by Marketing Manager | Content Marketing, How To's & Info you can use, Internet Marketing, Marketing Tips, Mobile Marketing
When was the last time you left your house without a phone? I’m willing to bet it’s been a while. Most of us keep our mobile devices within reach at all times, even when we’re sleeping. From a marketing standpoint, that’s good news – or it would be if you were making the most of mobile marketing. The truth is that only 70% of small businesses are using mobile marketing to promote their products and services. Only some of those are doing it effectively. Here’s what you need to know about how mobile marketing can help your small business in 2021. Grab Your Share of Voice Search When you search for something using a mobile device, do you stop and type out your query, or do you start with “Okay, Google” or “Siri” and then ask a question out loud? Increasingly, people are doing the latter. In fact, 50% of all searches were voice searches in 2020 and estimates are that 55 million American households will have at least one voice assistant by 2022. You can get your share of voice searches by optimizing your website for long-tail keywords and answering common questions on your website. Using questions in your titles and headings will increase the chances that your content will earn a high rank on Google. Embrace Mobile Responsiveness While we’re on the topic of mobile friendliness, is your website mobile responsive? Mobile responsive designs adjust automatically to fit the device being used. In other words, a user who accesses your website on their laptop should get the same information if they visit using a smartphone or...
by Marketing Manager | Analytics, How To's & Info you can use, Marketing, Marketing Tips, tools, Trends
One of the things that modern consumers want from digital marketing is personalization, as long as it’s done right (see the title above for an example of how NOT to do it). This can be overwhelming at times, especially for small business owners who believe they don’t have the resources needed to personalize. In reality, technology has made it easy for businesses of all sizes and types to personalize their marketing strategy. The following are some of the simplest and most effective methods that small businesses can use to personalize their digital marketing: 1. Gather Data The first step to personalizing your digital marketing is to gather as much data about your customers as you can. You will use this to segment your audience and help with the personalization. The more data you have, the better. While getting clients to fill out a survey is a convenient way to gather data, your clients likely won’t want to. You can offer them an incentive to do so or ask for bits and pieces of information over time. 2. Use Buyer Personas Once you have enough data, take some time to create buyer personas. These are representations of your typical target audience. They should include information like gender, age, other demographics, goals, and why they want your product. Create as many buyer personas as you need to fully represent your audience. For example, if you are a small business selling jewelry, two buyer personas maybe someone who buys the jewelry for themselves and someone who buys it for someone else. As you create your...
by Marketing Manager | Analytics, Content Marketing, Customers, How To's & Info you can use, Internet Marketing, Lead Generation, Marketing Tips
Whether you’re a Star Wars fan or not, you’ve probably heard the term Jedi Mind Trick. Maybe you’ve wished it were a real thing that you could harness – for good, of course – and use in your marketing. I’ve got great news for you. While the Jedi aren’t real, it is possible to use mind tricks – also known as cognitive biases – to get people to engage with your content and buy your products. All you need is an understanding of how the human brain works. What Are Cognitive Biases? A cognitive bias is an innate flaw in reasoning. What’s useful about cognitive biases is that they are something we all share. We are all susceptible to them and that’s what makes them effective for marketing. What’s especially interesting about cognitive biases is that they can work on us even if we understand what they are and are on guard against them. It is possible to avoid them, but it takes work and a real commitment to seeking out alternate points of view to do so. There’s a field of marketing known as neuromarketing that is designed to use psychology to “hack” buyers’ brains. Keep reading to learn about some of the cognitive biases that can be useful in marketing and tips on how to use them to grow your audience. The Bandwagon Effect The Bandwagon Effect has historical roots. Originally, the bandwagon was a parade float where a band played, and spectators would be encouraged to jump on the bandwagon. The implication was that the people on the bandwagon were having more fun than those...
by Marketing Manager | Article Marketing, Content Marketing, How To's & Info you can use, Internet Marketing, Marketing Tips, Social Media
In this day and age, effective online advertising can be the difference between surviving and thriving for small businesses. With the sheer number of people that use the internet and the tools available to target them by factors like age, interests, location, and more, businesses that don’t pay much attention to advertising online risk severely limiting their growth. As a business owner who probably doesn’t have much experience running ad campaigns online, where do you start? One recommendation that you will get from just about every blog and self-proclaimed ad guru is Facebook Ads. It’s not a bad recommendation. With more than a billion users across the globe, Facebook dominates the online advertising landscape. Millions of businesses rely on Facebook to generate leads and increase sales. The company offers exceptional targeting features and related ad tools that help advertisers create powerful campaigns. However, advertising costs on Facebook have continued to rise over the years. Recent surveys have shown that many marketers are now worried that they could ultimately be priced out of Facebook Ads. Many small businesses operate on a shoestring budget as it is, so it becomes difficult for them to risk a substantial amount on expensive ads. The key to a profitable campaign is to test as many variations of the ad as possible to gather data and then optimize to scale up. This economies of scale model won’t work for businesses that only have a limited budget to spend on one single campaign. Fortunately, there are many other advertising networks that can be just as suitable for a small business....
by Marketing Manager | E-Mail Marketing, How To's & Info you can use, Internet Marketing, Lead Generation, Marketing Tips
There’s no denying that email marketing is effective, but it only works if you have a list of qualified and engaged subscribers who are eager to read your content. Sounds easy, right? A lot of businesses have email lists that have stagnated because they’re not doing anything to attract new subscribers. They’re not sure where to start and as a result, the people who visit their website aren’t taking the extra step to opt in for emails. What can you do about it? The answer is right in front of you. All you need is to make it easy for people to sign up and then give them a reason to fork over their email address. Here are 9 things to try. #1: The Pop-up Opt-In I know… I know. Pop-ups have a bad rep and if you use them improperly, they can be a real nuisance. A lot of people use pop-up blockers, and you might worry that a pop-up won’t be effective as a means of attracting new subscribers. The key to using a pop-up effectively is to time its appearance to the moment when the person reading your content is most likely to opt in. You can run A/B tests to figure that out. #2: The Slide-In If you don’t like a true pop-up but like the idea of having your opt-in form appear at an opportune moment, you may want to consider a slide-in instead. They provide many of the same benefits of a pop-up without the stigma. Your slide-in can be timed to appear at the moment when a site visitor has read...
by Marketing Manager | How To's & Info you can use, Marketing, Marketing Tips
As a small business, you always want to find effective and innovative ways of selling your products or services. While some of this comes down to paid advertising, a large portion of it is also related to how you present your products and services. If you are still struggling to find the best way to present your services or products to boost sales, keep the following advice in mind. Make a Claim You Can Back Up Confident prospects buy. So how do you create more confidence? One simple but powerful option is to demonstrate that you aren’t afraid to back up your claims about your product. Offer a 30-day satisfaction guarantee (or longer if your competitors are already doing something similar), with the promise to give your customer a full refund or the promise that you’ll keep working until they are satisfied – their choice. You’ll build trust and be recognized for your reliability – this will do wonders for your brand’s reputation and sales. Show What Makes You Unique No matter your niche, there are likely numerous other similar products and services on the market. You need to present your product in a way that makes it clear how you are different and stand out from the competition. This is your unique selling proposition. Most companies will have to think for a little while to figure out what this is. You want it to be different from your competitors’, so it shouldn’t be “great customer service” unless your industry is notorious for absolutely horrible customer service. Once you have that...
