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6 Simple Ways to Build Stronger Relationships with Customers

February 16, 2022 No Comments

It’s easier than ever to get customers these days – ask your local plumber or computer repair company, and they’ll tell you all about it. But one thing they won’t be able to tell you is how to keep them around once they’ve signed on the dotted line. And that’s because there are no one-size-fits-all methods for customer retention, but certain methods will work better than others.

The importance of building customer relationships

Make your customers feel special, and they’ll stick around.

There’s a reason marketers recommend focusing on customer retention over customer acquisition: once you’ve got a loyal following, they’re going to spread good things about your company through word of mouth, which will help attract new people.

Make sure to spend as much time nurturing customers as you do acquiring them – the right relationships are more valuable than ever these days, so don’t be afraid to put some effort into keeping current ones healthy and happy. Remember that when dealing with clients, businesses are still individuals who have a face. People appreciate pleasant interactions and look for ways to make their experience better.

This can also lead to higher profits down the road by building brand loyalty via friendliness (like smiling) versus being strictly professional (such as being too firm). Resulting in happy customers.

Customer relationships can be difficult to maintain, but you can use several simple techniques to strengthen your customer-business relationship. Whether you’re working to maintain strong customer relationships or trying to attract new ones, here are six ways that your company can build stronger relationships with customers.

1. Ask questions

Before you can build stronger relationships, you have to know your customers personally. To better understand who they are and what they value, ask them questions. They’ll appreciate that you take an interest in them, and it’ll help make your conversations more meaningful in general.

For example, instead of just asking for their name when someone walks into your store or business, ask how their day is going or how their family is doing. Although you may be focused on selling products and services, people want to feel like they matter – so it pays to acknowledge them as individuals rather than just as revenue sources.

In addition to conversational questions, try writing down some survey-style questions, too. You might even keep a journal where you write down your thoughts about customers every time you interact with them; eventually, these thoughts could lead to interesting new ideas for building rapport and strengthening relationships further.

If having one-on-one discussions feels intimidating or awkward, there’s another option: partner up with someone else at your company (or anyone else within reach) who has good interpersonal skills. You two can act as liaisons between company executives and clients/customers. Just remember not to turn these partnerships into a gossip session!

2. Listen actively

When your customers talk, don’t just listen to what they’re saying. Instead, listen to how they’re saying it. For example, are their words coming out at you quickly and impatiently? Or are they being considerate and kind about your time? These cues will tell you a lot about how much respect (or lack thereof) your customers have for you, and they can help you determine whether or not you should continue providing services to them.

If you hear that your customer is frustrated because they think you aren’t listening, they might be right – listen more actively so that both of you get what you need.

A good customer service rep doesn’t give up after only one attempt; if someone doesn’t like something, then keep trying until they’re satisfied! Even if they aren’t asking questions. It’s your job to solve problems. A bad customer service rep gives up too easily and waits for someone else to solve the problem. They expect other people (i.e., upper management) to make all of their decisions for them instead of taking matters into their own hands.

3. Invest in your customer relationships

According to a study by Bain & Co, the most common reason why companies lose customers is that they don’t take care of them. That’s an important piece of information for entrepreneurs looking to build a lasting company. While marketing, sales, and public relations all play vital roles in building a successful business, it’s in customer service where things often fall apart.

After all, if your products and services are good but you treat customers poorly, you might not be around long enough to reap any benefits. Fortunately, there are lots of simple ways you can invest in your customer relationships – and each one will help make your business more sustainable in the long run.

Respond quickly: When it comes to customer service and support – in any industry – time is money. A major survey by Zendesk found that 69 percent of consumers said that being unable to get a response was their biggest pet peeve when dealing with businesses. One solution: Have dedicated phone lines or email addresses that deliver a consistent level of service (i.e., 24/7), so customers know exactly when someone will respond.
Have regular contact: It may seem overly simplistic, but many businesses overlook something as seemingly obvious as saying hello and thank you when communicating with customers on an ongoing basis, especially during busy periods like Christmas or back-to-school season.

4. Give customers a reason to talk about you

It’s no secret that companies that invest in quality customer service and solid relationships see a payoff. These companies don’t merely offer quality products or services; they offer outstanding experiences that make customers want to share their stories (and send more business your way). So instead of focusing on how you can sell more, turn it toward how you can get customers to tell other people about you.

The best way to do that is to focus on getting those existing customers feeling connected, cared for, and remembered. It will keep them coming back while inspiring others to join in. Many businesses end up having conversations with potential customers where they feel like something’s missing. But, unfortunately, there is not enough information to make an informed decision, or sometimes there isn’t enough relationship between company and person on the other end of the line.

For example, when does someone ask your company’s name? Or what industry you work in? You have room to improvize and create better answers before someone decides whether they trust what you say next. So rather than falling back on boring marketing speak, take a few minutes to think through interesting details that would resonate with your target audience.

5. Help others solve problems

A customer is only as good as their last experience, and not every customer will have a positive experience. Whether it’s an equipment breakdown, wrong delivery, or an inconvenient store location, problems can put your customers off for months – and then you’re at risk of losing them for good. The key to keeping your customers happy is staying in close contact with them and taking action when you notice issues (rather than waiting for them to become bigger problems).

You may want to keep some review system in place that lets you know immediately when something goes wrong – if someone leaves a negative review online, your team needs to reach out to that person right away and make sure they have what they need.

6. Take action

Start thinking about some of your recent or past interactions with customers. What makes a good relationship? How can you continue to build and strengthen relationships? Do you have any ideas for future steps? Whether via blogging, social media, live events, or a newsletter, stay in touch and make sure to communicate with your customer base.

The more you communicate and show them that they matter to you, no matter how big or small their purchase is, they’ll feel appreciated and want to keep doing business with you. Plus, it will help build your brand! Finally, don’t underestimate customer loyalty – treat them well, go above and beyond, and they might stick around.

I hope this article helps you understand important ways to build stronger relationships with customers. Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

By Syed Fahad Ahmed

Guest author: Syed Fahad Ahmed is a Digital Marketer and content producer at Appsocio who build innovative ideas and content to promote various products of the company in the market. He aims to extend his assistance in B2B and IT marketing through his engaging Blog.

Sourced from Jeff Bullas

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Your Employees Are Your Best Brand Advocates

February 16, 2022 No Comments

By Sonam Sagar

Amplify your reach and empower your staff with an employee advocacy program

It is estimated that more than half of the world’s population engages in social media, and that number continues to increase at around 1 million users every single day. Those users include friends, family, prospects, customers — and the people you work with every day. Engaged employees are the driving force behind your business and brand building. By giving your employees the right tools to amplify their voices and leverage their personal networks, they can become your foremost promoters and brand advocates. A well-designed employee advocacy program harnesses the passion and social influence of your organization’s very best champions: your own employees.

Why employee advocacy?

When your employees advocate for your brand and share your company’s content through their own social ecosystem, you automatically extend your reach. On average, your employees have a collective network that is 10 times larger than your company’s follower base. With a well-executed employee advocacy program, employees can help your brand reach a significantly larger audience. According to a survey by MSL Group, content that is shared by employees receives eight times more engagement than content shared by brand channels, and employee advocacy can increase your brand reach by 561%. By leveraging the power of your staff’s personal and social networks you can organically:

Increase employee engagement
Boost your brand awareness and reputation
Increase your recruiting efforts
Drive sales pipeline

Here’s how.

Increase employee engagement

You want your employees to feel engaged with their work and with your brand. You want them to feel so excited by the content that they are directly involved with creating that they share it with their networks. It gives them a sense of belonging and pride to showcase your organization’s initiatives and accomplishments — and when employees are engaged at work, they are more likely to stay. A robust employee advocacy program helps you to create content that is easily shared across social platforms to streamline your employee’s connections with their networks, build their personal brands and professional networks, and position them as thought leaders within their industries. You can also gamify the experience with awards, points, and badges that incentivize them to participate and reward them for doing so.

Sprinklr

Boost brand awareness and reputation

When your content is shared by your employee advocates, their networks may be hearing about your brand, product, or service for the very first time. A Nielsen Global Online Customer Survey showed that 90% of customers are more likely to trust a product or service recommendation from someone they know, giving you a bridge to increasing your brand awareness and reputation. When quality brand content is shared by a trusted source, it’s more likely to be believed and pique the interest of the reader to learn more. This can have far-reaching positive effects on how your brand and its reputation are perceived.

Magnify recruiting efforts

In 2021, we saw a record number of people leaving their jobs, and the U.S. unemployment rate has plummeted to a record low. A recent Gartner pulse survey of 900 C-suite leaders revealed that 60% of them reported a greater-than-normal attrition rate in 2021, and 68% of those executives said that the recruiting efforts of their competition or other companies are what’s causing their employee turnover. These recent events put a lot of pressure on your HR teams to fill requisitions quickly and with the right people.

LinkedIn reported that “companies with a successful employee advocacy program are 58% more likely to attract, and 20% more likely to retain, top talent.” Your employee advocates can promote your company’s recruitment efforts and improve candidate acquisition through their networks.

Drive sales pipeline and revenue

Content that is shared by your staff is content that you share without associated marketing and advertising costs, giving you a force multiplier of your content creation efforts. This strategy saves your marketing department time and money as it is approved, quality content that is being reused across the multitude of your employees’ networks. Forbes reported that when your sales teams use their social networks to develop leads, they can outsell their peers by as much as 76% and convert those leads more frequently. Quality leads and higher close rates mean a healthy sales pipeline and increased revenue for your organization.

Activate your advocacy

You’ll want to choose the right partner to activate, build, and measure employee advocacy with powerful planning tools, content calendars, customizable dashboards, a central asset repository, and approval workflows that streamline advocacy initiatives. Once you define your primary goals, identify your best advocates, and measure your success, you can help your brand empower and activate employee advocates throughout your organization and maximize connectivity. To learn more, download Turning Employees Into Your Best Brand Advocates: 3 Steps to Amplify Your Reach by Empowering Your Staff.

By Sonam Sagar

Sonam Sagar is the Director of Product Marketing for Sprinklr’s Modern Marketing & Advertising suite. Sonam has spent the past 15+ years in the marketing and advertising industry, helping companies increase brand awareness and drive product adoption

Sourced from Forbes

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Leaders Are Only as Good as the Executive Team. Here’s How to Get the Right One Assembled

February 15, 2022 No Comments

By David Finkel

Creating a team geared for growth is crucial to building your business.

As a business coach for more than 25 years, I get the unique opportunity of talking to thousands of business owners every year. I get to hear what is working for them and what isn’t, and over time you start noticing patterns that can help predict whether someone’s business is on the right track for success or trouble. And one of the biggest indicators of success that I have found is a really solid executive team. If you have the right people in the right positions, the sky’s the limit. So today I want to share some tips and tricks on how to get the right executive team assembled to prepare your business for growth.

It All Comes Down to Trust

There isn’t a big secret to finding out if your executive team is solid. As a leader, your team will fall into one of two camps. Either you have a group in place that you trust enough to let them handle things or you don’t. Either you have a team that will take an idea, concept, or problem and work toward a solution that benefits the group, or you have a team that relies so heavily on you that taking a day off becomes a huge bottleneck for your business. Or it could be somewhere in between. So the first step to getting the right people in the right positions is to sit down and be honest with yourself about your team. Do you trust them? If the answer is yes, then the next part is easy. If the answer is no, then you have some work to do.

Let Go

If you answered yes to the question above, then it’s up to you to help your team reach their true potential by letting go. You have a group of professionals who have the skills and expertise necessary to take your business to the next level, and sometimes the best thing you can do is step aside and let them shine. Some business owners struggle with this part, but if you trust in your team, it’s important to work on letting go. Instead, focus on the higher-level tasks within your business, and allow them to guide your team to the finish line.

A Little Help

If you answered no to the trust question, you have a little more work ahead of you. Take a good look at their talents and abilities and determine whether they have the skills and drive to grow with your business. Do you need to hire additional team members to cover the skill set necessary to grow your business, or could you help your existing team with the right coaching and training? It is likely a mixture of the two. You may also find other members of your team who are not in a leadership role but may possess the skills necessary to round out your team, so don’t overlook existing team members.

Creating a team geared for growth is crucial to building your business. Not only will it help you grow faster, but it will also help your business grow without your constant help and feedback, which will give you more time to focus on the bigger picture.

Feature Image Credit: Getty Images

By David Finkel

Sourced from Inc.

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How to Identify Your Target Audience In 5 Steps

February 15, 2022 No Comments

By Taran Soodan for QuickBooks

Attracting customers is critical to success, especially in the early stages of starting a business. Sadly, even for owners with a solid business plan, truly understanding whom they serve often takes a back seat to developing their product or service.

Ironically, the two go hand in hand: having something truly exceptional to sell and knowing exactly to whom it should be sold.

Clearly identifying your target audience—sometimes called customer persona modeling or customer journey mapping—enables you to assess demand and modify to better meet customer needs. You can then design a marketing campaign that “speaks to” the right people, using the tone and language most likely to appeal to them. In this article, we’ll discuss why it’s so important to identify your target audience and how to do it in five simple steps.

What Is a Target Audience?

A target audience is a specific group of consumers that is most likely to be receptive to your marketing campaigns. A business might have different target audiences for different products or services. Each target audience has specific needs, and business owners usually devise a specific marketing plan to attract them.

Why You Need to Identify a Target Audience

If you are a business owner looking to build an effective marketing plan, identifying and understanding your target audience is the first step. But why is it important to know your target audience?

In general, targeting the right audience ensures your marketing efforts perform better and lead to higher sales or conversions. Let’s take a look at a few additional benefits.

Target Market Versus Target Audience

You’re probably familiar with the term “target market.” A target market and target audience are similar but not interchangeable. A target market refers to a group of people with common characteristics and behaviours that business owners target in their marketing strategy.

A target audience, on the other hand, is a subset of the larger target market and consists of a specific group of consumers within the larger group. The first step in finding the right audience to market your business is to identify your target market. This lays the groundwork for where to focus your efforts.

Finding the right target market can be challenging for a new business. Here are some quick tips to help you find your target market:

Review your competitors to see who they’re targeting
Look for common behaviours among your customers
Use audience data to see demographic information about your customers

More information about your target market will be revealed as you pinpoint your target audiences.

Segmenting Your Target Market

After pinpointing your target market, it’s time to refine your strategy. This is where target market segmentation comes into play. The purpose of market segmentation is to deliver more specific marketing content to specific groups within your target market. The four common types of segmentation are:

Demographic: This means segmenting your audience based on demographic information, including age, gender, income level, relationship status, and more. Take a look at your customer data and see if you notice any patterns. For example, your customers might be mostly women with disposable income.
Psychographic: This segments your audience based on psychological factors like lifestyle, social status, activities, opinions, and interests. For example, if you know your customers tend to be big sports fans, you can target your advertising around game day.
Geographic: This segment focuses on targeting people based on where they live. Common geographic segments are local, state, region, and country. For example, if the majority of your customers live in California, marketing winter gear to this audience might not be the right call.
Behavioural: This type of segmentation creates audiences based on a user’s interactions with your brand. For example, if you run an e-commerce business, you can create a segment of users who haven’t made a purchase in 60 days and target them with an email campaign to try to win them back.

Segmenting your target market allows for effective marketing with efficient spending and improved customer retention. With segmentation, you are exclusively sending relevant information to audiences that are specifically interested in it. If you send all of your content to the entirety of your contact list, your subscribers will tire of receiving material that isn’t useful to them.

Efficient Budget Use

Not defining your target audience can cost you money, literally.

This is because digital marketing in the form of ads requires some amount of capital. And this money is wasted if the marketing content reaches an audience that isn’t interested in what you’re selling. Targeted marketing helps you make better returns on your investment by being smarter about your advertising. It’s important to identify your target audience to refine your marketing strategy in a way that saves you money and helps generate new leads.

Build Stronger Customer Relationships

With targeted marketing, you can reach the right target audience that’s responsive to your marketing strategies. Researching your target audience allows you to offer solutions to their problems. This increases the chances of them engaging with your business.

Reaching out to your customers with personalized content makes you stand out from your competitors. For example, if a customer buys a certain product from your online store, you can create an email campaign to target that customer when similar products are added or go on sale. This type of personalization helps your target audience relate to your business on a personal level, helping your brand establish stronger customer relationships.

How to Identify Target Audiences

Now that you understand the benefits of defining your target audience and how to segment your target market, it’s time to get to work. Here are five steps to help you identify your target customers.

1. Create an Ideal Customer Profile

The people who are most likely to buy your products or services share certain characteristics. The first step toward identifying these prospects is putting together an ideal customer profile, sometimes called a buyer persona. This is essentially a detailed description of your target demographic that includes the following characteristics.

Age

Do your potential customers mostly fit in a millennial age bracket, or are they more often middle-aged? This is important to understand because customers in different age groups will respond differently to how your product is designed and marketed.

Gender

Depending on the types of products you sell, gender can play a role in how your audience reacts to your messaging. Generally speaking, the needs and goals of specific genders are often strikingly different. If you promote your business in a way that fails to address these differences, you could end up reducing the effectiveness of your campaigns.

Income level

Knowing how much disposable income your customers possess should directly influence your marketing strategies. Low-income families may be drawn to products or services that help save them money. Customers in higher-income brackets, on the other hand, may respond more favourably to marketing that emphasizes luxury and exclusivity.

Location

Broadly speaking, the buying habits of urban residents often differ from those of people living in rural areas. Where people reside and the types of communities they live in influence their purchasing preferences.

Other key characteristics include marital status, occupation or industry, families with (or without) children, ethnic groups, hobbies, and interests. Use your own financial and business data to determine who your ideal customers might be. Then use market research to see how your actual customers measure up.

2. Conduct Market Research

You can learn about your target audience through primary and secondary market research. Primary research involves learning about customers’ buying habits through direct contacts, such as:

Surveys

Distribute surveys to potential customers via paper, email, or web-based services. Surveys help you gather useful data directly from your customers. You can ask them questions outright about what previous services and strategies they liked, then take that feedback into account for your next marketing campaign.

Interviews

Talk to people you trust and whose purchasing habits dovetail with your small business. This approach is a bit more traditional and direct than a survey and provides you with candid responses for your marketing campaigns.

Focus groups

Get feedback from small groups who fit your customer profile through Q&A sessions and discussions.

Of course, you should never overlook current customers as a source of insight. When applied to clients, the same three methods not only help you better understand your target audience but can also guide you into better service skills.

Do you ever ask customers to fill out forms or leave reviews when they purchase your product or service? If so, they may be open to answering questions about their age, where they live, and their purchasing preferences. Invite them to share information voluntarily.

3. Reassess Your Offerings

With a comprehensive customer profile in place, the next step is to look at your products or services in a fresh light. Given what you know about the target audience, ask yourself:

Which features and benefits are most likely to attract new business?
Which may be of less interest or even discourage new customers?
Which should I place front and centre in my marketing and paid advertising?
Which current customers, images, and copywriting should shape my messaging?

This analysis can lead to valuable modifications to your offering and yield new leads.

You’ll also want to reassess your target audience periodically. Every six months or once a year, do some additional primary research and refine your customer profile accordingly. As the marketplace shifts and evolves, your ideal clientele may change with it. Get ahead of the curve, and you’ll also be one step ahead of your competition.

4. Research Your Competitors

As a marketer, one effective way to learn about what areas to focus on and which strategies to employ is by observing your competitors. This way, you can find out what strategies are already effective in your niche and how you can incorporate those into your marketing plan. Here are a few things to consider:

Which Social Networks Are They Using?

Social media marketing has been a game-changer for e-commerce brands and business-to-business companies. Researching your competitor’s social media will allow you to look for the content that receives the most engagement. The common channels to review include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Snapchat.

Research how often they post, what they post, the influencers they tend to work with, and so on. Such research will also identify the most suitable social media platforms with an already existing target audience base. You can target the same audience with your content, knowing they are already interested in that niche.

For example, if your target audience regularly interacts with your competitors’ posts on TikTok, it might be time to jump on the bandwagon.

What Are Their Customers’ Pain Points?

Pain points are the problems your target customers are already facing and looking to solve. Identifying your audience’s pain points lets you present your products as viable solutions in a targeted way. You and your competitors probably try to solve the same pain points for your customers. While researching your competitors, identify where their approach is lacking and try to better address solutions in those areas with your marketing plan.

5. Leverage Existing Customer Data

While devising your marketing plan, make use of the insights you have already gathered from existing customer records. Identifying patterns in this data and properly using them in your plan will help you build a more effective marketing strategy.

Use Google Analytics Data

Google Analytics is a great resource to identify patterns among your target audience. Google’s demographic information gives you insight into the age and gender of your audience. This data is broken down into affinity markets and in-market segments and gives valuable audience insights. These analytics allow you to know your audience better and create more relevant content for them, which will be more effective in generating sales for your business.

Review Customer Relationship Management Data

A customer relationship management (CRM) system is software that allows companies to manage their interactions with potential customers. Customer data like name, age, contact information, certain behaviour (like items viewed and previously purchased), and other engagement data are stored neatly in this software. CRM analytics show you more about your customers and your target audience at a glance.

This software can also give valuable insights you can use to identify patterns for different purchases, helping you segment your audience. Common patterns to look for include:

How did they find your site for the first time?
How many interactions did it take to complete a purchase?
Did they use coupons?
Are they typically on mobile or desktop devices?

Which Social Media Platforms Do They Use?

Social media has proven its mettle when it comes to audience analytics and related tools. Knowing which social media platforms your audience uses can help you decide what analytic tools to invest in.

Facebook allows you access to the demographics of your audience and their interests through Facebook analytics. Similarly, Twitter provides ad accounts with a follower dashboard that tells you more about the interests of your followers. These analytics can help you identify your target audience and also help you create proper strategies for maximum content engagement.

Start Building Your Target Audience

Finding the right audience is crucial for the effectiveness of your marketing campaign. Not everyone is interested in what you’re selling or what you have to say, so you need to identify whom to focus your efforts on.

Target audience analysis allows you to make personalized content for your customers that complies with their user persona. This allows you to solve and address their pain points and build long-term relationships with your customer base. Finding your target audience helps you build a more cost-efficient marketing strategy and saves valuable time and resources. It also encourages a great return on investment and helps your business grow sustainably.

Take the time to identify your target audience and the problems they face. Then, build your marketing strategy in a way that addresses their pain points and provides your audience with useful solutions.

To Find Out More About QuickBooks Marketing, Click Here

This content is for information purposes only and should not be considered legal, accounting, or tax advice, or a substitute for obtaining such advice specific to your business. Additional information and exceptions may apply. Applicable laws may vary by state or locality. No assurance is given that the information is comprehensive in its coverage or that it is suitable in dealing with a customer’s particular situation. Intuit Inc. does not have any responsibility for updating or revising any information presented herein. Accordingly, the information provided should not be relied upon as a substitute for independent research. Intuit Inc. does not warrant that the material contained herein will continue to be accurate nor that it is completely free of errors when published. Readers should verify statements before relying on them.

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By Taran Soodan for QuickBooks

Sourced from The Street

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Why Digital Marketing Should Be A Top Priority For Small Businesses In 2022

February 15, 2022 No Comments

By Joe Pascaretta

The internet has become an indispensable tool for almost any consumer making a decision. Today’s internet users spend a daily average of nearly three hours on the internet, using it for communication, entertainment, research and information. In 2020, global retail e-commerce sales surpassed 4.2 billion U.S. dollars. One of the biggest fallacies I hear from small business owners is that they don’t need to worry about engaging with their customers digitally. So, what does this combination mean for small business owners and entrepreneurs?

First, if you’re selling something online, then it’s likely your target audience is online at some point during any given day. And second, even if you are not selling your product or service online, then you likely could still count on your target audience being on the internet at some point during any given day.

What does this mean for your small business?

As a previous small business owner, I knew that being agile and updating my digital skill set and go-to-market strategies were a must, given the pace at which marketing technology was changing. In fact, in our 2020 survey of small business owners, 60% stated they had to pivot to a stronger online presence and offering because of the pandemic, and 24% shared they knew that acquiring new and emerging digital technologies would be required in 2021 and they intended to investigate how to advance in the digital space. There are likely hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs trying to leverage digital marketing and other key business strategies in this age of digital transformation, which can make the competition for audience attention fierce.

What might not be as obvious for small business owners and entrepreneurs is how to effectively implement and manage a digital marketing strategy that will reach their target audience at the right place and the right time with the right message. Marketing experts usually give guidance on deploying social media marketing, email marketing and digital display. That’s sound advice; these channels are all effective. Yet, there is much more to consider when it comes to digital marketing, and not all small business owners have the same marketing knowledge base to work from. But there are also many self-service tools available that allow novice, small business owners to take advantage of some very powerful tools. How can you get started?

Meet the customer where they are.

I always say as a small business owner that it is important to meet the customer “where they are.” There are five generations of customers out there, and they vary greatly as to how they make decisions. While social media is one of the most popular ways to use the internet, when it comes to digital marketing, it’s important to be selective for the sake of clarity and effectiveness.

Some social media platforms appeal to one demographic while other social channels appeal to an entirely different age or group, and still others effectively bridge the gaps and meet the needs of numerous groups simultaneously. In other words, not all social media channels are right for every business model because every business is trying to reach a different group of people. I have heard dozens of success stories from the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, when small business owners who had never used social media tried it for the first time and are now actively engaging with new and existing customers to this day.

Tailor your marketing efforts.

Other marketing channels — digital display advertising and SEO, for example — are intended to catch everybody’s attention by casting a wider net; however, you can absolutely tailor them to meet specific needs. They are also only two of multiple marketing avenues that can require significant time and financial investments to implement effectively. And don’t forget about a mobile strategy. At Dun & Bradstreet, we see more than 30% of our over 1.5 million small business subscribers log in through mobile platforms on a daily basis.

Lean on digital marketing tools.

Because there are so many digital marketing tactics to learn, each with its own strategy that requires a set budget and effort, it often can make more sense for an entrepreneur to keep their focus on the business. Turning to an agency isn’t always affordable, either. For owners who know enough to self-direct with a digital marketing tool, a good option can be to lean on a tool that reduces time spent learning all the nuances and can fully automate critical pieces of the effort, such as audience targeting. This approach simplifies the digital marketing playing field while still deploying an effective, targeted digital marketing strategy across multiple channels. I learned this first-hand as a landscaper; I found I was able to significantly increase my sales pipeline through targeted digital campaigns toward driving marketing to the specific ideal customer persona and demographic.

As technology advances, artificial intelligence and machine learning are now being leveraged to understand what target audiences are doing online and how to turn their behaviours into insights that deploy messaging on sites “where they are.” Such technology takes the guesswork out of choosing a social platform that your target audience is using and determining which websites they’re visiting.

In today’s world, it’s no longer a question of whether digital marketing is necessary. The question is how you will make the internet work for and with you and your business to effectively reach your target audience. Whether you are a landscaper or a retail store owner or a sole proprietor, digital marketing is critical in today’s environment.

If you don’t have the time or the desire to learn all the digital marketing platforms available and an agency seems out of reach, then consider taking advantage of the ability to self-direct your campaigns, messaging and budget. Your audience is out there waiting for you to reach them.

Feature Image Credit: getty

By Joe Pascaretta

General Manager of Small Business at Dun & Bradstreet, overseeing the company’s small to mid-size business portfolio. Read Joe Pascaretta’s full executive profile here.

Sourced from Forbes

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Pre-Launch Marketing Strategies

February 14, 2022 No Comments

By Faith Walls

Marketing your business begins even before you illuminate that ‘open’ sign. Setting up a pre-launch marketing strategy is one of the best things you can do for your brand. The worst case scenario is launching your business only to realize you have failed to rally the appropriate audience for your services. Entrepreneurship is an uphill battle and requires someone who is comfortable with rejection and does most of their thinking outside the box. If you eat failure for breakfast (and you might have to, if that budget is small enough), then tackling the hefty job of marketing a new business should be no problem for you.

It is no secret that many businesses fail within the first five years of operation (upwards of 80%). You can set your company up for the highest chance of success by being proactive instead of reactive in the marketing world. Planning your pre-launch marketing strategies is equally as important as filing your DBA or purchasing insurance for your company.

Create a Social Media Editorial SOP

Having a social media plan is crucial to the success of your business. This determines where your energy and efforts should go in terms of digital promotions. Your social media marketing plan is the cornerstone of your organic and paid online advertising. Content marketing consistently generates up to three times more leads than per dollar versus paid search marketing. Establish a clear SOP (standard operating procedure) regarding social media so that there are no gaps in your team’s efforts. It is ideal to have a designated content creator. This of course falls to you if you are currently the sole employee within your business.

Content organization software such as Sprout Social and Later offer cross-platform scheduling and community management options. Here you can simply plug in the pre-established content and queue it up for a later date. Additionally, keeping a spreadsheet of proposed content allows you and your team to plan in advance and make edits within a single working document. Here you can write post copy, link to the approved images, include appropriate links, and manage hashtag lists.

Plan for Email Marketing

Email marketing ROI (return on investment) is one of the highest-grossing digital media tools today. Consumers benefit from consistent company updates and promotions delivered right to their inboxes. In a 2021 business survey, 59% of consumers reported that brand marketing emails impact their purchase decisions. Having a setlist of email recipients allows you to notify existing customers of sales and special discounts. Email marketing also generates increased traffic to your website, as you can easily link your page to copy and image blocks within the newsletter.

Schedule a Launch Event

It’s true that in this day and age, most of your pre-launch marketing efforts are likely geared towards the digital space. However, there is a significant benefit to promoting your services within your local area. As your business opening day draws closer, consider planning a pre-launch event to generate even more local interest.

By Faith Walls

Sourced from HEY Socal

In News

3 Ways a No-Code Platform Reduces Administrative Costs

February 14, 2022 No Comments

By Shayur Maharaj

Whether you are a business owner, CEO, or one of several employees, you are aware that cutting costs is one of the key goals of any company. Unnecessary expenses can negatively affect the financial health of your business, and in turn, the success of the company.

What happens, though, if it is a necessary expense? Take, for example, the cost of using a legacy ERP system or the fees associated with outsourcing IT specialists to manage your business software. These administrative costs are crucial for ensuringto ensure your business continues to operate.

However, if the costs continue to rise, they can also be detrimental to your company. In some extreme cases, they can even be the reason for your company’s failure.

To address the issue of high administrative costs within your company, we will look at a system that can assist in several ways. What we will be looking at is a no-code platform.

But how exactly does a no-code platform assist in reducing administrative costs? Let’s unpack the reasons.

1. Efficiently Allocate Resources

A key reason costs continue to increase within a company is often a poor allocation of resources. For example, your company can be spending too much money on an ERP system or an external IT contractor to manage your business’s digital system.

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CloudApper is a cost-effective no-code platform. At $10 per user per month, your company can allocate its financial resources toward a complete ERP system that can be operated on the web and mobile devices. Another benefit of CloudApper is that it can be integrated into your legacy system to boost efficiency.

You can also allocate human resources more intelligently. A no-code platform is easier to operate and manage than other systems, especially as no coding knowledge or experience is required. This means that all employees can take shifts operating the system. Efficient use of employees and a reduction in outsourced services will save your company money, reducing administrative costs in the process.

2. Leverage Employees Mobile Devices

Another area where companies often have to spend a lot of money is on equipment and hardware. Laptops, computers, monitors, keyboards, and more are usually required when managing a company. Constantly managing, maintaining, and purchasing new hardware is an administrative expense that companies run into.

A key benefit of a no-code platform is that it leverages tools employees already have: smartphones. A no-code platform allows users to create applications and databases operable on the web and on mobile devices like tablets and smartphones. Therefore, companies can create applications for their business problems and allow employees to use their mobile devices, saving money in the process.

3. Saves Time

We are all familiar with the phrase time is money, and it continues to ring true in the new, dynamic business environment companies are now operating within. For example, if there is a problem with your company’s CRM system and you do not have an internal IT department or employee to attend to it, you will have to call the vendor. It often takes time for your vendor to get to the problem. This downtime can be spent completing deals on the CRM system.

With a no-code platform, users have control. If there is a problem, then the users within your company can attend to it. With such a simple solution, users can now solve an issue with the system when necessary.

Conclusion

When a no-code platform comes to mind, users often think about the common benefits, such as easy application creation. However, these platforms provide so much more. The ability to efficiently manage your company and reduce expenses is an issue that all companies face. It no longer needs to be an issue now, thanks to CloudApper’s no-code platform.

By Shayur Maharaj

Sourced from CloudApper

In News

How to Develop Lifelong Clients

February 14, 2022 No Comments

By Krista Mashore

The too-often-overlooked art of customer retention (as opposed to acquisition) is pivotal to success in just about every business venture, and there are proven methods of honing it.

According to a survey of businesses conducted by the consulting company Invesp (which specializes in conversion rate optimization), it costs five times more to obtain new clients as it does to retain old ones, and that businesses have a 60% to 70% chance of re-selling to former clients versus a 5% to 20% chance of sales success with new ones. It’s just common sense: If you’ve given a client great service and they know they can trust you, they’re much more willing to give you their business.

So, why do so many entrepreneurs pay little or no attention to client retention?

Even though my closing rates are much higher than 5% to 20%, I emphasize customer retention religiously. For my coaching business, I’m constantly developing new courses and seminars, and clients who have trained with me know that I provide great value. Clients in my real estate business, meanwhile, may only need my services once every 10 years, but by staying connected to them and continuing to serve them, they become a great source of repeat business and referrals. Think of clients as your tribe. If you continue to support them, they’ll continue to support you.

A few dos and don’ts:

Do offer value

The days of refrigerator magnets as client incentives are gone! Instead, give them something they could truly use to improve their lives. For example, for my real estate clients I offer informational videos on the state of the market, along with home maintenance tips… even the best new restaurants in town. For coaching clients, I send videos on new digital strategies or platforms that might be helpful for them.

Don’t make it all about you

To establish and keep trust and interest, you need to be generous with expertise and knowledge and not bombard people with pitches about the latest offering. We’ve all developed pretty nimble “delete” fingers: If all they see from you are emails or posts that try to sell them something, they’ll quickly learn to ignore outreaches. You want them to be eager to read or listen to anything with your name on it.

Do be consistent

And by this I don’t mean reaching out once each year. Think about friendships: Only the very oldest and closest can stay healthy with little contact. To nurture relationships, you need to be in contact more frequently, at least once per month.

Don’t be boring

If you’re doing a newsletter or a blog entry, make it snappy and use lots of graphics. If using video (which is much more effective), make each is fun and upbeat, and incorporate language that’s not overly technical. And whether it’s in written, audio or video form, keep it brief!

Do get online

If your clients are like seven-in-ten Americans, they’re on social media, so get onto all the platforms your clients use and create a social media strategy for what you’ll post and when. For example, you can do Facebook Live sessions on topics your community is interested in and invite prior clients to them, and/or create a batch of videos on topics within your industry then post them on your YouTube channel.

The objective of client retention efforts is to remind prior customers how great and helpful you are. In that effort, think “Show, don’t tell” and “Serve, don’t sell.” When you do both, clients know you have their best interests at heart.

The bottom line is that we all have incredibly short attention spans. Clients may have loved your service, but unless you make an effort to stay top-of-mind among them, they’ll forget. If you want a business to stay healthy, make it a priority to keep in touch and keep giving value.

By Krista Mashore

Entrepreneur Leadership Network Contributor

Krista Mashore, named Yahoo Finance’s No. 1 Digital Marketer to Watch, runs two multi-million-dollar businesses and has authored four bestselling books. In the top 1% of coaches in the nation, Mashore has revolutionized the way professionals and entrepreneurs market themselves online.

Sourced from Entrepreneur Europe

In News

Doing SEO for a Brand New Site

February 11, 2022 No Comments

By Faith Walls

Online visibility is crucial for effective marketing strategies. Every business needs a clear and concise website in order to rank high on search engines. This web platform serves as a landing page for your target audience and search query visitors. If your website is outdated, lacks business information, or simply does not exist, your business is sure to feel the effects. Of course, simply having a website is not enough to drive traffic. You want your business site to be easily navigable and comprehensive. When it comes to SEO (search engine optimization), the little details don’t just matter, they are the priority. These tips are sure to help you utilize the best SEO practices to position your page effectively in the digital space.

Verify Your Web Host

For starters, you want your website to be easy to find. Pay for the domain name that you want (‘BobJonesElectrical.com’ looks a lot better than the free ‘Bob_Jones2000Electrical.com’). Generally, web domains charge a monthly or annual fee to secure your site name of choice. Create something concise and comprehensive that clearly articulates your brand labeling. Once you have your brand name established, find a reliable web domain to host. Platforms such as GoDaddy, DreamHost, and Hostinger are well-known and verified web hosting services.

Organize Your Sitemap

Believe it or not, your website layout crucially impacts your search ranking. Page navigability and consistent messaging don’t just reduce bounce rates, but they also affect how search engines rank them. Google SEO largely favors a user-friendly setup and clean site layout. Start with a skeleton outline of the general concepts within your site. Add the essential elements of a website, such as an about page, contact page, an engaging home page, and a blog section for future articles.

Conduct Keyword Research

Keyword usage is another element of Google SEO analytics. It is also just good practice to utilize your designated keywords frequently within your web content. Of course, to do this, you must first have your keywords denoted. Conduct keyword research surrounding your brand and target market to determine which words are a top priority. Also, work to include your brand name liberally within your site copy. Keywords are another reason why hosting a blog section on your website is important. Publishing relevant articles ensure you can organically pepper in your desired keywords throughout your site.

Learn About Tracking & Analytics

Before you hit “publish” on your brand new site, take the time to learn how tracking and analytics work in the digital space. If you are new to the world of SEO, let Google Analytics help you get your bearings. Once you create an account via Google Analytics, you have access to valuable information regarding customer behaviour, conversions, and geo-locations. This platform allows you to track and view key metrics across your web platform to help influence future ads and alterations.

Create Content Before Launch

Though this may seem unnecessary to note, it is important to ensure that your website is fully completed before publishing and promoting. Unfinished pages, inaccurate information, and broken links only increase the bounce rate on your website. Work to maintain a visually appealing and aesthetically consistent layout on each page, with ample copy brimming with keywords. Videos are another great way to offer a comprehensive message while keeping the audience’s attention.

By Faith Walls

Sourced from HEY SOCAL

In News

How To Stop Worrying And Learn To Love (And Leverage) Search

February 11, 2022 No Comments

By Hugo Lesser

In the last quarter of a century, Google has changed the way we live — perhaps more than any other company.

Google set out on a mission to democratize information to a degree we haven’t seen since the advent of the printing press, and by and large, it has succeeded.

It’s hard to recall a time now when searching for information was more complicated than a 10-second interaction with a phone or PC.

There are other search engines, but only one’s name has entered our lexicon as a verb that means “to search online.” This is no accident; in my opinion, it is because Google has outperformed the rest at providing us with the information we want at the top of page one.

Nonetheless, Google has detractors. Some say it has too much power over what we do and don’t see. Others say its algorithms prioritize its own services and those of its advertisers. I’ve also heard claims that it harms small businesses with technical penalties. And others still say its business model involves collecting too much personal information to create and sell detailed targeted-advertising profiles.

But if we balance any qualms with the conveniences and benefits that Google has brought to our lives overall, I believe the net result will almost certainly be positive.

From a marketing and business perspective, meanwhile, the rational course of action is to learn how Google’s search algorithm works and utilize this knowledge to your business’s benefit.

It has been said that there’s no such thing as digital marketing anymore, as all (or certainly much) marketing is digital nowadays, and search marketing, for most businesses, should be the beating heart of a successful marketing strategy.

The details of Google’s ranking algorithm remain shrouded in secrecy. The good news is that, overall, Google says its algorithm seeks to reward content quality, which could help smaller businesses find parity with behemoths. The company does provide guidance, though. Based on its guidance, I recommend prioritizing this acronym from Google as you plan your content: E-A-T, or Expertise, Authority and Trust.

What does this mean and how can you apply this to your business in practice, though?

E-A-T Google

In terms of expertise, does your website — and more importantly, the individual pages on it — demonstrate that you and your business are experts and authorities in your field? You can enhance your expertise by publishing informative articles on topics that people search for and on which you have specialist knowledge. Then optimize the articles for search by including the specific phrases people search for in certain headings and other field locations on the page. There are technical elements to this, so seek advice if you need to.

Google provides a tool, Google Keyword Planner, that allows you to find out what exact phrases people are searching for. This allows you to create web pages that are highly relevant to actual searches. Other third-party tools can show you which phrases your competitors may be benefiting from.

Authority refers to both your business’s authority in your field and your web page’s authority compared to other pages that are vying for the top rankings positions in a search. Lots of factors are known to contribute to this, including references (and links) to your website from other websites.

Trust relates to the user experience on your web pages as it relates to search, including — ever more importantly — mobile user experience. This is important because so many people of all ages browse using their phones rather than on a PC. Again, there are lots of contributing factors that may indicate trustworthiness to Google, including a page’s load speed and page content and readability.

An informational page that is overly sales-focused, perhaps with ads and promotional pop-ups, isn’t wise. And neither is a website that doesn’t have security features, such as an HTTPS certification.

Context

Google is pursuing the idea of contextual search, which essentially means that it shows pages and websites that provide related information as well as those with the exact information that someone searches for. For businesses, this means that it is good practice to include related, peripheral information on your informational pages or to create an ecosystem of interconnected informational pages around a topic or popular search phrase.

Think Location

If your business trades in a particular town, region or other locality, making references to it on your web pages is a great and simple way to increase your site’s relevance in local searches.

Why It Matters

Search in 2022 remains an evolving landscape; however, improving your search marketing strategies, whether you’re starting from scratch or seeking to make marginal improvements, will bear fruit in terms of increased business visibility. While Google’s search algorithm may be complex, your business can reap a real benefit by learning to interpret and operate within its parameters.

Feature Image Credit: getty

By Hugo Lesser

Hugo Lesser is CMO and a Partner and thought leader at Bright!Tax, the award-winning global U.S. tax provider for Americans living abroad.

Sourced from Forbes