jammblog

2010-03-03T22:22:00.002Z

We will be bringing you lots of helpful tips in the coming months, starting with our top tips for getting email marketing right!

1. Avoid spamming

To make sure your emails don’t end up in spam land - avoid using words such as '£££', 'DISCOUNT', '!!!', 'FREE' (and naughty words!!) in the subject line and the content of your email. Most email marketing software give you a spam rating for your email before you send it out so that you can amend the content if you need to.

2. Make your click throughs bold and clear

Make sure your links and call to actions are bold and obvious. This means bolding, underlining and/or using a contrasting colour for links to distinguish from normal static text. Try to include text links as well as a graphical buttons just in case your subscriber has their images disabled by default.

3. Keep it personal

By simply starting your email with “Hi [subscriber_name]” instead of the general “Hi there”, you can increase both your reading and click-thru rates by vast amount.* If you want to try and run your own test on this, try segmenting your email send, one half with no personalisation, and the other half with personalisation. Look at your reports a week after the send and see what works best ... and run with it ...

4. Pick your send day wisely

Online research analysts have said that the best days to send email to your subscribers are Tuesday and Wednesday, as this is when people are more receptive to communication. If you have a normal 9-5 job, think about how stressed, busy and tired you are on a Monday, and how excited you are on a Friday to get out of the office. Best avoid those days to send an email. But again, test it and see what works for you. You may find your particular readers open their emails on a weekend, theres no reason why you can't send an email on a Sunday if it works!

5. Consistency is key for strengthening your brand

Make sure you keep the look and feel consistent from issue to issue. This will help to maintain and strengthen your brand. Have a graphic designer come up with a striking template that you can use time and time again, that small cost at the beginning of your campaign really does make the difference.

6. On time, every time

After time, your subscribers will come to expect your email to arrive in their inbox on the same day and time, meaning that they are generally more receptive to any special offers or promotions you may include.

7. Grab attention quickly with your subject line

You have about half a second to catch your subscribers attention with the subject line of your email. Try to specify a benefit that the subscriber can expect by reading your email. Give them a bit of money off or entice them in to entering an exciting competition, this tends to works wonders!

8. The Preview Pane

Email clients such as Outlook show a preview of an email when it’s selected in your inbox. Try to include some interesting content at the very top of your email to grab your readers attention. Having a list of contents at the top of the email will help the reader establish which parts they would like to read, having the link click straight through to the coresponding part in the email will be really helpful for the reader and stop them getting overwhelmed, especially with a text heavy email. Help them choose the content they are most interested in.

9. Find out what works for you - test, test and test again

The key to email marketing is to TEST, TEST, and TEST again! Get to know what works for you, test positions of links, test graphical links versus text links, test subject lines. Email marketing software will help you create tests and report on them.

10. Some interesting statistics

The average open rate, based on studies in 2009 is 22.2% and the average click-through rate is 5.9%.*

At jammmedia, we have years of valuable experience designing, building and sending email communications to and for clients big and small, so if you need any help or advice, just give us a call, or email on info@jammmedia.co.uk.

*Further reading:
mailchimp.com - resources and charts
campaignmonitor.com - email clients stats

jammmedia launch Creative Boom Reading

2010-01-11T21:23:00.005Z

jammmedia are proud to announce the launch of the twentieth and final Creative Boom Hub for the national online magazine that aims to celebrate, inspire and support the creative industries throughout the UK!

Creative Boom Reading is an exciting expansion of Creative Boom - which has hubs up and down the country. We, the team at jammmedia are very happy to be part of this movement and will be bringing you all the latest creative news, events and opportunities regarding the creative industries across Reading and Berkshire as a whole.

If you'd like to be featured, simply email us at reading@creativeboom.co.uk and we'll load your story onto our website. This is a great and free way of raising your profile, boosting your website in terms of Search Engine Optimisation and networking with other creative folk in Reading.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Lucy McShane

Co-owner & Web Director - jammmedia

Editor - Creative Boom Reading

Check out our igloo!

2010-01-06T15:40:00.002Z

Just thought I would share a pic of the igloo we helped make late last night. It looked a lot more impressive when it was being built mind you as you could see the 'bricks' ... might make something much better tonight ... watch this space!

jammmedia staff spotlight - this time it's Lucy ...

2010-01-05T15:29:00.002Z

1. Describe your design style?

Lots of white space, big imagery, massive typography, lots of creative touches.
I find it easy to adapt to each project, so my style is always changing. I don't get much time to design these days as I am mostly developing, but I LOVE getting into Photoshop when I can.

2. What is your fave tool or equipment?

I love my iPhone camera, it's not an amazing camera at all but I like to take photos all the time, to capture my surroundings and things that inspire me.

3. Describe your fave space to work?

Depends on what project I am working on. I love to work on my own, with my earphones blasting when I am coding, doesn't matter what is around me. But when I am designing, I like to be surrounded by books and magazines and my sketchbooks to get my brain thinking in that way.

4. What is your favourite place to gain inspiration?

I love bookshops and stationery shops, cafe's and streets. I like to wander around and see things.

5. Career defining moment so far

Setting up jammmedia, it's been hard work, but it is very much worth the effort!

6. Fantasy comission?

I would love to be involved in a project where I can design a space for a fashion brand, whether it be a shop or boutique or a catwalk show. I really really love the buzz, but not the pretention of fashion which is why I stayed on the graphics side of it.

7. Best creative facility near to where you live?

That would be nowhere! Reading seems to be a bit of a non creative town and I do wish there was more to offer in the way of museums/galleries/shows etc. I tend to get inspired by the space immediately round me, so doesn't matter too much. When I can spare the time, I like to go to London to the markets and galleries as this really gets my creative juices flowing!!

8. How do you keep up with the design industry?

I subscribe to Design Week, Grafik and Creative Review. I read these like bibles and carry them around with me all the time. I use lots of blogs and subscribe to lots of bits and bobs so am pretty up to date. In this job you cannot afford to walk around with your eyes shut otherwise you will get out of touch so quickly. You have to live and breath web design and development to do well.

9. Favourite online publication

Smashing Magazine is a good allrounder, and has some really useful posts.

10. Favourite book (design or something else)
My current favourite book is Studio Culture which I have only read the intro of as I haven't had time to sit and read it yet!

11. Your goals for 2010?
Read more, play more, make more, draw more.

Ciao for now. Lucy

School Of Saatchi

2009-12-15T15:53:00.002Z

Hi,

Just thought i'd say that i actually quite liked the 'tree trunk impaled on a length of fence' work that won the School of Saatchi BBC program. Modern Art is, in my uneducated opinion, interesting. It certainly stirs debate, which can only be good. The art is one thing, but some of the explanations and critics are above me. I'd love to have a go at creating something like this. Thats not meant to be a condesending comment in that i think anyone can do this, but i suppose i need to promote some creative ambition, bearing in mind what we do!! Anyway, congratulations to Eugenie Scrase, the best piece won.

James

jammmedia designs Decon Sciences advertising campaign material

2009-10-08T14:56:00.005+01:00

A message from Andy C

We were approached by Decon Sciences to come up with a series of adverts to help promote a non-conformance and complaints management system. The designs were greatly received and will feature in a number of clinical service publications.

jammmedia banner artwork featured on Creative Boom website.

2009-09-01T11:58:00.012+01:00

A message from Andy C

Last week I submitted a banner to appear on Creative Boom's website, much to my delight it was greatly received and went live on Friday 28th August 2009.

As a designer it is always nice to get exposure and recognition for your work.

Here at jammmedia, the team have a wealth of experience, however, as a young and recently formed on and offline design agency, coverage such as this is invaluable.

Free Falling - Bouncing Back

2009-07-29T17:20:00.003+01:00

I did my first bungie jump yesterday! I was surprisingly calm about the whole thing really! Especially considering no one else wanted to go first. Throwing yourself out of a cage dangling 100ft above nothing but concrete sounds like a bloody stupid thing to do. I agree, it is. But once you've committed your faith to the crew and equipment, it's quite easy to just drop of the edge. I was probably toughned up after a weekend of activities down in Bude, Cornwall. Coastering, jumping off cliffs, getting battered by massive waves.......well they are big when your right next to them, but they dont look much from the beach.

Lucy has agreed to do a jammmedia sky dive to celebrate our 1st year of trading. If you're thinking about becoming a customer, this should be incentive enough, just to see her face as she jumps. Yes, i will be taking video!

Next challenge, 3 Peaks in September. Sponsorship would be much appreciated.

James

Jamm Media have expanded to include a 3D, flash and animation guru

2009-07-13T14:17:00.008+01:00

We can do animation, but now we can really do animation! Top animator Andy K has joined the jammmedia team, we are now four! Woohoo! Check out our 'who' page for a little more on Andy K.

So, If you're looking to draw attention, provide a demonstration or entertain, then our range of animation techniques are sure to fit the bill. Whether you're jazzing up your website, launching a product or looking for speaker support, animated material will grab your audiences attention.

We produce logo sequences, product and architectural visualisation, character and cartoon animation, special effects... anything is possible!

We asked Andy K a few questions ...

Me in 3 words: I am very (Ooo used up all three words, do I get another go?)

My sense of style: Whatever I get for Christmas and very holey trainers

Famous person I look like: You ain't gonna be famous looking like this

Favourite gadget: Remote control because I can hide it

Favourite blog: I'll leave that to you internet nerds

Favourite website: aardman.com

Creative icons: Richard Williams

On my iPod: Daft punk

Currently reading: The Antipope (Robert Rankin)

Favourite City: Norwich

Current obsession: Running 5k a day without my knee giving out

Desert island must-haves: An escape plan, I get lonely

Love: Lost, all those twists and turns

Loathe: Lost, don't understand a second of it

Random fact about me: I've had a bump on my head for twenty two years.

38 page layout and visual design usability guidelines

2009-07-08T17:23:00.004+01:00

A message from Lucy

As the jamm web design and development 'guru' (I use that term with a smirk on my face), I am constantly trawling the web for useful information to expand my mind and in turn to bore people about at the pub ...

I found this today which I thought was a particularly good tool to make sure that we are designing and building user friendly and accessible websites at all times ... It's just a simple checklist that collates a score to show you if you are on track or need to rethink certain aspects of your site design.

This is taken from the User Focus site "Appropriate visual design means that the fonts, icons, colours and layout help the customer complete common tasks and that pages do not contain information that is irrelevant or rarely needed."

Check out the site here.

Spotlight on James

2009-07-07T12:39:00.003+01:00

Me in 3 words: Honest, Dedicated, Sensible

My sense of style: Shaggy, Casual, White ‘T’ Shirts

Famous person I look like: Tony from Hollyoaks, James May, Tom Chaplin from Keane

Favourite gadget: PS3

Favourite blog: jammblog!

Favourite website: bbc.co.uk

On my iPod: completely eclectic random shuffle

Currently reading: The Accountant’s Story

Favourite City: Berlin

Current obsession: Getting fit

Desert island must-haves: Water, torch, music

Love: Chilli Heatwave Doritos with Waitrose chunky salsa

Loathe: Boy Racers

Random fact about me: My hair has never been shorter than an inch, I don’t think.

Jamm Media attend Marketing Week Live 2009

2009-07-02T21:35:00.007+01:00

A message from Lucy

Despite the heat wave and the insanely hot tubes, Andy and I decided to visit Marketing Week Live yesterday in London Olympia.

We went to listen to the main speakers talking about their businesses to see if there was anything we were missing ... but when we arrived we decided to ditch the crowds and attend the smaller workshops and seminars as they were much more enticing and useful.

After an expensive cuppa, we listened in on a talk about mobile marketing and learned how it would be a great opportunity missed if we were not to take advantage of the relatively small mobile Internet world ... so that's one new project on our never ending to do list!

We listened to a seminar about how companies should write good briefs in order to get the best out of their creative agencies, and what sets agencies apart from the rest. We had to chuckle when shown quotes that had been submitted by five different agencies for one project; one agency had quoted something like £20,000 and another agency quoted £200,000! Banging home the need for a clear and concise brief in order to clear up the misunderstandings from the start.

Our favourite talk was about social media and how to get the best from it, which is why I am writing this. It seems whatever you want to talk about, there is a place for it in this ever growing virtual world! We won't be blogging fifty times a week, but we will be doing it more than the once a month like we have been!

So listen out for our 100 favourite breeds of dogs and our 500 favourite nail polish shades, coming to a screen near you!

We also met an array of companies selling their services to us, a few stood out, in particular, Green Graphics, who we want to use for our eco pop up stand needs. We particularly liked the huge giraffe made from corrugated card and their stand was totally eco friendly.

We are very aware of the environmental impact we make and our planting trees scheme is just one thing that we do to put a little back - pictures coming soon!

We met a lovely lady from VGL printers in Reading, they have done some really interesting work in the past and the standard of the print finish was amazing.

So a good day had by all, and it has fired us all up in Jamm Mansions to be more proactive when it comes to updating our site. So if you are reading this, watch this space for more VERY interesting posts!!

Jamm Media launch buddinglotus.co.uk

2009-06-30T11:28:00.003+01:00

A message from Lucy

Budding Lotus got in touch with us after making the decision to build their massage business and obtain an eyecatching web presence.

Each page is styled in a way that reflects the mood of the service. There is also a page where Budding Lotus are branching out and selling baby shoes, this page is built within a content management system to allow for easy and frequent updates. By adding simple Paypal buttons we were able to give Budding Lotus a free and straight forward way to sell online.

We think we have acheived an eyecatching and engaging site that blows Budding Lotus' competition out of the water.

Jamm Media continue to provide eyecatching e-marketing for Berketex Bride

2009-05-21T11:45:00.003+01:00

A message from Lucy

Here is a look at a few of the emails we have created for Berketex Bride, one of the UKs leading bridal retailers. They regularly ask us to create "eye-catching" and "stand out" material for their email campaigns they send through hitched.co.uk.

Their branding has been predetermined so we have to stick to three main colours, fuscia, red and white, using their stock of beautiful bridal shots. We have recently been trying to push the boundaries as the emails get sent quite often, and there are many offers available, so we are trying to come from a different angle creatively each time.

If you want to know more about how we can help you target the right people in the right way, give us a call or enquire here.

Jamm Media create a new identity for Samka Ltd

2009-05-21T11:07:00.004+01:00

A message from Andy

Nigel Bessant of Samka Ltd commissioned us to create a new logo, website, and stationary set for his successful architectural solutions business.

We decided to create an eye-catching and well developed theme running through the site and onto the supporting business stationary. Using lines, gradients, linear elements, textures and sharp contrasts we wanted to focus on the architectural theme backed up by the great pictures of the past work on the new Samka site.

We are very happy with the results.

Jamm Media launch weddingsale.co.uk

2009-05-21T09:57:00.004+01:00

A message from Lucy

Our customer Bridal Fashions in Grantham commissioned us to create a new web identity for their brand The Wedding Sale.

Check it out ...

Jamm Media design Caversham Health and Fitness document folder

2009-05-21T09:46:00.004+01:00

A message from Andy

We have been working hard and completing lots of new projects recently, this being one of them ... A new document folder for Caversham Health and Fitness in Caversham, Reading. Watch this space for lots more exciting print projects!

Congratulations to Melanie!!

2009-04-07T12:19:00.002+01:00

Congratulations to Mel for running, and finishing, the Reading Half Marathon in 2hours and 25 minutes.

I'm very proud of youx

James

Jamm Media have lots more trees to plant!

2009-04-05T12:19:00.004+01:00

Back when we launched in January we promised to plant one tree every time we sealed a deal with a value of over £1000. Well, we have eleven more trees to plant, so we are not only very pleased that the business is flowing in, but also that we can continue to put something back in to the planet.

Not only do we plant trees, we promote the use of recycled paper for all print projects we manage, and try and be as eco friendly as we can.

Give us a call to chat about how we can help your business grow with creative marketing ideas, and help us plant more trees!

Jamm Media work with SumTotal to launch Tesco's new learning development website

2009-04-05T11:56:00.004+01:00

A message from Lucy

It's not every day that you get to work on a project for one of the biggest supermarkets in the UK, but Jammmedia got that opportunity a few weeks ago.

After a few weeks of hard work, we produced fresh new designs for an in depth learning development website for the use of Tesco employees. It was great to work on a fast paced project and to see the results go live so quickly.

Jamm Media launches Voila Events' new website

2009-04-05T11:33:00.005+01:00

A message from Andy@Jammmedia

Georgia Henkun is setting up her very own events organisation company called Voila. She comissioned Lucy @ Jammmedia to come up with an identity and an eyecatching and kitsch website to advertise her services. Lucy was happy to help, and has come up with this ... go and take a look!

Jamm Media's new design studio

2009-02-13T12:07:00.004Z

We have finished our studio and are beavering away, take a look at the pics ...

Our new studio is coming along nicely!

2009-01-21T20:45:00.003Z

A message from Lucy

We are patiently waiting for our new studio to be built ... well not built exactly, transformed maybe?

James and a whole host of others including Electricians, Builders, Carpenters and James' very very dedicated father have been working like troopers to turn James' old garage building at the end of his back garden in to a fully functional, warm and inspiring space for us all to work in ...

The patio doors turned up today, which is the last thing to do before the fun bits like furnishing and sticking pointless things on the walls!

Take a look at the progress ... excuse any flashes of builders bottoms - this cannot be helped, there is a lot of stretching and bending needed in order to get the job done!!

Jamm Media are very happy to announce ...

2009-01-18T20:28:00.004Z

... we have just secured a great e-commerce project, watch this space for updates!

Jamm Media launches Helen M Make Up website

2009-01-18T17:17:00.007Z

A message from lucy @ jammmedia.co.uk:

I have been working on a few personal projects, which include a website redesign for Helen Baldwin of Helen M Makeup. Helen wanted me to give the old site a refresh making it more appealing for her prospective customers. The new site suits Helen's style, whilst giving it a striking look and feel and simplifying the function.

Check out the site at http://www.helenmmakeup.co.uk

This is what Helen had to say about the process ...

"I approached Lucy in order to create a website for me. She patiently accomplished a classy image, with the ability to fully understand my requirements, and the style I wanted to achieve. She managed to surpass all my expectations in the first instance, and I am delighted with the end product. I have been very impressed with her service in every aspect, and I found Lucy to be friendly, proficient and professional. I can confirm her highly recommendable."

Thank you Helen, I am happy you are happy!