Results for: business website

The Importance of Investing in Web Development for Your Business

Steven on April 22, 2021

Setting up a company in this day and age comes with all kinds of challenges and must-have processes that can make or break your success. Depending on your industry, some are more relevant than others, but considering the growth of all things digital, we can safely say that setting up a strong, prominent, and relevant online presence is one of the prerequisites of modern-day business success. Whether you have your own chain of restaurants, a fashion brand, or you have an interior design agency – having a solid website puts you on the map for the entire world to see.

To help make your business more competitive in the online world, this is not your “set it and forget it” type of deal that you can abandon as soon as your site is up and running. You need to keep your website improving, upload fresh content, make sure it’s secure, and above all else, retain communication with customers. To do that efficiently, you need to invest in web development on a continuous basis. Here’s why that matters so much.

Protecting your business reputation

For many companies, reputation management is something restricted to customer-facing communication teams, such as your support agents, social media managers, and the like. You can amplify your protective efforts by bringing your web developers onboard with these processes, and of course, by allowing them to advance in their skills through ongoing training and education.

They will be able to set up the latest security measures which you can then communicate on your site and reassure your visitors that they are in safe hands. Even more than that, your developers can spot potential user-facing glitches that could lead to less than satisfactory experiences, which then means you haven’t delivered on your promise. Developers play a vital role in preserving and growing your reputation in many different ways.

Evolve your presence with customer expectations

Customers are the primary driving force of market trends and changes. Mobile optimization has become a major trend because customers started using their smartphones increasingly to engage businesses, shop, browse, and educate themselves. Over time, voice search has become more popular with the rise of voice assistants like Alexa or Siri. These and many other trends shape web development as a whole, pushing companies to keep investing in the practice.

That often means that your developers need to obtain the latest web development certificate in order to apply the most advanced development practices and techniques for your business. This allows them to always be on the cutting edge of web development, recognize when your business needs to upgrade its digital presence, and ultimately exceed customer expectations.

Post and upgrade SEO-valued content

With a strong web development team, you can upgrade your site’s content on a regular basis, which will in turn help you rank higher and establish your authority in your field of work. In addition to regular web development training, your developers need to collaborate actively with your marketers, support team, as well as your sales experts to maximize the purpose of your site. However, their role is also essential in helping all those other departments in your organization deliver value for your digital presence.

With your developers mentoring your marketers on the latest SEO trends, you can help your creative teams produce quality content that is both customer-friendly, but also ideal for boosting your ranking in search engines. Setting up a collaborative environment for your employees, your web developers included means that you’ll maximize the value of their work.

Sustain customer interactions on your site

Is your website copy in line with what your customers prefer? Are you able to use chatbots to streamline customer support on your site? Have you enabled commenting and sharing for your content such as blogs and videos? Does your website inspire action whenever appropriate? These and other questions are core matters of web development and design.

Communication with customers happens across a variety of digital platforms, but it’s up to you and your design team to inspire that communication. Moreover, it’s up to your employees to make sure that your customers can safely engage with you directly on your site, and that you’re able to respond in a timely manner.

This is where your web developers need to keep up with the latest trends and advancements. When they’re educated and trained to implement them within your own digital presence, you can attract more customers, appeal to a wider demographic, and interact with them safely on a regular basis.

Cost-savings down the road

Big or small, your business is always on the lookout for smarter, more effective ways to cut costs at every turn. From managing your marketing campaigns with free opportunities, all the way to implementing cutting-edge tech, companies need to make cuts where necessary. Investing in proper, ongoing web development means that you’ll actually prevent a slew of expenses down the line.

You won’t have to deal with costly cybersecurity issues, data breaches, and not to mention website crashes when your visitors come rushing to your store. A functional and aesthetically pleasing website is a must, so ongoing web development, design, and maintenance help you sustain your budget for the long haul. By preventing major tech issues with your website, you’ll reduce potential expenses both from that development perspective, but also from that risk management and reputation maintenance perspective, too.

Web development is one of the most crucial elements of business growth and reputation management. In the upcoming months and years, more companies of all sizes will start investing more than ever in their web development departments, both by hiring more people and by ensuring that their knowledge and expertise keep growing. This is a strategy that will help set up your business for growing success and relevance in the digital playing field, which is precisely why you should consider your web development initiatives, too.

Digital Branding

Properly Rebranding Your Website, Social Media Accounts, and More

Steven on April 21, 2021

Changes often take place not only outside, but also in the depths of the company’s internal business processes. Modern successful organisations are constantly improving and strive to keep up with the times. This creates new products and services.

Processes often require both internal and external renewal of companies. Most often this is noticeable by external changes since they immediately attract attention. However, a huge layer of work is hidden in the internal aspects.

What is rebranding

Rebranding is a set of actions taken to change part of the internal business processes and external perception of the brand by the target audience.

There is a common misconception that rebranding refers exclusively to the external visual components of the brand, such as the logo and corporate identity. But this is nothing more than a redesign.

Re-branding is also often confused with repositioning, assortment changes and planned brand evolution. In fact, rebranding can include all the above elements and most often implies not only external changes but also significant internal transformation. It may relate to the ideology, mission, values, structure and quality of the company’s business processes.

Rebranding can affect such areas as brand positioning and its philosophy, changing visual components and their presentation, creating new services.

Why is the rebranding necessary?

First of all, this process is necessary for solving new strategic tasks. For instance:

Radically change the range of goods or services;

Go to other product categories;

Change or significantly expand the target audience;

Use a fundamentally different approach to pricing;

Enter new markets;

Improve your reputation.

Also, virtually any brand must naturally evolve and develop, otherwise, it will be doomed. Starbucks is a good example – just look at the dynamics of their logo change.

In some cases, one can observe protracted rebranding races. Competing companies are actively competing for the audience’s attention in the media and advertising space, points of contact with the audience. When one of the competitors is noticeably updated, then the others also need to correspond to the changes in the market.

Mobile operators are a good example. They are constantly introducing new concepts. If earlier this happened more at the level of external visual solutions, such as logo, corporate identity and interior design of communication salons, now the range of changes affects the most unexpected elements of activity.

Reasons for rebranding

The market and competition are constantly changing, the target audience is maturing, its values and needs are being transformed, and the next generation is growing up. All these factors must be taken into account in strategic marketing planning, otherwise, the success of the brand will be temporary.

It is necessary to constantly monitor changes in audience preferences and respond to them in a timely manner.

When is rebranding needed and how to know when it’s time to do it

The vision of business development has changed significantly;

The reputation of the company has deteriorated significantly;

You need to switch and focus on working with other segments of the audience;

There has been a change of owners or management team who want to change the direction of their activities;

A merger or acquisition transaction has taken place;

The brand is morally outdated and does not correspond to modern market realities;

The company does not systematically fulfil the assigned tasks and does not achieve; necessary goals;

The target audience or its key consumer segments have changed;

Very serious competitors appeared on the market and the brand became non-competitive;

When starting a business, the wrong target audience was chosen, the main direction of the company’s activity was incorrectly determined, or the brand was initially built incorrectly;

Consumers have lost interest in a product or want a variety of choices;

From the very beginning, the company’s products were not in great demand in the market.

Types of rebranding

Depending on the tasks set, rebranding can be complex or partial.

Complex rebranding is a total change in a company or project. Often, rebranding goes so far that the new organisation is unrecognisable compared to the previous version. In this case, a ubiquitous transformation takes place: a new design, logo, style, rejection of low-margin products and services, an improvement in the assortment, and new corporate ethics. But usually, the main line of business of the company does not change, as its client audience.

For example, the management of a law firm changed the name, design, logo, redesigned the website and focused on civil matters, but did not give up legal activity. This is a complex rebranding.

Partial rebranding is a change in a separate part of the company. For example, updating the logo if it is associated with unpleasant emotions, incidents, images, or even resembles another large corporation. Or a redesign of a product’s packaging in order to increase its awareness and make it more noticeable, which means increase sales. In this case, a specific task or problem is solved.

Rebranding stages

Marketing audit

Includes an analysis of the current state of affairs in the company. Find and evaluate strengths and weaknesses against the background of competitors. Be sure to study the current customer base: loyalty and trust of consumers, the motives for choosing a company, their demographic characteristics.

They also assess the company’s slogans, logo, design – what associations they cause and how this affects the level of customer confidence.

In addition, the audit program includes an analysis of the company’s resources: industry size, industry trends and prospects, sales channels, department functioning, leadership style, market positioning and finance.

Only in this way, it will become clear what to work on. With the help of an audit, you can find out whether a comprehensive rebranding is necessary or it is enough to limit yourself to point changes.

Brand repositioning

At this stage, a “road map” for rebranding is being developed, namely its terms, budgets, stages of changes. The concept of rebranding is also being formed – the main message and renewal tools. And, of course, this is tested, and only then implemented.

Rebranding of the corporate style

Change of style and all kinds of attributes (logos, packaging design and trademark) based on the road map and developed layouts. The look of the company is changing – a new strategy of communication with customers comes into force.

Interaction of the new brand with the audience

Social media rebranding

Clients get acquainted with the updated brand, evaluate the first results of the rebranding.

Social media rebranding tasks:

Increasing product awareness.

Forming an active and loyal social media community around the brand.

Solution

Development of an SMM strategy for the development of brand communities in all necessary networks. In the new design concept, use images that grab the attention of users and generate brand interest and useful content for users.

Website rebranding

The redesign work goes through six stages.

1. Analysis of resource indicators

Study of typical users and their needs. To understand the atmosphere and general style of the company, visits to the client’s store or office are possible.

2. Drawing up a concept

Generation of ideas for the website redesign. What will it look like? How does it differ from competitors? How to achieve maximum usability?

3. Text optimisation

Creation of high-quality, selling text on the home page of the site, which is optimised for search engines.

4. Design layout (site drawing)

5. Layout of the resource

6. Programming

7. Transferring the design to the site and embedding it in the CMS.

When adjusting the appearance, web designers from Sydney advise you to take into account the “convenience” of the resource:

Readability of the text

Visual perception (does the site look good)

Usability or ease of use (simplicity of the site structure, loading speed, etc.).

Rebranding mistakes

For rebranding to be effective, you need to be aware of the typical mistakes of its implementation:

Incorrect change of the name of the company: if you treat the renaming superficially, then the organisation can either be forgotten, or it will be a step backward. You cannot cross out what the brand’s activity indicates. Imagine what it would be like if Burger King was renamed into the just King;

Lack of testing often leads to the fact that reality does not coincide with expectations, and returning everything back is expensive and time-consuming;

The unsystematic nature of rebranding: current and potential customers will be confused, and such uncertainty can only be scary;

Unconstructive management: violation of the term for the development of layouts, incorrect delegation of authority on the issue of rebranding, there are no clear goals and distribution of responsibility, to this we can add ignoring the opinion of employees;

Unreasonable changes in the company’s brand in the form of “wishes” of the management or people responsible for the rebranding.

Conclusion

To successfully change the idea of a brand on the market, you need to carry out a set of measures that affect changes in ideology, positioning, appearance and communication style – in this case, the audience will believe you. Follow these tips, and we wish you a successful rebranding!

Digital Branding

Outstanding Branding: How The Right Brand Can Set Your Business Apart

Steven on April 16, 2021

Strong branding is at the center of every successful business. When you see the Apple logo, you know exactly who they are and what they do. That’s because they’ve built an iconic brand of simple, safe, and minimal design.

The knowledge you instantly have about the company when you read their name or see the logo shows just how effective branding can be at setting a company apart from the competition. That kind of instant recognition is what you need to strive for in your business, whether you’re building computers or the next skyscraper.

Achieving outstanding branding comes to a few basic steps, so let’s talk about how you can build a brand that sets you apart from the competition.

Start With A Story: Explain Why You Do What You Do So Customers Can Connect With You

One of the first steps involved in building a successful brand is finding the right way to tell your story. You must explain why you thought your business was needed, and how you feel you can offer valuable solutions to customers. This has to be done in a way that makes the customer’s needs the focus.

Let’s say you run a construction company that regularly builds schools in rural areas. When explaining why you started your company, you could cite noticing that there was a need for critical infrastructure in underdeveloped areas and feeling the need to do something about it.

This shows that you pay attention to the needs of communities and customers, not just what makes you money. That being said, you’ll also make money from the approach. 83% of companies that believe it’s important to keep customers happy experience financial growth.

To support you and promote your brand, customers have to know what your message is. Explaining what it is you value gives them the tools they need to define your brand in a positive way in their mind.

Inspire Feelings: Build A Connection With Your Customers By Appealing To Their Emotions

Think about commercials for a minute. How often do you see one that tells an emotional story, where the product is barely mentioned? They get you invested in the short story they’re telling you, and then casually drop their product or logo at the end.

This approach works, according to the Institute of Practitioners, who found that ads with emotional content lead to twice as many sales as more logic-based ads. Basically, people are more likely to use how they feel about you to make a buying decision than they are to use facts. This reinforces how important emotions are when it comes to defining a brand.

Someone who remembers you as “the company with the commercial about hiring homeless veterans to do construction” is more likely to buy from you. Activating that kind of emotion also increases the chance of an ad going viral, as people are more likely to share advertising content if it triggers good emotions.

Find a version of that approach that works for what you do, and use it to build a brand connection.

Create Community: Give Your Customers A Place To Turn For Advice And Answers

Humans like to feel supported by other humans. That’s why customer service is a 350 billion dollar industry, and companies annually spend 1% to 2% of their earnings on customer retention programs.

Despite all the money spent on this section of business, it’s often the simplest solutions that make the biggest changes.

Let’s use the example of a construction business again and get some more ideas on branding a construction business. If you build a Q&A or general advice section on your construction website, people will land there for answers even if they don’t know about your company.

They come to learn more about flooring or installing a sink, and they find helpful information and stick around to learn more. That gives you a chance to build a connection with that person. You can allow other customers to weigh in with advice, and even take the next step and gain more knowledge in the field yourself.

Making yourself more professional reflects well on your brand, so set aside some time today to improve yourself. If you’re in construction, you can take practice exams to get your contractor’s license. This is not only a segment of the Lean Business Model but it’ll open up more business opportunities, and it’s a move that gives you more knowledge about your industry to pass on to your customers.

The strength of the community you build will depend on the commitment you make to it. The goal is to create a space where you, and others, can come together to share a positive experience that’s beneficial to potential customers. They’ll remember that, and that’s how a brand reputation that sets you apart gets built.

The key to outstanding branding is to make moves that set you apart from your competitors. Take these steps to build a more personal relationship with your customers, and a better future for your business.

Digital Branding

How to Successfully Showcase Your Company’s Past Work on Your Website

Steven on April 5, 2021

In advertising, past work is one of your company’s most valuable assets. It shows that the copy on your site isn’t just fluff — you’re really committed to the values you claim to stand for, like top-notch customer service or high-quality products and services.

Showing off past work, however, can be tricky. Not only do you have to sort through all the work your business has done, you’ll also have to figure out how to present it. For B2C businesses, this challenge can be even more daunting.

There are a wide variety of techniques out there that you can use to show off your business’s past work. These are four of the best options available.

1. Case Studies

For B2B and B2M businesses, one of the most popular ways to show off past work are through case studies — in-depth descriptions of past projects that use visuals, numbers and writing to break down the product or service you provided a client, and how you overcame challenges while trying to provide that service.

For example, see this case study from The Anstadt Company, which specializes in print marketing materials.

The page breaks down a particular job that the company had worked on in the past, including info on how the design team approached a problem their client was having and how the client felt about the finished products.

These case studies both show off the benefits of working with your company — like the new design and improvement in attendance — as well as the thought process behind your work.

This can make customers more confident in work. Case studies like these show off how you can solve problems as they emerge and work closely with a client to create a product or service that really meets their needs.

2. User-Generated Feedback

When shopping online, consumers often start with research. One of the most popular research methods is to search for user-generated feedback, typically in the form of online reviews.

You’ve probably done this yourself. You may have quickly checked the reviews on a big platform like Amazon or Google before committing to a particular product or business.

Consumers put a lot of faith into these reviews — according to one recent survey, 84% of people trust online reviews just as much as recommendations from friends.

Hosting online reviews on your site or storefront is a great way to show off positive feedback from your customers.

For example, an online candle-and-candle-accessory business like Yankee Candle may provide customers with the option to review products they’ve purchased, giving them form fields to highlight both the value and the quality of a product.

Users can also rate reviews, marking them as helpful or unhelpful, providing another layer of user-generated feedback for visitors.

These online reviews will provide prospective customers with feedback from real customers who have experience with your products. Even if these reviews aren’t fully positive, they can make a significant difference in encouraging a customer to try one of your products.

This tactic may be less effective for B2B businesses who have fewer clients, or for businesses that primarily offer customized products or services. However, for most businesses, these reviews can be a valuable tool in presenting feedback on your past work.

3. Design Galleries

You can also let your work speak entirely for itself. Design galleries and similar online portfolios allow you to show off dozens of images of work that you’ve done in the past.

The homepage for RoAndCo, a New York-based design studio, shows off how effective design galleries can be.

The entire front page is basically one big design gallery. Clicking on the left and right side of the screen allows users to scroll back or forth between the studio’s previous design work.

This strategy is ambitious — there’s no context for any of the images, meaning that visitors will miss out on any explanation for images that could have helped to explain how the studio approaches to design.

It is, however, a very visually exciting approach. A similar design gallery could be a great strategy for businesses or professionals that produce lots of visual content — like graphic designers or animators.

4. Customer Testimonials

You can also directly ask your clients for feedback to put on your site. Soliciting customer and client testimonials can give you a valuable, real-world example of the work you’ve done and how you’ve lived up to your brand values in the past.

These testimonials can be an extremely valuable marketing tool that you can use to make your brand seem much more trustworthy. This is especially true if consumers know the clients providing the testimonials.

This page from Booker, the development of online booking software, shows how you can use unique presentations of customer testimonials to highlight past work.

Clicking on the “Watch Testimonial” button opens an embedded YouTube video with a brief, two-minute-long testimonial from one of Booker’s clients. In the testimonial, the client describes the troubles they’ve had with booking in the past and how Booker’s services were able to help them keep their business running.

These testimonials can give customers someone to relate to in your marketing and help you show off the real-world problems that your products have solved in the past.

Showing Off Past Work on a Company Website

If you have company work that you’re proud of, there is a wide range of methods you can use to show it off on your site.

Case studies, testimonials, design galleries and even user reviews can help you show potential customers how you’ve succeeded in the past.

Author:

Eleanor Hecks is editor-in-chief at Designerly Magazine. She was the creative director at a digital marketing agency before becoming a full-time freelance designer. Eleanor lives in Philly with her husband and pup, Bear.

Legal Branding

3 Most Common Legal Issues Small Businesses Face

Steven on April 1, 2021

Legal issues are something no business wants to deal with, and usually, business owners will do everything in their power to avoid them. The problem is that you can’t have control over everything that happens in and around your business at all times. There are cases where issues become inevitable, and you have to deal with them. The best thing you can do right now is be prepared for them so you can have a chance at preventing them or react better if they do occur. Let’s take a look at some of the most common legal issues small business owners face.

Choosing the Wrong Business Structure

This is one of the most common ones and can have disastrous consequences. Not knowing that your personal assets are exposed is something some owners only find out once they’re being sued. Choosing the wrong business structure could affect everything from taxes, raising capital, or bringing in outside investors.

This is why small businesses should work with a business lawyer the minute they get started and before they make things official. If you want to know how much you can expect to pay for one, we suggest you check out Advancepoint’s article.

Harassment and Discrimination Cases

These cases are tough because they aren’t always under your control. If someone ends up being harassed or feels discriminated against, then they might decide to take legal action, and you may be part of the lawsuit as well. They may allege that you knew about the situation and didn’t do enough to stop it or reprimand the culprits.

There’s also the possibility that an employee of yours directly accuses you of harassing them or discriminating against them. If you are guilty, then you will have to face the consequences. If you aren’t, you will need to prepare to fight the case and also take the steps necessary to protect your public image and your brand.

The best thing you can do here is to start taking these cases seriously if you aren’t already. Have a way for people to reach you and make anonymous complaints. Pay attention to repeated complaints about certain individuals. Also, make sure that you have fair hiring practices, and make sure that you hire fair managers as well.

Intellectual Property

Intellectual property issues are also very common and can take many forms. You might be accused by another company of copying one of their designs or processes. Or you may get a cease-and-desist letter from someone claiming that you used images on your website or marketing material without their permission. These can go from pesky to potentially ruining your business, and you always have to stay vigilant to make sure that you aren’t infringing on someone else’s intellectual property. You have to take steps to protect yours as well.

These are just some of the legal issues small business owners need to be prepared to deal with. The best thing you can do is consult a lawyer early who’ll be able to explain the legal side of your particular line of business.

Digital Branding

The Impact of Social Media on Cryptocurrency in Modern Business

Steven on March 25, 2021

Over the years, social media has become an inextricable part of our everyday lives. For better or worse, social networks influence our lives in a very big way, from the decisions we make on a day-to-day basis, all the way to our business decisions and the professional choices we make to succeed. It should come as no surprise, then, that cryptocurrency has become a big part of the social media realm, and that nowadays social media is one of the main driving forces behind the success of cryptocurrency.

As companies and individuals continue to increasingly leverage the power of the blockchain, and as cryptocurrency mining and trading become increasingly popular, it’s important to understand how social media helps companies and consumers thrive. Today, we’re taking a look at how social media drives cryptocurrencies for customers and brands, and how it helps us succeed.

Consumers are leveraging social media

Educating yourself on the topic of cryptocurrency used to be a difficult challenge back in the days when cryptocurrency was a novelty in the digital world. Pretty quickly, though, people were able to quickly find all the information they were looking for as credible and relevant data began to surface on social networks.

Companies and cryptocurrency gurus, crypto websites, and groups, all of these nowadays have their social media accounts and are posting regularly about the latest crypto news, but also talking about the fundamental topics. This gives the consumers, traders, and miners a golden opportunity to educate themselves and make smarter decisions and investments.

What’s more, social media has become the best place for newcomers to the industry and those who are thinking about getting into cryptocurrency to find quick and actionable information to kick-start their journey.

Social media builds a thriving community

Credible data coming from reputable companies and individuals, paired with a growing consumer market, creates a thriving online community of passionate professionals and crypto hobbyists. The community is where the crypto industry really shines, because this opens up numerous opportunities for personal and professional growth, but also gives companies a chance to open a dialogue with the right people.

Even now, the blockchain is transforming the customer experience, and that’s why it’s important for companies to leverage social media to improve engagement and customer satisfaction. By posting relevant crypto updates and news, engaging with the community in meaningful conversation, and by positioning yourself as an authority in the field, you can help the crypto community grow.

What’s more, keep in mind that this is an opportunity to grow your brand in the process. News travels fast in the crypto community, so being active and giving the people what they want will go a long way.

Expanding into and capitalizing on crypto mining

Speaking of growing your company or your side business as a solopreneur, let’s not forget that cryptocurrency mining and trading is becoming more popular and accessible around the world. People want to get their hands on cryptocurrencies, but they also want to spend it.

This is one of the reasons why people are investing in bitcoin mining hardware but also why entire companies are branching out into mining, trading, and are accepting cryptocurrency as a legitimate payment method. So, how does this trend tie into social media?

Social media is the place for companies and individuals to get the mining tips and tricks to find the best equipment, get honest opinions and user reviews, and obtain data-driven information. With these insights, leaders and consumers can make better decisions and make the right investments.

Leaders are using social media to boost engagement

When it comes to growing your business in the crypto realm, you need to leverage social media to build anticipation and engagement, and most importantly, build some much-needed hype. You can build hype for anything on social media nowadays, whether you’re launching a new altcoin, promoting an existing cryptocurrency with the help of an ICO marketing agency, announcing a new digital product, or anything in between.

You can have a promising future with blockchain regardless of the industry you’re in, and as long as you’re investing in the crypto world in any way, you need to use your social media accounts to build that hype. You can use gamification to get people interested with quizzes and promotions, but also get the media to keep their eyes on you and help you keep your audience engaged until the launch.

Providing real-time support and guidance to customers

Finally, remember that the blockchain and cryptocurrency fields are still quite confusing for newcomers, and these people need professional support and guidance. If you establish yourself as a leader in the industry and focus on supporting the individual on social media, you can help build social proof and awareness, and drive customers to your company.

People want someone to hold their hands on this journey and help them succeed. Make it your mission to help your followers succeed and they will praise your brand and make it a staple of the crypto industry, especially on social media.

Over to you

Social media and cryptocurrency go hand in hand as a powerful duo that drives the business world forward, but also supports the growing crypto community. The blockchain and cryptocurrency sectors will continue to grow throughout 2021 and beyond, so be sure to leverage what you’ve learned to day to build a thriving future for yourself in the crypto world.

Provided By VAT reporting software company, Sovos

Digital Branding

Nine Online Marketing Mistakes Small Businesses Make

Steven on March 6, 2021

Good marketing is a crucial element for every business’s survival and success. A well-planned marketing strategy can do wonders for your small business. Not only will it attract a considerable number of potential customers, but it will also give your business an immense opportunity for growth.

Online marketing is rapidly taking the lead among all other forms of marketing. While traditional marketing channels like TV commercials and billboard advertisements are still widely employed, their effect is no longer dominant in the digital era. With social media and e-commerce websites taking over the world by storm, marketers are making a paradigm shift towards digital marketing.

However, digital marketing is still an evolving concept. Hence, many businesses face issues when trying to market their product through an online platform. These marketing mistakes can create plenty of problems, and might even cost you your business. Therefore, identifying and avoiding them is essential. Below, we have pointed out a few online marketing mistakes small businesses often tend to make.

1. Not having a pre-planned strategy

Like any other business strategy, online marketing also needs a tremendous amount of planning. Without a well-thought-out marketing strategy, your marketing goals will lack structure and direction. You will be unable to reach your established objective, and your competitors might put you at a disadvantage.

To develop a marketing strategy, start by identifying your audience, and set a long-term vision and goals for your business. Most importantly, decide the online platform(s) you want to use for marketing purposes. You can implore the different techniques used for market research to devise a conclusive strategy for your business.

On the other hand, hiring a digital marketing agency can make your job easier. You can get assistance from qualified professionals and build an efficient and effective strategy for your business.

2. No social media presence

In this day and age, where social media is the “king” of marketing channels, not having a social media presence can put your business at a considerable disadvantage.

A social media page can help popularize your business and attract more potential customers. Social media is also an excellent avenue for you to interact with your customers and build long-lasting relationships. You can improve your services and quality by getting their feedback. You can also get an insight into consumers’ consumption patterns and develop a marketing plan tailored to specific groups.

Social media handles like Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram also allow you to run advertisements for your business. While everything else is free-of-cost, these advertisements are not. However, these costs are scalable depending on your objectives. They are a great way to attract traffic to your page and increase your followers.

3. Entirely depending on paid advertisements

While paid advertisements can be immensely beneficial for your business, you should avoid solely relying on them. One reason for this is that these advertisements may not necessarily yield any long-term benefits. Also, back-to-back paid advertisements tend to have diminishing returns and can burn a hole in your business wallet.

Consider investing your time, money, and energy in other long-term and effective strategies like inbound marketing. Inbound marketing includes social media, SEO, and email. Inbound marketing promises long-term benefits and improves ROI.

4. Neglecting your social media account

It’s one thing not to have social media presence at all (we talked about that above), and entirely another to have one and neglect it. And believe it or not, small business owners are more likely to make the second mistake.

Some common mistakes marketing teams make are inconsistency with posting and replying late to queries. If you don’t post regularly, you might start losing followers, eventually dipping your engagement and traffic figures. Delayed responses to queries and an inactive social media account reflect poorly on the business’s ability to address customer concerns and create a bad reputation.

5. Not using videos

Studies report that 85% of the audience prefers watching videos over engaging with text and image-based content. Facebook and YouTube saw a massive increase in video content last year. Fun, humorous, and engaging videos attract a lot of customers. Video content is more memorable than text. It can drive immense traffic and is slowly becoming the preferred medium of many marketers.

6. Not marketing your website

If your business is new, then remember to market your website well. If you don’t invest in marketing your website, you will fail to attract even the smallest amount of traffic, leading to a tremendous loss in ROI. Think about it, many people don’t know about you, and you do not even market your website. Then, how do you expect visitors to your site? It’s a no-brainer!

It’s a very competitive digital world that we are talking about here. There are millions of websites up on the web. The chances of a person reaching your website are little to none if you don’t market it properly, which brings us to the next mistake.

7. Not investing in SEO

Search Engine Optimization is the process of improving your ratings on different search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing. SEO makes it possible for customers to easily find your business and the products/services you offer while surfing the internet.

The problem here is that most business owners do not realize the full potential of SEO. They consider it to be useless and time-consuming. However, it is one of the most effective marketing tactics. If you can learn certain tricks of the trade like keyword research, keyword optimization, URL creation, you will realize the true potential that SEO carries. Yes, it is time-consuming, but the long-term results are worth the wait.

8. Spamming your customers

Being bombarded with an odd number of emails, texts, and messages is something none of us like. Customers hate spam! Spamming your customers can annoy them to the point that they might block you. The last thing you want is to lose your customers for good!

Try and make your emails and messages relevant. Irrelevant and unnecessary spam emails can worsen the case. The best way to go about it is to communicate with your customers and only send them as few emails as they wish to receive.

9. Marketing exclusively

Marketers often make the mistake of focusing on quantity over quality, i.e., they assume the higher the ad frequency, the higher the website’s traffic. However, it would be best to remember that your goal is to attract the right traffic and not all the traffic. Visitors who are genuinely interested in your business should be your primary focus. Others might waste your time and money, and will eventually leave. Define your target audience and focus on marketing to a niche rather than everyone.

Conclusion

Your marketing tactics will be of no use if you are not able to reach your goal. Small businesses often make the mistake of marketing their businesses without putting any thought into it first. Careful marketing is vital. It can make or break your business. Investing time, energy, and money in digital marketing is a valuable and valuable idea, but correctly investing those three resources is the key to success.

If you are a new business owner, make sure to surf through the above-given points to not make any marketing mistakes in the future.

Personal Branding

Steps on How to Register Your Business in Utah

Steven on February 21, 2021

Are you planning to start a business in Utah? It pays to do your homework! Before you can register your business in the Beehive State, you need to decide what type of business structure you will utilize. Will you go for Doing Business As (DBA), Limited Liability Company (LLC), or corporation? If you decide to have a Limited Liability Company, you need to know the current Utah LLC cost. If you opt for DBA or corporation, then you should also assess how much capital they require these days. Whichever you choose, all these structures have their fair share of advantages and flaws. To help you pick the perfect choice, we did a little research about these three entities.

Basic Business Structures

Doing Business As

DBA is sometimes referred to as a trade name, fictitious business name, or assumed business name. It allows a business to operate under a different name from its legal name. For example, if you want to run your cleaning business as X.Y.Z. Cleaning, you will need to file for a DBA. In most states, business owners file DBAs at the county level, where you can find the business.

Limited Liability Company

An LLC means that your business operates as a distinct and separate legal entity from you (as the owner). While LLCs require more formalities than a DBA, they have fewer restrictions than corporations. A manager or members who must manage a Member-Managed LLC are the company owners, while a manager may or may not be a member. The LLC structure also includes more tax flexibility since it can choose to be taxed as a corporation, partnership, or sole proprietor.

Corporation

A corporation is a separate entity that provides liability protection to the owners and has a structure that includes shareholders, directors, and officers. It is more complicated than a DBA, but startups and large firms that intend to raise funding often choose this.

Now that you know the three structures’ main differences (and we hope that you’ve decided which one is your best bet), it’s time to think of a name for your business. Depending on the structure you chose, there will be different requirements when naming a business.

What to Consider When Naming an LLC

Surprisingly, there are lots of things to consider when naming an LLC. But for brevity purposes, we’ve narrowed them down and listed only the most crucial things to keep in mind.

Include any of these words, phrases, or abbreviations: “limited company,” “limited liability company,” “LC,” or LLC” to your business name.
Do not use words that could confuse your LLC with a government agency, like “FBI,” “Treasury,” and “State Department.”
Avoid the words “bank,” “trust,” “trustee,” “insurer,” or “insurance company.”
Do a name search on the Utah.gov website to make sure the name you want is still available.

Registering an LLC in Utah

Now comes the easy-peasy part: registering your business as an LLC. First, file the “Certificate of Organization” amounting to $70 with the Utah Division of Corporations and Commercial Code. When approved, you need to organize the LLC by holding an “Organizational Meeting” and crafting the company Operating Agreement, taking contributions from the members, issuing Member Certificates, and more.

Conclusion

We hope this simple guide will give you an idea of Utah LLC cost and help you start your own business. Registering a business in the State of Utah takes time, patience, and a fistful of dollars. While you need to take a lot of steps, they are pretty easy and simple. Just make sure to take one step at a time and do everything you need to. This way, you’ll be able to set up your business correctly and get started making money.

Digital Branding Personal Branding

Top Strategies for Growing Your Retail Business’s Brand in 2021

Steven on February 8, 2021

Many retailers understandably want to turn the page on the tough year that was 2020 and look forward to a 2021 full of growth and other successes. Having actionable strategies for meeting those goals will help put them in reach. Here are some reliable ways to grow your retail brand this year.

Train Your Staff

Your employees are extensions of your brand. If customers walk into your store, engage with workers and typically get bored, misinformed or uncertain replies, they won’t likely have positive impressions of your overall brand.

Explore ways to invest in training so your employees collectively provide excellent experiences. For example, you might require workers to engage with all visitors to a physical store within two minutes of their arrival. That approach ensures people don’t feel unseen or make incorrect assumptions about products or services.

Ensure workers never say, “Sorry, I’m not sure,” and go back to their tasks when customers ask for information they don’t have. Instead, they could be proactive and say, “Sorry, I’m not sure, but let me get a colleague who can answer that for you.” Additionally, teach employees to engage in gentle upselling efforts or suggest alternatives when the products people want are out of stock. Doing that should raise your overall sales.

Offer Branded Items

Anyone who’s been to the Big Apple has almost certainly seen shoppers carrying Bloomingdale’s brown shopping bags — the containers are instantly noticeable with their thin, rounded letters. Each one has the size printed on the front, such as “Big Brown Bag,” with the store name on the side. The simple design is so iconic that the department store sells reusable vinyl zippered totes featuring it.

This example proves that branded items keep companies in customers’ minds. They’re also appropriate for organizations that are much smaller than Bloomingdale’s, too. You can give the items out as freebies if your retail brand has a community event presence. Alternatively, keep the goodies near the cash register and give one to each person who buys something.

Consider which items people will most likely use and enjoy. For example, pens and notepads are handy things recipients will need often. Also, products such as keychains and magnets are practical items that keep your company’s name in frequent view.

Provide Accurate Stock Information If Possible

Most people can’t help but feel disappointed if they arrive at stores and find the products they want are not available. Investigate whether your inventory management system could enable launching a feature that lets people instantly check stock levels on a website or app before arriving at a store.

When shoppers want items you don’t have, give them immediate options. For example, you might give them real-time updates about shipments on the way. Alternatively, if you operate more than one store in a consumer’s area, let them check stock at a different location. You can also give employees easy ways to special-order the products customers request. Then, shoppers will realize workers are doing everything they can to assist.

Maintaining reliable on-shelf availability (OSA) poses challenges for many retailers. If it’s a persistent problem for you, get to the bottom of what’s happening and fix it. For example, does the issue occur because you wait too long to place orders that replenish the shelves? Perhaps stock levels are too low because of incorrect forecasting that failed to anticipate demand.

Help Consumers Save Time

Price is not necessarily the top priority when people choose where to shop. A recent survey found 53% of people intend to shop in ways that save time, even if they don’t provide the lowest prices. Another finding that supports the time-saving trend was that 56% of people would keep shopping in convenient, easy stores.

You can strengthen and grow your retail brand this year by highlighting how your store facilitates efficiency. Maybe that means letting people reserve products online and pick them up at the retail outlet. That’s an appealing option for individuals who know what they want and don’t need to browse. If people learn your retail brand lets them make the most of their precious time, they’ll want to keep supporting it.

Helping people save time could also mean changing how and where you stock items. During the COVID-19 pandemic, some grocery retailers created dedicated aisles of the products people wanted most — from soap and hand sanitizer to shelf-stable foods. That was a smart and effective strategy that let frazzled shoppers go to one place and find many of the items on their lists.

Cater to Shoppers’ Omnichannel Preferences

Despite the ongoing rise of e-commerce, many people still buy what they need in physical stores. Retail analysts point out that the lines between physical and online retail are increasingly blurred. This transition has led to a rise in omnichannel marketing, whereby people expect to shop on numerous channels and get an integrated, smooth experience each time.

For example, even when consumers visit physical stores, they often use their phones while inside, relying on those devices to steer their purchasing decisions. Other shoppers let specific product needs influence whether they shop in a store or online. Someone might prefer to buy a new pair of jeans in a store but go to the same retailer’s website within a month to buy a scarf.

The main takeaway is to avoid focusing too much on a single retail channel. People often switch between several, and they appreciate high-quality, customer-centric experiences regardless of which ones they choose. Providing those for them will grow your brand and give people more opportunities to interact with it.

Consider Investing in Augmented Reality

Experts remain unsure to what extent COVID-19 will continue affecting retail in 2021. That’s why it makes good business sense to evaluate how you can help people feel safe, no matter what the future holds. One way to do that is with augmented reality (AR) tools that help people shop for things with safer processes.

For example, Ulta Beauty’s GLAMlab allows people to virtually try different hair colors, brow shapes and makeup as they shop in the stores. The brand does not offer tester products during the pandemic. However, the technology provides a safe substitute and drives sales by removing the uncertainty of buying beauty products blindly.

Laura Kohl, the company’s senior vice president of applications, data and integrations, explained, “What’s fun about going into an Ulta store is actually trying on some things or smelling the products or feeling the product, that just can’t happen right now. So at least with this virtual try-on, it quickly shifted into that … It complements the store experience.” Also, AR is increasingly accessible to small businesses. Shopify has an AR tool specifically geared toward smaller companies.

Succeed With Brand Building in 2021

Building your brand should be a methodical process. Following the tips here and abiding by other best practices does not bring overnight results, but you should see gradual improvements. If possible, use metrics to track how well different approaches work after using them for at least a few months. Then, it’ll be easier to justify investing more time and money into those approaches for the future.

Author:

Digital Branding Personal Branding SaaS Branding

Do Press Releases Still Work for Startups and Online Businesses in 2021?

Steven on October 1, 2020

Press releases are among the most commonly used public relations tools that companies can apply to their effective PR campaigns. Anyone who has created a press release or has had one written up for them knows that they are many benefits to press releases, like contributing to improving the recognition, reliability, image, reputation, prestige, revenues, and visibility of brands companies.

They are just one of the first steps in an effective PR campaign; from there, they can provide backlinks and many other benefits to a company.

In this article, we will look at:

1) What are press releases?

2) How do Press Releases Help SEO?

3) Are Press Releases Still Worth it?

4) Advantages of a press release

5) How to make Press Releases effective

1) What are Press Releases?

Nowadays, press releases can be created in written, audio, or video format. It is a way of getting the word out there, distributing, and announcing events to media outlets about any important event that is happening or about to happen.

It can be hard to get the media’s attention, and it is even more challenging of media outlets. After all, they need to filter all the information they are getting sent because they want to publish only the best, more exciting news. That is why platforms like Pressfarm exist so that it makes it easier to find media outlets through their databases.

2) How Do Press Releases Help SEO?

Having any information posted about a company or event on heavy traffic news sites is beneficial for a company’s brand and SEO.

The way that companies can achieve SEO is through backlinks. When media outlets start spreading the word about a company, they will not only get backlinks from those new sites, but they can also receive a high number of backlinks from people who will read the news.

Backlinks are fundamental to SEO. On a basic level, the more sites that link a company’s information, the more authority Google awards the site. Backlinks are considered to be a proxy for authority since more popular and authoritative sites will have more sites linking into them. Building backlinks can be one of the most difficult tasks for SEO and building high-quality ones are even harder, but combining methods like obtaining them naturally, buying them, or possibly using tricks like PBNs can be considered the best link building method available because it helps companies build links rather quickly, they are all completely natural and won’t result in any penalties if done right.

There are many press release tactics that can be quite effective, but companies and individuals quickly realized that it was easier to get links from the press releases themselves instead of from news publishers. A reason for that is press release spam because instead of creating high-quality news stories to improve their business, companies distribute as many press releases as possible to as many platforms as possible “spamming” media outlets, which decrease the importance of the press release on certain sites.

So, in order to maintain high-quality backlinks and interest up, companies should not just post a press release for the sake of getting a backlink, but post it actually to attract the attention of media outlets.

3) Are Press Releases still worth it?

Publishers will always be in need of news topics, so no matter what, as long as companies have news, press releases will always be useful. Press Releases can be effective not only with backlinks, but also with social media likes, shares, and comments.

The question that does get asked though, is why press releases seem to be less popular than before. As mentioned before, it is because of press release SPAM. As the Internet and SEO became more popular, media outlets received many pieces of information, so they need to start filtering news stories that can make press releases a less effective SEO strategy and how accessible it is.

However, again as mentioned before, if companies focus on the right things, which can improve the business, services, or products and create an effective press release that is focused on getting the media’s attention instead of just trying to grab backlinks, press releases are more than worth it.

4) Advantages of press releases

Press releases can give any business amazing results regardless of its size, profit margin, profile, and industry. Here are some of the main benefits of press releases.

Instant Exposure

When it comes to press releases, the two things that are the most important are content and distribution. Each type of content plays a significant role in an effective strategy; landing pages help companies introduce their brand and goods to the world and convert leads into customers. Blog posts allow companies to establish a personal connection with readers by answering essential questions, offering advice, and sharing insight with audiences. While landing pages and blog posts will help, press releases allow companies to build trust and authority on different fronts; it will enable media outlets to cover the store and prospects a new reason to visit the brand through websites or landing pages.

Increased Sales Potential

Press releases not only bring credibility and allow companies to stay in the public eye, but it also increases a company’s profit margins. Writing and distributing press releases for different occasions and highlighting key benefits and features of products can position the company’s merchandise on top of any others currently available on the market.

Chance to boost the effectiveness of marketing plan

Press releases represent an affordable marketing addition that companies can add to their campaign. There is no way that companies can go wrong with these tools because they are designed to be controlled by their creators in terms of targeted audience and message.

Opportunity to brand yourself as an industry expert

As mentioned before, press releases are a great way to build trust and credibility in any industry. If a company has a great PR campaign, it will offer them a chance to brand themselves as a high-authority business owner and show off their products’ unique attributes.

Increased traffic to website

People are now flocking to the Internet, looking for unique insights and exclusive stories. Companies need to try and use any PR tactic to push their feature to the top of a potential client’s newsfeeds and boost exposure. Using press releases and including a few links to organic content can guide potential readers to other platforms to promote and sell their goods.

Companies can boost their website traffic through press releases by optimizing key elements, including keywords, headlines, videos, photos, hashtags, and descriptions.

Important SEO benefits

Press releases that are published on different media outlets can offer companies valuable backlinks to their website. By optimizing content, companies can also increase visibility online and make their content searchable on the Internet, which allows them to unlock instant SEO benefits.

Ultimately, the company needs that one media outlet on a renowned site, and things will fall into place. If they target individual reporters, there is a higher chance of getting featured. They do not need to use press release platforms to make a press release useful, they might need to email media outlets personally or message them on their social media profiles.

If companies and individuals opt to use platforms to create an effective press release, they can use press release agencies like Pressfarm to help them with any public relations needs. Some services they provide include templates for companies to create their press releases and press kits, a media outlet database for companies to find the appropriate media outlets for their business, and packages for companies that need assistance in creating an effective public relations strategy.

The packages that Pressfarm provides include; the Starter package, the Launch package, the Campaign package, and the Enterprise package. The Starter package is a great start for small teams looking for the fundamentals to take their communications to the next level, the Launch package is ideal for growing companies to increase press coverage, improve effectiveness and personal communication with the media, the Campaign package is for businesses to gain full control of their company and stay consistent across the globe, and finally, the Enterprise package also allows companies to gain full control of their brand and stay consistent and is ideal for companies preparing for a big product launch or multiple stories to pitch, but need a PR expert to help them reach leading press contacts.

Within the packages, some of the services provided include a professionally designed press/media kit, press release proofreading and review by PR Experts, a personalized PR action plan on strategies and PR industry trade secrets to maximize press coverage, a tailor-made PR media list of 500+ contacts by Account Executive for initial PR outreach, access to startup directories and review websites to improve SEO and gain exposure suitable for all companies, access to PR contact per month of media outlets and influencers for a full year, and finally priority email support. When it comes to press releases and SEO, Pressfarm also helps increase release visibility in relevant search results across major search engines.

A press release, especially when managed by a PR company, is way more than just writing a piece about company news and publishing it on a newswire service. It is just one element of an effective PR and media strategy. A professional PR agency should align its client’s PR strategy with its commercial, operational, and business strategies. It enables the agency to plan when and what they are going to release to the media. A good PR strategy will develop an interesting angle on the information given to them and turn it into something exciting and original.

They will then publish it onto any newswire service with no SEO benefit, but they will use their knowledge of media strategies to get the press release, and other information picked up by media outlets as a news story because this is where the real value is. A good PR company can turn a press release into an actual piece of news written up by journalists through practical outreach work. The press release is no longer what it started being; it has now become an article in a publication and media outlets will often include a backlink in the articles.

Something to remember is that backlinks are usually “follow” (they pass on link equity to the site) because there is no reason to make them “no-follow.” The reason behind it is because the article had to go through an editorial process to get published, it means that it is not low-quality link spam. When it has been published, the client’s site gets a direct SEO benefit, which is really great for SEO and is a great example of how PR and SEO work well together.

Some things that companies need to understand is that not every press release that gets picked up by media outlets and written into an article will include a backlink, and even if there is one, sometimes it will be “no follow” but PR professionals know that companies will get more backlinks in this instance because it reduces the most risks of penalty. Which means that when managed effectively through a PR service, press releases can still provide a lot of SEO benefit.

Conclusion

As long as press release distribution is not abused, it will always be useful for SEO. Just one press release to a high traffic site could bring in tremendous results. Companies need to create innovative, original, and exciting content, something that will set them apart from the rest of the competition. Employing PR agencies can take the stress out of it and also yield great results. PR agencies also know the right people and the format of presenting content to various media outlets within the company’s niche to focus on the right outlets and target audience.