digital marketing Archives

Marketing Refreshes Your Business Needs Right Now

February 11, 2022 · In: Marketing

“If You Always Do What You’ve Always Done, You’ll Always Get What You’ve Always Got.” ~ Henry Ford.

There exists absolutely no evidence that this adage is not 100% true, scientifically or otherwise. But for a few variances that may well be minute, if you continue along the same trajectory that you always have, then the direction you are traveling in will be exactly where you’ve always been heading towards.

If that’s working for you, then great – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?

Wrong. Here’s why.

You don’t have to be a major conglomerate in order to take advantage of the same strategies that make multinationals successful. There are certain strategies and operational points of view that are relevant and real regardless of how big your business is.

This means, that even if you’re an owner-operator consulting firm, or you have a small-medium sized business, there are principles from the ‘big boys’ that you can use to keep your edge sharp and at the forefront of your competition.

Remember – the only constant changes. Now you can choose to be subjected to it, or drive it.

SEGMENTING YOUR CUSTOMERS

Before you can understand how to refresh some of your existing marketing campaigns or plans, you first need to take a fresh look at your clients and understand what markets they are operating in. This is important because there may well be some intersectionality in places where you may yet be able to generate further revenue or growth opportunities.

Once you have your customers in places where you’re able to make sense of who they are and what they do (don’t take it for granted that you or your business managers should know this already – life happens), you will know how to approach your refreshed marketing plan.

INDUSTRY-FOCUSED TRENDING

Now you can begin to develop marketing campaigns that are going to make sense for your clients and will stand the biggest chance of being noticed and picked up on by new clients too. Remember that what works for your client in their segment, is likely going to work for their competitors – and no law says you can’t work for them too.

KEEP YOUR ONLINE PRESENCE RELEVANT & FRESH

This cannot be stressed enough and you’ll never hear the end of it, but keeping your content fresh, your SEO on point (you’ll need a company that specializes in SEO Services if you can’t do this yourself because you need to get this right), and ensuring that all the moving parts of your websites, back-office logistics and sales are all working the way they should be. This isn’t just good for your business efficiency, but it also offers your clients the opportunity to see how it should be done.

So, take a fresh look at your online presence, get it done as near to perfection as possible – and then start working on your clients. They may not know that they need you at all – at when they see how you do it – well, that’s gold right there.

Image By sakulich

Key Components of Effective Marketing Communication

February 3, 2021 · In: Marketing, Remote Work

In the world of business, marketing is universally acknowledged to be one of the essential exercises and skillsets required in order to ensure professional success, get goods and services sold, and even maintain a decent professional reputation.

Ultimately, while the specifics of marketing will vary dramatically based on whether the field in question is CFD trading, retail, or any number of other things, there are always going to be certain core marketing principles that remain consistently relevant.

And, of course, successful marketing is – in and of itself – all a matter of effective communication.

Here are a few key components of effective marketing communication.

Understand the dilemma the client is facing, and describe how you can help them deal with it

Sometimes, when trying to sell a prospective customer or client on the benefits of a product or service, people get bogged down in technical details as a means of trying to convey as much unique information as possible, as quickly as possible.

Bombarding the prospect with a bunch of jargon and a broad range of specifications tends to completely miss the point, however.

When all is said and done, people don’t make purchasing decisions because of these criteria, but because of an underlying dilemma or need that these criteria may be seen to solve or address.

Effective marketing communication, therefore, relies first and foremost on being able to identify and understand the particular dilemma the client is facing and then describing how you can help them deal with it, using your services or goods.

Emphasize authenticity and sincerity, not just the appearance of those things

We live in a time that is absolutely saturated with marketing materials, marketing campaigns, and promotional content of all sorts.

One of the consequences of this is that the general public is savvier than ever before to the “standard practices” employed by marketers, while also being quite jaded to many of those practices, too.

What people increasingly look for with regards to marketing is genuine authenticity and sincerity. Companies who seem to be legitimately passionate about what they are doing, and whose marketing materials are not calculated to be manipulative, but are fun, informative, and communicative, are what people gravitate towards.

For effective marketing communications, emphasize authenticity and sincerity, and not just the appearance of those things either. To the best of your ability, be authentic and sincere.

Communicate as simply as possible, and utilize visuals as well as text

The more complex your marketing communications, and the more points you try to simultaneously address, the higher the likelihood that your message will be lost and that the person who is receiving the communication will essentially “tune out.”

To market effectively, you want your marketing communications to be as straightforward and “punchy” as possible. You want to get straight to the heart of the subject rather than beating around the bush.

One great way of achieving this is to utilize effective visuals as well as text. As the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”

Image credit: Pixabay CC0 License

Creative Ways To Enhance Your Online Exposure

November 13, 2020 · In: Marketing, Remote Work

When it comes to your business or brand, you want to ensure that you do all that you can to enhance and encourage it.

Most things are done online right now, and this year especially has seen many businesses look at online ventures as an alternative to ensure that they can do some business.

However, are you being creative when it comes to enhancing your online exposure? With that in mind, here are some of the things that you could consider to help you increase it.

Self-publishing a book

One of the first things to consider might be a book. Writing a book is for most people they say, but it could be a great way to enhance your online exposure, especially if your business is focused on you as a brand. This could be especially useful for people who work in social media influencing, or perhaps are creative in terms of a freelance writer.

You could look at self-publishing a book on anything and looking online for publishing companies near me could help you find the right fit. It could also be an addition in terms of income to your already existing brand, business, or blog. It is definitely one to consider and could be a great way to enhance your online exposure as more people are looking to read things on the go.

Write a blog

On the subject of writing things on the go, maybe it is time to start thinking about a blog. A blog is a great way to enhance your online exposure. You can use it as an additional page on your current website or even create a separate blog with a new domain.

It can help to enhance your exposure because of the use of the content, keywords, and a focus on search engine optimization. You will likely want your business to be recommended and suggested in terms of search engine results, and a blog can help with links to your existing website and company page or even just as a way of advertising your business in a different way. There are some great articles online that can help you get started with this.

Social media or marketing strategy for content

We all know that more is being done online these days, so it may be time to come up with a social media and marketing strategy to help enhance your online exposure. This can be great for all sorts of businesses and brands as more is being forced online with lockdown and businesses having to temporarily close for face to face contact. Now is the perfect time to try and increase the awareness of your business and brand online and social media is a great way to do it.

You can look at posting more consistently or even thinking about commenting and engaging more online. There is a lot that social media can help with your business and brand, especially with online exposure.

Let’s hope these tips help you to enhance your online exposure.

Image source – pixabay – cco license

How to Become a Better Writer

October 1, 2020 · In: Marketing, Remote Work

For many, writing consistent, quality content can become challenging over time. But despite the challenge, writing is still an essential form of communication used on a daily basis, from texting, sending emails, and even writing the perfect captions for social media. Despite your reason for growth, here are 8 ways to improve your writing skills in any capacity.

Be clear

Clear writing focuses on communicating one message in a way that is simple. Good writing is clear thinking on paper that is logical, specific, and easy to follow. Focus on relaying ideas in a way that is systematic and easy to understand.

Avoid fluff

Quality writing focuses on using words that must earn their place on the page. Instead of trying to write lengthy text, be sure to avoid filler words, such as that, just, really, or very. Unnecessary words take up space and taint the intended message.

Write before you edit

Though you may be tempted to modify your writing during the actual process, your best content comes when you write freely. Instead of attempting to correct mistakes at the moment, first focus on communicating your ideas in fullness to stay on track, and edit later.

Write daily

Getting in the practice of writing every day can significantly strengthen the way you write, and help you build a consistent habit. Set aside time to grow in your craft, even if only journaling for 5 minutes or writing a lengthy note in your phone

Read daily

The more you read, the more familiar you enrich your vocabulary, absorb different sentence structures, and produce quality content. Make reading a daily discipline to learn from the writing styles of others, and implement them in your own work.

Exercise daily

Though exercise isn’t directly correlated to writing – moving your body for 15 minutes a day can reap a multitude of benefits. Exercise is proven to release endorphins that improve your mood, decrease anxiety – and even increase your creativity.

Write down new ideas

No matter what the idea, jot down notes of any new creative thoughts that come your way, and get in the practice of recording them. When those thoughts continue to linger, continue to write them down – you never know where the story may lead!

Write first thing

In a consumerist society, we are bombarded by hundreds of messages on a daily basis from text messages, ads, and threads of emails in both our personal and professional inboxes. Create before you consume, and allow yourself to write in a way that’s unfiltered and without distraction.

Though writing takes skill, developing the discipline to put your writing into practice will drastically improve your ability over time. Instead of taking shortcuts, put in the hard work to grow your writing ability, knowing it will carry you throughout your entire career and life.

How To Best Approach Your PPC Marketing Campaign

July 17, 2020 · In: Marketing

Most businesses know that PPC marketing can drive their success, but not all are sure how to approach a PPC marketing campaign. There are many different elements to consider, so let’s explore a few handy tips.

Determine your goals

When you are planning your PPC marketing campaign, one of the first things that you need to do is to determine your goals. There are several common goals for PPC campaigns, including:

Driving traffic: Driving traffic to your website is usually a top PPC goal. In the modern business world, your website is just about your most important marketing tool. It’s here that you’ll impress visitors with your products and content, but first, you’ve got to get them on your page!
Improve sales and leads: Improving sales and leads is one of the most common PPC goals. Increasing traffic to your site is desirable, but what you really want is as many leads as possible.
Improve brand awareness: Improving brand awareness is a long-term goal that focuses on boosting your reputation and establishing trust and credibility. PPC can support you to extend your reach and get people talking about your business.

Targeting Your Audience

Once you’ve determined what your goals are, you’ll need to decide how you are going to target your audience. Audience targeting usually involves a combination of social media and Adwords. It’s advisable to target your audience based on search intent. Search intent falls under three key categories, including navigational, informational, transactional. It’s important to make sure that the ads you display are appropriate for your sales funnels.

Social media advertising should be a key part of an effective PPC plan. When you show your ads on platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook, you can target your audiences based on detailed personas. Facebook has many different options for audience targeting, one example is ‘custom audiences’.

It’s a targeting feature that allows you to reach individuals who have expressed an interest in your products. There’s also a ‘lookalike audiences’ feature, allowing you to target people who are similar to your existing audiences.

Customer research

Your customer research is a key stage of your PPC marketing campaign. You need to find out what your audience wants and figure out how they search for it. For this stage of the process, you should look at your buyer personas; a detailed buyer persona will help you choose which keywords to use. If you need to improve your buyer personas, try looking closely at your contacts database. See if you can find any trends which show you how certain customers use and find your content. You can also interview prospects and customers to discover what they like most about your product.

Another way to enhance your buyer persona is to collect feedback from your sales team. Ask your team which leads they have frequent interaction with. Ask if they can make any generalizations about the customers who are most suited to your product.

Perfect your keyword research

To improve keyword research, you’re going to need the right tools. Luckily there are plenty of free options out there; these are some of the top picks:

WordStream’s Keyword Tool: With Wordstream’s keyword tool, you can target groups of keywords, gain relevant suggestions, and put words into groups according to common themes.
Soolve: Using Soolve, you can discover the most popular keywords on multiple different search engines. Soolve bases its answers on the initial keyword that you provide. You can also use Soolve to brainstorm new ideas. Simply type in an idea and Soolve will auto-generate a related concept of its own.
Google Keyword Planner: Google Keyword Planner is the most popular tool for conducting keyword research. Here you can also access stats about monthly searches, cost per click, and the competition level. As well as keyword suggestions, you’ll receive synonyms as extra ideas.

Once you’ve decided on your keywords, you’ll need to organize your words into appropriate groups. With relevant and tight keyword groups, it’s far simpler to measure performance and design relevant ads.

Determine your PPC metrics

When it comes to PPC marketing, there are several different metrics you can use to measure your performance. It’s essential to understand which metrics are the most important and to include these as part of your PPC marketing roadmap. Some of the most important PPC metrics are:

Return On Investment

Return on investment is a simple metric that is vital to the success of your campaign. Ultimately, you want to gain a good profit on your marketing efforts over time. To boost your ROI, you should focus on reducing your CPA and increasing your conversion rate. You’ll need to set a strict budget for your PPC campaign and revise this budget regularly. Tweaking your spending every now and then is how you’ll make savings.

Conversion Rate

A conversion rate is one of the most vital PPC metrics. CR refers to the percentage of site visitors who end up converting. When we are talking about conversions, these could either be product sales, subscriptions, or another end goal on your site. Part of your marketing plan should focus on improving your conversion rates. You can enhance CR by:

Using pop-ups: Adding a pop up to your site can help you to boost your conversion rates. Just remember to make an ‘easy to close’ pop up (otherwise people can get a little annoyed)!
Zero distractions: A website with too much going on can increase bounce rates and negatively affect your conversions. Create a site that’s simple, clear, and easy to navigate.
Use testimonials: People can be wary of buying a brand new product, yet lots of glowing reviews and testimonials will quickly change their mind!
Improve your headlines: Improving your headlines is another way to boost your conversion rate. If users aren’t drawn in by a headline, it’s less likely that they will read the rest of your content. You can use A/B testing to try out different options.
Try video: Using video on your site can help to engage your users, entertain them, tell your brand story, and drive leads.
Value proposition: A clearly stated value proposition is another good way to increase conversions. Let your visitors know precisely how your product is unique and why it should be chosen over a similar product.

Click-Through Rate

Click-through-rate is a metric that monitors how many overall impressions you get vs how many clicks. There are a few different ways that you can plan to improve your CTR:

Try timers: Using countdown timers can help to improve your CTR. It’s suggested that this is because timers create urgency, leading users to take action ‘before it’s too late!’
Try ad extensions: Ad extensions are a fab way to improve your click-through rate. You could try using location extensions, (showing the distance from the user to your store). Review extensions are another popular choice to boost CTR.
Use the main keyword in the URL: When you use the main keyword in the URL of your ad, this indicates to the readers that your ad is the most relevant result.

There are plenty of other PPC metrics to take into consideration from impressions to session duration and cost per acquisition.

What compliments a PPC Marketing Campaign?

Competitor Research

Analyzing the moves of your competitors is useful when creating your PPC marketing plan. It’s your competitors who you need to stay one step ahead of, so their own PPC strategies should inform yours. Of course, you’re looking to be better than your competitors, simply copying their strategy just isn’t going to cut it!

It doesn’t matter how much time you spend on your keyword research; it’s still possible to miss things. If you take a look at your competitor’s keywords, you could well find a move or two that you’ve missed.

SEO Marketing

SEO and PPC use different ideas; however, they do support each other. For example, it’s valuable to use data from your SEO marketing to help you with your PPC. Your SEO marketing will include keywords that are high performers. There’s nothing stopping you from using this data to drive the success of your PPC campaigns.

A PPC Company

To improve the success of your PCC marketing, it’s advisable to work with an expert PPC company. When it comes to PCC marketing, there are so many considerations to make, strategies to adopt, and metrics to track. With the help of a professional PPC company, you can supercharge your efforts and see an improved ROI.

A talented PPC service can support you to perfect your digital marketing strategy and boost your conversions. Most PPC services will be able to support you with your overall digital marketing strategy including SEO and web design too.

You might know a little about digital marketing, but best practices are developing all of the time. With plenty of competition out there, it’s wise to call in the professionals to help you to promote your business.

Image credit: Pexels

Why Search Engine Optimization Should Lead Your Marketing Strategy

April 10, 2020 · In: Marketing, Remote Work, Technology

Whether you create a personal brand on purpose or start a successful company by accident, you’re going to need to leverage marketing to grow and expand. Unless you’ve been house-bound before the current COVID-19 lockdown rules came into place, you’ll know that search engines are the key to success.

With their help, you can utilize SEO trends to rank highly on SERPs and boost sales and conversions. Plus, leads are likely to go through the roof, too. It all stems from Google and Co’s influence on the industry.

But, why are they at the top of the tree, and will their position ever be challenged?

Bias Is Low

The haters will point out that the success of search engines, Google especially, is down to biased algorithms. They run and control the internet, so they get to control what people see, including their branding and marketing efforts. Although it was once a popular theory, and there’s no doubt that it doesn’t hurt to incorporate them into your strategy, there is evidence. Google search bias is very low, according to Gotch SEO. The only potential sticking point in their report was that Google employed humans and that humans are inherently biased. Still, it’s not much of an argument for search engines rigging the market.

Image credit: Pexels – CC0 Licence

And Reputation Is High

A direct knock-on effect of the above is this – customers turn to them for answers. Search engines’ reputations are high, to the point shoppers check with them before making a purchase. There are several ways that this piece of knowledge should impact your advertising campaigns, but the two main ones are SERPs and reviews. Ranking on the first page of Google will instantly make you reputable, increasing the chances of conversions. Plus, quality reviews will reinforce the image that you want to convey, i.e., a business that is honest and reliable. To put it into perspective, there are 74,000 searches for reviews from car buyers every month.

The Competition Is Flailing

For the crown to slip from the heads of search engines, there has to be stiff competition. Social media platforms are the closest competitors, yet they have distinct disadvantages. One is that Google and Co. are using their history to consolidate success via billion-dollar budgets. More problematic for search engines’ rivals is the continued PR disasters. Facebook and Twitter have to deal with calls for web regulation regarding user content. Search engines, however, slip under the radar unscathed.

Image credit: Pexels – CC0 Licence

Content Will Always Be #1

What makes engine leaders and what will continue to do so for a long time is the fact that content is essential to marketing. While social media companies benefit from this, search engines exploit it more than any business because they give people the power to react in real-time. Yes, you may see an ad that you like on Instagram, yet you’ll use Bing or Google for the bulk of your research. Content only encourages browsers to use search engines more often, strengthening their position at the top.

The crown isn’t going anywhere yet. Will it one day? What do you think?

Featured image credit: Pexels – CC0 Licence