Back when I was a student and deciding what course to pursue, I always knew that being a Communication Designer wasn’t essential work and if the end of the world came (or a COVID-19 pandemic), my skill set would certainly not be the first response to save lives – or will it? More info
Remote work has now become the new normal and alongside it, a renewed focus on corporate video communication. All that’s needed is a webcam and a microphone – which are often built into laptops – or even just a smartphone or tablet.
There are a huge amount of apps available out there that allow for video calls, but a lot of them were created with personal one-to-one chats in mind i.e. Skype and Facebook Messenger, and therefore not the best solution to have multi-user conferences, make presentations and/or even record the meeting details for further use.
We’re using a combination of Zoom, Skype and Hangouts Meet to communicate with our clients and Google Hangouts amongst the team, so we’re in the ideal position to give you an overview of what you can expect, good and bad, with most of these apps. With that in mind, we’ve chosen four of the most used free apps, listing both the positive and negative features for each, and even a few pro tips on Zoom, for you to really make the best use of it. Ultimately, you might end up having to use several of these depending on what the other party is accustomed to using (like us!), so it doesn’t hurt to be prepared. More info
If you’re now working at home due to the COVID-19 outbreak, you may find yourself without an IT department, on your own at home with your tech woes.
The most common work-from-home tech issues are the ones that impede our productivity: unreliable internet connections, low-quality video calls and unreliable Wi-Fi.
Now you’re not in the office, or out meeting clients and suppliers like us, it is likely you will want to stay connected and luckily modern technology allows this to happen via Video Conferencing. For this, you will need a reliable internet connection.
It’s safe to say that these last few weeks have not been the easiest as the Covid-19 outbreak has globally and dramatically affected all areas of life and caused businesses and economies to decline. More importantly, businesses have seen significant changes in their online web presence, both positive and negative.
Various B2B companies have experienced a decline in their website traffic while brands within the retail sector, such as Tesco and Boots, have seen a notable rise in the number of user visits and engagement as a result of the outbreak.
When it comes to SEO, it is about keeping up with and outperforming the online competition, especially in times of crisis, not just to make a website as visible as possible but to also maintain a healthy relationship between the website and Google by ensuring all the webpages follow the most up-to-date SEO practices.
At Austin Marketing, we have been doing exactly that for all of our online customers and we can do the same for new customers.
Whilst using social media to market products/services is by no means a new idea, many businesses are having to rethink their social media marketing strategies due to COVID-19.
The impact the Coronavirus is having on day-to-day business cannot be underestimated and this is why businesses must be proactive. Unfortunately, no one knows how long this period will last, but it will end. Therefore, businesses that can upkeep an effective marketing strategy during this challenging time are more likely to bounce back as our economy starts to recover.
Whilst we all adjust to the ‘new normal’ of self-isolation, social distancing and working from home, many of us are finding ourselves using social media a whole lot more than before! Facebook and Instagram have seen a 40% increase in usage due to COVID-19, with views for Instagram Live and Facebook Live doubling in one week!
Read on to find out how your business can use social media to its advantage during the COVID-19 lockdown… More info
Although most of our work has always been undertaken from our offices and studio in Addlestone Surrey, being a digital business Austin Marketing has already transitioned and our team members are working remotely with no disruption to the services that we provide to our clients.
We are here to work with and support you in the same way that we always have. We are monitoring the current situation with Covid-19 and putting contingencies in place to prepare as best we can.
The Austin Marketing team would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
2019 has been a brilliant year for us, we have worked on some great projects with some amazing people and for that, we would like to say thank you! We look forward to seeing you in 2020.
Please be aware that our offices are closed from the 24th December until the 2nd of January. After this normal business resumes for the New Year!
The PANTONE® Colour Institute has been hard at work, identifying and forecasting the top seasonal colour trends. Choosing the colour of the year is far from a random selection, multiple factors are carefully considered, such as trend forecasts, colour psychology and colour consulting. More info