Month: March 2018

Global Branding and Execution

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In October 2016, Quintiles and IMS Health completed a $17.6 billion merger to become QuintilesIMS. Building on a 12-year client relationship with Quintiles, the Signal team was given the task of creating strategic assets and executing the interim QuintilesIMS brand across all channels, within a compressed period of time. We also played an integral role in refining the new brand standards, logos and color palette.

QuintilesIMS adopted its new name, IQVIA, in November 2017. In just a few short months, Signal met the challenge of implementing the new IQVIA brand (which was developed primarily by another agency) through the rebranding of a vast number of existing assets and creating critical new assets. Our creative work helped to create excitement about the new organization, showcasing how IQVIA uses analytics and science to help healthcare stakeholders find better solutions for their patients.

Visual system

We created key deliverables in the visual system, including:

  • Full logo suite
  • Logo lockups with internal business units / subsidiaries
  • Color palette expansion and refinement
  • Complete global Brand Guidelines
  • Complete custom icon set
  • Complete icon set for digital
  • PowerPoint master / slide bank / themes for enterprise distribution

Marketing materials

Our team was also responsible for creating an entire suite of marketing collateral, including:

  • Marketing automation templates
  • Internal / executive Microsoft Outlook templates
  • Collateral templates: Case studies, fact sheets, insight briefs, white papers, infographics, brochures and at-a-glance
  • Brand ads
  • Pop-up banners and tradeshow booth graphics
  • Parking lot banners
  • Facility and elevator signage
  • Global letterhead and business cards
  • “We are IQVIA” video for both website and social media channels
  • Talent acquisition collateral

Results

The Signal team completed vital branding work in less time – and for a much lower cost – than the typical agency of record. Our clients in Marketing and Communications were delighted with Signal’s heroic efforts:

“You and your team are all superstars. Thank you for the long hours, great customer service, quick turnarounds, creative ideas and genuine collaboration in bringing our new brand to life!”

 

“THANK YOU to everyone at Signal. This rebirth would NOT have happened without you!”

 

“A big ‘Thank You’ for all the fantastic work your team has done for us – and for the amazing flexibility and speed you always demonstrate. IQVIA would not be here today without you.”

best practices ux email design

Best Practices for UX in Email Design

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ux in email design

You invest a lot of time on the user experience (UX) of your websites and apps. But what about your emails? They’re a critical touchpoint on the journey, so emails that offer the best possible experience can strengthen your brand and get people to take some action. Follow the steps below to increase conversions and interactivity.

Optimize your design.

  • Remember, the standard width for emails is 550px – 600px. Any wider and you run the risk that your email will look strange.
  • Do not use background images – they don’t render reliably across all email platforms. If background images are necessary, make sure you have a fallback color.
  • Use web safe fonts, such as Arial, Helvetica or Tahoma. Non-system fonts will not render correctly across all email platforms.
  • Optimize your images by checking load times and making sure any images are optimized for retina screens.

50% of users open their emails on mobile

These features will help you cater to them:

  • Subject lines less than 60 characters
  • Font sizes 13 – 14px
  • Links which are easily clickable
  • Larger line height for easier reading
  • Simple structures / layouts

Keep content short and easy to read.

  • Balance text and images. Image-heavy emails increase the risk of being flagged as spam. Also, most emails block images by default, so text and CTAs should be visible when opening the email and reflect the main message.
  • Subject lines are crucial! According to the Nielsen Norman Group, the first 40 characters help define an email’s success or failure.
  • Personalize but don’t go overboard. While you can gain someone’s attention by addressing them by name or referring to where they live, some people may flag this as an unwelcome invasion of privacy in an unsolicited email.
  • Respect subscriber preferences by including a “view in browser” and “unsubscribe” link.

Follow general best practices.

  • Make content relevant and desirable based on your audience.
  • Remember that timing is everything. Check your analytics to see what timing has performed best for a given email type. For example, retention emails to bouncing customers might need to be sent 1 – 3 days after they leave something in their cart, while newsletters can be sent out weekly.
  • Test the usability of your emails by seeing how they render across email platforms and devices – and if they are flagged as spam.
  • Consider A/B testing on messaging, layouts and CTAs to find out what converts best (open rate, redirects from CTAs, making a purchase) with your audience.

Get strategic.

Now that you’ve taken steps towards better UX in email design, it’s time to firm up your email strategy. Factors to consider include the content you’re sending, whom you’re sending it to (and in what context) and at what frequency. This can help you make the email magic happen with targeted messages at the right cadence.

Want more? Our UX experts are here to help with your email design, messaging and strategy.

repurposing content

Second Helpings: How to Repurpose Content

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how to repurpose content

Reduce, reuse…repurpose your content! Marketing content costs time, effort and money to create, so make sure to wring as much value as you can out of it. Take that presentation or white paper off the shelf and retool it to keep audiences engaged – and organic website traffic moving smoothly. Below, we lift the hood a little on repurposing.

Won’t people know we’re reusing content?

It’s unlikely that even your biggest fans have tracked everything you publish. Remember the old “Rule of Seven” advertising adage? People need to hear your message multiple times before they take action.

When is the best time to repurpose content?

  • Audiences have changed
  • You need to reinforce critical messages
  • Organic visibility is stagnant
  • Anytime you want to make things easier on your marketing team – and their budget!

What’s the biggest benefit of content reuse?

Other than saving time, effort and money? Some people like to read 1000-word blog posts. Others like 2-minute videos. Repurposing content helps you appeal to different content preferences, expanding your audience.

How can I find my best-performing content?

Dive into your analytics to find the hot content to repurpose. Consider factors like views, social engagement and shares.

Hey, how about some great ideas?

  • Repurpose compelling stats or quotes from blog posts, white papers or surveys into snackable infographics for social sharing
  • Turn tradeshow and conference presentations into SlideShare presentations to increase reach
  • Turn a blog post into something visual, like an infographic or a whiteboard explainer video
  • Gather some experts and have them discuss the topic of a recent presentation or blog post in a podcast
  • Repackage related evergreen blog posts into something meatier, like an e-book with new visual elements
  • Record an audio version of an e-book for easy “drive time” listening
  • Publish webinars as tutorials on YouTube
  • Create a quiz or a game from existing content

Need some help repurposing your content? Let Signal help you slice and dice and re-imagine to keep your audience engaged.