Bye, Bye 2023

When the clock struck midnight on December 31, 2022, not only did a new year begin, but also a new journey - for us as an agency, as an employer, as a service provider and also as a team. And this journey was sometimes faster, sometimes slower and included the odd unforeseen event. And now it's over and a new adventure called 2024 is just around the corner. Let's get on the "raft" and float down the "river" together.

Chapter 1: The 2023 trends and what we've made of them 

Towards the end of a calendar year, articles and posts pile up about the trends we can expect in the new year, what we should be prepared for and which new skills are definitely super important. We have also reported on this, and of course we are also guided by the zeitgeist, because we also see this as our responsibility to our customers: What's in store for us all? And for 2023 - and the years to come - video will be a hot topic on every platform.

Videos, videos and more videos? Of course - we'll show you how it's done. 

Our 2023 started with a full-time addition to the team, but also with an opportunity to offer all our customers full content production. What had already taken place in 2022, we were able to roll out completely this year. 

Mirko - our magic mouse for video and image content - not only started full-time at the agency, but also hit the ground running in many projects. And these projects took him to Greece, Slovenia and, of course, to many places in the "Ländle" region here in beautiful Baden-Württemberg. 

The result? Content for many, many customers that is second to none. You can find insights into all these dream projects not only on our showcase page, but also on social media, where we have compiled highlights from the major projects for you. 

Thank you for your commitment and thank you for wonderful, wonderful projects in 2023 - and for every single grin you put on the faces of our clients.

Social audio strategy? Sure, we'll do it. 

For 2023, the agenda for marketing, social media and co. included thinking about social audio strategy. Even though radio and podcasts are nothing new anymore, they have become increasingly important. And over the course of 2023, we have seen how many podcasts have been created, how many people have decided to entertain, educate and offer added value via audio.

And we at Flanke 7 didn't ignore this trend either, but rolled up our sleeves and created our own podcast. "Flanked & commented - nobody really needs it" is the name of our podcast and was launched on May 23, 2023 after many weeks of planning. You can find this auditory "masterpiece" 😉 on Spotify.

And with 13 episodes, a great first season was created in which Lea and Philip hotly discussed a wide variety of topics. GenZ, sustainability, content creation with Mirko and what it's like to be a creator, sharks, generational conflicts, Carsten's career and the founding of F7 - these and much more were the topics of our podcast. And of course we'll be back in 2024 with a new season - this time with new guests, new content and a new direction. Stay tuned!

The latest, fastest website? We'll build it for you! 

A website should be fast - this is a fact that everyone has read if they have studied user experience in depth. The shorter the loading time, the better and no website should take more than 2-3 seconds to load its content, otherwise there is a high probability that the page will be abandoned. 

Both building websites with high speed and always having mobile-optimized pages were trend topics for 2023, which are already on the agenda for 2022 and will be important for 2024. Our agency relies on JAMstack technology, as this makes loading times barely noticeable and the mobile version is also included in every new website project. 

And in 2023, there was a whole bunch of new projects for sites with the shortest loading time: renewable energies, consulting companies, building services companies and also companies from the real estate sector. Not only were we delighted with all these projects - we are even prouder that we were able to make our customers happy. 

But our WebDev team has not only mastered website projects, but also updates of stores to Shopware 6 - and also one or two completely new stores, which now contribute to entertainment and gamification with cool features. 

Philip: "It's simply brilliant that our industry is always evolving. JamStack could become state of the art and we are delighted to be leading the way."

Marcel: "In 2023, many were impressed by the speed of a JamStack website, in 2024 we are taking the development of new websites to a new level with the help of AI."

Chapter 2: The agency has grown 

Oh 2023, what a year you've had! A colorful, turbulent year with lots of surprises, highlights - some lowlights - but all in all a wonderful one. And what made the year even better was you, dear F7 team. All of you who are there and do your best for our customers every day. 

We're almost writing this with goosebumps and a little tear in the corner of our eye: we grew again in 2023! Mirko kicked things off right at the start of the year by joining the team full-time. Then the year rolled on super fast and suddenly it was already mid-August and there she was: our new power woman for the Web Dev team, who couldn't be a better fit for us. And bam! half a month later: Markus and Yan arrived! Markus as multitasking support for sales and project management and Yan, who started a dual apprenticeship and knocked our socks off with his talent in the first few weeks. 

Thank you for being here and we are of course looking forward to all future projects with you!

Wow, that's nice, isn't it? It was special for our three managing directors, because new heads always have to fit in with the existing ones and in this case we can only say that the three new ones fit in with all of us like a glove. 

Well, you three? What do you think? 😉

Philip: "It's simply unbelievable what has happened this year. Now it's time to consolidate the team and go full throttle in 2024."

Marcel: "It was only when I saw everyone together at our team event that I really realized how much our team has grown in the last two years. "We can all be proud of that."

Carsten: "It was only when I saw everyone together at our team event that I really realized how much our team has grown in recent years. Every single person in our agency has played their part in this success and we can all be proud of that. I am proud of everyone in the team, because the development of our agency reflects the diversity and creativity of each individual. Our team not only sets trends, but actively shapes the future by each bringing their own style and new themes to the table. It's a great feeling to see that our team can work together regardless of location. The adjustments to working hours have further improved our team play. Through efficient processes and a strong focus on quality, we have created nothing but winners, not only for our clients but also within the team. The last few years have been really exciting with all the growth, creativity and team spirit. I'm really looking forward to moving forward with this great team, exploring new avenues and continuing to set trends. Here's to a successful year and everything that's to come - our team is the key to our success."

You want another highlight? Of course we do! And that was in September, because the whole F7 gang, including all the new heartthrobs and our remote team - from the north of Germany, Dresden, Frankfurt, Bavaria and even Romania - got together for the summer party in Schorndorf and then it was off to the races! Together, we held a VR event where we cooked, hunted zombies, raced cars, flew helicopters and fought with bows and arrows. After all the excitement, it was time for lunch and then to relax at the agency. 

Celebrating together as a team was of course not just once this year, but a second time: our Christmas party took place at the beginning of December and this time it was completely virtual with the team. In addition to playing games together online, we also baked delicious treats together and spent the afternoon and evening together virtually.

There have also been other changes for our team: we have introduced the 5-hour day, which has reduced the workload for the entire team. Working fewer hours also means working more efficiently, as the number of projects has not been reduced. So far, the test is running to everyone's complete satisfaction - including the customers. We will report more on this soon.

Chapter 3: Many projects, many special features 

2023 had many projects and many special features in store for us. And even though we would like to present all of them, we will limit ourselves to a few here so that we don't go completely beyond the scope. 

We added a few to our portfolio of website projects, including rmsolar and talessio. Both projects were unique in their own way and a great team effort. The old website was not only slow, but also contained hardly any content, so that the advantages of rmsolar were not presented. The company rmsolar is an expert in photovoltaics and renewable energies and that is exactly what the focus should be on. Electricity can be cool if it is generated by the sun, then it is even cooler and the new web face of rmsolar clearly shows this.

For the company talessio, it was not just about modernization, but also about sharpening the presentation of its services. The consulting company in the field of digitalization in the HR sector not only wanted to show what it is capable of, but also who is behind the company. 

Marcel: "I find our holistic projects particularly exciting, where the combination of the Jamstack website and tailored online marketing unfolds its full potential."

There have also been changes for the marketing team, new clients and new tasks. Since this year, we are no longer just available as an agency that takes care of marketing, we also advise our customers while the implementation remains in the respective company. And it works wonderfully: knowledge transfer, support and the odd chat in a meeting make a new form of collaboration possible. The whole thing started with fashion company Mode am Markt and has since been joined by a few others, such as Schneider Haustechnik and Hartmut Eberle GmbH.

In performance marketing for the Google and Meta platforms, some customers have also been added, such as the company PeRi Perfection with the online store Fire Desire for merchandising on the subject of "fire departments". Here, "comprehensive" more than hits the nail on the head, because in performance marketing we not only designed the corresponding Google Ads campaigns, but the advertising via paid ads in Meta's channels is also bearing fruit.

The Design team can also boast some outstanding projects: a large print campaign was developed for Dr. Schalhorn's two GP practices, which was rolled out regionally. The result? More visits to the doctors' surgeries than we all thought possible.

Chapter 4: Thank you 2023 and hello 2024 

Wow! What a year! 

We would like to take this opportunity to say thank you - to all our energetic, hard-working F7 gang members and all our supporters, our customers and our partners. Thank you for making this year so special and for putting together projects that were really fun. 

And now we have reached the end of 2023 and are leaving the metaphorical "raft" that has taken us all the way through this year.

We'll end this year with a Christmas dinner quote from Kevin Home Alone: "Dear God, please bless that nutritious 5-minute microwave macaroni and cheese and the one she sold me so cheap." 

We wish you all a great Christmas and a great start to the New Year!