My business partner and I launched wearegoat almost ten years ago with only a couple of clients on our books. Fresh out of university, we had a lot of energy and a disciplined work ethic.

Without thinking much about it, we managed to swell our client base into a portfolio of well-known brands including British Vogue, FARFETCH and The Art Newspaper.

Looking back, it seems that the way we did it was to pay attention to the details. We studied each of our client’s digital personas closely, asking loads of questions, and trying our best to understand specific ways in which they were either missing a trick, or could optimise what they were already doing right.

Along the way, we learnt that many solutions were transferable to businesses at different scales, and that very often solutions to digital problems came through explaining to a client that something they thought would be impossible for their brand to do — either because of budget or production capability — was totally achievable. We believe this is true in a broader sense, and that understanding what options are affordable and attainable could impact the wider health of a country’s digital landscape.

Malta’s digital landscape is progressing — the opportunity for brands to grow their impact and offering online is bigger and better than ever. A major setback to seizing these opportunities is not knowing quite how to do it, or what might be the best solution for a particular business size.

Many local companies might be looking to foreign brands who are innovating online and thinking — we will just never be able to afford that. In many cases, that’s simply not true. Here are a few of those cases that, in our experience, have the potential to be widely applicable.

The first is the advent of microsites and independent landing pages, which are perfect for launching new products, gaining subscribers, sharing information, and are much more affordable than companies might think. Most of the work goat has done for larger clients has been to promote very specific products, services, or offers — a seasonal fashion campaign, a series of events, or even a report on business achievements.

There has always been the option to create pages on their existing websites, but often their infrastructure has proved too limited; not allowing for the creativity required to effectively promote and push a message across to audiences that are highly digitally literate.

Dedicated landing pages or promotional microsites place renewed focus on an offer, product or piece of important news without becoming diluted by the rest of the website. Removing the limitations of existing website systems frees up the opportunity to be as innovative as possible. Doesn’t that mean paying the same amount as building a whole new website? Not necessarily.

Investment in an independent page or microsite helps your marketing budget work harder and smarter. It works alongside social media marketing or sponsored content, maximising usefulness by giving followers something substantial to sink their teeth into. By having a dedicated page to direct users to, brands can target audiences with more specificity and impact. Microsites offer more control over content, more freedom to be bold, and more flexibility over how to package that content.

The second way brands and companies of all scales can bring content to life is through thoughtful animation. Working with high profile clients has thought us many things about what it takes to compete in a digitally saturated market. As mentioned, Malta’s digital landscape has kicked up a gear, especially during COVID. Local influencer culture is steadily growing, and audiences are constantly on the lookout for content that is snappy and delivers a message with impact.

Endorsement is certainly not the only way to get a brand noticed. In fact, we would argue that with influencer ads becoming more and more commonplace, brands need to go one step ahead of that game to get noticed. Animating content sounds like a mid-00s idea, but sometimes the best methods for achieving results are ones that have proven to work.

Even though animating content for emphasis is not a new concept, it has been refined significantly over time. Big-name brands now use transitions with great variety, ranging from statement animations that deliver a bold impression, to very subtle, slick transitions that elevate content that readers wouldn’t otherwise realise is important.

Finally, the third is to stop trying to fix your own problems and instead embrace long-term, digital consultation. It’s easy to opt for quick fixes when it comes to a business’ digital profile. People work under the misconception that because digital changes can be made without limitation (as opposed to printing, for example), it won’t cost them anything to act fast and alter things on their websites themselves.

For example, changing the main structure on their landing page, tacking on e-commerce features, or adding noisy pop-ups for sign-up reasons. There is almost always a cost to unplanned, slap-dash changes. The cost is time, and the dilution of quality (which audiences will notice).

Time and time again, we’ve been told to “get used to the Maltese market”; that it’s a different beast to the international digital scene. In our experience, that’s just not true.

The objectives for local and foreign brands are the same. The amount of competition is equal in relative terms. And, most importantly, the opportunity to excel and stand out in a crowd by using straightforward, intelligent solutions is equally up for grabs.

Paul Attard is the co-founder of wearegoat — a website design and software development agency based in London and Malta.