Have you noticed that your competitors are ‘all over’ social media?

It’s only natural to fear missing out, especially if your social media presence is unloved or out of date. The truth is that, for a lot of small business owners, social media isn’t something that comes naturally.

You may have had the training and tried to discipline yourself to keep it up to date only for something to ‘come up’ that results in you not logging in for months.

Maybe you’ve passed it over to one of your team only to find yourself chasing it at the end of every monthly progress meeting.

Perhaps you’ve talked to an agency that sounded promising but their fees blew any chance of a return on investment (ROI) out of the water.

So why not get college or university student to do it for you? After all, social media is for the young ones right?

The glamorous world of influencers and lifestyle bloggers has undoubtedly had an impact on the ambitions of undergraduates. This has created a surge in keen young marketers looking to gain work experience and placements in social media.

You might find the perfect candidate. A young person with their head screwed on, who’s passionate and knows way more about all of this than you.

Great! But before you go handing over your login credentials there are a few things you should consider.

1. Do you have the time to guide and train them?

If you’re taking on a work placement or hiring a junior member of the team, they are joining you to learn directly about work and the work environment through watching and learning.

It would be unwise and unfair to expect them to ‘hit the ground running’ and revolutionise your social channels. Even if they’re more than willing to do so!

Whilst they might understand how social media works, they won’t know how your business works. You’ll need to undertake the same onboarding process that you do for all new employees.

They’ll look to you for instruction, critique and confirmation. You’ll need to provide them with a brief and a set of goals so that you both know what’s expected and how it needs to be delivered.

You don’t need to be a social media guru if you know what is possible and what you want to achieve.

2. Do you know what you want to achieve?

If you don’t know what you want out of social media, how can your new employee be expected to succeed?

A successful digital marketing campaign is very often multi-faceted. Put simply, social media, when used well, supports the rest of your marketing efforts. This ‘marketing mix’ should be made up entirely of methods solely intended to deliver what you want to achieve.

For example, if you’re looking to generate sales or leads, you may consider paid advertising. If you want to establish trust and credibility you might choose to create content that positions your business as an industry expert or thought leader.

Social media offers you the opportunity to adopt a consultative approach to selling through direct engagement with your customers. It’s more than just a platform to share content, it’s about creating or contributing to a community.

3. Do you trust them with your customers?

If you agree that social media is about engagement, you’ll also agree that the person monitoring and responding to potential customers is essentially a brand representative.

You know your business better than anyone. If you’re entrusting your social media channels to someone else, it’s important that the person understands your business well.

They’ll need to be able to handle customer enquiries, provide advice on your products and/or services and correspond in a manner that is in keeping with your business’ ‘tone of voice’.

Encouraging engagement and contributing to an online community is a skill that is best learned through practice.

4. Are you willing to let them make mistakes?

Even if you know what you want to achieve and you’re confident that your new employee is capable of delivering, it’s still unrealistic to expect immediate results.

What they lack in experience should be made up in willingness to persevere and learn. The only way to learn is through trial and error. With experience comes consistency and success.

You can start them off by letting them know about your customers.

Ask your new employee to think about what your customers are looking for and to create content that will provide them with value (.i.e content that answers a commonly asked question, provides a resource that helps your customers make informed decisions or inspires them to action).

By offering valuable content instead of just asking for sales or leads you are more likely to see engagement. More engagement results in a stronger community and more credibility for your offering.

5. Followers don’t automatically mean results

Followers, likes, subscribes and mentions might seem like a good way to measure success, but the truth is that they can be misleading.

That’s not to say that growing your audience shouldn’t be one of your key performance indicators (KPI). It just means that it’s not always a reliable way to judge your return on investment.

A social media campaign, like any marketing campaign, should be targeted (i.e. you know you want to engage with). Some campaigns may be ‘laser focused’, to appeal directly with a specific group of people. Others may reach to a wider audience.

It’s important to consider the type of following you are looking to create. If you have a small following of customers that regularly engage with you, it is ultimately far more valuable than a large following of vaguely interested users.

In Summary

Social media is a public-facing media that many of your customers are using. You don’t have to manage the channels personally but, as the business owner, you need to be aware that the person that does is influencing those that engage with your brand.

There’s nothing wrong with taking on work experience, a placement student or a junior marketer. The low starting salaries and the opportunity for an employee to develop into a skilled member of your team may suit the needs of your business perfectly. But you do need to recognise that your responsibilities don’t end with their employment.

If you know what you’re looking to achieve, have a plan for how you’re going to achieve it then you’re well placed to give it a go. Just remember that by employing someone without any experience, you’re committing yourself for the long haul.

You need to be willing to give them your time and direction, help them to learn and allow them to experiment with new ideas. If you leave them to their own devices, it’s likely to result in frustration from both sides.

It’s a commonly used term but… what does SEO stand for?

SEO stands for “search engine optimisation.” It is the process of getting traffic from the free, organic, editorial or natural results on search engines

Why is it such an evocative subject?

All major search engines (Google, Bing etc) have search results pages (SERPs). The main part of the SERP is the listing of results returned by the search engine in response to a search term.

The order or ranking is decided by a large number of factors that judge the relevancy, quality and trustworthiness of a webpage. Put simply, the search engines dictate the rankings. Which can ruffle a lot of feathers. Particularly for a business that is outranked by a competitor offering an inferior product or service.

There are no shortcuts (that don’t risk penalisation) and unlike paid advertising, you can’t just pay to be near the top.

So why bother with SEO?

To answer this question, it’s important that you remember the original question; ‘what does SEO stand for?’. It’s the process of optimising content to attract traffic from search engines.

Saying that you’re uninterested in SEO is equivalent of saying that you’re not interested in appearing on search engines.

The truth is that without visibility on search engines, the amount of business generated by your website is limited. The only traffic you will get will come from sending people directly to your content, through other means of inbound marketing.

So, how do you achieve the coveted top spot on the search engine results page?

This is the question that SEO professionals hear the most from their clients. “What is the one thing I need to do to get my website at number one on Google? Is it magic? hidden keywords? or just lots of smoke and mirrors?”

The answer is none of those things. Nor is there just one crucial thing to do.

There are lots of different things that need doing and it starts by understanding that no website is always ‘number one on Google’. Google displays websites in the order of relevance for the user. For example, if the user searches for ‘health food shops near me’ the results they see will be ranked according to location.

The SEO process is vital if you want potential customers to find your business, without you having to find them first!

If you successfully rank for a popular, relevant search term you can expect traffic to your website. To achieve this, there is a process.

First things first. Make sure that the content is relevant. Use online tools to research the search terms that people are using to search for your products and services. You must also make sure that there’s a good chance of ranking for them, judge the competition accordingly.

For example…

You’ve targeted the search term ‘top quality Italian food’ for your restaurant’s homepage.

When people type ‘top quality Italian food’ in your locality. You want to make sure that your restaurant appears near the top of the results listings.

To achieve this there are a number of things that need to be in place. These include:

• The optimisation of interesting and engaging content using the correct HTML tags.
• User experience analysis – allowing a user to navigate your website without obstacles
• Effective ‘Calls To Action’ throughout the website to encourage user engagement.
• Snappy meta descriptions to engage with the user from the SERP.
• Creating and submitting a sitemap to ensure that search engines can crawl the website.

And many, many more.

SEO is an ever-changing process, but the results are worth the effort.

If you are serious about increasing traffic through to your website and want to build a long-lasting presence on the web then SEO is crucial. It can seem like a mammoth task, but it can be very cost effective in the long term. Especially when compared to paid listings.

You’ll be able to see the results for yourself by using web analytics to measure the impact made. Furthermore, you’ll notice improvements in the most important area; the profit margins.

If you don’t have the time or resources within your business to handle your SEO, then employing an SEO expert is a good idea. We can advise you on the most effective way to climb the rankings.

If you’re interested in how SEO can improve your business get in touch with us. We’ll discuss the pros and cons with you to help you to make a decision that meets with your immediate needs, is future-proof and supports the growth of your business for years to come.

What do you know about digital marketing tools?

You might already use some and be interested in finding more, or this could be completely new territory. Either way, there is always something new to try when it comes to enhancing your online presence.

As a smart business owner, you will always be striving for ways to stand out from the crowd, create better customer awareness, new leads and increased sales.

A good digital marketing strategy is crucial for reaching customers online. To make it really successful, you need a digital marketing strategy that makes use of effective digital marketing tools to ensure that all customers are being reached.

Search Engine Optimisation, Performance Marketing and Content Marketing will drive traffic to your website.

When it comes to digital marketing tools, SEO is where most people find themselves needing help. With so many tools available all impacting search engine presence, finding the right one is easier said than done. Here are a couple of our favourites…

Ahrefs

Pros:

Clear easy to use interface with a wide range of tools. These include a keyword explorer, content explorer and rank tracker. The site explorer also enables you to research your competitors and discover how their SEO performance is shaping up.

Cons:

The monthly subscription costs are quite high, making Ahrefs a considerable investment.

Screaming Frog

Pros:

The SEO Spider is a crawler that allows you to crawl websites’ URLs and fetch key onsite elements to analyse onsite SEO. This tool is particularly effective in identifying any broken links and pages, bad redirects and any other errors affecting your site.

Cons:

A complicated user interface takes some time to get used to and is not a reccomended tool for beginners. The crawl is very in-depth and contains a lot of information which can make it hard for users to identify pertinent information.

Display Retargeting, Email and Direct Marketing are all used to target sales.

Typically, consumers interact with a campaign 9 times after their first engagement before finally making a purchase. These interactions range from search ads, display banners and social media posts to email offers.

Display retargeting is a form of advertising that is targeted from a users previous online activity. It’s a rapidly increasing and effective tool for enticing people who have recently visited your site to return.

Retargeting display ads are extremely efficient at getting customers back to abandoned baskets to make purchases if they’ve has second thoughts or decided to shop around.

Google Ads Retargeting is the go-to for many businesses as they are already using Google for their regular online advertising. Google is the biggest player in the field and has plenty of information on retargeting for you to learn from.

Content Marketing, organic and paid social media all increase brand awareness and can aid in sales too.

Blogging and posting on social media is a fantastic way to reach a bigger audience. Facebook alone has over 2 billion monthly active users, Instagram 700 million and Twitter 320 million.

With users spending so much time on social media, it has become one of the most important channels for brands to utilise. This is why social media management tools have become invaluable to all businesses using this channel.

The power of social media goes far beyond targeting users through organic reach.

Paid platforms get your brand in front of large groups of active users that you would be otherwise unable to reach. All major social networks have huge amounts of user data, meaning businesses can target customers on a very specific level.

Many brands find paid social media an extremely effective place to pay for impressions.

Nanigans is an easy to use tool which enables multichannel advertising with an emphasis on Facebook marketing.

The software has access to the Facebook Exchange to enable retargeting and a vast array of other tools. The platform also boasts features focused on Twitter ads and growing followers on Instagram.

Managing a multi-channel marketing strategy can be complex and time-consuming. However, statistics show that multi-channel shoppers spend 3 times more than single-channel shoppers.

Businesses with multi-channel marketing strategies also report an 89% retention rate, which is definitely worth the hard work.

To help you achieve your business goals you can make use of the plethora of digital marketing tools now available.

You may be familiar with a few of these tools, others might be new to you. From simplifying your digital advertising to managing your social media, each one will assist you in keeping things running smoothly.

Here at BrightRED, we offer our clients the opportunity to develop and grow their business by creating a digital strategy focussed on their long term goals.

We execute multi-channel digital campaigns, which produce real results. All campaigns are constantly monitored and analysed. This ensures we are achieving the desired impact, and to help us create future strategies.

BrightRED is an ethical agency with satisfied clients who benefit from our open and honest approach. We believe in making digital marketing simple. We won’t bombard you with meaningless statistics that you don’t understand.

Digital Marketing CAN work for your business.

If you want to build a strong successful business, it’s imperative to have a sound digital marketing strategy in place from day one.

Interested and want to learn more? Get in touch with us and we’ll be more than happy to talk it through with you.

Performance marketing generates sales for your website.

So, what is performance marketing?

In short, performance marketing is advertising that you only pay for when you have received the agreed result. The biggest advantage of this type of marketing is that it is low-risk and specifically intended to boost sales.

This article will show you how to make the most out of performance marketing.

The most common form of advertising online is ‘pay per click’, commonly known as PPC.

PPC focuses on actions such as leads, subscriptions, conversions and sales and you can tailor your campaign to suit your needs.

If its visits to your website to generate customer enquiries or sales then PPC may be a good fit. This method ensures that you only pay when a customer clicks through to your website. You can also rest assured that you’re in full control of how much you want to pay for that click.

If you want to ‘get your brand out there’ and raise your visibility on the web then another type of online advertising, Cost Per Impression (CPI) can be a really effective method. With CPI you pay a fee when the ad is visible whilst the page is being browsed. The buyer doesn’t have to click on the advert, but they will have been exposed to your brand. Should the user click on your ad, no additional cost is incurred.

To make the most of your performance advertising you need to know what your customer is looking for.

This means doing some research, and lots of it! You need to find out where your target customer browses on the web, which sites do they visit and what are they looking for.

Unlike traditional advertising such as a print ad in a magazine where you pay a set fee and have no idea how many people have actually seen your ad, you only pay when a customer has actually interacted with your advert.

Performance marketing is a growing trend that is predicted to grow at a 10 percent rate through 2020.

Keywords

Most online ads are structured around keyword searches. These keywords are what your customer types into the search bar in order to seek out the content they are looking for.

If you are looking to sell your brand new range of trainers then you need to make sure that the keyword ‘trainers’ is included in your ad. This means that your ad will appear for anyone searching for trainers.

But what if you only sell running trainers? You won’t want to pay for people searching for fashion or kids trainers clicking on your ad.

This is where your research will pay off, you need to find out which keyword your customers are searching for and which is the most cost-effective for your business.

Your ad might be less expensive and much more successful with a narrower search term. For example including the keyword ‘high-performance running shoes’ will mean that you are only paying for the right type of customers to click. Google ads allow you to target multiple keywords at one time, meaning you can see which ones are most effective.

With performance marketing, you can also view real-time measurable results such as the number of clicks. You can even find out which days of the week and times of day are most successful allowing you to make immediate changes to any part of your campaign.

If you don’t have the time to research keywords or creating digital ads is not your forte, then a performance marketing expert can do the job for you.

Cost-effective digital advertising campaigns

We work with our clients on performance marketing campaigns which generate real results.

Keywords

We do the research for you and target keywords that will ensure the right customers are clicking on your ad.

Relevance

It used to be the way that whoever paid the most money got the best ads. This is no longer the case.

As with anything search related these days, relevance plays a major contributing part. If the page you are looking to send customers to isn’t relevant to the ad we can create bespoke landing pages to ensure that the ad is displayed at a cost-effective price.

Whether it’s a product page or a page focused on generating leads, we can ensure that you get the most out of each click. We also set up conversion tracking, so we know exactly how your campaign is performing

Traffic stopping headlines

Our experienced staff write enticing search ads or design eye-catching display ads that really encourage interaction. We can help you decide whether an ad on the search network or a beautiful display network ad will perform best. Maybe it’s both!

Results

The results which your ad generates will be carefully analysed by us on a weekly basis. We will regularly communicate these findings to you and make any adjustments which could further improve performance.

These results might not necessarily be based on click-throughs, they could be based on visitors filling in a contact form or calling a contact number. Whatever it is, our monthly reports will contain the information which you need.

We make sure you understand the full picture and we don’t pull the wool over your eyes.

When it comes to performance marketing we tell you what is and isn’t working, and we’ve always got a plan to improve on success.

Making it easy

We never lock our clients into a minimum contract, we like to be flexible. For as long as you’re happy with your digital advertising results you’ll stay with us.

Can we help?

If you’re interested in performance marketing you can book a FREE 1-hour review with us by giving us a call on 01772 978927, or email us at hello@bredightred.digital. There’s absolutely no obligation, and you’ll leave with our recommendations for your business.