PPC (pay-per-click) ads can be beneficial for almost any business. These ads are featured at the top of search engine results, so they can target searchers who are looking for the exact products or services that your business offers. However, it takes a good deal of time and expertise to build and manage effective PPC ads. With that in mind, you may be looking for the best PPC marketing agency to take on your ad creation and management. Here are some tips to help you find the right agency for your needs.
Experience is a must when you’re hunting for the best PPC marketing agency in your area. When interviewing potential agencies, ask them for some of their success stories with PPC ads. It’s not necessary for your agency to have experience with your particular industry, but a quality agency should be able to showcase client success stories demonstrating a high return on ad spend with PPC advertising.
Along with some examples of previous work, you’ll want to ask prospective PPC agencies about their strategy. PPC advertising should begin with keyword research, which will guide the creation of ads and landing pages designed to convert leads into customers. Your agency should also be data-driven and adjust your ad campaign as often as needed based on current performance, keyword trends, and other important factors.
You shouldn’t be left in the dark when it comes to your pay-per-click campaign. The best PPC marketing agency for you will communicate clearly and often about your ad progress. Ideally, you’ll receive monthly reports detailing your ad performance and ongoing recommendations.
Are you ready to see results with PPC advertising? Smargasy is ready to help! Call our experienced Fort Myers marketing agency at (239) 214-8592 to get started.
Few small businesses have the resources or the know-how to cover all of their digital marketing needs in-house. That’s why there are so many agencies out there providing online marketing services, including everything from website design to local SEO to email marketing. If you’re thinking about hiring a digital marketing agency, here’s what you’ll need to know before you sit down for a strategy call.
You may not know exactly which services will be right for your business. However, you should have an idea of what you want your digital marketing services to accomplish. For example, are you most focused on brand awareness or increasing sales? Knowing your general goals will give the agency better insight into which services will benefit you most in the shortest amount of time.
One of the great things about hiring a digital marketing agency is that you’ll have access to scalable services. This means that you’ll be able to adjust the services to fit your budget. It’s important to start with a baseline for your marketing budget to give your agency a clear picture of what’s feasible now and what should wait for later.
Do you want to have an active role in your marketing, or do you want to let your agency handle everything and simply deliver a monthly report? Most marketing agencies can accommodate either strategy. However, it’s best if expectations for client-agency collaboration are established from the start.
Are you ready to boost your digital marketing strategy and see real results from your campaign? Smargasy can connect you with the helpful experts you need to design a marketing plan that’s right for your business. Call our team at (239) 214-8592 to get started.
Modern branding practices essentially require that businesses have a presence on social media. Most businesses are found on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, although some will choose other social platforms as well. No matter which social media sites you use, it’s important to continue managing your presence so that audiences remain interested in your brand. A poorly managed social media presence will do about as much for your brand as no presence on social media at all—in fact, it could actively damage your business’s image online. To make sure you’re sending out the right message on your preferred social media platforms, follow these tips:
Social media is a constantly evolving landscape where content doesn’t have a long lifespan. Therefore, you need to post regularly to keep people looking at your page. Creating an editorial calendar can help you plan out relevant, timely posts that will resonate with your audience and schedule them ahead of time. Just remember, anything you post should be interesting, relevant to your business, and high-quality. It is okay to post links directing readers to other sites, but those links should still meet your own quality standards.
It’s not enough to simply put up new posts and ignore any comments or likes. Actively engage your audience by replying to their comments and using messenger tools on Instagram and Facebook. You can also drive engagement with your posts by utilizing quizzes, polls, and contests that spark more comments, likes, and shares.
Anyone who regularly uses social media likely follows several brands, influencers, and friends. As a result, their feeds are packed with posts, and it may be tough to stand out. Make sure that anything you post on social media captures attention visually first. Videos, animations, infographics, and real photos of your business in action will all help boost your social media presence.
Don’t have time to make the most of your social media presence? No problem! Count on Smargasy for effective, affordable digital marketing solutions, including social media marketing. Reach out to us today to schedule a strategy call for your business.
Positive reviews can be the lifeblood of your marketing campaigns. After all, more consumers are using review sites, social media, and many other platforms to choose companies, services, and products based upon their reputations. In fact, they’re also leveraging these same platforms to locate top-rated employers.
Thus, whether your goal is to source the best talent in your industry or foster more conversions, you should be using the positive feedback you receive to achieve the desired end. It’s time to place your positive reviews in the spotlight! Now you might be wondering just how to do that. So, below we’ve listed several ways you can get started…
Using Word-of-Mouth Advertising to Grow Your Brand in the Digital World
For centuries, word-of-mouth advertising has been recognized as the most powerful and important form of advertising that companies have access to. Surprisingly, it also happens to be the cheapest. This is advertising that you earn by living up to or exceeding expectations. By encouraging satisfied customers to leave reviews, and showing them exactly how and where to leave them, you can quickly and significantly increase your online appeal. When your business has a five-star rating on its Google My Business listing, engaging videos with customer testimonials, and numerous social media posts highlighting its attributes, new customers are almost a guarantee to come rolling in. Moreover, not only will you attract more clients this way, but the automatic trust that’s been garnered via positive feedback will also make these new shoppers feel comfortable spending larger sums of money.
How to Get Started
Taking full advantage of the 5-star ratings you receive is a multi-pronged effort. Bear in mind that not everyone will be using the same platforms to assess and vet new businesses. Many of your prospects will be found on specific social platforms, whereas others may navigate no further than the first few pages of search engine results. It’s additionally important to note that video hosting platforms like YouTube are giving general search engines a run for their money. This makes it best to additionally use
advertising videos that attest to your rating history or videos that include glowing testimonials.
Reputation Marketing is the Proactive Approach to Reputation Management
Capitalizing on positive reviews won’t just provide rapid and marked improvements to your bottom line. It can also serve as a very effective form of proactive reputation management. By taking steps to showcase your business in positive ways, and by showing that your business has already proven itself approval-worthy, you’ll be advance-countering any negative attacks on your commercial reputation, long before they ever occur. To find out how Reputation Marketing can turn your 5-star reviews into more conversions, higher profits, and a well-protected commercial image, get in touch with us today.
LinkedIn is a social media platform that sometimes gets overlooked by small businesses because it doesn’t have the vast audience of Facebook or the playful spirit of Instagram. However, it can still be a valuable tool for business owners. In addition to advertising opportunities, LinkedIn offers potential employees and clients a glimpse at the innerworkings of your business. As you create your LinkedIn profile, consider the following details that will help yours stand out.
Your personal profile should have a high-quality, recent photo that clearly shows your face. For your company profile, your logo is a great choice to quickly catch attention and get instant brand recognition from users.
Your background photo is almost as important as your profile pic; it’s displayed right at the top of your profile and helps shape the story of who you are. Don’t just use a scenic shot or generic background. Showcase your workplace or even pick a stock photo that adds context about the work you do.
There’s no rule that says your headline must just be your job title. Make it a short, catchy statement that gives readers a clearer idea of what you or your business does.
LinkedIn is all about networking. So, you’ll want to build as many connections as you can on both your personal and company pages. A quick way to build connections is by synching your email contacts to your profile, so you can reach out to people you already know and grow your network.
Using the Skills section of your profile, you can quickly inform readers of what you’re capable of. You won’t want to overload your LinkedIn profile with skills, so only list those that truly make you stand out.
The Services section provides a more direct look at what a company or individual could hire you for. Filling in your Services also makes your profile more visible in search, so it’s worth adding at least a few to your page.
Endorsements offer a way for other users to validate the skills you boast on your LinkedIn profile. The quickest way to get others to endorse you is to give endorsements to others in your network—they’ll likely return the favor.
Need help growing your social media presence? Smargasy is ready to help your business grow on all the social media platforms that matter for your business. Call us today at (239) 214-8592 or email [email protected] to see what we can do for you.
Posting on Facebook is a great way to stay connected with current and potential customers of your business. However, only those who take the time to like your page will regularly see the content you post. So, you should have a goal to increase Facebook page likes to broaden your audience and drive engagement for the content you post. If you’re not sure how to get those coveted likes, follow the tips below.
Your SEO marketing efforts can help fuel your Facebook likes. With a simple plugin on your website, a user can click to like your page—without actually visiting Facebook. So, when users find your website via search, they have an opportunity to connect with you on social media as well. If your website is inviting and engaging, readers will be likely to want to see more from your business.
Stock photos are an easy choice for social media posts because they’re readily available and high-quality. However, a quick scan of Facebook will show you that many of the best stock photos for your industry are already being used by your competitors. So, it’s worth the time to take high-quality pictures around your business and use those across your page and new posts. This personal touch will help users feel more connected to your business and give them a real look at what it is that you do.
Posting great content is a must for getting people to like your page and stay interested in it. Quality content also warrants requests for users to like, share, and comment—each of these actions can bring in new views to your page from your individuals your followers are connected with. Don’t be afraid to ask users to share or comment on a post. You can even offer incentives, such as a contest entry for anyone who comments and shares a particular post.
Here at Smargasy, we know how important it is to be seen online, especially on social media. Our marketing team can quickly help you gain a stronger social media following, so that your business can grow. Call (239) 214-8592 or email [email protected] to get started.
While it’s tough to pinpoint a firm end date for the pandemic, more and more businesses are currently able to reopen safely and get back to normal operations. But is your business ready for success after COVID-19? Whether you’ve been open in a limited capacity or closed throughout the pandemic, there are a few steps you can take to prepare for a successful re-launch.
It’s been a trend for businesses to keep their customers in the loop about their hours and other essential updates via social media. So, that’s likely where your followers are looking for news about your business. Ramp up your organic social presence and consider purchasing paid ads on social media to promote your re-opening. You may also make your team more available on Facebook messenger and in the comments of your posts to answer questions and actively engage with followers.
Email marketing has always been a helpful strategy for reconnecting with previous customers. To promote your success after COVID-19, you might launch an email campaign promoting new offerings from your business, locations that have reopened, or services that are back after a hiatus. Including special offers like a post-pandemic discount can gain even more attention and promote more conversions, whether that’s through a direct purchase in your store or an appointment booked on your website.
Your business may have undergone some permanent changes as a result of the pandemic. Be sure that your website still aligns with your services and speaks to your target audience. If it doesn’t, now is the time to invest in a website redesign to align customer expectations with their service experience.
Ready to get back to business after the pandemic? Smargasy can help you build a strong digital strategy to bring back your old customers and welcome new ones as well! Call (239) 214-8592 to get started.
When you need a specific product or service, what’s your first step for finding a company you can trust? Chances are that your answer has something to do with browsing the web. In fact, many purchases begin with a Google search, online service directory, or interaction with a digital ad. So, if your business isn’t using digital marketing to be seen within these spaces, you may not have many new customers walking through your doors. Here’s a closer look at the reasons why small businesses need digital marketing:
One of the most amazing things about digital marketing is the power to out-compete national chains in your local market. With tools like Google Maps searches and local directory management, you’ll have an easier time being seen right alongside bigger competitors. However, you’ll have the advantage of being seen as a local small business rather than a faceless corporation.
Digital marketing isn’t just about broadcasting your brand on the web. Services like SEO, PPC advertising, social media marketing, and email marketing all yield data that can offer valuable insights about your customers. You can see how they react to different marketing strategies. Then, you can tweak your approach accordingly so that you see even better results over time.
Don’t shy away from digital marketing because you assume that it’s not in the budget. Online marketing services are more affordable than traditional marketing strategies like roadside billboards and TV commercials. Even more importantly, they are delivered in a targeted way so that conversions are more likely with each ad interaction.
Any business can start small with digital marketing and grow their strategy over time. You may begin with a solid foundation including local SEO, directory listing management, and PPC ads. As your budget grows, you can add in social media advertising, email marketing, and other services to engage a wider audience and make even more conversions.
No matter where you are currently with your digital marketing plan, Smargasy can help you build an effective, affordable strategy that yields results. Call (239) 214-8592 today to schedule your free strategy session with our Fort Myers team.
No matter what your company sells, it’s not enough to simply have a great product. You also need to have a brand that resonates with customers. That way, they will keep coming back to do business with you. Brand personality should be something you think about in every piece of marketing material for your business. Here’s a closer look at why.
Brand personality, or brand identity, allows customers to make an emotional connection to your brand. You can think of it as the mood you want people to feel when they think of your company. There are a few common brand personalities you might select from, such as Youthful/Exciting, Sincere/Authentic, Competent/Knowledgeable, Sophisticated/High End, and Rugged/Outdoorsy. For some brands, the personality type will be a natural fit. For example, a camping store would easily identify as more rugged and outdoorsy than sophisticated and elegant. However, you may also gravitate toward a hybrid of these personalities or something unique and all your own.
Implemented well, brand personality will show through in your logo, commercials, social media posts, web copy, and blogs. It’s what speaks to the brand personas you’ve worked hard to develop with your marketing agency. With the right brand personality, you can better capture the attention of your target audience.
Consider the following example: A local grocery store in a hip, developing neighborhood wants to attract young parents to shop with them rather than the national chain grocer down the road. To stand out, they develop a fun and trendy brand personality with a brightly colored logo, bold marketing taglines, and a high-engagement social media campaign. With a Youthful/Exciting personality, this newer—and likely more expensive—store can distinguish themselves from the national chain that relies on a Sincere/Authentic approach that might appeal more to older adults.
For a personalized, refined approach to digital marketing in Southern Florida, contact Smargasy today. We’re a full-service agency based in Fort Myers. You can reach us for a free brand personality consultation at (239) 214-8592.
As a small business owner, you have probably seen first-hand the impact that your online reputation has on your business. If you don’t boast a 4- or 5-star rating on popular review sites like Google and Foursquare, you may be turning away customers before they ever reach your doors. However, it’s not just your star rating that matters. Potential customers will also look at how your business is answering reviews. They’ll be looking to see that you value your customers’ feedback and are consistently focused on creating positive service experiences.
You may wonder if it’s worth the time to answer reviews left for your business, especially if the feedback is overwhelmingly positive. However, answering reviews offers yet another opportunity for a positive customer interaction. Even better, it’s an interaction that’s visible to the public. In addition, responding to your customers’ feedback indicates to potential new customers that you’ll care about their opinions too.
It is important to develop unique strategies for answering different types of reviews. Here’s a closer look at what you should keep in mind.
Responding to existing reviews is a great step for your online reputation management. However, you may need a more comprehensive strategy to get new reviews coming in and boost your star rating. Smargasy is here to help! Schedule a free strategy session with us on our website or at (239) 214-8592.