Advertising

Advertising and marketing go together like peanut butter and jelly. Today’s technology means that there are affordable digital advertising options that fit any size marketing budget.

Social media advertising is one easy way to target exactly the audience you’re trying to reach. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter all offer sponsored posts, visual ads, and more, and allow you to set your budget.

Search engine ads or pay-per-click ads also can be effective at ranking for highly-competitive keywords and attracting traffic to your site online.

Native ads and sponsored content don’t even look like advertising! Because they’re informative content, your audience may be more receptive to consuming them and clicking to your website.

Whatever ad option you choose, make sure to pay careful attention to and insights to ensure that you’re hitting the mark in reaching your intended audience. The great thing about today’s ad options is that it’s so easy to tweak the ad copy, audience, or image to get better results in real time.

6 Books For Marketers to Read Now

This time of year, I really put that Audible subscription to work. The Christmas rush is over and everyone is out on holiday. I read a lot, so while I search for my next favorite marketing books, check out my list of six books for marketers to read now.

1. Ogilvy On Advertising

I’ve written a few times about why I read Ogilvy on Advertising every year. And this year is no different. Every time I read it, I get something new from it. I like the evidence-based, approach Ogilvy had to his advertising and messaging. And because humans think the same way now as they did then, many of the lessons are still relevant.

6 Books For Marketers to Read Now

How to Protect Marketing Companies from Unlawful Advertising Suits

The world of marketing is exciting. The job of a marketing firm is to make a product, brand, or service, irresistible to the general public. If a marketing team is marketing a widget, they want to make their widget look better, sound better, and appear more of a value, than any other widget on the market.

Marketing teams are creative. They push the line. They look for the new, unusual, and untapped method that will get their widget noticed. Their creations are unique and exciting, But, are they legal? Sometimes there is a fine line determining what is and is not legal regarding the marketing of your widget. Crossing that line, even inadvertently, results in unlawful advertising suits, loss of money, and a bruised reputation. This is something marketing firms want to avoid at all cost.

Be Proactive

The law is an ever-changing field. It takes a skilled attorney with experience in the world of advertising laws to ensure your marketing plans are legal. You need a partnership with a legal expert to prevent you from making mistakes.

The Tinder Rules For Content Marketers

Are you on Tinder? Uh yeah … me neither. But chances are you’ve heard of it and how users swipe left to expel someone from their dating pool or they swipe right if they want to know someone better. Swiping right is a good thing.

After five minutes of swiping left on profile after profile that did nothing to inspire a rightward flick of my thumb, I began listing all the things wrong with each profile and realized it sounded a lot like critiquing content marketing. It got me thinking about how the rules of Tinder apply to content marketers too. What do you think?

The Tinder Rules For Content Marketers

Tips on Writing Great Headlines in Advertising

Nobody can now dispute the fact that the success of advertisements lies mostly in writing great headlines. Ideally, the headline should grab the reader by the collar and make him want to read the rest of the advertisement. The headline should be simply catchy and various key points should be embedded when deciding on the headline for the ad.

Tips on Writing Great Headlines in Advertising!

Marketing Techniques That Really Work

As of this post’s writing, we have officially entered the second half of 2016. This means that it is time to start evaluating our current marketing strategies and figuring out what has been working and what hasn’t. It’s also time to start making adjustments and exploring new techniques. This is especially true if you haven’t updated your marketing plan in a while. Here are some of the marketing techniques you should be using and will definitely need to master for your next campaign.

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Pay-Per-Click

It’s true: pay-per-click advertising isn’t exactly new. It’s one of the pillars of online marketing. There’s a reason it hasn’t gone the way of keyword stuffing and blog ring building: it still works. Moreover, whatever Google does with its algorithm, pay-per-click allows you to make sure that your company will get a first page mention on the search engine. Additionally, as any PPC specialist will tell you: pay-per-click ads offer you immediate and easily trackable results. These are the easiest campaigns to adjust and optimize, so make sure that you set aside at least some of your marketing budget for this technique.

Remarketing

Remarketing has been around for a couple of years now but it is still considered new and innovative. Remarketing is a tool offered by Google and a couple of the other search engines. Essentially, remarketing allows you to take advantage of cookies and tracking for your own purposes so that, after a visitor leaves your company’s website, they will continue to see ads for your business around the web (any site that runs Google Ads is fair game). Opting into remarketing has proven itself to be a highly profitable marketing technique.

Using Tone In Your Marketing Content Starts Here

On a recent trip across the country, I piece-mealed my travel between a few airlines and I was struck by how different brands use tone across their content.  Tone gives products or brands a personality that people can relate to while simultaneously communicating the brand itself.

For example, T-Mobile’s irreverent tone enforces a rebellious brand and the company’s marketing further communicates through its copy, promotions, and graphics. All align to say, “T-Mobile is not like big cell phone carriers. We’re different. We’re rebels. Choose T-Mobile and say no to big mobile. Be a rebel like us.”

Southwest Airlines is another example of effective tone; from the billboards on the way to the airport, to the wheelchairs in the terminal, the king of the low-cost carriers has a clear tone that personifies an accessible brand takes care of traveler’s simplest needs. And if you fly with them often, you come to expect their cheeky statements and clever puns.

Using Tone In Your Marketing Content Starts Here

Bricks & Mortar Retailers: Survival of the Fittest [Infographic]

The rise in online sales has no doubt presented a big challenge for brick and mortar retailers. Retailers often see technology as being detrimental to their business, but what retailers need to realise is that they can use technology to their advantage.

Think of it this way. How often do you check reviews of products when you’re in-store on your phone? If you see that a product has good reviews you will likely buy the item immediately in-store. The average customer will not be willing to wait for a delivery unless there is a huge cost saving.  So in this instance, the retailer makes a sale thanks to the internet. Retailers should ensure that they have good wifi in stores, or they could miss out on the sale.

Another important factor is optimizing your web presence. 79% of Smartphone owners check information on local businesses on their devices, so it is important that retailers have all their important information easily accessible online.

As well as this, when a customer arrives in-store, there needs to be more on offer than just a place to buy goods, and retailers must focus on turning their store into a ‘hub’. This infographic from Store Traffic outlines why brick and mortar retailers need to use advances in technology to their advantage, because if they do not, they risk falling further behind the pack.

Taking a Page From Print Ads To Improve Your Website

Every few years, I re-read David Ogilvy’s, Ogilvy on Advertising. Each time I crack open the familiar binding, I find something to inspire me. Filled with practical advice that is as relevant now as it was when it was written almost 30 years ago, I recommend you picking it up for the first time, or rediscover it as I do.

As I recently re-read this classic, it struck me how his recipe for print advertising success sounds a lot like successful websites. I’m sure I’m not the first to make this connection, but I wanted to share with you these time-tested marketing techniques that sell your product or service, regardless of the medium.

Taking a Page From Print Ads To Improve Your Website

10 Ways To Improve Sales Through Effective Advertising

Closing sales is a crucial aspect of your business. Without it, you have no business. However, from a business perspective, the sales process actually starts with marketing.

Marketing can be defined as the business of generating good leads. However, savvy marketers do not rely on slick strategies, gimmicky tactics, or finding a perfect list broker to get a steady stream of targeted leads into a business funnel. Instead, they focus on things that have been proven to work for centuries: effective advertising.

Without marketing, there are no prospects, and without sales, there is no conversion of prospects into customers. So, think of good sales as a team sport where sales and marketing work together like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

With that in mind, here are 10 ways to generate more leads through advertising:

Leverage Local Marketing in Metropolitan Villages

People moving from the countryside into cities is nothing new but unlike past generations, we Millennials prefer to live in the very heart of the city.  This preference has led to a reduction in car ownership rates and an increase in small apartment living. Small businesses serving these growing metropolitan  villages can leverage local marketing to address the unique needs of this group. Here are some ideas for how to start.

Leverage Local Marketing in Metropolitan Villages

Mobile Marketing

People walking around an urban neighborhood are ripe for the mobile marketing picking. iBeacons in display windows can push messages to people walking by to entice them to grab a sweet treat from a bakery, to invite them to try on that dress during business hours, or to offer them free local delivery on their next copy order.

Six Ways To Get Your Company’s Name Out In Your Community

Even if you sell a fantastic product or service, people cannot buy it unless they have heard of it. This makes getting your name out to your community vital to your company’s growth and success. When you are ready to grow your business and see increased sales, try any or all of these six great ways to get your company’s name into the community.

Six Ways To Get Your Company's Name Out In Your Community

1. Advertise Locally

Television, newspaper or radio aren’t the only places you can advertise. Put ads on billboards, on bus stop benches and on grocery carts. Advertise on local restaurants’ paper menus and in local community newsletters. Put your company names on your vans, and advertise on your town’s website. You can even make new signs to put on your actual store, like the sings from New Style Signs, to help make your brick-and-mortar base more attractive to potential customers.

5 Reasons Why Tangible Advertising Is Still Effective

Many people believe they can market their companies via Internet only. While the Internet is a wonderful platform, tangible marketing efforts are still incredibly effective and necessary. Let’s discuss why tangible advertising is still so effective in today’s market.

1. It Reaches Everyone
Believe it or not, not everyone has constant access to the Internet. Whether it is for financial reasons, lack of knowledge or by choice, some people choose to be without the constant device in hand. However, most people do receive mail! Sending direct mail will ensure you reach even those who tend to stay offline.

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