File Types Explained

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Wait, what kind of file is this? We’ve all been there. Someone asks for a certain type of file, or sends you something you can’t open. Not anymore. Find out what the differences are and when to use what (and when not to). If it seems like a lot, don’t worry. Just print our Glossary of File Types for easy reference.

Vector vs. Raster

They’re both types of graphics but they behave very differently. A vector is made up of basic geometric shapes such as points, lines and curves. This allows the graphic to scale up or down in size without losing quality. Logos and fonts are vector. A raster is an image made of dots, or pixels (measured as dpi, or dots per inch). Each dot/pixel is assigned a color value. Unlike a vector graphic, a raster graphic is resolution dependent. Photos are raster. 

JPG/JPEG

Format used to compress photographic images when a small file size is needed, such as for the Internet and some high-quality printing. Some image quality is lost, and it can’t be recovered.

  • Correct Uses: Websites, email, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram
  • Incorrect Uses: Logo development, transparent imaging, printed signage, final print production release

PDF

A universal file format that embeds the fonts, images, layout and graphics of any source document, regardless of the program used to create it. The recipient sees the file as it was intended to be seen, with no risk of formatting problems.

  • Correct Uses: Interactive forms, printing, downloadable web files
  • Incorrect Uses: Web design

TIFF or TIF

The preferred format for high-quality images, especially in the printing, publishing and photography industries.

  • Correct Uses: Professional photography, commercial printing, image editing, page layout
  • Incorrect Uses: Websites, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

EPS

A file that’s scalable to any size without degradation, because the software (Adobe Illustrator) uses a mathematical technique called vectoring to create the image.

  • Correct Uses: Promotional products, T-shirts, banners, signs, logos
  • Incorrect Uses: Websites, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

GIF

A low-resolution graphic file format most commonly used for websites and emails. It uses a compression scheme to minimize file size and electronic transfer time.

  • Correct Uses: Web-only logos, animated banners, simple video clips
  • Incorrect Uses: High-quality photos, print

PNG

High-quality bitmap images that use lossless data compression, meaning the original data can be perfectly reconstructed from the compressed data.

  • Correct Uses: Transferring images on the Internet, transparent logos/symbols on websites
  • Incorrect Uses: Print production, high-quality photography

HTML5
A revision of the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), the standard programming language for describing the contents and appearance of web pages. HTML5 supports multimedia on desktop, tablet and mobile devices, and has replaced Flash (SWF files) as the web standard for animation, which is good news for your brand.

  • Correct Uses: Rich media, animation, video and audio display for the web
  • Incorrect Uses: Print production

Audio Files

MP3 is the most common; it’s a compressed format, so the file size is much smaller. Two other common formats are AIFF (audio interchange file format) and WAV (Waveform Audio File Format), both of which are uncompressed and often used to store original recordings.

Video Files

Most common is MP4. Others include MOV (used in Apple’s Quicktime), WMV (a Windows media video) and AVI (a Microsoft audio video format).

If all this seems overwhelming, you’re not alone. That’s a lot of files! Don’t forget to download and print our Glossary of File Types to keep everything straight from here on out. Before you know it, you’ll be the one asking for the right file!

Strengthen Connections with LSM

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Owning a franchise of a national chain comes with some strong benefits like brand awareness, training and operational support. And maybe most important – not needing to start from scratch. The added benefits of national marketing budgets and materials are also significant.

However, as everyone knows, regions throughout the country can be quite different in terms of seasonality, attitudes and lifestyles. What works best in one part of the country may be less effective in another. So, what’s a franchisee to do? Well, many have strengthened customer bonds by incorporating their local flavor, while still maintaining the corporate brand identity.

Connect with your community.

Local store marketing can be an extremely valuable part of your overall marketing plan. Get out into your neighborhoods and establish relationships with the other local businesses that could benefit from what you have to offer or whose customers could benefit from your offerings. For example, if you’re a QSR restaurant, employers and retail establishments need catering, or employees need a place to grab lunch. Getting out and introducing yourself with trial offers can go a long way toward building loyal customers.

Establishing local ad funds will allow you to imbed yourself in the local community and engage with the customers in your own backyard. There are plenty of opportunities to sponsor youth activities and local charities at a relatively low cost. Your end target needs to be taken into consideration and putting your business where they are in their own lives helps to keep you top of mind.

Social media is also an important piece of the marketing puzzle.

Creating content on local social media platforms that is specific to your area and organic photos that show local landmarks will result in higher engagement. This type of content is more relevant and giving fans a local place to connect with you feels more authentic. You can also find some local social influencers to help spread the word. There are plenty of bloggers and influencers who you can work with to act as an advocate on your behalf. Micro influencers are more engaged in a specific niche and they can provide definite benefits. They’re more authentic and less expensive than a national celebrity, providing higher customer engagement rates with a more targeted audience. Sometimes it’s as easy as looking at your existing subscriber base to identify people who are already genuine fans of your brand and who are already actively talking about similar topics.

Exploring potential co-op opportunities strengthens your presence.

Forming a co-op with other franchisees in your market enables you to combine budgets and maximize your local marketing efforts. A larger local budget may allow you to promote local offers customized to your market, in addition to the national offers being supported by corporate.

Combined budgets may even allow you to sponsor a local collegiate or professional sports team and take advantage of the fan affinity of your consumers. Hometown fans are much more likely to support a brand that sponsors their favorite local team. However, it’s important to keep in mind that there’s more to sponsorships than just a logo on the field. You’ll need to work hard to engage with the fans through various communication and events that can be part of the package.

Bring it home.

As a franchise owner of a national chain, there are plenty of opportunities to expand your local following within your own market and community. A local marketing campaign will allow you to better connect with your customers and personalize messages just for them leading to better engagement and additional business for you!

 

 

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6 Musts for Every Email Marketing Campaign

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With everyone’s attention focused on the latest social media trends, many have all but forgotten about the original social network: email. Email marketing is an essential part of any integrated marketing campaign. It’s inexpensive and effective, allowing any size business to reach a large number of consumers at a rate of pennies.

While many things make an email marketing campaign effective, there are certain essentials that every campaign must have to be successful.

    1. Responsive Template Design: It’s critical to build a template that your subscribers can view from anywhere. Your design should adjust for easy reading based on the type of device or email platform a subscriber is using. For example, email text should get bigger on a smart phone so subscribers don’t have to zoom in.
    2. HTML Text: Not all email clients show images automatically. Optimize your emails for images-off viewing using ALT text and HTML text. ALT text is used to tell your subscribers what’s depicted in an image they may not be able to see. HTML text, or live text, is copy entered as HTML code to ensure subscribers see it no matter what. Don’t put the bulk of your copy in an image.
    3. Opt-In / Opt-Out Process: Make opting-in or out of your emails easy for subscribers. On your opt-in form, only include 2-4 fields for subscribers to fill in. If you want to collect more details, you can always include a link in your template to easily allow subscribers to update and add additional information to their profile. Opting-out should be just as easy. Include an unsubscribe button in every email. Making it difficult to unsubscribe won’t help you keep active subscribers. It will only hurt your sender reputation.
    4. List Scrubbing: All email marketing campaigns must have good list hygiene to keep a positive reputation. Remove inactive email addresses, unsubscribes and hard bounces from your send lists regularly. Keep an eye on your soft bounces to see if they need purging as well.
    5. Automated Emails: Marketing automation could set your campaign apart from your competitors. Automated emails are set up based on specific triggers or information. Welcome emails can be sent when a new subscriber signs up. This is your first impression to new subscribers, so make it a good one. It also encourages new subscribers to engage with you right off the bat. Automated emails based on informational triggers such as birthdays or anniversaries can also be set up to make your subscribers feel a special, personal connection with your brand.
    6. Reporting & Analytics: Behind every good email marketing campaign is solid reporting and strong analytics. Continuously monitor your campaigns to see what’s working and what’s not. Define the goals of your email marketing campaign and track the metrics so you can see if you are meeting those goals.

These tips are just to get you started. Email marketing can be as simple or as complex as you’d like to make it. Stay tuned as we continue to share more email marketing tips and tricks.

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