How to Rescue Your Business From Falling Sales

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Whether you have just started your own business or if you’ve been running it for a long time, it’s likely that you have had to deal with some major difficulties since the pandemic. Recovering from hits to your business might seem like quite the uphill battle, but take it one step at a time. A few key changes to your approach could help you reset.

 

Reassess Your Key Metrics

Reassessing your key marketing metrics is a great place to start as you work to make your company more profitable. Start by looking at where you are allocating the majority of your resources and figure out how successful those approaches are actually being.

 

Look for gaps in your marketing—maybe you have a good amount of traffic but few conversions. Dig around to figure out possible reasons for this. The answers you find might surprise you.

 

Hire a Professional Web Designer

Another reason why you might be seeing falling sales is an ineffective sales page. About 75 percent of consumers judge your business based on what your website looks like. If they aren’t getting fun engaging vibes from your website, it’s likely that they aren’t connecting to your brand and won’t convert to customers.

 

As you have a web designer reassess your website, it’s important that they also take a good look at your load time. If your website isn’t loading within a few seconds, it’s likely that you are losing a lot of the visitors that initially click on your page.

 

Focus on Your Target Audience

One of the most important ways you can rescue your business from falling sales is to rethink how you are marketing your product. First, start by thinking about your target audience and how to best reach them.

 

For example, if you are running a test prep company, you’ll want to get into the heads of students more. Instead of spending a lot of money to have ads placed in various on-campus newspapers, maybe you need to offer students a free practice test in a simulated testing environment and a post-test assessment and consultation. Changing up your marketing by focusing on your target audience could help you generate a lot more interest.

 

If you’ve seen your sales falling, it can be quite discouraging, but don’t give up. It will take work, but changing up your approach in a variety of ways can help you turn things around.

 

Read this next: How You Can Engage With Your Customers Online

How to Boost Your Normal Marketing Strategies

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Your company has survived through some adventures lately, not the least of which was a pandemic! But, heading into post-pandemic, it’s time to reevaluate your marketing strategies and see what blind spots might need repair. Even in the most efficient and effective company, marketing must be reevaluated every few years, as both traditional method approaches change and digital ones evolve so quickly. What are some ways you can boost your normal marketing strategies for your business?

Call in Some Outside Help

Finding specialists saves you both time and money. Those who specialize in various activities can do them more efficiently and with greater focus. If a social media specialist can create posts with jokes, gentle sarcasm, and panache that suit your brand, that saves you time and labor. If you find a copywriter who specializes in blog posts, the same is true. You can save your time and effort for things which you enjoy, like building your base in other ways.

Don’t Forget About Traditional Marketing

You can boost your return on your marketing investment by getting the most eyes to see your ads as possible in passive ways. This can include long-term plans such as promotional item giveaways, reusable canvas or shopping bags with your logo displayed given with purchases and even vinyl-wrapped cars. Vinyl wraps only need installation every few years, and cost only a few hundred dollars for installation. You can turn a car into a moving billboard with a vinyl wrap. Vinyl wraps can an older model work van and make it look shiny again!

Personalize Your Tech Technique

It’s important to realize that traditional techniques for interacting with customers can make a huge ROI, and yet seem more personal than many modern digital techniques. Remember, advertising is about getting eyes and ears on your product, and letting your products be used and appreciated. This can include things like sending personal notes to loyal customers, making personal phone calls, or email marketing to specific demographics.

While using digital marketing techniques can be effective, don’t forget to use traditional marketing as well! However, you can get eyes and ears on your product for your target demographic is indeed the right way for your company. Find specialists to help lighten your stress load, and increase your productivity, and see how you save time and money!

Read this next: Intangible Business Assets and How to Use Them

How to Run Your Marketing More Efficiently

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When it comes to advertising your products and services, it can sometimes be difficult to figure out the best approach. With so many different advertising options out there, it’s hard to know where to start. Thinking about some of these factors can help you get started.

Understand Your Audience

Understanding your audience can often take more focus than you may initially think. But spending this time to understand who you are trying to target will pay off in the long run. Failing to target your audience can waste time and money.

Invest time and resources in things like customer interviews, demographics research, and surveys to best understand the types of products your customers want. Then take this information and use it to build your marketing strategy. You’ll be able to better highlight the aspects of your product that will be most appealing.

Focus on Select Mediums

In addition to refining your target focus group, you should also try to focus your efforts on certain mediums of marketing. When you inadvertently attempt to cover too many bases and do too many types of marketing, the result can be that you have few results in all of these efforts.

 

Instead, identify a few mediums that seem to have particular resonance with your focus group and then spend the majority of your efforts there. For example, maybe you’ve realized that your target focus group is best reached through social media. Maybe that means that short video advertising has particular potential to capture the attention of potential customers. 

Collect Data

There’s little you can do if you don’t take time to collect data relating to the efficacy of your marketing strategy. But as you consider how to measure your marketing’s success, make sure that you are taking the right metrics.

Make sure that you’ve defined your marketing goals—have you decided who you hope to reach? What indicators will you use to measure whether or not you have successfully reached members of your target group? Thinking about these questions and others can help you start figuring out what kind of data is particularly important to collect as you work to measure your marketing campaign’s success.

You know it’s time to make a solid marketing strategy. But starting can be hard when there are so many different options to consider. Beginning with the basics will help you figure out where to expand.

Read this next: Why Writing Is the Cornerstone of a Marketing Strategy

55 Website Essentials – Infographic

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It wasn’t that many years ago that having a company website was seen as optional, but that isn’t the case today. To be effective online you not only have to have a website, bit it has to be setup right.  We have assembled some of the most important website essentials in this infographic to help you navigate this a bit better. We have also included the website essentials in list form to use as a checklist.

55 Website Essentials – Infographic

  1. Domain name – that’s easy to read and remember.
  2. Logo – a visual representation of your business that’s unique.
  3. TagLine – a concise description of what your business does.
  4. Phone Number – a clickable phone number (and make sure you answer).
  5. Call-to-Action – tell visitors what you would like them to do.
  6. Top Navigation – discreet options to find the top pages on your site.
  7. Bread Crumb Navigation – help your visitors navigate hierarchically.

Above the Fold:

  1. Image or Slider – visually display unique selling points and differentiators.
  2. Reviews and Testimonials – Video is even better to build trust with your visitors.
  3. Important Business Information – Location, etc.

Below the Fold:

  1. Quality Content – your unique selling proposition described for visitors and search.
  2. Main Features – of your products and services.
  3. Internal Links – to your website’s inner pages.

Footer:

  1. Navigation – secondary navigation to common pages.
  2. Social Media Buttons – assist people in getting to know you via social channels.
  3. Online Chat Feature – instant communication while the visitor is researching.
  4. Business Hours – along with your location, this will make sure visitors know when they can visit.
  5. Contact Information – address, phone number, and/or email address.

Inner Pages:

  1. About Us Content – what’s your story?
  2. Inner Page Content – key product and service offerings in detail.
  3. Contact form – let visitors know when to expect a response.
  4. Captcha / Anti-Spam Feature – you’ll be sorry if you don’t!
  5. Privacy Policy Page – let visitors know how you’re going to utilize data you collect from them.
  6. FAQ Page – frequently asked questions.
  7. Blog Page – company news, industry news, advice, and client stories you can share with your audience.

Blog:

  1. Comment feature – increase user engagement.
  2. Search bar – make it easier for visitors to find the information they’re seeking.
  3. Sidebar – show your latest or most popular blog posts, call-to-action, or related posts.
  4. Social Media Share – allow users to easily share your articles.

Other Content and Design Points to Consider:

  1. Easily readable, clean font
  2. Links that are easy to understand
  3. Mobile responsive
  4. Hamburger menu on mobile site
  5. Use contrasting colors
  6. Use a spell checker

Search Engine Optimization:

  1. Title and meta description updates
  2. Automatic sitemap creation
  3. Easy to update URL structure

Server and Hosting:

  1. Fast and reliable hosting – I love WPEngine – click here to save 20%!
  2. Automatic website backup feature
  3. Secured

Technical Requirements Backend:

  1. Optimized code for fast page loading
  2. Use a CMS – I only recommend and install WordPress
  3. Cross-browser compatibility
  4. Google Search Console integration
  5. Google Analytics Integration
  6. Schema.org integration
  7. Site Caching

Things to Avoid:

  1. Use a video hosting service, don’t load videos on your server
  2. Avoid background music
  3. Don’t use Flash
  4. Avoid Click to Enter sites (unless there are age restrictions)
  5. Do not steal content, images, or other assets
  6. Do not share confidential information

website essentials

Podcast Episode 005: Holiday Marketing Strategies

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The holiday’s can be a tough time to market your business, because people are busy and because some types of businesses don’t see it as relevant to their model – especially service industries. In this episode of the Good Onya Marketing Podcast, we talk about 5 ways to integrate some “holiday spirit” into your marketing efforts.

Here are a few of the things I talked about on the episode:

Digital Marketer’s Black Friday Bootcamp site

Here’s the JibJab video I made last year!

Marketing with Social Media – How Social Media Can Turn Into Leads

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marketing with social mediaSocial media has become one of the most popular tools for marketing today. Marketing with social media can be difficult if you don’t know the right strategies.  Social media is great for building a community and getting to know people. But, it isn’t as easy as using social media for personal use.  In order to make it useful for business you have to move people from prospects to leads by getting them onto your email list, getting them to buy a product, or getting them to use a service to also get them on a list. It’s easier than you think.  Here are a few easy tips you can use to leverage social media to turn your prospects into leads.

Tips for Marketing with Social Media

Identify Where Social Media Fits in with Your Marketing Funnel – Sometimes people join your social media due to having visited your website. They may have liked what you said, but didn’t yet want to sign up for an email list. Sometimes they find your social media in other ways, without ever having visited your website. When marketing with social media, look at your marketing funnel and your product funnel to see where social media fits in, and act accordingly.  It will vastly improve your conversion rates.

Make It Easy for Prospects to Convert – You can have multiple ways for your social media followers to join your email lists. For example, you can have a sign-up page on Facebook as well as on your website. It’s actually good to have those two separate lists, depending on where they sign up.

Give Away Something Valuable – It always helps to have a lead magnet that is valuable to them and solves at least one problem they have quickly. You don’t want it to be a long, drawn-out process that they have to go through for weeks for the lead magnet to work well. It should be a quick solution to a problem that keeps them up at night, but is easy to solve.  They have to want your solution enough to be willing to sign up to your mailing list in exchange for receiving it.

Build Relationships with Your Followers – Take the time to actually interact with your social media followers so that they want to know more about you. Social media marketing doesn’t just mean pushing stuff out there without also listening.  Answer their questions, help them, and be a resource to them. The more you can show that side of your personality, prove your expertise,  and engage with the followers, the more likely they are to want to sign up for your offerings.

Create a Special Email Campaign for Social Media Prospects – Remember that you don’t want to send the same email marketing campaign to everyone. You should have a different one based on where they sign up, which freebie they download, and other ways of segmenting your audience. Each leads to the same thing, but is done differently based on where the audience member is in your marketing and product funnel.

Test, Measure and Adjust – Always set goals that are specific so that you have a way to measure your results. If you’re not meeting your goals, figure out where you can adjust something to make it work just a little bit better. That’s what’s awesome about marketing with social media; it’s adjustable on the fly.

Host a Contest – Ensure that you follow the rules of the social network in order to host a contest, using the right third party or native service to do the contest correctly. A contest can help get email sign-ups fast.  Think of something that’s valuable to your audience as a reward or prize, and kick it off!

Run an Ad Campaign – This is especially great for Facebook because you can target your ad so closely, even down to marketing only to your own groups if you want to. Running ads is a sure-fire way to get people to move from prospects to leads fast.

Most social media followers are just learning about you and want to see how you do things. They’re going to observe for a while, get to know you, and then eventually jump on board. For the best results, use different some of these tips to get them on your email list and then market to them specifically using the tips found here.  Your results will amaze you.

Want to know more about how to market using social media effectively without taking a course or spending a lot of time and money on a marketing consultant or team for your business?  Join me at TheMarketingKit.com and receive usefule, efficient video lessons immediately followed with coordinating downloads you can actually use right away.  Better yet, each month I will focus on a different HOT MARKETING TOPIC to center my lessons and materials around.  As we kick off this membership, August 1, our first monthly topic will be…you guessed it! SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING – what REALLY counts.  Click the link below to check out this affordable and efficient way to stay on top of your marketing needs.

Click here:marketing with social media

Finally a plan to take marketing strategy and turn it into action!

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I get lots of great feedback on my weekly email and educational presentations that I do, but lots of people have told me that they want MORE. More marketing strategies, hacks and tips.  And many of the prospects I meet with really want and need marketing help, yet don’t have the budget that is required to outsource this work. They want to learn the marketing essentials and apply the top marketing trends, but just don’t know where to start on their own!
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Out of that need came an idea that is affordable, includes the marketing essentials you can use for yourself, doesn’t take much time to do, and is delivered straight to your inbox – It’s called The Marketing Kit, a marketing membership for those of you who need a quick and affordable way to stay on top of marketing in a way that is sensitive to your time and budget! With your membership, each month you will receive information on some of the hottest marketing topics that I deliver to my private clients, top secrets and easy marketing hacks, downloadable resources you can customize and use right away, access to ask me your marketing questions,  and much more – all for one low subscription price. If you have been wanting to improve your marketing, get found, and generate REAL LEADS, but are limited on the time and knowledge to do it, this could be just what you need!
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Creative Ways to Get Public Speaking Gigs

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public speakingIf you have a desire to be a public speaker, and you have a talk that you can give about a popular topic about which you have useful knowledge, then all you really need to do now is find the public speaking gigs that you want. There are many ways to do it, including paying to be listed on speaker’s lists, reaching out to trade associations, and much more. The best thing to do is just get out there and do it But where do you start?

Here are a few creative ways to get public speaking gigs fast:

Clubs and Associations – Not only should you approach clubs, organizations, and associations that you have joined to offer your speaking skills, but you should also reach out to different organizations by sending them a packet about your offerings, including your fees and how to contact you.  Remember to include any testimonials or video clips from successful public speaking engagements you have already done.

Universities and Colleges – You don’t have to be part of the alumni association to speak at colleges and universities. Contact the right department heads with your information about the talks you can give and the audience you’d like to speak t, and it may still be a great fit. Again, always include your fees and how to reach you.

Business Networking Groups – This is especially useful if your topic happens to be related to a particular type of business – marketing, motivation, or any other topics of interest across different business audiences. Send your speaker’s information to each group that you think may want to hear your talk. Send a sample of your work, and all the contact information as well.

Your Current Clients – You never know if your current clients need speakers for their businesses or organizations if you don’t ask. There may be opportunities right under your nose if you haven’t offered. Send out an information packet to each of your clients so that they know what you offer.

Other Speakers You Know – If you know other speakers, ask them how they find speaking gigs and if they think you’d fit in anywhere they’ve given speeches. There often can be opportunities for co-speaking gigs, and you could team up. If they know who to contact or will make introductions, that would also help you to get your foot in the door.

Online Opportunities – Believe it or not, today you can actually get speaking gigs right from the comfort of your own home (or wherever you use your computer) thanks to the advent of online technology like Google Hangouts Live, YouTube Live, Facebook Live and Blab.me – not to mention all the webinar technologies that exist like GoToWebinar and Adobe Connect.

Industry Magazines – Subscribe to as many industry magazines as you can, because they will often list events that are happening with calls for speakers to apply. They’ll provide full directions for what to send when you apply to speak. Many events pay well, while some just give you free accommodations and other perks.  Either way, the exposure to speaking gigs can lead to more exposure and, therefore, more jobs!

Google It – Do a Google Search for “speakers needed” or “call for speakers” within your industry. This is a great way to find public speaking events for which you can apply. Be sure to set up a Google Alert if you get a good search result so that you’ll stay ahead of the events.

Big Businesses – Large businesses, corporations, and organizations often need speakers for various types of events including motivational, training, and other types of events. Make sure you send your information to the right departments to get the best results.

Your Website – Create a speaker’s portion of your website, including a media kit and a one-page flyer that says what you speak about, your background, and how to reach you. It won’t hurt to also include a video of the talks you’ve given so far as well as testimonials from people who have attended your speaking events. If you don’t have that, include an introductory video so that people can see your style.  If you have a unique accent or idiosyncrasy or catch phrase, capitalize on it. People will get to know you for it and choose to listen to you because it’s more fun than someone without something unique about the way they speak.

 

If public speaking is your passion and your gift, using these tips can help you land more gigs doing what you love to do.  The great part about that is that the more exposure you have through the gigs you accumulate, the more referrals and future gigs you can generate!

The Ever-Changing Face of Marketing: Keeping Up with Marketing Trends

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marketing trendMarketing trends come and go, and, now more than ever, it’s important to understand what marketing strategies have a lasting impact on your business. Technology has been a huge influence on how people have marketed their goods and services ever since people have had goods and services to sell. Whether it was the printing press, the radio, television, or the proliferation of trains and cars that made traveling easier, something new has always come along to change how marketing is done. But nothing has ever been as noteworthy or as influential as the internet.  The internet seems to be the hub of any changes or trends in how marketing is done, so it’s important to see the effects that has in the business world, and in your world, today.

What YOU Can Learn From Marketing Trends

Consumers Are Smarter Than Ever

Because of the internet, consumers now have more information at their fingertips than they have ever had before in the history of the world. They can look up information about you, and whether it’s right or wrong, they’ll learn something about you and your products before buying. It’s up to you to make sure the right information is out there for them to find.

Social Media Is EVERYWHERE

Before the internet, stores had to host huge events that were quite costly in order to stir up conversation and social interaction. Today, they simply need to start an active Instagram account or Facebook group or page in order to create a buzz about them. Perhaps the most influential marketing trend out there today is that of social media.  Everyone uses some form of social media today to gather information and learn about your business and offerings. In fact, more than 80 percent of the US population uses social media. It is imperative that businesses know exactly how to use social media in a positive and effective way for their marketing.

Your Audience Is Starving for Content

It’s important to put content in every place your audience likes to be. If they like Facebook, you need to be on Facebook. If they like blog posts, you need to supply them with plenty of blog posts. If they like getting information through email, then you need to accommodate them. It can be difficult to keep up at times, but with help you can work smartly and efficiently by re-purposing content as needed.  Nearly anyone who pays attention to marketing trends today has heard the phrase, “Content is king,” but do you really know how to best use your content?  It’s important that you use it in the right way or it can be a waste of your time.

SEO Is Here to Stay, BUT It’s Changing, Too

Due to the advent of the net, pulling your audience to your information requires knowledge of search engine optimization (SEO). This can include on- and off-page optimization of a website and blog, but also of article titles, social media posts and more. It’s all about attracting the right audience to your information, and the best way to optimize is an ever-changing topic.  Make sure you stay on top of the best way to optimize your content.

The Customer of One Is Now Key

Due to the ability to now automate and personalize using technology, business owners can make their customers feel special and unique more than ever before. Personalization is a marketing trend that really makes the difference when customers want to feel appreciated.  Even though customers are smart and likely know a lot of it is automation, they still do appreciate the personal touch, and it shows in their purchasing habits.

Inbound Marketing Has Taken Over

Inbound marketing – attracting customers because you offer them something of value that they are already interested in or seeking out – is a marketing trend that works because it makes sense.  Bringing your customers to you is now how marketing works best, as opposed to outbound marketing, which was how marketing started. It was posters, magazine ads, commercials – all things that interrupted the consumer to give them your message. Inbound marketing is less intrusive and is a much more natural way of customers finding you.

E-commerce Generates over 1.2 Million Dollars Every 30 Seconds

It seems like eCommerce has been around forever. In reality it has been around in a smaller way since the 60s, but it really came into being as it is today in the 90s when the first book was sold on Amazon in 1995. Nothing has ever been the same since, and it just continues to grow. Online shopping is even bringing back grocery delivery!

 

It’s imperative that you keep up with marketing trends in terms of the tools that are used and the ways that strategies are implemented. In many ways, the principles don’t change much. You have to find a way to educate your audience, inform them, engage them, and build relationships with them, so that they trust you enough to spend their money on your products or services.  How you get there is what is constantly changing

Native Advertising – What is it REALLY?

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It’s hard to believe, but there is a lot of disagreement about what native advertising is exactly. It has actually been around for a long time, but the form is improving by leaps and bounds and becoming less salesy as consumers become more savvy. The idea behind native adverting is that it draws in the consumer, just as any other content you offer them.  It entertains them, engages them, and offers them value – even if they don’t buy what is being offered. Native advertising can take on many forms, depending on the context of the advertising.

Forms of Native Advertising

In-Feed – This is like what you see on YouTube or Facebook when you sign on or search for something specific. It is usually labeled “sponsored,” so it’s easy to spot, but is often just like other content that your users like to consume.

Paid Search – A good example of this appears on Google Search. When you search for a keyword term, you’ll have both the unpaid and paid results appear. Paid results are at the top and to the right, and organic is everything else. They are also labeled “sponsored.”

Recommended Content – On CNN.com if you scroll down, you’ll see recommended content to read. This is usually pushed out by a company like Outbrain.com which syndicates other people’s content for a fee, and then offers it to you on other platforms. It might say “these stories are recommended for you.” Usually it’s based on what the user is already reading.

Promoted – This is common on Amazon, Facebook, and YouTube, and this form of native advertising will be listed as “promoted.” It is usually a post, a product, or a video, depending on the platform. For example, on YouTube it will be a video and on Facebook it will be a post.

In-Ad – Often these banners appear in the promoted content itself, and this form of advertising is delivered based on the content in which it appears. This can be found on YouTube when supposedly relevant ads are displayed on a video.

Custom – This is paid content delivered in a variety of ways to users by different publishers. They might be articles, guest posts, sponsorships, or other forms of advertising that do not fit in the other definitions. They aren’t very salesy in nature, and they offer value of some sort on their own to the user.

What makes an ad “native” is its ability to camouflage its true nature to the audience by being relevant, valuable, and useful to them.  It is promoting a product or service that the user probably needs, so it feels less like a sales pitch. This type of advertising has been around a long time in the form of advertorials, but they’re getting more targeted and useful due to the way the internet gathers information from users.  This added value has proven native advertising to be far superior to other forms of advertising.1 Native-Ad-Effectiveness-Infographic-Sharethrough-IPG-c898cefb

Now technology enables marketers to get more specific about who and when such content is delivered, ensuring it’s consumed by the user at a higher rate than banner ads or traditional ads that are often ignored or avoided.