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With the holidays on the horizon and so many people taking their final vacation days, it’s easy to coast until the ball drops and the fireworks go up. However, you would be missing a key opportunity to get ahead of your competition and, perhaps, stay ahead of them. Now is the perfect time to start preparing your marketing strategy for 2017. Doing this will allow you to start engaging customers the minute you open for business on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017.

We’ve provided a few steps for building your marketing strategy along with several tactics that will lead to success in 2017.

Steps for Building a Marketing Strategy for 2017

Review Everything

The best way to determine where to go is to know where you’ve been. Take some time to review all aspects of your 2016 marketing efforts. Did you run an SEO campaign? Paid search? Email marketing? How effective were they in bringing in leads? Did those leads convert to customers? Examine your customer profile. Does it need to be adjusted in any way? Are there untapped markets that you can pursue? What about strategic partnerships? This should be balanced against the budget that you used for your marketing efforts. Are you spending your money smartly? Were there setbacks in 2016? How can they be avoided in the future? This may seem like an overwhelming amount of questions, but they must be answered earnestly to make the most of the opportunity to build an effective 2017 marketing strategy.

SET GOALS

Once you’ve answered the major questions and have a clear picture of your 2016 marketing efforts, it’s time to set your goals for 2017. It may be cliche, but it is critical that your goals are “SMART,” meaning they are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. The first two are the most important. Whatever you want to do in 2017, you need to be specific about it. Abstract goals lead to abstract victories, but what’s not abstract is payroll. If your goals are specific, you’ll be able to measure them and see progress.

DETERMINE THE KEY MESSAGES

What messages do you want to convey to consumers? Much of that will have to do with what you have to offer and, most importantly, what they want from you. With a revised customer profile (including how they make buying decisions) and your goals in mind, you can devise your key messages. These messages will be a part of all your 2017 marketing efforts and should be continuously monitored for effectiveness.

Tactics to Consider in 2017

Now that you have clear goals and messages in place, it’s time to examine a few tactics for engaging consumers.

WEBSITE REDESIGN

Among the items that you should focus on when examining your 2016 efforts is your website. Along with general questions about its look and feel, you need to know if it’s mobile-friendly. We live in a mobile-first world with 80 percent of all Internet users owning a smartphone. You do not want to lose customers because of an ineffective mobile experience with your website. Also customers expect a fast experience. Google describes these experiences as micro-moments, moments when consumers conduct a quick search to answer a question, solve a problem, or make a purchase.

SEO STRATEGY

You don’t want to have the best looking website that no one can find. According to Search Engine Watch, 93 percent of online experiences begin with search. Employing this tactic effectively is vital to your business success. In 2017, it’s important to consider tactics to help search engines more easily read your web page, content strategy, connections between SEO and SEM, and landing pages.

PAID SEARCH

With so many people searching online for information and items, paid search is a worthwhile investment of marketing dollars. To be effective in this arena, it’s critical to understand where your customers spend their time. Once again, reviewing customer profiles are a big part of your efforts.

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY

In recent years, social media has been passed off as mere window dressing or the stuff that you give to interns. However, you get out of it what you put in. One of the keys to social media success is establishing the proper tone for your messaging. It’s also important to streamline the research, posting, and interaction processes. This way, your social media posts are consistent, time is saved, and customers are engaged.

We can’t express the importance of creating your 2017 marketing strategy enough. If you need guidance with this process, the digital marketing specialists at Leverage Digital can help. We have the tools and expertise to help you kick start your 2017 marketing campaign.

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The beauty and the curse of digital marketing lies in the amount of data you have to analyze to figure out what’s working and what isn’t for your business. No other medium is held to a higher standard than the Internet. With all of the traffic numbers and conversion numbers, how do you know where to start? Split testing isn’t a new concept but because of digital analytics, it’s a great way to test what your audience responds best to.

WHAT IS SPLIT TESTING?

Split or A/B testing is a way to test any one variable within your marketing messages. The important thing to remember with A/B testing is that you can only change one variable at a time. Let’s use email as an example. If you want to see what factors lead to a higher open rate, you need to keep the same creative and email copy; then split your email list in half randomly (randomly is important!) and send the same email to these groups with different subject lines. Then you can analyze open rates and see which subject line performed better. You can perform this task with many different types of digital media (Google AdWords, retargeting, email, PPC, and the list goes on and on) to analyze what works best. Also try changing out photos and copy, as well.

BENEFITS OF SPLIT TESTING

Put simply, split testing makes you a smarter marketer. It helps you understand what your customers respond to in messaging and ultimately lowers your cost per acquisition. Lowering your cost to acquire a new customer will increase your revenue. It helps you create better content, period. The ability to split test copy, images, creative, etc. digitally also affords  you the opportunity to transfer those messages that worked into other various forms of media. Traditional media (TV, Radio, Billboard) are still effective at reaching your audience, imagine how much better it could work for you if you had spent some time split testing you message to see what gets a response.

 

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Give People a Reason To Click

Remember, most people are not visiting social media sites to shop, they’re doing it to engage with their friends and family. There’s a lot of clutter on social media which makes it very difficult to break through the noise. You must provide something of value to get people to click on your content. Content for the sake of content is useless, you must be putting out your BEST stuff and being helpful in order to drive more traffic.

Stop Trying to “Sell” On Facebook

As I mentioned before, people aren’t going to social media (specifically Facebook) to shop so stop trying to sell them while they’re trying to engage with their friends and family members! This is a great way for you to get in the heads of your potential customers before they know they need you. Use Facebook as a way to build awareness of your company not as the final tool in your sales funnel. It’s the best way for you to get in the heads of your potential customers before they know they need you.

Use Hashtags To Expand Your Reach

One of the greatest powers in social media is the breadth it provides for your content to be seen. Hashtags expand the reach of your posts beyond your immediate followers and help you reach new audiences. If you’re creating great content but no one is engaging with it, try using some different hashtags to gain some traction. Look at what’s trending and latch onto it. Not only is this a good way to get new followers, it also provides a wider potential reach for your content.

Create Content Your Audience Wants To Share

I can’t stress enough how important it is to create QUALITY content. By creating really awesome content, your audience will want to share it with their followers. Sharing creates a wider reach that inevitably drives new visitors to your website.

 

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As technology continues to evolve and encompass much of what we do, it’s important to think about how augmented reality can be used to drive awareness and increase revenue for your business.

First, let’s start with defining augmented reality:

aug·men·ted re·al·i·ty

noun

1. a technology that superimposes a computer-generated image on a user’s view of the real world, thus providing a composite view.

Pretty clear? The most recent successful execution of this theory is Pokemon GO! According to Forbes, “Pokemon GO users spent 75 minutes per day playing.” Augmented reality has been around for a long time, but mainly just as a gimmick. It isn’t until Pokemon Go that there has been such a noticeable use and popularity of augmented reality and in turn, a good way to drive awareness to your business.

HOW BUSINESSES ARE BENEFITTING

Do you know where the closest Pokestop is to your business? If not, then you probably should because you could be missing out on opportunities to increase your revenue. With the recent explosion of Pokemon GO, businesses have quickly adapted to the trend and are taking advantage of having a Pokestop near their business. By offering specials to Pokemon GO players, you draw in a new crowd. Bonus points if you devise a plan to capture their email address so you can market to them later!

Being aware of current trends is extremely important for getting your business noticed and for driving traffic.

 

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DRIVE RELEVANT WEBSITE TRAFFIC

In Tampa (and all over the globe!) there are several ways to drive traffic (SEO, paid search, social media) to your website and they all work; however, I challenge you to think about where you go when you don’t know the answer to something. This is about marketing smarter, not harder. If you’re like 68% of the population, you turn to Google (the rest use Bing or Yahoo) and you fling some words — hoping for some useful information in return — out into the internet. As a local business owner, this is when it counts to appear in the search results! They’re out there searching for you and if you aren’t there you are missing potential leads.

The best way to drive QUALITY traffic is through search engine marketing. Both paid search and SEO tactics will drive relevant traffic to your website. If the budget allows, you’ll get more quality traffic by using a strategy that employs both.

USE APPROPRIATE LANDING PAGES

Repeat after me, “my home page is not the place for campaign traffic, my home page is not the place for campaign traffic!” Got it? Okay, now let me explain why.

When people go online to research a product or service, they are generally trying to get a fairly specific question answered. One of the worst experiences an online user can have is clicking on a link and being directed to a page that doesn’t deliver the content they were expecting. So often, small businesses don’t have the resources to create dedicated landing pages for their online campaigns. As a result, they send all of their online traffic to their home page and guess what, THIS TRAFFIC NEVER CONVERTS into leads. That’s because they were looking for very specific information and you just dumped them into a page that gives them a list of absolutely everything you do. Implement a campaign and dedicated landing page strategy and your conversions will go up.

The best thing you can do is write clear ad copy and then use the landing page (that includes a form) to capture information on the person who is viewing your content.

OFFER HELPFUL CONTENT

The aforementioned relevant content must also be helpful to your audience. Early in the “research” phase, your potential customers have not yet determined that they can’t, in fact, do it themselves. They are merely researching and still trying to do things themselves for the cheapest price possible. To draw them in, you need to be helpful enough to make them trust you but not so helpful that they no longer need you.This is a very fine line to walk but those who do it well, thrive. A great example is the broken down, “how to” list which you see all the time—pay attention! *Pro tip: the more in depth you make the how to list, the more inherent need you build for your product or service.

 

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Instagram is a popular social media platform for sharing photos and videos. If you have Instagram, you likely have realized that there have been some noticeable changes recently. The most obvious was the logo change that took place a couple months ago. In addition to the logo change, a couple changes were made that affect how you post and market using Instagram.

MIMICKING FACEBOOK

Instagram’s news feed has moved away from showing things in chronological order and now shows content based off an algorithm, similar to Facebook. What does this algorithm do you ask? The algorithm will calculate which posts they think you want to see most and put them at the top of your newsfeed. Let me give you an example.

IG Account A: This person is your friend who has a hundred followers and receives roughly 40-50 likes per post. Most of the time when they post, you are almost always engaging with their photo by either liking or commenting on the picture.

IG Account B: This person is either a brand or celebrity that you follow. They have thousands of followers and receive hundreds of likes and comments. However, you never engage with any of their photos, you just follow them.

Between both accounts, Account B published their content 2 hours ago, and Account A published their content 10 hours ago. So next time you open up Instagram, the algorithm will see that you interact with Account A a lot more than Account B and put Account A’s post ahead of “Account B’s” post even though “Account B” posted more recently. The reason they do this is because Instagram wants is prioritizing content to show users information that they are most likely to be interested in. So even though Account B receives a lot more engagement from other users and has more followers, the algorithm only takes into account the things you engage with.

Like the logo, there has been backlash on the algorithm update because most Instagram users usually know the last photo they saw. If they haven’t opened the app in 6 hours, they know they have 6 hours of photos to scroll through. Once they see the photo that they saw the last time they were on Instagram, they know they are all caught up. This algorithm has frustrated some users because they want to see every post in their feed, not just what’s the app thinks is relevant.

So if you are a business using Instagram to build your brand, you will need to be more strategic with the content you post. Your content must make the user engage with your post. How can you do this? Use call to actions. For example, “Double-tap if you agree”, “Let’s hear your story”, etc.

ENGAGEMENT AFFECTS YOUR POST POSITION

Instagram is also allowing you to see how many people viewed the videos you post and will allow you to see how many likes specifically from those who viewed the video. This is a great addition that Instagram added because now you will be able to see the reach the video received versus the engagement. So next time you post a video and see that it received hundreds of views but only 20% of those views liked the video, you will know that you need a more engaging video. This will help with marketers make more strategic decisions and see what videos are working versus which ones are not.

If you are using Instagram to grow your brand, you need to start being more strategic with the content you post. Now it’s not enough to just post once a day when your users are most likely to be there, you must ensure that your content is engaging (which any content you post on any platform should be anyways) since likes and comments are more important than ever on Instagram if you want to be seen.

 

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I ask this question because so often, people really don’t know who their ideal customer is. From a marketing standpoint, this is a death sentence! (Okay, maybe that’s a little harsh but you get my point!)

DEFINE WHO YOU WANT TO WORK WITH

You’ll take business from anyone but is that what you really want? Wouldn’t you rather work with people who are qualified to be your customers? I invite you to stop and think about your ideal customer for a few minutes and then ask yourself these questions:

• What are their biggest challenges?
• What keeps them up at night?
• What do they do in their spare time?
• Where do they get their information?
• Who do they trust?
• How is their success measured?
• What does their typical day look like?

Then, think about your marketing efforts. Are they designed to speak to that person or are they more general?

HOW TO MAKE IT WORK FOR YOU

Now, you’re probably wondering why all of this matters! It matters because, in order to craft content that speaks to your audience, you have to understand them in a very deep way. Writing content that solves their biggest problems is one of the most efficient ways to build trust with your target audience. Everything you do, starting with your website and SEO tactics, should be crafted in a way that truly speaks to your ideal customer. For someone to do business with you, first they have to find you (most likely through the Internet) which means your keyword buys and SEO need to match what your clients are searching for. Next, they have to deem your product and/or services valuable. Writing content that solves their biggest problems is one of the most efficient ways to build trust with your target audience. It takes time and patience to build this level of trust with your prospective customers but the time and effort you put in on the front end will be well worth it in the long run.

 

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Your website is created and now you have an online presence. Next thing to do is start driving traffic/leads to your site. How do you do this? Well one way is to launch a PPC campaign. One of the first steps in launching a PPC campaign  is to figure out which keywords make the most sense for you to target. The Google Keyword Planner is a great tool for initial research, I recommend starting there! The Keyword Planner tool is going to present you a lot of generic keyword terms or as some would say, short tail keywords. Depending on your campaign, short tail keywords can be efficient for what you are trying to accomplish. In this article I will tell you the pros and cons of long vs short tail keywords.

LONG TAIL KEYWORDS

PROS:

• Less competition which leads to higher click-through-rate (CTR)
• Fewer people bidding on the long tail keywords which means it costs less to achieve higher rankings
• the longer the keyword the more likely your ad will show in the top page rankings
• The longer the keyword the higher the conversion rate because the ad is more relevant to what the person searched

CONS:

• Because long tail keywords help drive conversions, they aren’t going to drive a ton of traffic to your site. But, the traffic you do get will be much more likely to convert. Buying long tail keywords should be part of a larger strategy.
• Long tail keywords take more time to find the right words for your campaign. You have to really understand your audience and their search intent with long tail keywords.
• While long tail keywords will result in high conversion rates, they won’t happen that often!

SHORT TAIL KEYWORDS

PROS:

• Short tail keywords are great for driving as much traffic as possible to your site.
• Depending on your budget (which better be high if you want to buy short tail keywords) you can pick the most suitable keywords for your campaign because you will have plenty to choose from

CONS:

• Short tail keywords can drive the wrong type of traffic, leading to a higher bounce rate.
• Your conversion rate will be low but if the purpose is to drive traffic and brand awareness then the traffic to the site will make up for the lower conversion rate.
• The cost-per-click (CPC) will be much higher since there is more competition for the words.
• You shouldn’t run a niche campaign using short tail keywords as they can be very pricey and not as beneficial. To be at the top of search results with short tail keywords you must spend more to rank higher

Now that you know the pros and cons of long and short tail keywords, let me provide you with a quick example to help you better understand.

Short tail keyword –  “men’s shoes.” This is a very generic word, and big retail stores will be bidding on this keyword. If you have the budget and can bid on this keyword, you will drive a lot of traffic and users will browse your website and see the variety of shoes you have to offer.

Long tail keyword: men’s nike basketball shoes. With this keyword, it is a lot more specific to what the user is looking for, which in return will lead to a higher conversion rate.

A key thing to remember with both short and long tail keywords is that whichever keyword you use, that keyword must link to the specific page that matches the keyword. So for “men’s shoes” the ad must link to the section of the website with men’s shoes. For “men’s nike basketball shoes,” the ad must link to the section of the website that sells men’s basketball shoes and shows only the Nike brand.

Both short and long tail keyword strategies work.  Determining which to use should be based on your campaign goals, audience and budget.

 

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Micro-moments, a concept recently introduced by Google, are high-intent short bursts of activity when consumers turn to their mobile devices to quickly access information (i.e., watch a “how-to” video) or take action (i.e., find the nearest Starbucks). Marketers must learn how to reach consumers during these high-intent micro-moments by providing their customers with the information they want, when they want it, and how they want it.

How Search Influences The New Customer Journey

The customer journey has become a nonlinear path of micro-moments that ultimately lead to a purchase. Oftentimes, search is at the beginning of this journey, but for higher-consideration purchases, search can also play a significant role in assisting the customer along their journey.

For example, someone looking to buy a new mid-size SUV may begin their journey by searching “top 10 mid-size SUVs,” followed by a search for customer reviews of the specific mid-size SUVs they’re interested in. This narrows their consideration set down to a few vehicles, and they search for the nearest dealerships for those particular SUVs, so they can test drive each vehicle and make a decision.

In this scenario, the consumer performs three distinct searches to move along the purchase path, and this may take place over a few days, few weeks, or even months. While there are other influences that may affect the buyer’s decision in this scenario, such as brand reputation or friends and family, the buyer turns to search when they’re ready to find specific information in these micro-moments that helps them narrow down their selection and move further along the path to buying a car.

Taking Advantage of Micro-Moments with Search

Search is a key channel for brands to leverage in order to take advantage of micro-moments. Consumers have become accustomed to reaching for their smartphones and searching for answers when they have questions. Brands have to make sure they’re present and able to answer consumers’ questions during these moments.

In order to do this, brands must understand and be there for the key moments in which their customers make decisions that push them further along the path to purchase. For example, home builders must understand that home buyers want to see virtual tours before visiting a model, or a hair care product line should know that their customers like to see how-to videos for different hairstyles before buying their hair product, or a car manufacturer knows customers want to see 360-degree views of a car’s interior before taking a trip down to the dealership. Consider the fact that 69 percent of online consumers’ perception of a brand is influenced by the quality, timing, or relevance of the brand’s message.

Conclusion

Brands that learn how to provide their customers with the information they want in these micro-moments will gain a significant competitive advantage as consumer behavior becomes increasingly reliant on mobile devices, expectations become greater, and attention spans become shorter.
 

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