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Online Marketing — Understanding The Fundimentals

What if there were a way to make sense of online marketing? Here’s the thing, it’s not just about the tools available to you. You also need to understand the fundamentals of marketing so you can get the most out of those tools. It’s certainly not easy when you’re a business owner by trade and a marketer by necessity.

Keep This In Mind About Online Marketing

If you were asked where most of your business comes from today, what would you say? Many small businesses tell me their best successes are “word of mouth.” situations. When done correctly, online marketing provides more opportunities to extend the word of mouth… and we all know how important that next sale is to your business.

Online Marketing On Keyboard KeyAs you know, business is built on relationships and ultimately sales. And as a marketer, it should be your goal to establish a rapport and drive repeat business through what I call “brand loyalty”. Online marketing further allows you to strengthen those existing relationships with current customers, and more easily build new ones with new customers.

If you are an experienced business owner or just considering getting started, you may already be overwhelmed by too many tools, never-ending expert advice, and the many marketing myths presented as fact. If you’re doing online marketing, you may be frustrated to find that it’s not as easy as many people claim it to be.

You Should First Know, You’re Not Alone.

If you’re like many clients, I know you’re busy trying to run and grow your business. From purchasing to merchandising to managing and more, you’re wearing many hats and don’t have the luxury of time to figure out how to navigate the cluttered and noisy world of online marketing.

I’ve mentioned that word of mouth now happens online. People are talking up their favourite businesses directly on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram; they are consuming and sharing content they find useful or entertaining from those businesses; they are asking for connections specifically for recommendations and your business has an opportunity to be part of more of these conversations.

Online Marketing - TOMASo, How Do You Do That?

The more you can do to keep your business top of mind and make it easy for others to talk about you, the more you increase the chances of people recommending or seeking you out when they need what you offer. Beyond being part of the conversation, you must understand what people may find when they go looking for your business specifically by name, or a product/service that your business offers.

And, of course, be aware that if they don’t find your business when they go looking online, it begs the question, “Does your business even exist?”

It’s no secret that people are turning to search engines like Google to get more information about the businesses they’re investigating. Let’s take a look at some of the things that may show up on a search engine results page — or SERP — when someone searches for a business by name. If you are doing it right, people fund you via paid ads and organic (non-paid) search results, Google My Business listing, social media accounts, reviews, and info from other sites, just to name a few.

Definitions

  • Organic Listings: Organic listings are natural listings of web pages that Google has crawled and deemed valuable for the specific search term. These listings do not require payment of any kind to show up on the search engine results page (a.k.a. SERP). Images Along with the listings, images appear in an “image pack” — several images in a horizontal row. Clicking on the images will take a searcher to Google Images search on that topic.

  • Online Marketing SERP Four Areas
    As you can see, there are four different sections in this SERP.
  • Ads: This one is pretty straight forward. Ads (or Paid Ads) are paid listings on the search engine results page. Businesses will pay to showcase their products for this specific search topic, and most of the time, they only pay if someone clicks on the ad (known a PPC advertising).
  • Google My Business: Google My Business is a free tool from Google where a business can create a profile and show up better on local searches. An example of how this specifically benefits you is; Imagine you are leaving for vacation the next day, and you realize you don’t have a good hat for travelling. You don’t have time to order one online, so you jump on your computer or mobile device and search “hat shops near me.” An example of what will come up is all the hat shops that have an online presence listing “hat” “shops” in your geographic area. Google in an attempt to deliver better results,  bases your search on your geo-location, as such, your actual results will differ depending on where you are. Let’s talk more about Google My Business.

So, What Does This Mean For You?

Here’s the reality: If you’re not seen online, prospects can’t find you. Whether people search for your business by name or something related to your business, your customers and prospects should be able to find you.

You’ll want to make sure your business can be found, the information is accurate, and that you’re answering the questions your potential customers may have. As people visit your website and click through from various search results they’re starting to form opinions about your business.

Ultimately, they’re asking themselves, “Is this the right business for me?” If your business is present, engaging & interacting, and providing useful resources, you’ll increase the chances of people finding your business and choosing you.

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Email Marketing Results — Check Your Industry Now!

Seeing and understanding your Email Marketing Results should not have to be difficult. As an example: “My open rate is too low” is a common misconception. Take a look at the open rate for your industry below. If your open rate is close, you’re doing great!

Did You Know?

The email marketing results “total open rate” is calculated based on unique opens by contact. The “mobile and tablet open rate” and the “desktop open rate” present a breakdown of the total open rate, showing the percentage of opens that were on a mobile or tablet device versus on a desktop.

Email marketing Results - Constant Contact ReportsWhat the Numbers Mean

The open, click-through, bounce, and unsubscribe rates for your campaign give a well-rounded picture of how your emails are being received. They also give you a place to start when you’re looking to improve! Learn more about Constant Contact reports

  • Open Rate – Measures the percentage of emails opened compared to sent.
    Bounce Rate – Measures the number of emails sent compared to the number of emails delivered.
  • Click-Through Rate – Compares the number of people who clicked on a link within an email against the unique number of opens.
  • Unsubscribe Rate –​ Measures the number of people who elected to no longer receive future emails compared to the number of people who received your campaign.

Constant Contact Campaign ReportsPRO TIP: Sending short emails with a clear call-to-action to a segmented list helps increase your rates while keeping unsubscribes down.

As of September 2019:

The numbers below are gathered and compiled by Constant Contact, the world’s #1 Email Marketing Service. The data is from over 200 million emails sent by Constant Contact customers who have recorded their business type. The result results below should give you a sense of how your results compare with others in your industry so that you can meet and exceed your business goals.

Business Type Open Rate
(Total)		 Mobile and Tablet Open
Rate		 Desktop Open
Rate		 Click-Through
Rate		 Bounce Rate Unsubscribe Rate
All Industries – Overall Average 14.79% 42.83% 57.17% 6.99% 9.00% 0.01%
Accommodations (e.g., hotel, inn, B&B, campgrounds) 12.80% 51.94% 48.06% 7.57% 6.09% 0.01%
Accountant 10.64% 38.22% 38.22% 5.33% 6.25% 0.01%
Business Type Open Rate
(Total)		 Mobile and Tablet Open
Rate		 Desktop Open
Rate		 Click-Through
Rate		 Bounce Rate Unsubscribe Rate
Animal Services 17.00% 63.98% 36.02% 7.76% 7.43% 0.02%
Art, Culture, Entertainment (e.g., galleries, museums, musicians, theatre, film, crafts) 16.41% 48.21% 51.79% 6.45% 8.49% 0.01%
Automotive Services 11.59% 48.66% 51.34% 9.58% 7.61% 0.02%
Business Type Open Rate
(Total)		 Mobile and Tablet Open
Rate		 Desktop Open
Rate		 Click-Through
Rate		 Bounce Rate Unsubscribe Rate
Child Care Services 18.98% 44.10% 55.90% 6.09% 6.56% 0.01%
Civic/Social Membership (e.g., associations, chambers, clubs) 20.90% 37.27% 62.73% 6.69% 9.45% 0.01%
Consultant, Training (e.g., marketing, management) 11.56% 34.67% 65.33% 5.40% 8.85% 0.00%
Business Type Open Rate
(Total)		 Mobile and Tablet Open
Rate		 Desktop Open
Rate		 Click-Through
Rate		 Bounce Rate Unsubscribe Rate
Education – Primary/Secondary (e.g., elementary, middle, and high schools) 24.72% 40.03% 59.97% 9.32% 7.48% 0.01%
Education – Higher Education (e.g., colleges, universities, trade schools) 16.99% 38.92% 61.08% 7.66% 8.86% 0.01%
Financial Advisor 12.73% 38.68% 61.32% 6.45% 9.05% 0.01%
Business Type Open Rate
(Total)		 Mobile and Tablet Open
Rate		 Desktop Open
Rate		 Click-Through
Rate		 Bounce Rate Unsubscribe Rate
Fitness Center, Sports, Recreation (e.g., yoga studio, bowling alley, gym) 14.83% 50.46% 49.54% 6.25% 9.59% 0.01%
Fitness/Nutritional Services (e.g., personal trainer, wellness coach) 11.88% 44.01% 55.99% 6.58% 4.27% 0.01%
Government Agency or Services 21.64% 37.02% 62.98% 8.37% 9.75% 0.01%
Business Type Open Rate
(Total)		 Mobile and Tablet Open
Rate		 Desktop Open
Rate		 Click-Through
Rate		 Bounce Rate Unsubscribe Rate
Health & Social Services (e.g., hospital, elder care, adoption services) 18.19% 31.17% 68.83% 6.61% 9.96% 0.01%
Health Professional (e.g., physician, dentist, chiropractor) 14.33% 34.39% 65.61% 5.84% 8.50% 0.01%
Home & Building Services (e.g., construction, HVAC, landscaping, design) 16.46% 41.63% 58.37% 5.32% 8.74% 0.02%
Business Type Open Rate
(Total)		 Mobile and Tablet Open
Rate		 Desktop Open
Rate		 Click-Through
Rate		 Bounce Rate Unsubscribe Rate
Insurance 13.11% 30.76% 69.24% 7.17% 8.11% 0.01%
Legal Services 17.55% 35.34% 64.66% 6.33% 11.79% 0.01%
Manufacturing and Distribution 13.76% 34.39% 65.61% 7.55% 10.61% 0.01%
Business Type Open Rate
(Total)		 Mobile and Tablet Open
Rate		 Desktop Open
Rate		 Click-Through
Rate		 Bounce Rate Unsubscribe Rate
Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations 12.11% 40.80% 59.20% 9.64% 11.48% 0.01%
Other 12.49%  47.25% 52.75% 3.97% 8.77% 0.01%
Other – Non-profit 19.18% 38.55% 61.45% 7.38% 9.06% 0.01%
Business Type Open Rate
(Total)		 Mobile and Tablet Open
Rate		 Desktop Open
Rate		 Click-Through
Rate		 Bounce Rate Unsubscribe Rate
Personal Services (e.g., dry cleaning, photography, housekeeping) 17.00% 44.47% 55.53% 6.76% 9.44% 0.01%
Professional Services (Doctor, Lawyers, etc.) 14.00% 41.61% 59.50% 7.02% 11.19% 0.01%
Publishing 14.70% 40.50% 58.40% 12.79% 8.64% 0.00%
Business Type Open Rate
(Total)		 Mobile and Tablet Open
Rate		 Desktop Open
Rate		 Click-Through
Rate		 Bounce Rate Unsubscribe Rate
Real Estate 14.42% 40.57% 59.43% 5.25% 11.83% 0.01%
Religious Organization 26.51% 45.32% 54.68% 7.52% 8.77% 0.01%
Restaurant, Bar, Cafe, Caterer 14.10% 51.31% 48.69% 4.11% 9.25% 0.01%
Business Type Open Rate
(Total)		 Mobile and Tablet Open
Rate		 Desktop Open
Rate		 Click-Through
Rate		 Bounce Rate Unsubscribe Rate
Retail (e.g., brick and mortar, online) 11.63% 52.22% 47.78% 7.57% 9.14% 0.01%
Salon, Spa, Barber (e.g., nails, tanning) 10.85% 55.91% 44.09% 3.56% 11.39% 0.01%
Technology (e.g. web developer) 9.31% 32.43% 67.57%  6.50% 7.17% 0.01%
Business Type Open Rate
(Total)		 Mobile and Tablet Open
Rate		 Desktop Open
Rate		 Click-Through
Rate		 Bounce Rate Unsubscribe Rate
Transportation 16.67% 48.98% 51.02% 16.61% 9.62% 0.01%
Travel and Tourism (e.g., limo driver, tour guide, reservations) 12.90% 45.32% 54.68% 5.92% 8.65% 0.01%
Unknown 11.44% 43.73% 56.27% 7.95% 9.13% 0.01%

If you would like to know more about email marketing results or to get a free trial of Constant Contact, simply contact me here or call 1-888-502-3523.

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Word of Mouth Marketing Now Happens Online

Word of Mouth now happens online. People are talking up their favourite businesses directly; they’re consuming and sharing content they find useful or entertaining from those businesses, and they’re asking connections for recommendations. This topic is brought to you by our partnership with Constant Contact.

Your Word of Mouth Opportunity AwaitsYour business has an opportunity to be part of more of these conversations, but first, let’s get back to some basics.

People like to Talk about their successes.

The more you can do to keep your business top of mind and make it easy for others to talk about you, the more you increase the chances of people recommending or seeking you out when they need what you offer.

Beyond being part of the conversation, you must understand what people may find when they go looking for your business specifically by name, or by something your business offers.

And, of course, be aware that if people don’t find your business when they go looking online, it begs the question, “Does your business even exist?”

What do people find when they go looking online for your business?

It’s no secret that people turn to search engines like Google to get more information about the businesses they’re investigating. Let’s take a look at some of the things, including what is now considered word of mouth, that may show up on a search engine results page (or SERP) when someone searches for a business by name:

  • Paid ads
  • Organic (non-paid) search results
  • Google My Business listing
  • Social Media accounts
  • Reviews
  • Info from other sites

Example using “Constant Contact” as the search term

Online Word of Mouth Marketing - Constant Contact Example(click here for a LARGER image – a new tab will open)

What if people are looking for something your business offers?

In the example, we searched for a specific business — Constant Contact — by name. But, people don’t always search by name. Sometimes they know they want to buy a product or a service, but they don’t know who offers it. Then they type in a more generic search term, like “restaurants near me” or “tax preparers.”

Let’s take a look at an example of online Word of Mouth marketing.

Imagine you were throwing a dinner party and you want to impress your friends with a selection of cheeses not found at the grocery store. So you jump on your computer or mobile device and search “cheese shops near me.” Here’s an example of what may come up — of course, your actual results will differ.

Notice that “cheese shops near me” brings up the listings in Google Maps first. This information comes from Google My Business profiles (more on that later).

This is Part One of a three-part series. Be sure to join us for content delivered to you by filling out the form below, or on the pop-up, or in the sidebar of this blog.

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Top 5 SEO Mistakes — According To Yoast

Copywriting SEOOverall, this Top 5 SEO Mistakes post by Melina Reintjens, of Yoast SEO, is great on several levels. It not only covers crucial SEO points that are often missed by web-content copywriters, but it also covers the pushing of your message from the perspective & verbiage of the recipient/target — and that is deep inside my wheelhouse!!

See Other SEO Posts and Articles

Copywriting is a crucial element of every SEO strategy. High-quality content is what helps you rank and sets your site apart from all the other sites out there. So, you’ll want to do SEO copywriting the right way. Preferably without making any fatal mistakes. Want to know what not to do when you’re writing SEO copy? Let’s have a look at five mistakes to avoid!

Are you struggling with more aspects of SEO copywriting? Don’t worry! We can teach you to master all facets, so you’ll know how to write awesome copy that ranks. Take a look at our SEO copywriting training and try the free trial lessons!

Top 5 SEO Mistakes #1. Not starting with keyword research

SEO copywriting always starts with keyword research. Now, it may be tempting to skip this time-consuming task and just wing it, but that can seriously harm your chances to rank! You can write tons of awesome content, but if it’s not optimized to rank for realistic search terms that people actually use, it won’t help you one bit. So, always take some time to think about the terms you want to be found for. Take keyword research seriously, it’ll definitely pay off.

Top 5 SEO Mistakes #2. Forgetting about search intent

Before you start writing, as you’re doing your keyword research, it’s also crucial to take a good look at search intent. You need to have a clear idea of the kind of intent that’s behind your keywords. People could be looking for information, a specific website, or they might want to buy something. Why is search intent important for SEO copywriting? Well, for example, if you write a sales-oriented, persuasive copy for a keyword that only has informational intent (rather than transactional) odds are you won’t rank. You simply won’t answer the searcher’s needs. Or, even if you do rank, visitors will likely leave instantly because they’re looking for other types of content. You don’t want that!

The solution: as you’re doing keyword research, analyze the SERPs, so you have an idea of the intent behind the keyphrases you’re targeting. Write your content accordingly, giving some thought to your text purpose, tone of voice, length and call to action, for example.

Top 5 SEO Mistakes #3. Not using synonyms

Search engines these days are incredibly smart: they understand that some words can have the same -or similar- meanings. Use that to your advantage! Don’t stuff your text with contrived occurrences of your exact focus keyphrase. Instead, make sure you use synonyms of your keyphrase. Not only will that help avoid repetition – which makes texts boring and hard to read- but you’ll also increase your chances to rank for related keywords!

In short: don’t make the mistake of neglecting synonyms and related keywords or keyphrases. Did you know that Yoast SEO makes optimizing for synonyms and related keywords a lot easier? The Yoast Premium plugin finds your focus keyphrase, even if the words appear in a different order in the same sentence. In addition, it allows you to optimize your text for synonyms and related focus keyphrases. That makes the plugin (almost) as smart as Google. I guess the real mistake here is not getting Yoast SEO Premium.

Top 5 SEO Mistakes #4. Not thinking about the user’s perspective

Something that often goes wrong in SEO copywriting: content that’s solely written from the site owner’s view, without taking the user into account. No wonder, as it’s very hard to forget everything you know and put yourself in your user’s shoes. Nevertheless, it’s important to try! You’ll soon realize that your user won’t really care about your product-related jargon, or why you think your product is awesome, or your blog post interesting. They want to know what problem of theirs you will solve, or what they will get out of reading your blog post.

Here are two short examples to give you an idea of the difference:

  1. We released Yoast SEO 12.X! It’s full of bug fixes, so we really believe you should update.
  2. The latest version of Yoast SEO, 12.X, is here for you! Time to update, so you’ll get the smoothest experience of the plugin.

Which of the two appeals most to you, as a user? It’s probably the second one, right? Think about that when you’re writing your own SEO copy!

Bottom line: don’t make the mistake of neglecting your visitor’s perspective in your SEO copy. That also includes writing too much ‘I’ or ‘we’ in your content. Make it about your user, not yourself!

Read more: Engaging your online audience: 8 practical tips »

Top 5 SEO Mistakes #5. Writing unreadable texts

A final SEO copywriting mistake that people often make, is that they write posts that are hard to understand. A huge missed opportunity! If you make sure your it’s easy for everyone to understand the message of your text, you’re opening up your content for a wide audience. That’s why writing a clear and readable text is a considerable part of your SEO copywriting strategy. People should be able to understand what you want to tell them. If you create copy that’s easy to comprehend, people will be less inclined to leave your site. They might even want to read your next post.

We know writing is hard. But there are things everyone can pay attention to to write a nice, clear text. Don’t use too many long sentences. Avoid using many difficult words. If you write for more than one region, check if you didn’t make any confusing mixups. Check whether the structure of your text is clear. The Yoast SEO plugin helps you with the readability analysis, which includes the Flesch reading ease score. And there are other tools out there to help you write texts that are nice to read, such as Hemingway. So, there are no more excuses not to write a lovely, readable text!

Conclusion on SEO copywriting mistakes

SEO copywriting mistakes are made when people focus too little on the quality of their texts and skimp on preparation. But your rankings will soon pay the price… So make sure each text has an original idea, a story, that’s well-thought-out, factoring in the site’s visitors. And, your copy should be nice and easy to read. It’s a lot of work, but Yoast SEO can help you get on track! And, if your copywriting is starting to look good, you can check for other common SEO mistakes!

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How Digital Marketing Trends Can Help Your Business

If you are looking for a way to scale up your marketing to have an edge, digital marketing trends help you understand what you don’t want to leave out of some digital marketing tactics. As more consumers continue to make their journeys online to make purchases, knowing how best to utilize the digital marketing strategies available could prove to be most potent at making the best out of the growing digital marketing opportunity. According to the folks at Serpwatch, 48% of consumers start their mobile research with a search engine.

To further highlight the rate of adoption of digital marketing trends, 64% of consumers say that watching a marketing video has influenced their purchase decision in the last month.

The main goal in digital marketing trends is basically a particular form of user action which could be to register on your website or buy a product.

However, owning a small business limits your reach to the area in which the business exists and those who become acquainted with the brand via word of mouth. Exploring digital marketing trends, on the other hand, increases reach. Companies that blog receive 97% more links to their website. 

Digital marketing trends can offer your business some benefits. Here are some of them.

  1. Monitoring of efforts: When carrying out digital marketing, you are able to track your efforts to find out exactly how effective your campaigns are across all media from the very moment a user visits your website, down to when they leave, and even further. By tracking your digital marketing campaigns, you get to see which trends are working and which are not so that you can tailor your campaigns to greater success. This is a clear plus over offline advertising media.
  2. Increase revenue: Within a few months or weeks, it is okay to say that your revenue would increase. However, you must consider every factor so that you stay right on track.
  3. Have a level playing ground: Often, it is difficult for small businesses to compete with their bigger counterparts. Digital marketing eliminates this barrier and places your business in a position to compete online, both nationally and internationally.
  4. Target your ideal prospects: With digital marketing trends, you can be sure that the right prospects are viewing your content. SEO offers you the opportunity to reach prospects who are searching the web for content related to your business. Digital marketing trends allow you to target consumers who are likely to be interested in your content.
  5. Cost-effectiveness: Another plus for digital marketing trends is that they provide an inexpensive marketing stretch that can be adopted by any start-up or existing business. Here, companies of all sizes can take up affordable options for marketing and advertising their businesses. This can often result in a higher return on investment.

Final note

Digital marketing trends presents itself as essential requirements for any business that wants to do very well for itself. If you are not taking advantage of the myriad of opportunities presented by digital marketing trends, you are cheating yourself out of the chance to grow your business online.

7 Trends You Must Know For a Successful Digital Marketing Campaign

Bottom line, digital marketing trends help you focus on a successful online presence, however, the first steps to good SEO, is having a conversation. Contact us today to discover how your business could do better online. Phone chats are always free at 1-888-502-3523 or set up a meeting via our online calendar.

Josh Wardini SkydivingIf you would like to support the author of this blog, you can visit Josh Wardini on his LinkedIn page, or visit his site. Josh is a long-time digital marketer with a focus on SEO. A Python enthusiast scratching the surface of deep learning, machine learning and narrow AI.  Based in Portland, Oregon 3 months per year, inspired by Anthony Bourdain to stay in transit the remainder.

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