Social media marketing is a great way to build continued engagement with your customers while tapping into new markets. In the early days of social media, using it for marketing was straightforward. But now, with so many platforms and so much competition, it requires a much more careful strategy. Here are some of the things you should do to build a successful social media marketing strategy.
Before you post anything on social media, spend some time thinking about your marketing goals. What do you hope to achieve with your social media marketing efforts? Your goal may be to increase sales of a certain product or service, build awareness of your brand, or create more engagement on your posts. There is no right answer about what your goals should be, as long as you select an outcome that best serves the needs of your business. Stick with goals that are clear, definable, and trackable, so you can monitor the outcomes of your efforts and adjust as needed.
With so many different social media platforms available, people tend to flock to one or two of their favorites. To create a successful social media marketing campaign, this means knowing which social media platforms your customers are using. A good way to start is by researching the demographics of popular social media channels to get a feel for where your customers are likely to be. You can also track how people interact with your brand on social media and which channels generate the most engagement. With that knowledge in mind, you can target your marketing efforts more efficiently.
If you use your social media channels to constantly sell, you’ll turn off people from following your brand. Instead, mix a good number of personal posts in with your promotional ones. Your personal posts can be behind the scenes stories, links to articles you’ve enjoyed reading, or anything else that will make your customers feel a more personal connection with your brand.
You don’t have to go it alone on social media marketing. Work with Smargasy to build and execute a personalized strategy for your brand. Start the process today by emailing [email protected] or calling (239) 214-8592.
The only constant thing about search engine optimization (SEO) is that it will continually evolve over time. Every year, it’s necessary to take stock of your company’s SEO techniques and strategies, and adjust them as needed to take advantage of the latest trends and algorithms. Staying on top of this never-ending evaluation and adjustment process can position your company for success in 2021 and beyond.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer the stuff of science fiction. It’s affecting your everyday life, even if you don’t know it’s there. For example, Google recently implemented RankBrain—an AI algorithm that affects how Google ranks pages in their search engine results pages (SERPs).
Although Google has long been tightlipped about its algorithms, experts believe that RankBrain prioritizes user experience signals (such as time spent on pages and click-through rates). This means that your SEO strategy for 2021 should prioritize them as well. For instance, you can improve web traffic retention by keeping your readers’ attention with interesting, useful content.
User experience, or UX, is a specialized field that has been steadily growing in importance. If your digital marketing strategy doesn’t provide for UX testing, it’s time to overhaul it. UX testing is crucial for understanding your customers’ pain points and eliminating them to create a streamlined, convenient user experience.
It’s expected that local SEO will continue to grow in importance in 2021. If your business caters to a local audience, you absolutely need to harness the power of local SEO by doing the following:
It’s tough to stay on top of all the latest SEO trends—by partnering with Smargasy, Inc., you don’t have to. Turn over your SEO tasks to our team of digital marketing experts and get ready to watch your traffic and conversions soar. Contact our office in Fort Myers, FL, at (239) 214-8592 to find out what our digital marketing team can do for your brand.
Periodically, it’s a good idea to audit your company’s digital marketing strategy. And since the New Year is a prime time for new beginnings, it makes sense to conduct your audit at the start of 2021. Your audit should examine all of your digital marketing campaigns—social media, email, paid ads, etc.—and consider what’s working and what’s not working. This will allow you to make needed adjustments and breathe new life into your digital marketing campaigns.
Many business owners might begin their digital marketing audit for 2021 with a look at their paid advertisements, since that’s where their money is being spent. However, those clicks have to take the user somewhere, and that place is typically the brand’s website. With that in mind, it’s best to begin your audit with the heart of your digital marketing strategy—your website.
Consider whether you need to rewrite content to optimize for new keywords and phrases. Take a look at the structure of your site. Does it make sense? Is it easy to navigate? Be sure to also consider any technical SEO issues. Does your website load quickly? Is it mobile friendly?
Once your website is optimized for 2021, consider how your offsite presence affects your reputation. Is your company included in local business directories? Is your Google My Business listing up to date? Does your brand have more positive reviews than negative ones? Do you promptly respond to reviews?
After you’ve audited your brand’s website and its offsite reputation, it’s time to take a closer look at other sources of organic traffic, as well as paid traffic. These include:
Are you ready to audit your digital marketing strategy for 2021, but not sure where to start? Just get in touch with the team of expert digital marketers at Smargasy, Inc. We’ll be happy to handle your digital marketing audit for you. You can reach our office in Fort Myers, FL, at (239) 214-8592 or fill out our online contact form to request your free consultation.
Email marketing has a remarkably high return on investment. In fact, more than half of marketers state that their best ROI comes from this medium. As you might expect, email marketing has grown during the COVID-19 pandemic, with professionals reporting that they’ve been sending about 27% more emails. Since the pandemic is expected to last well into next year, this trend in email marketing can also be relied upon to stick around. You can use the following strategies to spice up your campaigns in 2021.
Savvy email marketers have long known that personalization matters. A marketing email that has a personalized subject line and is addressed to the recipient’s name is more likely to be opened, read, and clicked through to the company’s website. In 2021, this might not be enough.
Consumers want email content that seems like it was created especially for them. If your mailing list contains thousands (or even just hundreds) of addresses, this is quite clearly impossible. However, you can mimic this level of hyper-personalization by using segmentation based on criteria such as interests, purchase history, behavior, and location.
Aside from the intent of the email, what is the one major difference between a marketing email and every other email? Marketing emails tend to lean heavily on images, GIFs, and other graphics. They typically include just a few snippets of text plugged into a snazzy-looking template, complete with brand colors.
There is nothing inherently wrong with a flashy marketing email. However, it can sometimes feel too impersonal—especially during these turbulent times. As a result, the best way to spice up your email campaigns may be to tone them down. Set your brand apart from the crowd by sending an occasional text-only email. To your customers, it will feel almost as if they’re receiving a personal letter from a friend.
AtSmargasy, Inc., we understand the value of a well-planned email marketing campaign. Our team of expert digital marketers will create responsive templates designed for your brand, along with email copy that keeps your customers engaged. Call us in Fort Myers, FL, at (239) 214-8592 to discuss your email marketing needs for 2021.
The importance of social media marketing strategies isn’t exactly breaking news. Marketers have long known that businesses that are prominent on social media tend to get more traffic and more conversions. Yet, what is catching their attention in recent months is the unprecedented surge in traffic. The COVID-19 pandemic has been fueling a significant upsurge in social media traffic. In fact, about half of all U.S. adults report having increased engagement with social media platforms due to the pandemic. Since this upward trend will likely continue into the New Year, it’s worth taking a closer look at your social media strategy.
There has been an uptick in wellness-related content this past year, and experts predict that this trend will continue well into 2021. With all of the challenges of 2020, people are searching for balance in their lives. Look for a way to refocus your brand on wellness—either physical, mental, or spiritual—and post relevant wellness-related content on your social media platforms.
Audiences have been responding well to brands that publish cause-driven content with a social conscience. Whether it’s social justice, humanitarianism, or environmentalism, developing a social conscience for your brand will help it resonate better with your audience.
Social awareness of systemic inequalities has been growing by leaps and bounds. Make sure your social media strategy for 2021 is mindfully developed to reflect the values of your demographic. For example, if you’re planning photo shoots to generate social media content, use a diverse selection of subjects. And you shouldn’t stop there. Today’s savvy consumers look beyond the veneer. They respond well to brands that are genuinely committed to positive change. Look for ways to improve diversity and inclusion throughout your company—and of course, post about these changes on social media.
Smargasy, Inc. is your source for complete digital marketing services, including thoughtfully formulated social media marketing strategies. Contact us in Fort Myers, Florida, at (239) 214-8592 to request a consultation.
With over 227 million consumers using the web to make purchases, there’s a clear audience out there for your online marketing. It’s almost a guarantee that your customers are making decisions about what to buy based on the results of their internet searches. SEO puts your business front and center when a potential customer is looking for the products or services you provide. Managing your online reputation ensures that consumers are getting the right impression when they do find you through search. Because online reputation is tied to SEO in this way, it’s important to think of them in tandem.
What do you want customers to find when they search for your company’s name? Ideally, you want your own website to be the top result so that you’re controlling the narrative of your brand. Achieving this requires careful and consistent SEO strategies across all your onsite pages. A good SEO strategy won’t only optimize your whole site, but it will optimize the specific pages on your site that you want to rank the highest for specific search terms. This means that customers will find your company’s site and start exploring it through the entry points that highlight your top-selling products and services.
The last thing your business wants is for customers to search for you and find negative reviews. Unfortunately, search engine algorithms place value on the domain authority of sites like Yelp where negative reviews may be found. To combat the impact of negative reviews, you need to carefully manage your online reputation, so that your SEO results aren’t undermined by negative reviews that also pop up in search.
Smargasy knows how important the marriage of online reputation management and SEO is to your brand’s success. Find out how we can help by calling (239) 214-8592
Many small businesses sit out on digital marketing, believing it is either too time consuming or expensive. Alternatively, some assume that the nature of having a small business means that there is no need to tap into the virtual marketplace that digital marketing can open up. In reality, digital marketing is critical for businesses of all sizes. Even if your business specializes in hyper-local products or services, having an online presence is still necessary to keep your loyal customers engaged. Here are a few reasons that small businesses should make digital marketing a priority.
One of the key reasons that small businesses should use digital marketing is that their customers expect them to. The vast majority of customers look online before making purchase decisions, whether they’re looking for a new television or trying to decide where to make dinner reservations. If you’re not present in that digital conversation, potential customers have no way to find you. Furthermore, your competitors are likely using digital marketing. Even if you have a loyal base of customers, a well-placed online ad or marketing email from a competitor could be just enough to entice your customers to give another company a try.
Small businesses sometimes mistakenly believe that digital marketing is out of their budgets, but it can actually level the playing field between small companies and large brands with deep pockets. Digital marketing is more about strategic SEO, careful content marketing, and a strong social media presence than big budgets. You can compete in the same spaces as large brands in ways you can’t with other marketing mediums.
One of the best things about digital marketing is the way that it can make all of your marketing more effective. By tracking who is responding to your digital campaigns and what kinds of marketing are most effective in the digital realm, you get a clear view of exactly who your target market is. This knowledge will make all your offline marketing efforts more successful.
Digital marketing is a must for small businesses. Let Smargasy show you how a digital strategy can support your brand. Call us at (239) 214-8592 or email us at [email protected].
Your online reputation is more important than you might think. Research indicates that up to 91% of shoppers between the ages of 18 and 34 put a great deal of faith in online reviews when choosing a company. Moreover, businesses see a 5% to 9% increase in revenue for every one-star increase they get on Yelp. Here’s a quick look at how a negative online reputation can affect your business.
Loss of New Customers
When consumers are searching for a new product or service, they usually turn to Google. Not only will they visit the company’s website and/or social media profiles, but they are also likely to check out online reviews as well. It’s usually acceptable for a company to have one or two negative reviews—this demonstrates authenticity and makes the positive reviews more believable. However, having too many negative reviews will encourage consumers to look elsewhere.
Loss of Current Customers
Believe it or not, having a negative online reputation can discourage your current customers, even if those same customers have reported positive interactions with your brand. Customers who become aware of negative online reviews might suddenly question their decision to purchase your products or book your services. They might decide to choose one of your competitors in order to avoid the risk of having a negative interaction with you in the future.
Problems with Recruitment
A company is only as good as its employees. They are the heart and soul of your company. They take care of your customers, build your brand, and scale your operations. If you have a negative online reputation, you may find it more difficult to attract and recruit top talent. Furthermore, your current employees may find the negative reviews demoralizing, and they might start to polish their resumes.
Clearly, having a negative online reputation is bad for business, but what can you do about it? Contact the experts at Smargasy, Inc. to discuss our online reputation management services. You can reach us at (239) 214-8592 or by emailing [email protected].
You might think that most marketing emails are deleted unread. But actually, the average open rate for all industries is over 21%, which is considered quite high. Furthermore, email marketing is an incredibly impactful, yet budget-friendly marketing tool. Consider this: Marketing emails result in $38 in revenue for every $1 spent, which is an ROI of 3,800%! If you aren’t yet using email marketing for your small business, you’re missing out on valuable opportunities.
You can reach more potential customers.
As odd as it might sound, not everyone uses social media. Social media marketing is also quite effective, but it can’t reach everyone. However, these days, it’s all but impossible to find someone who doesn’t have an email address—or two or three. With email marketing, you can get your message in front of more eyes with just a few clicks.
Marketing emails can be personalized.
One unique aspect of this marketing tool is the extent to which personalization is possible. For example, bulk email platforms enable you to automatically have each email addressed to the recipient’s name, rather than reading “Dear Customer.” However, this is just the start. Email marketing tools also enable you to segment your audience with a virtually endless range of filters, including their geography, age range, purchase histories, and interests. This enables you to deliver highly targeted, personalized email campaigns to the customers who are most likely to respond to them.
Marketing emails can be highly engaging.
There are a number of strategies small businesses can use to improve their open rates and click-through rates. One effective way to make your emails enticing is to create content that is unexpectedly entertaining or delightfully informative. Customers are more likely to click on marketing emails if the subject line and body content promise something of value. In turn, this can help elevate the value of your brand in the minds of your customers.
You can easily harness the power of email marketing without having to write the emails yourself. Connect with Smargasy, Inc. today to learn about our complete email marketing services (we’ll even send the emails for you!). You can contact our office in Florida at (239) 214-8592.
Worldwide, there are over three billion social media users. Furthermore, more than half of them use social media for the purposes of choosing a product or a service to purchase. Yet, posting content haphazardly on your social media profiles isn’t likely to help you meet your revenue goals. Before you get started, you’ll need a solid social media content strategy in place.
Understand your audience.
Understanding your audience is crucial for any type of digital marketing, including your social media content strategy. Spend some time researching your own customers, your potential customers, and your competitors. You should know the basics, such as the general age range, sex, income range, and interests of your audience. This will enable you to craft content that is tailored to appeal to that audience. For example, if most of your audience is male, you wouldn’t write lots of content catered to moms.
Consider your industry.
In addition to considering your audience, the topic, style, and tone of content you post should be informed by your industry. Certain niches, such as financial advising, call for a more formal tone, whereas others, such as party supply retailers, call for a casual, playful tone.
Establish your content posting schedule.
You’ll undoubtedly want to attract as many social media followers as possible. However, it’s also important to retain them once you have them. One effective retention strategy is to post on a predictable schedule. For example, if you decide to upload one post each day, you’ll need to stick with it. If you suddenly stop posting because you simply get too busy, your followers will become disengaged. Once you establish your posting schedule, you can upload content in advance and schedule the timing of the posts.
Smargasy, Inc. is your source for complete digital marketing services—from social media content strategy development to Facebook advertising and much more. We take the time to get to know our clients’ businesses inside and out in order to develop customized marketing campaigns that get results. Call us today at (239) 214-8592 to get the ball rolling.