How to Design a Website that Captures More Business

by

Your website is frequently the first place you interact with potential customers, and therefore, it needs to make a strong, lasting impression. The purpose of your website should be to not only inform your audience of your products and services, but also drive qualified leads. This is why when you are considering a website refresh, you must reconsider every aspect of your website to ensure you are building a website that captures your audience and converts them to customers.

What is the buyer journey on your website? Should you conduct a survey to more fully understand your consumer’s needs? Is your site map clear? What pages, modules or features are necessary?

Once you have identified your plan and strategy, you’ll need to focus on site architecture, SEO, branding, and other design elements to build a site that fits your brand, but also is appealing to your target audience. You want to ensure the customer journey is a success from the start.

With these ideas in mind, we can help design and build a website with a priceless ROI for your business ensuring long-term success for your business growth

New Digital Marketing Strategies

by

The digital marketing landscape is changing as a result of COVID-19, especially for B2B businesses that traditionally rely on face-to-face meetings at tradeshows and events. This has lead to a new customer journey that focuses on digital aspects. Here are a few tactics that are more crucial than ever.
1. Focusing on virtual connections will be necessary to fill the void of in-person meetings and events. Focus on a strategy that fits with your business strategy, whether that be webinars, virtual conferences, or social media, but also be prepared to balance them with in-person events when possible.
2. Utilize the data and analytics available to you. Investing time and resources into understanding the market changes will ensure your organization changes with the times and has the best possible understanding of the market and end users.
3. Strengthen SEO and paid search/social and rethink the traditional strategies. The only way to recover is to take a fresh approach and respond quickly.

Best Marketing Podcasts and Blogs

by

Marketing is a fast-paced industry and strategies can quickly become dated. How do you stay relevant and continue to maintain an edge in the industry? By staying informed of the latest industry news, reading marketing leader’s blogs, and listening to podcasts.

Podcasts and blogs are important marketing tools, but they should not be neglected for marketers to actually learn from as well. Here are our favorites:

1. HubSpot: Though a marketing automation system, HubSpot’s blog helps marketers addresses the current trends and gives insight into the trends driving the industry.
2. Neil Patel: An industry icon that can answer every question you’ve ever had about marketing strategy and explains concepts in an easy to understand manner on his blog.
3. How I Built This: Not just for marketers, NPR’s podcast interviews entrepreneurs to detail their fails and successes.
4. Marketing Over Coffee: Make this podcast a morning staple as you drink your coffee and take in a years of industry knowledge.
5. Social Media Examiner: If you need a social media deep dive, this is your spot for the most comprehensive coverage, though other marketing topics are also tackled. There are also great articles for beginners with easy to follow directions.

How Can Your Organization Leverage Facebook?

by

CFacebook is no longer the lone premiere social media site, but that doesn’t mean your business should or can afford to abandon the platform. Facebook has made some updates in 2020 and they are trying to make the platform more competitive.

Facebook Stories
While it has not been as popular as Instagram’s stories, Facebook stories are still increasing in popularity, especially with the Instagram connection. Since its inception, Stories’ real estate has drastically grown within the app. This is a great place to leverage your business in a less formal manner.
Longform Video Content
Previously, short and sweet videos were preferred. However, Facebook is now pushing longform video, which gives your business the opportunity to give a demo, show a commercial, and have more options in terms of video.
Ads
Facebook updated several ad-reporting tools to make tracking easier so advertisers can measure campaign performance across the board. This includes conversion paths and cross-account reporting to get a holistic picture.

Top Google Ads Mistakes

by

TrackingGoogle Ads is a simple and effective way to garner additional business, but are you doing it properly? There are a few key points to ensure you are getting the best return on investment, starting with the ABCs.
• Automation: Make sure you are leveraging the full power of Google Ads to get your business in front of the right people. See what is working and what isn’t and let Google be your guide, but also fully track all campaign movements to make sure you are attracting the right visitors.
• Broad Keywords: Broad keywords without negative keywords can lead to the wrong kind of traffic. You do not want to gain website views from those who are not interested in your goods or services. It is always best to have a strong conversion rate
• Conversions: Though Google Ads will deliver a conversion rate; it is always best to make sure you are tracking this with real life results. Is your goal to bring in leads or sell a product? Make sure you are effectively tracking the successfulness of your campaigns. As mentioned before, Google may not understand the difference between Sprinkle’s Cupcake ATMs and your cash ATM, so optimization and monitoring are key.
If you need Google Ads assistance, let us be your guide.

SEO Writing for Articles

by

Search engines are the easiest way for users to discover your webpage, and therefore play a pretty major role in website traffic. Writing with SEO (search engine optimization) in mind help to maximize the number of visitors directed to your site from search engines.

In its most simple use, if a user searches for a specific phrase, and that phrase is found on your website, then your website will be generated as one of the search results.

Despite needing to rank on search engines, you cannot forget the reader and the benefit you need to provide to them by writing meaningful content. This quality copy can still follow SEO guidelines and keep your audience coming back for more.

Another tactic is providing backlinks to other relevant content on your site because search engines take into consideration how many links are pointing to your site.

By utilizing these SEO tactics, search engines can accurately categorize your site, thus gaining you more visibility.

Email Marketing Tips

by

In a world where email boxes are flooded daily, you need to ensure your email stands out and you improve over time by monitoring deliverability and improving. Don’t have your email sent directly to spam or the trashcan. Stand out with these tips: 

1. Check Your Copy for Spam-Triggering Words.  
Make sure your subject line and body of email don’t include any keywords that can trigger spam alerts.  
2. Protect Against Hard Bounces.  
Are you keeping track of the percentage of hard bounces you get?  Since hard bounced can really hurt your reputation, you will have to clean your list regularly.
3. Don’t Forget Branding.
Branding is vital to how emails are being read and how recipients understand them.  Include your logo in your email communication and make it clear this coming from within the organization, so an individual or marketing@organization.com email address will be best to have brand cohesion.
4. Track Your Successes and Misses.
Understand which subject lines work and which don’t so you can replicate your successes.

A Marketers Guide to Cyber Monday

by

Black Friday previously meant early, cold, crowded mornings just to get the best deals for holiday gifts. Now, you can stay cozy and warm in your house and shop from the comfort of your home on Cyber Monday. This shopping evolution, though, means marketers must be prepared for the influx of website traffic, Google searches, and eager buyers. According to ComScore, Cyber Monday resulted in $6 billion worth of sales. So what do you need to do to make sure your organization can capitalize on potential sales? Follow these simple tips:

 

  1. Adweek found over 50% of Cyber Monday sales came from mobile devices last year. If your website is not mobile-friendly, you will want to overhaul and update ASAP!
  2. To test readiness, run a mobile compatibility test with Google. Even if you believe your website and organization can handle an influx of mobile purchases, this site will put you at ease and help you recognize slow-loading pages.
  3. Run a contest starting now to gain awareness for your Cyber sales and brand traction. Nothing spreads as quickly on social media than a desirable contest or giveaway.
  4. Digital may seem like king, but holiday shopping isn’t strictly online. Some shoppers combine online and offline shopping with buy online, pick up in store options.
  5. CyberMonday is not just in the US, so if you are a global brand, make sure you’re targeting your global audience.
  6. Make sure your site loads in a timely manner by checking your site speed with Google’s developmental tools.
  7. With the rise of conscious shoppers, consider matching sales to a humanitarian effort or create a product for a cause. ‘Tis the season for giving after all!
  8. Consider partnering up with a different brand. Brand partnerships are huge during the holidays!
  9. Offer something exclusive for the day, like a new color or offer!
  10. Include gift wrapping or boxing for free or a minimal fee.
  11. Create a holiday gift guide to help those shopping for difficult recipients and highlight different products.
  12. Offer a free or reduced trial for software.
  13. Create an exclusive deal for subscribers or members. Brand loyalty should never be underestimated in today’s competitive market.
  14. And most importantly, start a drip campaign NOW! Your brand will have steep competition, so make sure you get in front of your target audience before the holiday.

4 Steps for Fall Cleaning Your Marketing Strategy

by

Spring may be better associated with a deep cleaning, but Fall is a great time to reevaluate your marketing strategy and efforts to ensure everything is running smoothly, especially before the holiday rush if you’re in retail. With this new season comes the opportunity to find ways to improve your marketing campaign’s effectiveness. Here are a few ways to get started:

  1. Update Social Media

Have you recently updated your profile picture, cover photo, about information, and checked your links? This housekeeping is crucial in maintaining proper branding and establishing a credible brand image. This updates gives your audience an opportunity to engage and share your new look or seasonal update. Also, if you have stopped using a social platform, wipe it clean or hide it so it doesn’t look like you are no longer active. It is better to be active on fewer platforms than to try to be active on all platforms, especially if your target audience can be limited to one or two platforms.

  1. Critically Evaluate Your Website

Make sure your brand looks active online by routinely updating events your attending, posting on your blog, and sharing current specials. This is also a great time to comb through all your pages to make sure your links are working and no information is outdated, which includes your employees. If your website is starting to look a bit outdated, a rebrand could be necessary to make sure you are up-to-date.

  1. Change Passwords

Cybersecurity is a hot topic for a reason. Make sure only those who need passwords have access and ensure passwords are different for each site. It’s smart to change them at least once a quarter.

4.  Update SEO Strategies

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is critical for consumers to find your website. To accomplish this though, you’ll need to ensure your website has strong readability for search engines, meaning web pages with proper titling, relevant descriptions, and detailed meta descriptions.

Maintenance is a crucial step in your marketing strategy so you don’t fall behind! These tips are a good starting place, but if you want a deeper diver, contact us today.

Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing

by

You’ve probably heard a lot about inbound vs. outbound marketing, but what is the difference, which is better, and what should you do? The key difference is outbound is more traditional marketing whereas inbound is the modern use of content to generate leads.

Outbound marketing utilizes mass media to push their product, message, and material to the public. Some different types of outbound marketing include:

  • TV ads
  • Billboards
  • Trade shows
  • Press releases
  • Direct mailers

Inbound marketing holds content as king and is designed to take your client through the buyer’s journey starting at awareness and leading to a purchase or even advocacy. This can be accomplished through a few different strategies including:

  • Paid search ads
  • Blogging
  • Social media marketing
  • E-mail campaigns
  • Community building

The benefit of inbound marketing lies in its flexible budget, which makes it an effective strategy for small, local businesses, in addition to national brands. It can be customized for a specific event, time period, or subject and reach a very targeted audience. We can help guide you through the best strategies for your business.