May. Wow. How are we nearly halfway through 2021? It feels like just yesterday we were willing on the end of 2020 and crossing everything for a very different 12 months to follow. And here we are, well and truly into the year, and hopefully you’re tracking, or surpassing, the targets you set for yourself in January.
Last year, you told us that marketing and revenue growth were your biggest priorities for 2021, and 85% of you asked that we focus our content on these areas – so we have willingly obliged. We know from your feedback that the advice we’ve shared with you is resonating, but we know it can be easy to forget the nuggets of wisdom we impart each week, so we’re here to jog your memory with a recap some of our of top tips for drumming up profitable growth and making the most of your marketing budget.
Top of the list would have to be our latest partnership with ground-breaking US technology provider, Fast. Fast offers state-of-the art login and payment options that, until now, haven’t been seen or experienced by kiwi firms and their customers. You can find out more about what this means for your business by joining our free webinar on 10 May.
There are some big changes happening on the marketing front in May. Facebook will be impacted by changes from Apple, Google and more, which may result in revenue declines for some businesses who are not over-managing their marketing strategies and staying up to speed with these changes, if that includes you, don’t worry, it’s not too late to sort things out. Read on below for some helpful information, and get in touch with us if you’d like support.
Now, let’s see if you’ve been paying attention…
We introduced you to a new phrase in March…
Over-managing. Not to be confused with micro-managing, over-managing is an empowering way to ensure your strategy and team are set up to focus fully on all the areas that really matter to your business and its bottom line.
Here are four crucial points to remember when it comes to over-managing:
1/ You must be very deliberate in what you choose to over-manage. It will require a heap of energy and focus and should align directly to the achievement of your business goals.
2/ Always, always, walk in your customers’ shoes – understand their purchasing journeys, their needs and wants, what they are willing to pay and what delights them (fast delivery or excellent customer service are two examples). Over-managing something that doesn’t interest your customer is frankly a waste of time, money and growth opportunity.
3/ Remember that digital is not the solution, it is the enabler. Yes, the stats we shared earlier are compelling, but these insights are complicated and you must walk in your customers’ shoes first before considering any form of a digital strategy. The right experts will guide you through this process.
4/ Know your Brothers, Sisters, Cousins & Strangers and make sure you craft and implement different communication strategies for each of these relationships. Taking different approaches to different customer segments, based on how well each knows your brand and the products and/or services your business offers, is the fastest way to connect with and convert customers.
We let you in on some social secrets…
It’s not all just about Google and Facebook team. Using lesser known platforms, such as Bing and Pinterest, can give you a much bigger return on marketing investment, as many of our clients are experiencing.
More Bing for your buck.
Bing is the advertising platform provided by Microsoft through its search engine, Edge, and can give you a far great return on marketing investment.
Here are four reasons to give Bing a bash.
- Bing Ads tend to reach an older, more educated, and higher-income audience
- Bing’s Ads tend to be ‘cheaper’ than Google’s
- Bing users tend to be more engaged with sites after ad clicks. In one industry, Bing ads had a 56% higher conversion rate than Google AdWords. That’s because Bing users typically have more interest in ecommerce and are willing to spend money online
- Since there are fewer users on Bing, its ads tend to display higher on search results than Google AdWords. In fact, Bing ads appear 35% higher in search results than Google ads
Pinners are winners.
An often forgotten channel, Pinterest can be 30% to 40% more cost effective with reach than Facebook or Instagram. It’s especially useful if you are targeting affluent female decision makers, for both direct to consumer and business to business (B2B) models. Just like Bing, Pinterest can help to get your business in front of potential customers who are not always reachable via Google, Facebook or Instagram.
It may surprise you to know that Pinterest is the third largest search platform on the Internet, right behind Google and YouTube. So not only is it a popular form of social networking and visual marketing, it’s a pivotal search channel, meaning SEO and keyword strategies are a must.
Research by Gigacom found “pinners” (Pinterest users) have a higher propensity to buy and, when they do, they also spend more than other comparative channels.
If you would like a hand with your marketing strategy, please get in touch.
In marketing terms, a landing page is a standalone web page, created specifically for a marketing or advertising campaign. It’s where a visitor ‘lands’ after they click on a link in an email, or ads from Google, Bing, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or similar places on the web.
A landing page is a great way to drive traffic, improve your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation or ‘findability’) and build your brand. Landing pages lead customers to a specific product, service or offer and encourage them to take action. This is your opportunity to create conversions and build your customer base by imparting knowledge and building trust.
Unlike web pages, which typically have many goals and encourage exploration, landing pages are designed with a single focus or goal, known as a call to action (or CTA, for short). It’s this focus that makes landing pages the best option for increasing the conversion rates of your marketing campaigns and lowering your cost of acquiring a lead or sale, therefore increasing your return on investment.
The other benefit of landing pages is the way they can optimise your paid search results via Quality Scores. It is not uncommon for businesses to have more than 20 landing pages, aligned to different target customer segments and what we call ‘big hitting keywords’.
Google plans to update its algorithm in May to include a factor called ‘page experience’. This feature will be added to existing Google Search signals, including mobile-friendliness, safe-browsing, HTTPS, and intrusive interstitial guidelines. Businesses with a web presence need to make understanding these changes a top priority. If you would like some help optimising your page experience, we’d love to help.
Simply send a message to grow@grownzbusiness.co.nz and we will get back to you in no time.
If you’re after the Rolls Royce of online customer experiences, you’ll want Fast in your life.
You can read more about Fast and register your interest, by clicking HERE.
We have no intention of slowing down. Stay tuned for more on where this has come from. Next week we’ll be touching on NZ’s skills shortage and will offer some clever solutions your business can leverage to generate growth in these testing times.
In the meantime, if you’d like to speak to us directly, we are always here to help at grow@grownzbusiness.co.nz