Tik-Tok-Social-Media-App

TikTok: How A 15 Second Video App Can Expand Your Business Impressions By Millions!

by BusinessContent MarketingMarketingMobile Marketing

Who are influencers now in our generation? How can an app help businesses get their product out to millions of people- at a fraction of the price for an advertisement on Instagram, or Twitter? 

 

TikTok, an app created in 2017 has recently blown up in the media industry, with over 500 million monthly users, and is now available in 150 different countries. Although the target demographic of this app is for teens, this brings out great opportunities for new upcoming marketers or businesses to promote their services and products. Tiktok is a 15-second performance entertainment platform that allows anyone to create creative content for other individuals to see, ranging from humorous videos to lifestyle-based tutorials. So, how did Tiktok get so popular, and how can startup companies benefit from this teenage based platform?

 

How did this app become so successful?

Many teens have mentioned that they downloaded the app ironically wondering what the buzz is about or after noticing some “cringey” tiktok videos online, when soon after they find themselves creating their own videos for the world to see. This app is now single-handedly a competitive market against big companies such as Netflix, Instagram, Twitch, and many more. There must be a reason for the app to be valued at $75 billion and to receive over one billion downloads in 3 years, but what is it? 

 

TikTok has been told their videos are becoming the new Vine, a loved but discontinued app used to post creative and funny content. The concept of both apps are quite similar, both creating short, continuously looping videos, but Tiktok has one thing that Vine failed to do; profit their company by billions, from simply placing ads, and accommodating in-app purchases. 

 

How can businesses benefit from this app?

Businesses have personally reached out to popular “Tik tokers” to promote their goods and services, benefiting the business into receiving hundreds of thousands of views for an inexpensive price. A popular creator 

 

Businesses could also advertise on Tiktok, paying $20,000 – $50,000 for over 5 million business impressions per day. This is useful for companies that want their target demographic to be young adults, considering how 41% of Tiktok is downloaded by users aged 16-24. 

 

Recently on August 1, 2019, Chipotle, a fast-food restaurant, created a #GuacDanceChallenge. This challenge featured sponsored YouTubers such as Loren Gray and Brent Rivera to create dance moves to a song dedicating it to their interest in avocados. In just 6 days, the hashtag challenge received over 250,000 video submissions on TikTok. Chipotle celebrated on July 31st for “National Guacamole Day”, and sold over 800,000 side condiments in one day. The sales in Chipotle has greatly improved, and we truly believe it was from TikToks powerful influence on the teen market.

 

Chipotle isn’t the only one who received such massive success rates for their company, other businesses such as Guess, with the hashtag #InMyDenim, Coca Cola, with the hashtag #ShareACoke, and GrubHub, a brand takeover ad for food delivery have all been extremely successful in gaining the proper audience attention.

tik-tok-business-benefits-infographic

 

What is so different about this social media platform aside from others?

Tiktok has also grasped the attention of millions of individuals, involving the use of many silent tactics that helps make the app simple, yet addicting to use.

 

Tiktok does not require you to activate an account once downloaded and immediately allows you to scroll down their video feed of popular creators. This gives the users a chance to “sample” what Tiktok is about, and the content it provides. The easy accessibility of not having to register an account to join the app can undoubtedly be a factor of people continuing to keep it on their devices. 

 

Another factor for many people use this app could be that you do not need to know people on the app to use it, unlike Snapchat, Twitter, or any other social media platforms. This allows people to freely watch/make videos without the need to be connected with people you know!

 

Tiktok is also used to freely express your creativity, without feeling judged about what content you post online. Because many users on the app are around the same demographic, they typically post popular trends or funny content, and the videos are usually considered funny, rather than critiqued or laughed at.

 

Interested in learning how to expand your marketing services towards the most downloaded app of 2019? Contact us now at (416) 619-7935 to get started!

Instagram-New-Features-2019

Instagram Unveils A Ton of Cool Features Just In Time for Summer!

by BusinessContent MarketingMarketing

In Japan, there is a concept called kaizen, which means striving for constant improvement. Well, it seems Instagram has taken kaizen to heart; several new changes have allowed for an easier process in using the social platform as a marketing tool. Since April, the social media app has rolled out many new features and added ornaments onto existing features. In addition to some user experience changes, such as integrating IGTV into the explore feed, Instagram has rolled out a plethora of changes to increase engagement and put a spotlight on content. Of course, properly utilizing these features in a way that aligns with your brand/persona takes some work. Our Markham based digital agency can help you create and implement a social media strategy that will help you stand out and rock the rollouts!

 

So, what updates are we talking about exactly? Here are a few of our favourite:

 

  1. Sponsored Stories with Polls

 

When Instagram stories were added in 2016, the feature initially received a lot of backlashes; comparing the feature to the almost-identical Snapchat stories. However, as Instagram as a social platform becomes more mainstream, there has been several improvements and add-ons to raise this feature above all else.

 

The recent addition of adding poll stickers to promotional stories enhances its effectiveness. The voting allows for user engagement and increases the chance that viewers will convert by swiping up. This is excellent news for any company using Instagram as a marketing channel!

 

  1. Insta-Checkout

 

Recently, Instagram introduced Insta-checkout, another feature that is dedicated to shops and companies using Instagram to sell products. After the previous update, of allowing businesses to tag their products in posts with prices and links to their website, this new feature just makes sense. How does this differ from the initial feature rollout? Users can now purchase products from their favourite brands and influencers without having to leave Instagram. Users simply click on the tagger product and Instagram then leads them to a checkout page where they can complete the purchase. From there, users can then choose to continue shopping or simply pop back on Instagram. This update makes it easier for smaller influencers and brands who may not have the tools to create a full website off the bat. It also makes shopping easy for users without a plethora of redirects.

 

  1. Good Causes and Fun Quizzes

 

The poll, slider, and question stickers quickly gained popularity on the site due to their ability to create genuine, simple engagement. Instagram took note and recently unveiled two new stickers.

 

The quiz sticker is similar to the poll sticker where a question is posed and users can pick an answer provided by the poster. The quiz button, however, allows for more options and is set to be utilized as more of a “get to know me” type button. Brands and influencers can use this button to test their audiences knowledge, for contest purposes, or simply to educate them on the matter. It’s a simplistic way for users to engage with one another and learn more whilst doing so.

 

The donation button has finally come and users can now spring a good deed into their online posting. The donation button allows users to choose a charity/cause of their choice with an interactive donate button underneath the name. When clicking on the donate button, there are a few simple steps the users can take to donate to a worthy cause. A big concern with this was the fact that some may try to manipulate the system and try to gain profit for their own self, however, Instagram has found a way to avoid this. Only registered nonprofits can be utilized with this feature, so no need to worry about uncredited sources trying to get some extra dollars.

 

  1. Goodbye Vanity Metrics?

 

Let’s face it, getting a high amount of likes is a pretty good feeling, even if you aren’t big on vanity metrics. However, Instagram has been testing out a feature that removes like counts from the public eye on some Canadian accounts. How does this work? Users will be able to see how many likes they get on their own images/videos, however, the public will not be able to do so (unless they count one by one).

 

Why did Instagram decide to do this? The exact reason is unknown, but many speculate it’s a way to rid consumer and user perception. Often times, people flock towards content with a higher like count because they correlate it to a higher level of trust and quality. On another note, some users rely on likes as a confidence booster and seeing similar posts to their own rack up 10x the likes may impact their overall perception of who they are and what they create. Regardless of the reason, if this rolls out to everyone, it could be a massive game changer, not just for Instagram, but for social media as a whole.

 

A surfeit of features have been introduced in 2019 and Instagram is working on unveiling even more features this summer. With that being said, influencers and brands alike should ensure they are utilizing these features in a way that is appropriate and relevant to their online persona. Nonetheless, we are excited to see what Instagram has in store for us this summer!

 

Looking to vamp up your social media game? Contact us today and we can help you with your quest to social media greatness!

Marketing-Social-Media-Instagram

Top Marketing Trends of 2019, So Far!

by Content MarketingMarketing

More and more brands are becoming wary of the marketing space, realizing the importance of having a good brand image for their consumers to associate them with. Whether a marketing agency is used or an internal marketing department, this has become a vital part of the value chain. Strategies over the years have adapted to the need of having social media while creating new touchpoints for customers to engage with them for the collection of marketing data to tailor their operational approaches.

 

The reality is that many firms in the same industry are competing for a piece of the market in very similar ways. The same pillars of marketing are used in any foundation of a campaign but to create organic growth and additional engagement that is unique from their competitors, new strategies need to be used. A new year comes new marketing trends, and 2019 has had some interesting ways to capture the hearts of consumers around the world. Depending on what your firm sells, there may be different value-adds but take a look so you can get a full picture of what the best marketing campaigns are doing today.

 

Artificial Intelligence Driven Content


Although gathering content and creating the ideas behind them are not fully automatable, artificial intelligence has become smart enough to provide insights on how to leverage the process work into final articles and blogs. News articles have become increasingly difficult to follow all at once in real time but with artificial intelligence, they are able to pump out that data into readable and usable information immediately.

 

Big firms that have international readers may find this tactic useful. Investing in the tech side of digital media allows companies to stay ahead of the game, with the most up-to-date information at all times. As artificial intelligence continues to grow, the opportunities in this field will as well.

 

The Features of Social Media

 

The standard of have profiles on all social media platforms have become a norm in all companies. Ensuring that you have touchpoints on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram is enough on a social level. For B2B companies, this can incorporate LinkedIn and Youtube as well. As these platforms create updates and newer features, there are new ways to create content.

 

Instagram

 

One of the biggest game-changers comes from Instagram’s story feature. With options to have your followers ask questions or get a poll answered, it encourages low commitment engagement and leaves your customers interested. As of June 2018, there is 1 billion monthly active Instagram users and over 500 million people use the Stories feature on a daily basis. It can be a simple question asked to your followers or a takeover from a local celebrity. Regardless, having an Instagram account is no longer the standard — but learning the engagement tools is.

 

Another interesting add-on by Instagram is the seller’s feature. With any product business account, you are able to tag the item’s website link onto the post for easy accessibility for your followers. This is extremely beneficial because it takes away many steps of the user needing to find the site or the time between when they see the picture and how quickly they can purchase it. It expedites the process, efficiently helping your operational flow.

 

LinkedIn

 

For business companies looking for ways to engage both B2B partners and general LinkedIn members, the use of affiliated hashtags and tagging other organizations/individuals helps to entice people to jump on your page for more information. It is one of the harder platforms to use but LinkedIn has continued to create updates to help out. In addition to the content optimization, you are able to make groups on LinkedIn that can help you connect with other people in the same space and it allows you to promote heavily in an enclosed group of interested individuals.  

 

Investing in Videos

 

Although graphic designs are good to look at, videos have been statistically known to create a bigger impact and leaving a lasting impression on their viewers. It has been predicted that by 2022, 82% of all internet traffic will be generated by video. People are no longer enticed by nice looking graphics. This raises the standards for your social media platforms, as well as these videos, would normally be featured on those pages. It helps to create more creative type content as opposed to the generic photo opportunities.

 

Micro-Influencer Marketing

 

Over the past couple of years, influencer marketing has been a large focus from start-up brands that have built themselves into multi-million dollar companies. However, studies have shown that the focus on macro-influencers with hundreds of thousands of followers may not be generating the same level of engagement as micro-influencers.  

 

Although micro-influencers have fewer followers, their engagement manages to maintain better ratios and percentages. This encompasses the number of likes, comments, views, and clicks that they provide. It is a lot harder to estimate the exact reach a macro-influencer will provide. Micro-influencers are often cost-effective measures as they do not have as high of a reach so their influencer collaborations are often less than $300 per post. This is an ideal solution for smaller businesses as this will help to improve brand visibility and sales without using up all your budget in your marketing department.

 

Conclusion

 

Marketing trends will continue to change and adapt as new innovative technology and methods are created. The need to stay on trend becomes increasingly important as firms will always look into new ways of promoting to beat out the competition. Whether this be an in-house marketing team or utilizing a marketing agency, ensure that there is a focus on staying with industry trends.

video-marketing-services

Be Seen AND Heard: How Video Marketing Can Help Your Business Stand Out from the Crowd!

by BusinessContent MarketingMarketing

Regardless of what social platform you are scrolling through, chances are, you will stumble upon a video (or a few). Although video is something that has been around for quite some time, it took off in the marketing world within the last couple of years. More and more platforms have taken note of how successful video has proven to be and thus, have integrated it into their platforms.

 

Why is video marketing so popular? With the hustle and bustle of life, it seems as if we have less and less time. Because of this, any way to retain information we want and need in a quick and effortless manner is a win. From the perspective of a business owner, it’s significantly easier to draw people in with enticing visuals which is a win-win for both parties; your business can generate better buzz and consumers can learn about your product/service/who you are with little to no effort. Of course, like anything, crafting the perfect marketing video for your business takes a lot of practice, care, and attention to detail. Online marketing consultants can aid you in strategizing and implementing the optimal videos for your business needs.

 

How does video marketing work?

 

Video marketing can be utilized in a number of scenarios across the digital space. From ads to influencers, videos harness a lot of power when it comes to delivering a message to the audience. Video marketing can be utilized to sell your product/service and educate consumers on it or to deliver a valuable branding message.

 

In the first regard, video is a great tool for educating consumers on what you have to offer in an enticing manner. Through exciting and relative visuals, you can easily parlay your offer to consumers in a way that is seemingly effortless to them. These videos can be put on social platforms where your target market is more prevalent.

 

In the second regard, video is exceptional when it comes to storytelling and providing a valuable branding message. This has become more and more popular as people are drawn to brand’s who show a more vulnerable and personal side. Gilette was the creator of a massive storytelling video that pulled on the heartstrings of a plethora of viewers. Regardless of how people felt about the video, they were sharing or discussing it, thus, bringing new light to the brand.

 

What are the various types of video in marketing?

 

As previously mentioned, video marketing can be implemented in a number of ways. The type of video you are aiming to create is contingent on what you would like the end result to be. The following video formats are popular amidst the digital world;

 

Video Ads – video ads are typically short and “to-the-point” videos that aim to promote a businesses product and service. Because these videos are generally quite short, it’s imperative to only include relative information and not overwhelm the viewers with too much at once. Video ads are a viable option if you are looking to generate leads or bring your audience members to your site to further learn about your product and potentially make a purchase.

 

Influential videos – influential videos are similar to ad videos in that they are meant to persuade people to take action, however, the actions can be open for wider interpretation. These videos can influence individuals to make a purchase, learn more about a mentioned site/product/service, learn more about a particular brand, donate to a cause, and much more. This type of video is typically seen by influencers who collaborate with brands to educate their audience on them.

 

Live video/streaming – Live video (or “streaming”) has become increasingly popular recently. Facebook and Instagram have been successful platforms for live videos and LinkedIn followed in suit, recently unveiling a live video option for the platform. Live video is great for developing a sense of trust with your audience; allowing them to see your personable side which may not be prevalent through business-oriented posts. Live video is also a great way to engage with your audience – answering questions they have, addressing any concerns, etc.

 

Does video increase conversion rate?

 

Let’s not beat around the bush – lead/conversions are a massive focal point for businesses as it translates to more profit. With that being said, it’s important for your video marketing campaigns to be optimized with proper strategy in order to aid in boosting conversions and overall business. In fact, having a video on your landing page alone can boost your conversions by 80% according to EyeWide Digital. Videos are a simple and effective way to relay information to your audience in a manner that is convenient for them. There are a few simple steps that can aid in increasing conversion rate when coupled with your video, including;

 

  • Utilizing a friendly and simple thumbnail. The thumbnail should be inviting and relay what the video contains (without being overwhelming)
  • Transcribing – most people listen to videos without any sound nowadays, so it is important to transcribe the videos in order to effectively deliver the message. This is also important for those who are hard of hearing.
  • Being personable – automation is no longer in. People like authenticity. Be yourself as cliche as it may sound!
  • Interject a CTA in the MIDDLE of your video. Why the middle? Putting a CTA in the beginning may make the video seem inauthentic by selling right off the bat. Putting it at the end may cause people to click away before you can even deliver it. The middle is a great place as your audience is already captivated by the beginning portion and wants to continue watching thereafter.

 

The world of online video is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. With that being said, it is imperative that businesses implement a video presence online to maximize their digital efforts.

Looking to add video to your digital/social media strategy but don’t know where to start? Perhaps you want to fine-tune your existing strategy. Whatever your needs may be, we can help! Contact us today for all things video marketing!

digital marketing company toronto

The Trust Factor: Shaping the Customer Experience through Reputation

by BusinessContent MarketingMarketingSearch Engines

Anyone in business knows that the customer is the most essential element to success. How the customer journey is designed, down to their actual experience and resulting feedback can make or break your business in a huge city like Toronto. With the rise of the digital age and the growing conversation online, it helps to tune in and listen to what your customers have to say.

But how exactly can you do this? It’s simple: by looking at their customer reviews, improving your process based on their feedback, and gathering a fresh round of testimonials that will in turn, help persuade a new batch of customers.

That cycle paints a nice picture, but in reality, it’s easier said than done. For starters, how do you get your customers to review your business? More importantly, how do you ensure that their reviews are genuine, converting, and can be easily solicited after greatly improving the customer experience? With the help of a digital marketing company in Toronto, here’s how you can get customer reviews that will help you do business better:

Start with What You Have

You’ve certainly come across more than one happy customer in the past, and they’ve probably said a nice thing or two about their experience. With no fresh reviews on hand yet, you can recover and repurpose these existing testimonials. Dig through your social media pages, check emails or the comments section, and pick out a few that may have been buried in the past years.

When published for a fresh audience and likely, your potential customers, these refreshed reviews are sure to be part of their decision-making process. People love to trust products and services others have tried in the past, and live to tell the story. In addition to reviews found just about everywhere on the Internet, such as Yelp, your Google My Business Listing, social media, and a ton of others, digital marketing companies in Toronto recommend making these testimonials available on your website through a dedicated page.

Keep Your Clients Well-Informed

It’s true what they say about honesty – it really is the best policy. When you’re certain you’ve promoted a hassle-free and satisfactory customer experience, make sure the happy customers you serve know that you will be asking for feedback. This way, they are not surprised, or feel like they’ve been “put on the spot’, and as such, are prepared with what they want to say.

To establish this practice at the start, your digital marketing company in Toronto recommends having past testimonials visible on your site, as well as discussing these with customers as you work together. For instance, you can mention that you really appreciate any feedback they can give as they use your products and services. You can also say that if they’re getting great results, and they’re comfortable with sharing their experience, you would like to ask for a testimonial to put up on your website.

Just make sure that they have time to think about what they want to share – rushing your customers can result in weak and less converting testimonials, so give them ample time!

Timing is Everything

Timing really is everything, and you don’t want to catch your customers at a bad time. For instance, don’t ask for a review or testimonial while the work is in its initial stages, such as when you still have a lot of pending deliverables based on a product or service plan they contracted from you. Doing this can leave them with the impression that you’re only putting your best foot forward so far for the positive feedback.

Instead, digital marketing companies recommend that you ask for reviews from your customers when they have experienced great results from your work. This doesn’t mean you have to wait for everything to be over, but at least when there’s tangible progress they can note.

Another key point is not to ask ask for a review or testimonial directly, but instead ask your client how they are progressing, or what their experience has been like so far. When they get back to you with happy or promising answers, that’s when you know that a good testimonial could be asked. On the other hand, if they sound like they’re struggling to see results, you can still turn the customer experience around, with a good review coming up in the end.

Know What to Ask

As with any digital marketing hack, asking for testimonials has a caveat. It’s easy for some clients to provide direct feedback, but not so much for others, especially if they’re not yet getting the results they hoped for. So while easing in, it’s important to know not only what they like about the experience, but how it can be improved, so you can deliver an even better customer experience.

When asking for testimonials, or leading the conversation towards it, make sure to ask the right questions. To be really powerful and converting, you’ll want customer reviews that include specific results, as opposed to generic phrases and otherwise empty reviews that use staples like, “great service”, and its variations.

Digital marketing companies have observed that the more information potential customers gather about your business, the easier it is for them to decide whether they want to bring you business. By incorporating specific results past customers achieved, they’ll have a better idea of what they can expect and gain when they choose your products and services among others in Toronto.

Additionally, empower your customers to influence others with integrated calls-to-action in their reviews. Statements such as “if you’re thinking of hiring these guys, go for it, you won’t regret it,” are powerful; not only will your customers be able to influence others, but this creates a level of trust among your potential customers, since they the invitation to subscribe comes from people external to your business.

Join your customers’ conversation about your business online, and discover from their stories how you can better form part of their success in Toronto. Get in touch with us at (416)-619-7935 to shape an established online reputation.

amp web design

Refining the Mobile User Experience with AMP Web Design

by BusinessContent MarketingMarketingMobile MarketingSearch EnginesWeb Development

With the rise of technology and smart consumerism, it’s essential now more than ever to provide your customers with a pleasant experience on your website, as this largely influences your next big sale, and builds on your position in the market. As websites rise, so do innovations in how they are built – but the threshold remains the same: an ideal user experience, now even more seamless and powerful with AMP web design.

Because your next leads and sales are now mostly determined by how visible your business is in the digital space, search engines such as Google adopt measures in determining if your site is worth recommending to users, in effect boosting your ranking, as well as your opportunities to connect with more users and convert their visits to your website to leads, sales, and return visits. As a smart business owner in the digital age, it’s time to learn all about the latest in web design, and how your website can meet standards to curate and benefit from a providing a complete digital customer experience.

Google’s Standards

Search engines such as Google value 3 top components of websites, ensuring that these perform well and deliver an ideal user experience especially on mobile devices – now the most widely used device for living on the web. These are:

  • Mobile design and usability
  • Page loading speed
  • Responsive design

Satisfying these 3 components gives rise to an ideal user experience, allowing Google to review your site and determine how it can be improved in order to better attract potential customers and keep your established following engaged as new products and services debut. The existence of the perfect website is a myth, but with these 3 factors, your business can be a myriad of steps closer to providing a complete customer experience online.

Ease of Mobile Use

When your website is designed for, and highly usable on mobile, it’s easy for users to navigate your site and connect with your latest products and services. This fosters memorable interactions that prompt them to gravitate towards your business, subscribe to your offerings, and trust your brand with many of their needs over time.

Fast Responses

Fast loading speeds on mobile devices further cement trust in your business, as in the digital marketplace, a fast, easy to use website is the counterpart of a warm welcome you provide to customers in your store. When your site is slow to load, it drives away potential customers, as it appears that your business is sluggish in delivering service people count on you to provide. A good buffer speed is about 2 to 3 seconds, and any slower than that, you could be losing business; and on the upside, the faster your site loads, such as with AMP web design, the more likely it is to retain viewers and convert them to leads and sales.

Designed to Adapt

Finally, a responsive design fosters inclusivity in your brand, as it signals to potential customers that your business is able to adapt to their needs and deliver a unique and complete customer experience across different devices they use to access information about your products and services, and subscribe to them. AMP web design promotes ease of use, avoiding past scenarios in which frustrated users have to pinch the screen, and scroll back and forth to view all the content, easily testing their patience and potentially driving them away all because your brand is much harder to interact with, and derive value from that way.

How to Optimize Your Site for Mobile

The latest innovation in mobile optimization is AMP web design, and as it was conceived to support the mobile user experience, it is the clear winner in terms of mobile design, page loading time, and responsiveness. AMP web design allows sites to be built especially for mobile use, with the complete customer experience in mind. To this end, it accounts for lightning fast loading speeds, as well as content that fits in and flows seamlessly on mobile devices – no longer requiring endless waiting and scrolling just to access information they need.

As you build your brand with AMP web design, there are a few key points to remember and apply to ensure that on top of fast loading and seamless flow, your potential customers will find it easy to discover your products and services.

Short and Simple Menus

For one, make sure to keep your site’s menus short, so as it does not become too complicated for users to navigate, especially on mobile devices where screens are far smaller than on desktop. Next, it’s also important to make it easy to navigate back to the homepage, as your site’s homepage usually lists all the crucial information about your business that they will want to review, and would need to get back to in order to further explore other areas.

No More Clutter

Along with ease of navigation, don’t clutter pages with too much information that will distract potential customers, as this can drive them away from the offers that led them to your site to begin with, in the process costing you business that you could have already had. If your site has an internal search feature, make sure to incorporate filters to help direct users towards relevant products and services, quickly improving the user experience.

Be Relevant

As your potential customers are directed to your business from search results for reasons of relevance to their needs, make sure that your pages are indeed relevant to their queries, and are not mere ‘clickbait’ pages that appear to match the search phrases they used, but turn out to have no connection to their intention. This will only cause them to navigate back to other search results, instantly increasing your site’s bounce rate.

Deliver a complete and memorable customer experience on your website for powerful conversions and sustained sales with AMP web design. Let’s talk about how your business can improve digital customer service when you call us at (416) 619-7935.

online marketing toronto

Craft a Powerful Brand with Good Content

by BusinessContent MarketingMarketingMobile MarketingSearch EnginesWeb Development

Your business relies on its website to tell its story in the digital space; often your website also helps you reach a market that is yet to find you. Employing efficient online marketing strategies in a diverse and competitive space, such as Toronto, requires making the best use of your website through the content you generate and publish, and will constantly evolve to tell your brand’s story. Your business evolves and grows through the information it is able to successfully share with patrons that subscribe to your products and services. A good story will draw your market in, but has to be constantly retold in new ways to keep your audience entertained and subscribed to your offers.

With good content, you tell the story of your brand in order to influence the market in your favour. Leveraging good content in online marketing spins the story in your brand’s favor, setting the tone for the rest of the market, and dominating the conversation. To do this, your business must continuously create meaningful content that fuels your brand’s story, helping you to retain and grow your market resulting in leads, conversions, sales, and closed deals. The standards for what good content is, and how it converts viewers to customers are constantly changing, but in 2017, these are the trends to watch out for and hacks you should adopt.

Create your brand with online marketing content that captures your market. For captivating content marketing, contact 360 at (416) 619-7935 today!

Embrace Content Diversity

Website content isn’t just composed of written text that goes into your blogs and articles. After all, your viewership isn’t entirely made up of readers who will patiently wade through blocks of text to discover your unique products and services. Successful online marketing requires embracing multimedia content creation in order to engage your audience in your brand’s narrative and capture their interest in your well-placed offers.

Recently, content such as videos, especially live ones now available in the form of webinars, podcasts and live streams on various social media platforms, are a hit among audiences. Not only does multimedia content entertain, but it’s also a good way of offering a 360 degree insight into your business. With product videos, infographics, slideshare presentations, tutorials, FAQs, and streaming from your launches and industry events, your audience connects with your brand in real time and see’s your business come to life before their eyes, as opposed to just reading about your latest offers and having to imagine and set up their own expectations.

Multimedia content creation does not have to cost much either. With the rise of the smartphone-wielding generation and taking customer experience on the go, shooting videos and streaming these live at events can be done using mobile apps or your phone’s camera. Producing multimedia content shouldn’t be time-consuming either, as you can repurpose content in other formats and use these in your other online marketing collaterals, such as using the material in video scripts for infographics and blog posts.

Real Content for Real People

In working hard to optimize a website for search engine queries, many make the mistake of creating content that’s easily found, but reads poorly for real people who are on your website trying to determine if your offerings are a good fit for their needs. In the process, you are likely to lose this viewership and potential market if your sole concern is to rank well on a Google search.

Online marketing is embracing the principle of creating real content for real people. In-depth content that is properly laid out, can be easily understood, uses clear language and utilizes high quality, inviting images to support the text is now shown to rank and convert well – even better than content that is aimed at ranking well on search, but flows poorly, is haphazardly arranged and reads awkwardly due to excessive use of common search phrases.

Creating content for the right people is a long process, but as you work on that, you can also use some quick fixes on content that’s already published on your site. These are called content upgrades. To start, you can attach snippets to existing content on your website that’s already performing well. These support content that’s already well-received by your market, you can use upgrades such as bonus tips, downloadable PDFs your audience can take on the go, kits, checklists, worksheets, training videos, and even useful templates. This saves you the trouble of having to completely change content that’s already working for your business all at once, and instead lets you implement useful changes that not only cement your authority on subjects concerning your business’ industry, but also allow you to reshape your site’s content in a more manageable timeframe. By fostering interactions with your audience like these, you can also encourage sign ups for newsletters, email marketing and leads in exchange for access to downloads and access to other content upgrades.

Add a Personal Touch

Much like the localization of search these days, micro-targeting and hyper-personalization are going a long way in building customer trust and fostering good business ties. In online marketing, all it takes is to remember who is it for and why you’re doing business. Always, the goal is to serve the needs of your local community and build trust in your products and services as a staple in their lives.

When you target a demographic in your audience and personalize online marketing efforts according to their interests and preferences, you are able to bring your business closer to them and remind them of your ability to craft unique solutions for their needs. It shows that your business has the best interests of the market at heart, and your business has ties to each set of audiences to prove that.

Remembering important holidays and sending out messages that show your audience you are one with them in commemorating these milestones only takes a little time and is worth the effort in maintaining a solid presence online. Crafting marketing messages according to your market’s location, work information, personal tastes and previous search behavior demonstrates your business’ ability to connect with an audience and prove that your business can supply the market its needs as these arise.

All these efforts can work seamlessly with your larger, general and widely-encompassing online marketing messages. These show how your products and services are needed by and adequately cater to a wide array of audiences, all of whom are drawn in by a specific point that appeals to them at the onset.

Crowd Source and Influence

Tell your market you want to hear from them – and watch the magic as it unfolds. There is nothing that defines the customer experience more than giving your audience a stake in your brand through their opinions that help to shape your business. When you engage your happy customers, they become loyal patrons who will form part of your base following. In time, they will rally your brand and their experiences will shape their peers’ interaction with your business.

This smart online marketing tactic persuades a market you are yet to connect with using what their peers have already said about your business. User-generated content is on the rise these days, and for this to work to your advantage, it should be supplied by customers with good interactions with your brand who can lend their voice to sharing your brand in a simple as a photo, post or tweet shared across their social media platforms. This now works as the new word of mouth, and poses an infinite amount of possible interactions with your brand, each starting with a loyal customer and their social circles.

Taking care of your online reputation is only one benefit of user-generated content. With a steady rise in review submissions, small competitions, use of hashtags you encourage your followers to use on social media when starting a conversation about your products and services, and the gentle prodding of influencers or brand ambassadors, you can also generate content pieces from what they have to say, and use these in review posts, news articles and online marketing campaigns. Not only do you open more communication channels with your market and act on their feedback as these come in, all working towards boosting your brand and improving business; you also gain relevant content you can repurpose and use for future marketing campaigns.

Content is your website’s heart and soul – it gives your online presence meaning, and defines your brand in the digital marketplace. Content is what your potential customers consume, and what makes or breaks every lead you generate and every sale worth closing. Good content makes telling a powerful brand story, piquing the market’s interest and capturing an audience who will follow your business as it grows – all possible.

Leverage high-quality content for your business today, and transform your website into a booming digital marketplace. Contact 360 Business Local at (416) 619-7935 today!

ppc toronto

Get the Most Out of Your PPC Campaign

by BusinessMarketingSearch Engines

Marketers have been becoming more creative in finding ways to continue ranking for heavily competitive search phrases, and to stay there. The more ways your site can be found outside of the keywords that users type in search, the more challenging and exciting it is to try to get ahead of the competition.

Pay-Per-Click advertising is one of those ways. Paid search levels the playing field, giving newcomers and those who need an extra boost a chance to compete with top sites that have enjoyed high organic rankings for a long time. PPC advertising is a great tool to help you come out on top, but it’s not free.

With PPC, there’s the additional challenge of getting the best return from your campaign. Because you’re incurring additional expenses to get ahead of the competition, you’ll want to see that you are, indeed, able to stay ahead. To do this, you will need well-structured PPC campaigns that will not just direct the highest possible traffic to your business, but generate leads that convert to actual sales. Here, we’ll learn some pro tips about launching the best PPC advertisements and getting the most out of them.

Learn how a PPC campaign helps you break into the market in Toronto. Call 360 Business Local at (416) 619-7935 today!

Be Present Year-Round

Many businesses experience a peak in sales during a certain time or season. As such, many advertising campaigns are geared towards bringing in the most traffic during those peak times. To get ahead, many businesses think of advertising heavily well before these peak seasons, focusing a lot of their efforts and resources on these particular times and less during the off season.

However, the goal of every business is to stay afloat year-round. This is why it’s also important not to direct all advertising efforts and budget during just one season or peak time. Business owners and digital marketers alike can identify other times that would be good to generate leads using paid campaigns. A good strategy would be to spread out resources and launch PPC campaigns even when it’s not a peak time for your business, or even the industry it moves in. This helps you maintain a solid, year-round presence. While success in business can be predicted through patterns, you never really know who might come knocking at your door as a result of your advertising efforts, so it’s best to keep your options open.

Running PPC campaigns well-spread throughout the year widens your lead time. Aside from bringing in unexpected business, a wider lead time allows you to capture the interest of more conscientious shoppers who like doing their research and spending time getting to know your business before they actually decide to purchase from you. Constant brand marketing efforts help you keep an audience happy and guarantee that they will keep you in mind for when their need of your product or service arises.

Bid All Ways

Some business owners think they should not bid on their brand terms when launching PPC advertisements because that’s what SEO is for. However, SEO efforts only take care of organic search results. Bidding on your brand allows your business to show up in that prime advertising space on top of organic search results. Doing this increases your chances of draw in potential customers: first through your ad on top, and then your organic listing below. When you bid on your brand, you shape your brand’s narrative and control the message. Doing this helps your ad come out on top, in addition to your SEO efforts.

You should also look into bidding on the ‘wrong terms’. A good portion of search engine users don’t know exactly what they’re looking for, and as a result, enter very generic search terms, picking out from the results something that piques their interest. To do this, you will need to get creative with your messaging without being misleading.

Some search engine users could be entering generic terms and bidding only on your specific brand terms would result in your ad not appearing in their search results. Thus, it is useful to bid on general terms and even on ‘wrong’ terms, as these could lead to users who do not have anything exact in mind being directed to your products or services. This could help them realize they have been looking for something your business offers.

Capitalize on your brand terms, but at the same time, think ahead of what your competitors might do. As competition in a big city such as Toronto is tough, competitors won’t resist bidding on your brand terms, and if you insist on bidding only on generic terms or refuse to bid on their terms as well, competitor ads could display above your organic listings, reducing your chances of drawing in your target market.

When crafting your PPC campaign, keep in mind your own brand terms, what your competitors would do, and what your market looks for, especially those who opt for general searches and could be using the ‘wrong’ terms to find service or product providers, such as your business.

Use Your Strongest Links

A PPC advertisement does not just have to lead users to your site’s homepage. A good campaign can be more targeted, using your site links wisely. This helps search engine users find exactly what they’re looking for, allowing your website to draw them in if they see that your ads are directly linked to the exact product or service they are looking for.

No one appreciates being shown links not directly related to their search. To draw the largest possible audience to your site, it helps to use your site’s top links in your ads. Links to your business’ core products or services can be displayed along with your ad.

Along with product or service pages, you can also use related links, such as pages they would navigate to after reading about your core offerings. Links that display more extensive information on related products or services, reviews, news, and store locations, among others, are helpful. These links work as extensions of the products or services you are advertising, and will help you build stronger ties with your audience, giving them the complete experience of doing business with you, and even help to turn them into patrons in the future.

Optimize Your Landing Pages

You’ve drawn your market into your site, now it’s time to keep them interested in your business and keep them happy with what they see once they’re in your website. When they click on your ad and are directed to a landing page that is messy and does not show upfront what they hoped to see based on the ad that drew them in, they’re going to hit the back button and proceed to see what others offer.

When users click on your ad, they should be directed to a landing page that shows exactly what your PPC advertisement says. They need to be able to immediately make the connection. It only takes a couple of seconds for users to realize that they’ve either been directed to your site correctly, or they were only misled by your catchy advertisement.

A good landing page can successfully convert a user’s visit into a sale. Good landing pages are focused, organized and clear. They include a call to action, good high quality images, and displays all information that your ad says it would. Users are also able to make a clear connection between the ad displayed and the products or services they see on the landing page. This will instantly help them decide whether your offerings are worth their time and investment or not.

Change It Up

Every target market is drawn to different flavors. You run an ad primarily to expand your reach, but there is an infinite number of ways you can reach out, and an even greater number of ways your audience could respond to each of your efforts. Where your ad is placed also matters. Each local market in Toronto has its own preference and better respond to ads crafted for them. Depending on where you’re advertising and who you’re reaching out to, you need to change up your PPC advertisement in order to successfully target different markets and bring them all in your business.

Changing up your PPC campaigns shows your market you truly understand their needs and that your products and services are carefully crafted for each of their unique needs. Small efforts such as changing the language and appealing to quirks and tastes that are uniquely local to a market resonate well with your target audience. People respond to being understood and treated well, and showing that your business cares about their needs will lead to building good business relationships and creating a solid following for your brand.

Using PPC campaigns to bring in business is an investment, but a smart use of paid advertisements can effectively direct leads to your site and open more opportunities for sales, profit and success for your business.

Let 360 Business Local help you launch your PPC campaigns effectively. Call (416) 619-7935 today!

digital marketing company toronto

#LoveLocal: Ways to Top Local Search

by BusinessContent MarketingMarketingMobile MarketingSearch Engines

Every successful business can trace its roots back to a local community in which its ingenuousness and creativity first flourished. From there, small local businesses are able to find their own place in the market and create an identity separate from big players. To target this niche, business owners can focus on local search trends and in effect, better connect with search engine users within a certain radius of their location. This lets local businesses convert more leads to sales and solidify their position as a staple in the community.

Working with a digital marketing company helps you identify local opportunities that your business can use to dominate its market in a big city like Toronto that’s bustling with both competition and opportunities.

Let 360 Business Local help you identify opportunities for your local business. Call (416) 619-7935 today!

Here are four ways a digital marketing company can help your local business find a niche and dominate the local market in Toronto.

Create Niche Content

These days, merely having a website that lists your local business’ products and services is not nearly enough to be found and make a sale. With larger businesses dominating general search terms, it’s important to set yourself apart to be found by your target market. Because your local offerings aren’t necessarily in the business of competing with national or multinational conglomerates, defining your niche is essential to getting found quickly.

A digital marketing company can help you define your strategy in effectively capturing the market in locations your business operates in. This focuses your efforts to bring in sales from the direct communities you serve.

In a diverse market, such as Toronto, the content on your website plays a key role in helping you get found online. Your site’s content also defines who finds you and determines whether they will avail of your products and services.

An effective strategy employed by digital marketers is optimizing content not just according to high-traffic keywords, but also according to local search trends. This is done by pushing area-focused keywords and developing locally-focused content for your website’s product information and contact pages, as well as its blog entries.

When your website incorporates local keywords, your business is brought closer to the communities it serves, presenting you with revenue opportunities you can actually count on.

Aside from keywords, digital marketing companies also lace titles, tags and descriptions with location indicators, further increasing your ranking. Finally, when modifying your website’s code, digital marketers may include a schema markup – it’s an addition to the website’s code that gives search engines more information about your business, aiding your efforts to be found.

Put Yourself on the Map

People now use digital maps, such as Google, to find a place. As such, your business has to appear on the map to be found. New search trends point to increased localization in an effort to better connect search engine users with exactly what they are looking for and what is within proximity to their location.

With the use of location services available on most smartphones or other devices, search engines are able to factor in the user’s location to supply them with search results relevant to their query. When these potential customers are within a certain radius of your establishment, a good map listing will help direct them towards your business.

To reach your business, people need to know exactly where they can find you, and listing your business’ information online makes it easy for potential customers to walk straight on through your doors.

Digital marketers can set up your Google My Business account ,making sure that all information pertaining to your business is properly listed and can be easily found by those looking for related products and services. This service includes populating important fields such as description, categories, location, store hours, contact details, official website, logo, modes of payment accepted and photos of your products, services and place of business. The more information potential customers have about your business, the more likely it appears legitimate and trustworthy.

Use Local Listings

Apart from listings on search engines, online directories and citations also help. Local business listings provide potential customers with information about your business including hours and contact details, helping direct them towards your establishment and opening up opportunities to earn from their visits. Many potential customers regularly check sites or even use apps such as Yellow Pages, Yelp, 411.ca, etc. to find the product or service they desire which is nearest to their location. These users are also reading reviews left by other patrons.

To have more chances of connecting with your market in Toronto, it is important for your business to have thorough listings in these directories as well. A digital marketing company can help you update and maintain existing listings in Toronto, as well as create new listings as new directories emerge. Details such as your business’ name, address, hours and contact information, should be checked to ensure consistency across directories to avoid driving potential customers away due to inconsistent information that makes your business appear unreliable.

Reviews are the New Word of Mouth

Before the rise of advertising and social media, businesses relied on word of mouth advertising that circulated among family and friends. Recommending to one’s social circles a product or service that worked for them was the most trustworthy way to find a business. These days, online reviews work in the same manner.

With more people wanting to gain maximum customer satisfaction and the best value for their money, smart consumerism is on the rise. More and more customers are posting reviews for products and services they avail of, and the effect is two-fold. One, it drives businesses to improve customer satisfaction by innovating on their current offerings; and two, it either encourages or drives away potential customers from your business, depending on experiences of previous customers.

Managing customers’ expectation is no easy feat since many people opt to read online reviews and factor these into their decisions, but a good digital strategy can help you capitalize on good reviews and mitigate the effect of negative feedback.

A digital marketing company can help you monitor reviews as they come in, respond to reviews and build trust in the community. Responding to reviews shows that you care about what your customers have to say and have their satisfaction in mind. A good strategy to employ regarding reviews is asking your customers to post feedback on your business’ Google My Business and social media pages. This help to increases your ratings, boost your online reputation and shows that your business thrives on serving the needs of its local community.

With emerging trends in the digital age, setting up shop in a local market can mean not having to constantly compete with big players who are dominating larger markets. Their reach is wide, but your business can find a local niche, build stable relationships and usher in sales it can really count on. A digital marketing company can help point your business in the direction of its local market, craft messages that target a specific audience it hopes to reach, and help your business become a staple in its community.

Put your local business on the map by calling 360 Business Local at (416) 619-7935 today!

SEO company Toronto

Embracing Changes in SEO by Adapting to New Digital Marketing Trends

by BusinessContent MarketingMarketingMobile MarketingSearch Engines

With the rise of targeted ads, paid campaigns, community building on social media platforms and increasing localization of search results that search engines supply its users, it begs the question: does SEO still work?

These days, paid ads are displayed on top of organic search results and are seen first by those who need a quick fix. This challenges the practice of optimizing a website according to search trends and high-traffic keywords in an effort to be constantly found by those who need it. Many brands also maintain communities on social media and use these platforms to release product and service information while driving user satisfaction. With all these emerging trends, reality is, good SEO alone isn’t all that it takes to get your local business found in a big city like Toronto and match you with potential customers. To make your website rank and get your business found, SEO companies are now challenged to look into balancing efforts for ranking organically with that of paid advertisements and leading the conversation on social media platforms.

Here, we’ll walk through the changes in online marketing and determine how an SEO company’s efforts to get your business found in Toronto can drive your business to the top as it embraces other emerging trends in digital marketing.

Looking for an SEO company that does more to get your business found? Contact 360 Business Local at (416) 619-7935 today!

Changing Search Result Trends

While websites are constantly working on being found, search engines such as Google are striving to streamline search results in an effort to better match users with exactly what they’re looking for. For example, users who are looking for businesses that carry products or offer services they need are now more likely to be matched with a business that’s within a certain radius of their location.

Paid results and advertisements are now also listed on top of organic search results, not just below. This may sway users not searching for anything specific or are in a rush to find a suitable match towards the paid results, as these are seen first.

Organic SEO search results are then shown second to those that pay Google to advertise their sites. To compete, SEO marketers are challenged to optimize websites in order to rank in organic search, ensuring your website still appears on the same page as paid results. Competing with paid search results can be challenging, but digital marketing pros work hard to be constantly updated on changing search engine trends, and will continue to optimize your website according to these trends and stay on top.

The Rise of Social Media

Using search engines isn’t the only way businesses and their target market connect these days. Most businesses now have active social media profiles and engage with their audience directly through posts, tweets, snaps and reviews. Likes, retweets, mentions, replies and views now also count towards measuring the success of a business’ online marketing efforts. Some people might believe that using social media to direct traffic to websites is a more effective method, as social media news feeds tend to have the latest information, but relying solely on social media to get you business isn’t always your best bet.

While regular social media activity can direct traffic to your business and build credibility, the uncontrolled nature of the environment can bring negative feedback to light. Negative comments, whether with merit or are unsubstantiated, can greatly impact your business as soon as these are published; potential customers will have to like what others have already said about your business in order to trust you to provide their needs. This is where the support of SEO marketers comes in handy: we know how to work with both organic searches and new platforms, such as social media, to direct traffic towards your business with the aid of a good reputation. Many SEO companies including 360 Business Local now offer social media management services. This includes regular posting on your behalf to your business’ social media profiles by advertising offers and promoting website content.

SEO companies also incorporate the same keywords that business’ sites rank for into their social media profiles and posts. In turn, this directs search users to businesses’ social media channels, encouraging them to connect and stay updated on latest news and offers. Digital marketers incorporate links to the company’s social media profiles, allowing them to build an online community and use their newfound following outside of their keyword rankings and site visits as another way of measuring the success of their online marketing efforts.

Rankings Still Matter

It’s no secret that SEO companies are increasingly challenged these days to direct traffic to clients’ websites organically despite the popularity of paid search results and social media. To stand out, websites that still rank well for high-traffic keywords must develop quality content that puts them on the same page as the paid search results, encouraging search engine users to scroll down and find in these well-ranking sites for a closer match to their search phrase.

Search engines are gearing towards localizing results to make their users’ search more actionable. For instance, Google’s location services enables it to give its users results that point to local businesses within their reach, driving actual sales and keeping users satisfied with the answers they get. This incentivizes digital marketers to track and push for local keywords on your website. By doing so, businesses grow closer to clients who are most likely looking for services and products they can access from their location, thereby making your marketing efforts effective and converting more leads to sales. To make your business rank in local searches, SEO companies optimize content on your website according to your business’ local reach and send out content that carries location-specific keywords.

SEO companies may also get creative with the services they offer and the efforts they employ. Most companies now manage paid campaigns on top of organic keyword search efforts. This allows businesses to gain the best of both worlds and maximize their rank in search results. Some even offer social media management services, posting content from your website to your business’ social media profiles, responding to customer queries, listening in on trending conversations in your industry to build your brand’s community online.

SEO is no stranger to change. With the evolving dynamics of online marketing and the constant rise of new ways to engage an audience, the field also keeps on adapting creative new ways of doing what it does best: connecting businesses and potential clients who are yet to find each other.

Stay found by mixing SEO with paid ads and social media. Get started with 360 Business Local by calling (416) 619-7935 today!