D IVING INTO MO DERN-DAY

M A RKE T ING
W HAT IS T HIS BOO K ALL ABO UT?

If you’re reading this book, you might already be very well aware of businesses who are

racing to establish a brand presence online. In fact, you’re probably one of those who

are transforming their business model in order to fit into the digital age.

That being said, you must have gone through these questions at some point—or maybe

even on a daily basis: how do you rank higher in search engines? Is investing in

influencers worth it? Can you go on a vacation and manage social media at the same

time?

The answers to that and more are exactly what we’re sharing with you in this book. Here,

you will find valuable insights and tools that can improve your modern-day marketing

strategies. But far from purely technical tutorials—all of which you can easily

Google—what we are instead sharing with you is the heart of digital marketing.

Definitely, we have how-to tips here and templates there. But more importantly, you will

be learning not just the whats, but also the hows of modern-day marketing. How does

psychology shape graphic design? How can you trigger emotional needs with great

copy? How does funnel marketing work in the digital age? Because more than anything,

these are pieces of advice that will come in handy when you’re trying to lead your

customer from awareness to advocacy.

So go ahead, and flip to the next page for a head start on modern-day marketing!

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 1
 A

R OADM A P
FOR THIS BO OK

CH APT ER 1: VIS UA L BR A N D IN G A N D D E SIGN

From creating emotionally powerful ads to crafting packaging designs that make

customers stop, this chapter will walk you through essential design theories and

actionable tips.

Prints, Papers, and Pixels: A Guide to Printed Brand Materials

Going Digital: Graphic and Image Standards for Social Media and the Web

Psychology Principles to Apply for Game-Changing Designs

The Power of Visual Weight: Creating Well-Balanced Designs

How to Create Magnetic Packaging Designs That Stick out of The Shelf

A Beginner’s Guide to Creating and Using GIFs for Online Marketing

What Graphic Designs Does Your Business Need?

C HAPTER 2: COPYWR IT IN G A N D CON T E N T C R E AT ION

This chapter introduces you to the most important bits of copywriting for the online

market, including concrete tricks for clear, crisp, and optimized copy.

Things to Keep In Mind for Killer Copy

Common Copywriting Mistakes You Should Avoid

How to Produce A Landing Page That Makes Customers Stick

Simplifying SEO: The Basics of Writing Search Engine-Friendly Content

Why Hiring A Copywriter Is A Great Investment

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 2
 CHAPTER 3: EDITORIAL STYLING, GRAPHICS, AND PHOTOGRAPHY

Learn how to capture your audience with well-framed photos, where the best spots

are in the US, as well as how to organize photoshoots in this chapter.

The Most Instagrammable Places in The World to Shoot At

Putting Photoshoots Together: A Call Sheet Template for Productions And Shootings

Using Light to Take Your Photos to The Next Level

Beginner-Friendly Tips on Taking Better Pictures

The Best Places to Get Beautiful Fonts for Free

Why You Should Invest in A Professional Photography And Editing Team

CHAPTER 4: SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY FORMULATION AND MANAGEMENT

In this chapter, we’re spilling the secrets to making social media manageable, including

comprehensive calendar templates and the most well-loved apps for marketers!

Content Calendars You Need to Boost Online Marketing Efforts

The Best Social Media Tools Every Marketer Needs

What Impact Does Hiring A Social Media Agency Make?

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 3
 CH APT ER 5: WEB D E SIGN A N D M A IN T E N A N C E

Before setting up your own website, equip yourself with the necessary web design

know-how. Alternatively, skip all that and opt for a custom-built theme that

reflects your brand!

The Best Resources Online Where You Can Learn Coding

Setting Up Your Website With Custom-Built Themes

A Glossary of Must-Know Web Design Terms

We’ve Got Your Web Design and Maintenance Covered 24/7

C HA P T ER 6: INFLUENCER OU T R E AC H A N D D IGITA L M A R K E T IN G

Find the most important aspects of digital marketing in this chapter, from optimizing

content, to reaching out to influencers, to designing strategies that truly convert leads.

What You Need to Know About The Marketing Funnel

Rules to Play by If You Want to Rank High on Google

The Basics of Backlinking (And Why It Still Matters)

How to Leverage Influencer Marketing for Your Business

BONUS: Contract Templates You Need for Freelance Hires

Leave It to Marque Media to Make the Magic

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 4
 CHA PT E R 1
Vi s ual B ra n di n g
a nd De s i g n

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 5
 P RI NTS , PA P E R S, A N D P IX E L S
A GU ID E TO PRINTED BR AND MATER IALS

Source: Marque Media

In an age where customers discover brands on Instagram and search for products on Google, it seems as

if digital assets are everything you need for your business. Put up a responsive website, create a social

media page, and you’re good to go.

But as a business—whether you’re a startup or you already have a loyal customer base—it’s every bit as

relevant to make an impression in the real world by way of printed brand materials. And we’re making the

case for it.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 6
 Source: Marque Media

PRI N TE D MEDIA BRINGS A COM PE T IT IV E E D GE TO YOU R BR A N D

With so many brands vying for online presence, printed media is the easiest way to cut through the digital

noise and establish a tangible and credible presence in your target market. Websites only get scanned by

prospects a mere 10 to 15 seconds, and ad-saturated newsletters, ignored. Printed brand materials, in

comparison, survive in your customer’s office or home for years.

Not to mention, our brains register print differently: people are more easily able to recall and comprehend

printed materials compared to digital data. All the more reason to ramp up your printed adverts!

Ready to get started on creating your brand materials? Here’s a comprehensive guide to the basics of

printed media.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 7
 A GUIDE TO COMMON PAPER SIZES AND LAYOUTS TERMINOLOGIES

When it comes to printed materials, accurate measurements always matter and affect the final printed

output, whether or not you notice it.

Case in point: if your layout is off by a quarter or half an inch, the printer will adjust the document’s size

and either stretch it or condense it to fit. You could end up with a print material that is out of

proportion—not exactly something you want when you’re making a professional brand impression.

That said, it’s important to have an understanding of common paper sizes for your materials in order to get

printed outputs right.

Source: Verduins

L ETTER SIZE (8. 5” X 11”)

The letter size is most common paper size used in print media and commercial communication.
Many fax and copy machines as well as inkjet printers accept letter size.

L EG A L SIZE (8. 5” X 14”)

Longer than letter size, legal size is used for brochures, flyers, and sheet-type documents. Many
printers accept legal size as well.

HA L F LETTER S IZE (5. 5” X 8.5” )

Half letter size is great for magazine inserts and booklets.

TA B LOID S IZE (11” X 17”)

Tabloid size is versatile for many business materials: flyers, brochures, signage, announcements,
booklets, and programs.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 8
 Source: Wikimedia Commons

A1 (23 . 4” x 3 3 .1”)
Need to create large promotional posters or flipcharts? Go for an A1 size.

A2 (x 16. 5” x 23 . 4”)
If you need to produce medium-sized posters, A2 size works well.

A4 (8. 3 ” x 11.7”)
Outside of the United States, A4 is the standard size used for printing documents

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 9
 SINCE WE TALKED ABOUT ACCURATE DIMENSIONS, HERE ARE
SOME POINTERS ON COMMON LAYOUT ELEMENTS YOU’LL
ENCOUNTER WHEN CREATING YOUR MATERIALS.

Source: Wirzco and Company Printing

TRI M

The trim is the size of your final printed output. It outlines the area where your printed

output is cut off.

MA R GIN

The margin is the area between your trim and any important information or element in your

design. A standard margin is at least 0.125 inches.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 10
 Source: Wallace Carlson

BL E ED

A bleed is the area where your final printed output extends past your trim size. This is to

ensure that when the paper is finally down to your trim size, there is no area left uncovered.

For bleed, adding an extra 0.125 inches to your design is the standard guide as well.

G UTT ER

When you are printing several copies of your design laid out on a single piece of paper, it’s

important to allow space in between designs for trimming. Gutter is the space between the

copies of your design.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 11
 RECOMMENDED PIXE LS FOR PR IN T E D IM AGE S

Unlike images for the web, it’s not as easy to get away with lower quality images for printed materials.

It’s very easy to spot low-quality elements; you want your images and designs to look as sharp and fine

as possible.

The required number pixels per inch or ppi (a dictator of image quality) is higher for printed products. A

fair standard is 180ppi, and a better one is 240ppi. Shoot for at least 300ppi for best quality!

Here’s a more complete guide for recommended ppi for printing as well as the number of megapixels you

need to shoot with.

MEGAPIXELS MEGAPIXELS MEGAPIXELS

PRINT SIZE NEEDED FOR 180PPI NEEDED FOR 240PPI NEEDED FOR 300PPI

4x6 1 1 2

5x7 1 2 3

8x10 3 5 7

11x14 5 9 14

16x20 10 18 29

20x30 19 35 54

Producing printed materials may be a bit of a meticulous process, but quality lends a huge impact the

final products. And if there’s anything we know about visual branding: quality wins impressions.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 12
 GOING DIGITAL
GRAPHIC AND IMAGE STANDARDS FOR
SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE WEB

With everyone glued to the screen nowadays, it isn’t a mystery where businesses have to be: online.

Marketing your brand online has expanded to the point that it’s extremely difficult to appear on the very

congested social media feed—much less, get engagement from potential customers.

Source: Kindly, Sheree

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 13
 But one thing is for sure: we’re getting more visual than ever. The Internet is continuously expanding to

handle more images, graphics, and videos than when it could back in its earlier stages. Which means that

more apps and features are being invented to convert socializing into a visual one. To get your customer’s

attention, there’s a real need for eye-catching visual content.

Source: Envato Tuts Plus

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 14
 To help you leverage your visual marketing efforts, we’re providing a guide to

specifications and standards for web visuals.

CO M M O N I MAGE FILE FO RM ATS

There are three common file formats that we usually encounter.

JP G (ALSO, JPEG)

is perhaps the most common file type for photos. JPG images are typically compressed in

order to cut file size.

PNG

is an open source format that takes up a little more space than JPG images do in order to

display an image in the most efficient quality possible. The PNG format is ideal for either

full-color or transparent photos.

GIF

is usually associated with moving images or mini clips, but it can actually be animated

(multiple frames) and static (one frame). Since GIF images do not display as many colors

as JPG or PNG images, you probably wouldn’t want to use them for static images.

There are also image file formats that you can only view and modify with an image editing

software—which is to say, they are not supported by common photo viewing applications.

Such would be TIFF or PSD. If you don’t have special software to access these files, you can

always download the apps yourself—or tap us for expert-level help!

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 15
 OPT IM IZING IMAGES FOR

SO CI AL M E DIA
Faceb ook

COVER PHOTOS
Must be 820 x 462 px at best for both
desktop and mobile viewing.

Displays at 828 x 315 px on desktops

820 x 462 and 640 x 360 on mobile.

Image must at least be 399 x 150 px.

PROFILE PICTURES Upload an sRGB JPG file at less than
180 x 180
Must be at least 180 x 180 px. 100KB so it loads on browsers faster!

SHARED PHOTOS
1200 x 630 Must be at 1200 x 630 px.

HIGHLIGHTED PHOTOS
1200 x 717 For best results, image should be
1200 x 717 px.

PHOTOS FOR
SHARED LINKS
Must be at least 1200 x 627 px.
1200 x 627 For rectangular photos 470 x 246
(feed) and 484 x 246 (Timeline).

For square photos 154 x 154 px (feed)

and 116 x 116 px (Timeline).

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 16
 Faceb ook

EVENT COVER
1920 x 1080 PHOTOS
Must be at least 1920 x 1080 px.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 17
 Instagram

PROFILE PICTURES
Must be a square photo at 110 x 110
110 x 110 px

lorem_ipsum
FOLLOW
lorem Ipsum

SHARED PHOTOS
In general, must be
1080 x 1080 px.
1080 x 1080
For vertical photos, must
be 1080 x 1350 px.

For horizontal photos,

1080 x 1350 must be 1080 x 566 px.

1204 likes

lorem_ipsum #makeyourmarque

1080 x 566

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 18
 Tw itte r

HEADER PHOTOS
Must be 1500 x 500 px.

You can use JPG, PNG, or GIF.

Maximum file size is 10MB!

PROFILE PICTURES
400 x 400
Must be 400 x 400 px.

1080 x 1080 UPLOADED PHOTOS

Recommended size is
440 x 220 px.

Maximum file size is 5MB for

plain images and 3MB for
animated images (GIFs).

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 19
 Pe r s o nal Link e dIn Pages

CUSTOM BACKGROUND
100 x 425 PHOTO
Must be 100 x 425 px.

Keep the file size under 4MB.

PROFILE PHOTO 400 x 400
JPG, PNG and yes, even GIF are
Must be 400 x 400 px. all accepted
Maximum file size is 10MB.
JPG, PNG, and GIF formats
are acceptable!

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 20
 Bu s in e s s / B rand Page s on Link e dIn

1536 x 768
LOGO PHOTO
400 x 400
Recommended size is 400 x
400 px.

Keep the file size under 4MB

and the logo clear, attractive
and reflective of your brand
to gain followers! HERO/MAIN
BANNER IMAGE
974 x 330 Upload an image size of at
least 974 x 330 px.

BUSINESS BANNER
IMAGE SQUARE LOGO
Must be at least
646 x 220
Size is 60 x 60 px and will
646 x 220 px
be rescaled to fit.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 21
 Yo u tu b e

COVER PHOTO
2560 x 1440
Best size for viewing on different
devices is 2560 x 1440 px.

Maximum file size is 2MB.

VIDEO STILL IMAGES

1280 x 760 Must be at least 1280 x 760 px.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 22
 P inte re st

PROFILE PHOTO
165 x 165
Usually displayed at 165 x
165 px on your page, so it’s
best to stick to that size

IMAGE THUMBNAILS
FOR BOARDS 222 x 150

Main image is at least

222 x 150 px.

Smaller images are at

50 x 50 px.

PINNED IMAGES
ON FEED
Displayed at 238 px width x
adjusted to height

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 23
 Optimizing images and graphics for different platforms is a lot of

work, especially if you own a page on several social media platforms.

But nailing the correct size will attract prospects and customers and

make your brand look professional.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 24
 P SYC H OLOGY PR INC IPLES
TO APPLY FOR GAME-CHANGING DESIGNS

Design is one of the primary ways we present and communicate our brands, events, and ideas to

customers. That said, it makes sense to learn how our target market thinks and behaves in order create

designs that they can identify with or that can influence their actions.

That food companies and restaurants often incorporate the color red into their logo, for example, says that

the choice of color is intentional. This springs back to the psychology of color, which explains how red

increases the level of appetite in viewers.

There are many more principles of psychology that make a huge impact when applied to designs. Here, we

pick the best ones that you can experiment with and integrate into your brand’s visual materials and

content.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 25
 T HE PSYCHOLOGY O F

COLOR
There’s so much more to a design than a good understanding of the color wheel and choosing which colors

go with which. Striking designs evoke particular emotions of people, and to achieve that, it’s essential to

have a grasp of color psychology.

YELLOW

Optimism, Warmth, Clarity,

Energy, Joy, Playful, Confidence

ORANGE

Friendly, Bold, Youthful,

Extroversion, Motivation, Impulse

RED

Excitement, Passion, Youth,

Boldness, Action, Power, Urgency

PINK

Optimism, Warmth, Clarity,

Energy, Joy, Playful, Confidence

PURPLE

Imaginative, Creative, Nostalgia,

Courage, Fantasy, Glamor,
Wealth
BLUE

Trustworthiness, Intelligence,
Loyalty, Calmness, Security,
Honesty

GREEN

Peaceful, Freshness, Growth,

Safety, Health, Balance,
Harmony

BLACK

Sophistication, Luxury,
Authority, Formality, Seduction,
Importance

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 26
 FACIAL

R ECO GN ITION
People are naturally attracted to faces. In fact we have a tendency to see patterns of a face on an object

or place where there isn’t any, at all, like the craters of the moon or the barks of trees.

So it doesn’t take much to understand that adding faces to your brand’s assets, like your website or your

pamphlet, boosts people’s trust in your brand. In fact, this has been revealed in several studies.

There are a couple of ways you can leverage facial recognition in your designs (on top of just slapping them

on). You can command your viewers to feel particular emotions by choosing a face that conveys that

emotion—whether it be happiness, anger, sadness, surprise, fear, or disgust.

Source: Ads of the World

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 27
 You can also control viewer’s attention with faces that are specifically turned to a particular

direction—eyes can be alternatives for arrows!

Source: Quora

Faces are a great way for your adverts or materials to get a message across despite language barriers.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 28
 VON R E STOR FF E FFE C T

The starting line of an Apple ad “Here’s to the crazy ones,” resonates well with the von Restorff Effect.

Otherwise known as the isolation effect, the von Restorff effect says that the more unique something is,

the easier it will be recognized and remembered.

This is especially true when said unique object is thrown in the middle of multiple objects that are

homogenous or similar. See how that plays out in this image of smileys—which we’re sure you have

encountered across social media or websites before.

Source: Mythical Computer Blog

Source: Metro Cebu

Not only are unique elements or objects easier to remember, they also draw attention faster than any other

parts of your design.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 29
 MAS LOW’ S HIE R A R C HY OF N E E DS

Maslow’s popular pyramid of needs—in which Maslow outlines the order of necessities people need to

meet before achieving self-actualization—has often been utilized in marketing and advertising.

Source: Just Creative

Effective ads and promotions often revolve around benefits. But messages are magnified when ads start

to play off of people’s needs. After all, what would motivate one to buy a product more than when it’s a

necessity for our physical, emotional, and mental well-being?

So when designing, build up on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Map out your target market’s behavior and

consumption patterns—then place your target in the pyramid. Think about how your design can hook them

into needing the product and service in their lives to complete the current level of the pyramid they’re in.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 30
 HIC K ’S LAW

Ever had to take a while ordering food at a restaurant because of the abundant number of dishes to choose

from? Hick’s Law refers to the time it took you to make a decision.

Thing is that sometimes, the decision-making process can take too long or involve too many options that

you may end up not having a good experience or worse, not making a decision at all.

So how do you apply Hick’s Law as a designer? If you’re making a website, for example, try to incorporate

only the functionalities that people need the most. Keep your navigation panel neat and create drop-down

menus so that the options are more organized. This inevitably affects the visitor’s user experience with

your website.

Take a look at Show Pony Fashion’s navigation menu. Hovering over the “Clothes” tab reveals a drop-down

menu of different types of clothes, distributed into their respective categories.

The more simplified and organized you are when guiding your customer to make a choice, the longer and

likelier the customer will stick around.

The key is to not overwhelm your customer with so many options or calls-to-action, lest the customer leave

your website or ignore your design completely.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 31
 FIT T ’S LAW

Defined by Paul Fitts in 1954, Fitt’s Law is a model that “can accurately predict the amount of time taken

to move to and select a target.”

In designer lingo, it really just says that the size of the clickable area directly relates to the likelihood of

people clicking on that area.

Source: Conversion UpLift

Let’s take your navigation menu as an example. If the tabs are small or only the text is clickable, the more

effort your website visitors have to make to click on the tab. And as you may well know by now, we’re all

about making the experience easy for visitors.

You can also use the Fitt’s Law in reverse—in that any exit or delete options can be turned into smaller

buttons.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 32
 Psychology is a huge component of marketing. It makes things like

communication and decision-making much easier for customers to do. As

designers, we play a crucial part in making their understanding and

experience of brand visuals much more effective. With well-executed

designs, we can direct our target market into making the action we want

them to make. So take the time to master and incorporate these

psychology principles into the materials you create.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 33
 T HE POWER OF VISUAL WEIGHT

CR E ATING
WEL L-B ALANCED DESIGNS

Visual weight is to design like gravity is to earth. It’s what makes a particular element in the design appear

“heavier” than other elements. In turn, the element attracts more attention.

The way headlines are set up in a newsletter—in comparatively bigger text than smaller text—demonstrates

that headlines are heavier compared to the body of the news article. Naturally, your eyes are directed to

the heavier visual element.

Source: Blog Du Web Design

There are designs and layouts that showcase visual weight as obviously as that example, but there are also

designs that utilize visual weight more subtly. Check out this analysis of Nintendo’s logo.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 34
 Source: Twitter

Apparently, the sides are uneven, with the left side being slightly bigger than the right. But because of

visual weight, the logo seems done in perfect symmetry. This goes on to show that when applied correctly

and strategically, visual weight creates balance, flow, order, and rhythm in your design. Furthermore, you

can direct your audience to see what you want them to focus on.

We’re breaking down the primary features of design that affect visual weight.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 35
 COLOR

What we perceive as lighter colors and heavier colors, most of the time, are correct. For instance, black is

heavier than grey or white, and red is stronger than yellow.

But it’s still worth noting the different properties that affect a color’s weight. For one, there’s the

temperature of the color. In general, warm colors come to the foreground more naturally and appear

heavier than cool colors. Red is considered as the heaviest color in the spectrum, and yellow, the lightest.

Source: GCF Learn Free

There’s also saturation, which defines the intensity of the color. The more saturated the color, the more

pure or true it is, and the heavier it is, as well.

When creating your composition, heavier colors can be offset by other factors that affect visual weight,

such as size, density, and complexity. See how this plays out in the illustration below.

Source: Webpage FX

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 36
 CON T R AST

Contrast, simply defined, is the difference between two or more elements in your design. The heavier the

difference, the more distinct the elements are. Compositions with more contrasting elements have more

visual weight than compositions whose elements sort of blend together.

That being said, elements with a more defined contrast captures more attention from the viewer. See how

this is rendered in the following illustration.

Source: AVS Forum

Notice how the left side has a more hazy effect than the right side, which is sharper and more defined.

Contrast is also a great concept to apply when you want to make text more readable.

Source: Viget

Contrast defines the hierarchy in the elements of your design, which makes the eyes distinguish things

more easily.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 37
 LIGH T N E SS/ DA R K N E SS

It doesn’t take much to know that darker colors are heavier in visual value than lighter ones. But one

interesting thing to know is that there is a seemingly natural placement of darker colors when it comes to

composition. Apparently, people find it more natural to see darker colors at the bottom of the

composition than at the top. Perhaps it’s related to the way gravity attracts denser objects to the bottom.

Source: Viget

SIZE

In the real world, we perceive bigger things to be heavier things, primarily because the size of it takes up

so much more space.

Source: Central Florida Systema

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 38
 The same concept translates to design. Bigger elements have more visual weight than smaller elements. So

take note of this when there’s a particular element of your composition that you want viewers to focus on.

Just look at the way designers enlarge the “SALE” word when it comes to sale announcements and adverts,

for example.

Source: And Kaladkarin

If you want more balance, one way you can can even things out is by creating more of the same element

in smaller versions, just like so

Source: Slideshare Blog

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 39
 D E N SIT Y

In design, density measures how “compact” something is. The more elements are packed into a particular

area, the heavier it is in value. Denser elements stand out more compared to dispersed elements—that is,

elements that have more negative space separating them. Take a look at the following images and identify

the most dense area.

Source: Joan Mitchell Foundation

Source: Webpage FX

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 40
 COM PLE XIT Y

Take a look at the image below. Which side do you spend more time staring at?

Source: Child's Play Portland

Any element that is more intrinsically composed weighs more in visual value next to elements that look a

lot more simple and spare. In this case, it’s the design on the right side that garners more attention. This is

because your eyes need more time to comprehend the element, thus making it a heavier visual design.

Complexity of design is a pretty good concept to apply if you want your viewers to focus on something

like a CTA button—but of course just don’t make it too convoluted or illegible to look at.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 41
 Clearly, design is not a random choice of details or arrangement of those

details in a composition. There’s an exactness behind it that, more than

eye-catching, makes it functional for marketing purposes. Each detail

works with one another to create a purposeful visual message.

Learning how to utilize visual weight allows you to strategically create

and place elements in your composition. This way, you present your

message much clearer. In the process, you also get to lead the eyes of

your viewers, leading them to focus on what you want them to see.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 42
 HOW TO CREATE MAGNETIC

PAC KAGI N G D E S IGNS

T HAT ST ICK OUT OF THE SHELF

Believe it or not, packaging can make or break your product. We could take “break” to a literal level

because, at its most practical function, packaging protects your product from damage. But moving past its

practical purpose, packaging also greatly affects a customer’s purchasing decision. And if the design is the

type that makes customers simply walk by, well, you definitely need to re-do your product’s look.

Source: Tie Dieline

So what makes a packaging design that makes customers stop, reach out, and perhaps take your product

all the way to checkout? Let us spill the 6 most important packaging design rules to go by.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 43
 CLARIT Y A N D SPE C IFIC IT Y

People glance at products for only less than 4 seconds. That’s a very short span of time, so the best thing you

can do first and foremost is create a packaging design that lets them easily identify what your product is.

Source: Pinterest

No frills, no games, no misleading claims.

Just tell your customers what product they’re buying and what brand the product is from. Don’t make them

do a lot of heavy lifting, or worse, mistake your product for another item entirely—a great bad example

would be these household cleaning products packaged like fruit juices.

Source: 99 Designs

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 44
 H ONEST Y A N D ACC U R ACY

How many times did you expect your food to be served the way exactly as it was pictured?

Source: College Humor

There’s nothing wrong with a bit of product makeover in design. In fact, when it comes to packaging, it’s

acceptable to portray the product to be more attractive than it is in reality. Even consumers expect

packaging designs to have been revamped to a degree.

But when the packaging stretches it too far to the point that it looks nothing like the actual product at all,

then you’re at risk of receiving bad reviews, poor sales, and a damaged brand image.

So when creating the packaging design, portray your product enticingly, but also accurately. In other

words—don’t overdo the design and create a misleading look.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 45
 U N IQU E N E SS

Food Marketing Institute (FMI) reports that the average grocery store in America houses about 40,000

items. The supermarket alone is a huge place for competition, which means to say that in order for your

product to stick out of the shelf, you have to approach the packaging in a creative way.

For instance, if everybody else is using stock photos or product photos for the packaging, create an

illustrated representation of your product for a unique and more personal touch. If the generic product

displays a lot of color and graphics, go for a minimalist design.

Source: Top Design Mag

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 46
 Packaging that is uniquely done can be the sole basis for purchasing—which is to say, creativity definitely

has an edge in sales performance. So go ahead and experiment with it. There are a lot of ways you can find

inspiration for design and create an outstanding new type of packaging whilst remaining true to the

product contents. Check out how this brand reimagines pasta as hairstyles.

Source: Digital Synopsis

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 47
 PR AC T IC A LIT Y

These days, there’s nothing consumers appreciate more than products that are practical. Packaging that is

built to complement the product—makes it easier to use, store, or carry around—definitely boosts sales

performance. Just look at Heinz’s upside-down ketchup bottle, which made serving ketchup a lot easier

and quicker. It doesn’t hurt that the plastic material is squeeze-friendly.

Source: Heinz Ketchup Source: From Up North

Before you dive into the design process, consider the profile of your target consumers. What is their

lifestyle like? What size, shape, or functions would they like to see in your product’s packaging? Analyzing

and answering these needs are very important for you to effectively create a practical design.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 48
 EX T E N SIBILIT Y

More than innovative and practical, designs also need to be flexible enough. This especially holds true if

your product is the type to be part of a series or variations in the future, like differently-flavored jams or

snacks, for example.

Source: Jayce-O-Yesta

Source: Packaging News

So when designing the packaging, keep extensibility and flexibility in mind. This does not only enable you

to accommodate future variations, but also make the product line look cohesive and well-incorporated

with a product family.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 49
 Packaging isn’t simple. There are a lot of aspects to it that could

influence your consumer not just into paying attention, but actually

purchasing the product you’re selling. The five design principles

mentioned here should guide you into delivering packaging that is

innovative, functional, clear, and memorable.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 50
 A BEG I N NE R’S GU IDE
TO CREAT ING AND USING GIFS FOR O NLINE MARKETING

You must have come across a GIF on Facebook (or Tumblr!) one time. They’re those short animations that

play on loop—more exciting than a still image, but much shorter than a video.

Or maybe, you’re one of those who uses the GIF feature on the Messenger app to express emotions or

reactions that pictures or emojis simply can’t do. If you’ve ever wanted to create a GIF of your own, then

read on—we’re giving you the skinny on how to produce these short, original animations. All you need is

Photoshop and some spare time.

1. UPLOA D T HE IM AGE S

If you have already prepared images for your GIF, simply upload them to Photoshop by navigating to the

main menu, clicking on File, then Scripts, then Load Files Into Stack.

Then choose Browse and select all the image files you will be using. Then, click OK.

Photoshop will distribute the uploaded images to separate layers. Once finished, head on to the next step.

If you haven’t prepared images yet for your GIF, you will have to manually create a layer for each frame of

your GIF. To make a new layer, navigate to the main menu, select Layer, then New, then, Layer.

Don’t forget to name your layers! It helps to easily keep a tab on them. Simply navigate to the Layer Panel

at the bottom right of the window, then double-click on the default layer name. Type in a new name of your

choice and hit Enter.

When done, head on to the next step.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 51
 Don’t forget to name your layers! It helps to easily keep a tab on them. Simply
navigate to the Layer Panel at the bottom right of the window, then
double-click on the default layer name. Type in a new name of your choice and
hit Enter.

When done, head on to the next step.

Bonus Tip: If you want to merge layers so that they all show up in one frame
in your GIF, switch the visibility mode on for the layers you want to
combine—click on the eye icon to the left of each layer, so only the eyes for the
layers you will be combining are open. Then, press Shift + Command + Option
+ E (for Mac users) or Shift + Ctrl + Alt + E (for Windows users).

Photoshop will then produce a new layer housing the combined layers. Make
sure to name this differently!

2. OPEN T HE T IM E LIN E W IN D OW

Navigate to the main menu, then select Window, then, Timeline. The Timeline will enable you

to turn on and off different layers for different periods of time, which comprises of the GIF

making process.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 52
 3. SELECT CREATE FRAME ANIMATION IN THE TIMELINE WINDOW

It should be instantly selected, but if not, no worries. Just click on the dropdown menu and choose Create

Frame Animation.

4. MAKE A NEW LAYER FOR EACH NEW FRAME

First, go to the main menu, click on Select, then choose All Layers. Afterwards, press on the menu icon on

the right of the Timeline window. A drop down menu should appear, then select Create New Layer for Each

New Frame.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 53
 5. OPEN THE SAME MENU ICON ON THE TIMELINE WINDOW, THEN SELECT MAKE FRAMES FROM LAYERS

This will turn each layer a frame of your GIF.

6. DECIDE HOW LONG EACH FRAME SHOULD RUN BEFORE TRANSITIONING TO THE NEXT FRAME.

Below each frame, you should be able to see a time frame. Click on the time and choose how long you want

that frame to show up on the GIF.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 54
 7. THEN, SELECT HOW MANY TIMES YOU WANT YOUR GIF TO LOOP OR REPEAT

You have four options for this: you can loop your GIF Once, 3 times, or Forever. Or, you can also custom

the number of loops by selecting Other.

8. SELECT THE PLAY ICON AT THE BOTTOM OF THE TIMELINE WINDOW TO PREVIEW YOUR GIF

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 55
 9. SAVE YOUR GIF!

If you like your GIF, go ahead and save it by clicking File on the main menu, then Export, then Save for

Web (Legacy). Select the type of GIF file you want to save your work under the Preset dropdown. Choose

Dithered GIFs if your GIF has gradients so you can prevent color banding. Choose no dither if your file has

a lot of solid colors.

Next to the GIF file, you will see a number which indicates how huge and exact the colors of the GIF will

be. A higher dithering percentage means that there are more colors and details in your GIF, but it is directly

proportional to your file size.

Finally, save your GIF to your computer. It’s now ready for use!

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 56
 US ING GIFS IN D IGITA L M A R K E T IN G

GIFs definitely lend an entire new dimension to marketing your brand online! Here are some tips on how

and where you can use it on different platforms.

SOC IA L M E D IA

GIFs are great for explaining a process (like a short guide telling your audience how to shop on your page),

telling a story, featuring a product or service, or announcing news. If you want to come off a little more

creative and witty, try even responding to your followers in the comments thread with a GIF. Of course,

aptness of context is key.

E M A ILS

People rarely read texts on newsletters or announcements on emails nowadays. GIFs definitely get the curiosity

and excitement going: the short animations will spice up the email contents and get your readers to click.

BLOGS

If you want to lend a new flavor to your blog posts, definitely incorporate GIFs. You can pretty much use it

if you need a sizzling intro, a summary of a topic or a process, or a magnetic call-to-action.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 57
 GIFs are a creative new way to entertain and interact with your

audience. And in case that you can’t find what you’re looking for,

you can always do it yourself—you just need Photoshop and

spare time to navigate around and stitch the GIF together there.

When using GIFs for marketing, always keep in mind that—much

like pulling punchlines—GIFs should be utilized in the right

context for maximum impact.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 58
 WHAT

GR A P H I C D E S IGNS
D OES YOUR BUSINESS NEED?

Rea d y to give your bra nd a f a ce li f t? Ta ke thi s s ho r t q ui z a s a s ta r te r !

Considering the values of your brand, what colors would you like to include in the logo?

Which of your social media platforms do you think need/s a visual refresh in terms of photos?

Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Youtube, Pinterest

What types of printed media does your company need?

What packaging designs from other brands do you consider “inspirational” for your own brand’s

packaging designs? What do you like about them?

The guides we provided in this chapter should prepare you to create your brand’s very own visual assets.

If you have trouble tinkering around and putting everything together, do consider hiring a graphic designer

to handle the creative marketing and technical tasks for you.

Marque Media offers comprehensive services for business owners who need their visual assets to hook

customers at first sight. Our graphic design team does everything from creating brand guides, to touching

up and optimizing images for social media, to creating cost-effective print media and packaging designs

that match your vision for your brand.

SIGN UP FOR A L e t u s m ak e y o u r v i s i o n co m e t o l i f e ! We ’d l o v e t o s i t d o wn an d

FREE CONSULTATION d i s c u s s i t wi t h y o u , s o d o g e t i n t o u c h . C o n s u l t at i o n i s f re e !

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 59
 CHA PT ER 2
C o p yw r i t i n g
a nd Co n t e n t C re a t i on

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 60
 THINGS TO

KEEP IN M IN D
FOR KILLER COPY

WRIT E A COM PE LLIN G HE A D LIN E

The headline is the first thing a new website visitor notices. Therefore, it’s your first opportunity to catch

their attention. The short attention span of the average internet user means writing attention-grabbing

headlines is becoming increasingly harder. However, there are a few proven methods that work regardless

of what industry you’re operating in.

One method that always works is to ask a provocative or controversial question as the headline. Surely,

the audience will want to know the answer to the question and move onto the body of the content.

Appealing to the “how-to” instinct also works well. Everyone wants to improve their life by learning how

to do something new. A headline that promises to deliver on that might intrigue the viewer in wanting to

learn more. By suggesting that value will be found in the body of the content, the viewer is more likely to

read past the headline.

GOOD EXAMPLE: 10 Ways to Make Money While Waiting for A Pension Check

BAD EXAMPLE: How to Make Money After Retirement

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 61
 IMPORTANCE OF U SIN G SIM PLE LA N GUAGE

It’s important to quickly communicate each point when copywriting, so simple language is a no-brainer.

Using words that aren’t spoken in everyday language and confusing sentence structures will not achieve

the desired level of engagement.

Great copywriting has the ability to persuade the audience to believe a certain point of view. This might

be that a particular problem exists, and that your product or service can solve the problem. Persuading

the audience is much easier to achieve when they can understand the content without having to read it

twice.

Furthermore, not every audience member is going to be a native English speaker. For these individuals,

using simple language might be the only way to communicate at all.

FOLLOW T HE A IDA FOR M U LA

(ATTENTION, IN T E R E ST, D E SIR E , AC T ION )

If you’re looking for some actionable guidelines when copywriting,

then you can’t go wrong with the AIDA formula:

ATTENTION

the first step is to grab the attention of the lead. As mentioned previously, a headline is a great way to

achieve that. However, the first paragraph must also do a great job of selling the reader to continue

onwards with the rest of the content.

INTEREST

to spike the interest level of the reader, you must do one of two things. Induce a sense of fear that a

problem they have is real and requires a solution, which you will provide in the content. Or, play to their

emotions and share a story that inspires them to read on.

DESIRE

once the prospect is interested, you must give them a reason to trust in your products or services in

solving the problem.

ACTION

once you have effectively conveyed that your product is worthy of attention, use a call-to-action (or CTA)

to convert the lead. Without a call to action the lead has no idea what to do after they have read the

content. You need to make it easy for them and nudge them in the direction of the desired action. This

might be to download a free ebook in exchange for the email address, buy a product, or sign up for a

service.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 62
 HIGH LIGHT YOUR U N IQU E SE LLIN G POIN T ( U SP)

The internet is a big place and there are plenty of copycats out there, so differentiating yourself is

important. Establishing a USP gives the viewers a reason to pay attention to your product and ultimately

choose you over the competition.

You might already know what sets you apart from your competition, so it’s just a case of highlighting it

whenever you get an opportunity. If you don’t know your USP then you need to create one. Not just so

that you can write better copy, but for the purposes of branding too.

An example of a successful USP is one that provides a unique benefit to the client—a benefit that isn’t

offered by other competitors. Highlighting this in the copywriting will spike the interest of the audience.

However, the USP must be amazing; if it’s bland, then that’s not enough to set yourself apart from the

rest of the pack.

For instance, let’s say that your company specializes in swimming pool installation. A USP could be to

offer a free inspection every year, or the ability to add additional features at a 50% discount for 2 years.

WRITE IN A CON V E R SAT ION A L TON E

You know that formal language we were all taught to write with during our high school years? Forget

that. When it comes to copywriting, you’re better off adopting a conversational tone: the kind you would

use when writing an email to a friend or family member. The internet is an informal place—just look at the

nature of social media. The most successful examples of businesses using social media isn’t the corporate

stuff, but instead content that has a light, friendly, and informal feel to it.

Writing copy with a conversational tone might not come naturally to everyone. After all, if you’ve spent

years writing a certain way, then it can be hard to change. However, it shouldn’t be too hard as we all use

a conversational tone verbally. It’s just a matter of incorporating the same style when copywriting.

When writing in conversational tone, the rules are different from what you might be used to. For example,

you can start sentences with words like and, but and yet. The point is to improve the flow of the content

in a conversational manner.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 63
 Copywriting is a creative process, but as you can see from this

section there is a proven way of doing things. Copywriting is an asset

regardless of what type of business you're trying to build. Mastering

it improves user engagement, sales and allows you to educate the

potential customer on the value of your products.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 64
 CO PYWRITING

MI STAKE S
TO AVO ID

LACK OF CONS IST E N CY AC R OSS PLAT FOR M S

It doesn’t matter if you’re writing a blog post, marketing e-mail, social media post or the description

section of a YouTube video. All copywriting must be consistent with the brand message. When your

content doesn’t match across platforms, your loyal brand followers might become confused. This can

lead to not being able to connect with your customers, as the brand message is lost.

You must figure out the demographics of your audience and use the language that appeals best to that

segment of the Internet. Naturally the same language should be used across all your content. For

example, if you’re in the baby products market, then tailoring the content to target mothers should be

done across all platforms.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 65
 NEGLE C T IN G SE O

Content should be written for humans, but it doesn’t hurt to optimize it for the search engines.

Neglecting to implement SEO into all of your content is simply leaving money on the table. That’s

because a lack of SEO means you have a lower chance to rank well in the search engines, which reduces

search engine traffic, and consequently, sales.

Taking simple steps such as incorporating strategically chosen keywords and optimizing the meta tags

doesn’t compromise the quality of the copywriting. You can still produce industry leading quality and

take care of the SEO aspect. In fact, all the best bloggers in the industry are already implementing SEO

and quality content simultaneously, so why wouldn’t you?

An example of neglecting SEO would be to name each image on the page: image1, image2 and so on.

Instead, the ALT tags should have the keywords for that page.

WRITING BLA N D HE A D LIN E S

As mentioned previously the headline is the best time to capture the attention of a casual browser. A

bland headline causes the reader to hit the back button before they have laid their eyes on any of the

content.

Not sure what a bland headline looks like? Unfortunately, they are all over the internet. Next time you look

at headline, for which you are the target audience, and don’t read any further, take note. Bland headlines

suffer from describing accurately what the content is about without giving the reader a sense of urgency

to read on.

The internet is saturated with content, and the average internet user will spend a limited amount of time

and attention on a piece of content. Therefore, being bland is the last thing you want to be. If anything,

be over-the-top and shocking, as it will work in terms of getting those eyeballs to scroll down to the

content.

An example of a bland headline would be: “7 Advantages of Hiring a Copywriter”. This headline has no

spark and doesn’t set itself apart from the hundreds of other similar headlines.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 66
 US E OF UN N E C E SSA RY WOR DS

To get your point across in a simple manner, using the minimum amount of words possible is best. If you

really tried, you could remove a lot of words from your content, and this is especially true for those

writers that have a natural inclination to write wordy sentences.

Great copywriting isn’t about hitting a word count target, but instead delivering a message in a concise

and understandable manner. Every word must have a purpose, and if it doesn’t, then remove it, or

consider constructing the sentence in a different way.

NO CALL-TO-AC T ION (C TA )

Without an instructive CTA, your conversions will be nowhere near the potential. For every piece of

content that you put out, a CTA needs to be featured somewhere. Typically it’s entered towards the end

of the content, but sprinkling a few nudges towards the desired action throughout the content is also a

good idea.

Let’s say that you’re trying to get new subscribers for a newsletter. Then at the end of every blog post

you could have a sentence, which says: “We hope you enjoyed the blog post, for more of the same posts,

do sign up for our newsletter.”

When a reader finishes reading a piece of content, they need to be directed towards the desired action.

Spell it out for them if you have to; you just have to ask and they will respond. An important part of a CTA

is the value that will be gained from completing the call to action. However, the content above the CTA

should have done some of the work towards providing value.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 67
 As you have read, there are various ways that copywriting can go

wrong. Don’t worry, many newcomers to copywriting and even

experienced individuals make mistakes. On the bright side, you

don’t have to get everything right to succeed with copywriting.

However, by taking the time to avoid the mistakes laid out in this

section you can begin to increase the success rate of your

copywriting and convert leads into clients.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 68
 HOW TO P R ODUCE A

L A N D ING PAGE
T HAT MAKES CUSTO MER S STICK

CRAFT AN AT T ENT ION - GR A BBIN G HE A D LIN E

When a lead arrives on a landing page, the first thing they lay theirs eyes on will be the headline.

Therefore, after reading the headline, the user must feel like sticking around and digesting the rest of the

page. The headline ensures that the right first impression is set, which can be built upon in the rest of the

landing page.

The three important ingredients to an effective headline are clarity, relevance and empathy. An

ambiguous headline causes confusion, and the lead will not be interested to continue. Consider the place

where the prospect has come from: is there relevance to the nature of the headline? There must be a

correlation between the two, otherwise you’re wasting the viewers time.

Finally, you must be emphatic to the problem in question. The headline must suggest that the solution to

the problem will be in the body of the landing page or the offer.

GOOD EXAMPLE: 5 Reasons Civilization Will Likely Collapse Because of Artificial Intelligence

BAD EXAMPLE: Why Artificial Intelligence is a Disadvantage for Civilization

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 69
 P RESENT A CAS E FOR WHY C U STOM E R S SHOU LD ST IC K A R OU N D

You need to sell the page by any means possible. If the landing page is video-based then it needs to start

full of energy and tell the audience why they will benefit from sticking around.

The same can be done with written content. It’s all about the idea behind the content, and not what

medium you’re using. Spell out the importance of the information that they are going to learn on the

landing page and the information they can expect to find.

For example, if you’re trying to sell a health supplement, then state the possible negatives of dealing with

the health problem. Then suggest that the benefits of the health supplement will be shared.

US E SHORT AND STR A IGHT-TO-T HE - POIN T LA N GUAGE

Customers are more likely to stick to the page if the language used is easily understandable. People will

typically skim through the content before deciding if they should read deeper into it. Therefore, you need

to make the content easy to skim by using simple wording and sentence structure.

A landing page is not like an article where you have the luxury of using long stories and metaphors. On

a landing page, the best results will be achieved when you use the minimum amount of words to get a

point across. It can take practice to write in such a manner, but getting it right will make a big difference

to conversions.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 70
 AVOID CLUT T ER BY HAV IN G A SIN GU LA R FOC U S

What is the purpose of your landing page? The answer to this question allows you to figure out what you

need on the page, and what you don’t need. Having additional elements such as pictures, surveys, and

vaguely related YouTube videos create distractions for the lead.

For example, if your only reason for creating the landing page is to acquire email addresses, then

everything on the page must draw attention to the subscription form. By mentioning the form in the

content and using arrows, you’ll get a much higher chance of a conversion. A minimalist approach to

landing page creation is the way to go.

An example of a great landing page would be one where the form fields are located in the center of the

page, and there would be nothing else on the page. A landing page with a singular focus naturally leads

to higher conversion rates.

GIVE SOCIAL PR OOF A BOU T YOU R BU SIN E S

We are wired to pay attention to social proof, and using it in your landing page design is a no-brainer.

Showing social proof on your page leads to a positive influence, and it gives the lead reasons to believe

that what you’re offering is worth paying attention to.

There are a number of ways that social proof can be implemented onto a landing page. For example,

testimonials, case studies, number of shares, embedded social posts and number of users/downloads. A

variety of these could be used to see which one performs best, and that can be tested using A/B split

testing.

For example, if you’re trying to sell a range of baby clothing, then you could highlight a few social posts

that are singing the praises of your products.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 71
 The landing page is an important part of the marketing funnel.

Without an adequate landing page you’ll lose more sales that your

business can probably afford. The investment of perfecting your

landing page is worth the effort when you consider the huge returns

possible in the form of more sales.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 72
 SIMP LI FY ING S E O
TH E BAS I CS OF WRIT ING SEAR CH ENGINE-FR IENDLY CONT EN T

CH OOSE YOU R K E YWOR D/S

The first step of an SEO campaign is keyword research. This could be a single word, or several words,

which are referred to as long-tail keywords. Using a tool such as the Google Keyword Planner, you get an

estimate of the number of searches for a bunch of related keywords.

The idea is to locate the keywords that receive a decent volume of traffic, yet don’t have fierce

competition in the search engine rankings. A lot of trial and error takes place before good quality

keywords are located, but with a dose of patience and persistence it can be done.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 73
 INCLUDE SELECTED KEYWORDS IN HEADING, SUBHEADING AND URL

Once you have selected the appropriate keywords, start incorporating them into a variety of places.

Search engines like Google pay attention to where keywords are used in order to determine what a

webpage is about.

As a rule of thumb, you should only target one keyword per webpage, but you can also use other

keywords lees aggressively. Ideally the target keyword should be used in the first sentence of the body

content, and at a density of 1-3%.

Additionally, have the keyword in the webpage title, and ideally at the start. Using the keyword in at least

one sub-heading is also recommended. Finally, make sure that the keyword is in your URL. If you’re using

an SEO-friendly URL structure for your website then this should be done automatically. That’s because

the name of the blog post should be in the URL of that page.

US E ANCH OR T E XT FOR IN N E R - LIN K IN G

When writing content, look for opportunities to enter a keyword that’s the target keyword of another

page on your website. Then create a link to that page from the content–this is inner-linking. Getting in

the habit of doing this is great for the end user as the quality of the website navigation is improved.

However, the SEO benefit is what is most valuable here. To start with, you do not need to go around the

internet looking for blacklining opportunities if you haven’t implemented internal links in this way.

The anchor text is the text used to create the hyperlink. Ideally the text used will be the target keyword

of the page you are linking to, or something similar.

Don’t spam inner-links as it will not look great visually for the reader, and it dilutes the power of a single

link for that page. Take a measured approach and you’ll have success with this method.

AN EXAMPLE: let’s say that you’re writing about nutritional supplements, and you have a page on your

website about the advantages of nutritional supplements. Then you could create a link to that page with

the words “advantages of nutritional supplements”.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 74
 Ensuring that your content is SEO-friendly is a no-brainer because of

the low amount of effort that it takes. Of course, at first you need to

know the little details such as how to choose keywords and

optimising meta tags. However, once you get the hang of it, it’s easy

work to get extra traffic.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 75
 W HY HIRING A

CO PYW RIT E R
IS A GR EAT INVESTMENT

As you’ve read in this chapter, there are a lot of moving parts to good quality content creation. A non-pro

copywriter can lead to bland sentences, ineffective SEO and a poor ROI for marketing campaigns. Feel

like it will be too much of a challenge to create content that’s going to resonate with your audience? Then

consider the services of Marque Media.

We have in-house copywriters with years of experience under their belts. Copywriting can be the single

make or break factor for your brand—while photos attract, it’s really the copy that gets your customers

to do the action.

To learn more about the industry-leading copywriting services included in our packages, sign up for our

free consultation!

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 76
 C HAPT ER 3
Edi t o r i a l S t y l i n g , G ra p h i cs ,
a nd P h ot og ra ph y

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 77
 THE MOST

I NSTAG RA M M A BLE
PL ACES IN T HE WO R LD TO SHO OT AT

There’s no doubt about it: Instagram has inspired lifestyles, fueled traveling, and driven photography to a

point that places all over the world are being discovered and marketed as “Instagrammable” locations. But

then again, Instagrammable places effortlessly bring more life to your photos.

If you’re on the hunt for a great spot to do photo shoots at, here’s a list of Instagrammable places you

should check out!

Lake Martin, Alabama Silver Lake Sand Dunes, Michigan Silver Lake Sand Dunes, Michigan

Denali National Park, Alaska Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota

Grand Canyon, Arizona Jackson State University, Mississippi Jackson State University, Mississippi

Buffalo National River Park, Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri
Arkansas
Glacier National Park, Montana Glacier National Park, Montana
Disneyland, California
Sandhills, Nebraska Sandhills, Nebraska
Maroon Bells, Colorado
Las Vegas Strip, Nevada Las Vegas Strip, Nevada
Connecticut Shoreline, Connecticut
White Mountain National Forest, White Mountain National Forest,
Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
New Hampshire New Hampshire
South Beach, Florida
Island Beach State Park, New Jersey Island Beach State Park, New Jersey
Atlanta Motor Speedway, Georgia
White Sands National Monument, White Sands National Monument,
Maui, Hawaii
New Mexico New Mexico
Bear Lake, Idaho
Empire State Building, New York Empire State Building, New York
Skydeck Chicago at the Willis
North Carolina Museum of Art, North Carolina Museum of Art,
Tower, Illinois
North Carolina North Carolina
University of Notre Dame, Indiana
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Theodore Roosevelt National Park,
Bridges of Madison County, Iowa
North Dakota North Dakota
Kansas State University, Kansas
Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical
Kentucky, Churchill Downs
Garden, Ohio Garden, Ohio
Bourbon Street, Louisiana
Turner Falls Park, Oklahoma Turner Falls Park, Oklahoma
Old Orchard Beach, Maine
Cannon Beach, Oregon Cannon Beach, Oregon
Rawlings Conservatory, Maryland
Rawlings Conservatory, Maryland
Fenway Park, Massachusetts
Fenway Park, Massachusetts

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 78
 IN T HE U SA

Sources: Midwest Living Mag, Red Bubble, Tammy and Chris on the Move, Rawlings Conservatory,
Common Dreams, Betty Wiley, History Gadfly, Wikimedia Commons

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 79
 TOP SPOTS IN LOS A N GE LE S, C A LIFOR N IA

Sources: Visit Museums, Travel Online, Mercury News, Neohumanity,

Melanie Martins, Liz in Los Angeles, Shope Either And, Pixabay, Discover Los Angeles

Los Angeles County Malibu Farm Pier Cafe

Museum of Arts
Santa Monica Pier
Venice Canals Hollywood Sign
Palm Drive Museum of Ice Cream
Griffith Observatory Made in LA Wall

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 80
 ALL OV E R T HE WOR LD

Source: Suma Lifestyle, Hans Mast, Wanderlust Chloe, World Secret Locations,
Pinterest, Born Realist, Blaine Harrington, Pando Trip, Where IVF

Colosseum, Rome Amalfi Coast, Italy Moscow, Russia Bali, Indonesia

Helsinki, Finland Venice, Italy Stonehenge, England Seoul, South Korea
Amsterdam, Holland Cancun Underwater Santorini, Greece Incheon, South Korea
Museum, Mexico
Cappadocia, Turkey Reykjavik, Iceland Angkor Wat, Cambodia
Petra, Jordan
Marrakech, Morocco Paris, France Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Pattaya, Thailand
Malibu Farm Pier Cafe Provence, France Sydney, Australia El Nido, Philippines
Santa Monica Pier Rotterdam, Netherlands Figure-8 Pools, Australia Bagan, Myanmar
Chefchaouen, Morocco Barcelona, Spain The 12 Apostles, Australia Machu Pichu, Peru

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 81
 PU T T ING PHOTOSHOOTS TO GETHER

A C A LL SHE E T
TE MPL AT E FOR PRODUCTIO NS AND SHOOTINGS

When you’re organizing a massive group of people for a production, it’s important that everyone is on the

same page regarding the locations, the time and date, the crew, contact numbers of everyone, and the

production concept. That’s what you’ll be needing a call sheet for. And to make things easier for you, we’ve

made templates that you can recreate for your call sheet in three different forms: the full form as viewed

on desktop and mobile, as well as a collapsed and personalized version for an email requesting

confirmation.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 82
 C AL L SHE E T
DESKTOP

John Doe Friday, February 23

Model Day 1 Of 4

Lorem Ip su m Do lo r S i t Amet

Jane Doe
Producer 0 0:00 A M Crew Call
00:00 am
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod
Jonathan Doe tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim Shooting Call
Director veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea 00:00 am

For any questions, please call (number) or message (email)

CONCEPT FOR THE PRODUCTION

(Describe the concept for the photoshoot/video shoot here)

L O C AT I O N S O F S H O O T

NO L O C A TI O N AD D RESS PARK I NG

C A S T/ TA L E N T

NAME ROLE CALL T I M E CO NT ACT EM AI L

PRODUCTION CREW

NAME D E P A R TM E N T CALL T I M E CO NT ACT EM AI L

AG E N DA + S C H E D U L E

NO TI M E AGEND A

INSTRUCTIONS

NO KE Y P E R S O N /DE P A R TME N T I NST RUCT I O NS NO T ES

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 83
 C AL L SHE E T
MOBI LE

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 84
 USING L IGHT TO TAKE YOUR

P HOTOS
TO T HE NEXT LEV EL

Lighting is one of the most important aspects of photography. To get clear and crisp photos, you need

good lighting. On the other hand, bad lighting has a drastic way of ruining even the best moments. Lucky

for you, we’ve made a guide to ensure you snap the best photo possible:

EXPERIMENT WIT H HA R D A N D SOFT LIGHTS

On set with Daniel Norton from EventBrite. Hard light creates a more dramatic feel while soft light looks brighter and more natural.

HA R D LIGHTS

commonly originate from a single source, thus creating strong, well-defined shadows. It creates

images with sharp contrast and highlights, resulting into a dramatic effect.

SOFT LIGHTS

use reflectors or diffusers to create less or no shadows. It portrays the colors and shapes of the

subject better. Thus, it is considered the safer choice, especially for beginners.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 85
 CONS IDER YOU R LIGHT SOU R C E

Source: Detoxininsta

Understanding your light environment will give you an advantage when taking photos. Natural light refers to
the light from the sun, while artificial light refers to all other kinds of light sources including flash, electric lights,
fluorescent lights, and so on.

As the name suggests, natural light yields more natural-looking photos, but it comes with some complications:

1. The uncontrollable weather makes photographing in natural light tricky for beginners.

2. A sunny day yields harder lights with more defined shadows. A cloudy weather is most preferred as it

gives off soft lighting.

3. Other weather phenomena such as storm or fog alters light, which can make photos either unusable or

exceptional.

For landscapes and portraits, sunrise and sunset are ideal times for photography as they allow more shot
variations. The golden hour, or the time after sunrise or before sunset, gives off a redder and softer light. It is a
favorite among many photographers.

In the case of artificial lights, the photographer has full control of the light setting. However, the photographer
must note how different sources of light create different effects.

For example, tungsten lights renders a reddish hue because it is hotter, while halogen bulbs are cooler and
renders a bluish hue. When using artificial lights, the photographer will have direct control over all elements
including the intensity, hardness, distance, and angle.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 86
 TAKE CON T R OL OF T HE C A M E R A

Melissa Griffin shows us how to take control using the manual mode.

The last part requires the photographer to have necessary know-how of his/her tool: the camera. After

setting up the right lighting environment, the photographer must know how to capture this light to create

the desired image

ISO

ISO refers to how sensitive the camera is to light. Lower ISO settings create less noise but require more

light, hence a longer exposure time. For darker conditions, you can use a higher ISO, which amplifies light

but creates more noise.

A PE R T U R E

Aperture refers to the opening of the lens. A smaller aperture allows less light in, while a larger aperture

allows more light to reach the sensor. Aperture is measured in f/stops, with f/1.0 signifying the largest

aperture opening and f/22 the smallest.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 87
 SHU T T E R SPE E D

When taking pictures, the shutter in front of the sensor opens to allow light in. The longer this shutter is

open, the more light will enter. High shutter speeds are required to reduce the amount of movement while

the shutter is open. This is optimal when shooting moving subjects.

AUTOM AT IC M OD E

In automatic mode, the camera chooses the aperture/shutter combination it perceives to be most suitable.

This produces decent results, but as it is only an approximation, it is rarely at par with pictures taken

manually by a learned photographer.

M A N UA L M OD E

In full manual mode, the photographer will have full control of the shutter and aperture settings. This

allows the photographer to precisely capture each image as desired.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 88
 Whether you’re a beginner or a professional, good lighting will be

your best companion when taking photographs. Knowing how to

manipulate light can set the mood, tone, and give life to your photos.

Play around with your light settings and see how easily a change in

light can completely alter your photo.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 89
 BEGINNER-FRIENDLY
T IPS ON TAK ING BETTER PICTURES

Gone are the days when we needed to wait for hours to develop a single photograph. Now, anyone and

everyone can snap a photo in a heartbeat. However, taking good pictures requires more than just pressing

a button.

Thankfully, photography doesn’t have to be complicated. All you need is an easy-to-understand road map

to take you to where you want to go: photographer extraordinaire. Lucky for you, we have made a list of

the essential things you must know to take your photos to the next level.

T HE BASIC S

Source: Widewalls

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 90
 LEARN F R OM T HE M AST E R S

Visit art museums and see how painters create images. Notice what they decide to include in their frame.

Study their technique and use them to inspire your shots.

MAK E M ISTA K E S

As a beginner, you are not expected to be amazing after taking only one or ten photos. You learn as you

take pictures.

TAKE PH OTOS OF W HAT YOU LOV E

Get inspired by taking pictures of things that interest you. Your photography is all about you. What are the

things that catch your eyes? Why are they beautiful? More importantly, how can you capture their beauty?

Photography varies depending on what your subject is. Each specific subject requires a different

technique. It is essential that you identify what you want to capture and what kind of image you want to

create. This will give you more focus as you learn more about photography.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 91
 T IPS ON

C AP TUR IN G
d i ffe re n t s ub j e cts

FIR E WOR KS

Fireworks are an amazing sight, but there are many uncontrollable variables when it comes to

photographing them. To take a good firework photo, it is essential that you come prepared.

Find a good spot to set up your equipment. Using a tripod and a cable release is recommended so you can

keep the camera as still as possible. For a clean shot, set you camera to ISO 100 and set your aperture to

f/8 or smaller. Make sure to press the shutter release right before the fireworks go off so you don’t miss

anything!

Source: Northumberland County Council

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 92
 POR T R A ITS

When photographing people, make sure you focus on their eyes. People are drawn to the eyes so it’s one

of the first things people will notice when looking at your photographs.

Position your subject by a window with some curtains so you can play around with diffusing the light.

Turning off artificial lights, including the pop-up flash, will result to a more natural photo.

Source: The Dream Within Pictures

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 93
 PE TS

Capturing your pet’s personality on camera requires different techniques. Some pets can be very active,

so a telephoto lens is best for taking a pet’s picture. Shoot in shutter priority mode, hovering around 1/125

seconds to 1/500 seconds depending on the subject.

Source: Favim

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 94
 L A N DSC A PE S

Landscape images can trigger powerful responses with the stories they tell or the scenes they portray. To

capture this story, the photographer must be prepared with the proper gear and technique. Visualizing the

image you want to achieve will determine the gear you’ll need to produce to see results.

Choosing the proper lens is very important for landscape photography as they capture a lot of space.

Choose telephoto lens around 10-200mm, with built-in image stabilization.

Source: Outdoor Photographer

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 95
 PA R T IE S

Most parties are indoors with darker settings. Chose a wide zoom lens of up to 24mm to captures group

photos with limited space. Use an external flash instead of the built-in flash as the latter creates

unflattering images.

Source: Time Out

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 96
 SOM E U SE FU L

T I P S AN D TR IC KS
on composition a n d fra m i n g f o r b e gi n n e r s

USE T HE R U LE OF T HIR DS

Instead of placing your subject at the dead center of the photo, you can frame it on one of the intersections

for a more natural look.

Source: Photography Mad

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 97
 VARY YOU R PE R SPE C T IV E

Everybody sees things on the eye level. Dare to be different by getting on a chair or crouching down.

Rotate your camera and take a vertical shot instead of the usual landscape orientation. Challenge yourself

to capture your subject in a different way.

Source: Twisted Sifter

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 98
 KEEP YOUR F OC U S ON T HE SU BJE C T

To fully draw attention to your subject, be conscious of the other things that you capture in your frame.

Distracting elements can spoil an otherwise good photo. Making use of leading lines can draw the viewer

in and direct focus to your main subject.

Source: Pixabay

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 99
 FILL T HE FR A M E

Too much empty space can de-emphasize your subject, making them look smaller or less significant. Play

with space, move closer, or zoom in to see what renders the best photo.

Source: Mashable

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 100
 IS OLAT E D E TA ILS

You won’t always have the perfect background or scene when taking photos. Isolating details is especially

helpful when your scene is not so nice. Instead of taking a full shot of the subject, focus on one feature and

push everything else out of the frame.

Source: UX Planet

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 101
 Now that you know all the essential rules to photography, it’s time to

break them. Try the exact opposite of these rules and see where that

leads you. Remember: photography is an enjoyable activity, and

there’s no art without experimentation.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 102
 TH E B EST PLACE S
TO GET B EAU TIFUL FONTS FO R FR EE

Typo graphy is increas i n g l y b e com i n g more i mp o r t a n t to d ay. By u s in g t h e co r rec t fo n t , yo u c a n s et t he m ood

a nd theme of your con te n t .

Wh e re can you poss i b l y f i n d ex t raord i n ar y fon t s t h at a re f ree fo r co m m erc ia l u s e, yo u a s k? We g o t yo u covered .

H e re is a list of som e of t h e m ost p op u l ar s i te s to g et yo u r fo n t s f ro m .

WHERE TO FIND FONTS WHAT’S THE HYPE ABOUT?

FontSpace offers nearly 32,000 fonts available in TrueType and OpenType

flavours. The fonts are neatly sorted into clear categories, which makes

looking for the font you want easily. Not all fonts are good for commercial

use so make sure you read the label!

Behance is another excellent place to find unique fonts. It is the go-to place

for designers to show off their works, so you’ll be delighted to see many

assorted styles this platform

1001 Free Fonts offers a lot more free fonts than what their name suggests.

The fonts are handily organized across 64 categories, with an option to

browse by designer.

Abstract Fonts has a clean interface, which makes it one of the easiest to
navigate. It offers about 14,000 fonts with custom font preview option.

DaFont is an extensive archive of free fonts. Many of the fonts are on the

unprofessional side, offering instead some playful and novelty themed fonts

Font Squirrel. You can download high-quality free fonts for commercial use

in the Font Squirrel. Their fonts are mostly @font-face compatible and to

top it off, they have a very nicely designed website.

Google Web Fonts. All the fonts offered by Google Web Fonts are open

source, which means you are free to share and customize them for your own

use, in any way you want. You can also collaborate with the original designer

to improve them.

The League of Movable Type is the very first free and open-source type

foundry. The fonts are created by a hand-selected group of typographers.

Oh, and all these high-quality fonts are for free.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 103
 There are so many good places in the internet where you can get

high-quality fonts for free. It may take some hard work on your part

to find the font that fits the best with the content you are trying to

create, but what you’re looking for is most probably out there.

Archives of free fonts are waiting for you, get cracking!

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 104
 W HY YOU SHO ULD INVEST IN A

P R O F E SS IONA L
PHOTOGRAP HY AND EDITING TEAM

In a visual-oriented digital world where you can potentially grow a brand and make sales just by using

images, it doesn’t take much to figure out that a professional photography and editing team will give

your brand a competitive edge. These are experts who have a real eye when it comes to capturing,

sorting, and editing photos and can get you a leg up in the ‘gram-hungry market.

Check out these photos from the Marque Media team—professionally taken and edited for various

lifestyle brands and optimized for different platforms. Whether you’re in need of some touchups or a

full-scale photography service, you can count on us to cover for you. Schedule a consultation with us so

we can design a package that suits your needs!

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 105
#MAKEYOURMARQUE 106
 C HAPT ER 4
So ci a l Me di a S t ra t e g y
Fo r mul a t i o n a n d Ma n a g e m e n t

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 107
 CONTENT CALENDARS
YOU NEED TO B OOST O NLINE MARKETING EFFORTS

As social media managers, we’re basically required to stay online all the time. But it doesn’t always play

out well into reality: we could run out of ideas for last-minute posts, experience disconnections, or run

urgent, unexpected errands that would one way or another make us go offline and our marketing plans, fall

through.

That’s where calendars come in handy. From social media posts to editorial calendars, these scheduling

tools speed up the process and ensure that you always have prepared content at hand.

But more than that, it boosts traffic and engagement. This is because a calendar ensures consistent

posting and entails well thought-out content. If that doesn’t convince you how much of an impact

calendars make, we don’t know what will.

Here are some useful templates that can get you started on building your very own social media calendars.

EDITORIAL CON T E N T C A LE N DA R

A content calendar outlines the content, from blog posts and photo sets, to live videos and promotions, in

line with the master theme (or themes) you have planned for the month. The calendar helps streamline

your marketing strategy and keeps you focused on creating the type of content that will bring value to

your audience.

Usually, a content calendar is prepared at more or less four months prior to publication on your brand’s

websites and social media. This is so you have enough time to adjust planned content according to what

resonates with your audience.

When planning the content for a month, make sure you’ve planned overarching themes with their

sub-topics, as well as considered the official holidays, major events, and predicted trends (you wouldn’t

want to miss out on #NationalPizzaDay) that will be happening that month. You can create an entire new

General Editorial Content Calendar to keep these ideas together. Here’s a sample template for General

Editorial Content Calendar.

Once you’ve got your general calendar down, you’re ready for the detailed version. The detailed version

outlines your daily content strategy, including the title and type of the content, the platform it will be

published at, and posting date and times. Here’s a sample template for a Detailed Editorial Content

Calendar.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 108
 SOCIAL M E D IA C A LE N DA R

A social media calendar is useful for collecting all the content you want to promote and share on all of your

brand’s social media accounts in one single sheet. There, you can assign posting times, including the copy

and the links you will be directing your users to. Here’s a starter social media calendar template you can

tweak and work with for your own social media strategies!

Just like your own personal organizers, social media calendars help you stay

on track with what to post, when to post it, and where to post it.

The planning and preparation process itself compels marketers and brand

owners to think about what will work for their audience (e.g., Facebook

followers need more entertaining content, like quizzes, compared to Twitter

followers, who are more into quick tips and updates) and how they can

maximize their resources (e.g. re-purposing old blog posts) for social media.

It all says one thing in the end: calendars can greatly contribute to the

brand’s marketing strategy. So keep it organized with a calendar!

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 109
 THE BEST

SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS

EVERY MAR KETER NEEDS

Social media as a marketing platform grows more dynamic and competitive every day. That said, marketers

are best equipped with digital tools to interact with followers in innovative ways, track which content is or

isn’t working, and stay ahead of the game. Here are some of the most efficient apps and software

modern-day marketers should be taking advantage of

Perhaps the most popular tool for social media, Buffer is the perfect

scheduling assistant for different social media platforms—all with only one

central dashboard to use. It also has an analytics feature so you can easily

keep track of the performance of all published posts.

Social Clout is an analytics tool that reports what matters: social media ROI

and engagement. It also shows you which market interacts and responds to

your content the most, and which platforms have the highest conversion

rates at what times.

Got an entire marketing team working on generating content and managing

social media? CoSchedule streamlines all the tasks in a comprehensive

calendar where members can be tagged, deadlines be assigned, and

brainstorming conversations be accommodate in a comment thread, among

many other useful functions.

Fact: recycling old content increases engagement. Another fact: you don’t

have all the time in the world to dig through old posts to share, nor do you

know when are the best times to re-share it. That’s what Edgar does for you.

It categorizes old content and re-publishes old content at the most

optimum times. Once a post has been published, Edgar pushes that post to

the bottom of the queue to be uploaded once again after all your other

content. Automated re-sharing at its finest, really.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 110
 Serious ‘grammers know how much a well-curated, attractive feed can drive

follower growth. And for that, Later is your bestfriend. It’s a scheduling tool

built specifically for Instagram and lets you bulk upload, create a calendar,

and design and view your feed, among many things.

Canva is a user-friendly, drag-and-drop design tool that lets you create

professional-looking banners, infographics, presentations, and many other

graphics. There are ready-made templates that you can tweak to match the

look you’re going for. It’s absolutely fun and easy to use—and the results are

always stunning.

Just in case you’re going to be offline for a while (we all have lives, after all),

Social Oomph will let you bulk upload and schedule content on your social

media platforms. It also has some other useful functions, like a trending,

keyword search and automated messaging

BuzzSumo has its finger on the pulse of what’s trending. So in case you’re

brainstorming content ideas and need to get on with what’s popular at the

moment, just type in a keyword into BuzzSumo and it will look up the

highest-ranking topics for you.

You must have heard of Bitly—the link shortening tool. In other words, Bitly

makes the links we include in our captions look clean and professional.

Socedo is a useful app that acquires and engages with prospects who are

showing interest in your brand through different social channels. Basically, it

automates lead generation for you, so you have more time concentrating on

other parts of your business.

Feedly is an app that collects all your favorite websites into one reader, so

you just flip through for news and articles instead of visiting different

websites all the time (bye, browser tabs!). You can organize the websites by

or category, as well.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 111
 Social media has evolved to a point where, in order to stay ahead and

keep our audience engaged, marketers need third-party apps to curate

content, track followers, automate updates, and perfect our feeds. But we

definitely need these tools to save hours of labor and streamline our

marketing processes. We’re pretty sure that new tools will crop up in the

future, but for now, these are the best of their kind.

Needless to say, there are still some things that apps can’t manage—like a

negative customer feedback that you have to respond to, for example.

These are the more crucial aspects to management of social media.

Automation isn’t made for the human touch, and that’s where you can tap

social media marketing pros for more hands-on assistance.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 112
 W HAT IM PACT DO ES HIR ING A

SOCIAL MEDIA
AGENCY MAKE?

At this age, not having a brand presence online is similar to using a flip phone amidst sleek smartphones.

You can be very well behind the game and missing out on a lot of connections and technologies that could

grow your sales.

While there are a lot of tools and resources social media marketers can use, not everyone has the time to

manage social media, nor do tools and apps establish a deeper connection with potential customers.

Social media is so much more than just posting updates: there are trends to catch up with, potential leads

to tap, posts to optimize, and relationships to build up on.

SO WH AT’ S TH E DEAL W IT H SOC IA L M E D IA AGE N C IE S?

A social media agency like Marque Media often is composed of full-fledged marketers who pour all their

energy into building and managing your online presence, ensuring that your content is always fresh and

your brand, relevant to your audience.

Our seasoned experts have had hands-on experience growing various lifestyle brands and major

campaigns from start to finish. Marque Media will accomplish the same thing with yours.

Check out the projects and brand we have previously and successfully worked with here! For a free

consultation, don’t hesitate to get in touch. We’d be thrilled to chat with you to sort out your social media

needs

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 113
 CASE STUDIES

Kimora Lee Simons Label

(Spring 2016 Collection Preview Party) Beverly Hills Lashes

Joiful (Beauty and Wellness App Launch Event) Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week RTW 2016

Vanity Fair Social Club: Emmy Awards Weekend 2015 Haute High Tea With Pandora x Elle Malaysia 2016

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 114
 CHA PT ER 5
Web De s i g n
a nd Ma i n t e n a n ce

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 115
 THE BEST

RESOURCES ONLINE
WHERE YOU CAN LEAR N CO DING

In this section, we will show you the top places to learn coding. There is a blend of free and paid places,

but all of these selections can drastically improve your coding abilities. You’ll equip yourself with the skills

to build websites and apps.

Look into CodeAcademy for a free place to learn coding. Up to 24 million

people have already taken learned to code from this website. The courses at

CodeAcademy teach you about a number of coding languages, which

includes HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, PHP, Python and Ruby. All the

popular ones have been covered, and since there is no fee it’s a no-brainer

to stop by and take a look.

One of the hottest places to take courses on just about anything is Udemy.

It was founded in 2010 and offers courses on every coding topic you could

think of. There is a mix of free and courses you need to pay for. However,

some of the courses are so well designed that the investment is worth it. For

those who enjoy learning via video, you will be pleased to find the many

video-based courses at Udemy.

Coursera was founded in 2012 and is one of the biggest for-profit

educational establishments. The introductory programming courses

are provided by the Universities of Vanderbilt, Toronto, Stanford and

Washington. You can start with a free course, and then take additional

courses for a fee to be a certified programmer.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 116
 If you have basic coding skills under your belt and would like to expand your

knowledge, then the MIT Open Courseware is for you. Courses here go into

the theory behind the coding and do not require a fee. You’ll have the access

to courses that can equip you with industry-leading coding skills.

An open source platform that isn’t for profit is edX, which was founded by

MIT and Harvard in 2012. Cutting-edge theories and technologies can be

learned here, which means you’ll be up to date on current coding methods.

The 60 free schools part of edX is more than enough to make a selection on

which you can rely on.

At Free Code Camp you’ll learn about DevTools, Databases, JavaScript,

CSS3 and HTML5, Agile and Angular.js. This can be achieved by networking

with students and professionals. You can use the coding to build free apps

and open source solutions to real-world problems. However, the skills

learned there can be transferred to any other coding venture you might

want to take part in.

There is an excess of 500 programming books on GitHub that covers over

80 different programming languages. It’s a great website to use as a

reference when you need to remind yourself about a coding principle or

technique. The website is frequently updated and therefore has the latest

coding methods.

Code Avengers has a selection of interactive programming courses

designed to be fun. You’ll have the skills to build websites, apps and code

games. The main programming languages here are CSS, HTML and

JavaScript. The courses can be completed in Portuguese, Turkish, Italian,

Spanish, Dutch, Russian and English and majority of it can be completed

within 12 hours.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 117
 There are plenty of places where you can learn how to code, and these

options are just the tip of the iceberg. There are also lots of places online

where even more coding resources can be accessed. Try going through the

best ones that we have recommended here to get started on coding.

Learning it is a huge investment that will pay dividends in the future.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 118
 SET TING UP YOUR

WEBSITE
WIT H CUSTO M-BUILT THEMES

Perhaps one of the most exciting stages of setting up your website is designing the theme. Selecting a

theme can help you visualise what your website will look like and how it will function to match the needs

of your business. While there are beautiful templates out there, nothing quite beats the quality and

uniqueness of a custom-built theme.

All of these themes have been created by the in-house staff at Marque Media. Do take a look to see if

anything matches your vision—we’d be happy to recreate it for your website needs!

This theme has an elegant black and white design that gives off a professional impression. The upper black

section above the fold can be used to showcase a picture or brand logo, whereas the white portion

underneath that can contain all the content. It’s perfect for brands that want to showcase their products

or services while maintaining a professional look.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 119
 This theme has a minimalist white look, with plenty of images. It’s a great theme if you’d like to pair up an

explanatory image with every service that you mention. The airy aesthetic makes it especially ideal for

lifestyle brand, like beauty bloggers or food companies. The theme comes with plenty of functionality and

flexibility, as well.

To make your website stand out, this theme is a good choice. The red area above the fold has a colorful,

yet elegant design that’s perfect for the modern brand. It blends class and playfulness in one theme that

can be modified to suit your needs.

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 The theme here is ideal if you want a particular image to dominate the attention above the fold. This could be

an image depicting what your services are about.In addition, a search bar is included within the image which

encourages the website visitor to search for what they need. The white area underneath uses an image-based

design to showcase your products or services. The overall look is stylish and easy on the eyes.

This theme is ideal for those interested in using an image to cover the entire page—perhaps a travel company

showcasing a dream destination. If you have a classy image that resonates well with your target market, then

perhaps this theme is for you. It’s a simple theme to set up as the amount of content and other elements are

kept to a minimum.

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 The theme you go for should reflect your brand image and must also have

the features available to meet your specific requirements: is it important for

you to showcase a photo? Do you need to display your blog first and

foremost? Do you want a simple landing page with a huge CTA area? These

are some things you must consider for your theme. And if you’re having

trouble envisioning it, do get in touch. We’d love to help fine-tune the many

aspects of website design for you.

Also remember that a theme can always be changed, and you’re encouraged

to do so from time to time to keep your website fresh and up to date.

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 A GLOSSARY OF

MUST-KNOW
WEB DESIGN TERMS

Now, you’ll be introduced to the key definitions relating to web design. Some of these you may already

know, and some might be new to you. In any case, take the time to go through the list to make sure you’re

up to date with the common web design terms.

ANCHOR TEXT
the clickable text used to create a link.

BACK END
the section of the website hidden from website visitors that’s used to manage the website.

BELOW THE FOLD

this refers to the content that cannot be immediately seen once the website loads up. You have to scroll
down in order to see content below the fold.

BOUNCE RATE
the percentage of website visitors that exit the website without performing an action.

CMS
it stands for Content Management System and is the tool used to separate the website from the backend.
A popular example of a CMS would be Wordpress.

DHTML
an acronym that stands for Dynamic Hyper Text Markup Language. CSS and XHTML are mixed to create a
dynamic interactive web page.

EXTERNAL STYLE SHEET

a CSS document that can be linked to HTML/XHTML files because it's written in a separate external
document.

HTML
Hypertext Markup Language, which is the most popular and primary coding language to create webpages.
Inbound link: a hyperlink that leads to your website.

IP ADDRESS
all computers that are connected to the Internet have a numerical designation, which is the IP address.

JPEG
it stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group and is a lossy graphics format for images and photos.

LANDING PAGE
it’s the first page a visitor will land on. Typically a specific landing page is built with a specific goal (e.g. to
acquire an e-mail address or achieve a sale).

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 META DATA
it's data that’s stored in the header and contain vital info about the page. It can be optimized for SEO
purposes with keywords.

NAVIGATION
the elements of the website that allows you to move from one page to another. This is typically the buttons,
calls-to-action, internal links, and menus.

OPEN SOURCE
publicly available source code of a program.

PERMALINK
for a given blog post, the permalink is the permanent web address.

PAGEVIEW
when a page receives a new visitor, it’s called a pageview.

PDF
it stands for Portable Document Format, and it’s a way of exchanging documents with others.

RESPONSIVE
a website that’s responsive is able to adapt to the screen resolution of the device used. This allows a
website to be viewed correctly by a number of device such as desktops, tablets and mobiles.

SCRIPT
the part of HTML code that is a script allows the page to be interactive.

SEO
Search Engine Optimization, which is the act of fine tuning your website to improve your search engine
rankings.

TEXT EDITOR
to edit .txt files you’ll need to use an application call text editor.

URL
it stands for Uniform Resource Locator, and indicates where a particular website or webpage can be found
online.

USABILITY
this refers to how functional the website is in terms of allowing the user to achieve the desired goals. It
might be to browse around to buy products, or learn more about your company.

WEB LOG
a latest news type page where frequent updates are made.

WEB SERVER
a computer with installed software that can host websites. This allows other computers connected to the
internet to have access to them.

XHTML
Extensible Hypertext Markup Language, which can be used to define the markup elements.

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 Familiarizing yourself with the various web design terms is advantageous,

regardless of whether you’re a programmer, the CEO of a company, or the

web content writer. The website is one of the most important elements of a

business, and not knowing the definitions makes it difficult to have a

conversation about it.

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 W E’V E GOT YOUR

WEB DESIGN
AND MAINT ENANCE COV ER ED 24/7

Designing a website can be tricky and frustrating if you have no prior experience. You’ll need to spend

hours learning how to tweak simple design elements to get the website looking exactly how you want it.

There are templates you can invest in, but they only allow for a limited amount of flexibility. Plus, your

brand could share the same look as someone else’s!

To skip all that frustration, consider hiring Marque Media, where you’ll find a team capable of creating

professional looking websites that will improve your audience. Our website builders have plenty of

experience creating websites that are sleek, functional, and optimized—everything a brand in the modern

age needs. Give us a call today to find out more about how we can get started on your website!

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 CHA PT E R 6
Influ ence r O ut re a ch
a nd D i git a l Ma r ke t i n g

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 127
 WHAT YO U

NEED TO KNOW
AB OUT T HE MAR KETING FUNNEL

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 128
 M A R K E T IN G

FUN N E L
a d e fi n i ti o n

A marketing funnel is a series of steps that turns a lead into a buying customer. The nature of the steps taken,
and the number of steps is up to you. Ever business has their own take on what a marketing funnel should look
like. You could have a short funnel where as soon as the email address is harvested, marketing messages are sent.
Or, you could increase the length of the funnel by sending several “warm-up” emails before the pitch is made.

Typically the first few steps of a funnel will be executed by a large portion of your potential customer base. As
they get further down the funnel the number of leads decreases. The idea is to keep the potential customer
engaged and moving down the funnel until the conversion is achieved.

A simple example of a funnel can be a model based on guest posting, email capture and affiliate product sales.
The first step could be to get people to land on your site from the guest posting article. Then you’d want the
prospect to fill out the email form on your website. The last step is achieving a sale via the links within the email
marketing campaign.

DIFFERENT STAGE S OF A M A R K E T IN G FU N N E L

AWARENESS
this is the first stage of the marketing funnel. Potential customers typically enter this stage of the funnel via marketing
efforts, discovery and consumer research. You can acquire leads into the awareness stage by tradeshows, direct mail,
viral campaigns, webinars, events, advertising, media mentions and search. By increasing the number of methods
used, the scope of customers entering the funnel increases.

INTEREST
the next stage is the interest phase, where a relationship is developed with the lead. They will learn more about the
company and get an idea of what your brand is about. Additionally, you can provide helpful information during this
stage to build a level of trust. It will be easier to close the deal later on if you provided value free of charge from the
start.

CONSIDERATION
the success of the interest phase leads to the consideration phase. Here the lead is given more marketing attention.
They might be sent marketing material to provide additional information about the products and services.

INTENT
during this step, the lead demonstrates an interest to buy the product, or hire the services. It can take the form of
placing a product in a shopping cart or providing feedback via a survey.

EVALUATION
here a decision making process occurs to finally conclude if they should buy the product. The sales and marketing
team can increase the chances of the conversion by nurturing the lead.

PURCHASE
this is the final stage, which also indicates that the conversion was successfully done. The lead buys the product and
the buyer can be led into another marketing funnel where additional products are offered.

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 INCREASING CONVERSIONS OF A MARKETING FUNNEL VIA ANALYTICS

As you’ve seen in the previous section there are several steps to the marketing funnel, and therefore plenty

of chances to increase the conversion rate. However, understanding what metrics to pay attention to is key

to improving the conversion rate.

The number of people moving from one part of the funnel to the next must be analyzed. If you spot a

particular step of the funnel that is under performing, then you know what to work on.

A/B split testing is a great way to increase conversion rates without over-complicating things. For

example, let’s say that you’re trying to increase the conversion rate of your landing page. You could have

two versions of the same page, but each one has a different headline. The one that performs best can

remain, and other discarded.

Having a good grasp of how a marketing funnel works allows you to figure

out the optimal strategy for achieving a sale. The point is to maximize the

return on each person that enters the funnel. By tweaking the funnel, you

can increase the return on your marketing investment.

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 RUL ES TO PL AY BY IF YOU WANT TO

RANK HIGH
ON GOO GLE

Has SEO always got you scratching your head? We’re sharing golden tips

on how you can get around the search engine and get traffic flowing.

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 QUALITY CONTE N T C A N N OT BE SAC R IFIC E D

Some businesses get so preoccupied with ranking well on Google that writing for the end user becomes less of

a priority. However, what they don’t realize is that Google’s algorithm is becoming increasingly smarter at

assessing the quality of the content.

By creating quality content, you’ll be getting top marks in the quality score when the algorithm asses your

webpage. You’ll still need to carry out SEO focused tasks such as including keywords and optimizing meta tags,

but the focus should be on the quality of the content.

After all, the end goal is to convert the lead and achieving that is going to be harder with poor quality content.

An example, of poor quality content that has been sacrificed for Google rankings is keyword stuffing. Overusing

a particular keyword will not read well, and ironically, it might not rank well either. Google has made algorithm

changes to crack down on content that uses the target keyword too many times.

PASS TH E AU T HOR IT Y PR OFILE T E ST

When Google analyzes your website, they will pay attention to the health of your authority profile. To exhibit

authority, you need to have a comprehensive array of incoming links. The links must be from other

well-respected and related websites.

Thousands of links from one domain aren’t going to cut it. You need to have links from a diverse range of IP

addresses. Furthermore, the link velocity should look natural. A natural link velocity will start off slow and

increase over time.

H OW AGE PLAYS A R OLE IN T HE R A N K IN GS

Google looks for ranking factors that cannot be gamed and age is the prime candidate. The indexed age, which

is the first time a Google bot came across your site, is what’s most important here. A new website will have a

much harder time outranking an older website.

Take note that Google’s discovery of the website is what determines the age, and not the moment in time it was

registered.

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 SHOULD YOU GO FOR QUA LIT Y OR QUA N T IT Y ?

Are you considering whether to write a really long article that has thin content or a shorter piece with high quality

content? This is a no-brainer—quality content always wins. Although, there is merit to writing longer pieces of

content as you’re more likely to provide the quality required to outrank an opponent.

In addition, if you’re torn between creating a few high-quality pages versus a hundred pages with thin content, then

the former is the clear choice. Pages with thin content won’t rank well, even if you create hordes of them. On the

other hand, quality content has a chance to rank and outperform multiple pages with poorly written content.

KEYWOR DS D O M AT T E R

Google wants content created for humans but still rewards rankings when keywords are used. The trick is

knowing where to use them and at what density. They must be included in the title of the page, URL, Alt tags,

meta descriptions and sub-headings.

Regarding the content itself, using the keyword in the first sentence is beneficial. However, if it sounds weird,

don’t sweat it; just make sure to include it in the first paragraph. Overall, it’s recommended to hit keyword

density of 1 to 3%.

BACKLINKS AR E ST ILL T HE FOU N DAT ION

The foundation that Google founded their company on is backlinks, and for ranking purposes, they are vital.

Think of a backlink as a vote from one webpage to another. If a website has many incoming links from a wide

variety of sources, then it indicates popularity.

Over the last decade, there have been many schemes to try and “game” the system. For example, link farms

were created to provide thousands of links. A link farm is a network of websites created for the purposes of

providing backlinks to the clients of the link farm. However, Google is smart and its algorithms can spot

unnatural backlinking behavior.

Ideally your backlink will be from a high-authority website that’s related to your industry. Also the hyperlink will

use anchor text that’s one of the keywords your website is targeting. In the next section, you will learn more

about how backlinks must be implemented for best results.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 133
 Ranking high on Google can be a long process that takes work, but the

rewards can be torrents of daily traffic, which results in a huge sales number.

For any online business, it’s crucial to have a strategy to increase placement

in the Google search engine results pages.

This should help you gain a bit of perspective into how it works—but as

always, letting an expert handle it is worth the investment. Marque Media has

in-house SEO specialists who can market and audit your content for a higher

search engine ranking. So don’t hesitate to contact us for any questions!

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 134
 T HE BASICS OF

BACKLINKING
(AND WHY IT STILL MATTERS)

DEFINIT ION OF BAC K LIN KS

A backlink is a way of navigating from one page to another. The anchor text used to create the hyperlink

is the text you’ll need to click on to activate the link and navigate to the target page.

For SEO performance, the anchor text indicates the relevance of the link. When ranking for a particular

keyword, it helps if the incoming hyperlinks have anchor text that’s related to the target keyword.

Backlinks can be acquired naturally by building your website and waiting for others to find you. If you’re

active on social media and produce content of viral quality, then this is a realistic approach. However, for

best results, you should also look for link building opportunities. These should be natural and within the

confines of what Google deems acceptable.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 135
 W HY B ACKLINKS ARE IMPOR TA N T A N D HOW T HE Y A R E ASSE SSE D

A backlink is essentially a vote for your website. The more backlinks you have, the more popular your website

will be in the eyes of the Google. However, there are several parts to the equation that you must know about:

ANCHOR TEXT
this is the text used to create the hyperlink. It must be the target keyword or a related variant.

AGE
the older the link the more valuable it is.

WHERE THE LINK CAME FROM

the website the link originates from plays a big role. Ideally the website should have authority and be

related to your website.

LINK ABOVE THE FOLD

Google wants a link to be as high up the page as possible. It should be above the fold for best results.

NUMBER OF LINKS
the number of links on the webpage the link came from is important—fewer links is better.

BAD PR AC T IC E S TO AVOID

It might be tempting to take shortcuts when it comes to acquiring backlinks. However, it is not worth the trouble

as you can get penalized by Google. Here are some of the top bad practices that must be avoided.

LINK EXCHANGES
this involves signing up to a network where members exchange links in the hopes of improving their link

diversity. Google can detect these networks and penalize the members by removing their website from the

search results, or drastically reducing their position.

PAID LINK
buying a link from a website which has high authority is a bad idea. Detecting a paid link can be difficult,

but if discovered, the penalty is severe.

ARTICLE DIRECTORIES
these directories allow articles to be submitted with a link. However, the value of these links is non-existent.

That’s because people have abused these directories by spamming articles in the past.

HACKING
Google bots have evolved to figure out when a website has been hacked with the aim of gaining a backlink.

Hiding a link in JavaScript or CSS is not only bad SEO practice, but possibly illegal.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 136
 SOUND INTE R N A L LIN K ST R AT E GIE S

One way of gaining plenty of backlinks for each webpage, which Google approves of, is internal backlinks. These

are links from one of your webpages to another. By using internal linking, you have full control of your website.

On the other hand, links from external sources can be deleted without your control.

The linking structure should be created so that each page on your website can be accessed at a maximum of

three links. This allows users and search engine bots to navigate around your website more efficiently.

When a keyword gets used naturally within the flow of the content, consider adding a backlink to a related

webpage on your website. A few in-body links per page is ideal and also improves usability of your website.

For example, let’s say that you’re writing an article on your cooking blog, and you use the words “cookie recipe”.

If you have a webpage on your website, about cookie recipes then link to it using those words as the anchor

text. Getting into the habit of doing this throughout your website is a winning strategy.

Backlinks are an important aspect of SEO and understanding them can be

difficult with the amount of misinformation put out there. This section

should have taught you all the essential and correct basics of backlinks and

how to implement them into an SEO strategy that works. Still need further

assistance? Get in touch with Marque Media for a consultation!

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 137
 HOW TO LEV ER AGE

INFLUENCER
M ARKET ING FOR YOUR BUSINESS

WH AT IS INFLU E N C E R M A R K E T IN G?

A form of marketing that is slowly catching on as a powerful tool for any business is influencer marketing. This

involves hijacking the audience of a social media account to immediately have access to many new potential leads.

In return for having access to the audience of an influencer, you might have to pay the influencer, or send them a

free sample to review on their account. Influencer marketing merges content marketing and social media at a highly

cost-effective ratio. Currently, not every business appreciates the power of influencer marketing, and therefore

competition is not yet fierce. In addition, there are influencers who cannot yet comprehend their value so some of

them undervalue themselves. This leads to great opportunities in the influencer marketing sector.

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 TH E RULES FOR I N FLU E N C E R ID E N T IFIC AT ION

The different ways in which you can identify an influencer will depend on the scope of your campaign and

budget. Here are some of the main ways:

GOOGLE
you’ll need to enter targeted search strings and scan pages for contact information. Keeping track of it all

via an organized list on a spreadsheet.

NETWORKS
using networks like social media sites, you can find the influencers that fit your criteria. Criteria could be

be the niche they are operating in or the size of their audience.

DATABASES
publicly available information can be used to pull plenty of data. However, you’ll need to vet and contact

each influencer manually.

MARKETPLACE
to get real-time information and avoid middle men then marketplaces are the way to go.

In your space, look for high-quality content creators. These could be individuals that are doing the content

creating because they are passionate about the topic. For example, on YouTube there are individuals doing

plenty of “Let’s Plays” of computer games, where they play computer games and upload it to their

audience. If you’re trying to sell a computer game or related accessory, then hijacking such an audience

can result to a goldmine.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 139
 HOW THE INFLUENCER CAN INCORPORATE YOUR BRAND MESSAGE

When you have identified an influencer and they have agreed to work with you, a content plan needs to be

created. Most influencers will have their own content plan, but you can always help. If you feel like they lack

variety of content, then give them something to talk about.

Why not let them in your offices and allow them to experience your brand for themselves? They will have plenty

of stories to tell. The audience will be more receptive as they can see its first-hand experience with your brand.

Whatever strategy you opt for, don’t be forceful, but instead work with the influencer. After all, it is their audience

you are reaching out to, and they get to have the final say on what type of content they will be posting.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 140
 Influencer marketing can provide huge returns on investment when

done correctly. You can get creative with how the campaign is

executed. In the end, it’s all about forging strong and healthy

relationships with the influencer for repeat marketing opportunities.

Marque Media has led successful campaigns for brands like Pandora,

Beverly Hills Lashes, and Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week that involved

influencers! If you want to reach out to influencers in your niche to

help promote your products or services, don’t hesitate to contact us.

We’ll match you to the best ones for your brand.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 141
 BO NUS

CONTRACT TEMPLATES
YOU NEED FO R FR EELANCE HIR ES

When hiring freelancers, you need to protect yourself, and a contract is a simple way to achieve that.

Ideally the contract will have language understandable by the average person. After all, freelancers are not

lawyers, so drawing up a contract they won’t understand isn’t practical. Here is a summary of contract

templates you can implement today

STATEMENT OF WORK
This explains the main points of the work arrangement. Therefore, it’s very useful and widely used. This

kind of contract skips a lot of the legal matters, and for that reason is preferred by freelancers.

NON-COMPETE AGREEMENT
The point of this contract is to prevent competitors from stealing away your employees. You can set up the

contract to restrict the freelancer from a number of stipulations such as geographical area. Freelancers

need to fully inspect the nature of the stipulations so they fully understand what they will be giving up in

the process.

FORMAL CONTRACT
This type of contract is designed to be legally airtight and the one you should be using for maximum legal

protection. It’s ideal when using freelancers for significant amounts of work and the contract has a formal

nature to it. A freelancer should use a lawyer to vet this document so that all the legal jargon is understood.

NON-DISCLOSURE
As the name suggests, this contract type minimizes the risk of freelancers disclosing exclusive information

and assets of your company. If you want to protect your strategies, content ideas and other sensitive

information then a non-disclosure contract is the way to do it.

LETTER OF AGREEMENT
This is an informal contract that’s typically used when hiring freelancers for smaller jobs. It can also be

used when hiring friends, co-workers or family. It’s in the form of a simple letter and has easy to

comprehend language for the average person. However, it’s one of the least airtight and legally binding

contracts that you can draw up. Therefore, you need to trust the individuals you are hiring.

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 142
 LEAVE IT TO

MARQUE MEDIA
TO MAKE THE MAGIC

A marketing agency can take your business to the next level by increasing the number of leads, improving your

brand image, and implementing a comprehensive array of marketing channels. For a marketing agency that can

help you conquer your marketplace, consider the services of Marque Media. We do all the marketing legwork for

you, giving you more time to focus on running the other aspects of your business.

The typical marketing company has a huge price tag, but doesn’t execute the actions that back up their price.

We have the experienced professionals to do marketing the right way regardless of what industry you’re

operating in—and we can tailor services to fit exactly your budget, your brand, and your needs.

Check out our packages here! We’ll let our previous work speak for themselves, too—you can view them here.

CASE STUDIES

Beverly Hills Lashes

Joiful (Beauty and Wellness App Launch Event)

Haute High Tea With Pandora x Elle Malaysia 2016

Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week RTW 2016

Kimora Lee Simons Label (Spring 2016 Collection Preview Party)

Vanity Fair Social Club: Emmy Awards Weekend 2015

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 143
 WRAPPING
IT ALL UP !

You’re now ready to embark on the vast but highly lucrative market that is the digital world. The guides,

tips, and templates we have provided here are based on tried-and-tested principles that are fundamental

to any marketing strategy.

This book should give you a head start if you’re a beginner, or a better grasp if you already have prior

know-how. But more than anything, this book should help you visualize a stronger direction for your brand.

With digital marketing at its peak, there are increasingly more opportunities—and at the same time,

challenges—to promoting a brand now more than ever. For those times you get lost navigating through it

all, it helps to have seasoned marketers on hand.

Marque Media offers a free consultation for every aspect of marketing and branding that was discussed in

this ebook. Chat with us if designing your own graphics is driving you nuts. Talk to us if you want us to

handle the growth of your brand from start to finish. We’ll have you covered either way.

SERVICES

BRAND IDENTITY & WEB DESIGN & S O C I AL

STO RY TE L L I N G SUPPORT M A N AG E M E N T

G R A PH I C, I M AG E A N D V I D E O B R AND CO R P O R AT E & INFLUENCER & CELEBRITY CAMPAIGN AND

CO N TEN T CR E ATI ON RETAIL PARTNERSHIPS M A N AG E M E N T

#MAKEYOURMARQUE 144
Contact Us
We’re a super-passionate team
who love challenges big and small.
To know more about how we can help you

How most people do it:

hello@marque.media

How the cool kids do it:

@marquemediaofficial
@marque_media
@marque.media
Marque Media

How your parents would do it:

+1 424 272 5732

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