marketing Archives - Chloe Anagnos

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

Easy Ways to Market Your Business

January 14, 2020 · In: Marketing

If you want to market your business to the best of your ability, then you need to try and think outside the box. Hone in on your target market. If you try and target everyone then you might not end up getting the solid customer base you’re looking for.

Here are a few easy ways to market your business even if you don’t have a huge budget.

Use Social Media

Utilize social media channels like Instagram, Pinterest, Linkedin, Twitter, and Facebook. Each of these is all unique in their own right and they require a certain approach as well.

Choose a few that really appeal to you and try not to master everything at once. Focus on consistent and quality content on where your audience is, and then branch out to other platforms as you get more comfortable.

Create Content that is Valuable

Your customers love great content, and so does Google. At the end of the day, there are so many ways that you can share information. Some of them range from creating videos to hosting podcasts and even designing infographics. When you do things like this, you can then gain authority as an expert and you can also capitalize on traffic more too. Consistent blogging is also incredibly helpful to boost your brand authority and boost your SEO.

Contests and Giveaways

Everyone loves a good contest or a giveaway. A lot of businesses try and avoid things like this because they don’t understand the return on their investment. This is not the case at all, and there are plenty of ways that you can really benefit. One way would be for you to offer a voucher or discount code for your service. When creating a contest, it helps to engage your customers as much as possible. Crosswords or even word searches are fantastic here, as they generate interest and engagement. WordMint is a great source if you’d like to pursue this further.

Send out a Newsletter

Sending an email newsletter is also an inexpensive way to engage customers. When you do, you will be able to remind your customers of who you are, and you can also encourage them to buy from you. The best thing about newsletters is that you can create them yourself and use your database to gather your customer data. If you are planning on sending out email newsletters, then make sure to track your results! If you don’t then you may end up putting effort into something that just isn’t working for you.

Image credit: Pexels (CC0 License)

Readers’ Favorites of 2019

December 29, 2019 · In: Marketing, Professional Development

I’m so happy to present the top ten readers’ favorites from my website in 2019. My goal is to share as much as possible about my travels and how I make my remote career not only work but flourish.

Thank you for following along!

10. How to Create Passive Income Online

9. How to Develop Yourself When Your Company Won’t

8. Why Millennials Are Drawn to Multi-Level Marketing

7. How to Build a Professional Wardrobe on a Shoestring Budget

6. Ditching the 9-5: How to Find Remote Work Opportunities

5. 9-5 to CEO: How I Accidentally Started My Business…And Grew It

4. How to Make LinkedIn Connections Without Being Creepy

3. 13 Professional Habits You Should Implement

2. Dressing Well in the Workplace: How to Skip False Pretenses and Dress Like You Mean It

1. What NOT to Wear to an Interview

9-5 to CEO: How I Accidentally Started My Business…and Grew It

August 29, 2019 · In: Marketing, Professional Development

In 2012 I was a waitress.

From 2013 to 2014, I was working multiple internships to put myself through college.

By 2015, I was a college graduate who accidentally started a business.

Going into 2020, I’m the owner and CEO of a marketing consultancy with a payroll.

My business started when I was approached by a few individuals I knew from previous internships who needed small tasks completed. Ghostwriting, some social media help, and simple website design.

I was bored outside of my marketing 9-5 and said, “Sure! I can help!” From there, word spread, and I found myself juggling anywhere from 4-5 clients on a monthly retainer outside of my regular job.

In 2016, I took a phone call from a former boss who offered me a contract position working for one of the biggest marketing operations in our nation’s history. (Buy me a drink, and I’ll tell you all about it.)

I gained confidence and grew leaps and bounds because of that contract, and I’m forever grateful for it – along with the agency positions I was able to take afterward.

This amount of experience allowed me to take what was just a handful of clients…to almost ten times what I originally had in 2015.

Almost five years later, I registered for an official LLC, hired an accountant, and now have a team that works with me to establish winning content and marketing strategies for businesses, brands, and charitable organizations.

Had I been asked if I wanted to be an entrepreneur when I was younger, I would have laughed. I never thought that it was something I would want to do – or that I’d even be good at – but I stumbled into it literally because of a few LinkedIn messages years ago.

I’ve been able to work remotely and live as a #digitalnomad, but it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. I attribute these aspects to the growth and success of my business and would suggest them to any aspiring entrepreneur or business owner.

Push yourself.

Be willing to put yourself out there. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing when I started, but had I not been willing to face this venture early on, I probably never would have started.

Work more than 40 hours a week until you don’t have to.

At my busiest, I’ve worked 100 hour weeks and a “slow” week is somewhere around 60 hours. Even on some holidays, I check my email and try to knock out smaller tasks. Even if I’m on vacation, I’ll check in with my team in the evenings and am available. It’s hard to not completely unplug – especially when I want a break – but it’s not always an option. “Busyness” as a status symbol annoys me and going into 2020, I’m working on being better about balancing my life.

Learn how to delegate.

In late 2018, I realized that I needed help if I wanted to really grow. So, I hired incredibly smart and talented people. I “let go,” in a sense, and learned how to delegate and divide and conquer so I could better serve my clients and grow my business.

Listen to your clients.

I listen! It’s one of the most valuable qualities I bring to my clients. Most of the time, the problems they “think” they have with their marketing or overall media strategy isn’t exactly what they need to be successful.

Network and do all you can to grow.

I’m naturally more introverted, but as the saying goes, “you don’t grow in your comfort zone.” I’m thankful for networking organizations in Indianapolis and around the world that allow me to meet with like-minded, entrepreneurial people who push me to be my best self.

How to Create a Personal Brand

August 15, 2019 · In: Marketing

By now you may have heard of the “Instagram aesthetic” – a diminishing trend of cultivating the perfectly curated feed native to the platform. This phenomenon enabled social media influencers to expand their realm of influence and generate a following based upon creating relevant content that resonated with a specific audience. So, how did they do it?

By creating a strong, personal brand.

Though this idea may sound repulsive to some, personal brands can be extremely effective ways to generate income and leverage greater influence among a specific audience. Some equate this practice to “taking pretty pictures” or “writing a blog every now and then” but creating a personal brand and monetizing influence takes time and intentionality.

The investment may seem more than anticipated, but creating a strong brand can lead to many benefits, including more credibility and exposure within your field, additional streams of revenue, and a more personal connection to your audience. The dedicated following that comes with having a personal brand may just make the journey worth it to tackle your dream projects.

Ready to give it a go? Here are some factors to keep in mind when establishing a strong personal brand.

Choose your niche

The most renowned personal brands are typically quite specific and are focused on a certain niche. Choose a topic that excites you and brings you passion. You don’t have to drop all of your hobbies but when it comes to generating a following, choosing one topic in particular like fashion, marketing, psychology, or fitness can help target a specific audience while allowing you to become known in your field.

Find someone to follow

Because personal brands exist for nearly every idea, find an influencer or brand you resonate with, and follow them closely. What topics do they post about? What patterns in their content strategy do you recognize that you can implement? What interviews, podcasts, or blogs about their journey do they share in regard to getting started? Take note, and learn from their example.

Cultivate a social media following

Building a strong and faithful following online is one of the most effective ways to have an audience to both serve and sell to. Create content with your target audience in mind and develop a strong tone to your writing.

Focus on writing to one clear person and you’ll begin to attract the people you would like to influence. Post about similar ideas and as with a personal brand, don’t be afraid to become a bit vulnerable on your journey. Additionally, invest your energy into the platforms where your audience spends most of their time.

Define your audience

Develop a content strategy and examine your analytics as you generate traction or ensure you have a clear idea on the front end of who you’re targeting. Implement marketing tactics and practices that most closely resonate with your audience.

For instance, podcasts may work well with millennials, but YouTube is more effective with GenZ.

Create partnerships

Influencer marketing and affiliate marketing are great places to start in this respect. If you don’t have the follower count to make connections try looking for like-minded people online who are doing the same thing as you. Come up with giveaways or encourage your audience to look into partners’ websites and contents, and ask them to return the favor. Finding your competition and working with them will benefit you more often than not.

Collect information

Most influencers focus on growing an email list so they have the rights to information, so in order to build out your brand to leverage influence, ensure you are creating content that serves and creating lead magnets to convert your audience.

Create a strong community

We live in a digital age and many people online are in search of the community they don’t have. Use that to your advantage – having a specific audience that attracts like-minded people is a strength. Instead of making your brand just about you, bring your audience together and they’ll follow you over a cliff.

Why Your Lead Generation Isn’t Working

June 15, 2019 · In: Marketing, Technology

The success of most businesses hinges on lead generation.

If you don’t have people inquiring about your product or service, you won’t be in business – or for long, anyway. Even if you have a blog, work in retail, or volunteer with a nonprofit, understanding the process of acquiring leads is pertinent to gaining any kind of traction for your organization.

Essentially, lead generation is a process that finds the clients and customers you need to need to attract.

This is significant since your ultimate goal should be for prospects who are unfamiliar with your organization to become leads that eventually purchase from you, sign up for your offer, or volunteer with you. Lead generation is an ongoing process that provides your business with a steady pipeline you can scale and grow.

It’s important to develop a plan to ensure you have a sound process to not only generate quality leads but to keep them. Here’s why your lead generation process may not be working.

You aren’t qualifying your leads

Even though it may seem beneficial to have a large volume of leads coming in, those leads only to create more work if they don’t fall into the category of your ideal client. For instance, if you sell pacifiers and are targeting young moms, having 100 leads from mostly 50 + year old men won’t help you generate revenue. Your lead generation process should be tailored toward your ideal client, and therefore should ask specific questions and offer the information that will convert your lead to a customer.

You don’t have an inbound marketing strategy

In an oversaturated market place with many competitors, it is no longer enough to simply sell to your audience. Furthermore, the most successful companies have found ways to serve their clients. Research the inbound methodology to learn more about ways to educate your audience and offer them value. Most people are skeptical of providing their information in fear of being spammed, so you’ll want to create content worth your ideal client’s time.

You don’t have automation sequences in place

When you create offers or lead magnets, most times your prospects want the information they inquired for immediately. Creating automation where sequences are enabled to send them to lead magnets and other relevant content will keep them engaged. Your audience also may not be ready to purchase from you immediately, so create a drip campaign to warm your audience. This will enable you to set up sequences to follow up with your audience and warm them to your product or service.

You don’t have a landing page

If you don’t have a landing page created, it may be challenging for you to generate leads. Having a page for this purpose will more clearly outline the purpose you’ve established for your leads. Different than just any normal page on your website, a landing page will better educate prospects on your offer clearly articulating the benefits for them, in addition to streamlining your marketing efforts for ads and retargeting.

You’re not running ads

SEM and social ads are great ways to better reach your audience. Using Facebook Pixel to target your existing traffic and creating ads is the best way to continue to engage leads. The rule of 7 explains it takes 7 times for your prospects to see your offer before they take action.

Your offer isn’t good enough

Sometimes your end of the bargain and whatever lead magnet you provide to gain customer information simply isn’t as valuable to prospects as it may be to you. Focus on creating offers and lead magnets that your current client base already wants. Ensure that you are adding value, and allow that to shine through as you aspire to get more leads.

What compliments a PPC Marketing Campaign?

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