Sticky is a Newcastle-based advertising agency specialising in digital media. The best way to describe us is as Digital + Different. We have developed a reputation as leaders in Inbound Marketing and launched the breakthrough NLYZR website analysis and optimisation tools, enabling us to achieve the results our clients are really looking for.... more sales.

Sticky helps corporate marketers with: advertising, web development and strategy, inbound marketing and search engine optmisation.

Come join the (r)evolution.

Perspective

While I was stuck at the rail crossing this morning (don’t get me started) I rolled the window down to chat with a local business owner. He asked how things were going. I told him we were busy, slightly nervous, but optimistic. His response was music to my ears:

‘”Well I guess everyone needs you at the moment.”

In slow economies many businesses decide to lay low and cut marketing budgets, which they consider to be expenses. Fortunately, there are still some positive thinkers who recognise the need to market their businesses more in tough times. In fact, I have been encouraged by the number of clients we have spoken to who are looking at the current climate as an opportunity and are keen to be more innovative in their marketing.

These are the ones who will come out in front.

Virgin Marketing 101

I just flew VirginBlue for the first time on my recent holidays. The service was friendly and efficient, the basic service was simple and fairly unremarkable (which is actually a positive, as I usually am disappointed by airline service).

But it was what happened to the family in the row ahead of me that had everyone talking and smiling.

Turns out that little Mathew was flying on his 11th birthday. The VirginBlue staff knew this and took the time to deliver him a small gift of sweets and personally wish him a Happy Birthday. He was grinning like a split watermelon.

At the end of the flight the stewardess announced Mathew’s birthday over the PA and he received a round of applause from the passengers. We all walked off smiling.

But it was Mathew’s mother who was really impressed and told everyone in earshot, including the staff, “This is so much better than Jetstar!”

Doesn’t take much does it?

VirginBlue have gained a foot hold in the Australian airline market by Zagging when everyone else was Zigging. Good service versus arrogant contempt, fun versus boring and stiff, lower rates, wishing a child Happy Birthday when most airlines wouldn’t give the time of day.

Posted by Craig on November 9th, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Posted under: Zag Theory

Don’t build a website, build a web strategy

How to find new customers, obtain information, broaden your geographic reach, streamline operations, improve customer relations, lower communication costs, generate PR and free publicity, look like an industry leader and…..have complete marketing measurability.

A few years ago a Newcastle web designer told me there was no future in the website design business because it was becoming so easy for anyone to create their own sites. “The company receptionist will be knocking together websites in a few hours”, he said.

He was both right and wrong.

The advent of blogging templates such as Typepad, Blogger and other user-friendly platforms certainly have made it very easy and cheap to create a “site’ for anyone who wants one. And yes, my kids could probably build a reasonably good-looking site in a day if they put their minds to it.

Unfortunately, many business sites look exactly like the receptionist or the owner’s children did make them. On that count my friend was right.

The part he got wrong was that it meant the demise of the web design business. The fact that every man and his dog has or can build a basic site means there is more imperative than ever on creating not just a good site, but a great web strategy.

There is an enormous difference.

Read the rest of this entry »

SEO success for Newcastle business Dolphcom

Newcastle based whale and dolphin swimming adventure company Dolphcom has had immediate SEO success with the launch of their new website.

Dolphcom owner Andrew Parker asked Sticky to design a new website for him to facilitate the growth of his business. The site had to be able to facilitate online inquiries, be easy to upload video to and perform substantially better in online searches.

Dolphcom’s previous website, while visually attractive, was difficult to update and performed woefully in Google and Yahoo organic searches. Analysis of all key search terms revealed that Dolphcom did no better than the fourth page in most searches, and much lower in others.

Sticky designed a completely new website to suit Dolphcom’s criteria and then applied our search engine optimisation process to the site. Within 2 weeks of launching the new website, Dolphcom was ranking on the first page of Google and Yahoo searches for relevent search terms and web traffic had doubled.

Andrew’s recent trip to swim with the whales in Tonga can now be viewed on Dolphcom and plenty more sensational content will be added to the website in coming weeks.