Archives for October 2018

Your website is your online shop window. It is the first impression you are giving to your new visitor regarding the credibility of your business. If a customer cannot navigate your website to find what they are looking for, they will have no faith in buying from you. You should want it to provide a good experience for your customers. Does it function correctly? Is anything broken? Have you checked lately?

1. What is your site speed? How long does it take for your website to load? If it takes too long, you may have just lost multiple visitors. If it’s not as quick as your competitors, you have just made a bad first impression.

2. Does the content on your site accurately describe what you are selling? This is not only important for your site visitors; even before anyone else sees it, Google has to value your website to ‘rank’ your business site in the search results.

3. Does your site work properly on mobile devices? Have you checked? If not, you are losing a lot of potential customers interested in your services.

4. Are parts of your site broken? Obsolete? What effect are these broken bits having on the overall performance of your site?

Want to find out what else may be improved? Hit me up 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.

Do you have a system to track your Digital Marketing ROI?

Do you have a way to quantify how your digital marketing efforts contribute to the bottom line?

MarketingProfs reported that 71% of marketing leaders and providers say attributing social and content to revenue is a top challenge to showing ROI.

49% say that aligning KPIs with overall business goals ranks as the next biggest hurdle, followed by 47% fail to track leads to revenue.

The figures above also suggest that 29%, 51%, and 53% respectively don’t have that problem.

So the top 3 problems are:

Attributing social and content to revenue.
Aligning KPIs to revenue.
Tracking leads to revenue

Are you having the same challenges?

Do you find a compelling reason to learn more about this?

Contact us and get advice.
johnny@johnnymurray.com

Digital marketing generally means getting the word out online about your brand and getting customers to see why they should buy from your business.

But in today’s hyperconnected world, your customers can also shape the reputation of your business online in (nearly) real time. This is very important as 77% of consumers read online reviews before making a decision.

While talking about how good your products and services are is of course useful and necessary, what your customers say about your company can also be used as a marketing tool. This is called Reputation Marketing. What makes this strategy different from other types is that it puts the “voice of the customer” as the central focus.

What your customers say about your business is not something you can control, buy, or make them do, but you can use the positive reviews they do leave to shape the narrative of your business’ reputation.

It’s amazing how many business owners are keen on running all sorts of online marketing campaigns, yet they don’t take the time to have their customers write a comprehensive review about their products.

Can you imagine how many of your “would-be customers” end up buying from your competitors, all because they couldn’t find any reviews about your product or service?

It’s essential for potential customers to know that others have used your business and had a good experience doing so, giving your business a reputation of trustworthiness.

Reputation marketing today is a must.

How do you get these positive reviews for your business and strengthen your reputation? There are many ways and we’d be glad to help.

Reach out to us at johnny@johnnymurray.com.
Johnny Murray
ICU Marketing Associates

Social media allows so much information to be at our fingertips.

It allows business owners to connect with potential customers in new and exciting ways.

It also gives customers new ways to reach out and share their opinions, and it is inevitable that sometimes those opinions will be negative.

We want to make sure you know just what to do with the inevitable happens so that your customers keep coming back.

The first thing to do when you see a negative review is to take a step back. Never respond in the heat of the moment. Never indulge in an angry flash. Compose yourself and address the review in a cool, calm and collected manner.

Also, work to identify authentic bad reviews from those who are just “trolling” looking to waste your time. If a review is unnecessarily inflammatory, profanity-laden or unintelligible, odds are the reviewer is just targeting you for argument sake. In these situations, the best thing to do is just step back and let it go.

Once you’ve identified true reviews, start by acknowledging the mistake and apologizing. Sometimes a simple sorry is all the reviewer needs to hear. At the end of the day, consumers want to know they matter and that they are not just another number. Demonstrate this with a polite and sincere apology.

Even if it wasn’t your mistake, it doesn’t hurt to say that you feel sorry about the misunderstanding or bad experience.

Next, see if you can make it right. Is there something that can be done to fix it? If not, offer other perks or benefits, such as free shipping or a discount in the future. Also, make sure you’ve identified an accountability process to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Finally, thank the customer for taking time to leave feedback. Feedback gives you the tools you need to improve to become a better business.

Addressing bad PR is easier when you have our marketing team on your side. Contact us today to learn more about our services.

Many businesses seem not to be taking advantage of online word-of-mouth marketing.

In fact, some businesses don’t understand how it can be leveraged so that they can take advantage of the huge rewards it brings.

One thing to remember when it comes to word-of-mouth is that friends and family will believe what they hear from each other over any other form of advertising. Word-of-Mouth has moved to the digital realm.

Online review sites exist for a few reasons, but one of the most popular reasons is that these reviews attract a lot of attention to businesses they are written for, and people love to read reviews.

They especially like to find reviews on a business they are thinking about doing business with. And some businesses have taken advantage of this situation like Zappos.com.

Zappos decided to do something different than other big companies and instead of spending tons of money on advertising, they invested that money into creating an exceptional customer experience by having the best customer service they could offer.

The result has been nothing short of amazing as Zappos is well known for providing the best in customer service. The reviews they get drive their bottom line because those happy customers leave reviews, and those reviews get read by other prospects. Not to mention that this form of promotion costs less to manage than other forms of advertising.

If you want to learn how to take advantage of Digital Word-of-Mouth marketing, then contact ICU Marketing Associates at johnny@johnnymurray.com and we will show you how to get started building your company reputation in 5 easy steps.

Promote your brand along with its good reputation on social media and other platforms. However, things get a bit complicated when you have to deal with bad reviews.

First, keep a good reputation by being honest, transparent, setting clear expectations for your customer, and by being in business because you genuinely want to help people around you. It goes without saying that shady practices are a no-no.

Second, you have to prevent any dissatisfaction by a customer from escalating by addressing every complaint you get. It has to be fixed at this level immediately while the customer is still trying to reach out to you. Because once they have felt frustrated and think they have to warn others about your practice, things can get messy.

Nonetheless, you have to set your radar for negative reviews. One good way to do this is to set up Google alerts for your brand terms and name.

What else can you do to safeguard your brand?

Claim your brand name
Build a consistent identity

Whether your brand is your name itself, your business name or your product name, you need to make sure that no one else can misrepresent you online by owning a piece of your brand. Make sure that you own domain names and usernames associated with your brand.

Suggested tools:

KnowEm.com
NameChk.com

Build a consistent identity on major channels:

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Google+
YouTube
Pinterest
Tumblr
Quora

Publish content regularly:

The content you publish will define and reinforce who you are, what you stand for, and what your business is all about. This will make up the values associated with your brand. Anything inconsistent with these values will not be immediately convincing to your customers who know you.

Let me know if you need more information. We’d be glad to help.

Johnny Murray
johnny@johnnymurray.com

Do you think your PPC campaigns aren’t optimized to the fullest? How much is your ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)? What is your CTR (Click-through Rate)? What’s your Cost per Acquisition? What’s your Abandonment Rate?

We will perform the evaluation, identify the problems and recommend the next steps to take.

Your PPC campaigns should be getting an unprecedented boost under capable hands now that Google Optimize and Google Surveys 360 work with Google AdWords!

Google Optimize facilitates the A/B testing of your AdWords PPC landing pages and landing page elements and shows you which site experiences engage and delight your customers. It will also give you the solutions you need to deliver them. Google Surveys 360, on the other hand, enables you to directly ask questions to your remarketing lists to help you understand what worked best for them and what didn’t.

You’ll get richer insights from your AdWords to take action on with Google Optimize and Google Surveys 360.

How Better Business Bureau Accreditation Builds Consumer Confidence

The Better Business Bureau is a non-profit accrediting organization that gives its stamp of approval when a business meets high standards of quality, responsibility, and trustworthiness.

So why is this BBB logo so important? Recent studies have shown that 8 out of 10 consumers recognize the BBB seal, and when they see it displayed on a website or business, it instills confidence and trust.

And those consumers are likely to purchase based on this. Reviews are important online, but 90% of consumers don’t bother hunting for a lot of reviews and will read less than 10 reviews before forming an opinion.

Most of those consumers are going to go right to the Better Business Bureau first. And sometimes that one review is enough to make their decision. But what if your business is not accredited? This could actually hurt your business as becoming accredited shows that you’re a company that is accountable and can be trusted.

And a company that is trusted, makes more profit.

If you would like to learn more about Better Business Bureau accreditation, then contact us today and we will get you started in the right direction, and show you what you need to become accredited.

johnny@johnnymurray.com
Johnny Murray

Bounce Rate is a way to measure the success of your website. The ‘rate’ is the percentage of visitors who come to your site and then immediately leave (‘bounce’) instead of sticking around to view other pages.

Imagine having a storefront and measuring the number of people who come in, take one quick look around and immediately leave, versus the people who come in to browse for a bit and eventually end up buying something.

Your website’s bounce rate is a window into the effectiveness of your storefront to retain potential customers. Google Analytics is a great tool for seeing how many visitors have been to your website in the last 30 days, which pages they visited the most, and how long they spent on those pages.

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you use Bounce Rates to improve your website and by extension, your business.

High Bounce Rate can highlight areas in need of improvement

You may notice that some pages have higher bounce rate than others, some with extremely high bounce rates that indicate little to no retention of traffic there. Use this as an opportunity to work on that page, and attract more visitors! Whether it be by updating it, improving the content, or perhaps assessing whether that page is really necessary.

A Low Bounce Rate means a quality entry page

Landing sites/entry pages are essential to maintaining a low bounce rate. They are your storefront – what draws the customers in! A low bounce rate on your entry page means that it is doing a good job of getting visitors to venture deeper into your site, getting them to view other pages and learn more about your business. Maintaining a quality entry page with relevant information, links to other pages, and pleasant aesthetics is key to making sure you are retaining visitors for as long as possible.

Bounce Rate should be relevant to your business’ objective

A high bounce rate on a particular page doesn’t always mean bad performance. Think about what pages on your site you want visitors to pay attention to the most. The goals of your business’ website should be in line with which pages you want to optimize for the lowest bounce rates.

Have more questions about how to use Bounce Rates to improve your website? Visit us at http://icumarketplace.com or drop us an inquiry at johnny@johnnymurray.com.

https://icumarketplace.com/1368-2/