Does Social Media Marketing Work?

does social media marketing work

Everyone is on Social, but does Social Media Marketing work?

LinkedIn has 900+ million users. That’s a huge audience. Facebook has an astonishing 1.5 billion daily users. There are 354 million Twitter accounts. The list goes on, and the audiences continue to grow. It’s obvious that if you want to succeed you should be interested in this huge pool of potential clients.

Ninety-one percent of retail brands use 2 or more social media channels. Having control over your social media is essential if you are to become a successful brand. Controlling the messages you send out to your customers is a key factor.

Here are 10 Key Elements to Successful Social Media Marketing for your business:

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5 Reasons You Should Be Using Remarketing

remarketing

Do you know what remarketing is?

Remarketing is a type of online advertising that allows you to recapture the interest of a customer who has previously visited your website.

After someone visits your website, remarketing allows you to follow them around as they continue to browse and then position your ads right in front of them! That’s a very effective marketing technique!

Five Benefits of Remarketing:

1. It provides a high return on investment. Costs for remarketing have reduced considerably in the last few years.
2. It is a very efficient and cost-effective method for small businesses with a tighter budget.
3. It continually reinforces your service or product to a likely buyer you know is interested.
4. It is a brand awareness tool as it keeps your brand in front of a potential buyer’s mind.
5. You can measure the effectiveness of your remarketing, so there are no surprises. You will receive reports on how your campaigns are performing, where your ads are popping up and what price you are paying.

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, please reach out to us.

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Your Customer’s Voice Is A Valuable Marketing Tool

customers reviews

Do you care what your customers think about you?

Digital marketing generally means getting the word out online about your brand and getting customers to see why they should buy from your business.

But in today’s hyperconnected world, your customers can also shape the reputation of your business online in (nearly) real time. This is very important as 77% of consumers read online reviews before making a decision.

While talking about how good your products and services are is of course useful and necessary, what your customers say about your company can also be used as a marketing tool. This is called Reputation Marketing. What makes this strategy different from other types is that it puts the “voice of the customer” as the central focus.

What your customers say about your business is not something you can control, buy, or make them do, but you can use the positive reviews they do leave to shape the narrative of your business’ reputation.

It’s amazing how many business owners are keen on running all sorts of online marketing campaigns, yet they don’t take the time to have their customers write a comprehensive review about their products.

Can you imagine how many of your “would-be customers” end up buying from your competitors, all because they couldn’t find any reviews about your product or service?

It’s essential for potential customers to know that others have used your business and had a good experience doing so, giving your business a reputation of trustworthiness.

Reputation marketing today is a must.

How do you get these positive reviews for your business and strengthen your reputation? There are many ways and we’d be glad to help.

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, please reach out to us.

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Is Your Website Mobile-Friendly?

mobile friendly

You have to be mobile friendly!

Just about everyone has some sort of mobile device, be it a tablet, smartphone or laptop. These people are also using these devices to search for a business that offers your services. If your site does not function properly on their variety of devices, they won’t waste time trying to make it work.

A mobile website is one that has been designed to be responsive. This means the site can detect what kind of mobile device it is being viewed on. It then adapts itself to fit and function properly on the device.

Here are 5 reasons why you need a mobile friendly site:

1. Social media shares are huge on mobile devices because they are so easy to do. Your content, pictures, and videos will get shared more often because your website is readily accessible on mobile devices.

2. Google favors mobile-friendly sites in the search engines. That means they rank mobile-friendly sites higher.

3. A mobile-friendly site means more opportunity for sales. If the visitor’s experience on your site is fast and straightforward and NOT clumsy and difficult, of course, you will have a better chance of a sale.

4. Users on mobile are bigger buyers! Why? Because more often than not they quickly browse for what they want, checking for info before buying.

5. And finally, the most important reason is that most people now have a mobile device or two. Why ignore the majority of your customers?

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, please reach out to us.

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8 Questions To Win More Customers

questions to win more customers

Ask these eight questions to win more customers.

Wouldn’t you like to know how what your customers are thinking? How are they going to act? Well, you can! You just need to track how your current customers are interacting with your business.

You or someone on your team needs to be continually answering the following questions in order to get to know your potential customers.

How many customers are you getting every month?

Even in the craziness of running your business, you need to make sure you have a way to keep track of all of your customers that you are serving. You also need to make sure that everyone on your team is on the same page and using the same system for tracking.

How many of them are coming from your website?

You need to be asking how your customers found out about you and keeping track of customers that are coming from your site.

Are they coming from your SEO efforts? Social Media? PPC?

You or someone on your team need to be monitoring how users are finding your website to learn what is working for you and what can be tweaked.

By what percent of your visitors are converting?

Track how many people who are coming to your site are actually becoming customers.

How high is your bounce rate?

Monitor the percentage of people visiting who are just viewing one page of your site and then navigating away.

Which pages are most visited?

Take note of the pages that users are going to the most often and see if they are the pages that will lead them into making conversions.

Which pages do they spend most of their time on?

You should study the pages that users are spending a lot of time looking at and see how you can make other pages interesting to your potential customers.

What’s the winning conversion path?

Find out what path the customers are taking to make conversions and make sure that your site is designed around making that path as easy as possible.

Make sure someone on your team is answering these questions often so you can optimize your website design to get a greater number of conversions.

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, please reach out to us.

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Build Trust with Reputation Marketing

online reputation management builds trust

Managing your reputation online builds trust.

There are many places out there where people can leave reviews telling their experience with your business.

Some businesses choose not to get involved because it might be too much work. This can be a huge business mistake that you will want to fix right away.

In a recent online poll, it was found that 84% trusted online reviews as much as they would a recommendation from a friend or family member. That’s up 4% from last year showing that more people are looking at online reviews and that you need to have reputation management in place taking care of these reviews and making sure you are getting authentic reviews.

Most businesses are starting to see the importance of managing their online reviews, and even getting customers to leave them reviews. With that being said, it is very important not to have fake reviews for your company, intended or not. And it’s always a good idea to know all the popular review sites out there so you can manage any reviews that are being left.

You should never let a bad review go unchecked. This can show people that you don’t care, and are likely guilty as charged. And some businesses have been completely destroyed by bad reviews.

Don’t let this happen to your business. Create a solid review management strategy that will help you build trust with potential customers.

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, please reach out to us.

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9 Tips To Improve Your Web Design

improve your web design

Try these nine tips to improve your web design.

What makes an effective web design?

Is it the visual elements, or is it the functionality?

Truth be told it is a combination of both. As Steve Jobs once said, “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”

Websites with great usability and function tend to perform better on Google than those just with beautiful design. We want to show you 10 ways to improve your existing website to ensure you are getting the most bang for your buck.

Purpose and Function

An exceptional website has a clear purpose, and the function is evident and intuitive. The design of every element and how they come together as a whole should be derived from the purpose and function of the website.

Communication and Interaction

Internet users want information quickly. To ensure you are providing lightning-fast information, you should be clear and concise, using headlines, and subtitles to provide valuable information. Links to the email address or contact form, live chat, and feedback form should also be easily accessible.

Intuitive Navigation

Navigation is a core element in which your website is built upon. The navigation should make sense to your visitors whatever path they wish to take. Navigating from point A to C based on the customer’s journey should flow smoothly without any barriers or friction. Ensure your customers can find the information they are looking for within 3 clicks or less.

Design Consistency

Each design element should match throughout the entire website. This means your headlines, colors, and so forth should all have the same look and feel. Take the time to plan out every detail to ensure your message is consistent throughout.

F-Pattern design & Grid-Based Layout

Ensure your page elements are arranged in a way that is natural for the eye. Studies have shown that people view pages in an “F” shaped pattern. Arrange your content based on a grid to create content that is both aligned and balanced.

Typography and Readability

The text is one of the most vital elements to a website, providing users with necessary information, and providing content for SEO. Create visually engaging type by using attractive and readable typefaces.

Color palette and imagery

Use a well thought out color pallet to enhance your user’s experience. Use contrasting colors for the background and text, while implementing vibrant colors for buttons and headlines to draw the user’s attention.

Mobile-friendliness

The number of devices that users are viewing websites from has increased dramatically over the past few years. Ensure your website is built with a responsive layout.

Loading speed

Take the time to ensure your website is loading at lightning speed. User’s hate when it takes more than just a few seconds to load a page.

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, please reach out to us.

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5 Reasons To Use Digital Marketing

use digital marketing

Here are five good reasons to use digital marketing.

Customer behavior has changed. Now they go online to research and evaluate brands, products, and services. Your potential customers have gone digital, and so you need to as well.

1. Your prospective customers look online before buying!
Did you know that 81% conduct online research before buying? If your products and services cannot be found online, then you are missing out!

2. It works!
Thirty-three percent of mobile users have purchased from a different brand after seeing advertisements on their mobile devices. So if your website is not mobile-friendly, you’re losing 33% of buyers!

3. It levels the playing field.
If you are a small or medium-sized business, you can take on much larger competitors. To the online shopper, the size of a business is not that important online. If they see you as a business that provides better value, then that is all that matters.

4. It’s cost-effective. You do not have money to waste.
Wouldn’t it be great if every lead who viewed your product or service was a serious buyer looking to purchase? With digital marketing, all your potential customers are targeted and looking for your product or service. Google states a 2.8 times higher revenue growth for companies that use digital marketing techniques.

5. Track potential customers.
You can track customers from the first interaction. Imagine if you could follow your potential customers around and keep promoting your product. Digital marketing will do that for you.

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, please reach out to us.

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Using Google Alerts To Monitor your Online Reputation

monitor your online reputation

Did you know Google Alerts can help you monitor your online reputation?

Promote your brand along with its good reputation on social media and other platforms. However, things get a bit complicated when you have to deal with bad reviews.

First, keep a good reputation by being honest, transparent, setting clear expectations for your customer, and by being in business because you genuinely want to help people around you. It goes without saying that shady practices are a no-no.

Second, you have to prevent any dissatisfaction by a customer from escalating by addressing every complaint you get. It has to be fixed at this level immediately while the customer is still trying to reach out to you. Because once they have felt frustrated and think they have to warn others about your practice, things can get messy.

Nonetheless, you have to set your radar for negative reviews. One good way to do this is to set up Google alerts for your brand terms and name.

What else can you do to safeguard your brand?

Claim your brand name
Build a consistent identity

Whether your brand is your name itself, your business name or your product name, you need to make sure that no one else can misrepresent you online by owning a piece of your brand. Make sure that you own domain names and usernames associated with your brand.

Suggested tools:

KnowEm.com
NameChk.com

Build a consistent identity on major channels:

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
YouTube
Pinterest
Tumblr
Quora

Publish content regularly:

The content you publish will define and reinforce who you are, what you stand for, and what your business is all about. This will make up the values associated with your brand. Anything inconsistent with these values will not be immediately convincing to your customers who know you.

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, please reach out to us.

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How To Create Optimal Content and Customer Experience

create optimal content

Here’s how to create optimal content.

On the internet, standing out poses a challenge, and at the same time, the best opportunity for creativity and bringing some attention to your site. Adding the extra “WOW” to your content will pique a customer’s’ curiosity, build their interest, and over the course of a few transactions, earn their loyalty.

This is achieved through web content that goes far beyond ordinary but without all of the sensory overload. Each aspect of your site should have its own purpose—from the background to the logo to the informative blog. Every part is a solid brick in the foundation of your establishment’s site.

Here are some possible “add-ons” to consider to make your site stand out:

– Demo/explainer videos
– Client testimonials
– A page for reviews
– Informational text that actually informs—as opposed to simply luring the client
– Interactive questionnaire
– Easy-to-follow graphics
– A healthy combination and balance of “all-the-above”
– The compelling story of your business began and most importantly, where it’s going

And don’t forget a user-friendly “contact us” page or even an option for a live Chat with a knowledgeable representative from your company? You’re only limited to your own and your team’s imagination.

So the time has come to set that staff meeting and do a plus/delta on your site’s current features. What’s working and drawing in an audience, and what’s not working? What is the purpose of each and every feature of your site? What are some viable changes that can be made? Who is your target audience? How can you make your site not only engaging but also user-friendly?

As you can tell, some guidance from an experienced digital marketing consultant should come in handy. You are the experts in your product or service; so allow some room for the marketing experts to help.

Essential Questions to ask about Customer Experience

User experience with your site can make or break your business. Think about it. A slow interface, a shopping cart that’s difficult to navigate, or even one small glitch can drive traffic away and steer potential customers toward the next result that showed up on the list of search results. So how do you keep this from happening?

Working with a knowledgeable and experienced team of designers and developers can make quite a difference in creating the best customer experience possible. When searching for such a team, you might need to keep a few ideas in mind such as;

– Can they reduce my site’s loading time?
– Can they create engaging content that includes images?
– Can they strike a balance between SEO and treating my audience like “real people”?
– Can they build a user-friendly check-out?
– Can they build a user-friendly customer service Chat and/or Email page?

Looking at these many aspects related to a customer’s experience is vital.

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, please reach out to us.

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