As a marketing, digital and design agency that can work with budgets of all sizes, we regularly work for businesses in Lancaster and Lancashire as well as national companies.

Are you a business with an ambitious plan for growth?  We will help you to define your goals and implement a strategy for achieving them.

As a full service agency we can take care of everything, producing a full range of marketing material from web design and build to brochures, copywriting, advertising and e-marketing campaigns. Everything we do is trackable to ensure that targets are consistently met. 

Our friendly team will work hard to create a package that is right for your business and right for your budget.

Marketing

Market Research

The best strategies for growth begin with a clear understanding of who your existing customer is and which groups should be targeted next. We can carry out bespoke market research for you, or we can analyse your existing customer base and apply socio-demographic profiling.

Marketing Strategy

Careful targeting should be followed with consistent communication. We work with you to come up with a plan that will stimulate a response from your customers.  We always make sure that it is trackable so that you can monitor response and continue to improve.

Online

Do you monitor your customers' behaviour when they visit your website? Do you understand not just what they are doing but why?  We assess content, interpret analytics and test users to build a clear picture of activity and define a plan for uplift.

Digital

Websites

We regularly build websites for businesses in Lancaster and North Lancashire.  Every website is built with your return on investment in mind. Our Content Management System will be customised to the specific requirements of your business and your customer. Completely scalable, new sections can be developed as you require them, helping you to stretch your budget and expand your site at your own pace.

E-commerce sites are built using Magento Open Source software. This reduces the number of design templates that are needed which helps us to keep things consistent, speedy and cost effectivel.

Analytics

Good web analytics will cover not only the 'what' on your website but also the 'why.' Surveying, multi-variate testing and usability studies are just some of the ways to gain a better understanding of the data produced by visitors to your site. We offer a regular analytics service that will help you to see which parts of your website are visited most and which areas need to be improved.  This will keep your website leading the field.

Optimisation

Much more than just ranking highly on Google, increasing the number of the right visitors who come to your website via search engines is complex. The key principles are:

Structure

Optimisation is an integral element of the structure of our platform - from the URL to the page tags, we make sure that the search engines will find your content and index it effectively.

Content

Whilst still making sure that your copy is written for humans, we will work with you to ensure that you have the right level and relevant type of content for maximum keyword density.

Authority

Working with Web 2.0 and social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc), we can help you to build your online presence.

Usability

Watching real people interact with your website can teach you a lot. Finding out how people navigate intuitively can significantly improve conversion and 'stickiness'. We identify users that match your customer profile and watch them in action before making refinements to your site.

Multi-Variate Testing (MVT)

Testing different layouts and features can have a big impact on consumer behaviour. Lovefilm produced a 13% conversion uplift simply by testing one button. We can test until we find the optimum layout for your customers.

Personalisation

Ensure that your website recognises regular customers, greeting them by name and tailoring suggestions to their preferences. Our systems can automatically build their profile based on either the history of their activity or the preference profile that they submit.

Email Marketing

Provoke repeat visits to your site with effective, attractive email campaigns. Our system is supported by a campaign analytics tool which tells you in great detail which items trigger response so that each successive email campaign is increasingly effective.

Branding & Design

Corporate Identity

Is your logo or identity prepared for the new world of digital media? Does it work well on screens, in pixels, in varying formats? If not it may be in need of a refresh or redesign. Our branding team has expertise in designing logos and identities for businesses of all sizes.

Print

Brochures, catalogues and direct mail solutions. We don't just design them to look great, we're interested in how they trigger reaction, provoking a phone call, or a visit to your website.

Brand Implementation

Bringing brands to life within the built environment involves working with architects and designers to transform 2 D identities into physical 3D interactions on the exteriors and interiors of buildings.

Signage, livery, uniforms, merchandise and buildings all need to bring the brand identity to life, consistently and accurately. We assess every element, working from the bottom up, formulating a carefully costed schedule and itinerary for execution for businesses of all sizes.

Signage & Wayfinding

Signage

Signage is an important part of your brand representation. We apply technical expertise to your identity to create an impactful yet practical end product. Logistical support can cover delivery and installation to provide a full project management service.

Wayfinding

Too much signage can be counterproductive, confusing and frustrating staff and customers. We work from a user perspective, creating intuitive navigation systems that enhance your physical environment.

Verbal Branding

Many businesses devote large proportions of their budget making sure that their visual identity is exciting and consistent and yet completely neglect their tone of voice, even though this is an integral part of building a relationship with the customer.

Establishing the right voice not only lets your customer get to know you but it helps all staff to communicate well. We can help with a full range of services from copywriting to setting a house style with guidelines.

Pick Our Brains

We work with businesses in Lancaster and Lancashire as well as from many other parts of the UK.  If you are a business that is keen to grow, get in touch with the Enterprise Team at Apparatus, we'd love to talk to you.