Nu Finish, a longstanding envisionit client, came to us wanting to grow their online presence and breathe new life into their several-year-old website.

After performing a full audit of the website analytics and competitive online landscape, we identified some areas for opportunity for the Nu Finish website, including consumer education, fresh unique content, and revised architecture driving users to critical pages.

To showcase Nu Finish’s car-care expertise, we added a Car Care section featuring information on car wax versus car polish, as Nu Finish’s product is wax-free, which educates visitors on the benefits of using a car polish over a wax. A new How-To video section, embedded from the Nu Finish YouTube channel we created, equips users for product application and creates fresh, search engine-friendly content to help capture “how-to” based keyword searches. We also added a Testimonials section with an online submission tool, to leverage all the great consumer feedback Nu Finish receives.

Keyword research helped us update content, metadata, and marketing messages with stronger calls-to-action and discoverability through organic search.

Not only did organic search traffic increase 111% for “wax versus polish“ searches, but bounce rates and site engagement times improved significantly. Also, the number of visitors proceeding from the Home page to the valuable Where to Buy page doubled in Q3 over the same period last year.

Now that we’ve revved the engine of Nu Finish’s online presence, we invite you to see the Car Care site for yourself!

As Controller and Director of Marketing, respectively, Amy and Ben have been indispensable new members of our team, crafting up innovative marketing plans and keeping track of lots of numbers (don’t worry Amy, we know you do more than that). See what they like about working at envisionit! And what (and who) their childhood selves wanted to be as adults!

Amy Russell

Where are you from?
Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

What do you do at envisionit?
Controller.

Tell us something you’ve enjoyed about working here so far.
Working with such engaging people.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
Dancer, which I still am when I’m not crunching numbers.

Fill in the blank: My favorite thing about Chicago is…
Living by the lake.

Ben Cox

Where are you from?
I was raised by horses in Shelbyville, Kentucky.

What do you do at envisionit?
I’m Director of Marketing, so I drive the strategic marketing bus. I’m responsible for understanding our clients and making sure we deliver delightful experiences that matter.

Tell us something you’ve enjoyed about working here so far.
Far and away the people. I love the youthful energy and genuine passion. And working beside seasoned marketers is equally rewarding and challenging.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
Indiana Jones.

Fill in the blank: I’m really good at…
Making my three boys laugh until they drool.

In “marketer” terms, attribution modeling is determining which marketing channels contributed to the overall goal of a campaign, and how those channels work together to produce the optimal marketing mix for whatever your website or campaign goals are. Marketers have typically used last click attribution to determine vehicle effectiveness without considering what other customer touchpoints contributed to that goal. In “simple” terms, you may be able to contribute an online purchase directly to a Paid Search ad, but do you know what prompted that search or what other channels were exposed to that visitor? Did they first read about you in their favorite magazine, then search for your company name in Google to learn more, but then come back to your site by clicking on a paid ad with a specific promotion? Until now, it has been very hard for marketers to track that path.

Recently, Google Analytics launched a new tool set for being able to determine which channels contribute to an online purchase, email signup, or pdf download. The image below shows a path in their new reporting structure and an example of what value each attribution path brings to this particular website.

On the heels of this new release in Google Analytics, Forrester has recently come out with a new study on user behavior as it relates to the path of an online buyer. Some key highlights of the study, which included purchase data from 15 retailers during the 2010 holiday season:

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• Nearly 1/2 of purchases followed multiple exposures to web marketing efforts.
• Search and Email proved to be the most effective tactics in driving sales, but Display and Affiliate Marketing were also crucial in early steps of the research phase.

EIM intern Adrianna explains the benefits, for students and professionals alike, of presentation software Prezi. Read up to see how you can use it to stand out.

The business world revolves around creativity and originality. One new way to stand out is by upgrading your presentation out of the usual PowerPoint, and into a Prezi. Prezi is an online cloud-based presentation software that allows the presenter to capture the audience’s attention in a non-linear way.

As a student, I have used Prezi to create my professional portfolio. With the features of Prezi, my portfolio will stand out and leave a lasting impression, just as it will do for a presentation, lesson plan, or wherever your imagination takes you.

Prezi has a wide variety of features to help enhance your audience’s presentation experience.  There are twelve different drawing options available—including an org chart, process chart, a number of diagrams, timeline, pyramid, and compare table. In my portfolio, I used the timeline to show off important professional milestones, the pyramid to illustrate my values, the balance diagram to show evidence of my multitasking abilities, and clouds to highlight recognition from colleagues. Finally, I used the perspective chart to explain why I am a good match for the job I’m applying for. These drawings can be compared to “smart art” in PowerPoint, but these drawings allow for more flexibility and are more presentation friendly.

One great feature is the zoom tool, which highlights important parts of your presentation. With this tool, you can create your presentation to zoom into different parts of the drawings. For instance, my timeline is long, so I have the zoom tool set to focus on the more important dates. I was able to select where and when to zoom by creating a path, which guides the audience through the presentation, similar to slides in a PowerPoint.

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The Anti-Cruelty Society is just across the street from our office. We’ll often pass by and see some furry creatures getting the attention and care they deserve from a great team of volunteers.

In the spirit of giving, we thought we’d volunteer our Wednesday lunch hour to making cat and dog toys and beds for the shelter.

Despite some uncooperative scissors, everyone had a great time and made some great toys and cozy beds. Check out our Facebook page for all the action.

We made these! For dogs and cats!

We’ve all enjoyed seeing Tyler and Ari’s mustaches grow from mere stubble into respectable, robust mustaches. But alas, as all good things end, Movember has turned into December and Ari and Tyler are now ‘stache free.

The two have raised more than $1,300 for the Movember campaign. Congratulations, guys! Your dedication is admirable, and we’re very sad to see your mustaches go.

While envisionit’s premiere mustache-growers are currently without, we hope to see them again soon. As Chicago is the nation’s most mustache friendly city, they’ll be welcome with open arms.

Ari & Tyler sans mustaches. We'll always have Movember.

Most companies put plenty of thought, time, and money toward their logos. But have they thought about how others see that logo online?

Whether designing a brand new logo or redesigning an existing one, it’s important to keep in mind where and how that logo will be seen in the Internet age.

Think, for a moment, about all the possible ways your logo might be displayed online.

On Google search results, in various sizes.
On display ads; both elongated banners and squares.
As a tiny square box on a Twitter profile.
An even tinier square box for a mobile app.
As a mobile ad.
In a Facebook update.
On a LinkedIn profile.
In a press release or embedded in a blog post.

These are just a few examples, but the point is this: Your logo must be flexible to adapt to different sizes and situations. It also must be recognizable both large and small. If your logo contains your company name or slogan, the lettering must be legible even when it appears small. Your logo might look great elongated, in an oval shape, or composed of several small facets – but how will it look confined in a box?

Your logo also must “pop.” Simple lines and your company name might look great on printed letterhead, but it won’t stand out online where consumers are barraged with other interesting images that evoke a response.

If your company logo simply cannot be modified or adapted to fit in the digital landscape, consider making an alternate logo for digital use. Of course, it must be immediately recognizable as your brand and not stray from the parent logo. But, chances are good that, in this age, your logo will be seen online more often than anywhere else.