Videos | LEVERAGE

October 21, 2020

Facebook Advertising Simplified: One of The Most Effective Tactics

Facebook is much more than the most popular social media platform worldwide; it’s also where 86.8 percent of U.S. marketers create and distribute quality content, strengthen their online presence, and generate qualified leads. However, as Facebook’s advertising capabilities have become increasingly robust and versatile in nature, many businesses have said that the platform often feels overwhelming or confusing. Between a wide range of audience parameters, 11 advertising objectives, and five ad formats, it’s easy to see why some brands are struggling to wrap their minds around running a successful ad campaign. To remove some of the guesswork from this process and provide insight into what’s worked for us here at LEVERAGE, this article will explore one of the most effective Facebook advertising tactics you can implement: Retargeting.

Reconnect With Interested Customers Via Retargeting

Retargeting is an online advertising tactic that enables you to keep your brand front and center with prospective customers who have shown an interest in your products or services previously, based on their online activity. This could be visiting your website, adding something to their cart, or simply leaving a like on your Facebook page. This form of advertising is one of the most effective tactics in terms of supercharging your marketing ROI because you’re only showing advertisements to people who have already shown an interest in your business and, thus, are more likely to convert.

Since only a small percentage of website visitors are likely to make a purchase or inquire about a service on their first visit, retargeting greatly increases the probability that they will return to your website to complete the process. With Facebook’s advertising platform, you can accomplish this by either installing a piece of code that helps track conversions and optimize ads on your website (Facebook Pixel) or by uploading a list of existing contacts from your database.

Attract New Customers Likely to Be Interested in Your Brand with Lookalike Audiences

Once you’ve established an audience of interested customers who have previously interacted with your brand, you can use a Lookalike Audience to reach new people who are likely to be interested because they’re similar to those who have already expressed interest. Essentially, you’re identifying common qualities of the people in your source audience and delivering your advertisement to those consumers to generate a wider, new audience. The better data you provide and the more information you have about your source audience, the better your results will be.

With these two advertising tactics, strong messaging, and a compelling offer, you’re bound to recapture previously lost opportunities and attract new leads likely to convert in the future.

September 28, 2020March 23, 2022

Leads Not Converting? Here’s a Likely Reason Why

Are you driving a lot of qualified leads, but they don’t seem to be converting? One possible reason for this is that you may be using the same sales strategy with top and middle of funnel leads that you use with bottom of funnel leads.

Whereas bottom of funnel leads are typically ready to make a purchase decision, top and middle of funnel leads require more nurturing and more touches before making a purchase. Top of funnel leads are in the research phase. They’re still trying to figure out what exactly they want, and who to buy it from. They’re far from making a purchase decision. Middle of funnel leads are more informed than top of funnel leads, and have likely narrowed down their consideration set, but are still evaluating options before making a decision.

If someone finds you on Google because they searched for your offering specifically, they’re likely a bottom of funnel lead, and there’s a good chance you’ll be able to close them fairly quickly. This is one of the reasons we love SEO and paid search advertising. It’s incredibly effective at driving motivated bottom of funnel leads. However, if someone finds you on Facebook because they stumble across your ad in their newsfeed, it’s likely they are a top or middle of funnel lead. Facebook advertising and social media advertising in general is also very effective, but more so for generating awareness and driving top of funnel traffic.

In the Google example, you may be able to close that lead on the first call, or at least advance them to the proposal stage. However, in the Facebook example, a completely different approach must be taken. Rather than trying to close the lead or advance them to the proposal stage on the first call, the goal should be to get as much information as possible about them, assess their needs, and determine how you can best serve them.

Then, have a follow-up process in place to help nurture the relationship, and ensure that you remain top of mind, while the prospect works their way through the funnel. Depending on your sales cycle, this process might take days, weeks, or even months. Certain marketing tactics, such as retargeting and email marketing, can help increase touch points and nurture the relationship. Combining these tactics with personalized email outreach and follow ups by phone can also be very effective.

Finally, it’s critical to understand that just because a lead isn’t ready to buy today, doesn’t mean they aren’t qualified. They just have to be nurtured. Mislabelling qualified leads as unqualified because they weren’t ready to convert after the first touch is a huge mistake, and can cost your business opportunities. If you have enough of these leads in your pipeline, and they’re nurtured effectively, a percentage of them will convert, adding another source of new business in addition to the bottom of funnel leads you’re accustomed to working with.

April 28, 2020April 28, 2020

No PPP Loan? Here’s What You Should Do Next

Most of you know by now that the PPP program loan funding has been exhausted. Unfortunately, there are a lot of you out there that applied for the PPP loan and didn’t get it. Your application may not have even finished processing before the program ran out of money.

There’s a lot of us in the same boat, so don’t feel that you’re alone.

Don’t Rely On Unreliable Entities

There are a lot of creative ways to continue driving revenue for your business. You shouldn’t be reliant on loans from banks or the government. Quite frankly, the banks and the government aren’t reliable. They have good intentions, but they are not reliable. You cannot count on that.

What you can count on though is your perseverance and your ability to adapt, innovate, and come up with creative ways to continue driving revenue for your business. That is the one thing you can count on.

That is what we are doing here at LEVERAGE.

How to Find Creative Solutions

We are finding creative ways to continue servicing our clients as best we possibly can. We’re not relying on our bank or local state or federal governments to bail us out.

One way that a lot of you can benefit and continue driving revenue is by simply updating your website to let your customers know that you guys are still open for business. For any of you out there who haven’t updated your website yet, look at your home page. At the very top, front and center, it should say “We Are Open For Business.”

Make sure to have a very clear message to your customers confirming that you are open. Don’t assume your clientele knows that you’re open because they might not.

Consider Adding a COVID-19 Resources Section

Also, if you haven’t already added a COVID-19 resources section to your website, keep your customers apprised of what your business is doing during COVID-19 to keep operating and servicing them. They need to know you are up and running and are able to service their needs. So if you guys haven’t done that, go do it now.

April 14, 2020April 15, 2020

The Importance For Brands to Convey Empathy & Compassion During This Crisis

I’ve talked a lot about the importance of creating content and serving as a resource for your clientele during this time, but something I have not touched on yet is the importance of conveying empathy and compassion and letting your clientele know that you understand what they’re going through.

You understand exactly what they’re going through, and you are there for them during this difficult period. There are ways that you can help your clientele that they would find great value in. It is up to you to look at your business and figure out the best ways to accomplish that.

Reach Out to Those Around You

Simply reaching out to your clients and letting them know that you know what they’re going through is enough. “Here are the ways we can help.” “We want you to know we’re there for you.” It’s gonna go a long way once this is all said and done.

The brands that are not doing that — the brands that are still pushing the hard sells and trying to get the short term, quick transactions — are doing more harm than good to their long term brand equity.

Compassion Breeds Long Term Benefits

Long term, the companies that are going to be remembered or at least thought of fondly following this are the ones like the distilleries, who are no longer bottling alcohol but are bottling hand sanitizer, and the remote work technology companies like Zoom who are now offering their technology to schools and hospitals for free.

That is what’s going to be remembered after this. Those are the brands that are going to come out way ahead as a result of all of the good will they are building.

You can do the same.

Look at the Big Picture

Take a step back and look at your business. Think about your customers and how you can help them right now.

It will pay off big time in the long run. Of course, that’s not why you are doing it. You’re doing it because we’re all in this together and we need to help each other out.

April 2, 2020April 14, 2020

Gain More Attention And Position Yourself As An Authority

Except for Amazon, Zoom, and Netflix, there aren’t many businesses right now generating significant levels of new business.

The way I look at it is, now is the time to really focus on gaining your customers’ attention.

Gain More Attention

Your customers may not be buying right now. For example, you might be in health care and your patients have canceled their appointments. Maybe you do elective surgeries but are now unable to do so. Now is the time to position yourself as the authoritative resource for that clientele.

Using the health care example again, if you’re a physician, or maybe you manage a Healthcare Group, now is the time to post content to your website and your social media profiles regarding:

COVID-19
Medical implications regarding COVID-19
The latest that’s coming out in terms of vaccines.

There’s a lot of opportunity right now for healthcare professionals, in particular, to distinguish themselves as the subject matter experts in their field and really garner attention from not only their existing patient base but also potential new patients down the road.

This thing is going to end at some point. When the smoke clears, the companies that are going to thrive are the ones getting eyeballs and getting the attention through providing valuable content and information to their clientele.

Another great example is legal professionals attorneys.

Right now is a prime opportunity for attorneys to provide their clientele with resources regarding all federal, state, and local legislations being passed, in order to help individuals and small businesses.

You should be out there publishing content to your website and your social media profiles regarding all this new legislation and serving as that trusted adviser that is an authoritative resource for your clientele. In addition to that, you can also be talking about how COVID-19 may impact your clientele specifically.

Position Yourself As An Authority

One example is a divorce attorney. I suspect that with spouses locked in the same house together for long periods of time you’re probably going to have some friction at some point. A divorce attorney can provide guidance and advice on how to make sure that you maintain positivity in a household when you’re locked in the same house for 30 days or more.

Bankruptcy is on a lot of American’s minds right now. Maybe they’re not in the best position financially, and depending on how long this goes on for, it could lead to bankruptcy.

Pushing bankruptcy attorneys to discuss and produce content that serves as advice and guidance on how Americans can avoid bankruptcy would be very compelling and help position you as an authoritative resource and as that subject matter expert.

Once the economy rebounds and once things begin to normalize and people start hiring attorneys and going back to their physicians offices and so forth, they’re going to come to you, as opposed to your competition.

Right now your competition is silent. They’re not doing anything!

If you’re the one putting content out there and helping them through this crisis, they are going to trust you. They’re going to want to come to you once all this is over.

March 27, 2020April 6, 2020

How to Adapt and Thrive During Times of Uncertainty

As a business owner, you can adapt and thrive during times of uncertainty.

One of the things I’ve noticed companies doing is that they’re taking their eye off the ball in terms of generating revenue. This is because they are so focused on cost-cutting and borrowing.

The Time to Generate Revenue is Now

Both of these things are necessary at this time. Companies have to contract and reduce costs and, where necessary, borrow in order to remain cash flow positive. But that should not be in lieu of generating revenue. Revenue generation should be just as important now as it was prior to the pandemic.

This is an issue that companies are failing to recognize. Just because times are tough and we are stuck in our home doesn’t mean we can’t still generate revenue. You just have to figure out how and pivot and look for those opportunities within your specific business.

One way to continue generating revenue is by taking care of your existing customers. Make sure sure you’re continuing to provide them with value.
Another way is to reallocate your short-term marketing budgets you had set aside for tradeshows and conferences and apply that to digital marketing.

Although demand for services has declined, it’s not like it’s nonexistent. People are still buying; where they were once buying in person, they’re now buying online. You have to be present when they are searching for your product or service offering.

Ramping Up Virtual Consultations

One of the things we’re having a lot of success with and seeing our clients have a lot of success with is consultations. Instead of doing in-person consultations onsite, they are doing virtual consultations using Zoom, UberConference, or GoToMeeting. We are also seeing seminars being conducted virtually. Where a seminar may have been conducted in-person, now they are being done virtually and with great success.

The opportunities are there. You just have to take a step back, assess your current situation, and think about the needs of your customers and how you can meet those needs even though you may not be able to physically be in front of them when you do.

December 19, 2019December 23, 2019

How to Win on Google in 2020

The end of the year is fast approaching. Hopefully, you have already started planning your marketing strategy for 2020 and Google is a significant component. If you haven’t, I suggest getting started so that you can begin the year strong. There are three key elements to winning on Google in 2020.

Convince Google that you’re the authority in your market by consistently publishing high quality content on the niche(s) you want to dominate.
Make acquiring positive Google reviews a priority. This increases your credibility and the likelihood that a prospect will ultimately convert.
Don’t rely solely on Google Ads. Diversify your strategy by incorporating SEO. Many of your competitors rely on paid search, which leaves the window wide open for you to dominate organic search.

Convince Google That You’re the Authority in Your Market

By this, I mean convince Google that you are the authority within your niche or market. How do you accomplish this? By producing high quality content that your clientele will engage with on your website. By producing that high quality content, not only are you feeding the Google monster with content to index (Google loves fresh, quality content), but you’re also providing your clientele with content that they engage with, which increases your website’s engagement metrics and, in return, increases your rankings. Google likes to see those engagement metrics go up as they crawl and re-crawl your site throughout the year. And because we’re focusing on a specific niche or theme, we are telling Google that we are the authority in that niche or particular topic. When it comes to that particular content, you are the subject matter expert.

Make Acquiring Positive Google Reviews a Priority

Generating positive reviews helps tell the world that you are credible and trustworthy. Think about how many times you’ve researched a business that you might want to work with only to come across their Google My Business page and see that they have a few reviews here and there and are averaging a 2 or 3 star rating. This might cause you to think, “You know what, I’ll pass. I don’t want to take a chance on doing business with these people and not have a good experience. I don’t have time for that, and I don’t want to waste money.” So you move on to the company that has five star reviews, and lots of them. Well, your customers are doing the same exact thing. So, make sure you’re soliciting reviews from your happy customers and accumulating those super valuable 5-star ratings on your Google My Business page.

Don’t Rely Solely on Google Ads

I still see tons of companies rely primarily on Google Ads, and they don’t really put any emphasis on organic search. This blows my mind because there’s so much opportunity there, but this is to your benefit. If your competitors are focused primarily on pay-per-click advertising then that’s good for you because that opens up the window for you to jump in and dominate organic search. You don’t have to compete with them because they aren’t even thinking about organic search. Take advantage of this opportunity to become the authority in your market and box out your competitors on organic search.

If you want to win on Google in 2020, embracing organic search and reviews is vital.

December 16, 2019April 16, 2020

How to Improve Your Google Reviews

Are you struggling to improve your business’s online rating despite providing exceptional service? Unsure of how to acquire Google reviews, or how to increase your Google rating? Maybe you need consumers to leave positive reviews? In our inaugural vlog, we will discuss:

Why it is important to pay attention to Google reviews
How to implement a positive review process
How to address negative reviews

Pay Attention to Google Reviews

When it comes to online reviews, Google Reviews can have a drastic impact on your business. It’s the online review platform that everyone is paying attention to. There are other review platforms out there, such as Yelp, Health Grades for healthcare, or Avvo for legal, but at the end of the day, Google trumps them all.

Consumers are making decisions every day regarding who to do business with based on the reviews of the providers that they are considering. If your business has less than four stars, you’re losing business. If you’re neglecting to respond to negative reviews, you are losing business. Even if you have satisfied customers — guess what — you’re losing business by not soliciting them to leave positive reviews.

Implementing a Positive Review Process

Generating positive reviews doesn’t always have to require a complicated strategy. It can be as simple as asking a customer in person or by phone if they are satisfied with the service that you are providing. If they say “yes,” ask if they could take a minute to leave a review for your business on Google; it’s as simple as that. Ideally, you want to have a strategy or process in place to consistently solicit positive reviews from your clientele. But just getting started by asking for reviews is the best thing you can do right now so that you can begin accumulating those all-important four and five star reviews.

Address Negative Reviews

Your business should never have unaddressed negative Google reviews – this gives off the perception that your business does not care about satisfying its customers. If you have a negative review that has not been responded to, go ahead and address their concerns. Do not engage them in a negative manner. Just address the review and let them know that you hear their concerns and want to resolve the issue offline. This is ultimately the goal: take the conversation offline.

In my past experience, I’ve seen instances where we respond to negative reviews on behalf of a client which in turn helps with public perception and lets people know that they care about what customers think. In the interim, our client is communicating with that unhappy customer offline, which ultimately leads to that once poor review being changed from a one star review into a five star review. This is done by simply asking the customer what they were unhappy with and helping them resolve the issue. Often, upon seeing that the client cared, the customer will change their negative review all on their own.

In summary, if you’re not already managing Google reviews or even paying attention to them, start doing so because it is affecting your business. If you do not have a procedure in place to attain positive reviews, start one by simply asking satisfied customers to do so and build from that. Respond to any negative reviews you may have in a neutral fashion and take the conversation offline in the hope that they remove the review on their own or even change it to a higher rating.

Category: Videos