Future Proof Your Business With The Hottest Online Marketing Tools
There is no denying it, the internet has forever changed the ways businesses sell to customers. The truth is, nearly all companies are realizing the marketing potential of the online world. One might even say that the internet is the biggest marketing opportunity for sellers since the early days of print ads and TV commercials. It is truly remarkable how a few decades could drastically change the way we live.
However, while this mammoth opportunity is a blessing, it is also one which is quite complicated. Technology is changing at a rapid rate and so will a lot of your online marketing avenues. SEO techniques that work amazing just a few years ago may be out-dated and ineffective today.
Popular social media sites could become ghost towns in a year or so. A lot of popular blog sites are practically non-existent nowadays. Such is the fragility of online trends, one minute it’s the buzzword the next it becomes a mere afterthought.
Good marketers know this fact and know that you need to be always one step ahead of the game. Marketing techniques in the online space is an ever-evolving fact that requires accurately predicting which trends are going to go big in the next few months.
However, this isn’t going to be a simple case of guesswork, there must be some statistical data to better predict which online marketing tools you should be focusing on in the next few years. Here are some of those tools that are predicted to boom by next year and beyond.
1. Think Voice Search
Some people think voice search is ridiculous, I mean is it so hard to just type things? Well, apparently a lot of people don’t think that voice search is so ridiculous after all.
This is because despite all the convenience in the world, people still wan’t to push for more speed. And unless AI can start answering our thoughts, voice search remains our fastest means to search for answers online.According to Comscore, by the time 2020 rolls around, an astounding 50% of all online searches will be voice searches.
That’s a huge number and should be given attention. So what does this mean for your business? Well, unlike regular Google searches where customers can see lots of results, voice searches will only give a few answers to queries. So if you think that it is important to have a high SEO ranking in Google, wait till the rise of voice search takes this up a notch.
There are various way that you can start preparing for the future of voice search. Voice search is said to focus on local areas along with high search engine placement. So try to be visible in places like Yelp, Bing places, and Facebook pages. Fortify your SEO and Siri and the likes will be singing your praises in no time.
2. The Rise of Chatbots
While chatbots can be downright creepy, the fact of the matter is people are starting to adopt the technology so well. A few years ago, chatbots were crude and pretty much useless. Fast forward, and we have chatbots that can effectively help people buy groceries, order food, or even call a cab.
We Chat, the largest messenger app in the world, has invested millions in chatbot technology. Other large non-tech companies like Bank of America are expected to follow suit. The reason is simple: Chatbots are becoming more and more advanced and effective (faster response rate) while also being extremely cheaper to maintain. According to Forbes, chatbots will save up to 8.8 Billion annually in 2020.
3. AR and VR are the next big thing
Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality seemed like Sci-Fi staples just decades ago. Now those are fast becoming widely adopted online marketing tools. According to PRNewswire, the AI and VR industry are going to be a 94.4 billion dollar business by 2023.
So how will this apply to marketers? Well, AR and VR are going to change how we consume our entertainment. A lot of people are going to be watching movies, TV shows, sporting events, and concerts through VR. AR is going to change how we interact with stores. The hit game “Pokemon Go” has already shown the world the potential of AR, imagine if we start using it with brand promotions and fan interaction.
There is already a service that you can purchase where you can watch a sporting event with court side views or from the perspective of players while in the comfort of your own home. If this catches on, then there could be a much bigger avenue for online ads aside from TV or arena spots. The possibilities are just endless with virtualand augmented reality.
Definitely, a game changer to watch out for.
4. No stopping social media
To those heavily invested in social media and are worried if it is fizzling out may breathe a sigh of relief. According to Hootsuite, social media is growing at a steady pace and data shows no slowing down. This is especially true for the rest of the world, where social media is adopting new users at a blistering pace.
This also means that you have to watch out for trends on how people take their content. For example, a study shows that in 2018, more people are paying more attention (about 5 seconds more) to video content than static ones. So you might want to bulk up on making entertaining and informational videos going forward.
Original content is also king when it comes to grabbing people’s attention. Gone are the days when you can just keep spamming and sharing posts on social media. Getting more unique on social media will become more and more of a factor as time goes by.
5. Google Adwords continues to evolve
The Pay Per Click (PPC) model that Google popularized is going to get even more in-depth and bigger in the coming years. Google has been evolving its advertising model to reach more customers into even more specific phases of their buying stages. Ad placements will become more targeted even by today’s standards and marketers would be wise to invest a lot in Google Adwords in the next few years.
The future of online marketing tools
With all the changing technologies and fads sprouting and going, the future of online marketing is quite tricky. However, if you harness the power of data and create a sound strategy, then the marketing potential is quite limitless. With all these great marketing tips, you won’t be left behind by the competition!
5 Compelling Online Marketing Strategies to Transform Your Business
You might think that you’re doing everything you can to market your business…
… but what if you’re not?
The explosion of the Internet, social media, and mobile has changed all the rules of marketing. If you are not using the latest digital Marketing strategies to transform your business, you might be losing out on:
- New customers
- Increased sales
- Your future growth and expansion
You don’t want that to happen to you. And you might be wondering what online marketing strategies you should be implementing to make sure it doesn’t.
Here they are.
#1: Optimize Your Website for Online Search and Mobile
This most fundamental digital marketing strategy might seem obvious but a lot of local businesses don’t bother doing it. That’s because they have a limited understanding of the potential marketing power of their website.
Having a dynamic website might not be a necessity for a large business that relies on expensive paid advertising. But for small and mid-sized companies, website marketing is the most effective and affordable strategy to reach out to potential customers.
There are two types of digital optimization you need for your website:
- Optimization for local search
- Optimization for mobile
Both kinds of optimization are designed to help you attract organic search traffic to your site. For the former, you’ll need to audit your site, choose the right keywords, and use tags and content to get your site to rank.
For mobile optimization, the key is to use a responsive design that allows mobile users to view all your content easily regardless of what device they use to access your site. Google ranks mobile-optimized websites higher in its search results as more users today view websites on mobile devices than they do on a PC.
#2: Claim (and Standardize) All Online Listings of Your Business
Your website is important, but it’s not the only way people find you online.
Unclaimed listings may be incorrect. The last thing you need is a misleading listing that has the wrong URL, contact details or business hours.
The process of claiming your listings should go like this:
- Do a Google search for your company and identify all online listings
- Claim each listing according to the instructions on the site
- Standardize all NAP listings (that’s name, address, phone number) so they’re identical. Everything, from street names to abbreviations to the format of the telephone number, must be the same.
If you do this, you can be sure that you’re not diluting your online presence with a slew of inaccurate or unclaimed listings. It might seem like a small thing, but it makes a big difference to Google. Google search crawlers determine the authenticity of a website using NAP Consistency as one of the key factors.
#3: Include an Opt-In Form on Every Page of Your Site
Building an email list is a must for every local business. It lets you communicate with both existing and prospective customers, announce new products and events, and turn leads into sales.
It all starts with an opt-in form. If your form is appearing on only one page on your site, you’re not capturing as many subscribers as you should be.
The solution? Place an opt-in form on every important web page. On some pages, you may want to include an offer, such as a tip sheet or a short eBook, to attract subscribers. On others, the presence of the form on the sidebar or as a pop-up may be enough.
The bottom line is that anybody who lands on ANY page of your site is a potential subscriber – so treat them that way.
#4: Be Smart on Social Media
For some local businesses, social media is an afterthought. They might have a Facebook page or a presence on Instagram, but they post sporadically and don’t do much to build or engage their audience.
With more than a billion active users on Facebook alone, there’s no denying that social media looms large on the marketing landscape. Here’s what you should be doing:
- Creating and adhering to a content-posting schedule so your followers know when to look for you
- Posting content that’s entertaining and valuable to your audience
- Varying your content so it’s always interesting
- Answer questions from customers
Don’t let your social media accounts stagnate. They’re the perfect place to engage current customers and show new ones what they’re missing.
#5: Pay for Advertising Strategically
There’s an awful lot you can do to market your company online for free, but sometimes, it pays to pay.
On Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites, you can boost a post – often for just a few dollars. Boosting greatly increases the number of people who see your content.
Here are the types of things you should post:
- Content that gets a lot of organic engagement
- Product announcements and event information
- Content that’s designed to attract email subscribers
- Content that you think is particularly relevant and useful to your audience
There’s an art to boosting content, and it’s your job to master it. Even if you spend only a dollar a day on boosted content, you’re likely to see a significant increase in your engagement.
Google AdWords program is another powerful way to promote your business online with paid ads. These ads will show up to targeted users who are searching for content on Google that is related to what your business offers. You can choose the PPC (pay-per-click) model of advertising on Google. Google will only charge you each time someone actually clicks on your online ad to learn more about your business or to visit your business website.
Stop Worrying about Missing Out and Implement those Marketing Strategies to Transform Your Business!
If you worry that your business might be missing out on the power of digital marketing, get in touch with an experienced online marketing company with proven expertise.
They can help you achieve targeted or localized online visibility to boost your business prospects. Partnering with a reliable and dedicated digital marketer could be the single most vital decision you might make to put your business on a high growth path.
5 Smart Ways to Generate More Positive Reviews
Who doesn’t love a positive review from a satisfied customer? Every business owner knows the value of positive reviews – and they’ve never been important than they are right now.
Did you know that more than 80% of all consumers say that they trust a product review from a stranger as much as they would a personal recommendation from a friend. Not only that, people trust user reviews more than the official descriptions of products.
If you’re thinking of customer reviews as something that you can’t control, think again. Business owners can do a lot to encourage reviews – and of course, you can increase the chance that most of your reviews will be positive by providing excellent quality and service.
Still, those things aren’t enough. You can’t afford to sit back and hope that customers leave reviews of your business.
Fortunately, you don’t have to take a backseat to your customer’s whims. Here are six smart ways you can get more positive reviews online.
#1: Email Customers After a Purchase
Do you send customers an email after they make a purchase?
I’m not talking about the confirmation email where you send them an order number if they order online. I mean an email where you specifically ask them how they like your product and request that they write a review.
This is a practice that’s become increasingly common – and for a good reason. Some people automatically leave reviews for everything. They’re the well-known Yelpers who have thousands of reviews.
Many people need a reminder. They’re not going to leave a review of their own accord – but they just might if you ask them nicely. This is the review version of the call to action on your website. It’s a specific request to take a specific action.
Try sending your review request email a week to ten days after the purchase. That way, the customer will have had a chance to use your product and may be ready to offer an opinion.
#2: Empower Your Employees to Ask for Reviews
Sometimes, making the right request at the right time is all it takes to get the reviews you want. That’s why it makes sense to have your employees ask for reviews.
Some Uber drivers do this. Just before they arrive at their passenger’s destination, they ask about the review. The simple request puts the idea of leaving a review in the customer’s mind and greatly increases the chances that they’ll comply and leave a review.
Why ask at the point of service? When a customer has just made a purchase or used your service, the experience is fresh. A cashier who provides a friendly checkout and some banter is ideally placed to ask for a review because they have an opportunity to build rapport with the customer.
If you decide to use this method of getting reviews, consider printing cards asking for reviews and putting links to your review pages on your website. You don’t want customers to be confused about what to do – so eliminate the guesswork and you’ll reap the rewards.
#3: Try to Get a Google Local Guide to Review Your Company
Google Local Guide is a program owned by Google that designates certain reviewers as local experts.
The process of getting a local guide can be a complex one, but here are some tips to help you do it:
- Make sure your Google My Business listing is up-to-date and active
- Join Google Local Guides on your own – you can write reviews of local businesses and raise your visibility provided you don’t use the platform to promote or favor your business
- Attend local events with other guides
- Invite other guides to come to your business
This isn’t a quick fix, but the nice thing about Google Local Guides is that when a local guide reviews your business, their designation shows up in the review and that gives it more weight than it would have otherwise. Another benefit is that Google requires guides to use their real names, so there’s less of the anonymous ranting that shows up on Yelp.
#4: Automate the Asking Process
If there’s a way for you to automate the process of asking for reviews, why wouldn’t you do it?
Automation means that there’s no worry that a stressed-out employee will forget to ask. It turns the process into part of your customer service – a hands-off way of encouraging customer feedback and garnering the kinds of reviews you want.
Here are a few suggestions to help you automate your system:
- Set up an autoresponder to send an email requesting a review. Instead of manually sending those emails, link the date of a customer’s purchase to their email and have it go out on schedule. If you link customer purchases to your email marketing provider, you can rest easy knowing that every customer will get a request for a review.
- Print up review request cards and put them in the customer’s bag at checkout. This method eliminates the need for your cashier to ask for a review, and makes it simple to do even at times when you’re busy and have a line at the register.
- Put review links on your product pages. That way, when a customer makes a purchase they can easily read reviews of it – and it may help to remind them to leave a review after their purchase.
Automating your review request system makes good business sense because it eliminates the guesswork.
#5: Set Up a Review System in Your Company
Even if your business is small, you shouldn’t fly by the seat of your pants when you’re requesting reviews. The method you use to ask for reviews should be part of your company’s standard operating procedures.
Your review system should:
- Specify whose job it is to ask for reviews
- Specify the language to be used when requesting a review
- Specify methods to be used (email, conversation, links and printed cards, to name a few)
- Specify the timeframe for requesting reviews
- Lay out procedures for responding to both positive and negative reviews
If you codify your system for requesting and managing reviews, you can be sure that there isn’t any confusion and that customers always get the request you want them to get.
Don’t Sweat the Negative Reviews…
We’ve focused here on garnering positive reviews for your business, but don’t get too stressed about negative reviews. If you handle them properly, they can help your business too!
Respond quickly and graciously and offer solutions. Don’t get defensive. Many businesses use negative feedback to demonstrate that they care about their customers.
If you’re getting so many reviews that you’re having trouble keeping up, you may want to consider using an online review management system to help you – and having too many reviews is the problem you want to have! That’s how businesses grow.
Tips And Tricks For Generating Great Leads
Generating leads is crucial to success in business. If you can’t generate leads to boost sales, your business will struggle. This article has tips that can boost your lead generation strategy, and hopefully, your selling power. Becoming a pro at lead generation can lead you to success.
With digital advertising, it is important to create landing pages that your leads can see. It can be more effective to have landing pages that go to the ad. You are giving them the information that they wanted in the first place. Put that together with your contact form and you can easily generate leads.
Look at customer reviews when you are trying to get leads. If there is data supporting your claims, people will buy from you. Use proven studies that illustrate the benefits of your wares, and publish written testimonials given to you from satisfied customers.
Clear up any privacy or opt-out issues. People who have opted out or chosen not to receive any benefits you offer should not be followed up. It wastes your time and invades their privacy.
Use your phone to make calls and see if people need what you have to sell. It’s amazing how many people will actually want to hear your sales pitch. From Bibles to bookends, there is someone who wants what you’re selling, so give them a call.
Are there any events happening near you which fall within your field? Wedding shows may be of benefit to someone in the real estate market. This is a good venue for promotion, as newlyweds are often looking to purchase a new home. Refer to the classified section of your local paper to understand what will soon be available in your area.
Consider long-tailed keywords when you look for specific keywords to drum up leads. Don’t overdo it, but long-tailored keywords can help you target specific audiences. Keep working with different ones, tweak them later on when you need to, and eventually you’ll find what works great for you.
Check for lead groups in your area. These groups are generally made up of business owners who offer leads to one another. You’d be amazed how much a landscaper or dentist or teacher could benefit your lead generation. You could have client that has a dental issue, and you could help out the dentist.
Seek out subscriptions for your blog. If readers subscribe, they’ll be alerted when you add new content. You can also gain leads this way. Blogging is one of many lead generation tools you need to utilize.
Look on every page your website has to see if it has a clear call to action on it. Regardless of what it is you are trying to sell, people will have to know where they can go to get it. Be clear when you word things and don’t have clutter on pages so people know what to do.
A solid plan is always important. Make sure to get rid of what is not working though. Particularly if you’re on a strict budget, you need to focus resources on the most effective tactics.
You won’t get many leads from your website unless it’s aligned with social media beside it. You should make the most out of all channels like Facebook or Twitter. Don’t just stick with one campaign. Try different campaigns so that you’ll get a bigger picture of what isn’t working and what is working well.
Before you spend any money on a database full of leads, make sure the leads within the data are actually helpful to you. Your offers may only appeal to those interested in a specific niche. If you are buying a batch of leads of people who aren’t looking for your product or service, it can be a big waste of time. You could get lots of leads that are not even close to your demographic needs.
Your website should be one that looks high quality. Publish intriguing content so that customers pay attention and turn into leads. Always produce error-free content. If it is riddled with errors, you will turn off potential customers.
Failing to find new leads could be the death of your business. Hopefully, you’ve just been enlightened on how to go about generating leads. Once you have this down, you can personalize the process. If you generate leads, you won’t have a shortage of customers.
Colorado Business Weekly Hangout – January 15, 2014
Online Advertising for Local Business
How to Reach a Laser Targeted Audience
The Colorado Business Weekly Hangout was created to provide local business owners with a resource to learn about what’s working now in online marketing for local business.
We hope you find these weekly business hangouts helpful and informative.
Our goal is to help you gain an edge on your competition and dominate your local market through smart marketing.