Top 6 Picks to Include in Your Marketing Arsenal

Top 6 Picks to Include in Your Marketing Arsenal

What tools should you include in your marketing arsenal?
  1. – Brand awareness and management 
  2. – Analysing and managing customer reviews
  3. – Having an optimised website 
  4. – Google My Business Account
  5. – Incorporating Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
  6. – Monitoring competitors
Brand awareness & reputation management 

The goal is to have instantaneous customer association with your business and what you specifically offer. The aim is also to have a staple reputation and stand out from your competitors. It is statistically proven that customers are willing to pay higher fees to a brand they are familiar with rather than a cheaper option that is unknown to them. 

So, how can this be achieved? All the answers are just a Google search away. 

The first step is to have the whole team be aware of everything being said about the business on the web. The next step is to analyse the information that you have discovered. For example, what are people exactly saying about your business? Since we all know that bad news travels fast, you need to get ahead of what’s going around before it affects your reputation. 

 

Customer reviews 

One of the first things you’ll come across in your monitoring efforts is a review left by a former customer. With mass marketing, people are constantly exposed to different products and services, so they trust reviews. After all, a consumer is not going to lie to another consumer.  

Whilst reviews published on your website are fantastic, those left on a Google My Business account are deemed more trustworthy. After all, people believe whatever they read on the internet. Another great place to grant the customer access to reviews is through your business’s social pages. Everyone loves a good review highlight.  

If you come across a negative review, don’t panic, there is still light at the end of the tunnel. Negative reviews will occur no matter the industry, so it’s best to prepare yourself. A negative review should never be left ignored and unanswered. Potential customers will be frightened away. To keep this from happening, you need to reply to the review politely and attempt to rectify whatever concern the displeased customer may have had.  

The best part of negative reviews- and yes, there is the best part is having your weak points located for you. Your customer’s complaint is the critical feedback you need to rectify mistakes and improve for the future. Say a customer felt as though you caused them delay with an untimely email response. This feedback should be taken on board and practices should be put into place, making sure this situation does not happen again.  

Optimised website 

An optimised website is easy to read, quick to scroll, has properly labelled headings and a catalogue option for quick access. It contains links to all your social media accounts and, most importantly, your contact information and address.  Adding a Google Directions Search also adds a nice touch. All of this is important as the basic foundation.  

Nowadays, an optimised website has a live chat option. For example, take the global giant Apple. We all know that setting up an appointment at the Genius Bar is both time consuming and, frankly, always booked up. Apple, of course, could not go without a live chat option. Most people would rather have a live chat in real-time than calling your place of business and speaking to a real person.  

Now that you’ve got the lead with live chat, you can personalise your customer’s experience by assisting them directly with their specific problem and encouraging them to use your services.  

 

Google my business account 

Regardless of the industry, every local business should have a free to use GMB account. You want your customers to find you quickly and not your competition.  

Make things easy for your customer by creating a GMB account and keeping it updated with your latest business information. The more information you provide Google, the more information available to your customers and the likeliness of raising higher up on the local rankings increases ten-fold. Customers trust a GMB, which means they will trust you.  

With GMB you’re provided with a plethora of analytical data, from who your visitors are to how they engage with your business. 

The review option on a GMB account is frequently visited as this helps the potential customer decide whether or not they want to conduct their business with you or go with your competition. 

Search engine optimisation & local SEO

You can experience business growth by incorporating SEO into your marketing strategy. SEO, which stands for search engine optimisation, is a cost-effective digital marketing tool that drives organic search engine traffic.  Your potential customer base must be able to find your website to use your services. Therefore, SEO will allow this to happen as your website will organically rank higher in the SERP and keyword search.   

Local SEO also increases brand visibility- the aim is to be discoverable. If your website is ranking high on the search engines, then the increase in traffic will be exponential. Statistics show that 92% of traffic goes to business profiles that appear on the first pages of the search results. If you’re looking to increase your target market’s confidence in your business, then there’s nothing like receiving a recommendation from Google. Most people naturally defer to the recommendations of search engines because they already trust the search engine, so if you’re recommended, you’re automatically trusted. Besides, how often do you yourself click on the first few hits? 

Local SEO creates the ultimate user experience by pushing for a well-optimised website and promoting it organically. Google prefers a website that strictly follows the guidelines of E-A-T Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness. Well-optimised also means that the viewer can navigate the website easily and pull information quickly.  

 

The competition   

A close eye should be kept on your competitors to stay ahead of the game. New trends are constantly emerging, so if you see your competitors on whatever app comes after Tiktok, then this is where your business needs to be as well.  

As previously discussed, reviews are one of the most essential marketing tools available. While your reviews identify precisely what your business is doing- positive or negative, your competitor’s reviews can also provide you with an invaluable insight into what is being done and what can be improved. After you’ve researched and analysed the information on your competitors, it’s time for you to revisit your marketing plan and see what ideas or tweaks you can make to your business.  

So which of these tools are you going to be implementing?

The Importance of SEO for Your Business

The Importance of SEO for Your Business

If you’re asking yourself if you should be using SEO, then the answer is YES! Whether you are a leading global company or a new start-up, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is one of the most important tools in your digital marketing arsenal. SEO is a data-driven approach that helps with business growth, brand visibility, customer trust, and creating the ultimate customer experience. 

 Nowadays, customers using a search engine is where your sale begins. 

Potential customers need to be able to find your website for you to capture a sale. If you want to increase the number of visitors your website has each day, then you need to increase your organic search engine traffic.

 Keep reading to ensure that you never miss a sale opportunity!

 SEO for Growth

If you have noticed that your potential customer base cannot find your marketing content then it’s time to include SEO in your marketing strategy. For most businesses, SEO is one of the leading digital marketing tools that is implemented in the beginning stages of planning digital campaigns. Statistics show that businesses that incorporate SEO as the base of their digital marketing efforts experience greater return on investment. This is because SEO enhances paid search strategy and creates more effective pay-per-click campaigns as the costs per click are lower when your website is ranked high. With SEO your website will rank higher in SERP (search engine results page) and keyword- you can reach your customer base! 88% of the local search results contact a service provider within 24 hours. This organic web traffic is a free way to attract new customers and to get ahead of your competition when a customer searches up a product or service that you offer. 

Brand Visibility

You want your business to be discoverable! The goal of SEO is to improve your website’s visibility so Google and other search engines place your website as the first hit. The more visible your brand is, the more traffic will be driven to your website which means more sales! When a potential customer hops onto Google and searches for a particular product or service they are more inclined to visit the top five search suggestions. 92% of traffic goes to those business profiles positioned on the first pages of search engines. Most people won’t be venturing to the second page of suggestions, so the top five is where you want to be. The better your SEO score, the higher you rank, it’s that simple. Implementing SEO can help increase your rank and provide you with the visibility you need to be discovered by potential customers. Once you get them onto your site you now have the opportunity to make a sale!

 Increase Customer Trust 

 Customers consider whatever the search engine brings up first as a vote of confidence! Having customer trust is one of the most integral parts of running a successful business. With an increase in your brand’s visibility comes an increase in customers’ trust. A staggering 71% of customers turn to a business after using search engines. Most people automatically defer to the recommendations that search engines generate because they already trust the search engine.
If your business is coming up in the top hits on search engines then potential customers will be given the impression that your brand is trustworthy and will choose to do business with you rather than your competitors. While there is nothing wrong with SEM (search engine marketing) a paid advertisement does not attract as many customers as an organic search result. How often do you yourself overlook the paid ads that pop up first? 

SEO for the Ultimate User Experience 

As we’ve discussed, Google and other search engines are your best friend. The information on your website needs to provide the viewer with value and be of high quality. Google favours websites that follow E-A-T guidelines (Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness). For them to relay the information to customers, search engines need to be able to pull information and navigate your website easily. A well-optimised website means that your customer has a positive experience every time they jump on, locating whatever information they need quickly and easily. Search engines pull up the most relevant and helpful content for the user’s search. So, your website should also be able to address any queries or questions they may have around what you provide. This is another way to stay ahead of your competition by having a website that is more enjoyable to use. 

If you’re interested in learning more about the importance of SEO and including it to help your business succeed, we’d love to hear from you. 

Brand Reputation Management in 2022- 5 Key Strategies

Brand Reputation Management in 2022- 5 Key Strategies

Brand Reputation Management in 2022- 5 Key Strategies

In 2022, a brand’s reputation plays a key part in creating customer loyalty and business growth. In this article, I’ll tell you about 5 key strategies you can implement today for brand reputation management. Your brand reputation is the way the world sees you. Having a great reputation is directly linked to your bottom line as customers who trust you will increase your sales growth. Managing your brand reputation will be a continuous effort, but it is well worth it to stay ahead of your competitors and create loyal customers. Once a person hears your brand’s name, you want them to associate it with a positive reputation.

Continue reading to find out how to manage your brand reputation!

  1. Brand awareness and monitoring

The goal is for a customer to hear your brand’s name and instantaneously know what it is that you sell or provide. Besides your name, a brand image also comes to mind, when you hear Versace, you probably think of a luxury brand that features a medusa head. Having an original image means that you stand out from your competitors. Customers will likely choose you if they associate positively with your brand. Statistics even show that customers are willing to pay more money to a brand that they can identify themselves with. Brand awareness companies will help your audience identify your brand and, in turn, trust you. 

Brand monitoring means that you and your team are aware of everything going on. Whatever is said about your brand, product or service online is just a google search away! To manage your brand reputation, you need to analyse what the search brings up and find out what is being said. Bad news travels fast, so if you notice a spike in your metrics, check out what’s going on and get ahead of it while you can!

  1. Create customer loyalty

Creating customer loyalty means that they will keep thinking of your brand and coming back whenever they have a need or when you release a new product! Brands like Apple and Samsung have loyal customers who keep up with every phone upgrade and come back to purchase other products from the brand. When they need some headphones, the loyal Apple customer will go to the Apple Store instead of their competitors because they trust the brand and the quality of their products. Not only will loyal customers gravitate back to your company, but they will also spread the word about how great your brand is!

Your customers’ experience can determine whether they will interact with your brand again and what they will tell their family and friends about your brand. To keep your customers satisfied and manage your brand reputation, you should address their issues as soon as possible. This can be done by monitoring customer conversation on your social pages and keeping up with your reviews. It is key that you respond to your customers quickly and address their problems to the best of your ability to keep your customer happy. Try sending customers surveys as this is a great way to collect data about their experience.

  1. Monitor customers reviews

Monitoring customers reviews are a crucial component in managing your brand reputation. Nowadays, review sites are all the rage. With mass advertising, customers are constantly bombarded with content. It has become increasingly difficult for customers to know who to trust. So they turn to customer reviews to verify whether the product or service does what it says it will. Customers trust other customers as if it was a personal recommendation. The unfiltered, raw, and honest review from a customer is trusted because they have nothing to gain from leaving a false review of their experience with the brand.

These reviews convert potential customers into paying customers. This is why you should pay close attention to what customers are saying to see if they are leaving any negative reviews. These negative reviews are great feedback for you to take on board and make the necessary adjustments to keep your customers happy. The negative reviews left by your customers need an immediate reply to show them and potential customers that you care about their opinions. Apologising for your mistakes shows a human side to your brand, which can easily be forgiven by your customers. Remember that your tone is important when responding to these reviews. Keep it light and friendly!

  1. Social media engagement

You need a direct line to your customers, and the easiest way is through social media! To improve social media engagement, make sure that you are available on all platforms, and I mean all platforms – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and depending on your type of business even Snapchat and TikTok. Customers take to social media pages for all sorts of things, such as checking what’s new with your brand, seeking customer support, and queries around your product or service. Customers enjoy keeping up with their favourite brand’s posts and often leave comments. This makes them feel like they have a personal connection with the brand. Sprout Social research found that 30% of customers neglected by brands on social media are more likely to switch to a competitor.

Content marketing for brand management lets you educate your customers while simultaneously building brand awareness. The more customers see you on social media, the more interest and engagement you will receive!

  1. Keep an eye on competitors

Lastly, never neglect your competitors! Even Tech giants Apple and Samsung keep a close eye on what the other is doing to keep up with their competitors’ latest products and innovations. Industry trends are created by companies, so you need to see how well your competitor’s products are performing on social media. Then, regularly monitor what your competitors are doing so you don’t fall behind on the newest trends.

Also, read the reviews that customers are leaving your competitors to identify how well the product is performing or find any complaints left by the customers you can address in your own product. Gaining an understanding of the issues your competitors are solving for their customers can indicate what your target audience is seeking from you. So carefully dig through your competitor’s reviews and use the data you find to your advantage!

A positive brand reputation is key for building customer loyalty and ultimately leads to an increase in sales. Try implementing the above steps to manage your brand reputation and grow your business!

6 Ways to Increase Blog Content Conversions 

6 Ways to Increase Blog Content Conversions

One of the best tools in your marketing arsenal is your blog posts. Each time you create and post on your blog, you hope that this post will perform better than the last. To accelerate this process, it is important you incorporate strategies that help you measure your marketing performance and optimise the strategies available to increase content conversion. 

So how can you receive a return on your investment?

Keep reading to find out how you can increase blog content conversions in 6 easy little steps!

      1. Know Your Blog’s KPIs

For each blog post, you can track your key performance indicators to clue you in on what posts and topics interest your audience so you can create more of them. KPIs you should be using are consumption metrics, engagement metrics, and lead generation metrics.

Consumption metrics will tell you where your readers are coming from, for example, email campaigns, social media, and organic traffic. It will also tell you how long your visitor has remained on your post.

Engagement metrics allow you to track your number of blog comments, social media shares and backlinks. Also, you can measure the effectiveness of your posts by how much you are connecting with your readers.

Lead generation metrics are the most critical metric to measure as it indicates whether your leads have turned into sales.

You can also calculate your content downloads, subscriptions, and sale conversions. 

      2. Write For Your Target Audience

The aim is to create content that your target audience wants and needs to read. Your content needs to be crafted specifically with an engaging voice and informative ideas so that your readers will keep coming back to your blog for more.

To gauge an idea of what topics your audience wants to read, visit top-rated pages related to your written topics.. Then, take a look at the comment section on these blog posts.

– What questions are the readers asking?
– What did they find most interesting?
– Were they confused or concerned by anything?

These insights can be used as a guide for creating a post next time.

One of the best strategies is creating a post on the topic and including the information which was not included. This way, you are addressing the needs of your audience and winning the readers over. 

      3. Publish Consistently

To increase your content marketing ROI, publish blog posts consistently. If a reader has just discovered your post and enjoys your content, they will keep coming back to your blog. Imagine their dismay when they return to your blog and find no new post. It is unlikely that the reader will be coming back week after week to check if something new has been posted. Their attention would have gone elsewhere. 

This is why you must publish blog posts consistently to keep your audience engaged and grow your audience. One of the most effective ways to grow an audience is by putting out a predictable streamlining. Also, the more consistently you publish, the more your audience perceives you as a reliable source of knowledge and your creditability and authority is boosted. Building your brands awareness through your posts will help you convert your readers into customers. 

      4. Optimise Your CTAs 

Every single blog post should have a call-to-action, otherwise, it is just a missed opportunity.

Clear CTAs lead to more subscribers, increased conversion rates and return on investment. Your CTAs should motivate action, so keep in mind that you need to make it clear what you want your audience to do.

For example, if you want them to sign up for email campaigns, make sure that you provide that call-to-action. You will typically see posts that ask you to follow or share the content to your social media, this is another great call-to-action. 

CTAs usually appear at the end of the post or on sidebars, but you can also add ones that hover over posts or slide in from the side. You can also use in-line CTA’s such as internal links. Remember that you do not want to overwhelm your reader, but you can include several CTA in a single post. 

      5. Merge Similar Articles

If you have been blogging for a while, chances are that you have at least 2 to 3 old posts written about a similar subject. In this situation, you can increase your ROI by combining the articles into one long post where the reader can access all the information you have provided in one place. You can even return to the old posts and update the link URLs to drive traffic to the new ones.

An excellent tip for boosting ROI is simply updating your old posts. There may be new services, new products available that you can call to action. Your old guides and information could also use a refresher if there have been new emergences in the market. The aim is to provide the most engaging and easily digestible information possible. As a result, you’ll be attracting new traffic and securing new readers. 

      6. Content Across Multiple Channels

Consider using the information in your blog posts in an email campaign. Tweet out some key information in your posts. Write a detailed Instagram caption with a snippet from your article. You can even use your blog post as a script and record a podcast for your audience to listen to. You could also have a video version produced and posted on YouTube. All these different forms of content are easy to make since you have the foundation of your blog post already there.

This is one of the easiest ways to get your brand and your information out there. So make sure you are getting the most of your content. 

So, incorporate these 6 easy elements today to grow your audience’s engagement and convert leads into customers!

Everything to Know About Shopify SEO in 2022

Everything to Know About Shopify SEO in 2022

This blog post will propose a simple Shopify SEO Guide that you should consider in 2022 to rank higher on SERPs.

Before starting, let’s talk about some facts that offer an insight into how essential Shopify SEO is in the year 2022 if we wish to be seen amongst the top search results.

  • 85% of the customers use Google to search for a product while making their shopping decisions.
  • With Shopify empowering more than one million businesses globally, SEO has become a Must Go requirement to keep our presence online.

In this context, if you are willing to stay in the sight of shoppers, you will have to improvise your Google Rankings and online presence.

Here is included everything that you should know about Shopify SEO to ensure your long-term success.

      1. Enroll Your Store website with Google Search Console/Bing Webmaster Tools

Enrolling your online store with Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools is something that all store owners should consider doing if they are serious about their store’s SEO. By registering your store with these services, you ensure your store site’s existence on these search engines. These services also give you insights into any issues that might be preventing your site from ranking as highly as it might. Registering your Shopify site with Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools is very simple following a simple registration guide.

Once you register with Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, you will have to submit an XML sitemap to both of these services. This action helps these services to index your website correctly and quickly.

      2. Ensure the Speed Of Your Shopify Store

A page’s speed is an aspect that is utilized by search engines to rank websites on the SERPs. Faster loading sites are always preferred over slower loading ones. The options related to reducing your site’s page speed are limited with Shopify, as rather than buying your hosting and coding your template, you will be using Shopify servers and templates.

Some other ways can help you to make your Shopify site load faster:

1. Remove Any Unnecessary Shopify Apps that are not usable or required by you.

2. Avoid the use of too many web fonts on your Shopify site. Try to ditch them entirely in favour of web-safe fonts that       load way faster.

3. Use compression software or tools to reduce the size of images you will require to upload on your Shopify site.

4. Avoid image sliders on your site.

Recently, Shopify has introduced an Online Store Speed Tester on every merchant’s Shopify dashboard. This tool is beneficial to track how your store is performing compared to other stores from speed.

      3. Perform a Keyword Research

Including keywords in your Shopify site’s content and products is the most effective way to improvise your site performance online. To achieve a better performance, you will have to perform keyword research first.

 Keyword research includes three main pieces of information:

1. The keywords that people enter into search engines while searching for a product or content similar to yours.
2. The number of searches for each keyword.
3. The difficulty level for each keyword to rank on search engines.

When you include all these three pieces of details, you will be able to optimise your site’s content on search engines by identifying and including keywords in your content. It becomes possible as you manage to gather enough popular keywords that can generate a considerable amount of traffic to your Shopify site.

      4. Make Sure Your Page and Product Titles Are Correct

Your page and products titles work as the most significant elements of your Shopify site. Search engines consider them as the core of the information while working on categorising and ranking it. You need to understand that your title alone displays itself as the most significant component of a search keyword. So always make sure that the titles of your Shopify site products and contents are always correct. Avoid using titles that are vague in nature; also, create a title that starts with your target keyword that you want to rank highest in the search pages.

      5. Use Appropriate Headings 

Many people who build and use their website using platforms like Shopify perform a common mistake: Avoiding Headings. Rather than operating properly like professionals, they generally use bold or capitalised texts to break up their site’s content. This situation leads to creating some problems.

Firstly, this way of presentation looks quite bad to your audience. Second, it makes it difficult for your visually impaired users to understand your content. And third and most essential one is- It Makes It More Difficult for Search Engines to Index Your Site Content in a Proper Manner.

Adding headings and subheadings to your Shopify site content is quite simple. When editing a page or description of a product, all you need to do is highlight a part of the text and then select the heading you need from the formatting menu.

      6. Employ Attractive Meta Descriptions

Meta Descriptions are used to provide a summary of your website. These descriptions appear under those blue clickable links that appear on the SERPs. Even though Google has announced that these descriptions don’t affect the ranking factor, Meta Descriptions work as an effective method to encourage more users to click on your website.

      7. Use SEO Friendly URLs

Google encourages the use of SEO-friendly URLs. Your Site’s URL should be short, simple, and comprehensible. For example, you are selling skateboards; it would be preferable to use a URL like www.yourdomain.com/skateboards rather than www.yourdomain.com/prds/ct/p223.php?ref=14556sktbrd.

Shopify is quite considerate about this aspect as it generates URLs for your Shopify sites that are clean and easy to understand.

      8. Make Use Of Shopify Blog

Most Shopify users focus so much on the product catalogues that they completely forget about the essential aspect of SEO, which is creating content, generally in the form of blog posts. Sites featuring thorough and informative blogs on such topics that people are interested in performing way better in search results.

The Final Takeaway

By following all these tips, you can indeed make a difference to the performance of your Shopify site in the search results. However, there is still a lot more than you can do to boost your site’s ranking on SERPs.

If you are willing to find more about the benefits of SEO and want to make a considerable Improvement to your Shopify store’s performance, you can reach out to us for more guidance on this topic. We will guide you right through everything you need to know to improve your ranking in search results and offer you services that will help your Shopify site seek success in the competition.

Optimising Voice Search in Your Business

Optimising Voice Search in Your Business

With technology constantly evolving, your business needs to adopt new trends and strategies to stay ahead of the game. With voice search, artificial intelligence allows for people to access internet results using just their voice. It allows for reading the pages aloud to them. This technology has had a sweeping effect on search engine optimisation and digital marketing. Voice search has proven to be a great source of organic traffic and it is in your businesses best interest to incorporate it now! In 2021, businesses that have utilise voice search experience 30% growth in digital commerce. For your business to stay connected with its audience, optimise your website now for voice search. In just a few easy steps you can…. 

Here’s how!

      1. Using Natural Language

Using natural language allows the user to find the answers they are searching for quickly with voice search. When you’re searching for information on the internet, the last thing you want is to come across complicated sentences and wordy paragraphs.
With users’ short attention spans, content needs to be scannable and easy to read in our fast-paced society. This is why voice search technology has been created to follow everyday language and allows for users to easily give commands if they were speaking to a human. It has been reported that 70% of English language voice searches were made in natural or conversational language. So, if your website content adopts a more conversational tone, the chances of it popping up in voice search results increase. The easier it is for someone to read your website, the better the chances you’ll pop up in their voice search, so focus on simple English and short sentences.

      2. Using Multiple-Word Keywords

Don’t miss out on customers just because you weren’t aware of the way that people are searching! While people may write consciously, they typically do not speak as consciously, so this is where using multiple-word keywords comes in handy. Four or more words, called long-tail keywords, should be used as people using the voice search speak in complete sentences. This means that their queries will have more words than your average written search. An optimised website should use long-tail keywords to mimic the length of the question the customer would ask. The long-tail keywords should also aim to capture the customers intent. For example, people using voice search will ask, “where is the closest women’s only gym near me” instead of typing “women’s only gym Sydney”.

      3. Add Frequently Asked Questions

An easy way to use long-tail keywords is by adding an FAQ page to your website. This can be done by using all the customer data you’ve collected and developing questions and answering content tailored to your customers. Similarly, looking at the reviews and feedback about your business can give you a clear idea of what queries or concerns your customers would like addressed. Unlike written searches, voice searches typically include questions like who, where, when, which and how. Focus on incorporating these words to provide the right content when the customers engage in voice search. The easiest way to write FAQ content is by remembering that questions that require short answers will not generate as much traffic to your website. It has been reported that just 25 keywords will trigger 20% of voices searches. With an FAQ page, your business is more likely to show up when someone asks a question relating to your industry. 

      4. Add Location-Related Keywords

Location search is one of the most popular voice searches as consumers are three times more likely to search locally when searching by voice. If you are a local business, you should be optimising local search directories like Google My Business to appear on your audience’s radar. As a tip- make sure your business location, opening hours and phone numbers are correct and visible on your website. Once that’s done,  you should add location-related keywords to your tags, image tags and website content. “Near me” queries should become your new best friend.

      5. Get Mobile-Friendly

60% of voice searches are made from smartphone devices since people are searching when they’re out and about. If your website isn’t optimised for mobile use, it is recommended that you make the necessary changes fast! To be mobile-friendly, your website must load quickly and be easy for the user to navigate. A slow load or a complicated website to navigate could easily make the searcher switch over to another local business. To find out if your website is mobile-friendly, you can run a free test on Google. At The Digital Age, we also offer website developing services that will program your website to be mobile-friendly. Click here if you’d like to find out more.

4 Ways to Protect Your Brand – Reputation Management

4 Ways to Protect Your Brand - Reputation Management

4 Ways to Protect Your Brand – Reputation Management

In the age of technology, building a positive reputation for your brand begins online and is imperative to your success. Your brand image is highly dependent on its social presence and your online reviews. It’s all about how the consumer sees your business. This is highly influential on whether the consumer decides to purchase your product or service.

So, monitoring and managing your online reputation is vital in sending out a positive image and creating trust between the consumer and your business. To do this, you need a reputation management plan which takes strategic action in protecting your brand’s online reputation in reviews, social media, and Google. Fortunately, this can be done in just four easy steps. Keep reading to find out how you can implement the reputation management plan!

The Reputation Management Plan

      1. Research, Research, Research

The first place to go to start your reputation management plan is by doing research on your own business. This is as simple as a quick Google search. After searching up your business, you’ll find relevant hits where you can read all about what the talk is about your brand. You can read reviews and find out what people are saying, what they love, hate, and everything in between. This type of feedback holds the key to understanding how consumers see your brand. It also has the key to adjusting your processes to improve your reputation if a complaint is discovered. Besides Google, you can consult other search engines, your business social media page and review sites. In 2021, if your consumer has an opinion, you can be assured that they have expressed it somewhere. 

      2. Take Action on the Feedback

Once you have finished with your research, you’ll have a clear understanding of what your brand’s image is and what areas of your business can use some improvement. For example, if you read reviews complaining about the packaging of your product, you would need to revise the packaging to fix the issues that your consumers are having. This is an effective method in improving your customer’s experience and keeping them coming back as you are giving your customers what they are asking for. The negative feedback should be viewed as an opportunity to locate the weak points of your business that need your attention. Taking action on the reviews and feedback will manage your reputation and ensure that you are constantly upholding a positive imagine.

      3. Create a Management Strategy

When creating your management strategy, you should ensure that it addresses the following questions:

  • Who will be monitoring the online conversation? Typically, you should aim to have a designated person in your business in charge of researching and monitoring the chatter around your business. Customer service or marketing employees would be best suited for this task as they need to have experience with handling customers.
  • Which feedback and reviews need to receive your full attention? Sadly, some trolls will attempt to tarnish your business’s reputation for no legitimate reason. Most of the reviews that you receive are based on consumers real experiences with your business. Customers who leave positive reviews often get excited to hear back from you and become bigger fans of your brand. Negative reviews should also be addressed as the customer wants to hear that you care about their opinions and are ready to resolve their issue. Oh, and your prospective customers are judging you on all of this too!
  • What tone do you want your business to adopt and project? You need consistency in your tone of voice when you respond to comments. When replying, developing a standard tone is optimal as customers will spot the difference if you respond harshly to criticism and positively to praise. To protect your reputation, a standard tone will help you avoid situations where a customer can be offended by your response as well as build a personality to your prospect who is reading the reviews.
      4. Consistent Implementation of the Plan

It is important to remember that this process is continuous. You must aim to be consistent with the management of the plan to ensure continued results. After discovering one issue, you must remember that another one could pop up at any time.
To stay ahead of the game, you need to continuously research and monitor the talk around your business to get ahead of any conversation that can hurt your business’s reputation. Following the steps of your plan can ensure that your brand’s reputation is managed effectively. 

Having a positive reputation has a significant impact on your customer loyalty and organic sales growth. Conversely, a negative reputation can be disastrous for customer retention and new business acquisition, but through rebranding and adjustments, your business can be turned around. So follow the four easy steps mentioned above to create a strong brand image in 2021!

If you’d like to find out more about how we can help you create a winning digital strategy click here to book a session with us.

10 Reasons Live Chat Can Help You Grow Your Business in 2021

10 Reasons Live Chat Can Help You Grow Your Business in 2021

10 Reasons Live Chat Can Help You Grow Your Business in 2021

10 Reasons Live Chat Can Help You Grow Your Business in 2021

If you want to generate a great online presence, have tons of website traffic, and have a high click-through rate, live chat is the “must-have” communication tool.  Live chat allows you or your team to talk to customers in real-time. If chatting with customers isn’t your thing live, chat allows you to engage with customers through a chatbot that responds in real-time to your customers without the need for a representative. 

Here are 10 reasons live chat can help you grow your business

      1. Live Chat is the customers preferred contact channel

More than half of your customers prefer to chat with someone in real-time rather than to pick up the phone and call your company for support. Sending a company an email, searching their social media or forums has taken a back seat when compared to using live chat (which is 42% more popular than the other digital contact methods). Companies have caught on to this preferred communication style and shifted their communication channels to suit the needs and wants of their customers

      2Increase qualified leads 

Every month, you attract tons of leads which makes it challenging for you to identify which of them is a qualified lead. Luckily, the chatbot option can identify them for you. When your customer arrives on your website, the chatbot tool can engage with them in a conversation tailored to the different stage of the buyer’s journey. For example, you can modify the chatbot to ask questions depending on your specific target such as what is your budget
range and where are you located? Chat boats have increased sales by 67% on average.

      3. Convert leads into sales 

Typically, live chat is made available on your high-intent pages which helps you and your team interact with the potential customer and address any questions or concerns they might have. On your high-intent pages such as pricing pages, service pages, product pages, etc, the customer is already halfway hooked and the assistance of a delighted representative at that moment could be the support the customer needs to make their final decision. With live chat, there is no delay between your customer enquiring which product or service is best for them and in real-time providing an answer. This is how live chat helps turn your lead into a sale. 

      4. Fast track the sales cycle 

In this society, we value efficiency over almost anything else and what could be better than instant responses to inquiries? Live chat fast tracks the sales cycle of the business by providing personalised service to the customer as soon as they enter your website. A live chat conversation results in a 48% increase in revenue per chat hour and a 40% increase in conversion rate.

      5. 24/7 customer service with chatbots

Customers are looking for a real-time response. We understand you might not have live agents 24/7 and this is where your chatbot comes in to save the day. The chatbot can provide your website visitors with support even after closing hours by using the automation tool when you’re offline. When Jimmy has a question about your product features at 3 am, the chatbot can assist him by providing the FAQs response to each question and even capture Jimmy’s contact information so your team can reach out the next day when you’re back online to further assist Jimmy if the FAQs didn’t cut it.

      6. Personalise your customer’s experience and help them make decisions 

You can personalise your customers experience by creating a chatbot flow. This means that product and content recommendations are provided to the customer based on their recent activity, search history, demographics, product preferences, etc. The chatbot can make these persuasive recommendations to the customer and assist them with their decision making by showing them exactly what they’d like! This approach can also be used to promote your sales, discounts, and other incentives you use to influence customers purchase decisions. 

      7. Boost your customer’s satisfaction rates and increase your competitive advantage

No one likes waiting, so your quick response is going to make your customer very happy. The longer you make a customer wait the more likely it is your customer will look to your competitors. Incorporating live chats and utilising the chatbot option can prevent this from happening and keep your customers satisfied with your prompt response time. 

      8.Get website visitors to opt-in for SMS and email updates 

Customers that are engaging with your live chat have an interest in your business and therefore it only makes sense to invite them to sign up for marketing updates via all your other communication channels. Live chat should be used to prompt the customers towards your relevant marketing campaigns, so they never miss a thing! 

      9. Keep leads engaged even after leaving your website 

Customers tend to like to keep in touch with businesses on multiple platforms so it’s important to not lose track of the context of your previous interaction with a customer if they suddenly switch from email to live chat. Remember, to your customer you are one brand, one entity so they expect a flow in conversation.

      10. Live chat is cost-effective

With live chat, your team is handling multiple conversations simultaneously and therefore, no need to hire more chat representatives! Live chat also increases the average order value as the customer is receiving advice about the product or services, which in turn decreases the chance of a customer returning a product or ceasing a service.

It’s a smart play to add a well-built live chat communication tool to your website now and enjoy the growth in converting new eyes into new customers. 

Future-Proofing Your Retail Business For COVID 19 And Beyond

Future-Proofing Your Retail Business For COVID 19 And Beyond

Future-Proofing Your Retail Business For COVID 19 And Beyond

While economic activity is at a historic low, this does not mean your business profits need to be at a low as well. Customers are desperately trying to adapt during these uncertain times and as a result, there are noticeable behavioural changes. People are more frugal with their spending and prefer stocking up on items rather than spending on experiences. The retailing landscape and E-commerce has completely transformed and will likely remain this way well after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a business owner, this means that you have to push through these strange times and support your customers. So how can your retail business adapt to support your customers in this unknown time?

Go Digital

With social distancing measures in place, customers are avoiding drop-off in brick-and-mortar shopping and switching to online shopping for items they would have otherwise purchased in person. Even the most digitally resistant customers are shopping online as most are opting to stay inside.

Many Australian retailers are shifting to selling entirely online, promoting the ‘contactless payment’ method.

We can see that retailers who are operating offline have also recognised the allure of this method and implemented it themselves in stores. The use of cash payment has slowly been reducing throughout the years with the introduction of ‘tap and go’ payments and smart devices.

Seldom are day’s people would stop by their local banks or find an ATM to withdraw cash. Since COVID-19 people are straying further away from cash payment as they fear that this plays a part in the spread. Well before the pandemic, it was predicted that Australia will be the first cashless society by 2026.

Following the theme of preferred payment is the buy-now-pay-later option which has surged online expansion and restored revenue for retailers in Australia. Countless online retailers have incorporated the option of using ‘Afterpay’ or ‘zipPay’ to allow their customers to purchase the product and pay in monthly instalments. This increases company revenue as customer’s do not shy away from purchasing a product based on the funds they have available to them at the time.

Customer Experience

Now that your retail business is operating online how can you improve your customer experience and guarantee customer satisfaction?
Above all else, a successful business will priorities creating a great customer experience.

If a customer has to continuously sift through a range of products they are likely to tire and lose interest in purchasing from your online store. However, a simple yet highly effective solution is implementing a ‘recommended’ product list.

This makes it quick and easy for your customer to view products that interest them and in turn, profits will keep flowing. The satisfaction of your customers is also reliant upon the security of your online store. Another simple yet highly effective solution is customising security which will manage the friction that customers experience. These two objectives can be simultaneously met to ensure an optimal customer experience via the use of AI and Machine Learning.

With the advancement of AI and Machine Learning algorithms now every online customer’s experience can be customised and specially tailored to their preference. This is key in turning an occasionally returning customer into a loyal customer.

Amazon is well-known for using Machine Learning to provide its customers with recommendations based on their preferences. This approach is called the Kount Control – Account Takeover Protection and what makes this approach full-proof is its ability to identify your returning customer even when they have logged in from a new location or a new device.

Prior to COVID-19 and well after, cybersecurity will remain a fundamental part of sustaining an online business. Kount Controls allows for monitoring any challenges the user faces such as failed login attempts which can be indicative of credential attacks.

While the challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic will end at some point, the shift in consumer behaviour and the retail landscape will outlast the crisis. Retail businesses that take the initiative to implement these customer support measures will create a business that thrives well beyond the end of the pandemic.

If you’d like to find out more about how we can help you create a winning digital strategy click here to book a session with us.

The Benefits of Setting Up Google My Business

Setting up Google My Business

The Benefits of Setting Up Google My Business

You’ve seen it before, but maybe you didn’t know what it was called. Google My Business (GMB) is something every business owner should familiarise themselves with. GMB is a local business listing that Google displays on the right-hand side of the search engine. It provides specific business information to the searcher as Google is assuming this is what they are looking for. GMB is there to provide convenience to the searcher, making locating a particular business quick and easy. It instantly provides the search with a link to your website, operational hours, business location and much more. This platform is free-to-use, so there are no risks associated with familiarizing yourself with this strategy. 

      Appear in Google Maps Searches 

GMB is one of the best strategies for boosting your business local presence. How many times have you searched up a company and been relieved when you find out they are close by. Keeping your business information up to date gives you an upper hand against your competition as you’ll show up in the local search results. By creating a GMB listing, the updated business information you provide is populated in Google Maps. Your business will show up in the Local Pack section which can bring new customers to your door. Think of how many companies that you know of that are already using a GMB. The next time someone searches for a mortgage broker, restaurant or anything in-between, your business can pop up!


      Appear in Google’s Local Pack & Increase Engagement 

The Local Pack, as previously mentioned, is a strategy used to attract new business as your information appears in a section called the Local Pack. This is globally considered an ‘elite’ section of Google’s local searches. Large and small businesses across the globe implement all available SEO tactics to boost their local rankings and get into the Local Pack. Creating a GMB can quickly increase your odds of entering this elite section of Google. To rank higher in results, you must provide Google with your most current information. The more information you provide Google, the more information can reach your customers. By updating your GMB profile, Google will rank you higher in results. What makes Local Pack so desirable is that it enables your business to appear on Google Maps before any organic results show up. Your potential customers can access your website instantly and book you directly. Statistics report that those who show up in the Local Pack get 700% more clicks. So why not take the time to create a GMB to increase your odds, website traffic and in-turn and most importantly, your sales. 

      Star Ratings & Customer Confidence

We all know the importance and powerful influence of reviews (if you don’t you can click on our last article). Setting up a GMB allows customers to leave star ratings on their experience with you and provide you with genuine feedback. The better the quality of a product or service- the higher your ratings and the more positive your reviews! Showing your customers that you have an actual business location propels your customers’ confidence in making a purchase. As Google is well trusted by people, seeing your business appear in the local search causes a chain reaction of trust and confidence. If you appear in the local search, then your customer knows that Google would have gone through a verification process and posted a business that they can also count on.


      Analytics & Advertising

GMB also offers you an ‘insights’ section which will equip you with a plethora of analytics that breaks down brand visibility, target customers, and the customer’s engagement. This will allow you a chance to hone in on your advertising and marketing strategies. Google My Business is a free form of advertising on Google as your business receives targeted exposure free of charge. It is more time sufficient to create and certify your Google My Business listening than to start a search campaign. Most importantly, it is completely free, fast and straightforward to use. Google advertising achieves efficient and effective results faster than an organic search result. 

GMB is essentially a ‘one-stop-shop, which is why it is so essential every business updates their information to maintain an active account that remains on the map. 

If you’d like to find out more about how we can help you create a winning digital strategy click here to book a session with us.