Tag: marketing strategy

Digital Marketing in Web 3.0: It’s Coming

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I can’t be the only one who remembers waiting for a website to load for 5+ minutes, and when it finally did, the only way you could interact with the site is by scrolling and ingesting all of its content.

The web has come a long way. Now, all the focus is on Web 3.0, a way to decentralize the web, increase privacy for users, and AI-driven services.

As the tech world inches closer to Web 3.0, the digital marketing industry will need to shift along with it. The user experience will become more personalized, and user data more private, so marketing will need to develop more creative strategies to find leads.

What To Expect from Web 3.0

The third phase of the web is focused on three primary components:

It allows users more control over their own experience on the web. They will be able to ensure their usage is more private. The experience will become much more secure for the individual. This is because of the decentralization of the web, meaning no central authority is controlling the web.

In order to create this more personalized experience, there will be an increase in the ability of artificial intelligence (AI) to communicate with users. AI will be more able to decipher human data in a usable way.

Blockchain technology will change how transactions over the web work. It uses distributed ledger technology (DLT) to ensure transparent and secure transactions without the use of a third party.

Web 3.0 has a lot of exciting and ground-breaking prospects. You, as the user, will no longer face any restrictions based on income, location, gender, and a slew of other factors when performing transactions. Your identity will be more secure and there will be less server failure, making the web a more comfortable experience overall.

How It Will Impact Your Digital Marketing Strategy

For business owners and digital marketing strategists, this absolutely will force you to change the way you conduct business. No need to worry though – Web 3.0 is still a little ways down the road, so you have time to figure out and develop new strategies.

1. You will need more creative ways to gather user data.

Web 3.0 allows prospective clients to be more protective and private regarding their data. Third-party cookies will no longer be available, so companies will have to get a little more creative when working to determine a target audience and obtaining buyer data to inform decisions.

Instead, companies will need to utilize AI and various other sources to drive decision-making regarding audience and content creation. AI will help businesses to gather data focused on user behavior, and the data that is found from multiple sources will tend to lead to giving the users more personalized experiences.

What you can do now: use multiple metrics to gather user data and become familiar with any helpful AI that comes out.

2. Your content will be more personalized for your customers.

The decentralization of the web will result in more customized and individual user experiences. That means the importance of making engagement with your business a more personal experience will increase. Web 3.0’s use of virtual reality will enable you to give your customers a customized interactive experience.

What you can do now: continue to focus on building strong relationships with your clientele and any potential customers. Make these relationships authentic and genuine in nature. When building content, focus on using what you’ve learned through those relationships to create a personalized experience.

3. You will access a more global client base.

Finances might have kept your business in the past from reaching a more global market. The decentralization of Web 3.0 will make it much easier to connect with customers from all over the world. Your business will have the potential to expand exponentially.

What you can do now: identify potential markets for your business worldwide and the product trends in those locations.

Right now, we are seeing the metaverse expanding and cryptocurrency a regular topic of conversation. Though Web 3.0 is still not there yet, businesses are beginning to prepare for the shift in how they target customers and find quality leads.

Our Predictable Leads System has been proven time and again to help businesses like yours define a target audience using multiple data points, and build an effective digital sales funnel. We are redefining how we do business every day to stay up-to-date with trends and developments in the digital environment. Don’t hesitate to reach out for a free strategy session.

Tags digital marketing, marketing, marketing strategy, small business marketing, web 3.0

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Google Analytics and the New GA4

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With so many factors at play with how well our business may be doing on the web, many questions might arise: How do we track how well we’re advertising online? How do we know where to allocate funds or time and energy? Are these investments getting the return that we’re looking for?

In the world of marketing, we know that tracking and analytics is the unsung hero of digital marketing strategy. Google Analytics is one of those ultra-useful tools that can direct your business to a better understanding of your consumer behavior, which can lead to marketing structure changes and ultimately more conversions and more cash in your pocket.

Whether it is why certain videos pop up in our For You Page on Tiktok, what ads we see on Instagram, or the ranking of search results when we’re googling, algorithms determine much of what dictates what we’re seeing online.

It’s essential to optimize the free and available tools to put yourself in the algorithm’s favor.

This is where analytics comes in. With insider knowledge of Google’s analytics system and the new GA4 programming attached with it, GoBeyond’s mission to deliver exceptional digital marketing has us ready to help you understand and optimize using Google Analytics to move your business to the next level.

Digital Analytics: The Basics

The goal of marketing is to get potential users interested, engaged, and then converted to customers. Before the world of the internet, these trends were difficult to identify and articulate. With digital analytics, however, we can track user data and make smarter decisions about the way we show up and engage with consumers online.

Now, with the technology available to us, we can in real-time assess user behavior. By making this information trackable, it becomes predictable. When it becomes predictable, we can control it in our favor. This means a higher return on investment, consumer loyalty, and effective branding without guessing games and throwing paint at a wall to see what sticks. This means more consumers converted to customers and more time.

With Google Analytics, it’s also free.

Google Analytics: What You Need to Know

Google Analytics is a platform that collects data from your apps and sites. From there, it creates detailed reports that give you insights into your business. Specifically, Google Analytics can isolate and track each individual that comes across your organization and tell you information about their experience.

This data can be used to show where marketing is successful, which products or services are garnering people’s attention, how much traffic your site is getting, or the frequency of clicks on a video on your website, among many other things.

There are two major ways Google Analytics functions. The first is Measurement.

With a Google Analytics account and a small piece of code added to your sites, Google Analytics uses a tracking code to determine pseudonymous information about how that user interacted with your page or pages. The measurement code is the data collection feature of Google Analytics. Anything from language to geography to how they got to your site in the first place are all trackable pieces of information to gain insight on who is interested in your business and how they’re engaging with you.

The second part of the Google Analytics system is processing and reporting. Once the measurement code collects the data, it packages that information and organizes it, resulting in reports. These reports can be customized to your goals or interests. Once that data is processed, it is stored in a database that can be viewed in your reports. However, that data will not change. An important facet of Google Analytics is its ability to translate user data as it is, not as you wish it would be. This can be an awakening and empowering step for a business owner.

Data doesn’t lie. A key advantage of using Google Analytics is its objectivity.

For example, if you introduce a new marketing campaign and find that suddenly there is a massive uptick in visits to your site because of that campaign, that is data that is useful to you in creating campaigns in the future. Alternatively, if there is evidence suggesting people viewing your site on a mobile device never make it to the purchase confirmation page, it could be a signal that there is a bug or design flaw in your mobile view.

The data has real world application. The data can change your business.

The New GA4: What’s the Update

GA4 is the newest update that has been rolled out from Google Analytics. If your company has already been implementing Universal Analytics from Google, there is a way to convert over to the most updated version, Google Analytics 4. If you’re looking to stay on the cutting edge of your reporting and to get the most out of your Google Analytics measurements, it’s important to make the switch sooner rather than later.

Here are some key feature updates:

An updated search bar to find the information you’re looking for faster
Added search terms to more easily access the data streams you’re looking for
A feature that allows you to see and manage up to 7 different Google Analytics 4 properties based on search terms
Analyze information about your products or services separately from analyzing important e-commerce interactions
New e-commerce dimensions and metrics
Name changes to be more intuitive and user-friendly

Technology is changing rapidly, all the time. Being on the forefront of the trends and technology updates can save your business its most valuable resource – time.

How We Can Help

You’ve got a lot going on. While the importance of Google Analytics is clear, the nuance of its utilization cannot be understated. If you’re investing all of this time into Google Analytics, it’s clear you care about your business and the data you’re collecting.

If you cannot properly read the reporting on that data or can’t decipher its impacts and application, it can have a counterintuitive impact on your business strategy. A misread of important data can result in a decision pushing your marketing in an antithetical, less profitable direction.

While the reporting and implementation of Google Analytics is accessible to all, the ability to properly use and manage the application will determine its usefulness to you and your business. The Google Analytics program’s success for you is dependent on your goals, strategy, and ability to determine what configurations best suit your company.

Let an expert walk you through it. We’re ready to help you. Contact us for a free call to talk about Google Analytics and other strategies you can use to level up your business.

Tags ga4, google analytics, marketing strategy, seo

Blog Law Firm Marketing Marketing Social Media Social Media Marketing

Choosing the Best Social Media Platform for Your Law Firm

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Determining the best platforms to establish your firm’s social media presence and establishing an effective social media presence may seem overwhelming at first. Here are some effective tips to consider as you begin to develop your firm’s strategy.

Evaluating which platforms are right for your firm follows a process of gathering data, and beginning with 1 or 2 platforms best suited to your defined goals for content delivery and marketing results. Measure your results against stated goals and course correct as you learn what efforts are most effective for your firm.

Gather Industry Data

Learn what works and what doesn’t by conducting competitor research. While evaluating reports and data on highly performing networks, identify similar firms that are successfully using social media strategies and learn from how they use their platforms.

What type of content investments are they making: blogs, legal podcasts, videos, webinars, eBooks?
How are they engaging with users?
What are they doing well?
How would you improve on their efforts?

According to the American Bar Association, law firms continue year after year to prefer LinkedIn as a social media marketing platform. This is because LinkedIn allows lawyers to promote themselves professionally, and because of its popularity within the legal profession.

Facebook follows closely behind, with 62 percent of firms holding a social media presence. This platform allows you to share related trends and articles, advertise to a targeted audience, and engage with followers.

Different platforms offer unique advantages in achieving specific goals. If your primary goal is professional development and networking with other attorneys, LinkedIn is the platform of choice. However, if your goal is community engagement, consider a more personalized network like Instagram or Facebook.

Setting Clear Goals for Social Media Efforts

Setting clear realistic goals around your social media efforts is critical to guiding your strategy and achieving success on your terms. Social media is about cultivating an audience and creating conversation. If your main goal is quick conversions, you will likely be disappointed. Some goals other law firms have in their marketing strategies are:

Professional development and networking (66%)
Maintaining client pipeline (51%)
Education and awareness (49%)
Community engagement (43%)
Case investigation (21%)

Content Delivery

Successful social media presence requires a sustained commitment to consistently create and publish timely, new, relevant content that caters to the interests of your target audiences. Different platforms require various levels of commitment to new content. Some platforms like LinkedIn can yield positive results with only a few short posts a week while others like Instagram require a steady flow of relevant high-quality content to capture users’ attention.

Next, carefully consider your ability to respond quickly to users who engage with your content. This is how you build your audience, network, and increase brand awareness. Responding to comments from two LinkedIn posts a week is a smaller time commitment than remaining in continuous conversation with users on other platforms.

In the beginning, set yourself up for success on one or two platforms and track your results. Gain a solid understanding of how much time you can dedicate to social media content creation, publishing schedules, and user engagement, and then adjust your strategy accordingly. Establishing and managing six different social media accounts on separate platforms is not likely to be successful right out of the gate.

Track Your Results

It is crucial to track and measure your results to learn what is working and what needs course correction. Add your social media accounts to your Google Analytics goals and review the data after your first 3 months. The data will help you discover what type of content is most relevant to users, will cultivate your target audience, and create brand-building conversations.

Firms with clear goals, a steady content flow, and an established presence on at least one platform need to periodically evaluate performance and adjust to maximize success against stated goals.

Use Available Reporting to Increase Investments in Your Highest-Performing Networks

Data will help you discover which platforms and activities deliver tangible results and which ones are a waste of your time. Google Analytics has several reports to help you evaluate the success of your networks and content:

Overview reports – Identifies how many users are converting from social networks
Network referrals – Measures engagement generated by each social platform
Landing pages – Tracks engagement for URLs by platform driving traffic
Conversions – Identifies total conversions by social platform
Plugins – Details how many users clicked your share buttons by platform
Users flow – Maps the path users take through your website by social network

Maximizing Social Media Success

Is your google profile set up to attract your ideal clients? Is your firm’s visibility maximized in search results? Optimize your google profile to bring in more cases with this helpful checklist.

GoBeyond, a full-service marketing agency, is ready to support your practice whether you are new to using social media or an expert practitioner. Contact us to discuss your needs or visit us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Tags law firm marketing, marketing, marketing strategy, social media engagement, social media marketing, social media marketing plan

Blog Content Marketing Law Firm Marketing Social Media Social Media Marketing

The Importance of Using Social Media for Law Firms

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A robust social media presence is a necessity today for thriving up-and-coming law firms. Social media strategies are used to establish brand awareness, connect firms with their ideal clients, drive traffic to your website, and generate sales.

Here is what to consider when making the decision to incorporate social media into your marketing strategy.

Increasing Brand Awareness

Law firms have always strived to get their brands in front of the largest audience possible. The primary platform to reach a targeted audience was once newspapers, and then it migrated to television and billboards.

To meet your audience where they are today, your firm needs a robust social media presence. According to a recent survey, 38 percent of people looking for an attorney check online first. Maintaining a consistent social media presence keeps you top of mind (and top of search results) when users are looking for legal help.

Humanizing Your Firm’s Brand

Incorporating social media into your marketing strategy helps to bring your firm’s culture to life by showcasing who you are and what you are passionate about. You can include features like personal stories about your team members and updates on notable events you have attended. That way, your followers will feel as if they know you and, when they need you, you will already feel like a trusted partner.

Connecting and Engaging with Your Ideal Clients

Social media is an effective tool for identifying and reaching your specific target audience. The platforms you select create a place for users to follow your firm and engage with your content as well as to stay informed on topics of interest and trending legal news. You are consistently working to build relationships with potential clients in a more organic way.

Driving Traffic to Your Website and Generating Sales

Using social media strategically generates quality leads for law firms and accelerates results from other sales and marketing efforts. Platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram can be used to encourage potential clients to take an action like visiting your website. LinkedIn followers do not always convert to cases, but if you share a link to a timely blog post, many followers will click through to your website to read it and, in doing that, learn more about your law firm.

Effective Use of Social Media Creates Competitive Advantages for Growing Law Firms

Is your google profile set up to attract your ideal clients? Is your firm’s visibility maximized in search results? Optimize your google profile to bring in more cases with this helpful checklist. An effective online presence and social media strategy creates competitive advantages by improving your firm’s visibility, credibility, relatability, and connection to an audience of ideal prospective clients cultivated for conversion.

GoBeyond, a full-service marketing agency, is ready to answer any questions and support your practice whether you are new to using social media or an expert practitioner. Contact us to discuss your needs and visit us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Tags content marketing, law firm marketing, marketing, marketing strategy, social media marketing

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7 Must-Haves for Your Law Firm Website

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People use the internet to search for all kinds of information. Where to shop, who to date, the weather report; the possibilities are truly endless. The ubiquity of the internet search has made web searchers more savvy and impatient when it comes to the sites they choose in their searches and also which sites they choose to continue to read before clicking away.

Law firms have an even more difficult challenge because most of the searchers who look for your practice have a legal issue. This makes them urgent, impatient, and self-conscious and they haven’t even picked up the phone to contact you yet. So how does a law firm ensure that its site will be intriguing and helpful enough to keep its visitors’ interest?

Here are some fast ways to tell if your website has staying power.

The Hero Section

The #1 mistake I see on modern law firm sites is this: The firm fails to make their clients the hero of the story. Don Miller of StoryBrand fame crystalized this idea and he’s spot on. If the homepage of your website has a picture of just you or you and your team, you’re missing a major opportunity.

The law is intimidating. If your clients see someone with whom they can identify on your home page, you are infinitely more likely to get them to continue reading on. They want to see themselves finding a solution with your firm. Make no mistake, they’ll want to know all about you too, but first, they must be able to see themselves in your success stories. Have an image of your ideal client represented on your homepage, then lead them to your credentials.

Website Load Speed

I don’t know about you, but a slow loading website makes me crazy. If it’s a potential client for my line of work, it’s one of the easiest things for me to demonstrate that they need to update their website. Web searchers are impatient and if your site doesn’t load in under 3 seconds, they are gone for good. Use this website to check your load speed. If it is too slow, talk to you web developer or reach out to my team to fix any issues that are beyond your technical expertise.

Easy to Navigate

If you were to ask your family members or friends, NOT professional colleagues, to go to your website and share with you what you do in under 5 seconds, could they do it? If your website doesn’t clearly state how you help people, what services you offer and how best to contact you, you need an overhaul.

Essential Pages to include on your website:

Homepage
Practice Areas (if possible, offer one page/practice area)
About / Team
Reviews
FAQ/BLOG
Contact Us
Privacy Policy
Disclaimer

If you have Google Analytics installed on your site (and if you don’t, please, please call me) look at the traffic to the pages on your site. If some of your pages are grossly under searched, it could mean they are hard to find.

Be sure to include clear options in your navigation bar, ideally with …. (see next paragraph)

On Page SEO

Much like the legal field, websites and digital marketing can have foreign and intimidating language. If you find yourself lost in the digital jargon, I’ve got you covered. Here are some of the website requirements that will help your firm rank in Google:

Meta description
Title tag
Headings tags
Keyword optimized copy
Keyword in URL (think navigation bar)
Short URLs
Alt tag in images

If you can add keywords to all of these areas, you’re on your way to an optimized site.

Google is an aggregator of data. In analog terms, it’s a filing cabinet. Each page needs to be labeled in a way that indicates where the file goes. Folder, section, cabinet, room, etc. Google does the same thing, just digitally. When your law firm, especially if you have a lot of competition, doesn’t digitally indicate where your site belongs, then it gets relegated to no man’s land.

Clear Practice Areas and Contact Info

Visitors to your site are there for one reason: They’re looking for a lawyer who can help them with a specific legal issue. So, it’s important to highlight your services on your home page, and have clear links in your navigation bar to pages describing each of your practice areas. Even though a client finds you online, they’ll often reach out through email or a phone call when they decide to consult you. It’s a good idea to keep these two contact methods highly visible at all times. For added mobile responsiveness, you can use click-to-call and click-to-email CTA formats. Other methods of contact, such as contact forms, live chat via a chatbot, social media messages and location information are also great way to leverage your website to connect you with potential clients.

Call to Action

If you have a website that doesn’t IMMEDIATELY encourage someone to contact you, you are behind the game. Your Call to Action (CTA) can be anything you want, but you want it to make the web visitor take an action right away. Book a consultation. Call us Now. Book your appointment. It may seem silly, but it works. You must be crystal clear about what you want your potential client to do when they come to your site.

Responsive design (mobile, tablet and desktop)

It’s 2023 (almost). Though it can vary by industry or practice area, chances are 50% (or more) of your first website visitors are on mobile. This number will continue to rise. Google is also prioritizing the performance of most mobile layouts over the desktop. So, that means your mobile layout is impacting your Google ranking more so than your desktop layout. If you’re not sure if your website is mobile friendly, chances are it is not. If you’d like to know for sure, use this link.

At GoBeyond SEO, we’ve been helping local law firms scale with simple lead gen and optimize their site for success since 2009. Contact us for a free consultation. We’d love to hear from you.

Tags law firm internet marketing, law firm marketing, law firm seo, marketing for law firms, marketing strategy

Blog General Marketing

Track Your Trends to Optimize Your Marketing

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Your customers change their behavior depending on the season, which impacts the content they interact with and the keywords they use for search. (Hint: this also means how, when, and what they decide to buy will change.)

Before you click away thinking that seasonality doesn’t apply to your business, stick with us. You may think you don’t have a season. Although buying trends can be harder to see when your business isn’t centered around a commonly recognized season (such as the holidays), the truth is that every industry has some version of a season.

However, business owners are often at a loss when it comes to adapting their marketing strategy to the seasonal shifts in buying behavior. Which is why it’s crucial to track your trends for more insight.

Yes, You Have a Busy Season–Trust Us

At this point, you may be thinking that you’re in an industry where people will always need what you do with some minor peaks and valleys. It’s true that you may not get all of your business exclusively during your busy season, but you definitely have one.

Here are a few examples of businesses that you would not traditionally associate with seasonality:

Divorce lawyers. More people file for divorce right after the holidays. Why? They didn’t want to ruin the holidays with divorce discussion or the holidays confirmed their decision to end the marriage.
Emergency vets. Emergency vets will see more dogs the first week of July. Why? It’s super hot, fireworks scare pets into unsafe behavior–including running away–and big parties are an opportunity for pets to eat dangerous foods and objects.
Plumbing companies. The day after Thanksgiving is the busiest day of the year for plumbers. Why? Food scraps and turkey grease can clog sinks. In addition, several guests staying at a home can overwhelm the plumbing system, leading to problems.

However, keep in mind that seasons are not limited to holidays. For example, spring can bring hail storms, leading to a surge in calls to windshield repair companies, roofers, and exterior contractors. When these businesses run ads around this time, they can optimize their busy season.

How to Adjust Your Game Plan for Your Season

Once you’ve taken the time to track your trends and identify your busy season, here are some ways to adjust your game plan to fit your season and make it convenient for your customers to hire you or purchase from you.

Busy Season

Google Ads. Ads show up when someone searches for what you offer. They are looking for you. Don’t hide from them!
Facebook Ads. Ads show up based on demographics and self-proclaimed interests. They told you they love animals. Show them your animal-related services or products!
Email marketing. Give them a reason to choose you over your competition by being visible, available, and easy to buy from. Touching on their most important reasons to buy in your email will encourage them to buy from you.
Direct mail. Depending on your industry, this can be one of the most effective ways to connect with your audience during your busy season.

Slow Season

Upsell and cross-sell existing clients. Slow season is a great time to upsell or cross-sell your current clients to help maintain your revenue.
Work on getting referrals. Contact satisfied clients and ask them to refer you to someone else who might want your services. You can offer a reward for referrals, such as a gift card.
Grow your online reviews. Ask past clients to review your business online. Make it easy by emailing them a link so all they have to do is click and type. Then, be sure to pay attention to your reviews and deal with any negative or fake ones.
Promote early payment specials. To keep cash coming in, try offering discounts for early payments for next season.
Educate your clients. Teach clients how to make the most of your products or services. Focus on low-cost marketing methods like in-person networking, email, and social media. Stay in front of them even when they’re not ready to buy. They will be soon enough. Create the association with your brand, even if they aren’t looking for you right now.

Learning when to mitigate expenses and maximize ROI can vary, even for businesses within the same industry. For example, some companies use Google Ads during their busy season so they are visible when people search for them, but use Facebook Ads as more of an awareness or educational tactic when people are not yet in need.

Get More Insight Into Your Long-Term Marketing Strategy

Following the trends within your industry and examining your own peaks and valleys are the best ways to know when and how to adjust your marketing efforts. If you’re ready to take a more advanced approach to your long-term marketing, set up a strategy session with GoBeyond SEO. It’s free, customized, and informative.

Tags content marketing, marketing, marketing strategy

General Leadership Marketing Small Business Marketing

4 Signs It’s Time for a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)

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Many small business owners, this year especially, are still trying to get a grip on what works and what doesn’t. All the marketing goals in the world are only as good as the direction and leadership of the marketing efforts coming from the top.

Did your marketing efforts pay off during the first quarter of this year? Are you woefully unsure and wildly self-conscious about it? You’re not alone.

Whether your marketing is directionless or you need more financial resources to invest in a solid strategy, here are four signs it’s time to consider a fractional chief marketing officer (CMO).

1. You Have a Marketing Plan, but No One Is Available to Be in Charge of It

This is a common trap when the marketing direction is steered by multiple people or by someone who is not solely focused on marketing.

Your company brand and success may have been built long before the days of complex marketing channels and automation. In order to prepare for the future (or present), businesses are tasked with adapting at lightning speed, to keep pace with contemporary strategies, tools, and tactics.

Oftentimes, especially in small and growing businesses, marketing initiatives are scattershot and lack a cohesive plan. An experienced marketing strategist can help right the proverbial ship for a strong and successful future.

2. Your Sales Team Is Creating Their Own Marketing Materials

Your sales team may be great or your sales team may be YOU. Either way, if your sales team is creating their own presentations, one sheets, and PDFs, it’s very likely that those materials are unfocused and weak.

A fractional CMO can develop a unified message that creates an exceptional customer experience, makes you and your team feel more confident in presenting your offerings, and improves conversions – all for a more cost-effective approach.

3. You Have Lots of Pricey Marketing Tactics Without a Supporting Strategy

It’s an easy trap to fall into. Someone says you need a new website, so you get one. You sponsor events and buy branded swag. You create a Google Ads campaign and get swallowed by the ad costs. You hire an intern to manage your social media because young people know social media, right?

You did all the things and yet, not a penny of ROI to be found. The absence of strategy will leave you frustrated and broke. You need marketing insights that help inform executive decisions, build the reporting you need to make smart business decisions, and then closely track revenue and growth. That will give you ROI for miles.

4. You Need More Financial and Organizational Flexibility

The very first ingredient needed for continued success is flexibility. You need to be agile so you’re available to capitalize on shifting situations or unforeseen challenges.

Locking your business into a yearly salary commitment for a CMO, Marketing Strategist, or even a social media coordinator is antithetical to the needs of many small businesses. Why? Hiring staff is a big commitment. What’s more? So is firing them.

If the relationship doesn’t work out with someone closely involved in your marketing efforts, separating from them can be an arduous and costly process.

Conversely, if your fractional CMO or outsourced marketing team isn’t working out, it’s much easier to end the relationship and find another fractional CMO or team.

How Is Your Marketing Going?

As your business grows and your needs shift, a fresh perspective with more experience may be needed. While reviewing your first quarter sales this year, ask yourself this: Do I have the time necessary to devote to marketing and sales?

If you’re not sure, feel free to score a free strategy session with GoBeyond SEO. ROI is within reach, we promise.

Tags brand marketing, marketing, marketing strategy, smb marketing

Marketing

Make Your Marketing Like a Capsule Wardrobe (Hear Us Out)

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Do you find picking out clothes to wear an exhausting process? If so, you’re not alone. Other people find the process of shopping and picking out clothes for the day as exhausting as you do. Barack Obama, Ariana Grande, Michael Kors, Ellen DeGeneres, Richard Branson, Hillary Clinton, Steve Jobs…just to name a few.

What you wear says a lot about you, so you want to make the right decision, but this is also why it can be so time-consuming and tiring. This is why many wealthy and successful people use what’s called a capsule wardrobe.

A capsule wardrobe is a foundational array of key clothing pieces that you wear nearly every day. It mitigates decision fatigue, you’ll know that it fits you, and you can get on with your day.

Fun fact: This is exactly what happens with small business owners and their marketing. They want to put their best foot forward, but the process of dressing their business up is exhausting and expensive.

The good news is that it doesn’t have to be. You can create your marketing message as you would a capsule wardrobe.

Create a Foundational Message for Your Business

But wait, you’re asking—wouldn’t creating and delivering a message with a few key pieces just be repeating the same marketing techniques over and over?

Repeating a message is the cornerstone of marketing. This seems obvious enough and yet, many business professionals wonder if they need to be saying the same thing all the time.

So to be clear: yes, you need to repeat your message, but how do you keep people from tuning it out? Won’t people get bored or even resentful hearing the same thing over and over again?

Not necessarily. Here’s how you can dress up that foundational marketing message to help people remember who you are and what you do without being that annoying company that says the same thing every time you hear from them.

3 Ways to Dress Up Your Core Message

Much like creating a capsule wardrobe, coming up with your singular foundational message can be broken down like this:

Speak in a way that resonates with your PERFECT client. Are they cavalier or more buttoned-up? Are they creative or analytical? Are they more conservative or cheeky? Pro Tip: Talk to them in their language, not yours.
Explain your value clearly. In other words, what are you going to do for them? What problem do you solve for them? Be plain. Be clear. Leave no room for interpretation. Pro Tip: Adding a clever or sexy message is much easier with clear language.
Highlight what you do differently. You have the same core message, but you can play it up by highlighting what makes your business unique. Pro Tip: Highlighting what you do differently is a great way to distinguish yourself from the competition.

While this may feel like an oversimplification to some, that’s exactly the point. If you take the time and energy to hammer out your core message, getting creative with your marketing becomes infinitely easier.

Think of the Geico commercials. They repeat their core message over and over. They’ll save you 15% or more on car insurance. Insurance is boring; they make it funny. They come up with off-the-wall ways to demonstrate their message, but at its core, it’s exactly the same.

Not Sure What to Do Next?

Schedule a complimentary strategy session with our marketing professionals at GoBeyond SEO. We can help you define your target audience, create your foundational message, and help you drive that message home to your customers.

Tags content marketing, marketing, marketing strategy, target audience

Marketing

How to Prioritize Your Marketing Needs for the Better

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Oftentimes we hear a marketing term, particularly those in the digital arena, see that it’s working for our competitors, and decide that we must do the same.

But are your marketing efforts costing you more than they should?

If you decided to go to the grocery store for some wine, would you take a plane? Of course not! If you wanted to get to Tokyo from London, would a car suffice? Probably not.

How can you avoid spending extra on marketing efforts that’ll eventually get you to where you want to be? The answer is simple: define your marketing goal, then pick your medium.

For example, if you’re sure your website needs SEO, but your primary goal is to make more sales right now, then doing SEO to your website shouldn’t necessarily be your first investment in marketing. Will you need SEO eventually? Yes, but SEO takes time, and if you’ve determined that your priority is to increase sales right now, then your money would be best spent elsewhere.

So how can you prioritize what you need so you pick the right place to start and don’t waste money on your marketing?

How to Prioritize Marketing Needs in Five Steps

This simple five-step process will help you narrow down your choices and determine where your budget is best spent at the moment. However, these tips will also help set you up for future digital marketing success!

Step 1: Determine the true goal of your marketing campaign.

If there’s more than one, list them in order of priority. Examples of marketing goals can be: increase online sales, increase brand awareness, grow your audience, increase brick and mortar traffic, increase phone calls, increase appointments.

Step 2: Determine your budget.

You may only have room in your budget for one priority at a time, and that’s ok. (See Pro Tip #1 below.)

Step 3: Determine your timeline to hit this goal.

If you need online sales right now, pay-per-click (PPC) marketing may be a better option than SEO in the short term.

Step 4: Determine which mediums are designed to hit your goal.

If you need to educate your audience about a new product or service, email marketing and social media are great options. If you need to overcome a hard-to-find brick-and-mortar restaurant, a billboard on the freeway may do the trick.

Step 5: Determine what success looks like for your business.

The word “conversion” can mean a few different things in the business world. As a marketer, a conversion is a lead that your company engages with. For you, a conversion might be a sale. One company could get two new clients in one year and consider that a wild success. Others may get two new customers a day and have to shut their doors. When you want to “increase sales,” put a hard number on that. Knowing your success threshold will help you determine if you’re really making money or wasting it.

Pro Tips to Help You Even More

It’s rarely easy to define a goal, budget, and timeline for your business, as well as what your version of success is. But don’t worry, with a couple of pro tips, you’ll be on your way to a smarter marketing investment!

Pro Tip #1: If your marketing budget is tight (like most small business owners), pick a medium that will help you make sales in the shortest amount of time. Syphon off some of that money to reinvest and expand your marketing budget WITH INTENTION. No more “Gee, I hope this works”. Stick with the medium, expand that budget a bit more. This is a great way to see how much more to spend and then when you can set a cap for that medium.

Pro Tip #2: See if there’s a medium that can do double duty. For example, social media pay-per-click ads, such as Facebook ads, can both increase brand awareness and potentially make sales. This is not true for every industry, but it’s worth looking into.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with having business dreams that are unachievable right now. Just remember that big dreams are achieved through a series of small goals. The amount of marketing opportunities available these days is overwhelming and can make even the most savvy and successful of business people feel lost. Keeping your efforts clear and simple is the easiest way to see if you’re on the right path.

Need help defining and prioritizing your marketing needs for the better? Schedule a free strategy session with us at GoBeyond SEO!

Tags marketing, marketing budget, marketing strategy

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