Posts

Optimize Your Marketing Plan

/in , /by

Want to be sure your next marketing plan is optimized for the future? Looking for a framework to follow? Here is a four-step process to help you audit and adjust your next marketing plan.

#1: Evaluate Your Branding and Online Footprint to Ensure Consistency

First, you need to address brand health. Does your brand need some dusting off? Now’s the time to evaluate the past year. Look over all of your brand properties, logo, packaging, website, online stores, marketing materials, and digital marketing channels. What needs to be modified?

#2: Define Your Marketing Goals for the Year

Take a look at your marketing efforts from past years and analyze your performance. You might find that your company has grown or may need a change of direction. Review your products and services to determine any modifications you need to make for effective results.

#3: Organize and Prioritize Your Marketing Initiatives

Now that you’ve defined your goals, you’re ready for the more creative part of your yearly planning. Set a date to achieve all of your goals and objectives so you can start your course of action. Break the year into quarters.

#4: Plan Your Social Media Marketing Campaigns for the Coming Year

Planning your budget is the most important piece of the marketing mix. Don’t let this intimidate you. The U.S. Small Business Administration recommends that you spend about 8% of your gross revenue on marketing and advertising.

Now’s the time to preview the year ahead and make the necessary adjustments for the best performance of your marketing initiatives.  (Source: Social Media Examiner)

 

 

Don’t have time to do it all yourself? The experts at Advantage Marketing can help. We’ll work with you to develop strategies to help your brand stand out, attract your ideal clients, and develop a road map to success in 2020. Learn more and schedule an initial consultation.

 

 

Photo by: William Iven

LinkedIn marketing

LinkedIn Performance Boosting Tips

/in , /by

Just setting up a LinkedIn profile isn’t enough.  Engagement is key and posting content isn’t that difficult. There are three types of content you can create directly on LinkedIn:

  • Posts – this is short content, such as status updates and quick shares
  • Videos – you can directly upload video files to LinkedIn
  • Articles – LinkedIn Publisher enables you to publish long-form articles

Posts on LinkedIn don’t work the same as other social media sites – while visuals rule on most platforms, it’s not the case here. Text-only posts, according to research, tend to outperform all other options.

You have up to 1300 characters for each post, but the first 2–3 lines are critical, because everything after this is hidden unless the viewer clicks ‘…see more.’

Formatting is important. Use shorter sentences, spacing, and emojis to break up the post. No one wants to read a wall of text.

One of the biggest mistakes people make is sharing links to external articles or websites. Instead of including a link in your post, put it in the first comment.

We hope these tips will help boost your LinkedIn performance!

Source: Social Media Today

Contact us for a Total Online Presence Audit

We can assess your current social media and website strategy and recommend powerful tactics to build your online presence. Learn more about TOP audits.

Your website is more than a digital brochure

LinkedIn Tips to Help Increase Engagement

/in /by

Whether you’re looking to grow your business profile or expand your personal network, LinkedIn is a great platform to use. When used well, it can help you raise brand awareness and boost traffic to your business.

You want the content on your profile to accomplish three things:

  1. Clearly communicate your brand story and value
  2. Use keywords to show up in relevant search results
  3. Provide value for people who find it

The most important content on your LinkedIn profile is your headline and summary. Your headline acts as an instant elevator pitch, helping to provide context and a “hook” to keep readers on your profile.  Make sure you have a summary that clearly states what you do and how you can help your target market.

Read the FULL ARTICLE HERE for even more tips at socialmediatoday.com.

Getting the Most Out of Social Media

Getting the Most Out of Social Media

/in /by

Social media marketing is beneficial for a number of reasons.

It improves brand awareness, brings new leads to your website, improves search engine rankings and provides excellent market research opportunities. If you’re spreading yourself too thin with your social media activities and your business is suffering, it may be time to explore a minimalist approach to social media.

Here are some steps you can take for a minimalist approach to social media marketing:

Create a schedule.

Because social media marketing is an ongoing process with no definitive start or end point, managing the amount of time you spend on each channel can be difficult. For this reason, it’s imperative to schedule blocks of your day specifically for social media and related tasks.

Pick your channels wisely.

There is no rule that says you must be active on every social media channel. You can achieve much better results by focusing on one or two channels where your prospects are active, rather than trying to cover every platform.

Publish killer content.

If you’re cutting back on the amount of time you spend on social media, your number one priority should be publishing killer content. (prdaily.com)

 Contact us for a Total Online Presence Audit

We can assess your current social media and website strategy and recommend powerful tactics to build your online presence. Learn more about TOP audits.

Automating Your Business

Automating Your Business

/in /by

Automation is considered the next major frontier in marketing.

But are you extending your business’s automation practices far enough? If you’re going to make automation work for you you’ll need to put in the front-end effort to set it up. Get started with these tips:

Put Data in Its Place: If you want to take advantage of the full breadth of marketing automation options; spend the money to invest in a powerful CRM system.

Break It Apart: Taking apart the information feeding into your CRM will allow you to see how your current marketing campaigns are working and hone them for improved performance.

Set Benchmarks: Marketing automation is a multi-phase process and you should set benchmarks that can guide you and let you know how close to fully automated your business’s system is.

Automate Personality: You need to develop customer personas. These are templates that have particular perspectives on sales, customer needs, and that embrace a tone that’s limited to specific sales groups.

Remember: Embracing automation also means smoothing workflow, improving team management, and helping sales managers shift their responsibilities to more productive activities than sheer data wrangling. (smalbiztrends)

Need help with your marketing?

Get the Advantage Marketing Total Online Presence audit today!

How Can You Optimize Your Google My Business Page?

How Can You Optimize Your Google My Business Page?

/in , /by

How Can You Optimize Your Google My Business Page?You’ve set up and claimed your Google My Business page. Now it’s time to optimize it! Here are a few tips from The Small Business Marketing Academy to help you get started. Read more

How to Remove Writers Block and Come Up with Awesome Content Ideas

How to Remove Writers Block and Come Up with Awesome Content Ideas

/in , /by

How to Remove Writers Block and Come Up with Awesome Content IdeasNot sure what to blog about? Having trouble getting started on that white paper? Here’s what marketing expert John Jantsch has to say on the topic:

Removing writer’s block

Take a break and go outside

Seems simple enough, right? Stand up, walk away from your desk, and get away from your computer for a bit. Do this even if you’re on a tight deadline. There’s no point in just staring at your computer if it’s getting you nowhere. Getting some fresh air will help get your creative juices flowing and will make you feel refreshed so that you can return to your desk and conquer a stellar piece of content. Read more

7 must have website elements

7 Must Have Website Elements

/in , /by

“Marketing-Focused” Thinking Should Drive Your Website Design Today

The homepage is often a prospect’s first impression of your website. Long, scrolling pages are the expectation these days, so think of your homepage elements as a bit of journey. Don’t try to cram it all above the fold, let people get further and further as they scroll.

7 must have website elementsSo that visitors can get the most out of landing on your website, consider implementing the seven elements below.

1. The promise

The purpose of the promise headline, above the fold on your homepage, is to show the visitor that you understand the challenges they face. You need to make them a promise that will solve their problems.

2. Call to action

A call to action (CTA) is an image or text that prompts visitors, leads, or customers to take a specific action. CTAs help to guide people through the customer journey and advise them on next steps.

Your call to action can be to request more information, schedule a consultation, or download a free report. Make sure it’s relevant and useful – the days when people simply signed up to receive an email from you are over, but people still want to be led to useful activities and resources that get them closer to solving their problems.

3. Video

Many companies are beginning to feature video on their homepage, and for a good reason! Video allows you to give people a real sense of who you are, what you stand for, and let people hear your story. It’s also a great way to produce content to engage your audience.

Some put this in the nice to have category, but I think it’s a must these days for small business websites.

4. Trust elements

You need to have elements that build trust on your homepage, whether they be logos of current customers or testimonials for your audience to glance over. Have reviews or accolades you want your audience to see? Make them easy to find and place them on the homepage.

This is almost a content category for many businesses as things like reviews, case studies, and testimonials should be part of your ongoing content building efforts, but once you collect them use them to build trust and social proof.

Wondering why your website doesn’t generate traffic and leads like you thought it would? Our Total Online Presence Audit  can help.

5. Changing content

It’s a good idea to feature frequently changing content from your website on your homepage. For example, place a blog or social feed on the homepage that shows recent activity. It’s a great way to show your company is active and to keep content fresh on the homepage.

6. Content upgrades

A content upgrade gives people the ability to download premium content in exchange for an email address or capturing a lead. This is an essential element for conversion on your website. If they download this content, this expresses interest in what you do. Take this opportunity to give them more valuable content moving forward to nurture them through to the sale.

The key is to make the upgrade, a checklist or eBook for example, highly relevant to the blog post or content where it is featured.This is an essential element for conversion on your website. If they download this content, this expresses interest in what you do. Take this opportunity to give them more valuable content moving forward to nurture them through to the sale.

This is an essential element for conversion on your website. If they download this content, this expresses interest in what you do. Take this opportunity to give them more valuable content moving forward to nurture them through to the sale.

7. Core services

Create boxes that feature your core products or services and include about 100 words of content with each. Since these are your core services, you’ll likely have full pages or sections of your site related to each, but by placing them on your homepage accompanied by descriptive content, you’ll also get some additional SEO value.

Get help with your website

The experts at Advantage Marketing can help you develop a website that generates leads for your business. Contact us to learn more.

Reprinted from 5 Step Marketing Blueprint by John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing

Hiring a marketing consultant

How to Hire a Marketing Consultant: 4 Questions You Need to Ask Yourself

/in , /by

Small businesses hire marketing consultants for many reasons. But do you know what you should consider when evaluating marketing consultants?

In this video, Duct Tape Marketing founder John Jantsch discusses the four key questions you should consider when hiring a consultant for your marketing. Read more

AM’s Loraine Kasprzak Achieves Certified Duct Tape Marketing Consultant Status

/in , /by

Advantage Marketing’s managing director, Loraine Kasprzak, has successfully completed the rigorous initial Duct Tape Marketing training and has continuous access to training throughout the year ensuring she is the best at the marketing game. Read more