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Social Media Marketing for Businesses

Social Media Marketing for Businesses

by | Aug 10, 2020 | Our Blog, Podcast

Time To Read: 4 minutes

Social Media Marketing for Businesses

A lot falls under digital marketing: design, audience targeting, optimizations, analysis, and more. One area that is often under-strategized is social media advertising. It is easy to overlook since most of the population navigate their personal social media on a variety of platforms. For businesses, social media marketing requires far more intentionality. We will break down how you can have compelling social media, organic and advertising, that will draw your audience and prospects into your business. When you fully understand social media, your posts will create awareness that develops into trust.

Social Media as a Whole

For a successful social media presence, you must identify your business’s objective and goal, then implement it toward your target audience. If you don’t have the foundation for your brand, then you’re just throwing your marketing out there. Your cast may be large, but your catch is little to nonexistent. This is why developing a brand is important. Discovering your target audience is also useful for developing a social media strategy.

Quick Tips

Practical advice we suggest to businesses and marketing directors is to do as many videos as possible. Short videos tend to have higher completion rates. However, if you’ve got a compelling message, you can go a little longer. If quality videos are not a possibility or are limited to the number of videos that can be created, use branded graphics. Post intentional, eye-catching graphics if you don’t use impressive photography. The goal is to stand out and make the scroller stop in their tracks on your post. We can’t suggest professional photography enough, and if you don’t have that, then be intentional with the photography you take. Be willing to put in the work. It’s harder to do this, but strive for it to be done right. So, you stopped them in their tracks…now what? Keep them engaged and get them interested in your business with your content. Write content that converts. Ensure it is compelling, communicates your value proposition clearly, and that it is actionable. Nothing is worse than captivating your audience but losing them to confusing content.

Advertising on Social Media

According to Hubspot, “70% of businesses say they generate leads on social media, and 58% of marketers say social media has helped them boost their sales.” For small businesses, this will likely come from your intentional involvement of being tagged in a post. People tend to say they’ve tried it, and “it didn’t work.” Usually, it is because they don’t have the solid foundation mentioned above and based on their knowledge of it, which may not be much.

There are multiple types of social media ads: Facebook ads, Twitter ad campaigns, sponsored messages on LinkedIn, Instagram ads, Snapchat ads, Pinterest ads, Youtube ads, and Tik-Tok. Ads on most social networks are sold in an auction format. You set a maximum bid for a target result (such as a click) or a maximum budget per day. As you create your ad, the ad manager interface will provide a recommended bid based on your stated goals. The advertising methods include cost per click (CPC), cost per 1000 impressions (CPM), cost per conversion, and cost per video view.

Let your organic social media posts inform your ads. Some of the organic posts will resonate with followers, while others won’t. Track which ones are being clicked, liked, commented on, and shared. These high-performing messages make the best candidates for social media ads.
Looking into insights and recognizing any trends of engaging posts will allow you to pay for what matters. Refrain from boosting a post just to see what happens. Be intentional.

Organic Social Media

Organic social media is typically free. You may be saying, “social media is free.” Let us explain. Social media platforms are free, but to do it well, it can cost you if you do quality photography, videography, graphics, etc. Use your business’s social media accounts to promote your brand and your content to increase brand awareness, drive traffic, and generate leads for your business. Not every channel resonates with every person. The audience demographic for each platform varies, so make sure you choose the right channels for your industry. Organize a schedule for your posts and create a formula. You can develop ways to get your business goals out to your target audience. It creates consistency and ultimately builds trust with your audience. Be sure to display it in a fun and relevant way. The more your audience wants to engage with it, the better. Choose days and times that best works for your audience. Platforms nowadays have insights that show your platform follower demographics and the time they mostly are online. Post during that those recommended times and develop content that speaks to your audience. There are a lot of moving parts to digital marketing, and social media is up at the forefront. Though organic and advertising social media are different in execution methods, they share your business goal. If done effectively, social media can bring awareness to your business and ultimately end in conversion. If you want to know where your business stands against your competitors, take our brand assessment so we can guide you to success.
6 Steps to Succeed at Digital Marketing

6 Steps to Succeed at Digital Marketing

by | Aug 3, 2020 | Our Blog, Podcast

Time To Read: 4 minutes

6 Steps to Succeed at Digital Marketing

Unlike most marketing efforts, digital marketing allows you to see accurate results in real-time. You can measure the return of investment (ROI) of pretty much any aspect of your digital marketing strategies. As a business owner or marketing director, digital marketing is something you must understand to keep up with competitors. With these steps, you’ll be equipped with a basic understanding to succeed.

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1. Identify Your Digital Marketing Goal

To have successful digital marketing, you must have a clear picture of how each digital marketing campaign supports your overarching goals. Identify your goal by seeing where your company best fits: awareness and engagement, gain leads, or referrals. A lot of businesses shotgun market tactics out there without knowing what they’re trying to accomplish. You’ll have a different voice on different channels if you don’t line up everything with your goal.

2. Develop a Digital Marketing Strategy

If you can be seen on a physical and a digital standpoint, it is not 1+1 = 2; it is actually 1+1=3. The key is to develop a digital marketing strategy that puts you in all the places your followers are already hanging out at, then using a variety of digital channels to connect with them in a multitude of ways. Be sure to discover your target audience, so you can effectively market to your prospective clients.

3. Convince and Convert Through Social Media

Jay Baer says that “content is fire; social media is gasoline.” There is a relationship between content and social media. Content doesn’t matter if it’s not distributed and consumed, and social media can’t survive without content. If you were to start posting on your business page without having your voice, it would get lost, and your target audience won’t connect. Remember, you are talking to one person on social media, not an entire audience. People tend to create content crafted for a lot of people, but only one person is on the other side of the screen at a time. Connection converts; you have to connect with people for it to work. Digital marketing includes advertising and organic social media, and we will be covering this next week, so be sure to read our blog and listen to our podcast for more on this.

4. Be Seen, Thanks to Paid Search

Pay Per Click (PPC) is a method of driving traffic to your website by paying every time your ad is clicked. The most commonly used and well-known PPC is Google Ads. Google Ads allow you to pay for top slots on Google’s search engine results pages at a price “per click” of the links you place. Figure out what your business is willing to pay per click. It comes down as an auction, and you’re mostly bidding for the keywords. If you’re in a more rural area, it would be cheaper (less competition) than in the city area.

5. SEO: the Lasting Visibility Foundation

As we previously and briefly discussed in our last blog and podcast, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing your website to rank higher in search engine results pages. It increases the amount of organic traffic your website receives. SEO is an essential part of Digital Marketing because it sets up a lasting visibility foundation, whereas any other effort ends the moment you cease it. Many SEO actions will have an impact that lasts more than several years. According to BrightEdge, “51% of website traffic comes from organic search results,” which means that SEO is a digital marketing tactic you cannot overlook. It is the most content-based route of digital marketing.

6. Sales Funnels

Build your sales funnel to achieve a specific objective: discover your target audience purchasing your product or service. You then fill your sales funnel with traffic using digital marketing tactics to drive that traffic from the top of the funnel to the bottom of the funnel. They convert into a paying customer and become an advocate for your local business. It’s essential to make sure interaction is consistent. Structure your funnel down to the details from someone hearing about your business, all the way through to where they purchase your product or service. Figure out your audience’s behavior and their challenges. From there, you figure out their journey to purchase from you. Digital content channels that should be used in your sales funnel include blogs, emails, and case studies, just to name a few. Choosing content channels depends on your target audience and your industry.

There are so many parts to digital marketing, especially in the technology-dependent society we live in. Because of this, your business has to get involved or will be left behind. The possibilities are endless in digital marketing, which can be great if done correctly and used effectively. If you want to know where your business stands against your competitors, take our brand assessment and let us guide you to success.
Top 8 Practices for Website User Experience

Top 8 Practices for Website User Experience

by | Jul 20, 2020 | Our Blog, Podcast

Time To Read: 4 minutes

Top 8 Practices for Website User Experience

The saying, “don’t judge a book by its cover,” does not apply to websites. Your website will be judged and will determine whether your audiences choose to do business with you or not. It sounds harsh, but it couldn’t be more accurate. According to SWEOR, “it takes about 0.05 seconds for users to form an opinion about your website that determines whether they like your site or not, whether they’ll stay or leave.” This reveals how it is all about the user’s first impression and experience. There’s a certain level of comfort in quality, so your audience knows immediately if they’re going to purchase from your business based on the website.
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User Experience (UX) focuses on having a deep understanding of users, what they need, what they value, their abilities, and also their limitations. UX best practices promote improving the quality of the user’s interaction with and perceptions of your product and any related services. It’s all about figuring out what they need to make a purchase and the steps that need to be taken. Here is some practical website information to provide the best user experience.

1. The Need for Speed

The Gomez Report states that “47% of users expect a maximum of two seconds of loading time for an average website.” The reason for this is because we live in a time when people receive information instantly. Your audience isn’t the only one judging the loading time, it is also an SEO factor that affects your website ranking. If your website doesn’t load quickly or lags, your audience will check out and move on to the next competitor. Items that slow down your website include large images, so be sure to optimize your graphics. Videos that are hosted on the website also cause lag, so it’s best practice to embed it from YouTube or another video platform.

2. Attractiveness Keeps Engagement

It may sound brutal, but according to The Real Business of Web Design, “46% of consumers base their decisions on the credibility of a website from its visual appeal & aesthetics.” A great way to implement quality engagement is through movement on your webpage. Make the website dynamic by tastefully using up the white space with intentional graphics, and even better, videos. Keep in mind that less is more. An effective way to find data on your website and see what people are doing on it is by using HotJar. Having the data behind your website will help you have great UX.

3. Clear-Over-Cute Content

Website content should focus on three things: your persona (target audience), your target keywords, and your solution. Present content clearly and avoid presenting your company as the hero. The goal is to make your audience feel like the hero. You are the Alfred; they are batman. Position your company and your product to guide them to solve their problem. Strive for high quality that compels your audience to act upon CTA’s. If your website is not the standard of quality that is in your product or service, they will leave your website and not do the CTA.

4. Simple Navigation

Navigation acts as a roadmap. Organize it in a clear way that your audience can easily find what they’re looking for. Nothing is more frustrating than when you’re looking for simple information on a website and you get bombarded with unnecessary content. Make it your goal to create a positive experience for your audience and they will stay on the page.

5. Easy Conversion

By providing a great user experience on your website, your audience will have trust with your business, propel them to purchase your products or services. It is an easy conversion when people trust you. At the end of the day, your website is designed to make someone convert. As a business owner or marketing director, your conversion, whether a sale of your product or service, is the purpose of your website. So, if it is not simple for someone to do that, it has to change.

6. Make It Mobile Friendly

It’s no secret we are living in the age where your phone is your first source of information. Create a website that keeps its integrity and pleasing UX when used on a mobile device. You’d be surprised how many competitors don’t make their websites mobile-friendly, so take advantage. SWEOR reported that “88% of consumers who search for a type of business on a mobile device call or go to that business within 24 hours.” That is a large amount of your audience worth capturing.

7. Your Website Is a Funnel

A large mistake made is when a website is not used as a funnel. Create a lead generator on your website by having your audience receive a discount or desired information by entering their email address. When they provide their information, it gets them in the process of the funnel. Treat your website as a funnel. It is also highly recommended to use your website as a way to keep your target audience in your funnel.

8. Call-to-Actions

Every website, especially landing pages, needs to have a call-to-action. Our suggestion is to have three call-to-action on your homepage. Have a CTA be the first thing you find on their homepage, as you navigate toward the middle, and as you get to the bottom of the page. SWEOR states that “70% of small business websites lack a Call to Action (CTA) on their homepage.” Take advantage of this high percentage and stand out from your competitors by utilizing CTA’s to produce an online point of sales.

Stand out from your competitors through your website. Apply these practices to provide an impressive user experience that will ultimately lead to customer retention. Be sure you’re communicating your business as a reputable company through your online presence.

We are excited to be able to start a GreenFox Internship Program. If you a college student looking for an internship where you will learn and receive hands-on experience, email us at info@greenfox.io and tell us a little bit about yourself.

Who Should Build My Website?

Who Should Build My Website?

by | Jul 20, 2020 | Our Blog, Podcast

Time To Read: 3 minutes

Who Should Build My Website?

Your website is your digital office, so if you’re going to have one built or revised, you need to make the right decision on who should create it. It’s like having a cabinet being broken; you have the decision to have your handyman buddy fix it or calling in a cabinet expert. It truly depends on what you need. We are going to guide you to discover what is the best option for your business.
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Optimized Website

First things first, you must have an optimized website built because your website is your digital office. It needs to have a stable foundation for you to grow into if you’re a new business, or have it keep up if you have an established business. SEO optimization, file compression, and responsive design are examples of what needs to be done on your site. If it isn’t built on the correct foundation, it will likely break or fail.

Standard of Quality

Having a whole business to back you up in building your website provides security. There’s a high standard of quality with an agency, or at least there should be. Most businesses want to keep their name clear and want to stay in great standing. Occasionally, individuals who build websites may not have that same responsibility to hold a certain standard of quality. We’re not saying there is anything wrong with having an individual make your website, but most of the time it’s done as a favor or to help them out, and occasionally the quality may show it.

Economical Option

You are paying for knowledge with companies, which raises the price quickly since they have a whole team of creatives versus one creative mind. It is typically less expensive using an individual for this reason. If they’re efficient with their time, they have more opportunity for devoted time in building your website.

The Agency Route

With the right agency, you get a lot of creative options and the guidance of what is best practice in today’s digital world. They’ll know your brand and make suggestions accordingly. Brainstorming is heavily utilized within companies when you’re assigned a team that continues to study the current trends with websites. You can also research their past work, their different styles, and the different industries they’ve created for. With agencies, you will always be able to contact them. They’re well-established to maintain your website, fix any issues, and make updates. Oftentimes, people already have a website and are searching for a second website revision. They know what they don’t like and are ready to have something better. If you’re in this position, we highly recommend using a team of people; a website development company.

Different industries, different website design standards.

Consider who you’re hiring to build your website. Do you care about being like everyone else? Or do you want to stand out in your industry? For example, the standard for home building websites is getting better. The standard of our generation is raising for a high-quality presence. An important part of creating websites these days is quality photography. The photography on your website should be cohesive, and through a photography brief, it will display your product or services in an elevated manner. The same goes for videography, content, and site navigation.

Making the Decision

To make your final decision on who would be best to build your website, you have to identify your business goals. Make a list of things you want to be able to do on your website, and choose if an individual or an agency can best produce it. We don’t deny that choosing an agency to build or revise your website is the more expensive option, but with it comes a team of professionals that study your brand and industry to make sure you stand out. When there is a difference in quality, there’s a difference in price.

We are excited to be able to start a GreenFox Internship Program. If you are a college student looking for an internship where you will learn and receive hands-on experience, email us at info@greenfox.io and tell us a little bit about yourself.

Top 4 Ways to Maintain Your Website

Top 4 Ways to Maintain Your Website

by | Jul 20, 2020 | Our Blog, Podcast

Time To Read: 3 minutes

Top 4 Ways to Maintain Your Website

Not only is it important to have a website and choose the right person to create it, as discussed in previous blogs, but maintaining it is what keeps your business and website relevant. This week, we are getting technical with websites. Here are the best ways to not only maintain your website but also make it relevantly dynamic.
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Don’t Neglect Your Website

If you neglect your website, your audience will notice. It may sound basic, but we can’t stress enough how important it is to update your content and information frequently, because it gives life to your website. Remember, if your audience is trying to get a pulse on your company, they will go to your website first. Businesses will constantly change, but keeping your information updated on your website is crucial. It is frustrating to not have to correct information, whether contact information, staff, products, etc. It would be confusing for your customer and if you confuse them, you lose them. A great way to avoid website negligence is by tightly integrating your website with a digital expert. They will know what the market is doing for your industry.

Create Fresh Content

A practical way to provide fresh content is by rotating graphics and videos. A lot of the time, businesses just want to update their website, but if you can update the newest products or services, then it gets people more excited when it is done as the change occurs. Focusing on the user experience design and consistently seeking how to improve it will keep your website fresh as well. A team, whether in-house or out-sourced, that is continually checking how to improve the experience/ functionality is key. Sometimes things just break on a website and having a team to regularly seek improvements will elevate your online presence.

Technical CheckList

Run a performance check on your website on a consistent basis to make sure everything is running smoothly. Customers will automatically leave if your website is slow to load because the load expectation is within seconds. Check your 404s, also known as your website’s broken pages, that appear when there is something wrong and the page cannot be shown. Though it may not occur frequently, it is good to check since it would leave a bad impression on your prospective clients. A way to be proactive is by completing software updates. Businesses make the mistake thinking they don’t need to update if the website is not broken. Though it may not be broken now, it may break down the road after multiple updates are missed. These software updates help with SEO, performance, and security. The most important check would be to ensure your call-to-action is working because the contact form is the most valuable part of your website. Call-to-actions are the reason for your website since it allows someone to take the next step with your company. Issues with a call-to-action submission can cause confusion, which is the last thing you want your website to do.

Optimize for SEO

There are two ways your business can be found: paying google or having an up-to-date, fast, content-driven website that people visit. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) makes it happen. Even though there’s not an exact science to it, luckily there are a lot of things you can do to help your optimization. One practical way you can do is to use Google-friendly search terms in your headers and content. Make sure that your content lines up with what your business actually provides and that it is geared towards what your user intends to discover. You should also consider having a blog. Blogs are the driving force behind your website content. The proper way to optimize your website through blogs is by making sure it is resourceful, linking-structure, and back-links. It’s beneficial when you interlink within your own website or get your website linked to large, credible websites.
You don’t have to know everything about your website, but it’s important to reach out to an agency who are the experts and can guide you through the process. If you want to know where you stand online and how it stands against your competitors, fill out the form at greenfox.io/brand-assessment.
Does My Business Even Need a Website?

Does My Business Even Need a Website?

by | Jul 20, 2020 | Our Blog, Podcast

Time To Read: 4 minutes

Does My Business Even Need a Website?

Have you ever asked yourself, “Do I even need a website? Are websites dead?” With other channels available to provide information about your business, it’s easy to ask yourself this question. This is our short answer: yes! There are countless reasons why you need a website; here are the most important benefits websites can offer your business.
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Credibility

Any reputable company has some kind of online presence. Websites build trust and loyalty with your audience. Evaluate and ask yourself, the last time you searched for a service, did you choose to use the company with the outdated website, or did you choose the company with an engaging website? Let’s be honest, we tend to lean towards doing business with an attractive website. The experience on the website sets the tone for what to expect; it sets the tone for trust. Consumers connect the experience with your website with the service that is expected to be received. If you don’t have a website, it sends a message that your business is stuck in the old ages, that you’re not interested in finding new customers, or that you’re not open anymore. Through this channel, you can display your past work through case studies. If your audience sees you partnered with credible companies, it instantly creates trust with your business. Sweor states, “A bad website can greatly tarnish a company’s credibility—but a quality website can help a company extend its sphere of influence and create leads.” Protect people’s perception of your company, and do it the most effective way through a website, causing people to engage. Through the collaboration of website design and functionality, audience engagement occurs.

Consumer Insights

An invaluable perk of having a website is the ability to learn who your audience is. Analytic tools identify who your typical customer is, how they found you, what they like, and adapt your business to maximize purchases through your site. There is an unbelievable amount of data you can get on the types of users that visit your website. For example, we are proposing a campaign in the near future to a client and we began by asking the question, “Who is visiting their site?” With about 3 clicks we knew it was females, ages 25-34, who were on their cell phones. All of this can be found by using the Google Analytics tool. There are many other tools that take you to the next level. One tool we highly recommend is Hotjar. It is incredibly insightful to help know what your users are truly doing on your site. It takes the guesswork that so many people try to use and puts it into numbers. Facts and data will grow your business every time.

Lead Generation

One of the most underutilized benefits of having a website is lead generation. If you don’t have a way to capture leads, you will simply miss out on business because other people are using it. Not everyone wants to pick up the phone and call, so you need a form your audience can fill out to receive more information. Conditional Logic Forms, also known as conversational learning, is a type of lead generation that generates questions based on the audience’s answers. It’s basically a computerized conversation. It provides more engagement for your customers than simply filling out a form because it’s a customized experience.

Advertisement and Visibility

If you’re going to play in the big leagues, you have to learn search engine optimization (SEO): the ability for your website to be found through search engines. Tools like Google Ads or advertising on Facebook give you the power to reach customers with much more accuracy and reliability than with traditional offline advertising methods. Blue Corona states that 93 percent of online experiences begin with a search engine. That’s a high percentage showing that search engines lead to your digital office.

Communicate Information

The most common, yet under-appreciated, benefit of having a website is using it to communicate information. Websites give you a 24/7 online presence. Your services or products can be displayed clearly for potential prospects. Your business can also showcase media, along with creating credibility, through videos, blogs, etc. This sets you up as the experts and helps greatly with SEO. Make sure the information you communicate is current and of quality. We live in a time when people want information quickly and clearly, and if done with intentionality, websites provide answers to your audience’s questions.

Ultimately, it is up to you to decide if a website is valuable to your business. We highly recommend it because of its countless benefits that are typically overlooked and undervalued. Websites can seem like a large, expensive channel to integrate into your marketing plan, but the gain of prospect generation is worth it.

We are excited to be able to start a GreenFox Internship Program. If you are a college student looking for an internship where you will learn and receive hands-on experience, email us at info@greenfox.io and tell us a little bit about yourself.