Category: Scientific Marketing

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Your Website Is Your Window The World …

… are you ready to start marketing yet?

Your Website Marketing Banner

Your website is your hub for all your online business dealings

As a website and marketing developer, I have found that it is crucial for businesses to understand that having a website or that having an online-presence — no matter whether it is eBay, Etsy, Shopify, et.al. — is only one leg of the process and does not equate to online sales. It sets you up for online sales, but it is not the right tool for the next phase of this process.

Think of it like this. A carpenter has a toolbox full of tools, however, even with all those tools, a building will not get built without the carpenter putting his skills to the task.

Regarding your website “Understanding the all the components (the ones that drive conversions) is separate from the build — although still integrated with your overall strategy.” ~ Trevor Greenfield from Redwood SEO

Your WebsiteAlong with your website — other things to think about!

Getting noticed — via SEO, Social Media, et.al. — is only part of the plan. In today’s modern marketing, it is crucial to know the different awareness levels of your varying targets so your outbound messaging has the right timing to the intended target. This often overlooked ‘timing’ component is a crucial step.

More information about marketing your website…

Your Website — if designed correctly — will allow you to deliver the right message at the right time; a crucial component of inbound marketing, I suggest you contact me directly and we can chat about you and your business.

If you are looking for more information about marketing your website, I have written about this in two blogs that may interest you.

  1. VISIT: dickinsonent.com/cortex/the-right-message/ — where I talk about delivering the right message at the right time.
  2. VISIT: dickinsonent.com/cortex/marketing-messages/ — this is about the marketing messages that you will put out
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Marketing Your Business Is Like Farming

Marketing your business is like farming — planning, patience, and diligence, will bring your reward. 

Marketing Your Business — Content Marketing Banner

While physical marketing still exists, content marketing is how marketing predominantly happens today. So in marketing your business, you must plant the seed for your ideal customer to see; then maintain the best practices available regarding landing pages & content; and last but not least, stay on task to navigate the natural disasters.

This process is crucial to the results that most are looking to achieve. In fact, the parallels between marketing and farming are almost identical.

“Many people hope that inbound marketing will provide a quick fix for their marketing and sales goals; however, like food, it takes time for potential clients to be ready to buy.” ~ Lydia Di Francesco — Marketing and Brand Awareness Expert

So “How do I start” you may be thinking… simply read on.

The Start Of Marketing Your Business — Plant Your Seed

“Prospects go through stages. Your job is to nurture them like a plant as they move from seed to seedling, to healthy, full-grown, productive, and alive.” ~ Pamela Wilson — Author of Master Content Marketing

Marketing Your Business — Digital Marketing Is Like Farming
SOURCE: topdogsocialmedia.com

As with any business, you must start somewhere — marketing your business in today’s business landscape is no different.

Planting the seed that you are an expert or have the best widget is a process. You must create a way for the message to get to the intended target (i.e. advertising, emailing, etc.), develop compelling content (e.g. a strong benefit-driven message), and enlist a capture mechanism to get gated material.

Maintain The Best Practices Available in Marketing Your Business

“The right sales and marketing strategies play an essential role in the success of your business. Developments in technology have opened up entirely new ways to market and sell products and services. Best practice now involves harnessing the power of the Internet, email and mobile telephony to increase the effectiveness of getting products and services to the customer.” ~ Info Entrepreneurs

Marketing Your Business — Middle of Funnel MethodologyDiscovering what works for marketing your business can be a challenge for many small businesses.  The resources mixed with the budget are often limited; and then there is message creation, timing insight, and the whole ‘what do I do now’ factor. These all play a part in the development of a concise plan and knowing these will help you succeed with marketing your business.

That said, this mid-funnel methodology is broad in scope and often is different for each business. So rather than drone on, I recommend you allow me to talk to you about it at no cost to you.  Set a chat time in 3 clicks via my online calendar.

Stay On Task And Navigate The Natural Disasters

“The best way for your business to cope with a natural disaster is to have a plan before it strikes. Time and clear thinking are luxuries in an emergency situation, which is why it is so important to be prepared.” ~ Government of Queensland, Australia

Marketing Your Business — Business Crisis AheadAnd while [they] are talking about getting your business ready for a natural disaster such as flooding and cyclones, the methodology is the same. 

The reality, not every campaign will work out. There will be some trial and error in the beginning, but this information is super valuable when you go to develop a strategy and business plan that will be the ruler by which you can measure your progress. This plan is the sailing plan by which business owners navigate economic trends, industry forces, natural disasters and other variables.

Have You Heard Of Marketing Your Business With Inbound Marketing?

If you have not been under a rock for the past 5 years, surely you have heard of “inbound marketing”.

In summary, it is the act of setting in place a system that approaches the potential customer with engaging content and compelling CTA’s (calls to action) and drives a potential ‘ideal client’ to your proverbial business doorstep.

That all said, the timing must be right! Download our free guide to help you deliver the right message to the right target at the right time.

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Which is Better? Online vs. Print Advertising

Advert Spending By Media Type
Source: OnlineMarketingTrends.com — As Projected for 2015 & 2016

“So, which is better, online or traditional advertising?”

A client recently asked me just that question.  The answer, however, is not as straightforward as you might think.  So in a twist of tradition, here is the ‘meat’ of my answer: “Advertising success depends on two factors:

  1. Who is the target?
    and
  2. What are your goals?”

Let’s break down these two components…

Who is the advertising target?

Often overlooked, ‘knowing your target’ is a crucial piece of an effective sale conversion strategy.

“Everyone should want to buy my [widget/service]!”, a client told me once; and while potentially true, research shows that timing & relevance are a much bigger factor in making a buying decision. Crucial pieces of effective sale conversion strategy rely on saying the right message at the right time. As such, knowing your target and their buying cycles tends to lead to a significant lift in success when it comes to any advertising.

Demographics are a huge aspect of knowing your target

Today’s ability to track age, gender, location, how they saw your advert, how long they stayed, did they share it, etc., are at the core of the advantage of digital advertising. In fact, “Direct Response Marketing” techniques are heavily invested shopper data in an effort to ‘personalize’ the shopping experience for each individual.

Advertising GoalsWhat are your advertising goals?

Today’s goals seem different, but they’re not. In fact, the goals have not changed until the last 20 years. It is still all about the conversion of the audience or “target” — are you seeing the tie into the first advertising component above?

So, what did traditional advertising discover that digital ads still need to work on?

In short, ‘message effectiveness’. Tradition advertisers recognize that the timing at which their ads display — and the core of the offer — must be in alignment with the awareness level of the target. While simple messages like “free trial” and “try it now” are synonymous with today’s advertising, traditional adverts, traditional methodologies tend to focus on an awareness level that works off the brand awareness level — and consequentially, the true reason people buy — how the experience made them feel.

Today’s conclusion to this deep advertising question

I could probably write 10 more blogs on this subject and only scratch the surface, but the bottom line is, both types have their place. A wise marketing mentor taught me a lesson that I will never forget: “Never put all your eggs in one basket!”.

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