To Market On Digital Platforms

With social media taking over the marketing space, gaining awareness, retaining attention, and converting people is a competitive space. So how does your business stand out and meet your goals through social media marketing?The key is having an effective digital marketing mix. Each platform is unique in its offering and its audience, requiring different marketing methods and tactics.

20.08.21
Digital Marketing

Are Robots Replacing Copywriters?

We thought robots belonged in sci-fi movies or somewhere far in the future, but artificial intelligence is already taking over a slew of human jobs—and copywriting is no exception.

Many business giants already depend on bot writers to create large blocks of their content. The Washington Post has used AI written copy for their sports reports since the Rio Olympics in 2016. And most readers can’t tell the difference.

So is AI generated copy the future? Yes and no.

Human copywriters will be (and already have been) replaced by their robot counterparts, but largely only those who write robotic, unengaging copy.

What does it mean for the rest of us? Can we use this technology to our advantage?

LET’S TALK

Sometimes digital growth is strategically simple—we call it leverage. Let’s start talking.

AI written copy is impressive

AI writes copy using advanced technology called Natural Language Processing—and it’s impressive. It learns by processing and analysing a mass of written work.

Some AI copywriters generate 20,000 lines of copy every second, instantaneously producing content for social posts, ads, emails, websites, listings, product descriptions and blogs.

Some bots can even write in unique brand languages and convey chosen emotions.

However, humans—our creativity, empathy and opinions—are still the cornerstone for the machine. We’re the ones that teach them. But can they learn everything?

Good copywriting is about human connection

While robots can generate standard copy that gets high clickthrough rates, they can’t replace the humanness of real writing, which is ultimately what connects people to brands.

Empathy is at the heart of good copywriting. It’s about understanding the way an audience thinks, mixing opinion with fact, and understanding the nuances of different ways to use the same word.

Robots can create error-free content and mimic tone and emotion, but they cannot replicate genuine human connection and creativity.

Copywriters need to step it up

AI written copy may be the best thing that’s happened to copywriters, because substandard, robotic copy from us just won’t do anymore. We need to upskill and write like humans, not faceless businesses.

This competition will push us to anchor our writing in nuanced emotion, empathy and strong ideas to make genuine human connections through our words.

Copywriters will be free to be more creative

Outsourcing the writing of standard, time-consuming copy to AI will free up time for human copywriters to do more satisfying work.

Instead of focusing on reports and product descriptions, we’ll be able to devote more time and energy to richly creative work—helping brands stand out, disrupt the status quo and leave legacies.

How does Stead Lane stay competitive with copywriting?

Our copywriters at Arkhi are dedicated to making your brand unique and genuine through quality, emotion- and idea-driven copy. Chat with us today.

Interested in more?

29.06.22

How To Market On Digital Platforms

With social media taking over the marketing space, gaining awareness, retaining attention, and converting people is a competitive space. So how does your business stand out and meet your goals through social media marketing?The key is having an effective digital marketing mix. Each platform is unique in its offering and its audience, requiring different marketing methods and tactics.

16.08.21
Brand

What Is—And Isn’t—A Brand?

A strong brand can set you apart. It can build customer loyalty, trust and appeal. It can set you up for long term success.

But what exactly is a brand? It’s hard to pin down a definition when a brand can mean different things to different people. It’s often described as subjective, intangible and misunderstood. But defining ‘brand’ as a whole, can help you understand and establish your own brand, which can do great things for your business.

Here’s a layout of what your brand is—and what it isn’t.

LET’S TALK

Sometimes digital growth is strategically simple—we call it leverage. Let’s start talking.

Your brand is not your logo

Your brand is so much more than your name, colours, typeface or anything that people can see. This is why defining ‘brand’ is so elusive. It’s what someone thinks and feels about your products, services or organisation. Often these thoughts are unconsciously formed—a gut feeling.

It’s created from direct and indirect experiences across all your touchpoints: your brand imagery and symbols, your website, customer experiences, your company’s values and beliefs, down to how your receptionist answers the phone and the state of your bathrooms.

It’s the thread that runs through every single detail of your business.

Your brand is not your marketing

Your marketing invites someone to engage with your organisation, product or service. Your brand is the reason someone would say yes. When you build a strong brand that creates trust, appeal and customer loyalty, your marketing becomes more effective.

When you pull a marketing lever, like a paid ad, your brand will help your customer act on it—the decision a no brainer.

Your brand is not only external

A strong brand starts from within. Your vision, values and culture should be lived and believed by your people. They are the ones that deliver your brand to the world.

When your people understand and embrace what your brand stands for—and own their own place in it—your outward brand expression will be delivered as intended—authentic and powerful.

Does your business have a strong brand? The team at Arkhi can help you define and deliver your brand consistently and authentically across all your digital channels. Let’s chat!

Interested in more?

09.08.21

How To Tell Your Brand Story

An inspiring brand story speaks to us in a way that numbers and data simply can’t. It taps into our emotions and values. It helps us build connections and relationships with businesses because we resonate with what they stand for. It helps us choose one product over another.If sharing a compelling brand story is the secret weapon in making your business stand out, how do you do it?

02.07.21

Why your brand needs a story

The digital landscape is saturated with businesses competing with each other with very similar products, services and content. It’s incredibly hard to rise above the noise and stand out. So why do people choose one product or service over another? What makes some brands so inspiring? A huge part of it is their brand story.

09.08.21
Brand

How To Tell Your Brand Story

An inspiring brand story speaks to us in a way that numbers and data simply can’t. It taps into our emotions and values. It helps us build connections and relationships with businesses because we resonate with what they stand for. It helps us choose one product over another.

If sharing a compelling brand story is the secret weapon in making your business stand out, how do you do it?

LET’S TALK

Sometimes digital growth is strategically simple—we call it leverage. Let’s start talking.

Start with your ‘why’

Begin by defining your company’s purpose—beyond just making a profit.

All organisations know what they do. Some know how they do it and what makes them different from their competition. But very few know why they do it—the very reason their company exists. So start there and you set yourself miles ahead.

As Simon Sinek suggests in Start With Why, communicate your brand from the inside out to capture attention, inspire and perhaps even start a legacy.

Start by answering these questions. Ask others in your team to get a well-rounded perspective.

  • What’s our purpose?
  • What’s our cause?
  • What’s our belief?
  • Why does our brand exist?
  • Why do we get out of bed in the morning?
  • Why should anyone care?

Maybe it’s a pain point, a gap in the market that you aim to fill, or the fulfilment of a passion. Whatever it is, define it.

Think about your audience

The most effective brand stories know who their audience is and puts them in the centre.

Instead of thinking about your audience as a large group. Think of just one person your brand is for. Create a buyer persona, a detailed description of a fictional character who represents your target audience. Give them a name, age, location, interests and behavioural traits.

Define your audience by asking yourself:

  • Who are they?
  • What do they desire?
  • What are their goals?
  • What do they believe?
  • Where are they?

This will help you tailor your messaging to your audience and also help you navigate how, when and where to share your brand.

Where to tell your brand story

The about page is the obvious place to start when it comes to telling your brand story. Here it can be clearly defined, explained and laid out.

But your brand story should permeate all your communication. Too many businesses have grand visions and ideas of who they are and what they stand for, but fail in communicating this story across channels by being vague and inconsistent.

Clearly defined branding can help build brand affinity at some of the earliest touchpoints. Through social posts and ads to product packaging, continually remind people why they choose you by telling your brand story again and again.

We know it’s no easy feat! Our copywriters at Stead Lane can bring fresh eyes to your company’s messaging and help you effectively communicate your ‘why’.

Chat with the Stead Lane crew and let’s tell your brand story so you can stand out, resonate with your audience and increase your sales.

Interested in more?

16.08.21

What Is—And Isn’t—A Brand?

A strong brand can set you apart. It can build customer loyalty, trust and appeal. It can set you up for long term success.But what exactly is a brand? It’s hard to pin down a definition when a brand can mean different things to different people. It’s often described as subjective, intangible and misunderstood. But defining ‘brand’ as a whole, can help you understand and establish your own brand, which can do great things for your business.Here’s a layout of what your brand is—and what it isn’t.

02.07.21

Why your brand needs a story

The digital landscape is saturated with businesses competing with each other with very similar products, services and content. It’s incredibly hard to rise above the noise and stand out. So why do people choose one product or service over another? What makes some brands so inspiring? A huge part of it is their brand story.

28.07.21
Digital Marketing

Unicorn Facebook Ads—What Are They And Do We Need Them?

Want to make Facebook ads that dominate? With unusually high engagement rates that the algorithm will love, we all want our ads to be in the top performing 1-3%—to be unicorn Facebook ads.

The internet is riddled with tricks and hacks on how to make audacious ads that become overnight success stories. While these strategies can bring in a whopping amount of revenue (and press), they often bring high risk and short-term results.

We’re all for wild and wacky unicorn Facebook ad ideas that shake the market, but we’re also about building brands that last. Here are some tried and tested methods for creating and running solid Facebook ads that boost engagement, lower costs, drive sales and can set you up for long-term success.

LET’S TALK

Sometimes digital growth is strategically simple—we call it leverage. Let’s start talking.

 

Know your audience

Your ads are speaking to people. Knowing who you are trying to reach is the first step to a high engagement rate, because you can tailor your ads toward a specific type of person. People are much more likely to click, share, comment, like, download or buy from a message they resonate with.

If you try to talk to everybody through vague and generic messaging, you will find it very difficult to connect with anybody. Don’t be afraid to be specific, polarising even. If you want people to love you, chances are there will be some that dislike you too. That’s ok. Maybe even great (think Apple and any successful politician).

It’s important for people, and Facebook’s algorithm, to know who your ads are for, and also who they’re not for.

Curate Facebook ad audiences

A large part of your ad’s success depends on the audiences you target in Facebook’s advertising platform.

Facebook’s algorithm is extremely clever at finding the right audiences for your ads. This is why broad audience strategies within the platform perform well. While reaching as many people as possible and letting Facebook do the work is a good strategy, you can further refine your campaigns by manually breaking down audiences into specific, curated groups.

These segmented audiences will be smaller and narrower, but they often have higher engagement rates. You can overlap interests to create very unique audiences and tailor your ads to speak directly to them.

They may reach less people, but the people they do reach will be the right ones, which can boost CTRs and increase sales.

Create killer ads

Don’t make an ad, make something interesting

We have very little time to capture someone’s attention. There’s a lot of evidence showing that old-world, interruption-based advertising just doesn’t work anymore. As soon as we know it’s an ad, we scroll.

Ads that are too salesy—Cheap! $5 off! Buy this!— don’t often lead to high engagement. They don’t resonate. They scream “ad”. Sometimes it’s good to get to the point if a promotion is on offer, but when we’re trying to build trust with our audience, this isn’t always the best tactic.

Creating ads that look and feel like content your audience consumes everyday (native advertising), will increase engagement because they provide value beyond just being an ad and trying to sell something.

Look at what organic content is killing it, and incorporate that into your paid content. Try creating ads with the “sponsored” tag being the only giveaway that it’s an ad.

Leverage Facebook ad real estate

Every element of a Facebook ad is extremely valuable real estate. Ads that utilise the very limited space improve engagement because every piece of information serves a purpose, creating a fuller, more interesting message.

Think about how each of the elements work together to create a whole. Is every piece of your ad bringing something new? Or are you repeating information unnecessarily?

Facebook is giving you an opportunity to take up more of your audience’s attention. Jump on it! The most effective Facebook ads do.

Be bold

You have one shot at stopping someone from scrolling past, so make something striking. This is why the visual component of an ad is a secret weapon. Design something interesting and eye-catching. And if it’s a video, make sure it grabs attention even when the sound is off.

Ads that do well also capture attention in the first line of copy. Use emojis and capitals, but don’t rely on them. Try unorthodox or controversial statements to grab attention, like “Do you hate money?” or “I invented a time machine”. Statements like these create high engagement rates, as long as they’re relevant.

Here’s an example ad by us

Add a little bit of body text 1

Test and optimise

Part of what makes Facebook advertising so effective and interesting is that you can immediately see results. You can test different ad creative, audiences, placements and make instant changes.

Try different things and see what works. Be creative and bold. Look at ads that are crushing it right now in your industry. You can view all active Facebook ads in their Ad Library.

Look at ads in your own feed that grab your attention. Take inspiration from them and continue to refine your ads so you can dominate your industry, create a brand that lasts and create unicorn Facebook ads.

We know it’s not easy! If your engagement rates are still low we can help. Our digital strategists at Arkhi have been doing this since Facebook advertising began. Get in touch with us and let’s chat about your digital marketing.

Interested in more?

29.06.22

How To Market On Digital Platforms

With social media taking over the marketing space, gaining awareness, retaining attention, and converting people is a competitive space. So how does your business stand out and meet your goals through social media marketing?The key is having an effective digital marketing mix. Each platform is unique in its offering and its audience, requiring different marketing methods and tactics.

08.07.21
eCommerce

What you need to know about Shopify’s Online Store 2.0

At this year’s Shopify Unite, they announced one of their biggest updates in company history: Online Store 2.0. This presents new opportunities and makes new themes more flexible than ever before.

These updates are set to roll out soon so it’s important to know what changes are happening to Shopify Plus and how they can benefit you.

LET’S TALK

Sometimes digital growth is strategically simple—we call it leverage. Let’s start talking.

Web Storefront Solution

Hydrogen is one of Shopify Unite’s most exciting announcements! It is Shopify’s solution to taking some of the load out of building a functional web storefront.

The Introduction of Hydrogen and Oxygen

Hydrogen is a developer toolkit featuring scaffolding to help developers get stores up and running in just a few clicks! You can also build your site’s foundation with a set of React components. This is an incredible addition to Shopify Plus as it allows you to focus on styling the visual elements of your site, and developers now have a quick and easy way to build custom storefronts.

Oxygen hosts Hydrogen storefronts directly on Shopify for an efficient, dynamic, and global eCommerce solution.

Updated Theme Architecture

Online Store 2.0 aims to create new opportunities for developers to build themes and integrations that can be easily customised to suit merchants and their business needs.

Sections on Every Page

Previously, developers were somewhat limited as the flexibility of sections was only available to the home page. Now, with Online Store 2.0, you can add sections to any page.

You have the opportunity to create template files that map to different:

  • Product pages
  • Collection pages
  • Custom pages
  • Blog posts
  • and more!

Flexible Store Content

To create a more flexible and customisable user experience, Shopify has made several improvements to its store content.

Improvements to Meta Fields

This will make you and your developers happy–no more hardcoding into themes or relying on APIs!

What isn’t available in the core store editor can now be added via meta fields. Shopify has now given meta fields:

  • A more flexible type system which will become more tailored to commerce data over time.
  • A standardised system that will make working on custom themes easier.
  • Presentation hints, where Storefront API and Liquid users can render merchant data with far less custom code.

Payment Gateway Integration

Shopify Checkout has been updated to ensure it can keep up with high-quantity sales and continue to be one of the best eCommerce solutions. Shopify Unite mentions all merchants will soon have access to checkout extensions, including extension APIs, new extension points, a component library and new APIs to control visual elements of your checkout.

As of June 29, 2021, developers can sign up for beta access to Shopify’s first post-purchase checkout extension. This will allow merchants to upsell products or offer future discounts prior to buyers exiting your store.

New Developer Tools

To help support developers with the Store 2.0 changes, Shopify Unite announced a rollout of new developer tools. These tools create swift integration as well as aid in the development, testing, and deployment of your themes.

Theme Check

Theme check is a language server for Liquid and JSON, scanning themes for errors and highlighting best practices for Shopify and Liquid. You can integrate this tool with text editors, including Visual Studio Code, which will identify errors in your theme code, such as Liquid syntax errors, missing templates, performance issues, and a whole lot more!

GitHub Integration

Shopify is set to introduce a new integration with GitHub to ease the tracking and management of theme development. You will be able to connect your GitHub account to an online store. This will allow you to:

  • Push and pull changes to a GitHub repo
  • Have that GitHub repo in a constant in-sync with the current state of selected themes
  • Have developers review and merge changes to GitHub before populating to a live theme.

This years’ Shopify Unite announcements are some of the biggest to date, putting optimisation and ease of customisation at the forefront of Online Store 2.0. Our developers are keen to dive in and discover how these updates can improve Stead Lane’s best practices and client builds.

Wanting a Shopify Plus Website Build?

Our team of experienced developers have upgraded, redesigned, and built websites that suit client needs and goals. As the first Shopify Plus Partner in Queensland, we are also one of the most trusted agencies in Shopify Plus builds. Contact us today to find out more!

Interested in more?

31.03.20

Australian eCommerce Revenue & Traffic Trends During the COVID-19 Crisis

Covid-19 is having a devastating effect on small, medium and large businesses. Not only is the situation tragic for individuals but causing immense pressure across many business sectors as we all navigate through this. Whilst none of us can control the macro environment, we can review and implement various tactical initiatives during this time. To help companies do this, we’ve compiled the data for our diverse portfolio to provide insights that will hopefully be helpful to eCommerce businesses and those who work with eCommerce brands.