Wheelhouse Marketing Blog

For small to medium-sized businesses, having the right tools can mean everything when it comes to their success. When you're running an SMB (small to medium-sized business), there are always more tasks than can be done, more hours required in a day than are realistically available. With business owners facing such an enormous amount of responsibility, the tools they employ become indispensable. Business is a battle, and going in with the wrong tool can be like jumping out of the trenches with no more than a water gun in your hand.

So, your sitting in a meeting and someone starts dropping acronyms like there's no tomorrow... You're reading the P&L, making sure you've got enough ROI on your SEO, and your COO starts talking about Q2 returns YOY, and how your MQLs have been outperforming your SQLs while your COS is climbing.

As we continue forecasting what marketing trends we think will be a major hit for 2020, today, we turn our sights on branding. Easily one of the most exciting facets of the marketing world, branding just gets better and better as companies have to try harder to compete to gain the attention of overloaded customers. Today we are taking a look at the best trends of 2020 when it comes to branding, and why we're so excited about them.

Around this time of year, there’s a lot of projecting for the year to come. And 2020 is no exception. As a new year, an election year, and the start of a new generation, there’s a lot of forward focus and forecasting surrounding the upcoming 365 days. With all of the speculating going on, web design is no different. While technology has obviously been on a compounded growth path, it seems like it practically blew up in 2019. And with its massive expansion and infiltration, we’ve begun to see how it’s changing what’s possible on the web, what users are drawn to, and what we can expect in 2020.  

Since our beginnings, man has been a fan of the pump-up. Waring tribes mixed warpaint to smear on their faces and smatter horse’s haunches. Pre-game rituals fuel the moment of execution, whether you are Brian Urlacher, would eat two chocolate chip cookies (while listening to country music) before each game, or Frida Kahlo, who liked to garden before touching paint to paper. The Ecuadorian national soccer team uses a witch doctor before their matches, and Michael Phelps listens to EDM after his breakfast of eggs, oatmeal, and four energy shakes.

Across the country, there is a unique class of folks that stand out as anomalies from the digitized masses. They aren't hard to recognize. Often, they're using aging tech or a non-smartphone, they would rather get dirt under their fingernails than be on social media and have little to no idea what a meme is. Often referred to in the marketing world by the kind euphemism of late adopters, this group of hard-working, rarely online folks typically has some of the sparsest resources when it comes to their marketing, design, and demand generation. 

They tend to occupy more trade, agricultural, and specialized skill forms of business, be it guiding, farming, construction, charter services, commercial supply, or more industrial-focused work. For many of these people, they have the "been doing it this way for 30 years, and it's worked well for me" byline, and business typically comes from a real word of mouth route. But, like all good things, the days may be numbered for continuing this way in a world going ever faster and faster toward the interconnection of things. Today we're looking at why every single individual, even these late adopters, can benefit from a strong marketing game.

As long as people have kept written records, they have been using intricate designs to accent their words. The art of beautiful penmanship and decorative letterforms are prevalent in Arabic, Japanese, and Chinese art. It doesn't take a Master Penmen to look at our country's Declaration of Independence or the Constitution to see the unique brilliance of hand-drawn excellence. While ink and quill are not as commonplace today, pen and ink and Apple Pencil and tablet have become the new mediums for that hand-lettered touch.

We're kicking off a new series at PRIME on the transformation of the way we do things. In the economy of life, there are tried-and-true methods, habits we love, patterns we are used to and a variety of other activities that condition the way we approach tasks. With the advent of mobile devices and app-run services, a more significant number of options are available for getting our business done. Enjoy our foray into the mobile economy of things, or the IoT. (Internet of Things) as we dive into several ways our hand-held devices have changed the way we face our world.

There are two constant truths in marketing that you’ve likely heard over and over again. While both true, they’re as equally important as they are a potential conflict. The first is that “Content is king.” The second? That your prospects are inconceivably busy. But if content truly is king (and it is, my friend), and your readers are struggling on the daily to keep their heads above the information flood line, what are you to do? How are you supposed to reach them with all these valuable content pieces that you have? It's not like today's users are exactly clamoring to get their hands on one more “must-read” article, blog, Facebook rant, or even eBook for their backlog.

For a freelancer, there are some days when they feel the true greatness of what it is they get to do for a living. Sitting down to work makes them feel like a regular Hemingway or Picasso. They’re enlightened by the realization of their living and invigorated by a dedication to their work.