Happy June 1st! As we embark into the 6th month of the year, there are still some things we can do to increase revenues over the next 7 months, including increasing clientele during our summer months. Let’s see how we can help push us through to the next level.
- Be Mobile Accessible and Optimized
Everywhere you look shoppers and potential clients are using mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets to research a service or product, compare deals, make a purchase. The largest group to emerge into the market is millennials, which we can gain as lifetime customers.
According to Marketo in 2016, almost three-quarters of millennials admit to never being without their phones and at the same time, this digital generation is expecting a lot more engagement from their brands.
In 2017, mobile marketing is predicted to surpass $100 billion in spending and account for more than 50% of all digital spending for the first time, according to eMarketer. In fact, there are some predictions being made saying that mobile will completely overtake desktop next year.
If you aren’t mobile, you are going to miss out.
- Refine Your Social Media Presence
A constant social media presence is essential to the survival of your business. With new apps and user-friendly interfaces, building a social media page is easy. However, the simplicity of building a Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn presence can sometimes give brands a false sense of security and confidence. Social media is to engage your users and build brand trust, not a tool for self-promotion.
- Keep Your Website Up-To-Date
Are you the cobbler? Making sure everyone has shoes except you and yours? Could the same be said about your website? There is no excuse in not keeping your website up-to-date. It starts at “home”.
While there is plenty of work for all, competition is stiff and more companies are resorting to videos, photos and illustrations to stand out and attract more customers. Whatever you do, just make sure you engage with your customers and that your website and social media presence reflects both what your business is about and what your customers are expecting of you.
- Content Still Reigns
As we look around, we see all types of things crossing our eyes every minute of every day on all different types of devises, however one thing still holds true…Content Is King!
You will notice more brands relying on visuals to get engagement, however content is still king. Developing quality content should be seen as a priority for any company, regardless of industry. Content marketing provides information to current (and potential) customers in order to build trust, develop the brand and ensure your brand is considered an expert in a specific subject matter (remember last week’s tip?).
According to a Content Marketing Institute survey, 80% of business decision-makers prefer to get company information through a series of articles, compared to an ad. Seventy-eight percent of consumers believe that organizations providing customized content are building better relationships with them, while 58% of consumers consider companies that produce video content to be more trustworthy. In an instant gratification society, consumers want more-start forward thinking and provide your content in videos and other visual forms of content and be a step ahead of the game.
- Improve Your SEO
When you search for something, isn’t is amazing how the search engines will offer you advice on what you may be looking for? This tip “keys” you into the world of search engine optimization.
SEO, Search Engine Optimization, is a game-changing tool for marketers. Prioritizing appropriate visual content on your website can dramatically improve your SEO ranking. Visuals such as pictures, infographics and video are much more engaging than just plain text, which in turn, makes a search more relevant to any consumer. Pictures are worth a thousand words, but video can be “worth 1.8 million words,” according to a Forrester study.
In addition, being visually engaging can increase the chances users will “linger” on your page longer, however you have to support your page with optimized descriptions, alt tags and targeted keywords – essential in having an effective SEO strategy. Don’t be invisible! Let your audience find you and one effective way to do that is to improve your SEO!
- Brands Must Get Personal
Have you noticed with everything out there that is supposed to keep us social, we are getting more antisocial by the minute? Social media and other types of digital communication enable us to have a huge online community with a lot of stuff going on and sharing. Yet, while we are being more social, we are still a skittish about giving our information away. So how do we get the information we need? Get personal!
According to the Direct Marketing Association, 76% of consumers will share personal information with a brand if they believe it will improve their experience and interaction. By collecting key data from consumers, such as past customer purchases, newsletter sign-ups, discount offers and social media, companies are able to build profiles offering targeted content and incentives to purchase. Today, personalized one-to-one marketing is no longer an option, but a essential to acquire and retain loyal customers. You have to reach your audience on an emotional and trusted realm to help drive word-of-mouth referrals and online reviews.
Please keep this tip and the others before it in mind as we head into the Fall. We will all be better for it. If you haven’t given it much thought, what are you waiting for? As always, we at Veer90 are here to help jumpstart your marketing strategies. After all, they are not going to execute themselves.