May 11, 2010 – Mississauga, Canada – 5th business, one of Canada’s leading marketing and communications companies, won a Gold Astrid Award for the latest edition of Perspective 5.  The award-winning report, entitled Marketing Sustainability: The Green Effect, discusses opportunities available to companies that choose to conduct their business with green principles and market in a more sustainable manner.

The 20th International Astrid Awards recognize exceptional design creativity and quality work achievement in a variety of marketing and communications categories.  Winners are selected by an international panel of judges who rate overall creativity, clarity and production quality. With its Gold achievement, 5th business joins past winners including such companies as Samsung, Burger King, and Deutsche Telekom.

Perspective 5 is an important aspect of 5th business’ innovative marketing and communication expertise. According to Vice President of Client Services, Margo Hunnisett, “5th business produces world-class work for our clients, and Perspective 5 is an extension of that. It introduces new marketing ideas and showcases the skill and creativity of our creative services team. Receiving an Astrid Award confirms that our work is well received on an international scale.”

This achievement marks the third time 5th business has been singled out for an Astrid Award. 5th business was awarded an Honours placement in 2009 for a French-language direct mail piece for NSK Canada and a Gold placement in 2008 in the not-for-profit category with a dynamic website created for the Victim Services of Peel.

Marketing Sustainability: The Green Effect can be downloaded at www.5thbusiness.com.

About 5th business

5th business is a full-service strategic marketing firm that helps organizations identify new prospects, attract new customers and retain existing business. We provide strategy development, market intelligence, comprehensive communications support, interactive programs and direct response initiatives.

For more information, please contact:

Stephanie Eldred, Senior Communications Advisor
5th business
905.275.2220
eldred@5thbusiness.com



Can you name a social media application other than Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook? If you can’t, you’re missing some great online opportunities to engage customers and build your business.

Social media offers easy access to prospective customers in specific target markets. But “social networking” is a broad term – it’s used to describe online communication between users that share similar interests, but it extends far beyond Twitter accounts and LinkedIn profiles.

Consider using a variety of social media channels to connect with customers, develop networks, generate leads and position your organization as an industry leader:

• Find Out What They REALLY Think

Message boards and comments pages, both within your corporate website and those maintained by third parties, are a goldmine of customer opinions that can transform your business. Regular monitoring can gather vital information related to products and services, overall company perception, and suggestions for improvement. You also have the ability to see what’s on the minds of your competitor’s customers!

• Connect Online – In Real Time

Webinars – online meetings or presentations with visual and audio components – help you interact with customers and deliver value-added information related to your products and services. Avoid producing a sales-pitch “commercial”; stick to advice, tips or research that solidifies your business’ position as a leader in the field. Invite current customers and prospects to join a live presentation and then add the materials to your website for future reference.

• Increase Your Network

Publishing value-added information online, beyond your corporate website, increases online presence and attracts new business. YouTube is a great outlet for corporate videos and presentations, while blogs, online trade publications and article-sharing applications such as Digg it! and Stumble Upon are a good choice for reports, white papers and case studies. These applications target potential customers with common interests and make it easy for them to pass content on to their colleagues and connections. Keep materials informative and well branded with links to your corporate website where potential customer data can be captured.

• Be The Go-to Source

Join the social networking community by having employees contribute to third-party message boards and forums directly related to both your business and their areas of expertise. Many sites offer the opportunity for users to ask questions and get feedback about products, problems and industry issues – position your business at the forefront by showcasing expertise in solving key customer challenges!

Explore the range of social networking opportunities available to build new customer relationships, increase market intelligence and enhance current customer relationships. For advice on how your business can capitalize on social media marketing to build competitiveness, contact 5th business today!

Social media is the newest tool in your marketing arsenal – but do you know how to maximize your time and gain the most benefit from participating?

About 90% of online users (about 19 million Canadians) across the demographic spectrum engage with social networking sites on a monthly basis. Twitter, for example, is the fastest growing of the social media applications, and is gaining ground among business and professional individual users.  No other marketing tool offers the combination of cost-effective implementation, highly track-able results and direct customer access.

Twitter is an offshoot of the popular ‘blog’ format – messages are posted by users that can be accessed, forwarded and commented upon by other users. Approximately 12 million users (up from 6 million in 2008) have latched on to the biggest web fad of the year, with 45-54 year olds as the fastest growing user group.

How can Twitter help your business?  The ever-expanding reach of your messages, and consequently your brand, is impossible to ignore.  To be successful with Twitter, your goal is to build a list of followers, those that receive your ‘Tweets’ directly in real time, and gain access to a second tier audience (those with a connection to your followers), and third tier, and so on.

How can you be sure that Twitter will help you reap tangible rewards for your business?

Content is King

Don’t be mistaken – Twitter is not an advertising medium and should not be treated as a repository for sales messages or product/service pitches.  The best way to attract attention is to provide interesting, value-added information that is useful to readers.  Investigate relevant articles, topics and issues and provide commentary, or offer tips and advice to showcase your company’s expertise.

Research Made Simple

Twitter’s functionality supports two way communication, and offers businesses the opportunity to mine for valuable market research. Use Twitter effectively by monitoring the postings of competitors, relevant industry contacts, and past customers for information that can aid in the development of products and services, and business strategies.

Search Engine Rankings

Incorporating key words into Twitter postings and ensuring that all posts connect to your business goals, services and industry, will help your business climb the rankings in search results for Google. This helps prospective customers find you, and heightens your profile.

Directing Traffic

Have you always wondered how to increase traffic to your website?  Twitter is an effective means for directing interested users to a corporate website for additional information or resources.  Have you added a new product profile, interactive tool, research results or in-depth report to your website? Invite your Twitter followers to visit by including the web address in your next Tweet.

Social media marketing opens up new possibilities for businesses to connect with customers – but each option requires a plan. Before setting up a social media presence, investigate the options, review best practices and choose the most appropriate, and sustainable, option for your business.

Contact 5th business to learn more about social media marketing strategies and the opportunities for your business to get online attention!

Does your website have what it takes to attract web users, AND keep them coming back? Using proactive search engine optimization tactics is important to ensure website visibility, but it won’t guarantee success. Creating a positive user experience that truly gives site visitors what they want is the difference between websites that see lots of traffic, and those that see lots of business leads.

Once your website is on a prospect’s radar screen, how can you make it their target destination? By avoiding common pitfalls that drive site visitors away:

1. Dis-Functionality

Website functionality is a hybrid of site architecture and content: both need to be at their best and work together. Visitors want to find the information they need quickly and easily – when they can, they remember a positive experience with your website, and your company. If you don’t make it easy for visitors to find what they are looking for, they won’t come back. Not only that, they will look for that information elsewhere, possibly from a competitor.

Tips for user-friendly functionality:

Review tabs and section titles so visitors can immediately recognize where to find information.
Include tools, calculators, and interactive elements so visitors can help themselves.
Make each page self contained and self-explanatory – visitors can’t be expected to read every page of your site.

Guide visitors to the information they need quickly and easily

2. Waiting… and Waiting…

Web users have grown accustomed to high-speed, no-wait Internet experiences, and studies indicate that tolerance for slow website load times is at an all-time low. Web users of today want information, and they want it NOW. Flash intros and online video presentations are great elements to include on a website, but only if they don’t cause significant page loading delays. As a general rule, if your pages don’t load in less than 10 seconds, you risk losing time-conscious readers.

Tips for a quick-access site:

Optimize images, streamline HTML and avoid large-scale elements where possible.
Test new web pages in a variety of browsers to ensure compatibility for the most site visitors.
If your website is more than 4 years old, or has been updated more than 3 times, the back-end code may be disjointed, out-of-date or redundant – all of which slow it down. Building a new site using new technology and programs can significantly increase speed.
3. Easy on the Eyes

Site content is extremely important to win over potential customers, but design has the power to showcase your message, or completely overpower it. Every design element can attract or repel in mere seconds, and it can be difficult to overcome bad design, even with solid content. Customers distracted by bad design, glaring colours, difficult to read typefaces, and inconsistent graphics are likely to look elsewhere for information and view your company as a less professional option.

Tips on visual impact:

Use only high-quality pictures and graphic elements – grainy photographs or warped logos distract readers and present an unprofessional image.
Streamline design to a simple colour palette and easy-to-read page layout.
Avoid gimmicky animation and distracting backgrounds to keep pages uncluttered.
Building a website that reinforces your brand and resonates with prospects, customers and employees is critical to success. Before embarking on an SEO campaign or promoting your website, ensure that once prospects find your site, they will stay long enough to engage with your company and receive your unique message. Call 5th business today for more information about making your website the ultimate customer experience!

Is your website under-performing? Let 5th business show you the smart way to take your website from good to GREAT. Call us today!