Your Small Business Can’t Afford to Make these Online Advertising Mistakes

online advertising mistakes

Don’t make these online advertising mistakes.

Are you new to PPC (Pay-Per-Click) digital advertising campaigns? Or, maybe the time and money you’ve invested in your PPC campaigns haven’t been paying off?

At Agapi Marketing & Consulting Ltd., we are familiar with hundreds of successful PPC campaigns. Take our advice: Here are the top 5 PPC campaign mistakes we see all the time that you and your business should avoid at all costs:

Launching a Campaign Without a Clear Strategy

It’s impossible to measure success without defining clear goals. Ask yourself these two questions: What is your primary goal for this campaign? Who is your target market to reach that goal? Then set up an action plan of specific tasks that will help you reach success.

Taking a “Do-it-all” Approach

As you may already know, PPC marketing is much more complex than it seems. You need to make sure that you have access to a digital marketing consultant.

Effective campaigns address the 3 basic types of PPC traffic separately: search traffic, display traffic, and social traffic. Delivering different ad experiences to each type of traffic increases your odds of success.

Failure to Identify a Realistic Budget

Think of your first few campaigns as tests. They may not be profitable, because you don’t know what will work and what won’t. Your budget shouldn’t be too low or too high. Your budget should be enough to test your campaign for future optimization.

Having Unrealistic Expectations

You may expect to see immediate results from your PPC ad campaign, especially if your website is optimized for SEO. Be patient for the first few weeks of your new campaign.

Not Testing Your Conversion Funnel

Make sure everything is working correctly by using test users. Have them experiment, use the site to perform tasks, and don’t forget to have them test the site from a variety of devices!

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.

If you like the information you are receiving, please share this post.

Is Your Business Anti-Social? Putting the ‘Social’ Back into Social Media Marketing

social

Time to get social!

If you’re among the business owners who are posting and sharing content through Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms, then you’re off to a good start.

But if you’re not getting the results you’re looking for, chances are that’s because your social media isn’t actually very social. Posting and sharing content just isn’t enough!

However, how do you put the ‘social’ back in social media and take your social media marketing game to the next level? By creating opportunities for your customers to get involved in the conversation and get to know you and your brand.

1. Post conversational status messages.

This will humanize your brand. Remind people that your business is run by individuals who care about their products and their customers, not by some faceless corporate machine. Allow your customers to connect with you on a human level.

2. Post videos of yourself talking to your target customers.

As a business owner, showing your face builds trust and, again, humanizes your brand.

3. Ask questions. Hear their story.

Ask about their needs and get feedback on your products or services. The exchange will benefit both you and your customers. You’ll be helping your customers feel like they are a valued part of your business, and as a business owner, you will gain valuable insight about your target customers.

4. Respond to comments.

Being social means engaging in a two-way conversation. When your customers reach out to you, make them feel heard and keep them engaged by responding thoughtfully to their comments.

Do these things, and your business will not only have gone social, but it will start taking off.

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.

If you like the information you are receiving, please share this post.

BrightLocal Report: Ask, and You Shall Receive Reviews

reviews

Do you have customer reviews for your business?

Based on a report by BrightLocal, getting reviews from your customers can be as simple as asking them.

Here are some of the report’s key findings:

1) 7 out of 10 consumers will leave an online review if they’re asked to.
2) 50% of consumers have been asked to leave a review about a business and actually did leave a review.
3) 20% of consumers asked to leave a review did NOT leave a review for that business.

In short, you can give your customers the opportunity to leave you valuable feedback by simply asking them to leave you a review. Odds are, they will, and then you can use this feedback to promote your reputation.

This report shows the enormous potential of reputation marketing and why it’s important for every business to have a reputation marketing strategy in place to capitalize on it.

Agapi Marketing & Consulting Ltd. can help you navigate best practices to use reputation marketing to your business’s advantage.

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.

If you like the information you are receiving, please share this post.

3 Ways to Get More 5-star Reviews!

5 star reviews

Want more 5-star reviews?

Anyone in business knows positive reviews, whether word-of-mouth or online, can be just as good as a marketing campaign to get customers in the door.

Sometimes it may seem impossible to get the elusive 5-star review, but it doesn’t have to be as hard as it may seem. Here are 5 things you can do to make sure customers leave satisfied and more than happy to write a good review.

Manage expectations – Don’t take on more than you can handle, or you’ll have customers leaving disappointed. It’s okay to tell customers exactly what is within your means. Once they’re in the door, meet their expectations and then go above and beyond!

Walk the extra mile – Simple gestures can go a long way. Your customer expects exceptional service, show them that you can provide that and more. Make your customer feel special, and they will, in turn, tell everyone else how special your business is.

Ask, while it’s still hot! – If you know you have satisfied customers on your hands, don’t be afraid to ask for that 5-star review. You can do this in person, or by leaving reminders where your customers can see them. Remember to make it easy for them to leave a review – online or otherwise.

Want to know more about how you can make your business 5-star review worthy? Contact us and learn more.

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.

If you like the information you are receiving, please share this post.

Two Ways to Make Your Business More Visible Today!

paid ads

Paid ads increase your visibility online.

You have created the perfect search engine optimization for your website. You have done everything right, everything you were supposed to do. But why are you not seeing any new traffic?

On average it takes between 6-9 months for SEO to begin to become effective. But you don’t have to just sit around and wait during that time, you can use Google Adwords!

1.Google Adwords

Skip the wait, Google Adwords will allow you to see a rise in the traffic on your site within one or two days! You will need to create a strong copy, a target audience, the correct bid, and proper optimization. Then you will be able to watch your targeted customers build up the traffic on your site.

Having a Facebook page is a great step for your business, but it can also take a year or even longer to build a strong presence on the social media site. Even after you build a following it can still be hard to reach new customers, unless you are using Facebook Ads!

2. Facebook Ads

Facebook ads not only allow you to become more visible, they allow you to be seen by your target audience. You get to choose your audience by location, age, gender, and interest. With these highly specific targeting tools, you no longer waste your advertising spending on people outside of your target audience. You can even send viewers straight to your website from the ad.

For more information on getting new traffic, visit us today.

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.

If you like the information you are receiving, please share this post.

Rise to the Occasion with a Clear Digital Marketing Plan

digital marketing plan

How much time a day do you spend with technology?

According to CNN, the average American spends 10 hours a day in front of some kind of screen. With eight hours of sleep time, that means that more than 60 percent of your waking hours are spent in front of a TV, phone, or computer.

What does that mean for your customers? The best way to reach them is by embracing digital marketing. Most businesses have some conglomeration of tactics to create an online presence, but without a clear strategy, your presence can turn into random pieces of digital mess that does not contribute to converting customers.

We can help prevent that and help utilize this tool to reach your bigger business goals. A holistic approach means you never have to worry about some tactics going astray.

Still not sure if a digital marketing plan is for you? Well, here’s the best words anyone can hear when talking about business expenditures.

A digital marketing plan for your company can help increase your return on investment. It does this by improving your visibility to potential customers and increasing your sales.

Ready to create your digital marketing strategy?

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

If you like the information you are receiving, please share this post.

Pay-per-click Advertising is the Key to Quick Digital Dominance

ppc

Are you familiar with PPC?

So you are a new online business, or you are a business that has decided to step up your marketing campaign by having a new website built, and you have created some pages on social network sites like Facebook or Instagram.

Maybe you have a blog out there as well, and you have started creating content for all of your online sites.

But if you are a new to online business, and digital marketing, and you are just getting started, you might be wondering where all your customers are.

You may be seeing little to no traffic at all for your efforts. It’s not that you are doing anything wrong. And unless you are a business with an entirely new product or service that has never been offered before, you are likely to have some tough competition who have already been marketing for years.

So how do you compete?

The answer is Pay-per-click Advertising using platforms such as Google AdWords or Facebook Ads.

But getting into PPC needs a solid strategy.

There are many things you need to have knowledge of. This includes, but is not limited to having a starting PPC budget, a good traffic conversion tracking system for your ads, and having different landing pages that can be cycled to allow for split-testing. You should also have good ad copy with solid calls-to-action that get your targeted audience to go to your website and buy the service or product you are selling.

Any business that wants to get started in Pay-per-click advertising should have expert knowledge on getting started, including proficiency on the tools you need to create and track successful  campaigns.

If you want to get started in Pay-per-click advertising which can bring you instant traffic, clients, and customers, contact us now.  We can help you get started with the right tools and show you how to create profitable campaigns from day one.

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.

If you like the information you are receiving, please share this post.

12 Ways to Promote Your Business in 140 Characters or Less

twitter

How many characters does it take to promote your business on Twitter?

Actually, in 2017 Twitter doubled the number of characters to 280, so now you can have twice as much fun.

Over 2 billion people in the world are connected through social media, with 20% of the world’s internet users having an active Twitter account.

Twitter is a great platform to boost your business, and we are equipped with the knowledge and resources to help you reach your customers this way.

Here are 12 ways to get started in promoting your business today!

1. Implement Cards
You want every tweet to be unique and attractive, Twitter cards are a great way to do this!

2. Build Your Followers
If your  followers are engaged and well targeted, increasing their number can benefit your business.

3. Identify Influencers and Engage with Them
When you engage with influencers — you’re creating the opportunity to gain more followers, more engagement, and more traffic to your website.

4. Use Lists to Manage Your Contacts
As you follow and connect with higher numbers of people, you need to organize them by categories.

5. Use Twitter Ads to Grow Your Email List
Use Twitter ads for lead generation by directing them to sign-up to your email list.

6. Use the Right Hashtags
Be careful with the hashtags you choose. It may seem that cramming as many as possible is the way to go, but studies show that posts with 1 – 2 hashtags have higher engagement than those with 3 or more.

7. Research Your Competitors’ Audiences
Find out who your competitors are interacting with.

8. Monitor Twitter for Keyword Mentions
Use tools that let users set up search columns so any mention of a particular word or phrase is immediately highlighted.

9. Setup UTM Tracking
UTM tracking adds additional info to links you share in order to track where people clicked on them and what happened after they clicked.

10. Use Your Pinned Tweet
Twitter allows you to pin one tweet at the top of your timeline. When anybody looks at their profile, they see that tweet first.

11. Use Great Headlines
Create clever headlines that stand out.

12. Use Twitter Analytics to Analyze and Optimize
Twitter Analytics let you see how many views and how much engagement your tweets get.

Want to learn more? Let us help you optimize your Twitter!

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.

If you like the information you are receiving, please share this post.

Your Business Website is Your Foundation for All of Your Digital Marketing

successful digital marketing

Any smart online digital marketer will tell you that your website is the most important aspect of any successful online business.

And any successful website covers every angle when it comes to the customer’s journey on finding exactly what they need, whether that be a product or service that the business is offering. Do it wrong, and that customer will go to another website where that business is doing it right.

So what are the things that every successful digital marketing hub has? Well for starters, this is the place where the business begins to build its’ brand and reputation. And everything that involves the brand should be here such the core message or mission statement of the company, the source of the business information including the location, the management, the employees, and the expertise of the business team that is building this brand.

Of course, your business might be different, and you may have a small team offering products or services. Or it may be just you offering a product

In this case, you would build a case on why your product is better, or where your service is better than ‘company-x.’ Building your brand all starts here on your web property.

But this is just the beginning of having a solid foundation for your ‘digital marketing hub’. A good way to look at this is from a customer or visitor standpoint. Does your website have everything that the customer needs including answering questions about the product or service that you offer?

Do you have complete product or service guides online, and are those guides being regularly updated? And do you have product guides and tutorials setup for buying customers?

Many online businesses have different products or offer different services, and those could include customer education, or supplying how-to guides.

Having lead generation is another important aspect along with being able to find that business on social networks. This is important because many businesses use these social networks like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to keep their customer base updated on new products or services that the company offers. And there is so much more.

If after reading all this, you must feel overwhelmed, don’t worry. We can guide you through the process of making sure your website is fully utilized for your business, and it’s optimized to increase conversions.

Contact us today to let us know how we can help 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.

If you like the information you are receiving, please share this post.

How Video Marketing and YouTube Can Help Your Business Boom

marketing with video

Marketing with video can exponentially expand your reach.

It’s no secret that social media can help business owners like you connect with customers. Most businesses have Facebook and Twitter accounts to keep loyal fans engaged and attract new customers, too.

But what about YouTube? With over 122 million daily viewers in 2022, YouTube can help you grow your business and expand your customer base.

Businesses of all sizes are turning to video marketing as a crucial strategy for customer engagement. And since 6 out of 10 people prefer online video platforms to live TV, it’s no surprise that YouTube reaches more 18-34 and 18-49 year-olds than any cable network!

And YouTube users are watching on the go: More than half of YouTube views come from mobile devices, and the average mobile viewing session lasts 40 minutes! Are you getting visibility like that? With a YouTube channel for your business, you can!

Unsure how to use YouTube to your advantage? Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. How-to Videos or Tutorials
2. Customer Testimonials
3. Product-in-Action Videos (Demo Videos)
4. Product Spotlights or Special Offers
5. Product Comparisons
6. Behind-the-Scenes Videos
7. Contests

New to video marketing? Want to make sure you’re getting the most from YouTube? We can 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.

If you like the information you are receiving, please share this post.

YouTube
YouTube
LinkedIn
LinkedIn