The microsite is a peculiar thing that brings up many talking points amongst us marketers. What is it, exactly? Why do we bother with it? Is it effective? What is the meaning of life?

Ok, so admittedly that last question was a bit off the charts and has nothing to do with what we’re talking about today…but I would still like to know if someone has the definitive answer.

To begin with we should ask: What is a microsite?

To quote Wikipedia, “A microsite is an individual web page or a small cluster of pages which are meant to function as a discrete entity within an existing website or to complement an offline activity. The microsite’s main landing page can have its own domain name or subdomain.”

So a microsite is a website (and is subject to your usual web design rules and systems), but a very small website. Unlike your corporate websites which are designed to contain all your messages, products, services, motives and everything else in between, the microsite is purpose made to be small and contain only one message or motive.

To quote one industry professional, “Because it is little, it has to pack a big punch and, because it only has one message to convey, it can focus completely on doing just that. Many brands’ main websites say everything and, therefore, say nothing” Fred Brown, Partner, Last Exit (follow them on Twitter here).

This brings us neatly onto: Why do we bother with it?

You’re probably now thinking: It costs a lot of money; is it worth the investment to promote just one part of your business?

The microsite’s use is to provide a platform for individual products/services/events/whatever it may be to be solely promoted without the interference of your other offerings getting in the way of the message. It cuts out the noise, and gets straight to the point.

The whole idea is you don’t want to waft through hundreds of products that don’t matter to you. You just want to get to the one that does with minimal fuss.

There are a number of notable advantages to the microsite too over your primary website, including:

• Creative license – don’t hold back, just go off the rails! A good thing about the microsite is it’s meant to get noticed. Put as much creative flair into it as you can.
  
• Quick and easy to create – Microsites shouldn’t take a massive amount of time. If you’re slaving away building hundreds of pages then you’re doing something wrong.
  
• Cheap – with the emphasis on being small but perfectly formed, they shouldn’t cost you an arm and a leg to get the word out there.

Case in point: Red Bull

Red Bull are in my eyes, one of the greatest users of the microsite. With their renowned brand of energy drink, they advocate their message through multiple major self-branded events such as the Red Bull Soap Box Challenge. All Red Bull events are heavily promoted and gain national, if not international, recognition.

How have they done this, you may ask? Well as much as it is down to their promotional efforts and brand reputation, it is also down to their dedicated microsite that works effortlessly behind the scenes. This is where those enthusiasts congregate, talk and build a community. Do these enthusiasts care about what else Red Bull do? Possibly, but more than likely possibly not. What they care about is soap box racing and drinking Red Bull, which is what the microsite fuels them to do.

The best thing about it? 

They share and tell their friends about it, and suddenly you have your very own brand ambassadors.

See how our web projects come together here, from start to finish.

Let us know your thoughts on microsites by tweeting us, getting in touch on Facebook or contacting us directly here.

In today’s world, attention spans are short. So short in fact that we’ve dropped our attention span from 12 minutes to five minutes, according to an article by Neil Vidyarthi on Social Times. And that article was written three years ago, meaning it’s likely your attention span has probably dropped even further since.

Heck, you’ve probably already stopped reading, haven’t you? Haven’t you?! (Please don’t, because there is some interesting stuff coming, promise.)

Obviously, the big culprit is social media and the rapidly evolving technological world that is making us ever more “connected”, or probably a better word is distracted.

So, to stand out from the crowd takes a colossal amount of creativity and marketing, especially when it’s print marketing. Thankfully, creative marketing is in abundance here at Jask and we’ll now discuss four key principles of creating an advert to give it the best chance of standing out and be able to grab attention.

1. Message
   
   Whether you’re educating the audience on your products, showcasing a range of services, raising awareness of new products or offering discounts or sales, every advert needs to have a clearly defined message.
   
   Once you have your message, stick to it. Don’t overload your advert with too many points as that will convolute your message and give the audience too much information to take in.
   
2. Focus
   
   Focus is a crucial element to whether your advert succeeds or fails. Once you have your message, you need to draw attention to your advertisement and make it memorable. Usually this means thought provoking imagery, but you can also use copy to good effect. A great example is Air Asia’s play on words seen here.
   
3. Media Placement
   
   Once you have your advert’s content, it is important to understand that it needs to be placed in the correct media for maximum effect. There is little to no point in advertising business to business products in a shopping centre poster site as that is not where your trade is looking for your services, for example.
   
   Some advice? If you’re advertising in a publication, always look to place your advertisement on the right hand page as that is where your eyes are naturally drawn to first.
   
   Some further advice? Use some common sense, unlike those who placed this Turkish Airlines advert.
   
4. Call to Action
   
   Every advert needs a call to action (CTA), a clear instruction that gets people to interact after seeing the advert. Whether it is a ‘click here for further information’, snap this QR code for a discount (love/hate on QR’s – that’s another story), visit this site for tickets etc., every advert needs it so your audience know what the next step is.
   
   From a graphic design point of view then, your CTA is very important in terms of it’s placement, size, colour, contrast and appearance. It needs to be placed in a logical way that stands out and gets your audience to interact with it.
   
   Hubspot’s Magdalena Georgieva (@mgieva) has compiled a list of effective CTAs that not only show them in action but also how and why they work. Have a read!

Of course, the rulebook to creating a good advert isn’t limited to what we’ve said here, and in fact is forever evolving with the changing ways we behave and are influenced. We like to think that these are the four cornerstones to a good advert and ones that should be followed to give you the best results.

Looking to design an advert or need more information? Just give us a shout. Or you can reach us through Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.