Archives for March 2018

When starting a business, it’s easy to overlook some of the more important details once you start getting a customer base. Most businesses rely on getting as many customers as they can as cheaply as they can. This may have been the way to do things in the past, but now things have changed.

So what is Customer Lifetime Value? CLV is something that all big businesses focus on because of its importance. It is the measure of dollars coming in from a customer over the entire relationship with that customer to the business. However, since you cannot speculate how long each customer you have will stay loyal to you, you look at it over a certain period of time. Once you start doing this, the data you collect can show you some fascinating things.

One of the things you might find is where your marketing efforts fell short compared to one customer over others. The other thing measuring Customer Lifetime Value can do is help you refine your marketing strategy so that you are targeting the right customers.

There are many benefits that come from analyzing Customer Lifetime Value including maximizing your return on marketing campaigns, helping to identify and reward those customers who are loyal, and managing your customer relationship as a monetary investment instead of counting them as a number.

Huge industry leaders in eCommerce are outperforming all the rest because of their focus on retaining customers. Some eCommerce giants are reporting 60-80% retention rates while others are reporting only a 20% rate!

Do you want to learn more about CLV?

Contact me at johnny@johnnymurray.com to learn how we can help you effectively measure your Customer Lifetime Value.

Johnny Murray
johnny@johnnymurray.com

If you’re among the business owners who are posting and sharing content through Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms, then you’re off to a good start.

But if you’re not getting the results you’re looking for, chances are that’s because your social media isn’t actually very social. Posting and sharing content just isn’t enough!

However, how do you put the ‘social’ back in social media and take your social media marketing game to the next level? By creating opportunities for your customers to get involved in the conversation and get to know you and your brand.

1. Post conversational status messages.

This will humanize your brand. Remind people that your business is run by individuals who care about their products and their customers, not by some faceless corporate machine. Allow your customers to connect with you on a human level.

2. Post videos of yourself talking to your target customers.

As a business owner, showing your face builds trust and, again, humanizes your brand.

3. Ask questions. Hear their story.

Ask about their needs and get feedback on your products or services. The exchange will benefit both you and your customers. You’ll be helping your customers feel like they are a valued part of your business, and as a business owner, you will gain valuable insight about your target customers.

4. Respond to comments.

Being social means engaging in a two-way conversation. When your customers reach out to you, make them feel heard and keep them engaged by responding thoughtfully to their comments.

Do these things, and your business will not only have gone social, but it will start taking off.

Need help? Contact us at johnny@johnnymurray.com

This is a frequently asked question. It depends on what you are looking to accomplish and the strategy that you have put together.

Are you looking for short-term results or are you planning for next year?

If immediate short-term results are your aim, then you should choose pay-per-click advertising (PPC). The results can be seen in 2 days or in a week.

Comprehensive keyword research and continuous monitoring and optimization of your PPC settings will maximize performance and yield ongoing positive results.

If your vision is for longer-term gains then consider search engine optimization (SEO). A comprehensive and thorough SEO campaign will start to yield results after a few months. This may take 4-6 months or 6-9 months.

Successful results mean not only increase your website ranking on search engine results but also receiving leads that lead to sales.

We can help you with a cohesive strategy both for immediate and long term success.

Visit our website http://icumarketplace.com to learn more about our marketing audit and blueprint consulting services.

Businesses around the globe are cashing in on Facebook’s massive audience and unique features to increase their growth, sales, and overall success.

Is your business using Facebook Ads yet? Are you apprehensive to get into Facebook Ads?

Never fear! At ICU Marketing Associates, we can help you get a well-deserved Facebook boost by:

1. Capitalizing on Facebook’s huge captive audience: Facebook has over 1.7 billion active users, and features that help you target your ads so that they’re seen by your potential customers.

2. Transforming Facebook visitors into customers: turn your cash into traffic to your landing pages and conversion funnels. Facebook even lets you re-market towards users who have engaged with you before.

3. Utilizing Facebook’s powerful Call-to-Action feature: Unlike others, Facebook Ads lets small businesses choose from a variety of call-to-action options, which lets you focus on exactly what you want your audience to do.

4. Developing demand generation advertisements: The average Facebook users spends 40+ minutes a day there to explore, connect, and discover. Help them discover just how much they need what you have to offer!

5. Testing your content before you spend money to maximize engagement: Another reason to advertise on Facebook is that it lets you get the most bang for your buck. How? You can test how engaging your content is by posting it on your page for free and analyzing your Insights. Then you can put your money on the most successful posts!

6. Creating video ads: Facebook videos have high rates of engagement and can help create buzz around your business.

Ready to begin your next Facebook Ad campaign?
Contact us at johnny@johnnymurray.com or 908-375-3030 to get started!

Customer behavior has changed. Now they go online to research and evaluate brands, products, and services. Your potential customers have gone digital, and so you need to.

1. Your prospective customers look online before buying!
Did you know that 81% conduct online research before buying? If your products and services cannot be found online, then you are missing out!

2. It works!
Thirty-three percent of mobile users have purchased from a different brand after seeing advertisements on their mobile devices. So if your website is not mobile-friendly, you’re losing 33% of buyers!

3. It levels the playing field.
If you are a small or medium-sized business, you can take on much larger competitors. To the online shopper, the size of a business is not that important online. If they see you as a business that provides better value, then that is all that matters.

4. It’s cost-effective. You do not have money to waste.
Wouldn’t it be great if every lead who viewed your product or service was a serious buyer looking to purchase? With digital marketing, all your potential customers are targeted and looking for your product or service. Google states a 2.8 times higher revenue growth for companies that use digital marketing techniques.

5. Track potential customers.
You can track customers from the first interaction. Imagine if you could follow your potential customers around and keep promoting your product. Digital marketing will do that for you.

Do you recognize any of the following signs?

1. You’re not visible on search engines and if you are visible, no one clicks to visit your website.
2. If visitors do click through and visit your website, they leave almost immediately.
3. You’re getting clicks, and website visitors aren’t leaving your website, but they’re not buying anything!

Sound Familiar? I’m sure you’re asking, “What can I do?”

We can show you how. It’s all about understanding who your real customers are, their search behaviors, and the digital channels they use – and having the right product.

Luckily for us, Internet Marketing allows your potential customer to be matched with your
service to ensure that your product is the perfect one for them!

Here are additional tips:

1. Make sure you are doing SEO. This includes optimizing the titles and description of every page and optimizing your content to match the intent and context of the search.

2. It’s not just about getting potential customers to visit your website. You want them to become engaged with your content.

3. Your written content (the actual words/explanation/description of the product or service) is engaging, interesting. Relevant content will build trust and increase the probability of a visitor becoming a buyer.

So, know your audience, decide on your strategy and use the correct tactics. If you are unsure, seek advice. Shoot me us an email at johnny@johnnymurray.com.

Get the attention of your audience through unique and authentic storytelling!

“A story can cross the barriers of time – past, present, future – and allows us to experience the similarities between ourselves and through others,” says Andrew Stanton, a filmmaker at Pixar.

Customers are looking for something that is unique and relatable to them and storytelling is an age-old method that allows businesses to relate to potential buyers.

Here are 3 elements of storytelling that can help turn the mundane into something of great appeal:

Emotion. Take your customer back to those times they will never forget with emotional appeals, such as sympathy, envy, or intrigue. Move them through from one emotional state to another as the narrative unfolds. This only intensifies their connection with your product and brand.

Authenticity. Be honest. Speak truth and life about the brand and the audience it is speaking to. This will grab their attention while also creating a reputation for your brand.

Relatability. Make a connection to your audience. Do your research on who you are targeting. Appeal to your audience through situations they have also experienced, and also challenges they have overcome.

Use these strategies to make a connection with your audience:

Make Your Story Centered around their Situation and Needs
Make People Feel a Part of the Story Experience
Listen & Create a Relevant Context
Showcase Your Values

Once you have made an effective connection is when your message was absorbed deep in their hearts and minds.

Email us today to find out more about how to become an effective storyteller for your business!

When you are running ads on Facebook, AdWords, or LinkedIn your copy needs to be able to stand out among all of the competition that is surrounding it.

We at ICU Marketing Associates want to help you make your ads grab your target’s attention and get you as many clicks as possible!

Here are a few of the tactics that we use to increase click through rates:

Offer Promotions and Incentives in the Headline

Grab attention right away by showing the potential customer exactly what you are offering them. Set yourself apart from the start by showing that your business is the best value.

Use Deadlines for Your Offers

Create a sense of urgency for your targets by showing that they have a limited amount of time to click on your page and take part in that offer. Using AdWords you can even set up a countdown within your ad, which will motivate your potential customer to click so that they don’t miss out!

Include Keywords in your Ad Copy

It makes your ad look more relevant to the viewer at a glance and it also gives you another line of valuable text in your ad copy.

Use Emotional Triggers

Connect with your potential customers on an emotional level, don’t just throw out technical jargon about what your business does. Say something personal about what your business can offer that will connect to them on an emotional level.

Use a Call To Action

Make your viewer curious about what you are offering with a call to action. Asking them to click to “find out more…” or “To learn more about this offer…” will force their mind to wonder what more you are offering and will make clicking on your ad more enticing.

If you need any help with reviewing your ads and making them as successful as possible, please visit us at http://icumarketplace.com

Businesses around the globe are cashing in on Facebook’s massive audience and unique features to increase their growth, sales, and overall success.

Is your business using Facebook Ads yet? Are you apprehensive to get into Facebook Ads?

Never fear! At ICU Marketing Associates, we can help you get a well-deserved Facebook boost by:

1. Capitalizing on Facebook’s huge captive audience: Facebook has over 1.7 billion active users, and features that help you target your ads so that they’re seen by your potential customers.

2. Transforming Facebook visitors into customers: turn your cash into traffic to your landing pages and conversion funnels. Facebook even lets you re-market towards users who have engaged with you before.

3. Utilizing Facebook’s powerful Call-to-Action feature: Unlike others, Facebook Ads lets small businesses choose from a variety of call-to-action options, which lets you focus on exactly what you want your audience to do.

4. Developing demand generation advertisements: The average Facebook users spends 40+ minutes a day there to explore, connect, and discover. Help them discover just how much they need what you have to offer!

5. Testing your content before you spend money to maximize engagement: Another reason to advertise on Facebook is that it lets you get the most bang for your buck. How? You can test how engaging your content is by posting it on your page for free and analyzing your Insights. Then you can put your money on the most successful posts!

6. Creating video ads: Facebook videos have high rates of engagement and can help create buzz around your business.

Ready to begin your next Facebook Ad campaign?
Contact us at johnny@johnnymurray.com or 908-375-3030 to get started!

Are you a Small Local Business?

Size doesn’t matter when you are offering bigger value and personalized services. What you need is to create more visibility online for the people who are looking for what you provide.

What are the advantages of being a small, local business that will enable you to compete with bigger businesses? Here’s a short list:

Technology Tools

In no other time has technology made it easier for us to do business, communicate, promote, and expand our businesses on such a far-reaching scale. The Web, SEO, and Social Media Marketing allow us to market our businesses in the same way that bigger brands do.

Flexibility with Changing Conditions

Small business owners have way more flexibility to make immediate and necessary changes that are essential to dealing with changing local market conditions. For big businesses, recommendations go through many levels bureaucracy before decisions are made at the top. Execution suffers the same delays down to the personnel on the ground.

Personalized Customer Service

You have the opportunity to deliver personalized, unexpected and exceptional customer service.

How does it feel when you are served by the owner of a restaurant that you often dine at, and get asked if the food is good and what can they do to improve their menu?

There is something very warm and fuzzy feeling about local interactions for both owners and customers.

Access to Digital Marketing Expertise

There are no longer barriers to accessing digital marketing expertise when you can hire an expert by the hour to oversee your marketing strategy and activities.

Contact us if you want to seize the opportunities that digital marketing can offer and reclaim your domination in your own territory.

Johnny Murray

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