You are invited to… UNLOCKED: SEO and Video Secrets

Don’t be a Digital Caveman!

After the success of our last SEO event, Creative Agency Secrets has teamed with KOR Creative to bring you Unlocked: SEO and Video Secrets!

With more customers reaching for businesses that utilise digital channels, it pays to invest in a good online strategy. SEO can help your website gain more traffic and leads, whilst video provides a visual appeal. Video and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) are two key elements to increase your search engine ranking.seo video

Rebecca Caroe and Steve Wallace have prepared a breakfast seminar where you can learn how to attract quality traffic to your website, through SEO and Video.

For one of our clients, we helped to boost their website from the second page of Google search to the second link on the first page! Click here to see how SEO helped Baucher Consulting get to the top of the search list!

You will also have the opportunity to network with local business owners while feasting on a breakfast of your choice at this exclusive CAS and KOR event!

There are a limited amount of seats, so be sure to get in quick.

Enter the code BIZDOJO2017 for a 50% discount at the checkout!

Reserve your space here!

SEO

Steve Wallace (KOR Creative)

SEO

Rebecca Caroe (Creative Agency Secrets)

 

Social media logos on keyboard

The Event Promotion Playbook

You want to run an event for your business promotion, but are unsure how to promote it and get attendees.  This playbook of tips encourages cross-publicity from offline to online and helps to build up an email mailing list which will also help with future promotions.

Starting with a focus on Social Media

1 – Creating excellent content about your event speaker(s).  This should be original so ask for an interview and video them as they talk to you.
2 – Edit their interview into 90 seconds long videos.  Include a start and end “card” with the event logo and your business URL.  Add sub-titles so the Facebook feed will play them and the watcher can understand.  Start to publish on Facebook and LinkedIn and link to the video on other relevant channels (local newspapers, Neighbourly, Chamber of Commerce etc)
3 – Publish the video to your Website blog
4 – Make a picture of the presenter and include a quotation from their 2017 speech.  Also share this on Facebook and on your blog.  On the picture, always have your URL
5 – Follow the presenter’s personal blog / websites.  This is so you can do curated content.
6 – Every Friday send an email to your mailing list with a link to the video you published that week.  Also include links to the other articles written by the speaker(s) from your list in 5 above.
Here is a good example of a preview video from a conference
https://vimeo.com/156510830
7 – Encourage readers to add comments to the videos as you share them.  What questions does this raise for you?  How would you solve this? Does this match with your experience?
8 – On the website, add a prominent signup to news form either by lightbox or on the page header – explain what people get when they sign up (Fridaynews with new educational video content and links to expert articles)
9 – Also publish the newsletter on the blog every week
10 – As the event gets closer, add in more publicity for the speakers on the theme of the event itself – you can do this by asking the speaking team to allow you to interview them by Hangout or Skype video chat.  Your interview should be 3 questions only.
11 – Get your video edited down to 90 seconds as in 2 above.
12 – Make a still image of the person with a quote from the video (just like above)
13 – Share on social, add to the newsletter, encourage people to comment or ask questions.  Ask the speakers to also share the video onto their website and social channels.
14 – Continue weekly until you release the tickets for the event.  By this time you should have a good mailing list of prospects and this will help early bird ticket sales.
The Webstock conference in Wellington each February is a very good example o this methodology – join their mailing list to see how it can be done.  Note their newsletter also shares jobs and event listings which is a very nice way to enable them to stay relevant in the year between conferences.
Go rock your event… and don’t forget to video it and release the video afterwards so the people who didn’t come realise what they missed!
Traditional and Digital Marketing

4 Points That Suggest Traditional and Digital Marketing Methods are Similar

There will always be debate when it comes to marketing a business using digital and traditional marketing methods, and while there are no right or wrong ways when it comes to marketing a business, you’ll find a lot of business owners prefer one of the routes rather than both. Some marketers prefer traditional marketing because their target audience is local, whereas others prefer digital marketing because they’re trying to target an audience on a global scale.

Traditional and Digital Marketing

Traditional and Digital Marketing ImageCredit: LinkedIn

However, both techniques are a lot more similar than people think and here are a few points that would suggest this.

 

Both Techniques Offer Cost-Effective Marketing Strategies

The great benefit of both techniques is that while the cost in marketing can vary a lot depending on the methods used, both techniques still offer free or very affordable marketing strategies. Take digital marketing, for example, where there are no costs involved when it comes to social media marketing unless a business wants to take advantage of one of the advertising platforms available. The same also goes for a traditional marketing method such as leaflet distribution – leaflets cost very little to print and paying someone to distribute them is affordable.

If you’re looking to market a business but you’re unsure of what route to take, consider obtaining a master in marketing online using an online MSM program, as that will give you the knowledge you need to take your business forward.

Each Marketing Strategy Can Target a Specific Demographic

With the help of social media platforms, it’s now very easy to get insight on demographics so you can target a specific age range or country, which makes digital marketing very easy. The same goes for traditional marketing methods such as leaflet distribution – you can easily target family homes or specific age ranges thanks to local/online records and user statistics.

Excellent Chance of Success

Whether you opt for the traditional marketing route, digital marketing, or even both, you can be sure that both techniques offer a brilliant chance of success if the correct marketing strategies are deployed. There is no higher chance of success rate for either technique as each offers different prospects depending on the type of business and audience you’re targeting – so taking advantage of both techniques could prove to be successful.

Techniques Can Be Used Together

The benefit of both marketing techniques is that they can be used together. If your business is new, you can always opt for a digital marketing strategy using social media to keep costs at a minimum, but there’s nothing wrong with using both techniques together as your business starts to grow. Most businesses will advertise locally using postcards and leaflets, but then they will also start a social media marketing campaign around the same time to get more exposure.

Both marketing techniques offer a variety of benefits depending on the business that implements them. However, even though they are completely different techniques in terms of the work involved in marketing, the above suggests that they are, in fact, quite similar after all.

  

3 Ways to Improve Customer Retention

3 Ways to Improve Customer Retention

Are you looking to build a loyal following among your customers? Great marketing strategies brought them to you, but now it’s your job to keep them. Marketing can only do so much and it is important to understand that there is nothing more effective than customer care when seeking to grow your market. Poor customer service is one of the leading reasons why so many consumers hop from one company to the next, and if you want to keep your current customer base while adding new customers along the way, it would pay to focus on making improvements to customer retentions skills.

Here are 3 of the most important to begin with.

1. Stop Talking and Start Listening

Sometimes it’s hard to stop talking about the products or services you are promoting because you, personally, know what they can do and how effective they are. Unfortunately, all the benefits you might be talking about may not be what the customer is looking for. Instead of giving them a sales pitch, why don’t you listen to exactly what it is they are looking for? What brought them to you may not be what they need, but by listening to them you may be able to provide them with an alternative solution. Consumers are literally fed up with high powered sales techniques and above all, they want to be heard!3 Ways to Improve Customer Retention 1

2. When You MUST Talk – Give Them Something of Value

Sometimes you don’t need to say very much at all if you can point your customers in the direction of where they can find the information they are seeking.

For example, you are explaining a new electronic device your company just launched and a very important feature is the amazing circuitry on the printed circuit board or PCB. Many consumers are technologically challenged, so why not provide an extensive FAQ on your website? Give them information on exactly what a printed circuit board is and why its design is a critical element in your device. Perhaps any safeguards you’ve built in against hardware Trojans can be mentioned so they will know that you care about their security as well as making the almighty buck!

And Air New Zealand helps its customers work out what sort of holiday they prefer using a simple quiz.  This groups customers into segments which will affect future messaging and content served to them.  Gamifying customer segments increases engagement and helps customers to self-identify as different to the brand.

3. Improve Your Own Knowledge

It’s important at this point to know the difference between a consumer who knows little about electronics, for example, and a consumer who is market savvy. Just because they don’t know what a PCB is or how its design can impact the device you are promoting, doesn’t mean they can tell the difference between a salesman and a tech-savvy associate! If you want to retain customers, it pays 3 Ways to Improve Customer Retention 2to learn as much as you can about the products and/or services you offer. You never know when that one answer to an important question a customer comes back with next week is the main reason they stay with your company for future sales.

In the end, it’s all about hearing what your customers are saying so that you can give them well-informed answers to any questions which might arise. If they can believe in you, the person they are communicating with, they can believe in your company. Salesforce says that as many as 70% of customers look for that all-important connection. Do you want to retain customers you’ve sold? Listen to what they are saying! Sometimes, it’s as simple as that.

Referral marketing illustration

Case Study: Three ways to increase referrals

Working with a client who makes animated explainer videos – Case Study of how to grow referrals.  We discuss three ways they can get more referral business.

Referral marketing illustration

Image by NWeSource

1.  Innovations in your specialism

Every market changes over time – fads pass, new ideas surface.  So write about what’s happening in your market.  Consider writing about styles, techniques, innovations to be added onto an explainer video (if that’s your business).  So which new styles are coming about?  Where did each one come from – background and timeline of the evolution.

In the writing analyse the change, what are the component parts, which elements stand out.   You could add in new uses for explainer videos – for example in a PitchPack video brochure.

The goal:

  • Give the reader the education and tools to make an analysis themselves of whether their archive of explainer videos is getting dated
  • Show your opinion as a market leader on what’s good, what’s new and what’s to be avoided
  • Create content which you can share with past clients and encourage them to update their videos and re-buy from you.  [This is referring back to prior clients, not new ones.]

2.  Create a Call list

You need to speak to people if you sell in Business to Business (B2B).  The best way to start a dialogue is with Open Questions.  These encourage a longer response from the other person and give you insight into their views on a topic.  Any insight enables you to position your services as a solution to issues they raise.

Here’s an example of a call prompt (not really a script).

“Hello, Rebecca.  I sent you our article about new styles in explainer videos.  I just wanted to get your opinion on it.  What did you think?”

Can you imagine how the call will develop into a discussion?  

Yes, so can I.

Whether you get a new job immediately or not, you stand a good chance of doing some good things

  • Checking your contact database is still current – add new names in if you can
  • Finding out the current situation in the client business with regard to your service offering
  • Reminding them that you exist and have been trusted with work in the past
  • Updating your CRM with lead status (cold, warm, hot)
  • Possibly opening new opportunities for new business.

Create this call list from a list of all your clients from the past 3 years (more if you’ve been in business longer).  Also add to the list from your Linked In connections and those from your co-workers.  Goal to have 100 people on the list to call.

Plan on making 3 calls per week, per person in your team.  Yes, new business development requires discipline and is hard.   We can teach you how…

3.  Getting Referrals

Start to build a referral marketing engine into your daily project work as well.  We find what works best is to connect with them early in the project.

Start with a “Happy call” when you ring asking for feedback on how the job is going.

Then build on this with a similar call just after the project has been delivered.  Remind them of what they said on the earlier call.  This is the moment to ask for a testimonial for the project team.

After getting this, I usually wrap up by asking

Do you know anyone else who might like to meet us? 

My goal is to get two names of people as an introduction.  My big tip to make this successful is to ask the question and then to stay silent until the other person has come up with a name…. stay silent as they “ummm” and say “maybe”, “well”,  “I’m not sure” and still stay silent and they will 80% of the time come up with a name.  If they firmly say no, you can prompt with – maybe a co-worker in a different team or maybe someone from your previous job and see if that can deliver a name.

How to use the introduction….. write an email to BOTH people.   This is my template email that works.

Subject: NAME OF THE INTRODUCER

Hi Alex,

Our AGENCY NAME has just completed a job for INTRODUCER and s/he suggested you as someone who might like to get to know us.

We completed an explainer video (link) for INTRODUCER.

I took a look at your website and [something helpful here which they can use immediately].

Looking forward to connecting.

Lots of love from Rebecca (only joking… use an appropriate sign off).

I always cc the introducer in this message so they know what I said.

In the email you could tell them about the customer satisfaction scores or Net Promoter Score which your team has acquired over time. Or link to TrustPilot Reviews or your Google My Business Review score.

The follow up call is just a friendly get to know you call. No selling.  But if you feel it’s gone well you can follow up with an email linking to a helpful resource from your website.  Here’s one I use frequently.

By the way, I found your website copyright is out of date (2012), here’s an article we wrote which explains how to add code to your website so this updates automatically every 1st January.  Just send this link to your web developers and tell them to make the change – do it once, and it’ll run forever

This is an example of the type of helpful marketing tips which Creative Agency Secrets writes in our newsletter and blog.  We want to enable you to buy web services as an informed consumer (and we don’t build websites, we help our clients to use them actively to win new client business).

Cute eh?

Then you have to put them onto a stay-in-touch programme or ask if they will allow you to stay in touch with a newsletter subscription.  Either way, one call won’t win you business but a dedicated process to provide utility (usefulness) to them, will ensure you are remembered and they take your calls in future.

neutral face, happy face, sad face with finger pointing at happy face

How to Deal with Negative Online Reviews

Online reviews are a cornerstone of how consumers make decisions whether to buy a product or not.  If you see a product that you want, you will read through the reviews to make sure that you are going to be getting what you need from the product.  If the product website does not have reviews, the odds are good that you are searching online for one that does have them.  But what if you are the business that is getting reviewed?  There is a certain level of expectation that you are not going to have 100% positive reviews, right?  Here we discuss some ways that you can handle negative reviews online.

The Site Does Not Matter

It does not matter if the review was posted on a very well-known site or one that you might have never heard of, people will find it online.  That means you have to take all of them seriously and get a plan in order so that you can defend your business against them.  The first time that you see a negative online review about your business you are probably wishing that you had an online public relations degree.  Build a plan and stick to it and then reviews will eventually get taken care of on all the sites they are posted to.

Contact the Review Site First

Depending on the review site where you found the negative review, you might be able to contact them about it.  Take a minute and search through the site to see if you can find contact information relevant to your review and how to handle it properly.  If you think the review was added by a competitor, you may have a leg to stand on to get it removed, but the process will have to be fool proof. 

Join In and Engage The Reviewer

If the website that you find the negative reviews on allows you to respond to them, take a minute and do just that.  Being able to explain the situation to them and possibly clear up the reasons they left the review is the first step to repairing your reputation.  There is not really any need to hire a public relations expert for this, but an intern working towards an online masters in public relations might not be a bad place to start looking for help.

Always Encourage Positive Reviews from Customers

In many cases, and to keep things fair, you might find that negative reviews are not going to disappear from the internet.  If that is the case, you can combat them by asking your future customers to leave positive reviews if they are satisfied with your business.  There is nothing wrong with asking for some help if they are truly happy with your services.  Over time, this will push the negative reviews and bring your overall average rating up, helping your business.

Take a minute to take a look at your business and if there is anything that might cause a negative review.  There could be a few easy fixes that you can do to keep the negative reviews to a minimum.  Good luck!