Fake Online Locksmiths May Be Out to Pick Your Pocket, Too
They are call centers – often out of state, sometimes in a different country – that use a high-tech ruse to trick Google into presenting them as physical stores in your neighborhood. These operations, known as lead generators, or lead gens for short, keep a group of poorly trained subcontractors on call. After your details are forwarded, usually via text, one of those subcontractors jumps in a car and heads to your vehicle or home. That is when the trouble starts.
Sales Renewal’s insight:
If you are a local merchant, it is bad news to read that the scourge of online florists–call centers that manipulate SEO to fraudulently claim they’re local–have begun praying on other retail business categories. If you haven’t yet, do review your SEO program to make sure you’re inoculated.
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The Eight-Second Attention Span
A survey of Canadian media consumption by Microsoft concluded that the average attention span had fallen to eight seconds, down from 12 in the year 2000. We now have a shorter attention span than goldfish, the study found.
Sales Renewal’s insight:
The implications of such a short attention span are profound for marketing. Now more than ever, it’s critical to keep Marketing’s Golden Rule in mind: WIIFM (What Is In It For Me)!
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Why SEO Is About Visibility Instead of Ranking
In the past, “SEO” and “ranking” have been used as synonyms. But are they really the same thing?
Sales Renewal’s insight:
It’s time to make the subtle – but important – shift in perspective from “ranking” to “visibility” when thinking about SEO goals. Marketers and business owners should not rely on SEO as a stand-alone tactic. Rather, SEO efforts need to be integrated into a cohesive marketing plan that includes online advertising (PPC, Google Shopping ads), content marketing (articles, news, events), social media (Twitter and Facebook updates), and local marketing (Google+).
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A Guide to Social Media Etiquette
There are a few good practices that can go a long way to keeping your nose clean. Here is a guide to social media etiquette containing logical tips that will help your social media strategy and avoid any mistakes.
Sales Renewal’s insight:
Nice summary of how to make the most of social media for your business – without offending or losing prospects and customers.
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5 Reasons Brands Should Use Email in 2016
Social media may seem more exciting, but studies prove that most people prefer good old-fashioned email. Need more convincing? Read on.
Sales Renewal’s insight:
Agreed. Email is one of the essentials of marketing and will continue to be a cornerstone of any solid marketing plan.
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11 Downright Spooky Email Marketing Stats
We all have our fears: Heights. Spiders. That horrifying clown from the movie It. But nothing scares today’s marketers quite as much as cold, hard data. That’s right – there are numbers out there…
Sales Renewal’s insight:
Scary, maybe, but these 11 statistics also point the way to opportunities to get it right. Boooo!
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5 Easy Ways to Make Local Marketing Matter
Local marketing – marketing that’s focused on reaching customers in a specific geographic area – is not for every business. But if you have a physical presence in a specific location and provide services to your community (think bank, florist, shoe store, restaurant, deli, dry cleaners, etc….), you will most likely be able to benefit by using a targeted approach to build your credibility as a local resource online as well as off.
Chances are, if you’re a local business and have done any sort of online marketing, you’ve already:
- listed your business on local resource websites and directories (Chamber of Commerce);
- set up a Facebook page;
- have a Twitter account and a Google+ Local page
But there’s plenty more you can do. And much of it is almost painless to roll in to your day-to-day plans.
Local Marketing Matters – Online and Off
The local, in-person or in-store activities you do often have “digital” parallels, and when they are managed in concert, they can have an amplifying effect. Of course, local events will bring physical traffic to your store. And promoting these events online can help confirm for the search engines that you are, indeed, a quality, local business. This in turn will help your rankings in search engine results and will help bring traffic to your website and, ultimately, your store.
Here are 5 simple ways to take “digital” advantage of your in-person activities.
1. Get involved in the community
- In person: Join a Local Chamber or Business Association
- Online: Get your business listed on the Chamber or Association website
2. Give back
- In person: Sponsor a town event
- Online: receive coverage in the local paper, by submitting a press release or inviting the local editors to the event
3. Partner with other local businesses
- In person: Co-host an event
- Online: Cross-promote the event on your and their social media sites; split the cost of advertising the event; submit a co-sponsored press release to the local papers
4. Reward loyal customers
- In person: Set up a loyalty system (like a frequent buyer punch card)
- Online: Loyal customers become your online “brand advocates”
5. Customer reviews
- In person: Ask for reviews and feedback after special events; provide an in-store comment book; save letters written by happy customers
- Online: Publish the reviews your website, etc. (with permission, of course)
Sales Renewal’s insight:
The local, in-person or in-store activities you do often have “digital” parallels, and when they are managed in concert, they can have an amplifying effect.
How Much Time Does SEO Really Take?
Getting started [with seo] is relatively easy, but in order to be successful in an especially competitive environment, you need to dedicate yourself to the strategy. You’ll have to acquire new skills…
The common solution for this is to simply hire an in-house SEO expert who can handle all these tasks. If you can’t, it’s on you to handle them all yourself. Either way, the cost can be prohibitive, especially if you’re an emerging small business. Likewise, spending all those hours doing it yourself can tie you up, preventing you from pursuing more productive activities that can’t be outsourced.
Before you make a decision, you need to know one thing: how much time does SEO actually take?
Sales Renewal’s insight:
How do you look at SEO? Does it seem like a daunting process? A set-and-forget item to check off your list?
Many small business owners believe they can “do” SEO themselves. But before you make that decision, please read this article. You might just gain a new appreciation for those who do SEO full time.
Consider the (what may appear to be) straight-forward process setting up on-page optimization (10-40 hours) and monitoring and troubleshooting on an ongoing basis (3-12 hours/week). Then there is content development, which could be something you can get away with spending a couple hours a week. Or, it could turn into a nearly full-time job (3-50 hours/week).
Off-page optimization opens up an entirely new realm of responsibilities and processes, from dabbling in looking for linkbuilding opportunities to following a well-thought-out relationship building program (5-25 hours/week).
Then there’s the additional work related to SEO for local businesses, like customer reviews (up to 15 hours/week), and then measuring and analyzing all you do to be sure it’s effective (1-2 hours/week).
Putting it all together, the author’s bottom line is sobering:
“Even for the small range of organizations I examined here (small to mid-sized businesses), you can see the vast range of potential time spent on an SEO campaign. Added up, it amounts to anywhere between 12 and 104 hours per week. If you put in 12 hours a week, don’t expect to climb to a top position anytime soon. On the other end of the spectrum, if you want the best results as fast as possible, you may need to hire employees, contractors, or an agency.”
Given this cost (in time and opportunity), we believe that the most cost-effective way to “do” SEO is to work with a specialist. That’s why, whether you’re a JointSourcing or Marketing Essentials client, we will work with our SEO partners to be sure your business receives the SEO attention it deserves.
Learn more about Sales Renewal’s Search Engine Optimization services.
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15 Mind-Blowing Stats About Generation Z
While many marketers still struggle to figure out the Millennials, a new generation-Generation Z-is growing up behind the scenes.
Members of Gen Z, born after 1995, are quite different than their Millennial counterparts, with their own set of expectations when interacting with companies.
Sales Renewal’s insight:
You might not realize it but more than 25% of Americans belong to Gen Z, and with 361, 00 babies born in the U.S. every day the segment is growing fast.
All of their 15 stats are interesting but we found these 2 to be the most intriguing … and scary:
- Millennials use 3 screens on average, Gen Zers use 5 (smartphone, TV, laptop, desktop, iPod/iPad)
- The average Gen Zer has the attention span of about 8 seconds.
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New Survey Shows Engineers Most Likely to Look Online for Information
Analysis of TREW Marketing and ENGINEERING.com new survey on how engineers find information online. Engineers love online information over others.
Sales Renewal’s insight:
Marketing to engineers? Be sure you pay attention to online and digital marketing, as online is a valuable source of information for engineers.
More survey results:
- The way engineers most often interact with e-newsletters is scanning subject lines.
- Engineers most often consume work-related content on their desktop computer throughout the workday; mobile devices are used most often when they’re on the go and commuting.
- In viewing webcasts, features engineers prefer most are real-world examples and images and diagrams.
- Online resources such as websites and search engines are the most valuable source of information versus offline sources such as conferences or publications.
- Engineers have the highest trust in content written by an engineering expert at a vendor company, followed by industry analysts and editorial pieces in an industry print or online publication.
- Most engineers use social media in their personal life where they may stumble upon work-related articles, but nearly a third say they use social media for work.
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