06 May

Posted at 09:02h in Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing

How and Why Videos Increase Conversion Rates

Have you heard the old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words? That got me thinking about the worth of videos on your website. The conversion rate for websites that have informational videos about its products and services see sales increased for products with video soar by 144 percent. At the same time, Average Order Values rise for retailers using product videos.

Facebook recently reported that 100 million hours of video are watched on their platform every day.

One reason this happens is that people prefer a video to reading. How often do you have the time and patience to read the entire New York Times – not so much I bet. But watching the news on television or on an online video is something that better fits your routine.

For sites seeking to engage and convert Do-it-Yourself types, product videos work great, and if coupled with an instructional video, that works
even better.

Video Benefits

Videos are an ideal medium for your landing page(s) as video:

  • Increases the length of time people stay on your landing page allowing more time for your brand messaging to be absorbed by visitors;

Product Video

  • When company officers or employees are featured in website videos the trust factor rises astronomically; and
  • As noted earlier, most people prefer videos to reading. A survey shows that 7 of every 10 millennials watch a video online when shopping online.

According to AOL Platforms 2015, 50 percent of advertisers are shifting budgets from TV advertising to digital video.

Essentials of Effective Videos

Most experts in video advertising, including myself, agree that using the auto play feature is not an ideal method for having your video watched. Compelling copy is needed to get the visitor to press the play button. Auto play is annoying and many people just leave the site – no one likes to give up control, and auto play does just that.

Videos Increase Conversion Rates

  • Make sure your video includes a call to action (CTA). The CTA can be at the beginning, end, or interspersed within the video message at tactical times.
  • Use visual cues such as a finger pointing to the button for visitors to complete the conversion.
  • While YouTube is a wildly successful site, I believe you and your company do better when you host your videos on a video gallery site created and maintained by your company, there is less noise when you host videos yourself than putting it up on YouTube. Also, many YouTube videos are done by amateurs making the site less professional than your own.
  • Keep videos concise – cut long introductions and edit for unneeded information. Following a study of research surveys, LIVECLICKER, an email marketing company claims that 30 seconds is the best length for a product video, except for high-end luxury products or products and services that are difficult to explain.

Setting up and keeping up with using video for online marketing is often hard for retailers as it is far out of your wheelhouse.

But Webociti, located in Atlanta, Georgia, with clients throughout North America can do it for you at a surprisingly affordable price. Call now to get started. The number is 678-892-7157. We will gladly give you a free consultation and a no obligation price quote.  See how Videos Increase Conversion Rates.

Till next time,
Joe

 

 

 

Save

19 Feb

Posted at 09:00h in Mobile Marketing

The 4 Essentials You Need to Make Mobile Marketing Work

Mobile marketing is an area that many Internet marketers don’t pay much attention to. They believe that their website is mobile-friendly – sadly, many Internet marketers are wrong.

This is tragic, as smart phone owners are great potential customers, they are young, well-educated, and have high incomes – all traits that Internet marketers want to market to. To the left is a chart from the Pew Research Center from a study done at the end of 2014, when 2015 data is available Pew will update their findings.

Study after research study has proven that the majority of smart phone owners do Internet research before buying a product online or going to a particular store.

How can you tap into this titanic, plentiful marketplace?

You need a plan. Marketing to different age groups requires different messaging as does most of the other categories. Often, sellers may conduct more than one marketing campaign at the same time targeting different groups of prime prospects.

The 4 Essentials of Mobile Marketing

For local businesses, Internet marketing is the most cost-effective way to come up on the first page of local search results and get new customers.

  •      Small Bites of Information
  •      Focus on Local Search
  •      Location – Based Services
  •      Geotargeting

Small Bites of Information

A study done by Microsoft in 2015 found that while humans excel at multi-tasking the average attention span has dropped by 12 seconds to a mere 8.25 seconds, in contrast, the tiny brained goldfish has an attention span of 9 seconds.

When it comes to viewing website your potential customers spend a mere 10 – 20 seconds on a site. They only read 25 percent of text on the page. If you were to ask your website visitors how long they stay (or check it out free on Google Analytics ) if the time is short, fit your text to their attention span. This is one of those cases where more is less.

Focus on Local Search

Your mobile ready website is important. Include your address and phone number on your site. If you are downtown, tell people that. If you are across the street or near a local landmark tell visitors that as well. Include a link to a map to your location if it is not automatically included by Google Maps. It is beneficial to let customers know if you are near public transportation – if you are, say it. For example, “we are located just one block from the Brown line stop on Seacrest Avenue.”

Location – Based Services (LBS)

Location-based services use the GPS ability of smartphones and other sophisticated technology to find you. While one of the most used of LBS is entertainment such as restaurant reviews and reservations, movie times and reviews as well as buying tickets online, it is now becoming more widespread to include all kinds of applications including,

  • Local news
  • Points of Interest
  • Directions
  • Getting a ride from a car service like Uber (use their app)
  • Local advertising online when using a smartphone or other portable device

LBS comes in two flavors, Push and Pull. Push provides users with information from their service provider although it is not asked for at that time. Pull services require users to make a request for information or services.

If the putting together of the essentials for mobile marketing is something you would like Webociti to help you with, contact me. My phone number is 678-892-7157.

Till next time,

Joe

Save

12 Feb

Posted at 08:15h in Digital Advertising

Bulls-Eye The Intelligent Marketing System

Want to hit the bulls-eye in marketing your company? If you are reading this, I know you do – and Webociti can help you do it on your very next marketing campaign. I am proud to let you know that Webociti is offering a new service, Bulls-eye the Intelligent Marketing System.

What is Bulls-eye Marketing?

Bulls-Eye The Intelligent Marketing System

We do a highly sophisticated analysis of your customer base that results in our discovering your customer base profile to allow you to market to similar people. All we need to complete your customer base profile is a list of your customers. We profile your customers against our database to give you a finer-tuned profile of your customer.

How The Program Works

All over the Webociti site, you find a slogan that reminds our clients and our prospective clients that we “turn clicks into customers.” Our Bulls-eye Marketing Program allows us to continue doing that for you with more precision. No longer will your marketing target audience have a large number of folks that have no interest in your product or service – we provide targets that match your customer profile.

How?

For local and regional clients, once we know the characteristics of your customer base profile, we target new prospects in the zip codes that are prevalent in your client base. For customers that sell goods or services nationally, zip codes are unimportant, all that matters is the profile match.

This means that we target people in zip codes where you already have a customer base. National sellers list are optimized only on common traits, not by zip code.

Intelligent Marketing

We use a four stage intelligent marketing campaign that is made up of email, digital displays (online marketing), social media, and direct mail.

Email

Email is sent to a targeted list that we generate from your customer list of people who have taken an action online, but have not yet ordered from you. They are sent a new email that asks them to take action. The action may be a newsletter signup, a click for a download, or some other indication of a marketable interest based on the email they got.

Digital Display Advertising

Once we learn that an email recipient has a marketable interest, we direct digital display advertising. Many refer to this type of marketing as online marketing – a term I find woefully inadequate as there are so many types of online advertising.

Since the original email contains a stored cookie, getting digital display ads to intended receivers is easy.

Social Media

Utilizing Social has proven to be very successful. Whether it be Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat…the options continue to grow and companies need to take advantage of these sites to help get the word out. Facebook alone is well beyond 1.5 billion users now!

Direct Mail / Final Step

As soon as the potential customer clicks on the banner ad, an email with an offer about the ad is at their inbox within one hour – reaching them when they recall the ad and offer and are motivated to buy.

Screen out existing customers and send them a first class letter.

The Benefit

On your behalf, we make up to four contacts with potential clients. Why is this important? The more times your brand is seen the more trusted you become. Your online marketing reinforces your other advertising media including yard signs, truck(s), and your sales team too – no matter what its size.

By running our Bulls-Eye Intelligent Marketing Campaign for several weeks, you will generate an entire profile on your market area and a highly focused target audience for your marketing efforts.

Contact Webociti today and learn how we can help your sales soar 678-892-7157

Save

Save

11 Feb

Posted at 06:15h in Digital Advertising, Mobile Marketing

Benefits of Using Paid Advertising Online

When it comes to marketing, there is no substitute for paid advertising online. Its benefits are substantial and deliver results that most other methods simply cannot match. Whether you are running paid ads on Google or other search engines, this approach offers one of the best returns on investment (ROI) for your marketing dollars.

A smart business strategy includes leveraging internet advertising. Here are the top benefits of doing so:

Paid Advertising Online

1. Instant Visibility on the First Page of Search Engines

The ultimate goal for any company is to appear on the first page of search engine results. Studies show that most users rarely venture past the first page when searching for a product or service. Appearing in the top three results dramatically increases your chances of generating clicks, traffic, and conversions.

While organic SEO can take months (or even years) to achieve these results, paid advertising online guarantees immediate placement in the top search results. With strategic keyword targeting, your website will attract high-quality traffic and generate a strong ROI. To better understand how Google Ads work, check out this Google Ads Overview.

2. A/B Testing to Optimize Ad Performance

One significant advantage of paid advertising is the ability to test and refine your ads. Through A/B testing, you can experiment with different headlines, descriptions, and keywords to identify what resonates best with your audience.

With tools like Google Ads, you can:

  • Monitor which ads are driving the most clicks and conversions.
  • Tweak underperforming ads to improve their effectiveness.
  • Fine-tune your keyword strategy for consistent, long-term success.

This testing is also invaluable for launching new products or services. By analyzing ad performance, you can determine what generates the most interest, helping your business focus on profitable opportunities.

3. Reach a Wider Audience with Precision Targeting

Search engines remain the most popular way for people to find information online. Compared to social media or banner ads, search engine ads reach a broader, more intent-driven audience. Google alone dominates with a market share of over 65% and extends its reach through an extensive network of partner websites.

Paid search advertising allows you to target:

  • Specific demographics, locations, and interests.
  • Users actively searching for your products or services.
  • Audiences across multiple platforms (Google Display Network, YouTube, and more).

Maximize Your ROI with Paid Advertising

When it comes to online advertising, search engine marketing is an investment that pays off. The ability to reach a vast audience, optimize ads, and achieve top visibility makes paid advertising one of the most effective digital marketing strategies available.

Ready to take your business to the next level? Contact Webociti today to set up and manage your paid advertising campaigns. We’ll design a custom program that works for your business needs.
Call us at 678-892-7157.

25 Jan

Posted at 16:00h in Marketing Automation

Marketing Automation Isn’t Just for the Big Guys

According to a recent report by Software Advice, a division of Gartner that helps businesses find software, reveals that with almost unanimity, most businesses are looking for a marketing automation solution. 98 percent of businesses interviewed for the study reported this need.

And, the report from Software Advice also noted that 84 percent of the businesses surveyed have revenues that are less than $5 million.

Marketing Automation

The reason for this is social networking offers companies a new marketing channel, but social media marketing can be a time sink – it requires frequent updates and special deals for followers of your company. Many businesses tweet coupons to existing customers and customers following their company. Additionally, special offers abound to Facebook followers. It is likely that social media network integration is the driver behind the coming generation of marketing automation.

What is Marketing Automation?

Marketing Automation (MA) is a type of technology that lets firms automate, streamline, and measure marketing chores for the purpose of increasing the efficiency of operations in order to grow revenue more rapidly.

It is a tactic used to foster inbound marketing. Most Internet marketers are aware that potential customers started learning about your products and those of your competitors way before your sales team has an opportunity to reach them. This makes your job as an Internet marketer expand from finding new customers, to also assist you in having them find you – when they find you and react positively to you that is inbound marketing.

Central to inbound marketing is the creation of content that is informative, interesting, entertaining and valuable that you use across many online channels for the attraction and engagement of visitors and converting them from visitors to customers.

There is a large group of marketing automation firms that enables you to track how a potential customer interacts with your brand. Reports generated by most of these companies tell you if there was email click, content downloads or website visits and more. These are a type of digital clue that gives you powerful insight as to your prospect’s willingness to buy from you and gives you the opportunity to send timely marketing messages that shorten the time needed for the buyer’s decision-making process.

How Marketing Automation Works

Customer behavior, workflow, or campaign triggers a system to move a sales lead through your entire sales process. Marketing Automation could be a number of drip communications that continuously cultivates the lead as they make their purchase decision. In addition, the workflow also serves to aid you in qualifying the lead, or even better, scoring the lead in terms of how soon they need a call from a member of your sales department.

Choosing a Marketing Automation Application

Every business has different needs. Choose your Marketing Automation vendor based on the best fit for achieving your business goals and objectives. While having a feature rich Marketing Automation system is nice, ask yourself if it’s necessary. Many times the bells and whistles on Marketing Automation systems are never used. So, get a Marketing Automation system that matches your marketing needs as regards to goals and objectives.

What is the Real Gain in Using Marketing Automation?

The short version – businesses using marketing automation see better data and higher conversion rates.
blogitem1

Marketing Automation Disadvantages

There are drawbacks to Marketing Automation that every business needs to be aware of:

  • The biggest is that Marketing Automation while a time saver is also a time sink as it still requires a great deal of work.
  • Your in-house marketing team may not have the skills needed to use Marketing Automation.
  • Do your specific marketing solutions need to be automated?

Webociti is a complete Internet Marketing Firm that can help you choose a Marketing Automation provider and do the heavy lifting needed to advance your Marketing Automation investment. At Webociti, we turn clicks into customers. Call us at 678-892-7157.

 

 

Save

08 Dec

Posted at 08:15h in Digital Advertising, Search Engine Optimization

Essentials for Online Advertising

AID

AIDA is Essential to Internet Marketing

Internet copywriters often use a formula known as AIDA. This acronym stands for,

  1. Attention
  2. Interest
  3. Desire
  4. Action

My post today takes a look at AIDA as an Internet Marketing Tool.

Attention

Ads are useless unless they grab an Internet user’s attention. An ad that is never looked at by its target audience is no better than no ad at all. Also, ads that are delivered to the wrong location or beside problematic content, or attracting invalid traffic is of no help either.

With all the digital ads on the Internet, how can you differentiate your company and attract visitors to your website – after all, if you run a pet supply online store why is it different from other pet supply merchants? Grab the attention of Internet users with tactical weapons such as,

  • Illustrations
  • Photos
  • Sound
  • Interesting words
  • Video

As an experienced Internet marketer, I keep all of these in my toolbox. Note, you don’t have to think of a brand to attract attention – just make a point about your product or company that is interesting and unique. Present your products and services as no one else has. Effective techniques for getting attention include

  • The ability to grab attention in 3 seconds or less
  • Be as specific as humanly possible
  • Headlines can be several lines or just a short blurb

Headlines that work include,

  • How-to–How to Be Healthy in Less Than a Week
  • News style – Woman Loses Thirty Pound in Thirty Days
  • Direct Offer – Take 25% Off Now
  • Guarantee – If You Aren’t Happy You Get Your Money Back!
  • Benefit – Get Your Six Pack Abs the Easy Way
  • Testimonial – I Love (your product) So Much!
  • Explanatory – The Never Before Revealed Secrets of Weight Loss

So words like these accompanied by photos or other imagery are proven ways to get the attention you deserve.

Interest

Generating interest in your product or service is limited only by your imagination. In my area of the country, there are ads running on TV for the Duluth Trading Company. One ad pits their brand of underwear against a grizzly bear – of course, the underwear wins. The ad is interesting (at least to me) as I remembered it and cited it here. Use social media along with paid advertising to make your Internet ad campaign more compelling.

Desire

Another challenge is making a product or service desirable. Prompt responses to posts on your website or social media page is important to establish your customer service chops and help make folks want to use your products or services.

Action

Be sure that your calls to action (CTA) are clear and written specifically for the site you are posting on. The CTA on Facebook may be to offer a free download of an article about your products while on your website the CTA might be for a purchase.

Running an online marketing campaign requires unique knowledge and skills. As a long-time Internet marketing firm owner, I have both. If you need help in running your online ad campaign call or contact me at Webociti. Our number is 678-892-7157.

Till Next Time,

Joe

04 Dec

Posted at 10:00h in Mobile Marketing, Search Engine Optimization

From time to time I have written here about the importance of optimization of your site for mobile device users. If I haven’t convinced you that you need to be mobile optimized, take a look at the following stats.

  1. On May 15, 2015, Google announced that “More Google searches take place on mobile devices than on computers in 10 countries including the US and Japan.” 
  2. Nearly 7 billion people use mobile phones approaching 90 percent of the population of earth.
  3. 80 percent of Internet users own a smart phone
  4. 72 percent of consumers surveyed want mobile-friendly sites
  5. 53 percent of mobile searches are by consumers looking for local goods or services
  6. According to  MediaPost, “Mobile shoppers put ease of use foremost when it comes to mobile shopping sites, with 48% of respondents citing it as the most important quality of a mobile site they visit.”

Together or separately, the above six statistics offer compelling reasons to make sure your website is mobile optimized.
Mobile Optimized

Tips on Mobile Market Optimization

Some of these tips require that you are knowledgeable about how mobile sites work. If you need assistance call me at Webociti. The toll-free number is 888-685-4910. Or, you can schedule a call with us here.

Remember back in April when Google announced that regarding web search rankings mobile-friendliness became a factor in ranking? Well, optimizing for mobile makes Google and its bot army happy with your site – an important factor for your overall Internet marketing campaign.

Tip 1 – Mobile SEO

The design for mobile websites should be responsive website design (RWD). RWD is a particular way of designing a site so that is viewed optimally and delivers a good interactive experience with as little resizing, scrolling, and panning as well as easy navigation. Page speed for loading and navigating have to be quick – mobile users are not necessarily a patient bunch and many will look for a faster site than yours if yours takes too long to load.

Tip 2 – Content

Making things shorter is not a good idea, but making content concise is. Mobile users want content that is both impactful and scannable by the human eye and brain. Get read of clutter and be sure you format in a way your audience appreciates – information should not be removed if it is relevant, but content should be offered in chunks that are bite-size and easy to consume.

Using images is a big draw on mobile devices. I recall a statistic that said conversions were as much as 60 percent higher for mobile sites with images. Caution here though – make sure the images do not slow your load time.

Use video too. Conversion rates are even higher when you do with click-through rates increased by 200 to 300 percent.

Social Media

Did you know that in 2015 there are more than 1.69 billion social media accounts that are accessed exclusively through smartphones? Don’t forget about your social audience when you craft and put up social media content.

Try to find social media platforms that offer mobile-friendly apps and add-ons that you can easily tie your brand into.

Also, be visual as discussed in the tip for Content.

Mobile optimization is the way local marketing is headed. If you need any help give us a call at 678-892-7157 or visit us at Webociti.

Till Next Time,

Joe

01 Dec

Posted at 08:15h in Marketing Consulting, Search Engine Optimization

Ways the Internet of Things Helps Business Marketing Become Smarter

If you are a computer user or use another device to access the Internet it is a good bet that you have heard the term the “Internet of Things” (IoT). Unless you are a bit of a nerd like I am, you might not be sure what IoT means. It’s an actual thing though and IoT means the interconnection of devices that use wireless technology to connect things (buildings, objects, animals and people) to the Internet and can share data. Each device on your network has its own unique identifier.

Examples of how consumers connect to the Internet of Things include,

  • Smart Thermostats
  • Smart Utility Meters
  • Home Alarm Systems
  • Connected Appliances
  • Connected Home Lighting

Businesses also use the Internet of Things to control inventory, help in employee recruitment and retention, monitor and report about the supply chain and much more.

One of the ways businesses use the Internet of Things is to improve their own Internet presence. Here are some of my favorite tips to raise awareness for your company and your brand.

  1. Collect and Analyze Sales Data – Accessing this data gives a company the chance to tailor your marketing message to reach your specific customer personas. Smart devices such as new credit card readers that accept newly equipped credit cards with smart chips collect data at the point of sale. Once installed there is no ongoing IT needs and data is communicated to the sales department and the marketing department where informed marketing strategies and help expand the ROI on future sales.
  2. IoT starts with data collection, but once collected it needs analysis. Collected sales data can stream data as it is collected to new, smarter customer relationship management (CRM) tools. The new system can immediately analyze customer data and give you actionable information regarding your customer/client database. IoT devices make for a faster process by giving you this information on a real-time basis.
  3. Devices that are IoT compatible are smarter than the devices they are replacing. New devices come with embedded sensors that transmit a nearly constant data stream concerning self-diagnosis. When sensors within the device (which is often part of a larger piece of equipment) senses a problem that will cause a breakdown transmit that information to the maintenance system and automatically dispatches a maintenance worker to address the problem.
  4. The Internet of Things is already setup for optimal use with social media. Do you know that 74 percent of marketers say they see a notable increase in web traffic after an investment of only six hours per week in marketing by social media? IoT equipped processes joined with social media lets marketers identify new trends and strategize the best way to use them in the marketing process.
  5. By utilizing the above factors the goal of smarter and more relevant advertising. Increasingly, devices that formerly lacked connectivity are being fitted with sensors. When possible, older devices are retrofitted with sensors.

Internet marketing is easier when harnessing the Internet of Things and many proponents of IoT in marketing believe that the logical next trend in overall advertising is the end of interruptive advertising to consumers. Instead, only prospects screened by IoT and CRM will be advertising targets, as individuals, with marketing strategies uniquely created for an individual target prospect based on advertising that meet the needs of beneficial and relevant advertising.

At Webociti, we help companies create branded connections with their customers. Our IoT experts will help you identify opportunities to become more connected and, therefore, more successful. Just complete the Request Form or Contact us to get started at 678-892-7157.

Till Next Time,

Joe

Save

12 Nov

Posted at 06:15h in Marketing Automation, Marketing Consulting, Search Engine Optimization

Lead Management

Building Your Own Effective Lead Management Generation Program

Is your boss asking you why your marketing generation isn’t more effective? In my experience helping many companies improve lead generation, I find that most of the time the answers are,

  1. They do not understand their buyer
  2. They lack familiarity with the buying process
  3. There does not exist a content structure for potential client communications

So, where do we start?

Know Your Buyer

In order to know who your buyer is, develop buyer personas. This should be a joint project of marketing and sales. By having both groups working together helps reduce the risk of skewed personas. When sales and marketing people share their unique perspectives about customers the end result is a more holistic view. Only use 1 to 3 personas, more and you will be muddled and your plan less effective.

When developing personas, I recommend that you determine buying groups by function and not a title. Instead of Director of Technology, use ‘technology buyer.” Instead of Chief Operating Officer, use more generic listings such as ‘office supply buyer.” These personas are used as target groups that often affect or decide the buying decision.

Define the information that helps your company nurture leads. These include items such as,

  • Role in the company
  • Personal background
  • Daily activities
  • Industry news sources
  • Challenges

Don’t panic, you are only listing information that helps your firm nourish leads, you do not need to fill the information in now.

Once you have your personas identified and your information categories fixed create a matrix. Buying groups go on the x-axis and information categories on the y-axis.

Complete the matrix by using a bulleted list. For example, if the buying group is technology and the information category is daily activity, a list might look like,

  • Send a response to emergency calls;
  • Check operational efficiency;
  • Manage vendor relationships;
  • Manage staff

Define the Purchasing Process

To begin, schedule a meeting with sales and marketing teams specifically to define the buying process.

Next, create a flowchart that identifies the decisions and steps the buyer must undertake. A good start is to ask, “What triggers a buyer to seek us for a solution?” Followed by another question such as, “what are the buyer’s next steps?” Keep asking the group follow up questions. Write the responses on a whiteboard to create an initial buying process map.

Once you have created your initial buying process map, validate it through research. Use methods like,

  • Interview prospects;
  • Interview buyers;
  • Hold focus group meetings with prospects;
  • Hold focus group meetings with buyers.

Based on your research findings revise your initial draft of the buying process.

Once the revisions are finished, check with internal stakeholders to get their thoughts; choose people from several areas including,

  • Sales;
  • Business development;
  • Marketing

Also get in touch with existing customers, use the phone or arrange for small group meetings.

Develop a Framework for Content

Once again, call a meeting with the sales and marketing staffs. (See the pattern, marketing and sales work together!)

Create a second matrix, on the x-axis list buying process stages and on the y-axis buyer personas. Use bullet points to list the answers to questions for each persona in each stage. Questions should be inquiring such as,

  1. Which questions does the buyer ask at this stage?
  2. How should we answer those questions?
  3. What is the best method or medium to answer questions?
  4. What behavior do we want to see from prospects when we answer their questions?

If you would like to learn more contact us at Our marketing team is ready to help you take your company to the next level We look forward to working with you!

Till next time

Joe Mediate

Save