All posts by Steven

The Most Common Mistakes in Content Marketing Strategy

Steven on November 12, 2018

If you’re thinking about investing in content marketing or you’re not quite satisfied with the results that the strategy you currently have in place is yielding, you should be aware of the most frequent mistakes that people make.

To begin with, you need to know that content marketing can be one of the most effective marketing strategies, provided it is the designed and executed properly. It’s much more than just publishing the right content day in, day out. It involves many other aspects, such as search engine optimization, use of visuals and others.

Needless to say, the best way to deal with mistakes is to avoid them in the first place. So, why don’t we use the knowledge, expertise and experience of many digital marketers and their clients? Here are just some of the most common mistakes that should be nipped in the bud or dealt with immediately if they already exist.

Wrong content

No matter who great the quality of writing is, if the content you provide is not useful, your strategy will fail miserably. This usually happens when you fail to realise what your target audience is interested in. Even if you don’t miss it by much, you won’t be able to achieve your goals. Let’s say someone is interested in how to replace a tire. Your article may provide the latest info about the types of tires and materials used, you can elaborate on the importance of maintaining your tires, but if you don’t provide correct and easy-to-follow instructions, your reader will look for the answer elsewhere.

Wrong target group

If you’ve misidentified your target audience, your great content will be in vain. This means that the managers have made the wrong decision based on false presumptions and all the effort will be pointless and you’ll lose a lot of precious time and resources before you realise what the problem is. So, make sure you know who you want to address before you create your content marketing strategy.

Educate, rather than sell

Informing and educating readers are the very core of content marketing. People who get in touch with your content want to learn something from you, feel smarter or better educated. If your content makes them feel like that, they’ll be much more likely to respond to the call for action option at the end of the article or video. They’ll also be happy to share the content if they find it informative and insightful, which is a great advertisement for your business.

Lack of SEO

You can’t drive enough traffic if you don’t use SEO properly. It also helps you minimize the cost of customer acquisition, which is why you should really take it seriously. If you’re uncertain about what the best steps to take are, you should definitely consult professionals, such as these experts in SEO from New York, who’ll be able to help you. The optimisation should also be extended to include your content for social media platforms as well, since the number of people using them to find the right companies, services and products has been rising steadily.

Missing deadlines

Every strategy relies heavily on everybody doing their job on time. Timing is one of the key aspects of a successfully implemented strategy and if only one link in the chain fails to deliver on time, the whole process will be significantly affected. So, make sure you set realistic goals and establish regular checkpoints to monitor the progress. Another good tip is to always allow some leeway when designing the plan by setting deadlines that are due a few days before the moment when you actually need them done.

Needless to say, there are many other mistakes when it comes to designing or implementing a content marketing strategy. Still, these five undoubtedly hinder any progress, which is why they deserve your full attention. Remember that content marketing is a very powerful tool, but only when you know how to use it.

Digital Branding

How to Create a Successful E-commerce Marketing Funnel via Email

Steven on November 9, 2018

It’s frustrating for e-commerce marketers like you to blast emails regularly and still get low to zero conversions. No matter how much effort you exert, it doesn’t seem to work. What’s wrong?

Let’s look at the numbers first. A Statista report showed that e-commerce made up to $2.3 trillion in sales and is predicted to hit $4.5 trillion in 2021. It also represents almost 10% of U.S. retail sales and is expected to grow by nearly 15% annually. E-commerce also influences up to 56% of in-store purchases.

It should go without saying that e-commerce is taking the Internet by storm. This also means that the competition is becoming stiff, and a sound strategy is a must. Sending out generic emails to your contacts doesn’t work anymore. First, you must understand where your customers are coming. From here, you can use an e-commerce marketing funnel to help you map out your email strategies in a way that you’re targeting the right customers with the right message and at the right time.

https://www.pexels.com/photo/laptop-technology-ipad-tablet-35550/

What Is an E-commerce Marketing Funnel and Why Is It Important?

A marketing funnel illustrates the journey customers go through as they interact with your business, from the first time they learn about your brand to the exact moment they become paying customers. The different stages of the customer journey distinguish the problems customers are trying to solve at that point in time. By adopting this model, you can craft targeted email marketing strategies for your e-commerce business to keep customers engaged and moving in their journey until they take your desired action.

Read on to know how each stage of the customer journey differs and how you can use your email marketing automation software to create a successful e-commerce marketing funnel.

Top Funnel: The Awareness Stage

It begins with the top funnel where potential customers become aware of your e-commerce business and how you’re relevant to their problems. It’s your first contact. At this point, the goal is not to sell your products or promote your business but to ‘attract’ them with relevant information. Here, you are identifying potential customers who have problems you can address. Potential customers, on the other hand, become aware of their needs by showing interest in your e-commerce business.

To meet this objective, use these email marketing strategies for your top funnel:

Capture contact information, including email address, through sign-up forms on your website.
Offer free content such as guides, cheat sheet, and checklists which potential customers can download in exchange for their email address.
Invite your website visitors to subscribe to your newsletters, weekly updates or daily deals.

Once you have their contact information saved in your email marketing automation software, it’s time to educate them and tell more about your e-commerce business.

Create a welcome series where you can introduce your e-commerce business and your service, but try not to sell hard.
Educate them with helpful blog posts to make them realize the need for your products. It can be tips, hacks or guides. Explore your options.
Familiarize them with your brand story as well as your mission and vision. Make them know that you can offer solutions to their pain points.

Middle Funnel: The Consideration Stage

At this point, potential customers are already aware of their problem and are looking for ways on how to solve it. In short, they are considering their options, and you want to be on top of their list without being too pushy. This is where you take your nurturing game a notch higher.

Do this with the following strategies:

Teach them tips or ways they can solve their problem.
Use their email and website activities to give proper recommendations.
Show them testimonials from happy customers to solidify your credibility further.
Provide comparison guides to highlight your best features.

Bottom Funnel: The Decision Stage

Now that it’s clear to potential customers that a purchase has to be done, they move to the decision stage. What they need here is a more compelling reason to make a purchase. So it’s time to put your best foot forward and give them some push to finally take action and convert into paying customers.

Implement these strategies to motivate them to click on your Buy Now button:

Give special discounts on their desired item to make them feel that they are getting more value from their money.
Offer freebies or free shipping to entice them.
Use a countdown timer to give a sense of urgency on your expiring promo.
Provide more detailed product descriptions highlighting the specs so they can appreciate the fact that they are getting more.
Write and design a compelling CTA and make sure that the placement in your email is easily noticeable so they won’t miss it.
Use different psychological triggers such as loss aversion, reciprocity, and authority.

Understanding the marketing funnel and knowing how to apply it to your e-commerce business can help you come up with targeted strategies. Again, customers are at different stages of the buyer journey, so use your email marketing to design an efficient e-commerce marketing funnel. Many advanced email marketing automation software today are built with features you can use to set up workflows and strategies for each funnel stage. Use them wisely!

Kimberly Maceda

Kimberly Maceda is a Content Writer for ActiveTrail. She writes for some top online marketing sites and blogging advice on email marketing and marketing automation. ActiveTrail is a leading provider of professional-grade email marketing and automation software for growing businesses.

Digital Branding

WooCommerce vs Shopify: Which is the Better E-commerce Platform

Steven on November 9, 2018

Photo credits: https://pixabay.com/en/ecommerce-shopping-credit-card-2607114/

Are you in the market for an e-commerce solution? If so, you’ll definitely love this short WooCommerce vs Shopify comparison. I also think you’ll agree creating an online store is a challenging feat. Turns out you can create an online store easily, and in this post, we help you to choose the better e-commerce platform for your needs.

We break down the post into sections such as features, pricing, and support among other things. By the end of it all, you will pick the right platform for your online store. Do you lean towards WooCommerce or Shopify? Let us know that in the comment section at the end.

Without further ado, let us weigh anchor and sail.

WooCommerce vs Shopify: Basic Overview

WooCommerce is a plugin that you install on your WordPress-based website. It allows you to add powerful e-commerce features to any WordPress site. On the other hand, Shopify is a subscription-based e-commerce service. You don’t install Shopify; you simply sign up.

WooCommerce requires that you have a WordPress site first. Shopify doesn’t require you to have a website first; it’s a cloud-hosted e-commerce platform. While WooCommerce comes with a long (and often times arduous) configuration process, creating an online store on Shopify is a breeze.

Setting up a site on WooCommerce requires that you’re familiar with web-related things, even though it’s easy stuff once you get the hang of it. Things are a bit tidier with Shopify; setting a store on the platform is akin to signing up for a blog at, say, Blogger.com, or getting an email address at Gmail.com. Well, sort of.

All the same, both platforms come with enough features to launch a highly successful online store, whether big or small. Also, allow me to mention that the e-commerce platform that you end up picking from this comparison post boils down to personal preference and, of course, your needs.

WooCommerce vs Shopify: Features

WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin that ships with enough features to create a basic online store. If you need more features, however, you can count on the wide range of free and premium WooCommerce add-ons.

Out of the box, WooCommerce ships with a ready-to-use cart, a checkout page, shop and a “my account” area where buyers can track orders and view their profiles. On top of that, it comes with five default methods of payment but you can add more.

Other than that, WooCommerce comes with an intuitive admin dashboard that makes managing your online store as easy as A, B, C. And thanks to a dedicated Products menu, you can sell digital and physical products on your e-store like a boss.

In terms of store design, WooCommerce is compatible with most if not all WordPress themes, such as the free BuddyBoss theme, since it’s just a plugin. There are, however, WordPress themes that are specifically made for WooCommerce. As such, designing the perfect e-commerce store is a theme or a developer away.

Shopify, too, shines in the features department what with a slew of nice e-commerce-centric features. Since it is a dedicated e-commerce service, you can expect all the features you need to build small and enterprise-level stores. You also get a free sub-domain (you can add a custom domain later) and free SSL certificate.

On top of that, Shopify comes with a good number of free and premium extensions that allow you to add some nice features to your store. Still, Shopify is incredibly easy to use no matter your experience or coding knowledge.

In the design department, Shopify features hundreds of themes. Well, the number of themes available for Shopify fades in comparison to what’s available for WooCommerce. All the same, the themes are professional and specifically designed for e-commerce.

An intuitive quick-start wizard helps you to set up either, but Shopify’s onboarding process offers you much more convenience. It takes fewer steps and effort to set up a store on Shopify, something we can’t say about WooCommerce.

WooCommerce vs Shopify: Performance and SEO

On the web, content is king. Without amazing content, you cannot expect your store to perform well money-wise and on search engines. However, the quality of your content is only one of the more than 200 SEO ranking signals.

Nowadays, page load speed is an important SEO ranking factor. Now, this is where things get tricky, with some users claiming WooCommerce outshines Shopify and/or vice versa. Well, I root for Shopify here because it has dedicated servers that guarantee great speeds and uptimes.

On the other end of the spectrum, we have WooCommerce. The page load times you’ll record on WooCommerce depends on a couple of factors, the most important being the host you choose. Go for dirt-cheap hosts at your own risk – because, come on, what kind of performance do you expect from a host that charges a $1 buck per month.

In terms of performance and SEO, Shopify outshines WooCommerce since Shopify’s engineers do a great work of maintaining the servers for you. You just focus on the business side of things, unlike WooCommerce where you are in charge of site administration among other things.

Both platforms come with great SEO-related features, but that speed thing we just mentioned can be a deal breaker for WooCommerce stores, especially if you end up with a poor host. The chances of getting poor speeds on Shopify are slim.

Photo credits: https://pixabay.com/en/ecommerce-online-shopping-e-commerce-1992280/

WooCommerce vs Shopify: Pricing

As we’ve already mentioned, WooCommerce is a free plugin. However, to add more features, you will need extensions and these don’t come cheap. Your costs can quickly rack up depending on the extensions you choose, and this applies to Shopify as well.

To run a basic e-commerce store, though, you need about $29 bucks a month whether you choose WooCommerce or Shopify. But depending on the time commitment you put towards setting up a store, Shopify is the cheaper option in my opinion.

Besides, Shopify offers you a free 14-day trial to test the waters. You just need a paid plan to start selling. With WooCommerce, you need to find a web host, buy a domain name, set up WordPress, install SSL and then install the e-commerce plugin, before selling.

WooCommerce vs Shopify: Support

WooCommerce is open source, meaning you can get help on the support forums at WordPress.org. On top of that, you can sign up on the official WooCommerce site to get support. Shopify, on the other hand, is a commercial e-commerce solution. You get professional 24/7 support via email, chat or phone.

Final Words

Whether you go with Shopify or WooCommerce, running a successful online store is all about providing great value to your users. Endeavor to provide amazing products and user experience, and you’re golden no matter the platform you choose.

WooCommerce has a steeper learning curve compared to Shopify, but once you get used to either of the platforms, the cost, and effort required to run your store depend on the features you need. Shopify is for the entrepreneur who wants to hit the ground running. WooCommerce is perfect for the businessperson who isn’t afraid to play around with myriad settings.

Between WooCommerce and Shopify, which platform do you feel is the better option for your business? Please let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

Digital Branding

5 Branding Strategies to Adopt for Vape Products

Steven on November 8, 2018

It is true that there have been speculations about vape branding; many of you would feel that marketing vape products and services would be risky. However, the truth is entirely different.

Ever since reports have come out in support of vape products, people have become more inclined towards switching from smoking to vaping. In fact, new bill has passed in favour of E cigarettes which will encourage businesses to promote vape products. It is being also claimed by NHS that vaping is 95% safer than tobacco cigarettes.

How do these ads affect people?

We all know the role of media in today’s world; people are more likely to pick things from seeing ads. According to the studies conducted by university of Kansas, watching advertisements regarding vape can stimulate one’s mind and attract a person to vape even if they have never vaped in their life.

CDC has also backed these facts claiming that expose to the advertisements about vaping products can definitely alter the brain chemistry of people making them vape. Hence, number of vape users is more likely to increase after being exposed to vape ads.

But how we market vape products?

It sounds like a tricky question, but to be honest, it is further from that. There are ways to brand vape products and spread word-of-mouth among people, like one of the best premium e liquids brand LongHornVapor did very well in its branding. Let’s talk about some of those strategies.

Creating an online presence

If you ever make a guess about someone and say they don’t use social media, you will lose that bet. It is one of the most cost effective strategies compared to conventional branding. According to Tobacco Control, it was reported that in the branding of JUUL, millions of dollars were spent online by the people in vape market. No wonder why there is so much buzz around youngsters wanting to add vaping in their lifestyle. What people see on Instagram, Twitter and other social media platforms, suddenly becomes a hot commodity. Yes, we are still talking about vape products. Infusing attractive elements of hip-culture, fun and relaxing ads with a bit of sex appeal will do the trick just fine.

Sponsoring events is the game-changer

Be it a movie star, a musician or someone whose who is famous, you can sponsor an event under your company’s banner. Letting a top-performer setting the stage on fire can give the most enthralling experience to the people making them want to vape.

Some of you might think getting sponsorships might be hard because of all the fuss that has been around. At the same time, people have been realizing great things about vaping. And unlike smoking, there are absolutely no restrictions when it comes to promoting vape products in any way you want.

It all starts with the flavor

That’s right! If you are someone who is thinking about spending a huge lump of money on marketing, make sure you set your target market first. You can do that by having the right flavors in your vapestore, Flavors like Cotton-candy, Whipped Cream eJuice, Gummy bear and Candy King can attract the younger lot, while flavors like brain freeze can promise to cater adults’ needs and really increase the footfall.

According to Truth Initiative, more than 40 percent of the people only opt to vape because of the promising flavors.

Go Hollywood!

No, we don’t mean auditioning for roles in a film but fusing your vape brand with the film industry can be the name of the game. Moreover, Product Placement is one of the most sought-after branding strategies in today’s world.

It is not something risky as many have opted to showcase vaping in the movies. Johnny Depp, Kevin Spacey and even Zac Efron have been seen vaping on the big screen. When stars vape, Boom! Everyone starts doing it. That’s the magic of right product placement!

Develop an app

Thanks to Google and Apple, a digital platform has been set for you to make your own mark and let your business flourish. But why would you need an app? It’s a very reasonable question to ask.

Many people who are having problems regarding vaping, the apps can be a way to provide them guidance. Apps like Vape Boss, Vaffle and couple more have been committed to providing useful information to beginners and people who enjoy vape-culture. You can also develop something on those lines. For that, distinguishing yourself from your rivals would be the key and focusing on the needs of people is a way to go.

Local Branding

6 Ways to Improve Brand Positioning (Fast)

Steven on November 1, 2018

Brand positioning is essential for any online business these days. It refers to the way your brand is positioned in your customers’ minds. It occurs whether or not you have a strategy in place because your customers will always have an impression of your business.

But you can help to direct your brand positioning by creating a distinct impression on your customer and ensuring they associate your brand with something desirable.

So, how can you set about improving your brand positioning? There are many ways, but here are six to help you get started—fast.

1. Determine Your Brand’s Personality

The first thing you need to do is determine your brand’s personality. Your brand already has a voice, whether you have made an effort with this or not. Customers will encounter this whenever they land on your website, see your social updates, or click your ads.

You should start by deciding what you want this voice to be. Should it be funny, strict, youthful, serious? Your voice will play a large role in your brand’s personality and how your brand is perceived by your customers. If you do not have a clear brand personality, you are increasing the chances that you will be forgotten all too easily by your customers.

Your personality is determined by the words you use, the design of your website, the types of social updates you post, the ads you run—everything that you do.

So decide what you want your brand personality to be. Create a firm idea of your brand voice, then write down exactly what you are going for and share it with all the stakeholders so they can use this to influence their activities.

2. Decide What Makes You Special

Why is your business different? Why would people want to choose you over your competitors? You need to know this if you want to stand out, and that means you need to know your unique selling proposition (USP).

This will help you to differentiate yourself in a competitive environment. Once you know what makes you special, you can communicate this to your customers.

This can be surprisingly tricky, but one good way to start is to look at your competitors and see what they are doing. As you look over their products, can you pinpoint ways in which your products or services are better?

Perhaps your products have something special about them, or maybe the way you do things is superior. If you were trying to convince someone to choose you, what negative aspects would you highlight about your competition? Do they take too long to deliver orders? Do they charge too much?

A fine example can be seen in the chocolate brand M&Ms. Claiming to melt in your mouth rather than your hand is a simple USP that appeals to a consumer desire that they might not have acknowledged themselves. The chocolate market is one that is heavily saturated, and yet this USP lifts M&Ms above the fray.

Create a list of the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors and determine what it is about your business that would make your customers want to choose you. Once you know, you can start making sure your customers know about it.

3. Know Who Your Customer Is

You also need to know exactly who your customer is. You may think you know, but do you really? You cannot position your brand properly until you know this; you have to position it at someone.

Create a marketing persona, or a few of them, and determine everything about your target customer. This should include their interests, dislikes, hopes, fears, the movies they watch, and more. See what they do on social media and work out what is important to them.

This can have a huge impact on improving your brand positioning. If you know who they are, what they want, and what matters to them, you can position your brand more effectively.

4. Tell Your Brand Story

Tell your brand story based around how you came into being, the problem you solved, and how your product or service was the solution. You will probably have one main product or product line that determines who you are and how your business came into being. Perhaps this is the product that you started your business around.

Telling your story can help to form a bond with your customers and highlight your shared values, which makes you come across as more trustworthy.

You see this all the time with nascent ecommerce businesses looking to get ahead of competitors in the digital space. For example, electronics websites are a great investment for entrepreneurs. There will always be a market for the latest gadgets and tech, but in such a saturated market it can be tough to stand out.

By creating a unique brand story that resonates with customers, brands can position themselves as more than simply a business. Brands can become relatable, friendly, and human.

5. Create a Positioning Statement

When you have done all of the above, you’ll be ready to create your positioning statement. This is a short statement, just a sentence or two, that communicates your value. It should include details of who your business is targeted at, why it is special, how you meet their expectations and how you fulfill their wishes.

This is an internal state for your business, so don’t worry about how snappy it is. Simply use it to influence your decisions, especially when it comes to marketing.

Your tagline is a shorter version of this that is more customer-focused. This is an external statement that you can use on your website or packaging. It’s usually punchier than a positioning statement and more memorable, and it can help you to quickly communicate your brand value.

6. Connect Emotionally with Your Customers

Finally, focus on connecting with your customers emotionally. You will only reach your customers and have an impact on them with an emotional connection.

One of the best ways to do this is with content, which provides you with an opportunity to go more in depth. Use content on your blog, for example, to engage. Don’t just promote, and instead use your content to educate and inform to connect on an emotional level.

These six tips will help you improve your brand positioning in no time at all. But don’t forget one of the most important things of all: consistency.

You need to be consistent with your brand positioning if you want to maximize its effect. Once you have determined your voice and your values, ensure you remain consistent everywhere, including your blog, advertising, social media, customer support, design, use of words, images—everywhere.

This way, you will help to make your brand more memorable and avoid confusion, creating a stronger connection with your customers that will last.

Patrick Foster, Ecommerce Enthusiast, and Entrepreneur

I’m a freelance ecommerce expert & serial entrepreneur. I love to write articles on ecommerce branding and content marketing for ambitious online sellers and hope to share some useful insight that will help to grow your business.

Local Branding

A Guide To Environmentally Friendly Promotional Products

Steven on November 1, 2018

It is our responsibility as humans to care for the environment and keep the earth safe, not only for the sake of mankind but also for the animals and plants. The majority of experts, and the non-experts agree that humankind has not done enough to keep up their responsibility. It is time to improve on our work.

In an effort to continue moving forward regarding environmental care, we would do better to market our efforts. Too many businesses rely on chintzy products that are funneled to landfills; thereby, adding to the problem of environmental destruction instead of environmental reform. Our company advocates an alternative approach where your marketing collateral will help save the earth.

Instead of utilizing paper bags that are as detrimental to the planet as plastic bags, if not more, it is time to modify the bags into items that can be reused. One should also consider clothing, office supplies, accessories and awards that are not created using renewable materials and do not pollute the water or air. To make a dent in the green movement’s objectives, while still impressing customers and generating crucial band impressions, you should consider taking these factors into account.

Promotional Products That Do Not Harm The Planet

This post is going to focus primarily on bags. Why? Well, statistics show that bags tend to build more impressions than any other promotional item. For example, a promotional bag will over 900 impressions per dollar; whereas, writing utensils and shirts receive only 500 impressions, and even billboards receive only 500 impressions.

Taking these statistics into account, brand impressions increase for fewer items overall. This means that you can purchase fewer products and be more environmentally friendly and you can get them at low low prices. So, why do people insist on buying mountains of collateral when they could purchase some promotional bags and see the same level of promotional efficacy?

Of course, not all situations call for bags. Regardless of whether you are sending thank you gifts to a customer, filling out a convention booth or dressing up a gift store, you may prefer other products. With this in mind, below are our top ten favorite eco-friendly items from the baggy side of life and beyond.

1. The rPET Bags

Considered the holy grail of all eco-friendly products, the rPET bag is one that can be reused each day and can be recycled itself. The rPET bag is created using recycled poly terephthalate and is available if a four-color silkscreen. It is developed using 80 percent recycled water bottles, and it comes in both matte or gloss lamination. The 20-inch laminated handles are available for maximum comfort. Use this eco-friendly bag when at conventions, trade shows, at a retail register or to say thank you to customers.

2. Cotton Toiletry Bags

Cotton is one of the renewable and biodegradable resources, making it an ideal option for all types of promotional products. Due to the fact that people require storage bags when travelling, we recommend the cotton toiletry bag as a promotional product. They can also be used for alternative functions, such as a snack pack for health-conscious travellers, so you don’t have to rely on take-away services or as art supplies for children.

3. The Cooler

Coolers are traditional fare for fishing trips, picnics, hiking, and other outdoor activities. With a good cooler at your side, you can keep all beverages and food cold during a long, hot day without relying on an air conditioner or ice. As the majority of people enjoy using a cooler, and keep them on hand in their trucks and cabinets, they are also a great promotional product. Not only are you are guaranteed that the cooler will not be thrown away before their usefulness runs out, but they are a great canvas for store names, logos, missions statements and much more.

4. Clothing

While shirts gain fewer impressions per dollar than promotional bags, 200 impressions is not something to turn your nose up at. Moreover, clothing tends to last much longer than most items, particularly if you order items that are made to fit the human body – say goodbye to shapeless t-shirts for females! When the clothing is made from 100 percent, organic cotton, then the item is also biodegradable.

5. Storable Pouch Bags

The storable pouch bag has become a mainstay in grocery stores and artisan shops, primarily because they are so useful. Our Ripstop nylon fabric with drawstring closure bags is lightweight, strong and cheerful; therefore, they are able to fold into small package for storage in center consoles, glove compartments, drawers and backpacks. The final result? A bag with high durability that will last for years, and will always be useful when travelling. Due to the fact that it is so small, this type of bag is less likely to be thrown away than other bags.

6. Reclaimed Cork Pet Mats

Humans and their furry friends have a long history of comradeship, regardless of whether you are a cat or a dog person. So, what better way of drawing in the pet crowd than by using reusable cork mats? The reusable or reclaimed cork mats are ideal for sleeping, eating and litter-boxing (in the case of cats). They are made from reused cork, so you can use the material to absorb spilled liquids or give the companion a comfortable place to curl up.

7. Kitchen Accessories

Kitchen accessories are an instant hit regarding reusable items ranging from customized bag clips to bamboo cutting boards. The boards are a renewable resource and clips can be used until the end of time. Providing promotional kitchen accessories is a great way of stocking customers with branded items, safe in the knowledge that you are not contributing to their world of rubbish.

8. Beer Bags And Wine

We are not going to step over the line and say that all people enjoy beer and wine, liquor and cider, or even fizzy soda. However, during a survey of family, friends and work colleagues, we came to the conclusion that most people enjoy a cold drink of some sort. This is where beer and wine bags can be beneficial as they make the ideal gifts with value-added advantages and for-sale perks.

9. Small Totes

Not all people enjoy an extra large grocery bag, particularly at a small boutique or trade show where items are less bulky. In some cases, the more beneficial option is a small tote. This tote bag is ideal for holding pamphlets and papers and conventions, clothing and jewelry at boutiques, and jars of truffles or olives at upscale grocery stores.

10. Edible Promotional

The ultimate eco-friendly promo item is the one you can eat. The edible gift leaves no trace, so it is maintaining a green approach to environmental care. Aside from small packaging, nothing enters the landfill. If you want to stack up on promotional items, you can always fill a bag with edibles for a gift basket or package for purchase in the store. The latter offers customers the option to purchase gifts for others, and your branded bag leaves the store to begin generating promotional impressions.

Final Words

Using the information above, you can see that you do not need to look too far to find environmentally friendly alternatives to suit your needs and begin generating brand impressions.

Digital Branding

How to Write Great Emails People Will Love to Receive

Steven on October 27, 2018

Image credit: Pexels Emails are nothing new, but their role in the business world is more important than ever. In this digital age, it’s vital to include email marketing in your overall marketing strategy. Not only will this help to promote your products or service and generate leads, but it also helps to build a community of loyal customers around your brand. Writing great emails is something that every brand wants to do, but not everyone achieves it. Luckily, we’ve got you covered. From writing authentic content to covering the technical basics, we explore 8 ways you can write great emails people will love to receive.

Get the length right

First thing first: send emails that are the right length that people will love to receive. No one wants a long-winded, rambling message that takes half an hour to digest. Depending on your niche, it may be more effective for you to send out shorter emails (perhaps highlighting a single event, offer or new product) more often, or to send longer newsletter-style emails less frequently. Many email platforms offer A/B testing, which will allow you to test different options including the length of the emails you send out. You can send out two versions of the same email to a small percentage of your subscriber list, see which is more successful, and then send the winner out to your whole list. This is great for optimizing your email campaigns to ensure that they perform as well as possible.

Allow your brand’s tone of voice to shine

Email is a great tool for building and showing off your brand voice. Your brand voice is how you express your business’s personality and core values in its purest form. You need to engage with your customers and motivate them into identifying with your brand and buying your products. Align your email communications with brand imaging and tone-of-voice guidelines. This is a good way to ensure that your brand value and uniqueness is conveyed to your customers. Launching a product isn’t enough these days. It’s important to build an identity around your brand that is unique and attractive to consumers. This in turn will create a strong platform for any future products to thrive upon

Build a community

Once your business has established its voice and brand identity, your customers will start to identify with your values. This helps to build a sense of community around your brand, as like-minded customers form relationships with you and each other. Writing great emails plays a big part in growing and reflecting this sense of community. There are a few different ways to make the most of this via email. You can highlight existing success stories within your community, and connecting your customers through their experiences. This is great for putting the spotlight on product reviews and testimonials. Sending out emails with exclusive deals or information will also make your customers feel appreciated and kept in the loop. (It’s sort of like they’re all invited to a private after-party hosted by you). You can also proactively reach out to your customers and encourage people to get in touch with you via your email. This encourages customers to form a relationship with you based on communication and trust. It’s good to include all of these styles in your emails, and you can even merge them all by creating monthly newsletters. You can use email marketing software to create epic templates for your next email campaign.This will help to build your brand community, increase engagement and show recipients that they are valued as an individual.

Make use of strong images

Another important basic to cover is your use of images and other media in your emails. Including strong imagery and design is often a successful part of creating great emails that people will love to receive. Plus, it’s a brilliant way to portray your authenticity and brand voice. But it’s just as important not to use too many images in emails. This could result slow loading (which leads to customer frustration) or in a huge email file people won’t be able to open. Similarly, relying too heavily on these images for the design of the email is not a good move — it can detract from your content and dilute your main message. Again make the most of A/B testing to work out how many, and what kind of images work best for your business. This could be anything from photographs, illustrations, infographics, videos or even gifs.

Research your competitors’ strategies

You can also look to your competitors to see what kind of emails other businesses are already sending out. You can even look to the rest of your mailbox to get a sense of what makes a great email, irrelevant of the market. Some of these might be awesome and really inspire you to include similar elements in your own emails. Look at all of the elements we have covered above when analyzing emails from your competitors — from tone of voice to length. You might also find that some of your competitors’ emails might be terrible, which can help you to avoid making the same mistakes. There could also be potential you spot in emails from other niches which you could apply to your own market — perhaps ahead of your competitors. You can also find attractive content on various social media channels too — check out our post on this for more information.

Check your links

Just when you think you’re getting ready to send, make sure you check your links. It sounds obvious, but have a look at your own personal mailbox and you’ll be able to see that people are still making these mistakes every day. Take advantage of the tools built into popular email platforms which allow you to test-send emails, and check links. Ensure that you have the right tracking in place within your links too. Email offers valuable data and insight which you can use to improve your mailings, giving your subscribers more of what they love most.

Offer an exit

Finally, make sure your subscribers know they have an exit if they want it. Not only might it be a legal requirement in your jurisdiction, but it’s also important for people to know they can unsubscribe at any time. Not only does this show them the practical option is there, but it also highlights that your business takes privacy seriously. Make sure your emails include a link to your business’s privacy policy, and a clear unsubscribe link works. With the 2018 updates of the General Data Protection Regulations in Europe, and daily cyber-attacks on customer data around the world, it’s important to be serious about this. By including the right sort of content in your emails – showing authenticity and your true brand voice – you’re halfway there to writing great emails people will love to receive. Combine this with covering the basics, including length, media and links, and you’re on the path to a successful email strategy. This is a guest post by Victoria Greene: Victoria Greene is an ecommerce marketing expert and freelance writer who loves helping small businesses grow and succeed. You can read more of her work and get all the latest news on ecommerce and marketing at her blog, Victoria Ecommerce.

Local Branding

The Importance of Workplace Branding

Steven on October 24, 2018

Workplace branding or office branding is an important yet underrated element of running a business. Basically, office branding is all about shaping the dynamics, infrastructure, and décor of an office so that it reflects the theme and values of the respective company.

Workplace branding is much more than covering your office in a certain colour or displaying the company logo everywhere. The process is all about creatively designing the office and taking every aspect that can influence the productivity into consideration.

Effective workplace branding changes the entire working environment and can have an impact on employees’ performance, beyond your expectations.

The importance of workplace branding of workplace branding

The Importance of Workplace Branding

Workplace branding is quite important for organizations operating at any operational scale. Here’s how it influences a company.

Boosts Employee Motivation and Productivity

Workplace branding can have a massive impact on employees. A working environment that is not only comfortable but also aesthetically pleasing will be conducive to a more motivated and. therefore. more productive workforce. Simple gestures like providing ergonomic furniture can show employees how important and valued they are, so it’s important when rebranding your office space you take into account the comfortability of the staff and even ask their opinions on the design.

A relaxed environment and a comfortable working experience enhance productivity in order to get more done, enhance creativity, and presence of mind. They’ll put in more effort into completing a task, resulting in greater productivity.

Encourages Loyalty in Employees

Workplace branding reinstates a strong sense of pride in the company. It makes the employees feel proud to be part of an organization that is forward thinking and impressively presented. Subsequently, it encourages loyalty towards the company. Employees will start working with more dedication and rigour due to an increased sense of ownership.

As a result, employee turnover decreases. The organization is able to retain their best employees and avoid spending on subsequent recruitment needs. This saving can be invested straight back into the business and into staff development to reward such loyalty.

Attracts More Clients

Effective workplace branding is also important from a potential client’s point of view. An office branded with the company’s culture, brand value, and theme leaves a massive positive impression on a potential client. It amplifies the company’s ethos, and when done well, an office branding that displays prestige and professionalism will entice more potential clients to do business with you.

More clients mean more business, so subsequently, workplace branding can be a good investment after all.

Standardize workplace branding into your office

How to Incorporate Branding into your Office

Obviously, workplace branding doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll have to paint everything in the company’s theme colour. The scope of workplace branding is greater than that.

Initially, you can cover doors, fixtures, and some other pieces in the company’s theme colour. Dependent on the nature of your business you can incorporate quirky, show stopping pieces of furniture, games equipment, impressive lighting, and revolutionary electronics.

Next, you can get the company logo printed on places such as glass, the façade of the building, doors, etc. so clients know where to find you. Keeping your hopes of branding your space in mind when you’re renting a workspace in Shoreditch or its vicinity, an office that can be transformed for workplace branding should be your choice, instead of those where you aren’t really allowed to tweak the décor arrangement.

Toot your corporate horn with workplace branding

Toot Your Corporate Horn

Moving to the more important stuff, highlighting the company’s achievements through award displays, press release posters, or product displays in the building is a great example of workplace branding. You can highlight the achievements and success of the company throughout the business centre whilst also displaying areas of perceived growth and aspiration. World maps showing locations where your business currently trades and highlighting locations of interest are great examples of this.

Apart from showing clients and prospective clients that you mean business, these displays can also act as motivation for the employees and directors to achieve the future targets and objectives.You may also honour the company’s all-time best employees, directors, and the owner of the building as part of your effective workplace branding strategy.

Another brilliant method to incorporate workplace branding into your organization is to highlight the company’s moral and ethical values. It must be expressive enough to convey your organization’s corporate culture and brand value.

Workplace branding is essential, especially for a growth oriented organization. Not only does it influence the employees, but also the potential clients or business ambassadors.

For more information, click here.

Digital Branding

How to find the attractive content over YouTube, Reddit, Quora, and other social media channels

Steven on October 21, 2018

To get the good ideas from the content shared on the various social media channels, one must put some efforts. As this is a big challenge for us to post the irresistible content over the social media accounts every now and then. We need to have the attractive content over the posts and blogs, the webinars, in our workshops, and the webinars. So, we must think of the ways through which we can dig up the attractive content for our audience and their increased engagement.

This article may help you in finding the irresistible content that is being shared on the social media channels like YouTube, Quora, Reddit, or any other communities. The formula that will help you to find the attractive content can be used on several social media channels but here we will try on some of these sites.

The formula to find the best content on social media sites

First, think about the topic you are going to make the content about. You must decide about the area of interest so that you can get the required data. So basically, at first step, you will have to think of an interesting topic that is popular or going viral.

After that, determine that how much effort and struggle is being put by the content sharing person. You can question that how they do it and you will get the answer of it for the topic you have selected.

After this step, the next step is to get every possible information about the area of your interest or the problem you are going to make content about. You need to have whole information about the problem as well as the solutions to that problem. That is how you are going to cover the whole topic.

Now after getting a whole set of information about the topic, you are good to go and start creating the content. This content must be based on the data you have collected while your research.

The final step is to share the content with the audience.

Reddit is a very powerful website and it can be used as a mean of content inspiration. This means that you can get the inspiration about the topic or area of your interest through this networking social media site.

YouTube is also a well-known social media site that is used by many users of the Internet on daily basis for watching and sharing the videos. YouTube can help you in a better way to discover the required content over the topic as it can serve as the search engine for you at its best.

Instagram: There are many small businesses related to fashion and beauty. The pages are followed by millions of Instagram followers and they buy/sell there. So it is another source where you can find content to post on your pages.

buy instagram likes

Other online communities to help finding the required content; there are several social media sites and networks that are also be beneficial for you to get the information about the problem you are going to cover in your content and find the solution to this problem. This formula can be applied on all these sites for finding and sharing the irresistible content with the audience.

Digital Branding

4 Ways to Use Social Media for SEO – Think On It

Steven on October 21, 2018

‘Rome wasn’t built in a day,’ a common proverb which we usually know, isn’t it? This particularly fits with the rules and practices of SEO. With the ever-changing technology, science and art of SEO keep on changing with more new and innovative techniques. Understanding the complex algorithmic system of Google search engine and designing the SEO strategies particularly is quite a daunting task. In this complex online environment where there is cut-throat competition, SEO analysts think upon it again and again.

Every SEO focuses on organic traffic drive combined with enhanced Google search ranking. Basically, we know that focusing on the content and link of the website is the ultimate work performed by the experts. Of course, it is but it there are other facets as well which the business owner should especially not ignore. Social media is like a honey that attracts folds of users towards it. When the website optimisation is genuinely done in accordance with social media networking, it is obvious to have a positive result from it.

Photo credits: https://pixabay.com/en/icon-polaroid-blogger-rss-tumblr-2486501/

4 Ways Social Media Would Really Benefit SEO

At a very basic point, it is important to know that social media is not an ideal factor considered by Google in a search engine ranking index. With the better goals of social media marketing, it perfectly helps the consumers to approach your website and keeping them engaged in it. But how social media can enhance search engine optimisation, isn’t it? Let’s focus on the correlation of the social media signals and search visibility.

Get Organic Followers

As there are many links in the world of SEO, similarly there are lots of users and followers in social media. A number is not the only sole factor but the quality of followers is equally an important point. Many websites just buy the number of followers which is not an ideal solution. Rather one should enhance one’s social media presence together with encouraging the users to follow your page. While providing good and appealing content, it would genuinely attract a vast number of users.

Users love the discount factor as well as the VIP offers provided by the websites. This would be a better alternative that would lead to an increased number of followers. Good social media presence and visibility surely lead to an increased number of followers. Increased followers means maximum traffic drive and quality traffic drive means greater ROI.

Social Media – A Better External Link Building Source

When you have an increased number of followers, your potential share in an online platform consequently increases. When there are maximum numbers of followers, it provides better opportunities for the people and they visit your link and content. Thus, companies should basically focus on content creation. It should be fun and engaging, useful and appropriate, properly arranged and entertaining as well. Apart from these factors, it must be share-worthy.

Quality of the content should be good. Sentence formation should not be in a high-level language rather it should be decent and easily understandable. When you create high-quality content, it would not only attract genuine consumers but also let other websites to reference your link. Through Twitter Ads or Facebook targeting, one can duly take advantage of the content promotion.

Better Brand Image

Just sharing any content is not desirable. Post such contents that would connect the users with your website. It should particularly reveal the missions and objectives of the company and how it would benefit the consumers. When the core values are not stated well, it can somehow hinder the quality of traffic drive. Over promotional content is also not required. The SEO experts should engage in such exciting pictures or memes that would connect the users while they scroll down. It should at once grab the attention of the followers.

Ads should be posted in such a way that it targets the users. At an initial phase, many consumers might not click your ad and are beneficial too. This is because you may know well about who are the potential followers of your brand. When your brand recognition is bigger, more users would know about it thereby increasing the share of clicks. When you get more clicks on Google especially from the audience of social media, the site would rank better and better.

Engage Locally

How you engage with the local community is the most essential factor that search engines look forward. Engaging with the local community through social media is not just a better idea rather it has become a necessity. For this, it is important to update the accounts especially to involve it in the local event. In case you are operating with the local business, let the users know it online. It can be best done if you encourage them while posting and commenting on the social channel.

Merely having the social media account is not enough, it is equally important to use it and update it on regular basis for maximum traffic drive. There are certain elements that should be changed on a regular basis so that the users might find something new about the brand every time when they scroll down. Though social media is not the direct ranking factor yet it ignoring it can prove to be the worst mistake. The success of the online business greatly depends upon the strategies that you plan. Prioritizing all the opportunities and elements related to online marketing is really important.

Explore the advantages of social media marketing and get assured result from it. However, it is important for the site owner to remain updated with all forms of changes taking place in the local community. Your participation towards the collection of facts and figures is important for planning a better marketing strategy.

Sometimes, SEO rules look like the writings that are written on sand which wash away with the very wave of the storm. For an online business, accommodating with such changes is pretty important. Consulting right and appropriate Sydney’s favourite company would really help you out.