It's been a very busy Q2 and Q3 at Twin Creek Media.

As a Kelowna marketing agency with a special focus on internet marketing and web design, we never seem to be able to breathe long enough to update our portfolio with new launches and interesting case studies.  In this project update, we'll give a taste of what the team at Twin Creek Media has been doing over the last 6 months.  (We can't tell you all the goodies though... our clients don't want us to spill the beans about their new competitive advantages and we have trade secrets to keep!)  You'll just have to hire us to reap the rewards of an integrated marketing campaign.

We have been creating new brand identities, database-driven websites, corporate brochures, direct mail pieces, running radio campaigns, shooting videos, building blogs, and driving web traffic through email marketing, search engine optimization and pay per click tactics like Google Adwords and Facebook Ads.  Just one item in that list is powerful, but done together, business goals are targeted with a type of marketing synergy that is amazing to watch.

A Sample of Completed Projects

Okanagan Regional Library

Completely redesigned website, photography, animation, print materials, and Facebook and Twitter efforts lead to many people to rediscover the library's relevance in the 21st century | Name the Marmot Contest big hit with 3000+ kids (and their parents!)

Canadian Association of Home and Property Inspectors

Promotional videos and unique email marketing campaigns draw people to national conference at the Delta Grand Okanagan

Case Furniture Gallery

Online contests builds brand awareness & drives retail store walk ins | Local media get VIP treatment at private event

Quantech Software

Online industry survey reveals what customers really want | Targeted email marketing campaign generates many new leads

SJF Sports

Internet marketing strategy leads to blog and intense social media campaign using Facebook and Twitter | Web traffic increased by 109.4% in 2 months

Our Okanagan

New Okanagan business networking website attracts 800+ new business/association sign ups | Employment, investment, and collaboration opportunities excite valley residents Watch the recent by Global/CHBC here.

The Greenery Garden Centre

Massive online photo contest creates a fun customer experience | web traffic soars with 600+ submissions & 3000+ votes

A Sample of Current Projects

Best Western Inn Kelowna

Search Engine Marketing Analysis reveals what Google thinks |Internet marketing campaign begins to take a leading brand higher than ever

Quantech Software

SEO and Website Usability Score Cards uncover the missing ingredients that will turn "tire kickers" into buyers | Web development focuses on amazing user friendly site which supports Sales & Marketing Dept's goals

Impact Radio Accessories

Continued magazine ad design, catalogue, and eCommerce website improvements assist in great sales performance for 2010 | Work done over the last 4 years spur on international expansion

Clement Turf Farms

Strategic research and industry surveys get to the heart of exactly how where the new revenue opportunities lie | Integrated marketing campaign underway involving both digital and traditional marketing tactics

Okanagan College - Green Business Awards

Easy to use Wordpress blog-style website will help students organize and promote the local Green Business Awards competition

Last week Global Okanagan (or what some people remember as CHBC) featured a recent project that we've been heavily involved in over the past year. Called Our Okanagan, the project is a web-based local search engine and business hub that is focused on connecting local businesses and creating new opportunities for collaboration, employment, and investment.

TIP: If your business hasn't signed up yet, click the link above and create your profile!  The site is very powerful and goes beyond what you're used to seeing in a typical "business directory".  Make sure to check out the many advanced features and fill out the different sections of your profile for best results.

The project was a great experience for us and we enjoyed working with the project leaders Okanagan Partnership, and the folks at Community Futures North Okanagan.  The story aired by Global was great, but I believe the way it was edited gives us too much credit.  We were chosen as the development partner, (and Touchpoint was chosen as the branding partner) but we certainly were not the initiators or the driving force behind the project.  We feel obligated to explain these points in case anyone gets the wrong impression.

I'd like to especially thank a couple of our own staff, Thomas Berger and Cara Reed who worked tirelessly on this project and helped make it something we're very proud of.

We are pleased to share with you a video interview of Twin Creek Media that was showcased by The Fire Within on ShawTV. We hope you enjoy the behind the scenes look of the team at Twin Creek Media. : )

Since 2004, Twin Creek Media has been a strategic and creative marketing agency located in Kelowna, British Columbia. The firm has carved a place in the marketing world by becoming known for integrated marketing: combining the best of internet and digital with the traditional mediums of print, radio, and TV.

Twin Creek Media employs an executive team of five and a part-time creative team of 12 who together form a powerhouse of talent and experience. We are passionate about marketing and especially leading Okanagan businesses to integrate their current communications with the digital methods, such as lead-generating websites, ads on Google (Google AdWords), and engaging clients with current social media like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

http://www.facebook.com/twincreekmedia
http://twitter.com/twincreekmedia
http://www.linkedin.com/companies/twi...

Today Internet Marketing is at the forefront of most business improvement, marketing and advertising initiatives. We provide our clients with a single resource for dynamic, fully-integrated and seamless communication services. Our solutions for each chosen media are based on their individual and supportive strengths.

http://www.twincreekmedia.com/

Read our company blog on internet marketing, our marketing services and latest company news:

http://www.twincreekmedia.com/blog/

Curious about what we do? Check out some samples of our work below.  We've highlighted project work that shows the culmination of research, strategy, branding, copy writing, photography, design and programming. 

More examples of our projects can be found on our main site. Make sure to check back every so often for updated projects and let us know what you think!

Client: Our Okanagan
Project: Website Development by Twin Creek Media

Client: End Of The Roll
Project: Website Development by Twin Creek Media

Client: Okanagan Regional Library
Project: Website Development by Twin Creek Media

Client: FilmStar Auto
Project: Website Development by Twin Creek Media

Client: Impact Radio Accessories
Project: Website Development by Twin Creek Media

Client: Impact Radio Accessories
Project: Ads Designed by Twin Creek Media

Client: tekmar
Project: Corporate Brochure Designed by Twin Creek Media

Client: The Greenery
Project: Post Card Mail Out Designed by Twin Creek Media

Client: Case Furniture Gallery
Project: Website Development by Twin Creek Media

Client: Case Furniture Gallery
Project: Email Newsletter Designed by Twin Creek Media

by Andrew Spoeth (Visit Andrew's Blog Here)

Redesigning a website can be a lengthy, complicated process. Done properly, it can give a dramatic boost you your online presence. Over the years I’ve had the pleasure, and pain, of being a part of several redesign projects.

Here is a checklist for website redesign, a series of steps that developers will go through in a successful redesign project.

1. Document the reasons you’re redesigning the website.
   Having these listed will act as a compass through the lengthy project. When things get stressful, you’ll want this reminder.
2. Test the old site, e.g. with an online intercept survey.
   How easily can users find key parts of the site? Other testing methods include focus groups and eye tracking. For the survey, get enough data to make it statistically relevant. The qualitative, descriptive feedback from one-on-one sessions with customers is also very valuable.
3. Conduct a baseline analysis of the old site.
   A baseline analysis is a document which sets the bar by which the future site will be measured. It should detail how the old site has performed over the past year, including key performance indicators like visitors, bounce rate, conversion rates, pages/visit, etc.
4. Set targets for the new site.
   These should be actual numbers and be based on the baseline mentioned above.
5. Hire a design company.
   Choose a company which has experience in your industry and has demonstrated success in the past. Do they ask you the right questions? Do they understand your customer? Do they deliver on budget and on schedule?
6. Map out the new site’s architecture.
   Work on a whiteboard or a blank piece of paper. Use one box per web page, starting with the home page on top. Draw lines between the pages to show logical connections. An alternative process, called Card Sorting, starts with cue cards. Create one cue card per web page, lay them out on a large table and start grouping and arranging them.
   When mapping out the architecture, remember to keep the site compact, i.e. don’t create too many levels. This is bad for usability and bad for search engine optimization.
7. Do keyword research.
   Consider words being used by your customers, at conferences, etc. Take a look at your old site’s analytics to determine which keywords have been bringing traffic from the search engines, especially traffic that converts into real business. Also consider third party tools like Google’s Search-based keyword tool, Seo Book’s Keyword Suggestion Tool. And don’t forget Google Trends.
   How long should your keyword list be? That depends on your business model. But in most circumstances, a list of 20-30 is a great start.
8. Audit all of your existing online collateral.
   This includes all old and existing web pages, online brochures, podcasts, etc. Make a list in Excel and leave a couple of columns for notes and an instructions, e.g. ‘keep’, ‘keep but edit’, or ‘throw away’. B2B sites should also make room for columns to describe the type of buyer that web page appeals to, e.g. technical buyer, economic buyer, and when in the buying process that web page would best be viewed, i.e. Phase I: Awareness of Problem, Phase II: Researching a Solution, etc.
9. Write content for the new site.
   Each page should have a clear purpose, give an opportunity to continue, and be optimized for 1-2 keywords identified in number 7 above.
10. Create wireframes, mock-ups, etc.
    Carried out for the most part by your design company, this is where your combined knowledge of the target market turns into a creative and user friendly design which works.  Have the design company give you at least a couple of unique designs for the home page to choose from.
11. Test the mock-ups for usability.
    Let some customers loose on these mock-ups. The pages only need minor functionality for now, e.g. be able to click on a couple of key areas. Make note of how easily and quickly key parts can be found.
12. Fix, adjust and iterate
    Based on the results of your tests, iterate until you have a design which you can live with for the next 2 – 3 years.
13. Build out and populate pages.
    A lot of this may be handled by the web design company. Take all of the freshly written content and place it in the built pages. When choosing file and folder names for pages, consider using the keywords you identified in the keyword research stage above.
14. Organic optimization (SEO)
    You’ve already written the content and used the right keywords. Now is the time to take it further by ensuring that each page’s title, description and header tags do the same. Include links between pages. Interlinking is great for usability and great for search engine spiderability.
    Don’t forget to create a sitemap. There are two types of sitemaps, one which is on your site and visible to the user, and one which is visible only to the search engines (an XML Sitemap).
    And, don’t forget inbound links coming to some of the old site’s pages. Put a redirect in place for each of those so the new visitors, and link power, know where to go.
15. Testing. Try to break it before the site is launched.
    Get a large group of people you trust to poke around, find broken links, etc. Use various browsers, operating systems, look at it on a smart phone.
16. Add tracking code to each web page.
    This will ensure you can measure what’s happening with the new site. For tracking software like Google Analytics, it will be a fairly easy process, i.e. same tracking code on each page which can be applied in the footer.
17. Launch day. Flick the switch, uncork the champagne.
    Don’t forget to take a screen shot of the old site.
18. Post-launch monitoring
    Make a schedule and force yourself to note the key stats at regular intervals after the site is launched. For the first few days, do it every day. After that, weekly. If you have budget, do a second intercept survey (see #2 above).
19. Take the time to create a Content Development / Maintenance plan.
    Use a calendar and map out when you’ll be adding new content. How often will the ‘latest events’ section be updated? Who will update it? When will you review the product descriptions? Or case studies?
20. Keep a journal of this whole process
    

Want to see what the end result looks like?

> See a few examples on our Project Work page

New Okanagan Regional Library website

Press Release
February 17, 2010
For Immediate Release

NEW OKANAGAN REGIONAL LIBRARY WEBSITE GOES LIVE

The Okanagan Regional Library (ORL) launched its totally redesigned website on Wednesday, February 17 at its previous URL www.orl.bc.ca. Customers visiting the site will see several new features that enhance their ability to find everything from events at their local branch, to answers for reference questions, to lists of librarian-recommended books for children and adults.

“The redesign of our website has been much more than cosmetic,” says ORL Executive Director Lesley Dieno. “This website has been in development for a year and includes improvements so our customers can more easily access the information they need online.”

Some of the features include:

• A master events calendar, searchable by branch, date or event type
• Searchable ORL and BC Library to Go catalogues
• A news and events page for up-to-date information
• Links to the ORL’s Facebook and Twitter pages
• In-depth financial and administrative information about the ORL
• Online “Join” form
• Links to booklists, recommended websites, a eResources for children, teens, and book lovers

The website was created by a team at the ORL and Kelowna marketing firm Twin Creek Media.

Name the Marmot Competition

“This has been an extremely satisfying, and challenging project for our company,” says Twin Creek Media owner James Shaw. “The Okanagan Regional Library is complex – there are so many services available!  We worked hard with the ORL team to design a great online experience.  I think this new website will highlight the amazing services and resources that ORL offers to people of all ages.”

As part of the web launch, the ORL is unveiling its new kid’s mascot and announcing a contest to “Name the Marmot”. Children aged 3-15 years old are encouraged to submit their suggestions for a name online at www.orl.bc.ca/kids/marmot.  A customized $200 prize pack will go to the person coming up with the winning name.

Backgrounder on the ORL and use of technology (stats based on the 2009 year):

• The ORL website had 1.2 million hits, a 29% increase over 2008.
• Besides the ORL catalogue, the most popular page accessed was the “Branches” page.
• ORL customers downloaded 10,305 Audiobooks and eBooks from BC Library To Go, a 86% jump from 2008.
• 14,264 users accessed free wireless Internet at ORL branches
• Computer stations at ORL branches were used 171,028 times
• eResources subscription-only databases were accessed 36,077 times, with the most popular resources being Library To Go, Auto Reference Centre, Ancestry.com, and AskAway reference service
• Customers used the website to make 11,118 suggestions for purchase

Marla O'Brien
Public Relations Officer
Okanagan Regional Library
1430 KLO Road, Kelowna, BC

Since 2004, Twin Creek Media has been a strategic and creative marketing agency located in Kelowna, British Columbia. The firm has carved a place in the marketing world by becoming known for integrated marketing: combining the best of internet and digital with the traditional mediums of print, radio, and TV.

We've structured our company a little differently than other marketing agencies.  We have 4 people on our executive team, and 12 part-time specialists on our creative team.   Clients get consistent leadership and project management, while scoring the specialized resources that make up our "dream teams".

Normally, clients get "A" there, "B" the other place, "C" somewhere else, and run around between various companies fitting things all together.  The result: lack of clarity, lack of continuity, lack of harmony in the marketing message.  Instead, at Twin Creek Media clients get a well-rounded range of marketing services... from assessing the need, creating the materials, and choosing the right tool(s) for the job.  We fit in very nicely with SMBs (small/mid sized businesses) - companies with 10 to 50 employees.

Twin Creek Media aims to be the gold standard in integrated marketing.  Roughly half our staff are Gen X and Y - we understand the digital world.  We live the internet.  We breathe Google, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, blogs, digital video, SEM, SEO, mobile apps... we know how to integrate the best of what today's technology has to offer with what is tried and true in the advertising universe - the big 3: print, radio, TV. 

"We love integrated marketing. Assessing your market and understanding your target audience is critical.  Creating the concept, designing the visuals, and crafting the words are undeniably important.  But the correct delivery of the message is crucial for successfully engaging your audience.  Marketing channels are all different and each have there own strengths and weaknesses.  We want to use the right marketing mix for each client." - Cara Reed, Account Director

We will not limit our services to one industry or one marketing tool.  Imagine marketing channels were colours of the rainbow... (oh boy, here comes the metaphor!) We will not limit our offerings to one colour.  If you want an just an expert in the colours of black & white, there are a million of them these days... just Google it.  We want to use any and all colours appropriate to tell your marketing story!