About Us
DRKMTTR Creative is a multidisciplinary art and design consultancy based out of sunny southwest Florida, though our work can be found all over the world.
Services DRKMTTR offers include:
- Branding and identity design
- Art direction and design consultation
- Marketing and advertising
- Modern responsive web design and development
- SEO and PPC management
- Social media marketing and management
- Commissioned art and illustration
- User experience and interaction design
- Print collateral design
- Digital collateral design
- Signage and vehicle wraps
- Consumer packaged goods and product packaging
At the heart of DRKMTTR is a husband and wife team of creative professionals with over 30 years of art and design experience.
DRKMTTR has successfully worked with a multitude of clients -- in many industries, across many channels, and with many mediums.
We have done work for: The Home Depot, The Lee County Visitors and Convention Bureau, The School District of Hillsborough County, GE Capital corporations, Marijuana.com, Atlanta Gas Light -- and many, many others both big and small.
We have the know-how, professionalism, and creative spunk to elevate your business to the next level.
Don't hesitate to contact us and find out how you can leverage our expertise to your benefit.
We absolutely love what we do -- and it shows.
The products and services we offer
Products & Services
Recommendations Given (7)
"Erik is hands down one of the most driven and knowledgeable people I have ever met when it comes..."
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"Erik is hands down one of the most driven and knowledgeable people I have ever met when it comes to sales and marketing. He is both invigorating and inspiring -- I would, without hesitation, highly recommend his services to any company or person who currently finds themselves chasing success without much luck. He can help you make it happen."
"Carlos was a pleasure to work with. Supremely knowledgeable, smart, funny, and laid back while..."
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"Carlos was a pleasure to work with. Supremely knowledgeable, smart, funny, and laid back while still being driven and goal-oriented. Would definitely recommend him!"
Recent Activity
If they disappeared off your mailing list out of the blue and without a trace, then maybe. After all, you might have an issue with your CRM of mail platform. Highly doubtful if you are using an even quasi-reputable provider, though, as typically email addresses don't just disappear out of a...
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If they disappeared off your mailing list out of the blue and without a trace, then maybe. After all, you might have an issue with your CRM of mail platform. Highly doubtful if you are using an even quasi-reputable provider, though, as typically email addresses don't just disappear out of a database... that would pretty much be the end of that service provider. I mean, who would trust someone who can't even keep a list of email addresses intact? After all, that's their job. They won't be in business for very long if they can't even do a simple thing like ensure the integrity of their customer's data.
But if you receive notification that they manually unsubscribed -- if they are listed anywhere in your CRM or mailing platform outright as having unsubscribed, for example -- then pushing them to explain why is borderline harassment in my opinion. And once a person has unsubscribed, emailing them again might even be considered illegal by CAN-SPAM standards. As per that link: "Each separate email in violation of the law is subject to penalties of up to $41,484..." Yikes.
Besides, there are a myriad of reasons as to why this could have happened, ranging from them trying to get a handle on a messy inbox to them being annoyed at the amount of emails you send out to simply just not being interested in what you have to say. You can choose to dwell on it, but it really does you no good because you simply don't know the real reason, and anything beyond that (from your perspective) is simple conjecture.
If this person, who is your friend, begins to treat you differently when you see them or interact with them elsewhere, then yes... definitely a cause for concern and it might be worth extending an olive branch (regarding the change in relationship, not so much the unsubscribing). But if everything is the same as it's always been in terms of how they treat you and interact with you, I'd forget about the mailing list before it causes you to be the one who starts acting differently towards them instead. :-)
Instead, you should be thankful they removed themselves. Whatever the reasoning might be, when someone unsubscribes, it just tidies your list with people who appreciate your content. These are qualified, engaged prospects. And depending on the mailing platform you use, you might be paying to send mail out based on the number of subscribers in your list. Why pay to reach people who don't want to hear your message?
Having a huge mailing list isn't the end-all-be-all of marketing. A well-targeted list is infinitely better than a giant list that is 90% filled with people who will never buy from you.
And don't forget, if you have a giant list full of unqualified subscribers, this will actually damage your open rates. There’s no point in sending emails to inactive subscribers. This will ruin your inbox deliverability and potentially get you flagged as spam by email providers, like the fine folks over at Google who built gmail to intelligently guess as to who is a spammer and who isn't. You also want to be able to effectively evaluate your open rate and one way to achieve this is by eliminating the uninterested subscribers.
Hope this helps!
In short, don't.While they recently changed their pricing model for creatives (which used to be abysmal!), it's still not worth the cost in my humble opinion.
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In short, don't.While they recently changed their pricing model for creatives (which used to be abysmal!), it's still not worth the cost in my humble opinion.
First, clearly define what it is that you do that can help potential customers in terms of their "pain points."
In other words, it's not enough to simply describe your services and saying you offer "value" -- you need to boil your message down and figure out what problem you are solving for...
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First, clearly define what it is that you do that can help potential customers in terms of their "pain points."
In other words, it's not enough to simply describe your services and saying you offer "value" -- you need to boil your message down and figure out what problem you are solving for people. What *is* that value? Why do people need it? That is the key to a lot of marketing, and something that many small businesses overlook. You should be selling a solution to a problem.
Maybe other audio book companies charge too much and you can save people money?
Maybe your customers prefer to do business locally and don't want to go with a "big box" solution?
Maybe your typical customers are "older folks" who are not internet savvy enough to feel comfortable using online services?
That is for you to figure out. Once you do, THAT needs to be your consistent marketing message.
Find your ideal customer/niche, and let them know how you can help them with their problem.
The marketing channels you use are important, but if you aren't delivering the right message to the right people at the right time, it doesn't matter which channel you use as it will be a largely wasted effort.
If you aren't catching their eye and making them say, "Wow, I could really use a service like this because I'm sick of _______" then you will be overlooked. Position yourself as a "need" not a "want".
Brand awareness comes with consistency of message. You have to put in the time before people will come to know who (and where) you are. 9 years is a long time, but sounds like your marketing efforts have really been being pushed fairly recently?
Facebook and print ads would be a great start -- and probably radio too, if you still have the budget for it. Just make sure you are focusing on solving a problem for your customers instead of simply offering them a product or service and walking away.
And don't forget the non-traditionals.
Reaching out to local book clubs, making posts on Craigslist, hosting events with local authors, guerrilla marketing tactics like hanging up posters/flyers around town, reaching out to bloggers and small websites to exchange links (here in Florida I'd suggest sites like http://www.floridabooknews.com/ or http://news.wgcu.org/programs/florida-book-pagems/florida-book-pagems/florida-book-page)... these are all ways to continue to get your brand out. (Sorry, Alignable's interface is a bit wonky and that second link is too long apparently.)
So, in short:
1.) Make sure you are delivering the best message possible.
2.) Deliver that message in as many places as you can possible think of, including "non-traditional" places. Ask friends and family for help if you have to. Maybe they know of a book club or a local author that you might not be aware of. Networking is powerful stuff.
3.) Continue doing this for as long as humanly possible, because if you have the right message, eventually your effort will pay off.
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Oh boy, this is such an open question that we could literally spend days writing a response and still not cover everything. I mean, there are entire books written about this, right? :)
There are a few great takeaway points to be found here already, though -- mainly that marketing really isn't...
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Oh boy, this is such an open question that we could literally spend days writing a response and still not cover everything. I mean, there are entire books written about this, right? :)
There are a few great takeaway points to be found here already, though -- mainly that marketing really isn't "free" and that you'll get out of it what you put in (be it time or money).
I'd also like to stress the point made about other services (legal, medical, etc.) never being offered for free, and there being a reason for that -- marketing is similar in that it takes a LOT of time, effort, motivation, and sometimes money to become good at it -- much like anything else in life. To be truly successful at marketing, you need to actually devote time to learning. Buying a Marketing For Dummies book won't cut it. The most important thing you can do to better your marketing efforts is to RESEARCH. Read as much as you can, and LEARN. :)
With that said, though, there are a few things you need to consider. First, let's talk about Google (since that seems to be a common theme in this thread).
GoogleYes, getting a business, service, or product listed on Google is a necessity in this day and age, but it is FAR from a silver bullet and there is absolutely zero guarantee that even getting listed in Google is going to make you money. You can spend 20 hours a day working on SEO to get yourself ranked high in the SERPs, but if your site is a mess (hard to navigate, no clear call to action, etc.) then all that traffic is going to convert to... nothing. People will show up, get confused, and leave. So before you begin with your marketing efforts, I suggest you make sure your site is up to par.
Also, I think people are forgetting an important detail: that there are three main kinds of Google searches based on intent: navigational, informational, and transactional. These are referred to as "do, know, go" actions. Simply showing up on Google isn't enough, you need to be showing up for the right people at the right time.
- Navigational searches (go) refer to people trying to find a specific site or page. Google refers to this as a "go query". Likely this won't apply to you, as people performing these types of searches already know what they are looking for. Think of someone who forgot how to get to this site, so they type in "alignable networking site" or some such to find the exact URL. Again, these are people who know what they want and are trying to find a specific thing or place and are likely of no use to you.
- Informational searches (know) are exactly that: people trying to find information on a broad topic. These types of searches likely won't convert to a sale, as these are people who are simply trying to find information about a topic. Think of someone who wants to know how perfume is made (and isn't trying to buy some). Ranking high for these types of searches likely won't land you many sales, but it can be super useful for both SEO purposes as well as generating trust with consumers (e.g. establishing yourself as an authority in your domain). Generating quality content on your site (in the form of a blog, videos, infographics, etc.) will entice others to link to your site, boosting your overall ranking. Plus, you never know... you'll likely wind up with visitors who are so impressed with your expertise that they want to try your product even though they weren't in a purchasing mindset when they arrived at your site. So, while you might not want to spend a ton of time doing this, it can be very beneficial in the long run to address these types of searches.
- Transactional searches (do) are what will be of most value to you. These are people who have an idea of what they want and are ready to make a purchase. They might want to find the highest quality item, or the lowest price, or a vendor that is local to them -- but they are ready to spend their money. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that these people are the ones you really want to get in front of and it's no coincidence that these are the searches that other perfume makers will be going after, too. You really should read up on ecommerce SEO if you plan on selling online. Probably read up on it even if you don't plan on selling online, too, as there is a lot to be learned. Here are a few links to help:
https://blog.kissmetrics.com/seo-for-ecommerce-websites/
https://www.shopify.com/blog/4627892-10-crucial-seo-tips-for-ecommerce-entrepreneurs
So yes, Google is super important, but you need to focus on the right things. Here's some more info:
https://moz.com/blog/revisiting-navigational-informational-transactional-search-post-pagerank
Other Things To Try
There are a myriad of other channels you can tap to help raise brand awareness and drive sales without relying on search engines.
For example, giveaways can be an easy marketing strategy to promote your product launch, and in a relatively short amount of time too. Everyone loves to receive free gifts; as a result, giveaways tend to generate quite a large amount of responses. Margarita Hakobyan, CEO of MoversCorp points out, "While giveaways have their drawback of attracting people with little interest in your company besides the free goodies, the strategy itself is one with immense potential especially if you create your sweepstakes with clear objectives and requirements."
You can even give people bonus entries for sharing the sweepstakes on social media. You can tell people to go like your Facebook page, view a video, or subscribe to your newsletters. Whatever parameters you wish to establish, keep the instructions simple and make sure that you can establish some levels of communication with your sweepstakes participants. Your website, social media, and other people's blogs are great places to promote your giveaways. Online-Sweepstakes.com is a popular place with lots of traffic. All you need to do is create a free account, and you will be set to sweep away a group of enthusiastic audience with your irresistible goodies.
Also, don't forget about tapping into the resources of others: authoritative figures or influencers who are well-respected in your target market. Influencers have lots of followers, subscribers, and fans who quickly answer to any endorsement and recommendations. As Penny Baldwin, CMO at McAfee, says, "80% of the Internet's impressions are driven by just 6% of its users." If you can find a highly regarded perfume blog, for example, reach out to them and see if you can trade them some free samples for an honest review. You'd be surprised at how well this can work. After all, a large part of landing new customers revolves around getting them to trust you, so why not take a shortcut and cash in on the trust that somebody else has already cultivated?
Physical Networking
So far a lot of what we have talked about is meant for the 'online world'. That's not to say, however, that there aren't a lot of opportunities out there in the 'real world' to market yourself.
Donating products can be an effective way to raise awareness, for example. Are there any local events going on soon? Maybe a charitable golf tournament? Or a film festival? Or a local benefit auction? By donating your perfume for use in giveaways, prizes, and gift bags, you are helping to get your name out there.
You can also offer free classes and seminars, though you might have to get a bit creative to figure out how this could apply to perfume. Many libraries and community centers will allow you to 'rent' (usually for free) a room where you can host a small talk about something. Remember, you should be approaching this from the standpoint of trying to help others, not just push your product. A 30 minute long lunchtime talk at the library about "Finding The Right Scent For You" or "How To Make Your Own Cheap Perfume" might attract some people. Just be careful to not give too much info away -- you want to help people, yes, but the idea is to keep people coming back to the expert (you) for more.
Another useful thing can be to show up at community events and give away balloons. Sounds weird but it works. Have them printed with your business name or logo. 250 custom printed balloons will run you around $100. Helium tank rental will cost $45 to $60. Happy kids with a free balloon equals happy parents. Happy parents can become happy customers. That's less than $1/each per new potential happy customer. Just make sure you contact the event organizers beforehand to make sure you don't need to sign up on some vendor list or something.
And don't forget about contributing articles to local publications. Maybe you have a local fashion publication (a magazine or some such) that you'd like to be featured in. Contact the editor to get started; write an article so they can see your writing style and that you know what you're talking about, and share your credentials so they know you're qualified. An article like "Picking The Right Perfume For Any Occasion" might be something to help get your brand noticed.
At the end of the day, what matters most is that you are putting yourself in front of the people who will give you their money. Know your target market? Know where they hang out? You should be there. Meeting people. Talking. Being cool.
And don't just focus on the B2C, remember that B2B can be important as well. Pick up the phone. Call retailers and ask about their process for getting products carried in their inventory. Start with small, independently owned, non-chain shops and stores. Go in, meet with the owners. Follow up by sending them a cheap book from this list (perfume) or maybe this list (retail business), with a personalized inscription like, "Hey Susan! This book helped me out a lot, thought you might enjoy!"
Moving Forward
So, with all of that said, your best course of action would probably be to:
1.) Before you do anything, make a marketing plan. You wouldn't drive across the country without a map, would you? Take the time to plan out your next steps so that you can keep track of what you've done and what you need to do. This can also help you keep track of what is working and what isn't, and can help you budget and keep track of where any money is going that you might have to spend.
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/43018
2.) Make sure all your design ducks are in a row. Basically, this boils down to branding. Your business cards, email signatures, website, social media, print materials, etc. should all be consistently branded -- i.e. they should all "match" and look as professional as possible. It might be worth it, at some point in time, to hire a professional designer to help you with this. You can find people for CHEAP at Fiverr.com, though if you have the budget to spend a little extra I'd HIGHLY suggest getting a dedicated graphic or web designer. Remember, all the marketing effort in the world is wasted if people have a bad first impression of you. Especially make sure your website is clean, concise, and has a clear call to action -- and that your website is linked to social media and vice versa (you DO have social media accounts set up, right?).
3.) Do some competitor research. See what other small perfume lines are doing. How is their website set up? What keywords are they going after? Are they going to networking events? Where are they interfacing with the community? How did YOU find out about them?
4.) Keeping the results from #3 in mind, you need to begin doing some keyword research. There are a million tools out there for this, but very few of them can replace the free AdWords and Analytics tools from Google. You need to figure out what people are actually searching for. Just because YOU think that "perfume Cincinnati Ohio" is a great keyword doesn't necessarily mean that it is. Make use of Google's data to find the low hanging fruit. Use your competitor research as a starting point, and try to find keywords they are neglecting.
5.) Overhaul your site with your new-found knowledge. Change your page titles, meta descriptions, link anchors, etc. to reflect the keywords people are actually actively searching for. There are THOUSANDS of steps that make up a successful SEO campaign, so make sure you do plenty of research beforehand. You might be better off trying to get things as "good as possible" for now, and then hiring a professional later on down the road.
6.) If you have the budget, supplement your SEO efforts with some PPC ads in the short term. It takes a little while for SEO to take off, so if you have the budget we'd highly suggest maybe shoring up your efforts in the short term. If you've recently signed up for web hosting for your site, you likely got a $100 AdWords coupon in the mail. Use it.
7.) Start a giveaway or social media promotion. Remember, we want a foundation in place before we begin, but once you have your site and collateral all set up the way it needs to be... you can pretty much attack the actual marketing 'stuff' in any order you want depending on your time and budget and such (just be sure to stick to a plan!).
8.) Once your marketing materials (website, social media, business cards, etc.) are all taken care of and your online campaigns are chugging along, get out there and network. Donate your product, fill up balloons, call local shops -- at the end of the day, a lot of marketing simply boils down to good ol' fashioned elbow grease.
8.) Iterate! Pay attention to what is working and what isn't. Trim the fat, and put more time and effort into the activities that seem to be panning out well.
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Anyways, those are some of the approaches we've used that have worked in the past and doesn't even begin to scratch the tip of the iceberg that is marketing. Your mileage may vary. Hope this helps. Sorry for the long read. We really care about this stuff, though. :)
[ Web Design and SEO ]
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