Author: brightred

Whilst the internet has been around for many years, and lots of businesses have websites, to some, the idea of digital marketing is lost. This is because of some common misconceptions that stop businesses from making the most of their online presence.

Let’s take a look at some of these so that if you’re not marketing your business online, it won’t be because of any myths that you may have heard.

The many avenues of marketing

Having a website and not marketing is like opening a shop in the middle of a field.

Floods of people aren’t going to just show up; you have to direct people there.

Vehicles such as SEO and Content creation can help with this.

SEO

Chances are you’ve heard of SEO before but might not understand it.

Put simply, SEO, or search engine optimisation, is the process by which websites optimise themselves to rank higher in a search engine’s algorithms.

This makes them appear higher in the search results when people look for related topics or keywords.

Search engines primarily rely on technical elements such as metadata (information about a website that isn’t visible on the page) and keyword use in content to figure out what websites should be included in their rankings.

But SEO can also refer to link building — when websites increase their “authority” through links from other reputable sites — and even local SEO, using a location-specific keyword element when optimising for search results.

For businesses with an online presence, SEO is an essential ingredient for reaching potential customers and capturing organic traffic; if done well with strategic planning, it can help put your business on the map.

Understanding how SEO works and playing into its parameters can give your website an advantage over the competition and increase your visibility online.

Creating your content

When most people think of marketing a website, they usually start by considering how to increase traffic.

But everyone knows that traffic is only part of the equation — you also need to engage your visitors to generate conversions.

The key to creating an engaging website is through providing great content.

Content can inform and educate visitors on your product or service so that they are more likely to make a purchase or sign up for your mailing list.

Creating content also helps you rank higher in search engine results, giving you an edge over competitors who don’t rely on high-quality text and multimedia as part of their marketing strategy.

Focusing on creating meaningful content not only gets people to your website but also encourages them to stick around, increasing the chances of turning casual readers into paying customers.

It’s time to create content that builds relationships with the audience — this is the key element required for success in the long run!

Blogs allow you to give your audience valuable information related to your business.

Such as a blog on a trending news topic in your industry.

Lights, Camera…

Video is an incredibly powerful tool for communicating what your business does and why potential customers should choose you.

Not only can you showcase a product or service through video, but you can also share important stories that resonate with your audience and give them a reason to connect with you.

From an educational perspective, videos are an excellent way to demonstrate how to use a product or service or explain an industry-specific concept in a way that is easy for viewers to understand.

Videos are also great for highlighting customer reviews and testimonials, which can be highly effective for building trust with potential customers.

Finally, videos provide the opportunity to share important updates about your business dynamically and engagingly. From launching a new product to promoting an event or special offer, videos are a more compelling approach than traditional methods such as email newsletters or text-based updates.

Whatever your goals are for marketing your business, video is an excellent tool to help you reach them.

Good old-fashioned email

Email is still an excellent way to build relationships with customers and potential customers.

It’s also an excellent opportunity to reach out to those who have already visited your website or made a purchase from you.

You can use email marketing to create brand awareness and loyalty, as well as drive sales.

Plus, it’s cost-effective and easy to measure the ROI of your campaigns.

With a well-crafted and targeted email campaign, you can nurture leads and generate more conversions for your business.

Email isn’t going away anytime soon, so use it to your advantage and grow your business!

With the right strategies in place, email can be a powerful tool for building relationships with existing customers and potential leads.

Whether you’re running a B2B or B2C business, segmenting your audience, personalising content and automating emails are just some of the ways you can use email to engage with your customers and leads.

Try experimenting with different campaigns and see what works best for your business.

Who knows, it could be the key to growing your business!

So start making the most out of email marketing today. You won’t regret it! Happy sending!

Too big of a pool

The internet has opened the floodgates for a large variety of audience types.

“I don’t know who or where my audience is?”

Don’t worry; you can find an audience that is tailor-made to you.

Incorporating methods that have been mentioned before, such as SEO, targets users who are searching for that specific thing.

Traditional Marketing methods cover a general audience.

While it looks impressive, the method doesn’t gain the valuable audience that digital can.

But what if my business doesn’t suit digital marketing?

There’s no question that digital marketing can be an effective tool for businesses looking to connect with their target customer base.

But what do you do if your business doesn’t suit a digital world?

Perhaps you’re a small corner store, a local locksmith, or even a gardening service.

There’s always a space for you online!

Utilising methods such as email or video can go a long way in creating and owning an online identity.

And this doesn’t mean out with the old and in with the new.

You can combine digital marketing techniques with more traditional marketing, like networking or print advertising.

Consider exploring alternative options and see where they take you! Good luck!

Everyone gets a chance, regardless of how big you are

No matter how niche your business is, it can thrive online, just like the more prominent companies.

There is no prejudice or gatekeeping with digital marketing; everyone has the chance to grow their business to levels never seen before.

Conclusion

So, there are a few common myths that many people in business assume when it comes to digital marketing.

If you want more information, then check out our other blogs here.

As for now, myth busted.

Emails have always been a part of our lives for what seems like forever. The wide instant reach of email marketing has made them an important tool for marketing campaigns.

There are currently 4 billion daily email users and this number is expected to climb to 4.6 billion by 2025. (Statista, 2021). Many professional marketers cite email marketing as their favourite communication method and prioritise it over social media.

“Email generates $42 for every $1 spent, which is an astounding 4,200% ROI, making it one of the most effective options available”. Hubspot

So, I think we’ve established that email marketing is not only still relevant but could possibly be your most successful marketing tool.

That’s why it’s important to make sure it’s right before you press send. Because it’s easy to make simple mistakes.

So, to ensure that when you press send on your next big email marketing campaign everything is spot on. Here is a list of things you should check before hitting send!

The missing link

Let’s imagine you’ve written an email going into detail about a new product and you hit send, only to see that the link to the product isn’t there… what a nightmare.

Especially if you’re writing an in-depth email, it’s easy to get lost in the writing, even when doing a re-read.

A top tip is, to read and read again…and if in doubt read it one last time.

It’s always good for; catching grammar errors or spelling mistakes.

Links can be included within a word or embedded into a call to action button; so it’s easy to miss them out or forget to hyperlink them.

And that’s not the only link issue that can catch you out…

If it’s broke… fix it

Another issue you might have faced a couple of times is broken links. Typically this could be due to a typo in the link or perhaps the link was copied a while ago and since doesn’t work.

When copying a link, test it out first and always make sure the link is as up to date as possible for the most reliable outcome.

Spell it out

The most common mistake is the one that everyone has done and still does; spelling and grammar.

It happens to everyone, so it’s always best to give it a read-over and then get someone you know to read it again for a second opinion.

Spell and grammar check is usually enabled on the majority of email providers but getting a human opinion is always a good second.

Changing the subject

The subject during any email (campaign or otherwise) is often something many don’t think twice about. But the subject line is essentially the headline of your email campaign, it’s what could determine whether the user clicks or not.

Think of something eye-catching that also feels human, strategic uses of exclamation points and words in all caps are almost like written sound effects!

Make sure the tone relates to your email campaign, keep it formal and subtle if your campaign has a serious theme or topic behind it. Or slightly jovial and conversational if the topic supporting it is lighthearted.

Formatting issues

Another thing to consider is the way your email is formatted.

People don’t want to be greeted by a big block of text when they open their email, especially if it’s trying to sell them something or create bonding with the viewer.

Make sure your content of the email is clear and presentable, don’t be afraid to have paragraphs made up of one sentence. Giving information in chunks gives the person reading an incentive to read on.  Include images, buttons, and headers to break up your text. Also, make sure that the font you choose is clear, strong, and easily readable.

Mobile First

On the subject of formatting issues, it’s really important to make sure that your content is compatible with mobile devices.

Around 55% of website traffic is generated from mobile devices, however, almost 1 in 5 email campaigns is not optimised for mobile devices. When creating your email content make sure that you check how it displays on mobile. The last thing you want is for someone to open your email and not be able to read it properly.

Signing off

Those are just some simple tips for creating an effective email marketing campaign.

Hopefully, these tips will help you in reducing those little mistakes that often pass by under the radar.

Now when you press send on your next email, you’ll know all bases are covered.

The last 18 months and everything it entailed forced us all to look at our businesses. What were our strengths, and our weaknesses and what was the ‘new plan’ in order to survive? What does digital marketing in 2021 and beyond look like?

It’s been a hell of a ride, but… we think it’s fair to say that businesses are tired of talking about COVID-19 and want to get back to planning ahead.

Business owners and entrepreneurs are an innovative bunch and the most successful businesses and brands took their existing strengths and developed new ones. They adapted their systems, remained flexible in an ever-changing world, listened to their customers and sought out new opportunities. So whilst we’re looking to the future and a return to ‘normality it makes sense to take what we’ve learned and make it work for our future plans.

Here are the key things which successful businesses have focused on, and that should remain a part of digital marketing in 2021 – post-pandemic.

Prioritise The Bottom Line

During uncertain times smart businesses focus their efforts on marketing methods that are tried and tested. When budgets are tight it makes sense to use marketing channels that have a proven track history and provide good ROI. Many businesses have reassessed their spending in order to prioritise ways to bring real value to their business and their customers. This means a shift in strategies to be more data-driven and develop marketing and sales funnels that drive repeat and new sales.

This could mean keeping a tighter rein on the performance of social media campaigns or managing ad spend more closely. Short-term results shouldn’t be the only focus, however. Whilst tools such as ads are great for bringing in sales, strategies to build brand awareness are equally important for long-term growth. The best marketing strategies combine both conversion-focused AND brand-awareness tactics to build a strong and engaging business with long term value.

Shopping Online

E-commerce is a trend that was already accelerating throughout 2018/2019 and the pandemic launched it forward even faster than before. With the onset of the Covid19 pandemic, more people than ever went online to buy everything from food to furniture.

As a result, Statista now estimates that there will be 2.14 billion global buyers online by the end of 2021. In 2019 e-commerce sales accounted for 13.8% of retail worldwide which then jumped to 18% in 2020.  Projections show that e-commerce sales are expected to rise to 19.5% by the end of 2021. It’s also important to note that 61% of all online retail traffic comes from mobile devices.

This means that it’s more important than ever that a website is mobile friendly and shopping apps are growing in popularity. That doesn’t mean that the desktop experience should be neglected. Whilst mobile outperforms desktop in bringing in website traffic, most online sales still take place on a desktop.

Social Media

More than 1.3 million new users joined social media every day in 2020, that’s around 15.5 new users every single second. In January this year, there was a reported 4.2 billion (53% of the population) active social media users – that’s a lot of people. 99% of those users are accessing social media using a mobile phone and spend on average 2 hours and 25 minutes browsing each day.

Mobile commerce also increased by an impressive 31.5% in 2020 and is expected to grow further. Many brands are using the shop function in Facebook & Instagram and the live shopping opportunities in apps such as TikTok to drive sales. In a time when shoppers couldn’t browse the rails with their friends, seeing videos or lives featuring items on real people provided them with a connection to products.

Similarly, many service-based businesses have used their social media platforms to reach out to their customers in a time when human connection was scarce. Consumers want to be educated, entertained and take part in conversations with people and brands that they relate to. With cinema, galleries, theatres and music venues closed many people also looked to social media for inspiration and motivation.

Values

Whilst forced to stay apart many people have embraced their communities and come together like never before. Whether that’s supporting their high-street and buying vegetables from a local greengrocer, or joining a group of like-minded people online. This year has changed the world as we know it, and also the people in it.

An urge to help and be aware of the impact of their actions has been at the forefront of many peoples minds. This has resulted in many consumers demanding more from their purchases and taking time in their decision-making. For many, this means that they only want to buy brands from businesses and brands that represent their values.

Now is the time for businesses to make their values and opinions clear. Whether that is standing behind social movements, or making careful choices with their supply chain. Businesses need to select the right partnerships with suppliers and collaborators to ensure that they represent their true values. And most importantly they need to communicate this with their customers. It’s not enough to use sustainably sourced packaging, customers need to know about it; via branding, web channels and social media. Only then will they develop a connection with their customers and become more relatable.

A Unique Voice

When formulating marketing plans businesses need to keep their customer (and their needs and wants) at the forefront.  They should do this by creating content that really speaks to their customer and talks about their values and opinions. To do this it’s important to have a clear idea of who your customer is and who you are as a business.

Businesses that have a clear brand, company message and marketing find it easier to grow their customer base, and those customers are very loyal to the brand. They listen to customer feedback, take note of trends and current affairs and make it clear where they fit into it all. Companies such as Innocent do this brilliantly by clearly communicating exactly what their product is, their business ethics AND their personality.

Digital Marketing In 2021 – What’s The Plan?

We’ve covered quite a lot, so here’s a quick summary to keep it all together for you.

• Focus on the bottom line and use data to make decisions, but don’t forget about building brand awareness and long-term consumer loyalty.
• Take all or parts of your business online – e-commerce is bigger, better and here to stay.
• Use social media as a digital billboard – from events to shopping the opportunities are limitless.
• Create content that represents your values and connects with your audience.
• Find your voice. Connect with your customers and stay relevant.

We hope we’ve given you some food for thought and maybe inspired you to take another look at your digital marketing plans. We’re always available for a quick chat about any web or digital marketing questions you might have. Our team will be happy to help, just drop us a line or give us a call.

A Celebration Of Success

We’re proud of the work we do with all of our clients and we absolutely love it when they receive the recognition they deserve.

That’s why we’re telling you about this feature in Blog Preston which talks about Marsh Mill Interiors ‘lockdown success’.

Leona says: “People think working with reclaimed wood is much easier; it’s not. In order to change it from something destined for landfill, I use my special 10-step process on scaffolding boards from building sites to draw out the grain, the patina, the nicks and dints to make it look nice and add character.”

Marsh Mill Interiors currently employs eight members of staff.

Leona says: “One of the things I’ve been most proud of is how my business was able to employ people who’d previously lost their jobs in other industries, through no fault of their own, just not able to remain open through the pandemic. This includes an 18 and a 19-year-old, who might otherwise have struggled to find work or job experience in the current climate.”

A Bright Future

We are so proud of the part we have played in Marsh Mill Interiors success and are delighted to be a part of their future. We are continuing to work alongside them to build on their success and launch new and exciting products and grow their business.

Leona says ” I approached BrightRED to help me redesign and develop a new and improved website. I was so glad that I did because I’m thrilled with the way it has turned out. The flexibility the new site offers to me and my business has exceeded what I previously thought was possible.”

If you need any help or advice with boosting your business online our team are always here to chat through your options. Just drop us a line or give us a call and we’ll be happy to talk.

As time goes by, have you ever worried that you’re sounding more and more like your mum or dad?

In the studio at BrightRED, it’s not unusual to hear “It’s like Blackpool Illuminations in here!” or “Shut that door, were you born in a barn?” along with other tropes that show our age and Lancastrian upbringing.

Never did we think, however, we’d utter those infamous words:

“Do as we say not as we do!”

But that’s where we’ve found ourselves after almost 18 months of dealing with the challenges associated with the Coronavirus pandemic.

What is the right thing to do when faced with a global pandemic?

Back in March last year, when the weight of lockdowns and restrictions forced so many of us to re-address how we do business, our recommendation was straightforward:

“The most successful businesses to emerge from lockdown will be the ones that continue to market themselves throughout.”

To be honest, we felt the weight of those words.

We were confident then as we still are that was the right advice, but it wasn’t for everyone.

And because we didn’t want it to seem like we were only interested in feathering our nest, we only actively advised clients that we had an ongoing business relationship with.

That doesn’t mean that we kept it to ourselves. We just made the decision not to publicise it because, at the time, driving new business just didn’t seem the right thing to do.

Little did any of us know how long the fall out from the pandemic would last!

Have you ever made a decision to do the right thing only to find it causes you more problems than you anticipated?

We are only human and don’t always get it right! The only people that get it right all the time are the ones that don’t own up to getting it wrong.

Throughout everything that the pandemic has thrown at us, we’ve never missed a beat for any of our clients.

But now, as the dust starts to settle, it’s clear to see that the same can’t be said for us.

Our marketing has taken a back seat.

Whilst working so hard to keep our clients on track we neglected ourselves. (The irony of advising people to continue marketing without doing so ourselves isn’t lost on us either.)

And as time has gone on it’s become so much more difficult to just ‘start again’. Like a marathon runner running a race, it’s harder to get back going if you stop to catch your breath.

So… here we are ‘starting again’ by owning up to a decision we wish we hadn’t made.

What lessons have you learned throughout lockdown?

Considering you’ve made it to the end of this blog, there’s something you should know about BrightRED.

Whilst we’re experts at letting everyone know about our clients, we’re kind of our own best-kept secret. It’s something we’re working on internally but, for now, it remains true.

Our business has grown considerably throughout the pandemic, but we’re very aware that there are lots of businesses that haven’t been as fortunate.

So whilst we’re not going to start crowing about it all, we are going to learn our lesson and never have to say “do as we say, not as we do” again.

As everyone keeps saying, it’s an unprecedented situation that many of us find ourselves in.

We feel it too. There are lots of new challenges that need to be taken on and it’s easy to become overwhelmed.

While lots of businesses are rushing to adapt and get themselves online as quickly as possible, we think it’s important to make sure that they get the support they need at this critical time.

Strategy Reviews

We are offering one-hour digital strategy reviews completely free of charge. You can access this via voice call or video chat, whichever you prefer.

During this consultation, we will look at your online goals and offer our advice on how to power-up your existing web presence and drive more traffic to your online channels.

There’s no obligation whatsoever. Just get in touch.

The truth is that there are no business experts out there with any experience of how to act in uncertain times. Remember, it’s unprecedented because it’s never happened before!

The one thing we can say with absolute certainty is that we’re here to support you through it.

And whilst digital marketing may not be your first priority, it might just be the perfect time for you to improve your online presence.

If that’s the case get in touch, there’s no catch. You can reach us via our social media accounts or just pop us an email to hello@brightred.digital

If you have no clue what an e meme is, or you’re baffled about PPC and B2B (and the vast array of other digital marketing terms), then this is the blog for you.

Whether you want to create a social media presence for your brand or delve into email marketing there’s a LOT to think about. This process can sometimes seem overwhelming and all of the acronyms and techy terms definitely don’t help.

So, here it is.

The complete guide to buzzwords, acronyms, terms and definitions in social media and digital marketing. And, because this blog is packed to the rafters with info we’ve put together a handy index.

Index

Feel free to select the terms you’re struggling with from the list below.

A/B Testing – Algorithm – Analytics – Audience – Ads Manager – Avatar – B2B – B2C – Bio – Boosted Post – Brand Advocate – Brand Awareness – Chatbot – Clickbait – Click Through Rate – Content Marketing – Conversion Rate – Cost Per Click – Cover Photo – Cross-channel – Crowdsourcing – Direct Message – Disappearing Content – Engagement Rate – Evergreen Content  – Feed – Follower – FOMO – Geotargeting – Hashtag – Impressions – Meme – E-Meme – Newsjacking – Performance Marketing – PPC – Platform – Relevance Score – Retargeting – ROI – Social Listening – Targeting – Traffic – Trending – User-Generated Content – Viral

A/B Testing

A/B testing is also known as split testing.

This is a basic comparison method which measures the effectiveness of two campaigns against each other to see which performs best.

A/B testing is commonly used in social media posts, email marketing and online advertising, but can play an important role in understanding the user’s experience in any online application.

An easy way to use A/B testing to make better decisions is to start by changing a single element on say a post or ad.

For example, you could change the headline or image. This will allow you to see which headline or image has performed the best and favour the most successful variant.

Ads Manager

Ads Manager is a tool on Facebook which is used to create, manage and analyse your Facebook ads. You can also use it to manage your ad campaigns on Instagram.

Ads manager has lots of features for targeting and budgeting your ads.

Algorithm

An algorithm in its simplest form is a step by step procedure or set of rules which allows you to solve a problem or achieve a goal.

Algorithms are all uniquely created depending on their purpose. For instance, a recipe is an algorithm as it involves a certain number of steps performed in a specific order.

When we speak about algorithms in relation to social or digital marketing the same basic theory applies.

In social media, most references to ‘algorithm’ are related to ‘feed algorithm’, which is the set of rules which the social network uses to decide which posts appear first in your feed.

These rules change on a regular basis. For example, Facebook recently changed its algorithm to prioritise posts with lots of comments.

Similarly, Google’s algorithm is a complex system of rules which determines which results appear in the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). The main objective is to produce the most relevant and best quality results.

Analytics

Analytics in general terms is a way of interpreting and finding patterns in data.

When it comes to digital marketing the term analytics usually refers to data about a website or social media page.

Google Analytics and Search Console are the two main tools which can be used to find out information about your website. You can look at data such as total visitors to your website, where these visitors have found you and for how long they have looked at your website.

For social media tools such as Facebook Insights allow you to monitor data such as page views, actions on your page, post reach and much more.

Audience

The term audience usually refers to the group of people you’re able to reach on social media.

In simple terms, this refers to your page followers plus anyone who has viewed or interacted with your content in their feed.
People who see your content that aren’t page followers are those that have seen your post via a follower share or comment.

Increasing your audience is one of the best ways to spread brand awareness on social media.

The easiest way to do this is to encourage your followers to share and comment on your posts.

Avatar

An avatar is a small image that represents you either on a social network or platforms such as Google My Business.

An avatar is also known as your profile picture and it can be a real photo of an individual, a business logo, or a graphic.

 B2B

B2B means business to business. It’s a business which sells products or provides services to other businesses.

B2B businesses tend to have a more corporate approach and use social platforms such as LinkedIn to market to potential clients.

B2C

A B2C or business to customer business sells directly to its customers.

When it comes to social media marketing, B2C companies often use platforms such as Facebook or Instagram where they provide customer care and create interesting content which promotes brand loyalty.

Bio

Bio or biography is a short description which tells people who you or your business are.

It can also be used to share links to your website, products or various social accounts.

Boosted post

A boosted post is essentially a post which is promoted to people outside of your audience.

When you boost a post on Facebook you are paying to increase its reach.

Boosted posts are not the same as Facebook ads as they start out as a standard post.

You can boost posts on Facebook very easily from your page or feed without using Ads Manager. And you can still target a specific audience in the same way you do in Facebook Ads.

Brand Advocate

A brand advocate refers to someone on social media who posts positive messages, leaves good reviews, or promotes your brand on social platforms.

Brand advocates are people with large followings that and an image or values which align with the brand they are advocating.

They are essentially a paid partner and are commonly known as ‘Influencers’.

Brand advocates also commonly encourage people to use a product or service off-line or through word-of-mouth.

Brand Awareness

Brand awareness is the level of familiarity or awareness that consumers have of your brand.

A good way to increase brand awareness is via social media marketing.

Brand awareness can be estimated by looking at the number of impressions or reach that your content has achieved rather than engagements, clicks or sales.

Chatbot

A chatbot is an Artificial Intelligence program that can interact with a customer on behalf of a business.

Chatbots can be implemented in apps such as Facebook Messenger or Slack.

They provide customer service and answers to frequently asked questions, they can even set up appointments automatically.

Clickbait

You won’t believe this until you see it…

Clickbait

In a nutshell, Clickbait is a manipulative post or article which uses controversial or astonishing wording or images to convince users to click on it.

However, once the user clicks through to the content it is often completely unrelated to the headline or is of a very low quality.

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

Click Through Rate is the percentage of people that see your content and click on it.

CTR can be calculated for organic results on search engine results pages (SERP), Google Ads, social posts and social ads.

It is calculated by dividing the number of clicks which your web snippet on the SERP or post on social achieved by the number of impressions (the amount of people that ‘see’ your listing) which it generated multiplied by 100.

For example, if your Facebook post gained 100 impressions and 5 people clicked on it your CTR would be 5%

Content Marketing

This is a marketing tactic which is focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant content aimed at a business’ target customer.

Content marketing usually comes in the form of blogs, social media posts, newsletters and influencer content.

The ultimate aim of content marketing is to engage and inform the customer driving them to complete a profitable action.

Conversion Rate (CVR)

Conversion rate refers to the number of users whom upon viewing your content take action.

In social media, your conversion rate is calculated by the percentage of users who see your post or ad complete a pre-defined goal. This could be clicking through to your page, leaving a comment or liking a post.

When we talk about conversion rate in relation to SERP’s or Google Ads it’s slightly different.

You can work out the conversion rate from the number of users that see your content or ad and click through to your website.

On-site, conversion rates usually refer to the number of users who complete a goal on your website. This could be filling in a contact form, making an enquiry or completing a purchase.

CVR is calculated in the same way as CTR – by dividing the number of actions which your content achieved by the number of impressions which is generated.

For example, if your website had 300 clicks and 5 people made a purchase then your conversion rate is 1.6%

Cost per click (CPC)

Cost per click is a term used in both social and Google Ads. It refers to the average amount of money which you have paid for each click on your ad.

The lower the cost per click, the more interaction you will achieve for your budget.

For example, if you had a budget of £30 per day and your average CPC was £0.75 your ad would be displayed until 40 people had clicked on to it. After this, your ad would no longer be displayed.

If you were paying £0.35 per click with a budget of £30 per day your ad would be shown to 85 people before it stopped appearing.

CPC can vary enormously and takes into account lots of different factors. For more information on these factors and to find out how we gain higher ad positions for a lower cost per click read our blog post here.

Cover Photo or Header Image

Your cover photo is the visual in place at the top of your social media profile.

Just as important as your avatar is your cover image.

This ‘prime real estate’ and the first thing that people see when they land on your social page or Google My Business profile.

It’s important to get the imagery right.

A good cover photo or image will complement your profile picture and show off your brand or products.

Cross-channel

Cross-channel marketing refers to content which is displayed across numerous platforms.

For example, if you posted content across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter which all relayed the same message this would be known as cross-channel marketing.

Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing is a term used when marketing to a large group of people in order to generate ideas and content via social network.

It builds brand loyalty and allows followers to feel involved and engaged with your brand.

It’s also really solid consumer research.

Examples of crowdsourcing could be inviting your followers to submit a name for a new product with the winner receiving the product as a prize.

Direct message (DM)

A DM refers to a direct message sent on social media. This is a private message which is only visible to the sender and recipient(s).

Disappearing Content

Sometimes known as ephemeral content, disappearing content are posts on social media which disappear (delete themselves) automatically after a set amount of time.

Instagram/Facebook and Snapchat Stories are perfect examples of this, disappearing after 24 hours.

Disappearing content can be effectively used to create urgency and encourage immediate engagement. This is often referred to as ‘Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)’, but more on that later!

Engagement rate

Engagement rate is a metric used in social media which tells you how successfully a post is motivating people to interact with it and is calculated in the same way as CTR and CVR.

Divide the number of people who engaged with your post by the number of people who saw it and multiply the number by 100%.

Engagements / Engagements x 100

Working out your engagement rate allows you to create more successful posts by replicating the successful content or image type.

The higher the engagement rate the more compelling your post.

Evergreen Content

Evergreen content is a term used in content marketing to describe content which isn’t time-sensitive, ages well and retains its value over time.

Posts or links to evergreen content are perfect for use on social media as they don’t lose their impact based on the date they are posted.

For example, an article on the basics of health and well-being is more likely to be evergreen than an article about the latest weight-loss product.

If you’ve ever asked Google a question and received blog posts from years and years past, this is a great example of evergreen content.

Feed

A feed is a generic term for the stream of content which you see from other users on social media.

Follower

The term follower refers to a user who has followed your page or profile on social media.

These users will then see your posts in their feed.

The number of followers which your page or profile indicates the number of people who see your posts in their feed.

FOMO

As mentioned in our explanation of disappearing content FOMO stands for Fear of Missing Out.

FOMO is used by marketers to create a sense of urgency within the potential customer.

This can range from a special offer in an Instagram Story to a countdown clock on a website sale.

Inspiring FOMO encourages users to act there and then rather than buying at a later date.

Geotargeting

Geotargeting is the technique of adjusting your ad content or only displaying it based on the location of a user.

This tool can be used in Google Ads, as well as social ads such as Facebook ads manager.

This allows you to create specific ads based on where they will be shown.

For example, you could set up an Ad promoting a new gym and only show it to users in a 10-mile radius of the gym’s location.

Hashtag #

A hashtag is a way of labelling your posts on social media. Hashtags also allow posts with the same hashtag to be connected to each other.

If you are looking for a specific item you can post a related hashtag into the search bar and it will display all results using that hashtag.

For example, a user seeking the latest items in sustainable style could search #EcoFashion and all related results would be displayed.

As a marketer, you can also follow the popularity of hashtags to see which ones you should include in your content.

Platforms such as Instagram will show you how many posts with a specific hashtag exist. Whilst, LinkedIn tells you how many users are following a specific hashtag.

Impressions

Impressions refer to the number of users that have ‘seen’ your post, ad or website snippet on social media or in the Google search engine results page.

Meme

The term ‘meme’ originally referred to any content that spread, multiplied, and changed in a viral way. Meme is now used to describe a funny piece of text, image or video. (Not to be confused with E Meme-that’s next).

Unique in their ability to let users ‘get in on the joke’ and create their own variations which they often then share.

Memes produced by brands are very tricky to navigate and can often backfire if not executed perfectly. However, if a brand has clever content and a healthy sense of irony it can really connect with their audience.

A really good example of a meme created by a brand is this image by Sainsbury’s poking fun at the similarity between their staff uniforms and the Beyonce/Adidas collaboration.

#SainsBey

E Meme

Now you know what a meme is (see above) you’re ready for the next level of meme, the ‘E Meme’.

To imagine the E Meme you need to think about the most obscure meme you’ve ever seen and double it. An E Meme is a meme that has gone so viral that you would need to live in a cave not to have seen it.

The meaning of the ‘E’ in E Meme is largely unknown, and is cited to stand for various things such as Epic, Earrape?? Explosion and even Empty.

Newsjacking

Newsjacking is the tactic of creating social media content which ‘piggybacks’ on to current events.

This method of marketing is most often used to engage with hashtag trends on platforms such as Twitter.

Performance Marketing

This term refers to any type of marketing which measures the success of very specific goals.

It encompasses Google Ads, Shopping Campaigns, Remarketing and Social Media Ads.

PPC – Pay per click

PPC is a term used to describe paid/performance marketing on platforms such as Google Ads.

It refers to a very popular method of advertising, paying each time a user clicks on your ad.

PPC is not the only method of digital advertising. Both Google Ads and social media platforms allow you to structure your ads so that you pay in a number of different ways.

For example, this could be cost per conversion or by impressions.

Platform

For social, the platform refers to a specific network or channel. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram are all social media platforms.

When it comes to web development, the term is used to describe the system with which the website has been created e.g. WordPress or Squarespace.

Relevance Score

Relevance score is a metric which is attributed to an ad on social media.

Your ad’s relevance score indicates how well your target audience is responding to your ad on a scale of 1 to 10.

The score is based on things such as clicks or likes, and also takes into account negative feedback such as users selecting “I don’t want to see this ad”.

Retargeting

Retargeting is a marketing technique which involves targeting users who have previously interacted with your page or website with an ad.

One example could be an ‘abandoned basket’ ad that displays a discount code for a product that was added to a shopping basket but was not purchased.

ROI – Return On Investment

ROI or return on investment measures the actual revenue which has been created as a result of purchasing customers.

To calculate your ROI for advertising, there is a basic formula to follow:

The net value of sales minus the total cost of your ads equals ROI.

For example, if your Google Ads cost you £120 per week and you made 30 sales of a product with an average net profit of £25, your ROI would be £630.

This only really applies when you are measuring sales or sign-ups, as activities to raise brand awareness or increase followers are much harder to quantify.

Social Listening

Social listening is a term related to consumer insights or market research.

It is how digital marketers track trends and conversations on social media, using specialised software to gather mentions, comments and hashtags around key terms.

These results allow companies to find out what users are saying about their brand or market place and allow them to identify trends.

Targeting

Targeting is an advertising term which refers to how you select the audience to which you would like your ads to be shown.

Both Google and social ads allow you to target potential customers based on specific factors. These can include location, interests, online activity and a number of other factors.

Traffic

Traffic is the number of web users who visit a website or page.

Different to impressions, this requires the user to have clicked on to a site or page rather than have just seen it listed.

Trending

The term trending refers to a topic or event which has experienced a sudden surge in popularity online.

Social networks such as Twitter display trending topics and hashtags as part of their search function.

User-generated content (UGC)

Positive user-generated content is the holy grail of digital marketing.

This usually refers to fan-created content promoting a brand or business and can be in the form of posts, videos, images, reviews etc.

This third-party mark of approval boosts a brands credibility and increases consumer trust in their business.

Brands often use brand advocates to create this positive UGC to encourage users to engage with their social media content.

UGC such as positive reviews on Google My Business or Trust Pilot also serves the same purpose for websites.

Viral

It’s gone Viral! The ultimate buzzword in digital marketing.

The term viral describes a piece of content which has spread exponentially online and typically occurs on social media.

Viral content occurs because a huge number of people share it with their followers. Their followers, in turn, share the same content to their followers and so on. The ultimate snowball effect.

Creating content that goes viral is really sought after as it means you get a huge audience without spending a penny. However, if your content is going to spread far and wide, make sure it’s for the right reasons.

E Meme, Social Listening, Geotargeting: as a digital marketer you need to know your stuff, and now you do.

Understanding digital marketing acronyms and terminology might at first glance seem like an impossible task, but the more you come across these terms the more familiar with them you will become.

And now you’ve got your head around this batch of marketing buzzwords (even E meme) you can get ready for the inevitable swathe of new ones which are right around the corner.

If you need help with anything digital marketing then don’t hesitate to get in touch. Just drop us a line or give us a call. We’ll be happy to help.

Back To The Top

How do I get my business on google maps, is a question many business owners may have pondered.

It’s a familiar feature of internet searches and a quick and easy resource.

We’ve all used Google Maps to find a mechanic or local restaurant. It’s an invaluable resource that millions of users access every day. The benefits of being included in these search results are immense.  Therefore, finding out how to do this is really important.

The answer is Google My Business

With a Google My Business profile, your business will appear whenever a user searches for a business like yours on Google Maps. Not only this, but your business profile will also appear on the main Google Search Page.

A Google My Business profile is easy to create and keep updated. The only thing you will need is an address for your business and a phone line.

Just go to https://www.google.com/business/ and click manage now

You will need to add your business name, street address, phone number and website. You will then be given two options to verify your business; by post or by phone call.

A phone call is the quickest way to verify, and once you have, your profile will be live on Google.

There are lots of different features you can add to Google My Business. You can feature photos, list your services and even include products. You can also add weekly posts to link to special offers or to highlight specific products or services.

Once your profile has been live for a month you will also be able to see how many visitors are landing on your profile and how many of them have taken action.

You can find out how many visitors have asked for directions to your business, visited your website and called you.

It’s a free and invaluable tool which will increase your online presence. There really is no hitch, it’s that easy!

Check out our blog on ‘must-have’ digital marketing tools to discover other ways to improve your marketing. https://brightred.digital/news/must-have-digital-marketing-tools/

You may be forgiven for thinking that the more someone is willing to pay for an ad, the more likely they are to appear at the top of the first page on Google. This is not the case, you can win a higher ad position with a lower cost per click than your competitors.

There’s a process that happens with each Google search to decide which ads will appear for that specific search and in which order they are ranked. 

This is called the ‘ad auction’. But it’s not like a standard auction because the winner is not always the highest bidder. 

Google takes into account how popular your ad is likely to be

At auction time, a lightning-fast calculation takes place. It looks at…

1. The number of people it expects to click the ad
2. How relevant the ad is to the context of the user’s search term
3. The relevance and performance of the page users will land on
4. The amount you’re willing to pay above the reserve price

Your score, combined with the amount you’re bidding determines a value known as Ad Rank. Ads are displayed in descending order according to their Ad Rank. 

This is great news for small businesses!

In many cases, large companies are casting their net far and wide. Their main focus is volume and as a result, they tend to pay more for their ads.

Smaller businesses are able to take more of a targeted approach naturally. By focusing your aim on a specific goal you can compete on ad quality and relevance rather than price.

This can be achieved by creating individual ads and landing pages with the sole aim to boost the sales or leads of a specific product or service.

 If that sounds like a lot of work, that’s precisely why the larger companies struggle.

Sound too good to be true?

“Google wants to get the most money for their ad space, surely?”

Well, sort of. But that’s not their main objective. Relevance is.

Imagine for a minute that the highest bidder always won at auction time. The results page would be flooded with multinational corporations. They’d simply have the monopoly.

Whilst this might seem like good business sense, the results are not likely to be the most relevant to you and your search term.

How long would it take for you to give up on Google if it returned irrelevant results every time you searched for something?

So what’s stopping you?

Setting up an ad using Adwords Express (a user-friendly alternative to Google Ads) is relatively simple. You just need to:

• Set up an account
• Add your billing information
• Set your bid
• Create your ad 
• Press ‘Go’

Making sure that your ad will stand out in a sea of competing ads isn’t quite so simple.

As we mentioned earlier, creating an ad and setting a bid for your cost per click is only a small part of the process. For your ad to rank highly and provide you with a good return on your investment there is more work to do. 

Research into the terms which your customers are looking for and content that calls them to action is vital if you want your ad to help your business grow. 

These things are time-consuming and can be quite complex, which often deters small businesses from using Google Ads. However, the results when an ad is created properly can be phenomenal. 

If you would like to try advertising online but don’t have the time or know-how then give us a shout. We’ll never bamboozle you with jargon or ‘sell to you’ and we’ll only advise using Google Ads if we’re confident that it will work for you.