Tag Archive for: Digital Marketing

Marketing Automation: Why It’s Essential and What to Avoid

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As more businesses shift away from traditional marketing tactics, agencies should follow suit. The times of one-time projects, lower value relationships, and thoughtless solutions with no unified reporting will lead to failure. The demand for full digital marketing services continues to increase, meaning agencies are taking on new clients while trying to keep existing ones happy. But with the rise for the need of digital services also comes the rise of resources available that makes providing those services easier. 

Some agencies have started using automated marketing systems to increase both sales revenue for both their company and their clients. These solutions allow repetitive tasks like email marketing, social postings, and ad campaigns to be automated, not only for efficiency, but to also create a more personalized experience for users. Not to mention, every step customers make can be triggered and tracked as they go through your marketing funnel. Allowing marketers to make appropriate adjustments to ads, campaigns, website, etc. 

Marketing automation is becoming a must have for agencies to stay relevant, but it can lead to failure if it’s not correctly implemented. 

 

Why You Should Use Marketing Automation 

 

Higher Value Relationships 

Marketing automation presents the ability to build and provide hyper personalized services for clients. This includes things like initial automation technology adoption and strategy, creation of email templates, nurture sequences, landing pages, as well as ongoing campaign assets, analytics, and optimization. Providing all these services ,in addition to the initial transition, makes it difficult for clients to change agencies. Not to mention it sets you apart from the competition, as many agencies have not yet integrated automation into their marketing strategy. 

Recurring Revenue 

Marketing automation is what can make an agency go from completing endless one-time projects, to being a consistent, must have resource for a number of companies. Marketing automation is necessary for almost any client and many companies struggle with technology. Many companies also struggle with knowing where exactly they need to personalize messages and where they shouldn’t. That’s where you should come in, and ultimately move towards a retainer-based relationship and consistent revenue. 

Proving Value 

Clients always want to know they’re getting the best ROI possible. When marketing automation is carried out correctly, there should be no issues presenting results. It gives you the ability to show measurable results with comprehensive lead-to-revenue reporting. Since it’s rooted in data, you’re provided the necessary numbers to help clients pinpoint what should be focused on and what should be tossed. Marketing automation also becomes more valuable and a better investment the longer it’s used. The more data there is, the more accurate the results will be, and can hopefully show month to month improvement. 

It’s Necessary to Stay Afloat 

According to Ad Age’s Agency Report 2018, U.S. agency growth is the slowest it’s been since 2010, except for those offering digital marketing services. With the need for digital services growing, marketing automation is basically becoming a must to stay in business. Companies need more data than ever to feel confident about their spending. Marketing automation can assist with all of these aspects when executed correctly. You can create new streams of revenue, attract new clients, provide real evidence of ROI and a service too complicated to take on in-house. 

 

Marketing Automation Mistakes 

A misconception has grown around automation that is can salve for any slowdown in marketing growth, including the need for generating new leads. This leaves many marketers with sophisticated tools automating the middle-of-the-funnel, but no real strategy or solution to generate new leads to nurture in the first place. This commonly results in marketers purchasing email lists to nurture instead of generating inbound leads. While this is a quick solution, it doesn’t work long term. This strategy fails to create a solid foundation for healthy, long-term customer relationships. Instead, it produces spammy content and incredibly low ROI. 

Another mistake is using marketing automation to force customers through a funnel with arbitrary touch points and irrelevant content. Marketers try to pass customers on to the sales department as quickly as possible, creating a disjointed customer experience. When marketing automation operates in a silo like this, points of friction are introduced that stall and strain what could have been productive, long-term customer relationships. Instead, there should be a contextual experience built on each customer’s individual needs. 

 

Final Thoughts 

Marketing automation can be a powerful and effective tool. To make it work it’s essential to understand all components and distinctions. Marketing automation should always be backed by an inbound strategy centered around the prospect, using all the information known about a person to inform the automation strategy. The ultimate goal is to deliver the information people need to make a purchase, when they need it, right where they’re looking for it. 

 

More From Onimod Global 

At Onimod Global we are experts in marketing automation and customer relationship management software. Our work is creating digital synergy and cross-channel digital marketing campaigns driven by machine learning analytics and human intelligence. Together ensuring your brand meets the consumer when and where they need them. Learn more about what we do, or become a client today. 

 

 

Generation Z Marketing Strategies

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Gen Z now makes up 26% of the population and comprises 48% of the total media audience. Their spending power is estimated to be between $29 and $143 billion, without taking into account their influence on household spending. They are a formidable consumer demographic, but the generation gap leaves some marketers struggling to successfully reach them. 

It is true that conventional digital marketing strategies rarely work and there has yet to be a complete consensus of which methods are most effective. But experts are starting to come together to compile their best recommendations and guidelines for successfully marketing to Generation Z. 

 

Highlight Social Awareness 

This generation has a heightened awareness of issues plaguing our society and the rest of the world. They know that what’s occurring now has the ability to strongly impact their futures. Which is why if they discover that a company is engaging in objectionable practices, they will avoid doing business with them at all costs, while making it widely known. Conversely, brands that are positively contributing to society or the environment have the opportunity to be strongly supported by Gen Z. As individuals they have varying beliefs, but they share a number of ideals such as inclusivity, multiculturalism, social justice, environmental awareness, and anti-capitalism.

A great example of a company that has done this is TOMS Shoes. For every pair of shoes purchased, they donate another pair of shoes to a child in need. These are the kinds of campaigns and practices that this generation looks for before fully getting behind a brand. 

 

Focus on Mobile Platforms 

75% of Generation Z selected a mobile phone or smartphone as the device they use most. This means strategies aimed at desktop users are no longer effective, especially when it comes to eCommerce web designs. A study performed by Google revealed that Gen Z mostly uses smartphones to make online purchases, and highly prefer online shopping in general. This means all web designs must be mobile-friendly, the checkout process needs to be simple, and content must be created with mobile devices in mind. Voice search is something else to keep in mind, as its use is on the rise with Gen Z. So it’s important to produce website content which conforms to patterns from everyday speech.

 

Be Personal and Relatable 

Generation Z was raised on the internet, they’ve seen everything there is to see. Which means using traditional sales ad and blatant customer manipulation attempts will fail miserably. Aggressive ad copy should be replaced with relatable and relaxed language. They will only pay attention to ads that are directly related to personal needs and desires. They expect retailers to offer a more personalized experience based on the customer’s shopping habits and preferences. This can be accomplished by creating targeted landing pages, publishing content aimed at the right buyer personas, and giving personal replies to messages on social media.

 

Use Each Social Media Platform Differently 

Social media has been a part of Generation Z’s entire lives. They’re highly aware of what each platform is best for and use each reflectively. Which means you can’t advertise to them in the same way on every platform. Response Media’s study reveals that Gen Z: 

  • Showcase their aspirational selves on Instagram
  • Share real-life moments on Snapchat
  • Get the news on Twitter
  • Glean information from Facebook

Instagram is also most used for brand discovery, with 45% of teens using it to find new products. And YouTube is used most for shopping recommendations, followed by Instagram, then Facebook. These are all things that should be closely kept in mind when conducting social media campaigns, sharing content, etc. 

 

Create Quick, Effective, and Visual Content 

It’s a common misconception that Gen Z has an outrageously short attention span, 8 seconds to be exact. In reality, they actually possess a sophisticated filter that comes from growing up surrounded by a deluge of information. So yes, you have very little time to convince them that your content is worth their time, but if it is, they can focus (or binge) long enough to complete in-depth research on any topic. 

Additionally, 71 percent of 13 to 17 year olds spend more than three hours a day watching online videos. But that doesn’t mean you can throw any video advertisement in front of them and they’ll pay attention. On average, Generation Z clicks “Skip” on skippable video ads after only 9.5 seconds. It all stems back to growing up in an information overload environment. This means you need to start focusing on only giving them the most necessary and important material. 

 

Final Thoughts 

When it comes to marketing to Generation Z, the most important thing is to forget all the misconceptions. They are not a generation of unintelligent, short attention spanned, detached kids that are dooming digital marketing for the rest of the generations. Every new generation of consumers means shifting marketing tactics and best practices in order to continue driving revenue and growing as a brand. When you execute your digital marketing strategy correctly, Gen Z can bring in major revenue, their own as well as revenue from their parents. They care about social responsibility, authenticity, and personable customer experiences. Brands have the opportunity to start engaging with socially active, highly motivated young people. They want to connect with companies, lead a following, or even become loyal brand ambassadors. Generation Z presents a new challenge that may just not seem worth it to some, but they offer the opportunity for huge payoffs with a little bit of work and understanding. 

 

More From Onimod Global

To catch up on the latest digital marketing news and trends, click here. To find out more about who we are and what we do, click here!

 

 

5 Steps to Creating a High Converting Landing Page

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Customers arrive on a landing page through social media posts, paid advertisements, and various other content. If your landing page is ineffective, all the ad dollars and resources put towards getting these customers there was essentially a waste.

A quality landing page has the potential to increase leads, sales, and gain valuable information on potential customers. Creating highly effective landing pages can seem like a difficult task, as there’s no one-size-fits-all template, but there are a variety of landing page best practices. These combined with understanding your target audience and dedicated effort, building a high converting landing page will be much easier. 

 

1. Focus on Responsive, Mobile-Friendly Designs 

In 2018, 52.2 percent of all website traffic worldwide was generated through mobile phones. No matter the industry, it’s smart to make mobile design a priority. This means using: optimized images, shorter sentences, bullet points, headings, and subheadings. Mobile-optimized landing pages include a lot of white space and can be easy to read at a quick glance. Performance is also important, as conversions won’t be likely if page speed is low or chew up data. 

Mobile-optimization also forces conciseness and high design focus. Screen space can’t be wasted on extra unimportant content or fluff. The message should be focused on the action you want the customer to take. The less-is-more design approach results in a more concise and engaging final project. 

 

2. Have One Clear Call-To-Action 

The call-to-action is the number one, most important element that should be included on every landing page, as it’s what turns visitors into real customers. 

What should be focused on first is the text. Powerful, direct, and urgent language is key. What makes you unique and would create an emotional drive in customers? If possible try to communicate one or more of the following: they are getting something for free, they are getting something exclusive, you are solving their problem, or they have limited time to act. 

Some other elements that increase the effectiveness of call-to-actions are contrasting colors, buttons instead of links, and ensuring its visibility. Most companies and sites have a set color scheme, which is great, but you don’t want your CTA to blend in. Make it stand out by using contrasting, yet visually appealing colors. It also doesn’t need to be at the bottom of the page. It should be placed where the user’s eye naturally goes. This is something that may require A/B testing. 

 

3. Use Visuals 

The brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text. Meaning that visitors are immediately affected by the images on the landing page. As pictures are selected and placed, remember that they should be relevant to products and services, and high quality. 

If you’re selling a physical product, a high quality image should be displayed on the landing page. If you’re selling a service, the primary purpose of the image is to grab users’ attention and demonstrate relevance to them. 

And since the images are the first thing the user processes, you want that impression to be a good one. It has the potential to shape the visitor’s impression of your brand before they even make it to the ad copy. Which is why this isn’t a great place to use stock photos or quick photoshop jobs. Marketers have the opportunity to give potential customers a visual understanding of what they stand to gain with their product or service, and set themselves apart from the competition.

 

4. Have User and Search Engine Friendly Formatting 

Along with a mobile-friendly design and quality content, the page also needs to be formatted well, starting with a solid headline. It should compelling, something that will keep visitors reading. Touch on a main point that’s relevant to readers and hints that you have a solution to their problem. It’s also beneficial to use emotional power words. The most effective emotions to appeal to are anger, greed, and fear. “Stop getting ripped off!” “Free exclusive gift!” “Only 24 hours left!” are all possible headers appealing to these emotions. 

After you’ve established a heading that meets all the criteria, break the rest of the content of the landing page into segments. Each segment should have a subheading of its own that makes sense. This way if a reader is skimming the page they can skip to the section they’re looking for or read what is most relevant for them. Not only are headings and subheadings helpful for visitors, it helps search engines as well. Landing pages can be more easily indexed by Google and other search engines when they’re logically structured. 

 

5. Show You’re Reliable 

High converting landing pages always contain an element of trust. Include various pieces of evidence that show you can be trusted and are a reliable company, since you’re most likely asking visitors to give up some kind of sensitive information. There are five types of evidence best used to show trustworthiness.

The first is high quality landing page copy. There should be absolutely no spelling or grammatical errors. This makes visitors wary because it seems unprofessional, gives the sense that the website was thrown together, and thus unreliable. There are many tools that can help with spelling, grammar, and guides for clear landing page copy.

Proof of expertise and experience is also essential for reliability. Things such as: established in 1995, over 50,000 satisfied customers, licensed in 50 states, officially certified, member of the local Chamber of Commerce, etc, all communicate an important message. It reassures potential customers that your company is experienced, qualified, and have taken the prerequisites to earn and deserve your trust. 

Social proof, direct and indirect, is great evidence. Indirect includes social media follows, number of subscribers, likes, and shares. The more social engagement you have, the more trust you can earn. Indirect social proof can also be things like reported revenue, employee size, and other factors that bring your business clout. Direct social includes positive reviews, testimonials, and positive quotes from customers or influencers in your niche. It’s one person telling others “I had a good experience,” The simple truth is, trust begets trust.

Personal connection is next. Earn visitors trust by letting them get to know you and your business. This could be things such as a personal story, video, company bio, history, photos, etc. It helps when customers can put a name and face with who they’re doing business with. 

Lastly, evidence of security is very important. Most IT and security software vendors will give badges to their customers. You should place those on landing pages to indicate to customers that you have taken steps to ensure they’re information is protected, especially when it comes to personal or financial data. 

 

Contact Onimod Global 

Struggling to make your landing page convert or just need some digital marketing advice? Contact us! We are experts in all things digital marketing including SEM, Web Dev, Automation, Analytics, and much more. Learn more about what we do here, or keep up to date with all things digital marketing on our news page. 

 

 

The Best Post-Cookies Digital Marketing Strategies

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Marketers have been predicting the death of cookies since 2017, and yet it’s still holding on. Safari and Firefox already block third-party cookies by default, and Google Chrome is soon getting the controls to follow. This has been regarded as the “nail in the coffin” for cookies, meaning the end is finally in sight. 

What exactly does this mean for digital marketers that have been relying heavily on cookies for so long? If that includes you, there’s no need to worry. Marketing as we know it will survive. There are a number of more effective data sources being developed, as well as plenty of tactics to break and replace the cookies habit. 

 

People-Based Marketing 

People-based marketing combines real-time behavioral data with first party brand data to create a cohesive marketing system, centered around the individual consumer. This behavioral marketing method does not rely on third-party cookies. Instead it allows brands to use a proactive approach, creating a marketing strategy that’s ready to meet the user wherever they choose to engage. 

A successful strategy includes three key elements: Identification, Data, and Automation. 

Identification: This is the process of identifying and connecting consumers and their devices, with the ultimate goal of ensuring persistent, cross-device recognition for a single view of the customer. This is necessary because most consumers do not spend time online on a single device. A typical consumer navigates through various devices – desktop computers, smartphones, and tablets, while looking at the same products. If the full customer journey is not tracked well, it could lead to incorrect assumptions about their behavior. These assumptions can cause inaccurate data, ultimately resulting in poorly designed marketing campaigns. 

Data: Brands have an abundance of data on each customer, from purchase data to email engagement to device information. Until recently it was impossible to actually put this data to use, due to limitation certain channels have put on it. With the identification-first approach, we can now tap into the dunes of dark data since it all ties back to the first identifying point – the email address. Now, brands can organize all their data the “people-based way,” attributing every piece of data to the single individual in question. And it’s not just historical data, brands can refer to real-time behavioral data like their device, their interaction with your website, their carts, as well as the products and categories they visited while browsing. Linking together these data points allows brands to get a singular view of the customer.

Automation: Instead of relying on cookie-based data, people-based marketing automation relies on first party-based targeting. Brands unlock a singular view of consumers, one that anchors all of the data discussed above to a single email address. As a result, brands can automate their marketing approach across all devices and all channels under a single cohesive marketing strategy. The power of people-based marketing stems from the fact that it looks at the business’ lowest common denominator, the consumer, as opposed to a specific channel or device.

 

Contextual Advertising 

In the simplest terms, contextual advertising is advertising on a website that is relevant to the page’s content. In traditional contextual advertising, automated systems display ads related to the content of your site based on keyword targeting. This is not a new strategy, but keyword contextual based advertising is one of the best options to cookies-based behavioral targeting. The downfall to behavioral targeting is that you may be getting shown ads for things you would never really buy as an everyday consumer. With contextual advertising you’re only shown ads based on the content you’re looking at, not your overall behavior profile. 

Google AdSense is the ideal platform for this type of advertising, giving you the ability to place, images, videos, or text ads on pages of participating sites. You can put dynamic content in front of people that weren’t necessarily searching for you, but were already interested in your field of industry. YouTube advertising, which is a part of the Google Ads System, is another contextual advertising opportunity. For example, you could show a brief video game ad right before a video game tutorial YouTube video. 

The move to contextual targeting will also mean a move back to focusing on producing and distributing relevant content. Extremely specific ads need to be created for equally specific keyword groups and site pages. User relevancy should be maximized, which in turn maximizes clicks, conversions, and ultimately ROI. 

 

Final Thoughts 

The disappearance of third-party tracking may be unsettling at first, but most marketers are starting to believe tracking cookies are no longer needed. Apple’s Safari and the GDPR made the method increasingly unattractive and the expectancy of stricter privacy regulations is why Google is planning on joining the “cookies ban” bandwagon. Moving forward it’s going to be all about exploring new technologies, innovation, and striking a balance between profit and privacy choices to avoid another wave of consumer backlash. Utilizing first-party data that you can get when people intentionally engage with your brand is the first step toward accomplishing this.

 

More From Onimod Global

While there’s no avoiding the changes to come, you don’t have to face these challenges alone. Onimod Global is here to help, with expertise in every area of digital marketing, including SEM, SEO, Social, Web Dev, Graphic Design, and more. Receive the highest-quality customer service, 24/7, at an affordable rate. Learn more about what we do, and start your project today. 

LinkedIn Adds New Features to Campaign Manager

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LinkedIn announced late last week that it will be adding three new features to their advertising platform. These features include brand awareness campaigns, website conversion tracking capabilities, and job applications. This new version will also have an optimized click pricing option. 

LinkedIn has recently been putting a lot of emphasis on improving the platform’s advertising capabilities and proving the product should be considered more in the paid social space. From updating ad targeting capabilities to new integrations, such as moat analytics integration for video marketing. The newest update is focusing on campaign objectives, ensuring it’s easier to achieve the right results that better align with them. The updated Campaign Manager has been in public beta since October, but LikedIn reports that it’s working, as customer satisfaction has lifted 67%. 

The New Campaign Objectives

Brand Awareness: Introduced as the first top of funnel ad objective to the Campaign Manager, designed to help advertisers increase “share-of-voice” on the platform rather than generating traffic. These campaigns are charged by impressions (CPM or cost per thousand), rather than clicks. 

Website Conversion Capabilities: Because “conversion” has such a broad range of meanings, LinkedIn has tightened the integration of its conversion tracking tool. Campaigns can now be created that are optimized for specific actions, such as purchases, downloads, or registrations. 

Job Applications: LinkedIn is a large recruiting tool for companies looking for new applicants. Now any LinkedIn Talent Solutions customer can create ads using Campaign Manager, driving applications to LinkedIn or back to the company website. 

Optimized Click Pricing 

Going along with the new Campaign Manager, LinkedIn has optimized their click pricing to better align with advertisers’ objectives as well. Meaning that you only pay for what’s valuable to you. For example, if website visits are selected as the campaign objective, the only clicks that are charged are those that made it to the landing page. For social engagement campaigns, pricing is optimized to include all social actions such as likes, comments, shares, etc. LinkedIn has been previously known as an expensive paid advertising platform. This new payment model is supposed to better align with larger objectives, and hopefully provide better ROI for advertisers. 

Final Thoughts 

LinkedIn is starting to become a much more marketing-friendly platform and a stronger competitor in the paid social space. When it comes to digital campaigns, it can be extremely beneficial when the machine learning systems have a better understanding of your objectives. Providing more variety in campaign goals, as well as different pricing models to match each type, will help advertisers get the results they need, while avoiding paying for the actions that they don’t. 

Putting these Features to Use 

At Onimod Global we’re experts in SEM and Social Media. We handle paid advertising on Google, Bing, and across all social platforms, including LinkedIn. We’ve recently been rolling out brand new LinkedIn campaigns for a few of our clients, and have started producing a few results. We understand that LinkedIn is not an appropriate advertising platform for all brands or all campaigns. Having the correct brand positioning is essential, and with our expertise we know exactly where you and your ads need to be. 

Learn more about what we do here, or if you’re ready to become a client, contact us here.

 

Collecting and Utilizing Customer Feedback

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As we live and work in an era of unprecedented global transparency and digital experience-sharing, feedback has never been more business-critical than today. Feedback, both negative and positive, is constantly being shared about companies, products, and experiences. This is referred to as the feedback economy, and as it has grown, it has become the cornerstone of company growth initiative. 

The feedback economy has changed the way customers make decisions and their expectations are at an all-time high. While gaining customer feedback as become a no-brainer for most companies, analyzing and utilizing that feedback is not so simple. 

 

The Top Ways to Gather Customer Feedback 

Live Chat 

One of the best features an eCommerce website can have is live chat. This option allows companies to get closer to their customers by being able to immediately address needs or challenges. Companies can easily identify patterns of any recurring issues, speeding up the process of finding long-term solutions for those issues. There are a number of services that introduce live chats on any website, such as Zopim. You can make the live chat proactive by making it appear on users’ screens whenever they have been a page for a specified amount of time. This increases the efficiency of the feature and the chances of it getting used.

As with all forms of feedback, the quality of company response plays the biggest role in getting real results. Having employees constantly monitoring the chat is important, ensuring all customers’ questions or concerns are addressed promptly and legitimately. To go even further, you can get feedback on the live chat session. A short survey can be sent to the user, asking whether or not their experience was helpful. This can help companies immediately identify the effectiveness of the chat and chat-support personnel. 

Form-Based Surveys 

Surveys are the most basic and common way to gain customer feedback, but there are many opportunities for error when using this method. It’s common for companies to get carried away with too many questions, trying to get as much detailed feedback as possible. QuickTapSurvey discovered that the number of questions and time spent answering questions is not a linear connection. The more questions a survey has, the less time respondents spend on each question. Meaning that the more questions a survey has, the less accurate and reliable the responses will be. There is no ideal survey length, but from what research has gathered, the shorter the better. A good strategy is to make sure that every question has a clear purpose and will fulfill end goals.

It’s also important to include open-ended questions. While multiple choice questions are quicker for customers to answer, the answer choices are based on company assumptions. Open-ended questions give the customer the opportunity to give their unique and long-tailed opinion. These types of surveys should only be sent to engaged users that will take the time to provide the feedback. 

Consistently Monitor Social Channels 

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have become an invaluable resource for customer feedback. Similar to live chat, there are a variety of tools available to help companies gather conversations that take place on social media about a brand, and even monitor social presence of companies and their competitors. Social listening is a great way to get closer to customers, improve user experience, and quickly respond to comments or issues. Just as with live chat, time is crucial when it comes to handling questions, complaints, or any kind of negative feedback, as it can spread quickly. Social listening requires resources dedicated to monitoring and responding to feedback, as some companies even turn to third-parties. Feedback monitoring should go even further than just on social media, as there are a number of review-based apps and sites that are valuable as well. 

On-Site Comment/Suggestion Boards 

Suggestion boards take gathering feedback further by allowing users to not only collaborate ideas with the company, but with other users as well. Depending on the type of board used, posts can be upvoted or commented on by other users. This can help companies discover what needs or opinions are most popular among their customers. Simplicity and ease of navigation is important. Users should be able to post and comment without any difficulties. Creating categories, allowing users to view the most popular posts, and making it searchable are all ways to increase efficiency and effectiveness. To get started, invite the most engage users to leave ideas, those that know the brand best and can leave legitimate improvement suggestions. After there is a strong base board, other users can be invited to start upvoting, commenting, or leaving ideas of their own. Real results take time, as feedback isn’t accumulated immediately. 

 

Using Customer Feedback 

Product Improvement 

Being able to identify product improvement areas is one of the best things a company can get out of customer feedback. More often than not, loyal and engaged users have developed an expertise of products and their features, maybe even more than employees. No matter how hard brands try to put themselves in their customer’s shoes, users will still have a different perspective and different ideas that wouldn’t have been thought of. It can save time and resources following user advice. Not only will customers appreciate that they’re being listened to, it can set companies apart from the competition as a business that genuinely cares and implements customers’ valid ideas. 

Prevent Customer Churn 

Negative feedback shouldn’t be swept under the rug or kept silent. This is crucial to improve customer service and experience. Ignoring negative feedback has compounding effects. A customer who has taken the time to contact you about a problem is much more likely to spread that information to others, especially if they were just ignored. Failure and negative feedback is actually an opportunity to foster a stronger and long-term relationship with that customer. Understanding these customers’ problems and ensuring future satisfaction is important. Keeping a consistent two-way conversation open goes a long way, by building trust and showing you care. Responding to negative feedback increases the chances of keeping an existing customer, which is cheaper for companies in the long run, and looks better all around.

Empower Employees

Customer feedback can be used as a driver to motivate employees. If there has been consistent positive feedback about one feature in particular, share that with whoever is responsible and the team as a whole. It’s a good strategy for encouraging healthy competition among staff. Similarly if there is any consistent negative feedback about one specific feature, pass it on to those responsible. They should communicate with the dissatisfied customer directly. It can make employees feel more in charge and encourage them to take ownership of products or features. Sharing interesting feedback can help teams start deeper conversations about products and come up with new improvements and ideas. 

Identify Potential Advocates 

Consistently gathering customer feedback can help quickly identify those that are most satisfied and the most loyal. The next step is to develop those customers into valuable advocates. Get them sufficiently educated and excited about products so they can accurately share and recommend them. Advocates don’t need monetary rewards to be motivated. Give them shout-outs on social media, send them exclusive information, deals, or even hand written notes. New customers often trust other customers more than companies themselves. It’s a good sign if more than just the company is boasting about how great their products are.   

 

Final Thoughts 

Creating a product and marketing it well is only half the job. The feedback economy is growing, companies can take advantage of it by having a lasting commitment to gathering, analyzing, and sharing feedback to anyone that plays a vital role in product and business development. Customer feedback is becoming more and more essential for growth and mastering customer experience. A company that falters in listening to customer feedback is a company that will most likely falter in all other areas. 

 

More From Onimod Global

For more digital marketing tips, updates, and the latest news, check out our blog page here, or learn more about Onimod Global here.

Instagram Advertising: Is It Right For You?

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Instagram has recently announced that they are going to start displaying ads in its Explore tab. The Explore section allows users to browse new content while discovering new accounts based on their interests. The platform says they will be introducing ads “slowly and thoughtfully” in the coming months. They want Explore to be the best place for people to discover something new and for businesses to connect with people who may become meaningful customers. 

Instagram is becoming an increasingly popular marketing platform, as it has been reported they’re experiencing more user engagement growth than its parent company, Facebook. This new update gives advertisers even greater opportunities to reach users beyond just their feeds. While the benefits to advertising on Instagram are rapidly growing, the cons are still there. So, how can you be sure that Instagram is the right platform for you? 

How Instagram Advertising Works

As most other social platforms, Instagram advertising is utilized to grow brand exposure, website traffic, generate new leads, and hopefully get leads closer to converting. As the platform is visually based, text ads are not a thing here. Marketers must use images, a set of images, or videos, which can be accompanied with text, to reach users. 

The Pros 

Ultra Specific Targeting Capabilities 

Instagram falls under Facebook, meaning marketers have access to the same demographic targeting mechanisms on both platforms. Companies can target users based on interests, location, behavior, etc. Instagram offers a variety of campaign goal options, ensuring marketers are optimizing ad spend. 

Unique Visual Ad Formating 

Instagram ads allow marketers to maximize the extent of visual content. Companies can captivate users and create brand awareness by using high quality photos or videos. These photos and videos can be displayed as traditional posts, or there is the option to show them as stories as well. Companies have also started to reach out to influencers on the platform. Influencers are users that have a large and established following, whom companies have started paying to promote their products on their account. 

Higher Engagement Rates 

Instagram is a personal, conversational, and engaging platform. Engagement rates are 10 times higher than Facebook, 54 times higher than Pinterest, and 84 times higher than Twitter. Their formatting makes it possible for users to gain access to sales pages in just one click. Marketers can include call-to-actions to begin the checkout process, encouraging purchases straight from the app. This design eliminates the usual obstacles involved with online sales, allowing for instant gratification. 

The Cons 

Limited Audience 

While the platform offers a monthly user base of over 800 million, 90% of their users are under 35 years of age. Instagram is perfect for brands looking to engage with a younger audience, but those with an older target audience may find themselves struggling. While there are older users, very few are active. It’s also not the best platform to reach men. While they are on Instagram, it’s not as heavily as on other apps. Those brands exclusively targeting older ages or men may find it better for ROI to turn to other advertising platforms. 

Time-Intensive 

Staying fresh and relevant is crucial on a platform with large numbers of younger users. Authenticity is especially important here compared to search platforms, such as AdWords. Users begin to notice if brands are constantly regurgitating the same content just to increase posts. Brands have to be consistent with responding to comments, posting new content, and incorporating as many visual elements as possible to encourage interaction.

Required to Work Through Mobile Devices 

While you can access the platform through a web browser, abilities are extremely limited. Users are required to post through apps on mobile devices. Once the ads are initially posted they can be shared easily throughout multiple campaigns, but you must be able to access the account on a mobile device. Brands that aren’t so mobile-friendly may run into frequent obstacles. 

Conclusion: Is it right for your business? 

The biggest factor that goes into the answer to this question is target demographic. If your target audience is exclusively those 50 and up, Instagram is probably not the ideal advertising platform. That doesn’t mean you should immediately dismiss the possibility of Instagram ads. Similar to what happened to their parent company, Facebook, the number of older users will increase as the platform continues to grow. The decision is ultimately up to what you believe is right for your brand. 

At Onimod Global we are experts in SEM and social media. We know which platforms are best for brands, and create visibility for brands where customers are searching, interating, and ultimately converting. Find out more about we do here, or contact us today here.

Branded vs Non-Branded Keywords: Which Should You Be Using?

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When it comes to branded versus non-branded search, it isn’t an either/or decision, both are critical for successful rankings. Businesses must have a strong understanding of the customer journey, to know when users are more likely to search for branded versus non-branded keywords. If you’re aware of what searches your potential customers are making, and are bidding on the right phrases, you can increase your chances of ranking in moments of the highest intent. 

 

Branded Keywords 

Branded keywords are exactly what they sound like, search words or phrases that include your brand name or a variation of it. Branded keywords are usually used by searchers that have heard of your business through marketing efforts or are a past customer. Some businesses feel that bidding on your own branded keywords is a waste, but this isn’t necessarily true. To help all users in their search journey it can still be beneficial to bid on branded keywords. Here are some reasons to think about. 

Controlling Your Message 

Organic listings are cheap but they don’t give you the chance to really tell users what you’re about. Paid advertising gives you the opportunity to get creative with your message to grab the user’s attention. Additionally, organic results may not take users to their ideal landing pages. With paid advertisements you have complete control of your message and where the user is linked to, increasing your chances of conversions. 

Competitor Bids 

Competitors may be invading your space. Many businesses across all industries bid on their competitors’ keywords with the intention of stealing business and traffic. Bidding on your own keywords reduces competitors’ opportunities to outrank your own results. 

Capture High-Quality Leads. 

People searching for your own brand are already familiar with your company. They’ve either heard good things from a friend or are a returning customer. Either way, they know you have what they’re searching for and are further along in the buying cycle than someone just doing broad searches. Chances are they’re very close to making a purchase. Being one of the top results ensures that they find what they’re looking for, and can follow through with that purchase, creating new or repeat business for you. 

Dominating Your Own Search Engine Results Page

They always say that two is better than one. Appearing both organically and by paid ads can show users that you’re a prominent player in that space. It works similarly to having multiple links in an email, increasing click-through rates, giving the users more opportunities to land on your page. 

 

Non-Branded Keywords 

Non-branded keywords are any search queries that do not specify any specific brands or business names. These include generic searches such as “happy hours in my area,” or “local car repair services.” These are often made by people that are either brand-agnostic, or new prospects not yet familiar with your brand. While ranking for branded terms is still important, strategizing how to rank for non-branded keywords should be a top priority. This is likely to be more expensive than branded keyword bidding, but it’s the best way to gain more visibility, traffic, and conversions. Non-branded searches are made at a much higher volume than branded terms, which is why it’s important to identify those that are most relevant to you. Here are some strategies to optimize non-branded search. 

Optimize for what Users are Searching 

It’s important to begin by putting yourself in the user’s perspective. What exactly would they be searching for to end up at your business? What products or services might they need? What entities are fundamental to your business? For example, if you do work on cars, customers are probably doing searches beyond just “car repair.” They may be looking for – oil changes, new brakes, new tires, etc. It’s important to not only have a clear understanding of what your customers are looking for, but how to optimize your non-branded searches to fit their needs. 

Manage Business Listings 

Make sure your business is listed accurately, everywhere. This way new customers making local searches find you in moments of high intent. Everything from address, hours, business category, etc. need to be correct and consistent. This is necessary for not only your own website, but for third party sites as well, such as Yelp, TripAdvisor, etc. To rank for non-branded searches, search engines must be able to identify that your business is near the user’s geolocation and your hours of operation. 

It’s important to emphasize both of these aspects because if search engines can’t find this information then neither will users. Overall, both types of searches work together. By optimizing online listings and your website for the products, locations, services, and other entities that you offer, you’re giving search engines the information they need to deliver structured, verified answers to specific questions customers are asking about your brand. 

Getting business today means you have to understand that customers have grown and know how to search for exactly what they want. Which is why it’s important to utilize and optimize your opportunities in all search areas. 

 

How We Can Help 

At Onimod Global we are experts in all areas of SEM. We are experienced in paid advertising across all platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, and Bing. Our strategy is using cross-channel digital marketing campaigns driven by machine learning analytics and human intelligence. Together ensuring your brand meets the consumer when and where they need them. Read more about what we do here, or contact us today here. 

Understanding Different Types of Location-Based Marketing

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The idea of location-based marketing is not new, but it is becoming an increasingly popular campaign strategy for brands to attract both new and loyal customers. As the use of mobile devices continue to rise and advancing technology is at all-time high, location-based marketing has become easier and more effective than ever before.

It is essential for brands to understand the different types of location-based marketing tactics, to be able to utilize them in the best and most fitting ways for their brand.

 

What is Location-Based Marketing?

Also referred to as geomarketing, it is any form of marketing that incorporates location intelligence to improve the odds of specific ads reaching the right consumers at the right time. As we said before, this is not a new concept, but today’s geomarketing activities are much more advanced than traditional strategies. Marketers now have the ability to engage with people when they actually need your products or services, instead of just sending out ads and hoping you can convince someone they need it or that they will keep you in mind for when they do at a later time. The idea is that it will increase your overall return on investment.

 

Types of Location-Based Marketing:

Geofencing

This refers to serving advertisements or content to consumers based on their real-time location. It uses global positioning or radio frequency identification to define the geographic boundary. Once the virtual barrier is established, the marketer can set up triggers, sending out texts, email alerts, or push notifications when a mobile device enters or exits the area.

Geofencing is a way to engage consumers based on a hyper-local location, triggering immediate sales and helping to understand the consumer mindset. There are a number of tools and technologies brands can use to set the parameters and automatically send notifications, ads, content, etc. The most prominent companies providing these capabilities are Facebook and Google. Snapchat also provides location-specific geofilters that brands can utilize to promote events or raise awareness. There are also a number of push notification providers that provide these tools as well.

Geotargeting

Geotargeting is serving advertising and content to audiences that have visited specified locations in the past. Marketers geotarget through mobile devices because they’re always present and location gives valuable insight on the users’ environment and mindsets. Ultimately making it easier to deliver more relevant content, and hopefully increasing likelihood of sales. The central idea of geotargeting is that understanding consumers real-time or past locations, enables marketers to get as close as possible to deliver the right messages at the right time.

Geo-Conquesting

The goal of geo-conquesting is to attract customers away from competitors using location-based ads. These ads can be served to customers who are currently visiting the competition, or have visited them in the past. The idea behind the practice is that a consumer who is or has been at the competitor’s business is already in the market for a particular product. A competitor that can serve a compelling ad that’s close by has a good chance at attracting that business.

For example, Burger King ran a campaign using geo-conquesting tactics by offering one cent whoppers to those that had their app open when visiting a McDonald’s. To use geo-conquesting successfully, brands must be sure to have accurate location-data, but companies in the field continue to boost geo-data quality. Making the tactic easier and easier to utilize.

Proximity Marketing

Similar to geofencing, this tactic uses technology such as beacons, near-field communication, or augmented reality to trigger ads, alerts, or content to smartphones, but only when they are a few feet from a specific location. This is increasingly used as a fast and easy way to make payments. Smartphones can detect close by credit card terminals, and if your card is linked to your phone, you can make a payment without digging for your wallet. Beverage companies are also starting to take advantage of this tactic with new augmented reality apps, such as Living Wine Labels. Users can scan wine labels with their phone, which then turns the label into an animated display while educating them on that particular wine.

 

The Benefits:

Location-based marketing offers a variety of opportunities that can be utilized by all types of businesses because it’s very low cost, sometimes even free. Everytime you create a page for your business on a location-based service, you’re getting free advertising. The more advanced forms of location-based marketing are still very affordable, but are highly targeted, meaning you’re getting the most out of your ad dollar.

You get to better connect with loyal customers, while attracting new ones. You can allow past customers to leave reviews, getting better insight of their preferences. With check-ins you can also reward frequent customers with discounts, deals, or special offers. It also gives you a tangible way to identify who your most loyal customers are. This can show potential business that you really do value your customers, while keeping the existing ones happy. Some companies also use the tactic of offering specials to first time customers, or first time check-ins. Once you have their attention, you can hopefully turn them into repeat customers by showing them all you have to offer.

This also gives you the opportunity to convert impulses into sales and increase business during slow periods. For example, it’s raining and you sell umbrellas. You can send out ads offering deals on umbrellas to those in your geolocation, hopefully catching someone that needs one. You can also send out deals to those in the area during times of the day you don’t normally get very much business. Let’s say you’re a coffee shop near a university and you don’t get many customers from 1-4 pm. You now send texts to students within 2 miles of your business offering $1 off coffee during that time. Even though you’re offering a discount, you’re still getting more sales than before, and maybe generating loyal customers for the future.

 

Concerns:

Some consumers worry about privacy when it comes to GPS or location tracking. A critical step in utilizing location-based marketing is understanding how these audiences are created and how to ensure consumers that their privacy is protected. The data should always be aggregated and anonymized, preventing individual tracking. This is a common practice because there is no incentive to gain from building a campaign around an individual person. It’s best practice to not build audiences off of any sensitive locations, such as anything related to healthcare. Most, if not all, location-based marketing services follow and adhere to the codes of conduct from various industry groups. Marketers generally prefer to reach as many people as possible within their target market. As long as users are aware that they are opting-in to share their location, and that they can opt-out if they chose, there are generally no issues.

 

Conclusion:

Location-based marketing offers unique opportunities and benefits that traditional marketing tactics cannot. Though any successful campaign will rely on multiple strategies and tactics to reach success. While data is extremely critical, content quality is equally, if not more important.

If you’re struggling to generate visibility, reach, or business in general, we can help. At Onimod Global we are experts in digital synergy, creating cross-channel digital marketing campaigns driven by machine learning analytics and human intelligence. Together ensuring your brand meets the consumer when and where they need them. Learn more about what we do here, or contact us today here.