Google is understanding natural language in searches better than ever before, so well, that it represents “the biggest leap forward in the past five years, and one of the biggest leaps forward in the history of Search …
Particularly for longer, more conversational queries, or searches where prepositions like “for” and “to” matter a lot to the meaning [1 in 10 searches], Search will be able to understand the context of the words in your query. You can search in a way that feels natural for you.”
It’s that time of year when people are getting the most shopping done but it can be difficult for small businesses to compete on Black Friday. Thankfully, Small Business Saturday is the very next day and focuses on shoppers’ attention on buying locally to support small businesses. While it might not be as familiar as the other big shopping days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it still generates a lot of attention. Last year, shoppers spent about $17.8 billion at smaller companies on Small Business Saturday.
If you’re a small business and you want to take advantage of the Small Business Saturday, make sure you set goals and are prepared to meet them! Generate as much attention as you can through local online groups and throughout the community to let them know you’re are participating and be sure to answer any questions or comments online. Part of the allure of shopping at a local business is being greeted with a friendly face and engaging in conversations – be sure to create a warm environment and unique experience so that shoppers will remember you and keep coming back!
Consumers will be using Saturday to shop local – make sure your business is at the top of their list to visit.
Many businesses only pay attention to reaching their customers via emails. While email marketing can be a great way to generate engagement and keep customers updated, it’s not the only way. Direct mail offers an option to reach your customers in a more personal way – through their mailbox. And if you think snail mail is outdated, think again: research has found that direct mail typically has a 4.4% return rate, while the rate for email is just 0.12%.
To help make a direct mail campaign successful, it’s important to know who you want to reach and make sure they are actually the ones receiving the mailing. As we know, our physical mailboxes can be as cluttered as our digital ones, but what do most people do when they get their mail? They quickly leaf through each piece and decide whether or not they are going to open it or trash it. Make sure your piece is enticing enough to avoid the recycling bin! An attractive design and a special offer, like exclusive coupons, exciting news or personalization, will make your customers take a second look.
Now that it’s the holiday season, consider using a direct mail campaign to reach your customers in a personal way to wish them a happy holiday season and let them know you’re thinking of them and appreciate their business. Don't forget to include a special offer!
Creating a positive experience for your customers is a powerful way to help them appreciate you and keep coming back. Make a good impression every time they interact with your business by mastering not just one area, like delivery, but by excelling in all of them from design and ordering, to service and sales. Customers will notice and return knowing that they can have an easy and trusted experience every time. Consider using these tips that will get your customers to say “Thank You.”
Doing a tradeshow takes a lot of planning and thought for the show, and often times, marketing the show can get thrown to the bottom of the list. It’s very important to set an in-depth marketing plan to help make it more of a success. Strong content marketing can help generate excitement and interest before, during and after the show. Sharing behind the scenes looks of what’s going to be featured, video testimonials and live posting during the event are all pieces of content that get your show more attention.
When considering tactics for your marketing program, it's easy to think that you need to try everything at once. However, in order to get results you want, you need to get to know what each tactic can realistically do for you. Having this understanding gives you clearer expectations and can help prevent you from feeling defeated.
When creating online content, be it a webpage, blog post or video, you’ve likely set high expectations for performance in search engine rankings. To that end, it’s important to consider how you can optimize your content for SEO before you even begin. Doing so can boost your ranking in search results and also allow possible leads to find you organically. Many people know that using relevant keywords can help you rank well, but that isn’t all there is to it. Knowing how to use keywords correctly to avoid appearing as spam, optimizing images, and employing strong meta descriptions are just a few elements to consider when creating your content. Don’t wait until the next time you create some content to use these tips – start applying them to the pages and articles you’ve already created and help send them to the top of the search results page, too.
The author puts forth the argument that content marketing has changed the way professional services are both bought and sold. Prospective clients have learned to turn to digital channels first when looking for someone to help solve their problem since these channels give open, unobstructed access to what buyers of these services prioritize most when judging your fit for their needs – your expertise. The more often a firm produces relevant content, the more engagement it creates, and the more trusted it becomes. Interestingly, research has shown that up to 24% of prospective clients rule out firms simply because of poor quality content. Make sure you’re not one of them by avoiding some simple traps, such as irrelevance, inconsistency, keeping your content to yourself, and more.
Of course, the main goal of marketing is to attract more clients to your business, but how can you be sure you’ve covered all your bases to make sure none fall through the cracks? Ask yourself some tough questions, including: have I maximized my online presence? Have I reached out to past clients lately? Am I making use of in-person speaking opportunities? Do I have a content marketing strategy? Does the press know where to find me? Have I maximized my professional networks? If you think you don’t have the time or bandwidth to effectively execute every strategy in the marketing universe, consider asking for help – there are partners out there who can take the weight of management and execution off your shoulders – but make sure you’re employing all relevant strategies to increase your client base.
