This Halloween, Don’t Be Scared By So-Called “Digital Experts.”

As web development professionals, clients often seek our guidance when solicited with digital marketing and web design services that seem too good to be true. Businesses are promised packages that deliver first page search engine results, pay per click campaigns generating massive ROI and more social media “likes and shares” than they can dream of. You name it, the list of promises goes on and on.

Let the web experts at JB Systems help you conquer your fears of the digital marketing world.Let’s be honest, although technology plays a crucial role in our lives, it can be intimidating. If you’re running a business, you often don’t have time to be on top of “the next big thing” each time it rolls around. You trust your vendors and partners to provide you with honest direction and to understand the role technology plays in your business. Perhaps you’ve been pitched marketing packages by fast talking, high pressures sales folks signaling doomsday if you don’t sign up for their digital services. We have seen (and been told about) several examples of these partnerships going awry. After the contract is signed, you’re unable to cancel, continue to be billed for months and can’t get a hold of anyone in customer service. Not cool.

At JB Systems, we prefer to do business a bit different; entirely different, in fact. Our commitment to our clients means we’re always available to offer advice on what web, marketing and other digital services might be the best fit for your business. Additionally, our proposals are always transparent, straightforward, and easy to understand so you know exactly what you’re paying for. Give us a call and setup an appointment for a complimentary website review and/or to discuss any of our services. We won’t lock you into a multi-year contract, highjack your domain or send you invoices for additional services you didn’t agree to. It’s all part of our promise at #TeamJB to make the web simple.

Did You Know? JB Systems Offers The Following Services:

• Monthly SEO Programs
• Pay-Per-Click & Ad Remarketing Services
• Content Strategy/Preparation with Emphasis On SEO Analysis/Mapping
• Photography
• Video
• Email Campaign & Drip Messaging
• Social Media Management
• Website Maintenance Programs
• Print Collateral & Marketing Materials
• …and course, website design, development, training and more!

We’re proud of our 15 years of business and the hard-working foundation to which our company is built on. We thank you for your business and hope to continue to partner with you as “we’re never done.” Please click here for any additional questions on how we may be of service to you.

Using Creative Branding to set our Clients Apart, Solving Complex Issues

Using Creative Branding to set our Clients Apart, Solving Complex Issues

Though many people are familiar with JB Systems’ ability to create responsive, custom websites, few people know that our graphic design team also creates some powerful brands and identities for our clients. What’s exciting about designing a new brand is that, much like with a new website, we get to help our clients get a more consistent, professional identity for their business. Branding (or re-branding) is a chance for clients to show their client base how they’re evolving. It’s incredibly rewarding for JB Systems to be part of that process.

Branding takes many forms, such as a new logo design, changing the colors of an existing logo, updating a slogan, and more. At JB Systems, we recently had the opportunity to help the Eau Claire Police Department re-brand themselves by creating a new logo.

On Tuesday, August 18th, some of our team members were in attendance at Phoenix Park in Eau Claire, Wisconsin as Police Chief Gerald Staniszewski unveiled the logo on two new police vehicles, along with another vehicle (more…)

Creating Engaging Content for Your Visitors

It’s important for companies to have visually appealing and easy to navigate websites. Having a chaotic

and messy website will turn away visitors and potential customers, and in turn, your company may lose revenue. Building a custom website can be expensive, but it’s a worthwhile investment to create a unique experience for site visitors that’s built to meet the needs of your company and your clients.

Having an aesthetically pleasing website isn’t enough, though. If your website doesn’t encourage visitor engagement, then you still won’t see results. Website Magazine agrees with this train of thought, too. You can have all of the most important information written on your site, but if it doesn’t engage your visitors, then the quality of the information almost doesn’t matter.

This begs the question– how do I create engaging content?

There are a variety of ways you can engage viewers on your website. Here are a few:

Use video. Maybe you can create a “How To” video, demonstrating how your product or service works. Maybe you can create a brief, humorous ad that will make your visitors laugh. Whatever it may be, a good, quality video, will encourage visitors to engage with your product or service (more…)

Moving Toward Mobile – JB Systems Presents at EC Chamber Social Media & Marketing Conference

Written by: Erin Trowbridge, Marketing Director

Tomorrow, I’ll be presenting at the Eau Claire Chamber’s Social Media & Marketing Conference at Florian Gardens, which JB Systems is also sponsoring, so I wanted to give our blog readers a sneak peek at what’s in store!

We have a lot of clients lately asking about how they can keep up with the mobile world, in relation to their websites. There are a few different routes to go that we discuss with our clients, including:

  • A mobile app – This is a native software application that you download to your phone that performs functions or offers content to users. Many times, mobile apps have very specific functions (browse homes for sale, refill a prescription, check nearby gas prices, etc.). This type of mobile interaction is usually much different than the customer’s main website, so it requires a different set of information and requirements from the client. It also goes through a process to be approved and sold on an app store like iTunes, for example.
  • A mobile website – This is a website that is independent of your main website. Mobile websites are usually hosted under a subdomain or different domain altogether (i.e. m.facebook.com or jbsystemsllc.mobi). Mobile websites are a great alternative if you want the flexibility of the web but want to offer users different content than what they would see on your full site. Many times, you’ll see something like ‘View our Full Site’ on a mobile site. The goal is to offer users quick, relevant information for mobile users, instead of inundating them with the full breadth of your full site content.
  • A responsive website – This is the same as your website – only different. (What?!) Responsive design is a newer trend in web design that rearranges the elements of your layout to fit a wide variety of screen sizes, instead of just shrinking them, thus eliminating the need to pinch-and-zoom all the time. The result of responsive design is easier access to all/most of the content on your site, one set of web files to manage and maintain, better SEO, and lower cost in most cases.

I’ll be discussing these topics and other mobile trends, tools, and tactics in my presentation, as well as pros and cons of implementing these strategies. Look for a follow up blog post with more info from the presentation!

The Power of the Promo Code

Still trying to figure out how to tell if the ads you’re placing in the newspaper or magazines are actually working? Enter: The Promo Code.

promo codes, online coupons, ecommerce

A Promo Code, as used by Walgreens

You’ve all probably seen them – codes that may look something like “JUNE2011″ or “SPG56″ or “COUPON11″. These are lovingly referred to in the e-commerce world as “Promo Codes” and they can be extremely powerful, if utilized to their full potential. Some of our clients use promo codes in their online stores promoting sales, offering exclusive discounts to their Facebook followers, or as a customer service ‘thank you’. Promo codes also work great for tracking offline marketing efforts like direct mail or trade show leads.

Promo codes are really not a new concept in the marketing world – traditional marketers have used these for eons, except they have been in the form of coupons. Now with the explosion of e-commerce, the promo code is making redeeming those coupons even easier – and simple is definitely a key element in the online world.

If you’re a retailer who is already using coupons, and you’re thinking about e-commerce, you’ll probably love using online promo codes in your store. Through our e-commerce system, you can easily create your own codes, name them whatever you’d like, and attribute them to either a dollar amount or percentage off. (We’ve even gone so far as to do some crazy buy 1, get 1 kind of stuff – but that’s a little more involved.) Then, all you have to do is promote the heck out of your promo codes – email them to your customers, post them on Facebook, add them to the back of your business cards – make them all different and track which ones bring in the most sales. What?! Tracking your marketing?! That’s why we love the web!

Give us a call if you want to chat e-commerce or promo codes – or even if you just want to come up with some new ways to use your website as a marketing machine.