Archives for March 2016
Steps to Tighten Your Digital Marketing Budget
If youâre a digital marketer, thereâs a good chance your digital marketing budget is leaking and you may not be aware of it. With so many measurable aspects of digital marketing, it can be easy to overlook the areas where your budget is dripping.
Weâve discovered a few common places where you may need to tighten up, your digital marketing budget and offer suggestions to help.
Frequency
Did you know that roughly 4% of a digital marketing budget is wasted by targeting the same group of users over and over again? Itâs true — those ads that seem to shadow you after you looked at a product but didnât buy it are wasted when youâve already made up your mind not to purchase. It would serve a marketerâs budget well to identify their frequency cutoffs (the number of impressions made daily or per campaign) and trim the fat in this area. The repeat impressions should be funneled towards users who havenât been exposed to the ad at all.
Frauds
The number of ad impressions attributed to fraudulent bots is the curse of many analytics, and the cause of some painful budget drains. A quick summation, in case youâre unfamiliar with the topic of digital fraud: bots mimic human activity on the web, and create false data for impressions and views that lead marketers to invest advertising money on sites that arenât actually getting traffic from humans. To combat this problem, itâs suggested to partner with a third-party monitoring company that specializes in identifying suspicious traffic. These companies can save your budget from leaking valuable dollars to robots instead of potential human clients.
Behavioral targeting
Itâs common for marketers to capitalize on obvious targeting opportunities, like exposing a user to a different brand of the same product he or she is searching for. Someone looking for an iPhone may soon see ads for an Android, for example. Going deeper into a buyerâs behavior has the potential to salvage 8% of a digital marketing budget. For example, is there a specific time of year when consumers are more likely to buy? Near the holidays, or as kids are going off to college? Capitalizing on these yet-untargeted behaviors can plug a hole in your budget that would easily go overlooked.
Contact us today at Viral Solutions for more digital marketing tips.
by Christine Kelly
CEO and Queen Bee | Viral Solutions LLC
Copyright 2015 Viral Solutions LLC
Prior to joining Viral Solutions, Christine held executive leadership roles at some of the largest small business consulting firms in the USA. Her experience includes leading direct reports of over 130 remote sales agents who generated $38mm in annual revenue. She obtained her Marketing degree from British Columbia Institute of Technology. Bring her C-Suite experience to your small business. Although our company is virtual, and we can work with you wherever you are located, she is located in Denver, Colorado and owns a second home in Vancouver, BC Canada.
Viral Solutions LLC is a Digital Marketer Certified Partner and an Infusionsoft Certified Consultant.
We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves – so business can be fun again.
Tips for Training Virtual Team Members
The process of building your virtual team has been a long one. Youâve sifted through many promising applications. Eventually, you found the individuals who have the skill set your business requires. Now comes the task of training these new remote employees. Training new virtual employees will take a little more communication and patients than normal, but with todayâs technology, it isnât as daunting as it sounds. This article will give you the tools to get your new employees up to speed.
We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves â so business can be fun again.
Set Up Shop
Before you can start training your new staff, you should select the proper tools that will enable your team members to be productive. Virtual team members will need to use video chat technology for face to face interaction to build trust and connection with you, the leader and the rest of the group.
There are many online tools to help you bond with your staff such as: Google Hangout, Skype, and Yahoo! Messenger. Hold conferences for the whole group using WebEx, and NetMeeting. Set up telephone and e-mail communication with all of your team members. Get an online discussion board in place for to handle conflict and also for brainstorming ideas on group projects. You want to have your infrastructure in place, so you and your staff have a solid foundation to work from.
Orientation
Now that your employees have the tools, it is time to use them to bring them up to speed. Hold a group web conference so everyone can get acquainted. Ask about their daily lives, family and hobbies so you can build connections and also trust with your new team. Present to them what the companyâs all about, its vision and future goals. Explain to them how and where their efforts will be contributing to these objectives. Knowing exactly how they fit and where their hard work can take them and the company will get them eager to work.
Training
So all of your staff are equipped with the technologies needed to enhance their productivity and communication. The only question is, do they know how to use it correctly? You can use your HR department to help train the team on the new technology. Every individual will have the strengths and their weaknesses. To train your new employees efficiently, have HR evaluate each and tailor their training to build up their weak points.
Keep regular communication with team members and give feedback on their performances. An individual will not learn from mistakes if they are unaware of them. Make yourself available for questions so you can lessen the chance of error, thus increasing productivity. Good communication is key, especially with remote employees. If you have it, training will be successful. Good luck.
Copyright 2016 Viral Solutions LLC
by Rob Carpen
Rob is a content writer and editor, specializing in a variety of fields. He helps B2B and B2C clients with blogs, social media, press releases and web content that create more value for their marketing campaigns. He earned his Bachelor's Degree in Biology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He played Club Rugby at IUP for four years. He loves Rugby and recently attended the Rugby World Cup in Newcastle, England – New Zealand All Blacks v. Tonga Match. Rob is passionate about craft beer. He is transitioning his eight years of home brewing to earn his professional brewer certificate.
We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves – so business can be fun again.
Viral Solutions LLC is a Digital Marketer Certified Partner, an Infusionsoft Certified Consultant, a Google Partner – Certified in AdWords and a Mobit Certified Partner.
Prepare for These SEO Trends in the Near Future
As we sink into 2016, itâs time to evaluate your businessâ approach to SEO. Are you keeping pace with the most current SEO trends? Staying up-to-date is vital for your websiteâs success. For the most part, basic SEO principles will stay the same — content and audience response are critical elements of your marketing campaign. Below, we detail a few of the trends to keep an eye on this year.
Here are some SEO strategies for small business owners, that you should definitely employ, based on the most recent upgrades to Googleâs algorithms:
Mobile is king
As more and more consumers access the internet from a mobile device (smartphones, tablets), Google has placed a premium on sites that are compatible for mobile viewing. Essentially, sites that havenât been optimized for mobile get knocked down in search ratings. To keep your business visible in search results, make sure it is easily navigated on both PCs and mobile devices.
Stop back linking for the sake of back linking
Just as Google drops sites that arenât mobile compatible, it has also gotten wise to backlinks that lead to irrelevant content. Search engines now rank your website according to its overall meaning in context instead of by keywords. Over-saturating your site with keywords also no longer serves your business for the same reason. To keep pace with this trend, commit to generating backlinks that lead to high quality, relevant sources.
Master your social media presence
Google has begun indexing posts on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. This creates another opportunity for you to capitalize on SEO. The more postings you have on social media, the higher youâll rank on a search page. Maintain an active role on sites like Twitter and Facebook to make the most of this trend.
Know your brand and stick to it
It is incredibly important to have a visually appealing and well-designed website. It is equally important to have a well-established campaign that remains cohesive across all platforms. Your brand should have an easily recognizable identity that helps to boost your rankings. This includes your physical appearance as well as your persona — whether it is professional, casual, sarcastic, or simple, it should be easily identifiable.
Copyright 2016 Viral Solutions LLC
We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves – so business can be fun again
Viral Solutions LLC is a Digital Marketer Certified Partner, an Infusionsoft Certified Consultant, a Google Partner – Certified in AdWords and a Mobit Certified Partner.
Tips for Recruiting New Virtual Team Members
Building a team for your business is a challenging endeavor. Trying build a virtual team can seem daunting at first. You may wonder how to advertise the positions that are available. You might be thinking how to assess the applicantâs capabilities without a proper interview. How are their work habits? The questions are endless. Well in this article we will ease those worries.
Tip #1: Get The Word Out
For regular positions at the office, especially in the past, a companyâs best option for posting jobs was the classifieds in the newspaper. That option is
Today, Viral Solutionsâ mission is to provide its clients with the assistance needed to experience bursts of growth in their operations, and a big part of that is through the use of technology. When business owners feel overwhelmed, burnt out or unmotivated, Viral Solutions steps in to give them the tools they need to achieve new levels of success.
still available and is still a good choice, but there are other ways of recruiting that spread the news faster and broader. Thanks to the internet there are many âjob boardsâ available online to announce open jobs. This works for attracting new talent for the office and virtual teams. There are specific websites for work at home jobs so you can reach individuals who seek this lifestyle.
Tip #2: Find The Skill Sets You Need
Since you are recruiting virtually, you have access to a larger group of applicants. This allows you to find the best individuals that have the specific skills to fit your companyâs needs. Itâs a big world out there. Take advantage of it.
Tip #3: Are They Experienced and Can They Focus
Some people dream of working from home and staying in their pajamas, but some of those people donât think about all the possible distractions. The TV is an evil temptation, and then there might be young children to look after. It would be a good idea to inquire about their previous experience working from home if any. Were they able to stay focused? Do they have an office or are they working from the couch? Can they handle not having immediate correspondence with other team members?
Tip #4: See Eye To Eye
One of the perks most people would expect to have when working from home is setting their own hours. In a lot of cases, that would be okay. But there are times when you will need your team member to be online for team meetings, and video conferences with clients. You also might need them to be available to work a regular ânine to fiveâ work week so they can link up with other team members for a group project. Whatever the situation, be upfront before you hire every new member about what you expect of them.
Copyright 2016 Viral Solutions LLC
by Rob Carpen
Rob is a content writer and editor, specializing in a variety of fields. He helps B2B and B2C clients with blogs, social media, press releases and web content that create more value for their marketing campaigns. He earned his Bachelor's Degree in Biology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He played Club Rugby at IUP for four years. He loves Rugby and recently attended the Rugby World Cup in Newcastle, England – New Zealand All Blacks v. Tonga Match. Rob is passionate about craft beer. He is transitioning his eight years of home brewing to earn his professional brewer certificate.
We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves – so business can be fun again.
Viral Solutions LLC is a Digital Marketer Certified Partner, an Infusionsoft Certified Consultant, a Google Partner – Certified in AdWords and a Mobit Certified Partner.
Why Snapchat is the Next Big Digital Marketing Platform
Marketers may not yet consider Snapchat to be a social media giant, but they should. With its exponential growth in the last year alone, Snapchatâs more than 100 million users view over 8 billion videos a day — equal to the number of videos Facebookâs 1 billion users view daily. Snapchat is most popular with people younger than 35, making it an appealing platform for marketing professionals to target.
Below, we outline a few reasons why marketers should keep their eye on Snapchat in the near future.
- It happens in real-time. What makes Snapchat different is the immediacy and demanded focus of a Snap. Because the media has a short
“Whatâs happening with technology in our culture and society is just evolution. Technology is not undermining real human interactions. Instead, it is exposing people for who they really are. I have been asked many times, âWhat are we teaching the young people?â Iâve watched the behavior of 14 year old girls spending 10 minutes to take the best selfie, post it on Instagram, and then take it down when it doesnât get enough likes. This superficial behavior tends to concern pundits who think that technology is the cause of this appearance driven, attention seeking behavior in teenagers. But the thing is, teenagers have always strived to be liked and sought the attention of their peers and potential significant others. Selfies on Instagram is the evolution of this same behavior.” – Gary Vaynerchuk tanuha2001 / Shutterstock.com
lifespan and the implied privacy if holds, Snapchat is inherently unique. It demands a userâs attention. With this kind of focus, marketers are in a position to capitalize on their brand.
- Itâs less effort in the long run. A key advantage of Snapchat is that by nature, it is personal and offers a spirit of genuine identity. Establishing a campaign for your brand identity on Snapchat takes less time and effort because time itself is so fleeting on the app.
- It keeps your marketing sharp. To keep up, you have to stay in the moment. Cultural events happen without notice, so you have less time to carefully craft and build a marketing campaign. The result is an authentic persona for your brand. Youâll come across as current and personal while giving consumers an inside look at your business that is unlike any other platform.
- It creates unique marketing opportunities. The nature of Snapchat is so personal and instant that it makes the platform ripe for one-of-a-kind marketing strategies. For example, you might ask users to snap a photo of your product to receive a special coupon to use with their next purchase. It is also a great way to announce giveaways and specials, as well as behind-the-scenes sneak peeks at whatâs coming up next for your company.
If you want to see a heavy hitter and passionate lover of SnapChat, look up Gary Vaynerchuk.
While engagement on Snapchat may be difficult to track, the opportunities it creates for your brand far outweigh its lack of analytics. The ease with which it fits the consumersâ everyday activity is a major benefit for digital marketers.
Copyright 2016 Viral Solutions LLC