Following a 1400% increase in interest for the search term ‘business cost savings’¹ between March to June 2022, digital marketing and website development specialist, Fishtank Agency, highlights five ways you can save costs as a business online:

1. Create a 12-month Strategic Marketing Plan with a Set Budget/Limited Expenses

Developing a marketing strategy that aligns with your overall business plan and objectives is essential to building resilience. Understanding your target audience, their wants and needs, and your own goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) as a business will not only give you clarity and results but also save you money.

Planning 12 months ahead helps avoid future uncertainties and reduces the risk of failure. It allows time to coordinate tasks and distribute responsibilities, such as thorough research and visual graphic creation.

You can utilise a number of organic marketing tactics to build brand awareness, an audience and ultimately new customers. An essential organic component of this strategy is content marketing. Creating and posting valuable, relevant and meaningful content is a great free way to increase your brand awareness, trust and authority, leading to increased lead/sales generation.

Using a mix of the below techniques is recommended to achieve the best results:

• A consistent flow of social media content (organic)
• Monthly email newsletters
• Advice-led blog posting
• Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
• Building backlinks from high authority websites

2. Choose a Hosting and Maintenance Partner That Offers Flexibility

Choosing a provider that regularly monitors and suggests suitable plans based on usage not only protects you from inflation but gives you the flexibility to adjust your package depending on your needs. You want a contractual agreement with a price promise for 12 months minimum to protect you and your business as the cost of living rises and other expenses increase.

For example, in manufacturing, you will often find at least one period of the year where traffic is expected to ramp up significantly. This can be driven by classic product-related seasonality (e.g. sun cream in Summer) or marketing offers to inflate demand, and your website will need to be able to handle any spikes in traffic.

By partnering with an agency that regularly reviews your package and suggests ways to improve the service provided, you could look to save or reallocate funds elsewhere. This relates to hosting and any monthly or annual agreement your business may be contributing to, such as website maintenance, CRM software, etc.

3. Take Advantage of Organic Social Media and  Email Marketing

Despite social media platforms bringing in 29.37 billion pounds in revenue² – the marketing tools themselves are free, unlike many traditional marketing methods (print marketing, tv and radio advertisements etc.). Using organic social media content that can be packed with clickable links is also a cost-effective alternative to increasing website traffic and goal conversions, which can save on any extensive pay-per-click (PPC) budgets. 

Social media marketing is quick, easy and time-efficient. You can build a community of followers and gain consumer trust by providing bucket loads of resources all in one place within minutes. The platforms also allow you to humanise your brand and partner with influencers and key stakeholders. 

Key things to remember when managing social media for a business:

• Create a social media strategy based on your target audience
• Put together a content plan looking at key awareness days, products and services, User Generated Content (UGC), testimonials, FAQs, behind the scenes and more
• Schedule your posts to save time using tools like Hootsuite, Tweetdeck or Buffer
• Measure results using Google Analytics as well as internal social media analytics
• Keep an eye out for industry trends using social listening tools and Google Trends
• Create engaging social graphics using Canva or if your budget allows, reach out to a graphic designer for some creative direction

4. Strengthen Relationships with Suppliers and Customers with Case Studies and Connecting on Social Media

By building a bank of case studies and sharing this insight across social media (tagging relevant stakeholders), you can reduce the cost of marketing efforts as it is a free and organic way to build trust and brand awareness with your audience. 

It not only makes your customers feel appreciated and special, but it also allows your brand to reach businesses it may not otherwise have. By engaging with your customers and suppliers on social media, you are building credibility with potential new customers that are not following your content yet; essentially, you can reach a wider audience at no expense. 

When writing case studies, link back to customer and supplier websites and focus on target search terms. This will support the improvement of website authority and visibility online, and Google keyword positioning will improve, increasing website traffic. To do this, use tools such as Google Search Console, Google Analytics, Moz and Google Trends to carry out your keyword research and ensure you are targeting the most relevant keywords or phrases.

5. Increase Digital Reach and Rank Higher in Organic Search Results with Traditional SEO

Traditional SEO practices are one of the top ways to increase keyword rankings and reach while simultaneously trying to maximise the marketing budget. Spending money on PPC advertising and Google Ads can quickly become expensive, especially in competitive industries. Building a solid organic search presence with relevant content and strong website optimisation can be a great way to still appear at the top of the first page of Google. 

Users often ask Google very specific questions – and if your website gives them direct answers to those questions, the search algorithm will reward that. Support that with in-depth on-page optimisation, perfecting your meta descriptions and alt tags, and you could find yourself with a featured snippet (highlighted excerpts of text that appear at the top of a Google search results page in what is known as ‘Position 0’) or top position. 

Whether you use an agency to help with your SEO or invest in an internal resource to manage search presence, this strategy, in the long run, works out much cheaper than a search ads campaign that you have to fuel with money every single month. 

Limited Budget Digital Marketing Case Study – Tubex

Tubex approached Fishtank Agency to spread awareness of the Tubex Collection and Recycling Programme, position Tubex as a sustainable leader within the forestry industry and support customers facing the demand for sustainability initiatives within the forestry industry by educating them about the benefits of Tubex tree shelters. 

As the budget for this campaign was limited, Fishtank Agency maximised the budget and stretched it across multiple channels in order to achieve the campaign objectives set out by the company. The strategic agency developed an integrated marketing strategy including targeted email campaigns, digital marketing, social media content creation and search engine optimisation.

The campaign resulted in 150,000 Tubex tree shelters being collected since the launch with more than 25,000 kg of plastic collected and recycled. As well as increases in website traffic, Tubex also saw social media traffic grow by 15% and average session duration on the website jump by 10%.

Jacy Yates, Account Manager at Fishtank Agency, summarised: “Digital marketing helps businesses of all sizes become more visible online. Whether it’s through social media, a website, or other means, digital marketing tactics can make a significant difference to a business’s marketability and profitability. “The above tips on how you can save costs as a business online show the cost benefits of digital marketing; the key to using them is to have the right talent in-house or to find a compatible business partner in a digital agency you can trust”.

The post Five Ways to Save Costs as a Business Online appeared first on SiteProNews.

Which digital marketing channel should I use and why?

The largest advertising channels available are owned and operated by Google, Facebook, and Amazon. Google offers platforms such as Google Search, YouTube, Google Shopping, and Google Display. Facebook has both Facebook and Instagram. If you are an e-commerce company selling products directly to consumers online, Amazon is the go-to place.

When deciding what channel to use, it boils down to understanding your target audience and what they’re looking for. If you offer a service or product people are already searching for online, typically, Google searches will be your best place to start. Google search allows you to reach people at the exact time they’re searching for your service or product. After that, all you need to do is show them you have the solution.

On the other hand, if you’ve created a new product people aren’t yet aware of, Google Shopping isn’t the best channel for you. Using Facebook or Instagram to proactively create product awareness will be a more successful strategy. The best choice of online marketing channel depends on what you’re selling, where your audience is, and whether they know about your product.

In online marketing, is SEO or PPC better?

SEO and PPC are both essential ingredients in the alphabet soup of online advertising. SEO stands for search engine optimization, and it involves getting content from your website to appear organically in search engines. People go to search engines like Google or Bing to enter keywords related to things they want to find. If you can get content from your website to rank high in search engine results, the people searching for those keywords will visit your website and see the product or service you provide.

The beauty of organic traffic is that it’s free. When I say “free,” I mean you’re not paying Google or Bing directly. Good SEO strategy can still be expensive, however. To rank high in searches, you need to create high-quality content and get that content posted across the internet.

PPC stands for pay per click. It’s an advertising model where you pay for each click that brings people to your website. When you search on Google, you’ll usually see paid ads at the top of the page and organic listings below.

The downside of PPC is that you pay for the traffic. Don’t let this deter you from PPC’s benefits, though.

Paid ads are the first thing most people see when they search Google. If you’re not up there, you’re going to miss a lot of traffic. Since people usually click the first one or two things they see, that exposure is a big deal.

It can be tough to rank organically on competitive or popular keywords. It can take years, and sometimes it never happens. PPC ads offer you control and predictability. You’re paying to reach the exact users you want to engage.

PPC will usually offer faster results. SEO is a longer-term play. The best strategy is to use both. Showing up in both paid ads and organic listings will maximize traffic to your website.

How can I best leverage my existing online audience in advertising?

If you have an existing audience, there are ways to leverage that asset in online marketing. First-party data, such as an email address list, can extend your online reach and engagement.

First, providing that data to Google and Facebook enables you to deliver ads to those specific people. Let’s say you have a seasonal product you want to cross-sell. Every Valentine’s Day, you can reach out to existing customers using their first-party data.

Another way you can leverage your existing audience is by identifying new customers similar to your current customers. You can accomplish this through Google’s Similar Audiences and Facebook’s Lookalike Audiences. After you provide a list of your existing customers, Google and Facebook examine their behavior patterns and demographics and target ads to people who have similar interests or behaviors.

Finally, you can leverage your existing audience through user-generated content. This strategy involves motivating your audience to create content related to your product, such as unboxing videos, reviews, and testimonials. You can leverage those assets in marketing campaigns on your website to increase the conversion rate. The content will also help you rank higher in organic searches.

What strategies are working best right now on Google?

Google is currently pushing automation in advertising campaigns. The most important thing is knowing when and how to use it.

Don’t put blind trust in Google’s automation. I’ve seen way too many cases where things go wrong. It’s crucial to have experts who know what to look for and monitor things.

You need to have parameters on the advertising campaigns you’re running, monitor things closely, and be ready to make changes if you see a problem. At the same time, if you try to keep everything manual, you’re going to be left behind by competitors who’ve figured out how to utilize automation to capture the customers you want.

Should online marketers run standard or smart shopping campaigns?

You’ll use shopping campaigns to provide data to Google about the products you sell through your e-commerce website. Shopping campaigns allow you to enter data and images related to your products into a format that generates ads. These are the ads you see at the top of Google’s search pages with pictures, prices, and links to specific products.

There are two different ways you can run campaigns to highlight your products. A standard shopping campaign involves a manual approach. You’re selecting which product you want to advertise and setting your own bid. You retain more control, but more work goes into that campaign.

A smart shopping campaign is automated. You’re still selecting which product to feature and setting some parameters, but Google does a lot of the work after that. In most cases, smart shopping campaigns work more efficiently and drive higher returns on ad spend with higher volumes in sales than standard campaigns. We use standard campaigns to prime the system and collect information such as conversion rate data and click data. Then, we let the smart shopping campaign take over.

What are common mistakes new advertisers are making?

There are definitely some common pitfalls new advertisers encounter in online marketing. We frequently see a lack of understanding of Google’s and Facebook’s advertising policies. Many people new to marketing accidentally violate these policies resulting in their suspension from Google or Facebook. That suspension can cause all kinds of delays, frustrations, and problems for new entrepreneurs.

Another common mistake I see occurs primarily in the e-commerce space. Many people new to e-commerce are drawn in by claims that online marketers can set up a website and outsource all the work. The truth is, you have to invest a lot of time and energy into any kind of successful e-commerce business. There’s no such thing as a “get rich quick” business model. We see a lot of new e-commerce entrepreneurs throwing up a quick e-commerce website and expecting the money to roll in. That very rarely works.

Another common mistake is trying to do everything yourself. A lot of expertise goes into determining where you should invest your marketing budget. There’s certainly a place for you as a business owner to explore advertising because it plays a vital role in your company’s success. At the same time, you’ll want to take advantage of the experts. People who work in agencies like StubGroup focus entirely on digital advertising and its rapidly changing strategies. Their expertise can save your business a tremendous amount of time and money.

The post Do’s and Don’ts of Online Advertising on Big Markets appeared first on SiteProNews.

Webinars are gradually becoming one of the best methods to sell online. Many small businesses are taking to it for reasons which include:

• To establish themselves as authorities in their niches.
• Identify the pain point of their clients and solve it.
• Create awareness about their brands.
• Attract more clients around the world.
• Make more sales with ease.

But one problem these small businesses face is the inability to scale their webinar. They have taken steps to this effect, but it seems like it isn’t working.

They don’t see positive results. Even when they do, it’s not significant. In this article, we’ll look at 6 simple hacks that will help you scale your webinar as a small business. 

But before that, let’s define the term ‘webinar’.

What’s A Webinar?

A webinar is an event hosted over the web in which the presenters share their knowledge on a particular subject with their audience, participants, or attendees. It’s often business-related and allows for the exchange of ideas between participants and is presented through questions, comments, and answers.

6 Simple Hacks to Scale Your Online Marketing With Webinars

Choose a Suitable Topic 

The first thing you should do when thinking of doing a webinar is to identify a suitable topic. You may be asking what a suitable topic is. A suitable topic is one that solves the problem of your potential attendees. 

It should be one that a reasonable number of people are craving to get a solution to. Conduct research on the internet or use any keyword research tool to ascertain the estimated number of people looking for a solution to such a problem. Doing so will inform you of the number of participants who are likely to register and attend your webinar.

Ensure that the Content You Want to Deliver is of the Highest Quality 

Bear in mind that your prospective attendees may have participated in such webinars in the past and probably didn’t receive enough value. Ensure your content is superb, giving them a reason to be grateful for participating.

Develop your content in a systematic manner so it flows along at every stage. Make it interesting in such a way that there won’t be a dull moment throughout the webinar session. If you don’t have expertise in a particular area, involve an expert who can help. Content and how you deliver it is key for a successful webinar. 

Choose Suitable Webinar Software 

Identifying the best webinar software is important. The software you use to host your webinar to some extent determines the result you will get.

Host your webinar with software that is user-friendly, easy to use, and compatible with a lot of devices. Attendees who registered for your webinar may find it difficult to participate if the webinar software is not compatible with their devices or easy to navigate. 

 The implications are they won’t receive value for their money if they paid to participate in it. Secondly, you have limited the number of people who are likely to purchase the products you’ve created.

Get Your Timing Right

One of the mistakes some small businesses make is to host webinars at inappropriate times which can impact attendance. 

The first thing that should determine the timing of your webinar is the time zone of your prospective participants. Another is their age. Take, for instance, if your target audiences are in North America and Western Europe. The different time zones in these regions becomes a major factor. 

What you need to do is to identify a time that is okay for both. Also, the age of your audience should matter to you. If your audiences fall in the age bracket of 30 – 45, you should know that probably a lot of them have jobs and are likely to be occupied during weekdays. 

In this case, the best option would be to schedule your webinar during the weekend. Timing your webinar correctly can lead to an increase in the number of people who’ll participate and that’s a plus for you.

Promote Your Webinar 

If you don’t promote your webinar, only a few people will know about it. The more people who know about your upcoming webinar, the better your chances of achieving your goals. This promotion can be free or paid.

If you have a large number of followers on different social media platforms that is a good place to start your free promotion. You can run adverts on Facebook, Instagram, or even YouTube, targeting audiences who are likely to be interested in your webinar. 

Offer Incentives 

You need to offer something that will capture the attention of your audience. This could be a free e-book or video course that is related to what you plan to deliver on the day of your webinar. The reason for offering an incentive is to capture email addresses through a landing page you can create with email marketing tools like GetResponse or ActiveCampaign.

With that done, you can follow-up by sending reminders for registration, date, and time of the webinar. It can also be a means of selling the products you’ve created even if attendees didn’t purchase on the day of the webinar. People cherish freebies and it has proven to be an effective way of getting their attention. 

Final Thought 

Webinars are one of the best ways to grow your small business. Learning how to scale a webinar is a must if you want to see the positive results that come with it. That’s why you should take the right steps to make it work for you. The points made here are worth trying the next time you plan a webinar.

The post 6 Simple Hacks to Scale Your Webinar as a Small Business appeared first on SiteProNews.

Thousands of blogs are created to target the same segment of an audience so how will you make sure your content gets the maximum attention and you drive a huge amount of traffic towards your blog?

Increase in traffic means increase in the number of potential customers and better chances of conversions (read: sales). 

Many blogs give away freebies to attract attention and drive traffic, but what if you have nothing to give away right now? Fret not! There are other simple ways to drive traffic to your blog and improve conversion rate:

Have a Good Content Strategy

Creating strategic content is even more important than creating high-quality content. Know what your customers are looking for and create content accordingly. Content should always be created to meet a specific need.

Even more important than creating content is delivering the content to the right people at the right time. So you must identify the places where your audiences are to be found and then share the content on the specific channels.

Share Content Once, Twice, Thrice!

It is always wise to share your content multiple times over various channels. By sharing the content more than once, you make sure no one misses the information being shared. Though some marketers would call this ‘Spamming’ but by scheduling follow-up cleverly, you can attract maximum attention.

Partner with Other Bloggers

By partnering with other bloggers in your niche, you can expand the reach of your content. Write content that can be published in your partner’s blog and ask them to write content for your blog. By doing this you will cross promote each other’s blogs and get a good amount of traffic.

Participate Actively on Forums

Forums are places where people flock to get their questions answered. So by being active on various forums (related to your niche) you can find people who will be interested in your content. Answer questions, share relevant information and discuss topics with other people. Whenever possible ask people to read your blog and get answers to their questions but remember to recommend your content only when it is relevant.

Influencer Marketing

Engaging influencers is becoming a rage among marketers. If you want to drive a huge amount of traffic, identify influencers in your niche and ask them to spread the word about your blog. Whenever possible ask them to contribute to your blog as well. People will be more interested to engage with you if you have a trusted name associated with your blog.

Use Hash Tags

Proper usage of HashTags is very important to improve the visibility of your content. By including hashtags, you ensure your content gets found when people search for related information.

Give Out Freebies

Everyone likes to be rewarded with something. So if you still haven’t thought about free products, it is time you do. It need not be anything expensive or big. It must be something that your reader will be interested in, such as an ebook, discount coupons, etc.

Great content must always be the first priority, however, you must also think about new ways to drive as much traffic as possible to your blog.

Use SEO to gain more traffic

Make sure your blog is SEO friendly to drive the maximum amount of organic traffic towards your blog. Create evergreen content that will be relevant for the long term and attract visitors for a long period of time. Use proper keywords and implement SEO best practices in your digital strategy.

Optimising a blog is not rocket science and is very similar to optimising your own website. To rank your blog on the top SERPs, you have to follow simple optimisation rules. 

Here are some tips that will help to get your blog ranked better:

Use Long-Tail Keywords: Use long-tail keywords meaningfully within the post and include them in the blog titles if possible. Make sure you use them naturally, so that the posts do not look spammy. Write posts for educating your visitors and insert keywords wherever possible. Posts that are stuffed with keywords do not interest readers and are unsuitable for search engines as well.

Make your Blog Mobile Friendly: Google’s recent update requires all websites and blogs to be mobile friendly. So make sure your blog can be accessed properly on all mobile devices. Google suggests using responsive templates as the best practice to make blogs mobile-friendly.

Get Backlinks from Authority Sites: To earn links from other related authority sites, you have to write information-rich, engaging posts that are worth sharing. To increase the visibility and attract valuable links you can:

• Submit the blog and RSS feeds to various blog search engine and directories
• Post valuable comments on other blogs
• Write guest posts
• Update your blog frequently

Grow your Social Community: Social signals help in boosting search engine rankings, so make sure you write content that is worth sharing. Build communities on the leading social 

platforms and distribute the content in various formats. Make sure you share other valuable 

resources apart from your own content. The more you help the people in your community, the more will they be willing to share your posts.

The Bottom Line

By using these tried and tested ways you will gradually increase your blog traffic. It’s important to remember that building a blog and getting traffic takes time and effort.

The post 8 Tested Ways to Gain More Blog Traffic appeared first on SiteProNews.

But there is something about visuals such as images, videos, and infographics that instantly draws reader attention – enough to connect and entice them with your brand!

In fact, the human brain has always processed images faster than words, so… the new marketing trend of incorporating visuals does not come as a surprise!

And the marketers who are still hesitating with this integration are probably missing out on one of the most significant (and successful) online marketing tactics!

Here is why!

1. Consumers Prefer Visuals

Humans are visual beings! And as mentioned above, we are able to retain information faster that is provided in image-based format – compared to text-only documents! Successful platforms such as Instagram show that visuals are a great source of creating user engagement.

Studies also show that readers pay close attention to photos and other images that provide relevant information. However, they choose to ignore words and fluff pictures that are simply used to fill up the webpages. 

Visual content also has the potential to get higher views and engagement, which leads to a better conversion rate in online marketing.

2. We Don’t Like to Read

With the average attention span of humans hitting an all-time low, most of us get distracted easily. And most visitors will simply skim through a web page, reading roughly 20% of the text. They are also likely to spend less than 15 seconds actively reading the text on a webpage – most probably missing out on the crucial message you want to convey.

However, when the same message is converted into a one-minute long video, it gets consumed easily – and in the shortest amount of time.

3. Visuals Trigger an Emotion

Since the brain retains visuals more effectively, it also has a better chance of evoking emotion from readers. A vivid image gets viewers to act and think in different ways. It also helps control their behavior without their realization.

For example, Iowa State University conducted a study on summer camp kids to increase their vegetable consumption. The researching team made use of digital menu boards and featured rotating images of salads. As a result, they found campers eating habits to improve 90%, with boys being especially more responsive to the digital boards.

4. They Are More Memorable

Numerous studies show that it is easier to remember things when we see them in a visual format. They are also retained for a more extended period as compared to reading or hearing the same information.

Take for instance, a video tutorial of a recipe. Seeing the dish being actually prepared will help you recall the steps better during cooking versus reading it in a text-based format.

5. Social Media Engagements Far Better with Visuals

Above all, visual content can be a huge asset for marketers who want to promote their product/service through social media. And several studies prove that:

• Tweets with images receive 150% more retweets
• Facebook posts with images see 2-3X more engagement than those without
• Posts that include images have a 650% higher engagement rate
• 6 billion video ads are watched online each year
• Instagrammers share 95 million photos daily

With these statistics in mind, marketers should focus on enhancing visuals in their online marketing protocols to improve the likelihood of consumer engagement.

Plan of Action for a Successful Visual Content Strategy

Before embarking on a visual content strategy, it should be remembered that not every type of visual will produce the same impact. Also, just randomly adding an image will not be sufficient for your visual marketing strategy.

Consumers are ready to consume visuals in every format, so add a little variety to make your content stand out.

1. Use Images

Images serve as one of the best ways to break up long blocks of text and compel visitors to complete reading what you have written. Blog posts with images also get more views and a low-bounce rate.

Ideally, it is best to use original images or create your own. You can also use Canva and similar websites to design your own images using a simplistic drag-and-drop interface. Alternatively, there is an unlimited number of excellent-quality photos available on free and paid stock image sites.  They can prove to be fantastic image sources for your social media and online marketing.

2. Videos

Videos are one of the most important visual aspects used in online marketing and are generally preferred by online audiences for both information and entertainment. Although more expensive than other visual modes, video plays a substantial role in influencing consumer purchasing decisions.

You can create various styles of videos, such as explanatory, animated, tutorials, or even one consisting of consumer testimonials. Whatever style of video you choose, make sure it is synonymous with the overall style and layout of your brand.

3. Infographic

Infographics are excellent for lead generation as well as for increasing engagement and traffic, allowing marketers to illustrate statistics and data in an easy-to-understand display. 

Viewers also love them because the visually compelling graphs enable them to grasp even the most complex information seamlessly.

4. Presentations

If you have a topic that is too lengthy to be appropriate for infographics, we suggest integrating a slideshow presentation for your audience. An effective boardroom strategy, presentations in online marketing allow advertisers to effectively communicate regarding a product or service. 

5. Screenshots

Screenshots are another great way to back up claims you make in your marketing campaign. 

They help provide a more in-depth explanation of a specific function or the happenings behind the scene. You can also use them to capture consumer testimonials and experience from forums or social media.

Over to You

Visuals or words are both great on their own. But when you combine them both, you can expect phenomenal results from your online marketing strategy. In fact, visual content taps into the audience’s visceral psyche, encouraging them to probe further about your brand – and ultimately convert as loyal consumers.

Simply put, take full advantage of visual content and see how engagement and awareness with your brand skyrocket.

The post Importance of Visual Content in Online Marketing appeared first on SiteProNews.

Marketing your products and/or services is going to cost you—a lot if you’re just about to market your new products/services. And, if you own a small business or a startup, chances are you don’t have the same luxury of having a huge marketing campaign budget as other more established brands. Sounds pretty hopeless, right? Wrong. Traditional marketing campaigns can really be expensive, but thanks to the Internet, small business owners can be on equal footing with big businesses.

Are you ready to build your business’ online reputation? Here are 9 online marketing strategies that can help you boost your business to the next level.

Social Media

One of the most efficient and cost effective ways to market your wares on the Net is through social media. Pretty much every one is active on different social media platforms— with Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram being the most popular. Use this fact to your advantage by creating an official account for each of these SocMed platforms and start posting your products, promos, and other related info. Also, you will really have to work on boosting your friends and followers in the beginning. If it proves too hard for you to manage your social media accounts, you can also hire a social media manager who focuses not just on building your business’ following, but answering potential customers’ queries and posting regularly. 

Instructional Videos

Being an “expert” on things related to your online store’s products is one of the most effective ways to build online reputation. So, if you have a YouTube channel or if you like posting videos on your social media accounts, make sure that you also create helpful how-to videos and not just promotional videos.

Blogging

As with creating instructional videos, maintaining a blog is also a surefire way to build online reputation. Just write about things that provide advice and share bits of information that can really help you connect with your people and turn them into customers. Also, blogging with the proper use of keywords can really help boost your SEO, which brings us to –

Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization or SEO is an online marketing strategy that is basically about pushing your website up the search engine (Google, Bing, Yahoo) rankings. Just think about it: if you have a strong SEO strategy, your business’ website will appear higher on search engine results. This translates to more site visitors and potentially higher sales. So make sure that you understand how SEO works and if it gets a bit too “techy” for you, you can always invest in hiring an SEO specialist who can do the work for you. 

Influencers

Many people, especially the millennial and Gen Z consumers, are now using social media to learn more about new products through influencers. Who are they exactly? Influencers are basically social media “stars” who have a huge following. They are called such because they have the power to, well, “influence” their followers to buy the products they endorse. Using influencers to market your products can also help you identify and get to know more about your targeted audience or customers. Just make sure you find the right influencer for your niche.  

Affiliate Marketing

One of the most cost-effective ways to market your goods is through affiliate marketing. Also known as performance-based marketing, affiliates can also promote your products/services (much like influencers) without you having to pay them for the services up front since they only get paid when their efforts result in either a lead, a click or an actual sale. There are a lot of affiliate marketing success tips available on the Net. Check them out and see how affiliate marketing can help boost your business’ success. 

Email Marketing

With social media and influencers continually gaining ground in online marketing, one might think that email marketing nowadays is a waste of time. But in reality, it’s actually becoming more effective than other online marketing strategies. With billions of email users from across the globe, the advantages of email marketing are way too many to just ignore. Email marketing, for example, presents a cost-effective way for you to directly communicate with targeted audiences without having to break the bank. Also, effective email marketing, can feel more personal, thus, creating a deeper relationship between you and a potential customer.

Web Design

Have you ever been to a website that was so crappy that you immediately clicked away? Of course, you wouldn’t want visitors and potential customers to experience the same thing on your online shop. Make sure that they have the best experience possible when they visit your website by keeping the design simple and easy to understand, and interesting enough for people to actually explore beyond the main page.

Here, if you’re not artistic and tech-savvy enough to create your own web design, you should invest in a professional who can create a website for you that is modern, intuitive, and attention-grabbing. Also, it is best if your site is mobile-friendly since many use their mobile phones to browse and shop using the Internet. 

The Numbers Game

In today’s digital world, the importance of gathering data and analyzing it is always going to be vital to a modern business’ success. This is because you can use data analytics to get a glimpse on how your business website is actually doing and about your customers’ behaviors and interests, which gives you an opportunity to tweak your marketing strategies and ultimately attract more potential buyers to your online store.

It’s amazing what we all can do now with the emergence of the world wide web. We use it for communication, entertainment, shopping, and a lot more. No wonder more and more people across the globe are going online. With more than half the world’s population connected to the Net, you can take advantage of this to market your wares online at a minimal cost through these effective online marketing strategies.

The post 9 Effective Marketing Strategies appeared first on SiteProNews.

Short-term working capital loans help you overcome barriers to engaging with customers online. You can use working capital loans to:

• Hire a social media specialist to manage your channels.
• Upgrade your web content management system to improve your website.
• Invest in your website’s backend to bolster performance.
• Bring in consultants to help you improve online branding.
• Bridge cash flow gaps that may occur after investing in marketing and waiting for returns.

Short-term loans can be used to eliminate the obstacles between you and your online marketing plans. From there, it’s time to act to engage customers online. Here are seven effective strategies:

1. Run Social Contests

Running a contest on social media lets you engage customers online by offering them a reward for interacting with your content. You can ask participants to attend an event or time the contest to create urgency for customers to get involved. Either way, creating a fun experience and offering an incentive can leave them more likely to engage with your brand.

Creating opportunities for new leads and customer interactions isn’t the only benefit of social contests. These social experiences help you target a wide range of customer types who want to participate in special promotions. A study from Eventbrite found that 78 percent of millennials would rather spend money on an experience than a tangible item. As such, creating an engaging contest that generates a strong user experience can drive younger consumers to invest in your marketing initiatives.

For example, you could consider holding a charitable giving drive for a local non-profit and promoting it on social media. By offering an award to the top donator you can engage customers online, fuel brand awareness, and strengthen your community reputation.

2. Create LinkedIn and Facebook Groups

Launching groups on LinkedIn and Facebook lets you create natural opportunities for conversations with existing and potential customers. Facebook and LinkedIn groups serve as places where people with similar interests can engage with one another. For example, a roofing contractor may create a Facebook group designed for people to ask questions about replacing a roof. Members of the group could discuss their concerns, and contractors could provide specific answers to questions.

These natural conversations make it easier to engage customers online by taking the focus away from direct sales and showing that your business genuinely cares about its customers.

3. Build up Your Review Reputation

According to ReviewTrackers, more than 63 percent of consumers check reviews before visiting a business. What’s more, 53 percent of consumers expect a response to a negative review in a week or less. If you aren’t working to manage your online reviews, then you’re missing an opportunity to engage customers online.

Encourage your customers to review your products and services online. Take time to respond to reviews, ideally with a unique reply and not just a pre-written post. While collecting and responding to customer reviews requires time and effort, it could mean the difference between a business’s success and failure.

4. Host Google Hangouts and Webinars

Google Hangouts and webinars provide you with the opportunity to have a personal interaction with targeted audiences or potential customers. For example, maybe you want to run a Q&A session about a new service you’re launching. This can be done through a webinar meeting or text chat on Google Hangouts. Google Hangouts and webinars are an effortless way for customers to interact with your business and for you to engage with customers online.

5. Leverage Content Marketing

Consumers research products and services extensively online. Providing informational resources and thought leadership on your site can create trust between your business and consumers. For example, imagine a customer wants to replace a kitchen and wants to know what to expect from the project. As they’re researching, they find you have useful blog posts, videos, and other content that helps them understand the process. When it comes time to make a purchase, they’ll know about your brand, trust your expertise, and be more likely to seek out your services.

Content is an ideal way to engage customers online and organically bring them to your site. Like social media contests, groups, and Google Hangouts, the goal is to create a reciprocal relationship.

6. Engage with Comments and Messages on Social Media

It isn’t enough to have a social media presence. You’ll need to engage with customers that reach out to you through your social media sites. Active messages and comments create a strong sense of community and lead to future discussions. This requires a continual commitment to being active online. The rewards that come from online relationship-building can be invaluable.

7. Celebrate Together

Did you just reach 1000 followers on LinkedIn? Did you set a sales record? When your company reaches milestones, engage with customers online and make them feel like they contributed to your success. Making an effort to celebrate your company and customers success is a great way to build a solid relationship and increase loyalty.

Prioritizing Online Marketing with Working Capital

With these effective strategies to improve your online marketing and the help of working capital, you’ll be able to engage customers online. Working capital loans can be used to optimize your website, hire a marketing specialist, and invest in social media initiatives.

The post 7 Ways to Engage Customers Online appeared first on SiteProNews.

 At Positive Branding we’ve spent the last 30 years in conversation with other branding experts to help our clients create the best image for their company. While we specialise in traditional marketing, we never turn down good advice when we see it.

Digital marketing is all about cutting through the noise. Being seen online gets trickier every time a new site is born, and online marketing experts have to stay one step ahead of that curve. 

We’ve put together our favourite marketing tips that so that from today on, you’re only putting your best foot forward!

1. Create Connections With People

More than the logos, taglines, and colours, great branding is about the bond you form with your customers. Online, the noise level is insane. There are so many people and companies that are trying to stand out by publishing and sharing content. 

Online marketing experts make a point of reminding business owners to build personal relationships. This important underlying factor of any marketing strategy is often overlooked in talking about traditional marketing. Jeremy Miller over at Sticky Branding tells us:

“Your opportunity to stand out is to ignore what everyone else is doing, and connect with your fans, customers, and followers directly. Get to know them. Share ideas. Spark conversations. Help others on their journeys. When you treat people as people and build personal relationships your brand will stand out.” 

Research from Nielsen says while only 15% of individuals trust what a brand says, 92% of consumers around the world say they trust earned media, such as word-of-mouth and recommendations from friends and family, above all other forms of advertising. The days of creating a formal, uniform corporate face are gone and the benefits of seeming relatable and human are huge!

2. Pick A Communication Strategy That Works For You

Creating connections with people is so important, so it’s essential to not come off as false. 

Your brand communication strategy should be determined not so much by what sells, but by who will be doing it. The crucial thing is to pick a communication strategy that works for you, for your personality. 

The key is to leverage your strengths and not try to do things that go against the grain.

In every customer interaction you are a representative for you business- but you’re also yourself! So, if you don’t really like public speaking; focus on one to one interactions. If you love interviews and free-flowing conversation, look at trade expos, podcasting, local radio- then focus your energy on getting booked on those. 

Once you’ve found a strategy you feel confident and comfortable using, then learn how to network in your industry and start connecting not just with your customers, but with others in your field.

3. Communicate Your Brand Definition In Everything You Do

You’ve found the communication strategy that suits you and your brand, you’ve found the people you should be talking to- now what do you say? 

Think about the way you use these connections to announce your brand like writing a compelling cover letter. You can’t build your personal brand like your resume. It won’t stand out and will include useless details. So how do you do this? We learned this digital marketing strategy from influencetree.com, and it adapts to traditional marketing really well:

Step 1. Announce credibility. 

Step 2. State what you do. 

Step 3. Outline how or why you got involved with what you do. 

Step 4. Communicate your interests so people can relate to you. 

Step 5. Provide a method and motive for people to contact you.

In marketing, perception is reality. So, how others view your professional brand ‘is’ what your brand stands for, whether you like it or not. You must be crystal clear in the definition of your brand, and then communicate that definition in every single activity you do.

4. Know What Your Brands Benefits Are To Your Audience

The first thing in building a brand is to know your audience, know who you want to see your brand. You then want to know what your brands benefits are to your audience, why should they ‘see’ you and listen to you. Maria Ross over at Red Slice offers this advice: 

“Ensure you clearly think through what they need and want before you design or write anything. Build your ideal client personas and create a real person to whom you are speaking so you can accurately cite benefits that matter to them. Too many businesses design pretty websites or use jargon-filled language that do not resonate at all with what their target market really needs.

 First, determine the main benefits you offer to them, use their own language, and THEN you can determine the right look, feel, colors, tone of voice, tag lines and more. Build the foundation first so all your tactics work better together.” 

5. Use Great Design And Colours

 Everyone knows that you should have a strong logo, but knowing what that is, is an entirely different ballpark. It’s worth taking your time to really look into the meaning behind each design element, as there’s a lot of psychological association behind colour and shape choices. 

Be prepared to spend your money and time on creating a logo. A great logo will look good on a white piece of paper or a white website. Make sure you know who you are as a company so the designer can get your vibe enough to create a logo that reflects you well. Which brings us to our next point…

6. Allow Time For Your Branding To Evolve

Spend time making your logo and allow it to evolve over time as you discover the essence of your business. Many new entrepreneurs rush to quickly get their logo designed first, thinking it’s needed before they can start getting clients. However, a logo is meant to represent the essence of your business, so time needs to be spent on conducting proper due diligence and analysis first. Think how many times industry giants like google have changed their logo? The digital world changes constantly, and we shouldn’t be afraid to try this offline either. 

Spending time developing and reviewing your logo will produce a brand look and feel that will not only accurately represent you and your essence, but will also resonate with your ideal target market, making it much easier to attract them to your business offerings. Working with a professional brand developer will help with this analysis, giving you the guidance needed throughout this process.

7. Stick Out! (Even If It Feels Uncomfortable)

In today’s hyper-networked marketplace, we’re just two degrees of separation from our customers and the people who can hire us. Our job, then, is to unleash the power of referrals by enlisting everyone we already know into our army of personal brand champions.

Ironically, in the world of business, what may seem safe (being like everyone else) is often risky (you won’t stand out). When competing with others for a job or promotion at work or selling your services or products as an entrepreneur, it pays to be different. 

Sticking out from the herd may feel wildly uncomfortable at first, but sticking out in a good way gives people a reason to choose you. To find your USP: what strengths, skills, and aptitudes make you different and even better than others?

8. Integrate Offline And Online Branding Strategies

Be crystal clear about the value you deliver, and to whom. Then practice consistent messaging across the board. Utilising brand communication strategies offline and on makes it into a habit, rather than just a marketing strategy you adopt. 

Practice consistent messaging across all your points, online and off; from your offline elevator pitch and business card to your email signature and every social platform upon which you engage. 

More important than being clever, is to be consistent and be clear. When you showcase your character, your competence, and your charisma online or off, you intensify the magnetism of your business brand too.

9. Don’t Look At Any Competitor’s Brand To Create Your Own

Find a parallel industry and compare yourself to the same level brand in that industry – then find out what they do best. What market strategies are they using that are the most effective? In what places are they failing. Competitor analysis is important, but when thinking of your branding, staying unique is crucial. 

As humans we’re hardwired to replicate and repeat things. If you spend too much time looking at your competitors branding strategies, you’re at risk of just echoing them yourself. 

Lao Tzu said ‘Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is Enlightenment.’ This is nowhere more true than in marketing. Knowing your market can only get you so far, true success comes from knowing what you contribute to it. 

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We hope that you’ve enjoyed reading through this list, and that our experience in this field have given you some food for thought.

What great tips have you learned from digital marketing? How have you incorporated them into your brand campaign?

The post Lessons We’ve Learned About Traditional Marketing from Online Marketing Experts appeared first on SiteProNews.

Some of us might be familiar with the term landing page, but often times people think it is the same as the home page.

“A landing page sometime known as a ‘destination page’ is a page where online users land after clicking a link from an ad or from another website. A landing page is created specifically for the purposes of a marketing or advertising campaign and designed with a single focused objective – known as a Call to Action (CTA).”

Here are some elements a landing page must have:

1. Compelling Headline

The Headline is the first line of your copy that customers read when they land on your page. It creates an initial impression that either draws visitors in or pushes them away. A compelling headline is an essential part of your landing page since it grabs visitors’ attention and lets them read the first sentence of the page. It’s worth taking an extra few minutes to craft the right headline for your copy. It’s also important to define the the points in your landing page content. It make visitors stay on your page longer, consider your offer and take action. Here are things to consider in a headline:

– It should be unique.

– Specific

– Convey urgency.

– Useful.

You should also include subheadings to support and strengthen the statements made in the primary headline.

2. Defines Promos in a Clear and Simple Manner

A landing page is perfect marketing tool for fast conversions and quality promotions. Some business owners are passionate about their products and services. They want to insert as many features of their products and services on their landing page as possible. However, always remember that an effective landing page is about using your brand’s voice to specify the benefits of a product or service your company is offering in a clear and simple manner. Customers who then visit your landing page can have a better understanding on what your company has to offer.

After clearly denoting the benefits of what you offer, you can add some feature details below. The benefits describe the problem you are solving, and the features describe what it does for your customers.

3. Client Testimonials

Client testimonials are a part of any business. Nothing beats a good product or service review. Most people purchasing online rely heavily on what other people say about a product or service. The power of a client testimonial is a great way of promoting your company, retaining current customers and acquiring new ones. Thus your client testimonials play an important role in your landing page and to the overall success of your business.

Testimonials from your loyal customers increase your credibility online and build trust for your prospective customers. With testimonials, you are able to showcase your level of expertise to your customers and it is evidence that you can provide actual value to them. Your prospective customers might look for reviews about your company first before placing an order or booking an appointment, so it is important that your landing page includes at least two to three client testimonials from your loyal customers.

4. Engaging Calls to Action

A Call-to-action is an essential element every landing page should have. Place your CTA at the bottom of your form. If you get the right CTA, your landing page will succeed. Common call to actions most companies use include download now, subscribe now, add to cart, sign up, and many more. The key is you give customers direction on what you want to achieve with your offer. With CTA, you initiate your customers to take action on your offer.

Landing pages help you convert your online audience into paying customers. If crafted properly, your campaign will succeed. Through ads you can pull online users into visiting your site and your landing page. As mentioned above, your landing page must list all the benefits and features of your offer; it must contain engaging calls to action; it must grab your reader’s attention using compelling information; it must be equipped with social proof, and most importantly it must have an excellent user experience design.

The post How to Craft an Effective Landing Page appeared first on SiteProNews.

Search engine optimization or SEO is in the center of it now. Based on statistics, 48% of consumers start research with a search engine, and 61% of marketers focus on SEO. On the other hand, pay-per-click or PPC has proven to be equally effective for boosting website traffic. The same statistics say that 64.6% of users click on Google ads when looking to buy.

Both have proven to be very useful and powerful advertising tools. With that in mind, look at these pros and cons both for PPC and SEO in order to know what to expect.

SEO

Search engine optimization refers to techniques which drive a website to the first page of the search engine. Namely, it influences the rankings of a website on the search results page. According to statistics (Jupiter Research), 81% of traffic for a website will come from the search engines. Since Google is the biggest search engine most of SEO is focused on rankings in Google. However, besides the benefits, SEO also has some disadvantages.

Pros

Credibility

SEO generates organic or unpaid search results. Since users receive a list of websites based on one or more keywords entered in the search bar, SEO is considered more credible by consumers since it is not paid for. Around 70 – 80% of users ignore the paid ads, and 70% of clicked links are organic search results.

Visibility

Besides Google, you will also gain visibility on other search engines, including Yahoo and Bing. Since 75% of users never go beyond the first page of search results, employing high-quality SEO is important to gain visibility. This will place you in the view of potential customers the same as advertising would. Additionally, it’s a great method to boost brand awareness.

Traffic

Increased traffic to your website is an opportunity to further develop awareness about your business and present yourself to your customers.

Return on investment (ROI)

Increased visibility will bring more conversions, revenue and consequently return on investment. This is because unpaid search results receive more clicks than ads.

Cost per click

There is no direct charge for a click so the traffic is essentially free except for the cost associated with the optimization of you site.

Cost

SEO is not easy and/or cheap, but is more cost-effective than other marketing strategies that can bring you traffic and visibility.

Sustainability  

Organic traffic doesn’t disappear when the paying stops. This means that it will sustain a business even when marketing funding stops or is cut back.

Cons

Competition

The competition can be fierce because some businesses and industries have already established themselves for certain keywords. It takes a lot of patience and effort to fight your way to the first page of search results. However, before you start, make sure that it’s worth it since some competitors may have more resources than you do.

No instant results

SEO takes time. It can be several months until you see the first results, even though it will bring you ROI and traffic in the end.

Sensitive to updates

An update to a search engine algorithm can cause trouble for you. Disrupted search results can result in dropped rankings and ruin months and months of hard work. This is also the case when a new algorithm is released.

PPC

Pay-per-click is an advertising method used to send traffic to a website. It’s considered as paid search marketing. The advertiser (a company that places the ad) pays a fee to the publisher (host website) when a user clicks on the advertisement. Usually, businesses use Google AdWords, Yahoo Search Marketing and other advertising programs. Just like SEO, PPC also has pros and cons.

Pros

Instant traffic

The moment you start the PPC marketing campaign, your ads will appear on top of a search results page.

Improved advertising

Since PPC doesn’t hide what it is, you will have more control of the marketing message. You have complete control of your ad, including the keywords.

Brand visibility

Paid search will make you more visible to the right people. You will gain more space in the search results since you will appear in paid and unpaid searches.

No updates

Unlike with SEO, new search algorithms or updates will not affect PPC.

Budget

The great thing about PPC is that you can control your budget. You can establish how much you’re willing to spend on a daily basis and build your marketing around it.

Targeting

You can target your potential customers by time of day, geography, language, search keywords and even audience based on their interests.

Cons

Constant optimizing

PPC campaigns need constant tweaking. The moment you stop optimizing, your ads will become less effective. PPC also requires constant investment. The moment you stop paying for the campaign, your ads will disappear.

Needs extensive research

Since it takes time to research and test, most businesses hire professionals or expert companies to manage their digital marketing campaign. This can only raise the costs of your digital marketing strategy.

Expensive

If you don’t plan your budget well, your costs can quickly become very high. Also, it’s important to set the campaign properly. Targeting large geographical areas like entire countries and going international with your campaign can quickly increase costs.

Final word

Instead of choosing one advertising method over another, you can employ both. SEO and PPC work well together and you’ll be able to achieve the best results that way. However, your success will depend on your goals and planned budget.

The post Find Focus for Your Brand: PPC or SEO? appeared first on SiteProNews.