by DG | May 22, 2019 | Branding, Digital Marketing
The importance of an effective, powerful value proposition is widely misunderstood. It may be just a few words (usually 10 words or less) but as a marketer it may be the most important and challenging thing you ever make. It’s important because it will serve as the foundation for all of your other messaging. It needs to be short and unique. It must also sum up the most important things customers need to know about your company or product.
A strong value proposition is a very valuable tool that must be generated from a need in the marketplace, and used to convert even the most skeptical customers.
Developing a value proposition is more of a discovery process than a writing task. It doesn’t matter how much experience you or your marketing team have, it can’t just be a written statement or declaration. It needs to be the result of the analysis of customer activity and feedback and then it must be tested.
It may start with brainstorming ideas but it is optimized and refined with a methodic approach and it’s not as complicated as you might think.
Here are the 4 steps you can use to discover your value proposition and boost conversions.
- Answer this question: If I am your ideal customer, why buy from you rather than your competitors?
- Compare your answer with the claims of your main competitors.
- Keep fine tuning your value proposition until it can be expressed in a single, credible sentence that is immediately understood.
- Once you have a few good possibilities for a strong value proposition, you need to put them to the test.
How do you test your value proposition? Test it using A/B Testing with Google Ads.
You create a series of ads and landing pages to test each one of your value propositions and see which one appeals to people the most. There is a time investment but you don’t need to a large advertising budget to get your answer.
With a solid value proposition in place you can move forward with your various advertising campaigns with confidence.
This simplified article introduces the basic principles of developing a value proposition. It’s purpose is to provide a basic overview of processes we learned from MECLABS.
If you would like to find out more about how we can help your company develop a value proposition or if you have any other questions about marketing, please don’t hesitate to book a free consultation.
by DG | Oct 18, 2018 | Digital Marketing, Content Marketing, Branding, Business, Online Marketing
Today’s advertising mediums include more digital channels than ever before. Factors such as faster reach capabilities, lower advertising costs, and global branding opportunities make digital marketing a viable avenue for building awareness. When creating a digital marketing strategy, it’s imperative to plan out each messaging deliverable, communication channel, and content strategy so that you don’t lose yourself in a whirlwind of social media accounts and content deadlines.
Approaching your strategy means taking initial steps to determine what your end goals are and then devising a practical plan to bring them to fruition. Here’s a 4-step process for creating a solid digital marketing strategy.
- Create A Finish Line
Know what your goals are before you embark on your strategy. Create a list of measurable short and long-term goals. For example, are you looking to increase sales? If so, by how much exactly? Are you looking to increase your social media followers? If so, by how many exactly? And on what platforms? Don’t rely on vague goals that can’t be measured.
Put numbers to your goals. For instance, we want to generate 800 leads in one month, Increase sales by $5,000 this month or gain 1000 Twitter Followers in one week. Whatever it is you want to achieve, make it a number and then you can figure out a way to get there. Then you can track and measure your results to see whether you were successful or not in achieving the goal.
If you achieve your goal successfully, great. If not, look at what worked and what didn’t make some adjustments and try again. Try different messaging or images or maybe it was just not enough budget. If you’re tracking everything you should be able to figure out how to improve your results. Expect that there will be some trial and error.
Setting realistic goals gives you accountability and allows you to forecast things such as cost, time, and resource allocation. You don’t want to have to guess what your marketing budget is, and you certainly don’t want to assume which team members can complete certain tasks. Create realistic goals and milestones.
- List Your Mediums
What digital marketing channels do you plan on using to get your message to your audience? Are you planning to focus on one main channel or a combination of three or more? Consider making a list of 10-15 potential marketing channels and then narrow it down to your top five. Next, find out which platforms work best for your target audience based on their demographic and online behaviour and then decide which ones work best for your plans. Laser focus in on your main channel to help you get the initial traction that you need when you first begin your campaigns.
- Plan Out Your Content
Knowing what type of content you’ll create and how often it’ll be delivered is crucial to your digital strategy. Whether it’s article writing, social media posting, or video production, there should always be content that’s being created behind the scenes. Find out which types of content work best for your products and your audience and then create a calendar to keep a steady messaging stream flowing your audience’s way. Content calendars are essential to digital marketing, as they help you avoid the headaches and confusion that can come with last-minute content development.
- Implement, Monitor, and Measure
Once you’ve outlined your digital strategy it’s go-time. Make sure that you have all of the resources you need. Make sure that all of your team members know their deliverables and when they’re due. And most importantly, make sure that you’re monitoring and tracking your progress throughout the entire time. Know what metrics will be used to track each goal, and if you fall short of meeting a goal, use it as a lesson for your next project and campaign. The more you monitor and track your activities, the better insight you’ll have on what types of content your audience responds to best.
Setting up Google Analytics is the most important step to track all your results. There are many online tools out there to help you track all of you digital marketing activities and choosing the right one depends on the depth of your campaign. If you are only using Google ads, then tracking through your Google Analytics and Google Ads control panel are probably sufficient. However if you ad Facebook Ads or any other advertising channel to the mix, there is a lot more to track and you’ll want those reports to be side by side for easy evaluation and comparison. As I mentioned, there are a ton of tools out there price according to their level of capabilities. We have a free tool that is great for tracking your Facebook and Google Ad campaigns. It’s called Advertising Intelligence and you can read more about it on our pricing page.
A well-planned digital marketing strategy will ease the confusion that can come with setting up marketing campaigns. Once you have your content and channels figured out, it’s just a matter of setting up the right goals and metrics.
This sounds simple but it can be overwhelming without some guidance. We would be glad to help you with a Free Marketing Strategy Consultation where we will discuss your goals and we can provide you with solid advise to start building your successful Marketing Strategy!
This is a high level view of what is involved in building a digital marketing strategy. For a more detailed deep-dive, check out this post: Execute a Powerful Marketing Strategy to Grow Your Business
by DG | Oct 8, 2018 | Branding, Digital Marketing
Fake reviews are an unfortunate reality that many businesses have to deal with.
It’s so easy for people to create a new anonymous account and leave a review that is positive or negative. The worst part is that it doesn’t matter if they are a customer or not, they are free to leave a review and say whatever they like. So what do you do when you want to remove Google reviews?
Before we go further I’ll just say that when dealing with negative reviews that are real it is important write a response as soon as possible, be polite, courteous and professional. DO NOT ever be defensive. Try to understand their problem and offer to resolve the problem.
The rest of this post is about dealing with reviews that you know are fake. I get asked about this often so let’s get to it…
Google Policies
Google has a huge list of policies around this topic but they do not do a very good job of catching policy violations. There is hope however! If you can track these fake reviews and make a case as to why the review is violating Google’s policy guidelines you can get them removed. To do so you can contact them through Facebook, Twitter or on the Google My Business forum.
When you are logged in to GMB find the review that you believe is a fake. You will see three dots stacked on top of one another, click those. Then you will see the option to “flag as inappropriate.” Fill out the form and that’s it. You can also expedite the process by calling GMB support. You will find their support number within your GMB account.
Why won’t Google remove that fake review?
If you can’t show that the reviewer has made a policy violation, they won’t remove the review. The most difficult reviews to get rid of are the ones with 1 star and no comments. Google’s response will likely be that it didn’t violate the guidelines — since there’s no text in the review. Personally I think that reviews without comments should not be accepted by Google – call me crazy – I guess it’s it too much to ask!
If the review is completely off-topic and complaining about a service you don’t even offer then you will most certainly be able to get it removed by Google.
What do you when Google won’t remove that fake review.
The huge problem with fake negative reviews is that Google doesn’t know your customers. Therefore, telling them that the person leaving a review is not an actual customer is not a strong enough case to get that review removed. If the reviewer is anonymous it’s very difficult to prove their identity.
Another problem is that they might not have been a customer. They are eligible to leave a review even if they just called you and you didn’t return their voicemail. Maybe you have a store and they couldn’t find parking… Oh yeah, it’s hard to make everyone happy.
Most small businesses bend over back wars to keep customers satisfied and you just know when you have an unhappy customer so when there’s a fake review, you can just smell it. It seems out of place and it seems to come out of nowhere.
Like I said, sometimes Google just won’t remove it, then what, should you just leave it sitting there?
Absolutely not, there are some strategies to deal with it. Encouraging your satisfied customers is of course one of the ways to help bring up your rating average. However that fake review is still festering and annoying you to no end.
What’s the best way to deal with a fake negative review that Google won’t remove?
Challenge that Faker! Be polite by writing a response something like: “We are quite certain that [username] is not a customer of ours. In fact we are so certain that we would like to offer a 100% refund if you send us the receipt from the gmail account you used to write this review.”
Give them a few days to respond. If they don’t respond to that, then you know it’s a fake review and you should update your review response.
Update your response with something like: “After waiting 1 week for a reply to our 100% refund offer we never got a response. Sadly, it is likely from one of our competitors engaging in the writing of fake reviews for their own gain.”
If by some miracle you are wrong and the review was real, they may send you a receipt. If their reasoning for the complaint is legitimate, then you might want to refund them and in return ask them to delete the review. It’s probably worth it for your business and you have learned something. You might also be able to settle it by fixing the problem that they have complained about.
USEFUL TIP – Make it easier for people to leave a Google review.
To make it easier for people to leave a positive Google review about your business, follow there steps:
- Search for your company by name in Google.
- Click on the button “Write a review”.
- A Google review box has pops up, click away for the popup window and copy the URL from the address bar (see image below).
- The URL will be very long. Use a URL shortener like bit.ly to get a nice short URL that you can share with people.
Here an example of ours – Click to review: https://bit.ly/2PhcT7b
We hope these tips will be helpful. We have a Reputation Management App to help you get control of your reviews. If you don’t have the time to deal with all this, we do have Reputation Management Services to take care of it for you.
Beyond Google
We have focused entirely on getting reviews on your Google My Business page in this post but you should of course not ignore other review sites, Google should be your prime focus though. There are many other review sites that you can benefit from like Yelp, Yahoo Local, Trip Advisor, Trust Link, Trust Pilot etc.
The more you list on, the more you will help build trust for your business, and boosting your local search rankings at the same time.
Have you experienced fake reviews? If have, we would love to hear about it, please leave a comment.
by DG | Nov 13, 2017 | Branding, Digital Marketing, Website Design
When it comes to building your brand and gaining customer loyalty, brand consistency is key.
It provides a way for the public to recognize and bond with your identity. And brand consistency helps to create and maintain a lasting professional image and relationship that resonates with your audience.
According to Forbes, a widely trusted leading news source in the business industry, “It is the consistent, desired experience that builds trust and trust is the foundation for loyalty and promotion”.
As multiple marketing channels continue to emerge and evolve, companies must meet new challenges if they are to maintain a competitive, professional image.
The most effective marketing strategies are those that practice brand consistency across the board.
If your brand lacks consistency, you may not be reaching your maximum potential.
Read on to find out how to build a brand that drives lasting consumer connections and lends to your long-term success!
The Recipe for Effective Brand Consistency
First, you need to grasp the fundamentals of creating consistency. This is not only important for your own understanding, but it will help you to establish a critical point of reference and convey the message to employees.
Why Building a Consistent Brand Matters
Here are a few reasons that a consistent branding strategy is vital to the identity of your business:
-
Conveys Authenticity and Builds Trust
Staying true to your brand’s image shows consumers that you are a stable force and that you’re confident in who you are and what you provide. Consumers are more likely to trust a brand that does not change over time according to the ebb and flow of passing trends.
-
Provides Clarity and Simplicity For You and Your Audience
An unchanging branding strategy keeps it simple for you and speaks a clear message to your audience.
-
Establishes Professionalism
Brands that project a professional image lead the competition over brands that appear to follow fads and lack composure.
-
Guides the Direction of Your Company
A consistent brand works as an internal point of reference as to who your company is and what you aim to represent.
-
Motivates Consumers to Emotionally Connect
Your brand and its history can evoke an emotional connection with consumers, which leads to increased loyalty and spending.
Where to Start
When formulating a branding strategy, it’s important that you lay a strong foundation. Creating a guide that outlines important factors relevant to your reputation and the image you want to project is a good starting point.
Suggested contents for your guide include:
- A Clearly Defined Mission
- Your Logo’s Design and Colors
- The Message You Want Your Logo to Convey
- Specifics Regarding Usage, Graphics, Fonts, and Color
- Guidelines on Personal Branding vs Business Brand
Once you have established a guide, then you need to make sure to equip your employees and departments with a copy of it so that everyone is on the same page.
Update Marketing Outlets and Materials
If you are creating a new logo or updating an existing one, your next step is to make sure that all of your marketing channels match up.
This includes revisiting business letterhead and in-print materials, social media accounts, your website design, and anywhere else your image is used to make sure that all sources brand consistency is in agreement.
The rise of social media creates an onslaught of brand images and messages in users daily feeds. And, your brand should take into consideration the impact that social media marketing plays in consumer approval.
Many brands have realized that their original logo may have worked fine for other marketing mediums, but have found that it isn’t effective across social media.
If this includes you, that’s a good indication that it’s time for an update.
Creating a Brand that’s Consistent Across Social Media
Social media is a huge force in today’s marketing arena, which means that it requires consideration for branding success. Your brand needs to be socially savvy if you want it to be shared, liked and followed.
Check out these social media statistics regarding the impact that brands have on consumer behavior:
71% of people are more likely to make a purchase from a brand that they follow on social media.
63% of consumers who perform online searches are likely to like or follow a brand on social media whose social media account information is listed.
58% of facebook account holders have liked a brand.
41% of social media account owners have shared a link, video or story about a particular brand.
These statistics prove that not only is your brand’s image shared and promoted through social media, but it also has carries the power to impact consumer buying decisions.
This is why creating brand consistency across social media, as well as other formats, is vital to brand recognition, visibility and your relation to potential customers.
Tips for Tweaking Your Social Media Strategy
The influx of platforms including Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Linkedin, Tumblr, and YouTube have created multiple easy marketing opportunities for businesses. But, if your brand is not producing shareable images, content, videos or infographics then you are not likely to get the potential benefits that these platforms offer.
Use your logo to identify your content, website, and other links so that customers can clearly relate it to you. Make sure that your logo stands out by using clean lines, clear, easy to read font, appropriate colors, and a classic style.
Remember to keep brand consistency in mind when designing your logo. A logo should be simple and authentic, and should accurately represent the professional image you’re after.
Also, try to use catchy, sharable content headlines, accompanied by original, optimized images whenever possible.
If you share videos, aim for emotion evoking messages that are easily relatable or create a climactic narrative, memorable song lyrics, or are otherwise attention-grabbing.
These are most likely to be shared. And when your content and logo are shared, your brand will get more visibility, increased rankings, and an enlarged audience.
Keeping your brand consistency intact in all marketing mediums is crucial to getting the consumer attention that you crave.
Examples of Brands that are Nailing it
When you are contemplating your branding strategy, look to those who have gone before you and succeeded with nailing brand consistency across the board.
The most recognized and endeared brands are those tried and true stand-outs that we all can name instantly.
Coca-Cola remains a major top-notch brand and has managed to stay authentic while making small adjustments to suit the times. They have the largest following of 89 million on the ever-popular Facebook.
As for the other leading social media platforms, Red Bull is a major force among YouTube viewers, and Nike is a favorite on Instagram feeds, according to an infographic from business2community news.
Take a look at some of the common strategies among these brands: primary colors, classic, unwavering designed logos, and realistic depictions of who they are and what they represent.
Coca-Cola’s traditional red and white logo flows freely. The Nike “swoosh” appears ready for the activewear and shoes that the brand is famously known for.
Red Bull has a strong and energetic image that is associated with its lift in a can.
Their brand consistency resonates with audiences of all ages, demographics, and generations.
Tips to Make Your Brand Consistent Everywhere
Your brand consistency should extend beyond logo and web design, but it also needs to be able to naturally transition to the outside world, where you might encounter presentations and sales opportunities.
To create consistency in all areas of marketing, remember these three gold standards.
1. Know Who You Are
Understanding who you are, what you offer, and who your audience is will help you stay close to the brand behind these all-important components that make up your message.
2. Document What Branding Success Looks Like
Once you have experimented in multiple marketing arenas, create a presentation system that documents what works best. This can then be circulated company-wide to use as a point of reference among the various formats and marketing opportunities as a guidebook.
3. Value Authenticity Above All Else
No matter what, make sure that you don’t stray from your principles to please certain groups or follow fads. Even if it looks like this might be an easy way to get ahead in an immediate situation, it will hurt your brand in the long run. Your audience will grow to appreciate that you can be counted on to stay true to your original purpose.
Need Help Designing Your Perfect Brand?
If you are ready to get started, we can help you design the perfect branding strategy for your logo, brochure, and more.
Check out our site for marketing advice that will make sure you nail brand consistency and gain consumer respect and attention today!
