Archives for October 2019

Have you ran a digital marketing campaign for your business before? What tactics and channels did you use?

Here are 7 digital marketing trends you should know:

– Content marketing is still the dominant technique.
– Top 3 B2C content priorities: a) providing engaging content, b) utilizing visual content, c) measuring content results.
– Facebook posts with images still perform better than posts without images.
– Tweets with images still get more engagement than tweets without images.
– Infographics perform better than any other type of content.
– Visual UGC (user-generated content) is more engaging than brand-produced photos.
– The demand for interactive content is increasing.

Do you agree with these points?

Do you think these tactics will impact your business?

Let us know what you think.

Do you have a set rule for marketing budget allotment?

Or do you just place funds in marketing whatever is left after all of the projected business expenses for the year have been set?

USBA suggests 7% to 8% for small businesses. However, you can shoot for up to 20% if you really want to smash it hard in the marketplace.

A survey from the CMO Council, on the other hand, comes with similar results with 74% percent of marketers allocating 4% to 6% of their annual gross revenue to marketing, while only 2% apportion more than 20%.

The size of your marketing budget will fuel your marketing efforts, and so if you’re in a very competitive industry, and most especially if you’re in the early stages of your business, then you should really have a strong budget.

How do you structure your marketing budget?

Reach out to us and get some advice.

You’ve done your research, you know what customers want. You worked hard to bring about a good product that you know will solve their problems, *it* is ready for the market and you know the market is ready for *it*.

Now the only question is, do you have a customer-centric website where your products can be promoted and showcased?

If the answer is no, then there are some factors you need to consider when designing a site such as…

1. Buyer’s persona – who’s the target audience for this product? Who would realize its value the most?
2. Buyer’s journey – what does your customer have to go through to finally get your product in their hands?
3. Ease-of-use – ultimately, is the website for your product easy to use? Or is it fraught with hard to navigate pages that could put buyers off?
4. Answers questions – Are there plenty of chances to learn more about your product in an easy, accessible way? Don’t be vague, customers want to know what they’re buying.

These factors and more should all be considered when designing a website where your products will be sold. Want to learn more? We’d be glad to help.

Contact us
johnny@johnnymurray.com
ICU Marketing Associates

Today’s customers are not only sticking with one social media site. Your target audience is active on many different sites every single day. Actually here are some statistics from a recent study that show just that:

– 28% are on 1 site
– 24% are on 2 sites
– 16% are on 3 sites
– 8% are on 4 sites
– 4% are on 5 sites

Now that you know that your potential new customer is constantly using multiple social media channels, what does that mean for you?

It means that you also need to be visible to them on multiple social media websites! But how are you supposed to know which channel is right for you?

Here is a breakdown of who is using each of the top social media channels according to Pew Internet Research:

Facebook:

– 82% of online adults between 18-29
– 72% of all adult internet users
– 62% of the whole adult population
– Especially popular with women

LinkedIn:

– 25% of adult internet users
– 46% of online adults who are college graduates use LinkedIn
– Popular with those with high household incomes

Twitter:

– 23% of all internet users
– 30% of online adults under 50
– Most common in urban areas

These statistics show that you could have access to many new customers by simply expanding your social media presence to other networks. We strongly urge you to add your business to more social media sites so that you can begin reaching more of your target audience today!

If you have any questions or want more information on social media marketing visit http://icumarketplace.com or reach out to us at johnny@johnnymurray.com.

Do you have a set rule for marketing budget allotment?

Or do you just place funds in marketing whatever is left after all of the projected business expenses for the year have been set?

USBA suggests 7% to 8% for small businesses. However, you can shoot for up to 20% if you really want to smash it hard in the marketplace.

A survey from the CMO Council, on the other hand, comes with similar results with 74% percent of marketers allocating 4% to 6% of their annual gross revenue to marketing, while only 2% apportion more than 20%.

The size of your marketing budget will fuel your marketing efforts, and so if you’re in a very competitive industry, and most especially if you’re in the early stages of your business, then you should really have a strong budget.

How do you structure your marketing budget?

Reach out to us and get some advice.

Your Customer Acquisition Cost or CAC is the total cost spent on acquiring new customers (marketing/sales expense) divided by the number of new customers acquired during that particular period.

If you invested $1000 in marketing/sales in a one month period and acquired 10 new customers as a direct result of that marketing and promotion, then your acquisition cost is $100 per new client.

All successful businesses measure their acquisition costs. Luckily, promotional activity on the web can be measured very accurately.

Make sure that the pricing of your products and services cover you CAC.
If you would like to know more in detail, contact us at johnny@johnnymurray.com.

Anyone in business knows that positive reviews, whether by word-of-mouth or in the online world can be just as good if not at times a better way to get customers in the door than any marketing campaign.

Sometimes it may seem impossible to get the elusive 5-star review, but it doesn’t have to be as hard as it may seem. Here are 5 things you can do to make sure customers leave satisfied and more than happy to write a good review.

Manage expectations – Don’t take on more than you can handle, or you’ll have customers leaving disappointed. It’s okay to tell customers exactly what is within your means. Once they’re in the door, meet their expectations and then go above and beyond!

Walk the extra mile – Simple gestures can go a long way. Your customer expects exceptional service, show them that you can provide that and more. Make your customer feel special, and they will, in turn, tell everyone else how special your business is.

Ask, while it’s still hot! – If you know you have satisfied customers on your hands, don’t be afraid to ask for that 5-star review. You can do this in person, or by leaving reminders where your customers can see them. Remember to make it easy for them to leave a review – online or otherwise.

Want to know more about how you can make your business 5-star review worthy? Contact us
at johnny@johnnymurray.com.

Make your business visible online, and you will get a larger share of customers.

Operating a small and local business doesn’t mean you cannot increase your customers and scale.

Get a Website. Don’t you have a website yet? Where have you been all this time? From plumbers to dentists, the local handyman to big engineering firms – they have websites. Your website will be your 24/7 storefront.

Make sure that your website is mobile-friendly. You are increasingly using your mobile phone when searching for a product or service, right?

Get some Traffic with SEO. Many of your potential customers probably do not know that your business exists. However, when they go to Google searching for a product or service they need, which you offer, and finds you because you’re doing SEO — then bingo!

Make sure that your SEO is well-planned with a comprehensive blueprint to ensure ROI.

Get on Social Media. Many more of your potential customers may find you in social media. When a recent customer following you in social media likes or shares an article, a photo, or a video you posted, then that post will be visible to their friends – who might as well try out your product or service.

Become active on at least 4 social media channels. Your potential customers are actively using more than one.

Capture and Nurture. Capture your leads through an opt-in form on your website and nurture them through email marketing.

Be on top of mind all the time to your potential customers by constantly communicating with them through email. Once they need something you offer, boom, you got a customer.

There you have it. 4 simple steps.

Follow me, and we’ll guide you along the way. Contact Johnny Murray at johnny@johnnymurray.com.

Online reviews are crucial to managing your reputation, gaining trust and building confidence. Trust is a key element to gaining and maintaining customers.

Do you remember asking for a friend’s opinion about a product before deciding to buy? Didn’t you become more excited after hearing encouraging feedback?

That’s exactly how online reviews work.

Let’s take a look at these statistics from BrightLocal:

• 84% of people trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation
• 7 out of 10 consumers will leave a review for a business if they’re asked to
• 90% of consumers read less than 10 reviews before forming an opinion about a business
• 54% of people will visit the website after reading positive reviews
• 73% of consumers think that reviews older than 3 months are no longer relevant
• 74% of consumers say that positive reviews make them trust a local business more
• 58% of consumers say that the star rating of a business is most important

Your potential customers are now checking what others say about your products or services before buying!

So you need to always provide a good experience, earn those positive reviews, get them published, and see more repeat and new sales coming to your business.

There are additional benefits to getting positive reviews and 5-star ratings:

Improved Organic and Local Rankings
Google gives priority to businesses with stellar reviews on rankings.

Increased Click-through Rate
Consumers will most likely click on a business with impressive reviews in the search results.

Create Consumer Loyalty
Your customers who take the time to leave a 5-star rating are far more likely to feel a certain bond with your business.

Let your Customers Do Your Marketing for You
Even just a handful of positive online business reviews are worth a great deal and can attract new customers to our business.

Contact us at johnny@johnnymurray.com to learn more about boosting your revenue with reviews.

Dacia and Facebook

Dacia is one of Europe’s fastest growing car brands.
The Goal: Their aim was to grow their brand and to generate more leads.
The Result: 60,000 extra cars sold in the last three years. That’s a huge success!

How did they do it?

1. They decided to use social media.
2. They chose Facebook to get their message across.
3. They targeted desktop-using customers and customers who primarily used their smartphones.
4. The tool they used was Facebook’s boosted posts. This allowed them to test the market and find out where their potential customers were and the best time to place an ad in front of them.

The Girl Scouts and Twitter
The Girl Scouts are well-known for making and selling their own cookies to raise funds for the local community.
The Goal: To increase downloads of their mobile app.

The Result: Nearly 20k extra downloads as a direct result of their Twitter campaign!

How did they do it?
1. They decided to use social media.
2. They chose Twitter to do their promotion.
3. They added images to the app to show how delicious and inviting their cookies were.
4. They used the Twitter App Card so customers seeing their Tweet could access the app directly from their Tweet. Simple!