That’s How The Cookie Crumbles…Apple vs. Facebook

Posted on May 10, 2021 | by admin | Leave a Comment

50% of Americans use an iPhone, what are you going to do to effectively advertise your business on Facebook once the new Apple privacy policy update is rolled out?

So, what is this new update that Apple is expected to roll out soon?!

In a nutshell, when users open their facebook app (or any app for that matter), they will be asked if they want the app to track what they’re doing in other apps/browsers on their devices. If the users say no, that IDFA (identifier for advertisers) will be blocked and they will no longer be able to gather that data.

What is the impact going to be for small businesses that depend on Facebook for advertising?

By adding this message when an app is opened, it is expected that the number of iOS users that share the IDFA will decrease from 70% to 10%! Instead of the opt out being buried in the system settings, users will now be required to opt in and with a single click they will be able to stop sharing this information. Which is something that most people are expected to do.

When is this update expected to take place?

Well, we know that the update was scheduled to roll out in the fall of 2020 but was pushed back. What we know right now is that the developers already have the data on the update, so it could come as early as the end of this month or possibly in the beginning of March with the next iOS update.

Here are some tips to keep marketing effectively

Integrate touch points across all channels – your website, email campaigns, CRM, surveys, and customer feedback.
Get usable information from your customers and prospects like email addresses and phone numbers so that you can continue to advertise to these people
Be proactive about collecting zero-party data. This is data that users on your platforms share intentionally, like their name and email address when they ask for more information
When advertising on Facebook, look to Android campaigns as a testing ground when you need real time data (there is going to be a delay in the information received and in the amount of information received from iOS users).
Don’t panic! We are not going to fully understand how these privacy changes will affect campaigns until it is rolled out. So every advertiser is in the same boat.

Happy Monday! Have a great and productive week!
Allyce Mitchell
revmarketing.com

Sources:

https://tinuiti.com/blog/data-privacy/apples-privacy-policy-update-faqs-answered-by-top-advertising-experts/

Tips to Up Your Sales Game in 2021

Posted on May 3, 2021 | by admin | Leave a Comment

Would you believe me if I said that 79% of marketing leads are never converted into sales?!

Let’s see what we can do to boost those conversions!

What does your sales playbook look like in 2021? One (of the many) things that COVID has taught me is the need to be AGILE in an ever-changing world. And this is more important now in sales than ever before. Millennials respond one way, Baby-Boomers another, and then there is Gen Z entering the game! While the mantra of “always be closing” will always be held near and dear (thank you Glengarry Glen Ross), it’s time to up our game giving our customers what they need.

Let’s get into some ways you can up your game in 2021

Automated CRM:

Streamline tasks so that you can get more done and don’t waste precious time. Automate those follow-up emails and start have AI qualify those leads so you know which ones to go after and where your leads are in the sales pipeline. CRM systems integrate with your website to get your leads into the pipeline faster!

40% of sales tasks can be performed by AI

Improve the User Experience:

Add chatbots or a live chat experience to your website. Make suggestions to the user based on what your customer is looking at to help them find what they need.

80% of American shoppers consider speed, convenience, knowledgeable help, and friendly service key elements in customer service

Social Selling:

Social media is a great place to nurture leads. Active online engagement will move you to the forefront of people’s minds when they are making a purchasing decision. This will also help with referrals! A brand presence online makes it easier for for your customers to share your product with their friends and family.

70% of businesses say that referrals are faster to convert

E-commerce through Omni-channel sales:

Make sure you are available in the channels that your customers use. Use your website to design a cohesive experience for users at every touchpoint.

73% of customers use multiple channels when doing their shopping

Live Video and Sales Conversion Online:

Use live Q&A’s to answer questions about your new product launch

82% of people prefer live video from a brand over standard social media posts.

I know getting that CRM automated can take some time. But here are some things you can start right now to boost your conversions:

Reviews and Rewards

Get your current happy customers to do the work for you! Ask for reviews and reward referrals. Time and time again you see successful businesses utilizing this method of gaining new customers. You are paying an acquisition cost to get your leads anyways, so giving out some referral rewards should be no big deal. Plus, word of mouth support puts you on the fast track to gaining a users trust and they spend less time in the buying funnel or flywheel…whichever jargon you prefer to use.

Here’s a great stat from the Harris poll: 67% of people say they are more likely to buy a product after a friend or family member posted about it on social media.

Podcasting or Live Videos

Turn that facebook post into a video or schedule a live Q&A session with your audience. That engagement is going to build trust and increase sales! 80% of people would rather watch a live video from a brand than read a blog. I feel it is important to note: THIS DOES NOT MEAN TO STOP BLOGGING…..refer to the Mastering Monday from last week to see why.

Check out some of our other sales strategy tips here -> Podcasts: Grow Your Sales Immediately!

Happy Monday! Have a great and productive week!

Allyce Mitchell

revmarketing.com

Sources:

Astrid Eira 15 Latest Sales Trends and Forecasts 2021/2022 You Should Know, Finances Online

Jonathon Herrick, 9 Proves Sales Tips for 2021, Entreprenuer.com, December 4, 2020

Team Linchpin, 2021 B2C Digita

Tips to Get Blogging on a Regular Basis

Posted on April 28, 2021 | by admin | Leave a Comment

Scale up your Mondays with our new “Mastering Mondays” series from Rev Marketing. Start your Monday’s off right with the do’s and don’ts about websites and marketing and be the first to get tips for how you can increase your ranking on Google.

Are you ready?! Let’s GO!

The ugly truth about blogging…

IT HAS TO BE DONE! Blogging is your key to getting discovered by your audience.

It’s all part of content marketing. Think of it this way, in order to help your audience find your business online, Google needs to be able to crawl and index your site for relevant content. It’s time to show Google that you have the answers people are looking for! Bonus points if you are tagging blog pictures with keywords too – but don’t start keyword stuffing either, there’s a balance. Keep it to 3 keywords, max!

Are you not convinced yet, let me throw some enticing stats at you….

90% of B2B and 70% of B2C businesses are using content to promote brand awareness, increase ROI, and build authority in their industry
Websites with Blogs Have 434% More Indexed Pages than Websites without Blogs
Increasing Your Blogs by 100% Gives You a 300% Increase in Traffic to your website
Businesses with Blogs Get 2x More Email Traffic than Businesses without Blogs
57% of Marketers Say They Gained New Customers through Blogging
Using Blogging as a Marketing Strategy Gives You a 13x Bigger Chance of Achieving Satisfying ROI

At the end of the day, blogging takes time. And not just for you to write, but also for Google to start indexing your content. So make sure your time is well spent.

Publish consistently
High quality content is KEY
Focus on one topic at a time
Add images! More bonus points if they showcase your business and are not stock photography. Articles with images get 94% more views as opposed to those with no visuals.

Here are some tips to get your business blogging on a regular basis

(start with 1-2x per week to create brand awareness):

You send emails, right?!

Put that same information into a blog post and have that content do double duty! You probably guessed it…..this email is going to turn into a blog post (but you get this super cool info first!) without much extra effort.

Are you fresh out of ideas?

Delegate the task to someone who enjoys writing or split the blogs between a couple people to ensure you (or someone else) is not getting burnt out with continuously writing content. Maybe even ask a friend in the industry to guest post! 62.96% of readers perceive blogs with multiple authors to be more credible.

Similar to recycling your email content…..

Recycle your older blog posts with new and updated information!

Add it to your calendar NOW

(or to whoever will take charge of this task)!

Check out some of our other blogging tips here -> Should You Add a Blog to Your Website?

Happy Monday! Have a great and productive week!

Allyce Mitchell

Revmarketing.com

Defining Your Target Market

Posted on April 19, 2021 | by admin | Leave a Comment

Who is your target market?

You hear it all the time….how to reach your target market or target audience. But, who is your target audience, and how did you determine it? Defining an accurate target audience is so important to small businesses because it helps you compete against those larger companies. Marketing to everyone is not possible, nor is it an effective way to spend your ad budget. You are increasing the chance of someone purchasing your product or service by focusing on a specific type of person, whether it’s age, gender someone with kids, etc.

Determining Your Target Market

Who are your current customers? Try to get as much information about your customers so you can use this to determine the market you need to be targeting. Get demographics such as:

Age
Gender
Location
Family status: married, single, kids, etc

Create Your Buyer Persona

Come up with a fictional character(s) that embody who your customer is. This will help you to create advertising and email campaigns that resonate with this “person.” If you understand who you are marketing to, it makes your advertising that much more effective!

Did you uncover any trends when looking through your current customer database? Use this to start creating your buyer persona.

Where Can You Find Your Buyers

So, you have your buyer persona nailed down…now where do you find them to make sure they are seeing your business, both online and in person. If you are marketing a summer camp for kids, running an ad on a website like myactivechild.com would be a great place to start online. Post-COVID and restrictions, setting up a booth at a local farmers market could also be an ideal spot to catch moms and dads with a higher disposable income.

What kind of data do you already have?

We are entering into the age of privacy, but that doesn’t mean you can’t ask for information from current customers. What do already gathered in your CRM and what other information can you ask for. Ask for their birthday so you can offer them a birthday discount! This will help give you a better understanding of who your customers are…boomers, millennials, etc.

Get More Information

Run surveys or start a rewards program to start gathering data. There are free survey tools out there like SurveyMonkey and ask questions like where they found out about you and start targeting those channels for more customers. You can also gather information like why they decided to purchase your product or what they like best and use that to create more targeted bottom-of-the-funnel content. This can help convert a potential customer into a customer.

Happy Monday! Have a great and productive week!

Allyce Mitchell

RevMarketing.com

How To Craft B2C Buyer Personas For More Engaging Content (Examples Included!)

Google My Business

Posted on April 12, 2021 | by Denise | Leave a Comment

What comes up when you Google yourself?

Have you ever spent time Googling yourself? If not, you definitely should! But aside from yourself, what comes up when you Google your business? Do you get that nifty sidebar area in your browser that gives pertinent information like operating hours, reviews, location, and your website? Great, you claimed your free Google My Business account. Now that covers 56% of business owners. (If you belong in the other 44%, your first item on your to-do list – after finishing the email – is to claim it!) The next question to ask yourself, is this content current and optimized to get me more customers and business? Let’s find out!

Did you just put in the bare minimum when you claimed your business?

First things first, when was the last time you looked at the information that your potential customers see when they Google your business? Are you putting your best foot forward with that information, or is it the bare minimum? Next, is that information still relevant? If your name, address, and phone number are not an exact match with your website, it can hurt your rankings.

Optimizing Your Business Category and Company Attributes

Just like with websites, you get out what you put in. If you aren’t using keywords in your Google my Business page like your website, you could miss out on traffic! And just like with websites and blogs, no keyword stuffing.

When it comes to the business category, make sure you are as specific as possible so that searchers know precisely the type of business they are looking at. The attributes section gives your potential customers an idea of what to expect from your company, whether it is patio dining or free wifi. Let your customers know what to expect from your business!

Get that Picture

Studies have shown that your business is more likely to be considered reputable with pictures. So make sure you have a great profile image that showcases your business. You can also allow your customers to post photos of their experience with your business. User-generated content helps drive customers to you by making you appear reputable!

Reviews

A review section can be both a blessing and a curse, but the main tactic here is to always ask your customers for reviews and make sure you are responding to ALL of them. That way, if a bad review pops up, you have the opportunity to make it right, and other potential customers get to see your response.

From the Business Section

This is where keywords come into play! Use all of those 750 characters but don’t put the same information shown anywhere else on the Google My Business Page. A great place to find content for this section would be your “About Us” page or your company mission statement.

No Stock Photography

Use your own photos (that are of good quality) and add pictures regularly (1 image per week is perfect). This will help remind you to make sure your profile information is up to date and accurate.

Ask for Reviews

Set up an email campaign for your customers to ask for reviews! People are more likely to trust your business if you have reviews posted on your Google My Business Page. This also means that you need to make sure you are responding to those reviews too.

Happy Monday! Have a great and productive week!

Allyce Mitchell

RevMarketing.com

https://neilpatel.com/blog/optimize-google-my-business/

https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2020/06/03/google-my-business-optimization

Kings and Queens

Posted on April 5, 2021 | by Denise | Leave a Comment

What is the best way to use social media marketing?

Is your business the next Wendy’s of Twitter? Even if you are not a Wendy’s fan, you’ve got to give it to ‘em. Wendy’s wins twitter with their witty banter. So, can you be the next Wendy’s, or where should you be focusing your social media efforts? First things first, where are your customers, and what platform are they using? This should be a question you ask yourself when determining your buyer persona. So, before you go creating an account on all social media platforms, pick a couple that you believe your audience is using the most. You may have the wittiest things to say on Twitter, but if that’s not where your customers are, then it is a waste of time!

How should I be using social media?

Social media can be used in a multitude of ways, from paid advertising to sharing content. Ultimately they are all ways to reach your audience, gain engagement, and increase sales. Step one should be to determine your strategy and what your goals are. Whether it is to increase brand awareness or drive traffic to your website to increase sales, set out your goals to determine your success quickly.

It’s all about timing

Make sure you know when the best time to post your content is. When is your audience checking social media? I could have a brilliant idea for content at 3 am, but it will do nothing for my business if I post when everyone is sleeping! So instead of posting on a whim, the post should be scheduled for the time when my audience and customers are most likely to see them.

Setting the tone

Social media is all about engaging in real-time with your customers. Posts and questions should be responded to, and this is also a chance to turn a relationship around with an unhappy customer! Plus, this gives your post a higher engagement score overall.

Analyzing

As always, it is vital to measure your success and failures. Are you reaching more people than last month? Are more people using your brand’s hashtags, and is your business getting mentioned. There is a range of social media analytics tools to use so you can make sure the goals you set for your social media accounts are being met!

Here are some tips on creating the best customer experience

Use old posts

Good marketing isn’t just about reach but also about frequency! Change up the picture or the caption, but by scheduling a post to go out multiple times over a couple of weeks, you can get good coverage to your audience.

Find out what you’re doing best, and keep doing it!

What are your top-performing posts for the past couple of months, and what content was in those posts? Use that information to create and build a better social media campaign for future posts.

Foster a positive environment

Engagement is critical with social media. Answer questions and solve problems for your customers so you can turn them into repeat buyers! Show that you are not just a business, but a group of passionate people who love what you do.

Happy Monday! Have a great and productive week!

Allyce Mitchell

RevMarketing.com

https://comparecamp.com/direct-mail-statistics/

https://go.lob.com/rs/900-QJF-050/images/The%20State%20of%20Direct%20Mail%20R8.pdf

https://www.compu-mail.com/statistics/25-direct-marketing-statistics-for-2020

https://www.usps.com/business/pdf/informed-delivery-overview.pdf

Customer Service for Success

Posted on March 29, 2021 | by admin | Leave a Comment

How can I improve my customer retention?!

So I “finished” a 1500 piece puzzle and guess what….there was one missing piece – I promise it is not amongst my son’s toys – they gave me an extra corner piece instead. Talk about frustration! And the time spent trying to find the customer service contact information to find out about getting a new piece just ruined my mood even more. So, depending on the response I get from them (if any), I may be in search of another puzzle brand. This brings me to my point of….customer retention. Customer retention is all about turning customers into repeat buyers and stopping them from going to your competition (I’m looking at you puzzle brand)! So what’s the best way to keep them coming back for more and staying loyal to your brand?

Why focus on customer retention?

It can cost 25 times more to acquire a new customer than it can to just hold on to an existing one. These customers already know your brand and you have spent time building trust – don’t throw it away through poor customer service! Plus, on top of repeat business, loyal customers are more likely to spread the word about your business. This means the potential for more people to become loyal customers!

How should I determine customer retention?

Every business is going to have a different volume and frequency of business. For example, I go to the grocery store once a week and my hairstylist every 3 months. My hairstylist shouldn’t be looking at customer retention rate on a monthly basis if most of her clients come in every 3-5 months- semiannually would be more appropriate. So one of your first steps is determining the frequency at which your typical customer makes another purchase. You can find this out by using a CRM to track and record when customers make repeat purchases.

Churn Rate

Here is a quick formula for determining your churn rate (or the rate at which customers stop doing business with you). If your annual churn rate is above 5%-7%, it is probably time to evaluate and start looking at ways to fix this.

Churn Rate = (Number of Customers at Start of the time period – Number of Customers at End of the time period) / Number of Customers at Start of the time period

It is important NOT to include any new customer acquired during this same time period to get an accurate churn rate. You want to determine the rate at which you are losing customers.

Retention Rate

This is where we determine the ratio of customers that return to do business with you.

Retention Rate = (Number of Customer at the Start of a Time Period – Number of Customers at the End of the Time Period) / New Customers added during the Time Period

How do I increase my customer retention rate and decrease that churn rate?

If you are seeing a high churn rate, it is time to start evaluating your customer service. And even if a customer has a bad experience with your product or business, it is all in how you handle it. Some of your most loyal customers can come from responding well to their customer service requests! So what are customers looking for in customer service:

Fast Response Time

The faster you are able to respond to your customer, the higher their customer satisfaction. Don’t let them stew for days in frustration – if you are not able to respond to all requests in 24 hours, make sure your customers know when to expect a response. Even a quick reply letting them know that you have received their question and will respond in a timely manner will do.

Provide Great Customer Service

Customer service doesn’t end after a transaction is complete. Make sure whoever is handling customer service calls has the ability to handle them without the need to jump through hoops and unneeded call transfers. What could have been an easy thing to fix now becomes a massive issue if the customer is transferred to multiple departments.

Always Ask for Feedback

Feedback from your customers is one of the best places to start. They will tell you what you are doing great and what needs work. If you aren’t sending out surveys, anyone who has contact with your customers should be able to tell you main complaints and preferences.

Customer Loyalty

Reward your customers for their loyalty, it works! One of the best burrito places in my area is a bit of a drive, but add on the rewards I get from purchasing and you turn a maybe into a definitely! But not only are loyalty programs beneficial for the customer, but you are also able to get more detailed customer data for more detailed rewards or additional marketing opportunities.

Here are some tips on creating the best customer experience

Empathy

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and make the experience best for them. Respond to customer service requests promptly and/or let them know when they can expect a response back.

Employee Experience

Make sure your employees (or yourself) have the ability to help customers in a timely fashion, whether that is through a CRM or otherwise. And routinely check that your employees are delivering the kind of experience you expect.

Happy Monday! Have a great and productive week!

Allyce Mitchell

RevMarketing.com

https://comparecamp.com/direct-mail-statistics/

https://go.lob.com/rs/900-QJF-050/images/The%20State%20of%20Direct%20Mail%20R8.pdf

https://www.compu-mail.com/statistics/25-direct-marketing-statistics-for-2020

https://www.usps.com/business/pdf/informed-delivery-overview.pdf

Don’t Fight Your Website Anymore

Posted on March 24, 2021 | by admin | Leave a Comment

Running a business is tough, and who has time to learn complicated website code and design?! Our team of experts will help you get your website up and running in less than 5 days! Click HERE, buy TODAY and get your URL FREE for 1 year*! (*exceptions may apply)

Direct Mail

Posted on March 22, 2021 | by admin | Leave a Comment

So what’s the real deal with mail and direct mailing?

The redesign of the mail truck aside, a couple of things have me thinking about the mail. And one is whether or not direct mail is worth it for companies. So I did some digging for you to find out if you should be spending some of your marketing budgets on direct mail and what the best strategy is. After all, my aquarium membership expiry date is creeping up and I received 2 postcard reminders on the SAME DAY (not to mention another letter 2 days later)! Was that to get my attention or was there an error made somewhere along the line?

Is direct mail still relevant?

YES! 60% of companies sending direct mail say it’s their highest ROI marketing channel and over 50% of companies see response rates of 5% or higher on their direct mail campaigns. Households receive 16.8 mail pieces per week; just compare that to the amount of email your receive each week(HUNDREDS)! There is far less competition in your physical mailbox than there is in your email! PLUS, 90% of direct mail gets opened compared to 20-30% of email. Of course, digital marketing is beneficial and should be part of any marketing strategy. Combine that and direct mail marketing and you could see website visits increase 68%. But wait, there’s more….with informed delivery from USPS, people get a glimpse of what’s coming in their mail directly to their email – and this can include a link to your URL. Talk about omnichannel marketing!

What should I be sending?

All age groups respond to direct mail and 54% of consumers say that they want direct mail from brands that interest them.

Retention Campaigns

It is always more expensive to acquire a new customer than to retain a current customer. (So that’s why the aquarium is hitting my mailbox so hard!). The better your business is at nurturing your current customers through the customer lifecycle the greater success your company will have. Give your current customers a great experience and they will be more likely to refer you to their friends and family! Use direct mail to upsell products and offer items or services that complement their recent purchase.

Acquisition Campaigns

Acquisition campaigns can get your business in front of your audience in a personalized and creative way. Even during an economic downturn, direct mail allows you to tell your story and build trust. It is a powerful tool in gaining the attention of your target audience.

Direct Mail Design

While ⅓ of letter-size envelopes get opened, postcards are hard to miss and catalogs are saved for later. Make sure your mailer is personalized and colorful to grab your audience’s attention.

Personalization

Personalization is important in other marketing channels, so it makes sense that it is also relevant in direct mail. Use it to deliver more focused and personalized messages to your customers. The easiest way to do this right now is text-based (like including their name). Some companies are playing with using custom imagery for specific segments of their audience.

Make sure you are able to track success and failures

When sending out your pieces make sure you are able to track your results! Add a unique phone number to the postcard you’re mailing, that way you know when someone calls that number, it is because of that specific marketing piece. Or use a coupon code that is only used for that campaign.

Maintain your address list

It can be costly to maintain a reliable address list. Use technology to your advantage to keep your address list up to date! A poor address list will result in a lower campaign success rate! Data services can match email addresses and physical addresses.

Outsourcing

While direct mail is generally ROI positive, there is normally a higher cost associated with running a direct mail campaign than a digital marketing campaign. A specialized marketing company can help you overcome these hurdles!

Happy Monday! Have a great and productive week!

Allyce Mitchell

RevMarketing.com

https://comparecamp.com/direct-mail-statistics/

https://go.lob.com/rs/900-QJF-050/images/The%20State%20of%20Direct%20Mail%20R8.pdf

https://www.compu-mail.com/statistics/25-direct-marketing-statistics-for-2020

https://www.usps.com/business/pdf/informed-delivery-overview.pdf

Prepare for Success

Posted on March 22, 2021 | by admin | Leave a Comment

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