There is no doubt that the use of voice assistance is on the rise and quickly becoming a part of daily routines. In fact, ComScore says that by 2020, 50% of all searches will be voice searches. This drastic of a change in such a short period of time requires marketers to reconsider how they reach consumers.
What is SEO?
Disclaimer: Some of you might already know what SEO is, so you may want to skip this section, but for you that DO NOT know what SEO is, I suggest you start here.
According to Google’s Consumer Barometer Survey (The Connected Consumer Survey)[1], when someone needs information the first place they look is the internet. This could be for news, information on a product or service that they need or want, and research on about anything imaginable. Heck, I go to the internet for EVERYTHING! In fact, over 74% of people in the U.S. go to the internet daily[2]. That’s over 242,645,260 people each day![3] So, it makes perfect sense based on how people are engaging with the internet that all businesses need to be online and have a digital marketing strategy. If you don’t have a digital marketing strategy, I assure you that you have been left in the dust. However, you can get yourself up-to-speed fairly quickly, and it’s really not that difficult to dip your toes into the online marketing world. Now, there are some initial steps to making sure you are ready to market yourself online, so check this article out here first. Once you are ready, here are 7 things to consider before you launch a digital campaign.
I am fortunate to work for a local media organization that produces fantastic content on a daily basis. For a fifth straight year, The Columbus Dispatch (and our website, www.dispatch.com), was named the best large newspaper in Ohio by the Ohio Associated Press Media. For the second year, Columbus Monthly was nominated for the General Excellence Award by the City and Regional Magazine Association. There are countless more awards and points of recognition for our 10+ publications.
It is no surprise that mobile activity continues to climb and account for more time spent online than any other device. In fact, 40% of people say that they prefer to complete their entire shopping journey on mobile. However, businesses are still seeing more conversions taking place on desktops than they do on mobile. Why is this? Not because of the smaller size screen as you may think. It is because the experience is not great for the consumer.
There has been a lot of buzz about the pending changes to the Facebook News Feed that were announced last week by Mark Zuckerberg. This post will address what those changes are, why they are being made, and what it means for your business.
For several years, the amount of time people spend consuming video content online has increased significantly. This trend is not changing in 2018 as viewers now watch more video content online than on traditional television. The growing platform of online video continues to create an immense opportunity for advertisers.
According to Google, 50% of internet users looked for online video related to a product or service before they visited a store, whether in person or online. Video is impactful and drives emotion and trust behind decision-making. Arguably, a strong marketing plan for any business must include an ongoing video advertising strategy.
When meeting with my clients, most understand the benefit and need of producing strong video content, but the questions I hear most common are, “Which online video platforms should I advertise on?” and “What are the benefits of each?” In this post, I’ll help make sense of three platforms that have a large and engaged audience, but that can be leveraged to impact a business’s advertising success and increase ROI.
Recently I read an article on one of my favorite industry sites or apps, Marketing Land, titled Measuring How Offline Marketing Drives Web Traffic: The Fundamentals, and I was reminded of all the things I can do to help my clients’ marketing efforts in general, not just the digital portion.
As I’ve met with clients in and around Ohio over the last several years one question always seems to come up no matter the industry or customer, “How do I know if this is working?” Over the last several years we have seen a seismic shift in advertising dollars from traditional print, radio and television into more easily trackable digital products. With an online display campaign let’s say, we can tell you how many people saw the ad, how many clicked on it, how many saw the ad didn’t click on it but visited your site at a later date and thanks to Google Analytics we can tell you what your visitors did on the site once they got there. Rightfully so, there is a huge premium placed on tracking the results of our marketing spend.
Unfortunately the days of just asking “How did you hear about us?” are long gone. A consumer may see your billboard, display ad, receive your email, visit your site and three weeks later click on your paid ad on Google. When you ask that potential customer “How did you hear about us?” they will either say “I saw you on Google,” or “someone referred me.” They almost never tell you the ten times they saw your message before they went to Google.
As a Digital Specialist, I am a firm believer that digital is the way to go because of its’ track-ability and audience. We keep learning more and more about how consumers are using the internet, and where they are going to use it. There is no reason we can’t do some of the same with a traditional medium. Below I’ve listed 3 ways you can track the effectiveness of your offline marketing tactics.
Whether you’re using your landing page to make direct sales or gather emails from leads, it is one of the most crucial steps in the conversion process. After all the outreach and advertising, it comes down to this final act. Will your prospects turn into customers? They will if your offer is solid and your landing page is optimized for conversion.
Landing Page Optimization Tips
As with other steps in the process, you want to ensure that your landing page is compelling visitors to take whatever action you want them to take. Here are a few ideas on how to increase your conversion rates.
According to BrightLocal, 88% of online shoppers trust reviews posted to consumer websites over word of mouth. Who knew that the opinions of strangers would make such a difference in consumer behaviors? So, where do you want your reviews posted? How do you encourage customers to take the time to review your business? Let’s take a look at how you can amp up your online credit (and business reputation) by jockeying for five stars across the board.
Where Can You Get Five Star Reviews?
Many of the websites you want your company’s listing to show up on (with said 5-star reviews) are the sites you use personally when perusing the internet. These include:
Yelp
Yelp is one of the most popular company directory websites with an easy-to-use platform for consumers who want to leave their opinion regarding products and services.
Once you set up your Facebook business page and designate yourself as a ‘local business’ there will be on option on your homepage for users to write a review.
When your business is Googled, a business summary will populate on the right-hand side of the page which also displays your rating. You can set yourself up to get 5-star reviews via Google through a Google My Business listing.
Angie’s List
If you’ve got a service related business this is a terrific review site where five stars can go a long way.
BBB
Any and all businesses should have their info with the Better Business Bureau. Audiences who are less tech-savvy or social media-oriented are still likely to know about the BBB.
