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Sales Renewal
onto Smart Small Business Marketing, by Sales Renewal |
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Does the world really need another metric to measure performance? Unfortunately, I think we do, as one of the biggest issues in marketing is a lack of agility. We need new metrics to help speed up our reaction times.
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Amazon's Jeff Bezos revealed Prime's membership numbers for the first time. What lessons can be learned about service offerings?
Sales Renewal's insight:
Say what you will about Amazon, its founder and its Prime program; we'd like to focus on two things regarding this latest story about the unconventional retailer that people love...and hate.
1. Bezos understands shoppers, and 2. Amazon understands how to productize services.
Prime proves that customers value service "extras," and are, in fact, willing to pay extra for them.
It also illustrates how Amazon is willing to try new tactics to see how they work (confident they can be fixed if need be).
Example: As Prime has expanded (and increased in price) in the past year, it's also gotten just a little bit cheeky, teasing non-Prime Amazon shoppers. Have you noticed?
Some items available on Amazon are available ONLY to Prime members, essentially carrot-and-stick marketing ploy. (Want that item, so nicely priced? You gotta go Prime!)
How it will play out, we don't know. But we'll be watching with interest - and we will continue to encourage our clients to think outside the box about how to productize their service offerings.
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Better reviews would have meant 13,000 more local leads for businesses in the study.
Sales Renewal's insight:
How many ways can we say it? Reviews matter. One not-so obvious example in this article: Businesses that responded more often to reviews also saw higher conversion rates on their paid-search performance.
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Multiple images will start appearing in Bing Product Ads by the end of April for advertisers that have added the image URLs to their feeds.
Sales Renewal's insight:
With multiple platforms continuously working to improve the online shopping experience, one constant is change. Another is the need for excellent images. Who''s managing your content?
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Lead Change is a leadership media destination with a unique editorial focus on driving change within organizations, teams, and individuals. Lead Change, a division of Weaving Influence, publishes twice monthly with SmartBrief. Today's post is by Mark Miller. What are the basics all team members want and need, regardless of their level of talent?
Sales Renewal's insight:
Marketing is vital to your company's financial position, immediate growth, and longterm success. Your employees are just as vital to all three! We're not HR experts, but we know happy employees make great spokespersons for their employers!
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Local Search is one important feature of a solid local marketing effort. But it's not the only one to consider. Small businesses shouldn't think small - trade shows, local search, and targeted marketing campaigns are all within reach. We encourage small businesses to think BIG!
Sales Renewal's insight:
Local Search is one important feature of a targeted marketing effort. But it's not the only one to consider. Small businesses shouldn't think small - trade shows, local search, and well-targeted marketing campaigns are all within reach of smart small businesses looking to grow. We encourage small businesses to think BIG!
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Contributor Brett Middleton explores the current challenges and opportunities facing this budding industry, given the differences in local, state and federal regulations across the US.
Sales Renewal's insight:
In a classic case of a product that's not ready to market it's time to get ready to market. In the heavily regulated, and still evolving, cannabis industry, there's still much for marketers to do.
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President Donald Trump could impose U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports as early as Thursday afternoon in Washington. His plan to do so has already rattled financial markets, as investors try to gauge the economic and geopolitical fallout. Trump himself has hinted the measures, initially billed as sweeping and severe, may be watered down for allies.
Sales Renewal's insight:
Understanding how new tariffs will affect your bottom line is your first order of business. Once the dust settles, you need to ask how the fallout may affect your customers, and how will you communicate any changes to them? Effective messaging is key to maintaining positive relationships with customers (and vendors) and that messaging is part of your larger marketing strategy. We encourage our clients to plan ahead (months, if possible - though in most cases, time is a luxury we don't have!). The goal is to make sure they are managing their customers' expectations and positioning their product and service offerings properly, so any price increases (or other negative changes - like more paperwork or longer lead times) can be considered in light of all they offer their customers. Thoughtful planning and Integrated marketing services help B2B and B2C organizations ensure that their overall messaging, service offerings and pricing strategies continue to satisfy both internal and external customers, even when there are potentially disruptive changes in the marketplace. Need help with your marketing strategies and messaging? Contact us to schedule a discussion about how we can help.
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Uber announced the launch of a new digital tool meant to book rides for patients who need assistance getting to and from their appointments.
Sales Renewal's insight:
Know thy market... Uber and Lyft have both recognized a need (Baby Boomers and many others who need reliable rides to doctor appointment) and have tailored their services to meet customer needs (care providers pay the transportation companies, and patients don't need smartphones to schedule the rides) but there are still plenty of operational details to manage (hello, HIPPA). What kind of new market opportunities exist for your business? Our Blueprint provides an in-depth analysis of your competitive position, marketing strategies, and online and offline presence. If you're considering introducing a new product or entering a new market, start with a good plan. Contact us to find out how a Blueprint can help you increase market share and revenue.
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No budget for professional product or corporate photography? Tips to get better business images now, before you can afford a professional photographer.
Sales Renewal's insight:
A little bit of patience, some lighting enhancements, a can of compressed air, and a plain white sheet of paper can make your products look a lot better - even when your budget calls for the DIY approach to photography.
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Don’t launch your email newsletter blindly–get a head start and learn from my successes, failures, and many experiments over the years.
Sales Renewal's insight:
Very solid advice for improving a trusted and true marketing tool: follow these tips and you, your business, and your email newsletter readers will thank you. Also, let's face it: there just aren't enough images of ostriches on the internet. Happy reading!
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Sometimes you need images of your employees at work- and a professional photographer isn't around (or in the budget). This tip sheet offers advice on getting good images of employees in your workplace, for use on your company website or in your marketing communications.
Sales Renewal's insight:
On your website, in social media, press releases, and myriad places, you can enhance your brand by showing your employees at work. Make sure you show their (and your) best side!
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Trust us -- it matters.
Sales Renewal's insight:
First impressions. Networking. Establishing trust in business relationships. Just in case you weren't feeling insecure this morning, here are lots of things to worry about regarding your head shot.
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Check this page for current job postings from Sales Renewal.
Sales Renewal's insight:
Here we grow again! Sales Renewal is hiring a Marketing Assistant. |
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Measuring conversions is critically important in digital marketing. Columnist and Googler Matt Lawson explains why sitewide tagging is crucial to making every conversion count.
Sales Renewal's insight:
If you manage your site in-house, make sure you understand how (or whether) your Landing Pages (and the rest of your site) are tagged.
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EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt reportedly thinks the seal looks like “a marijuana leaf.” This isn’t the first time the EPA’s iconography has irked politicians.
Sales Renewal's insight:
Branding or re-branding? Logo design can be a dicey business.
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"Next month, a comprehensive new data protection law goes into effect in the European Union, placing greater requirements on how companies like Facebook and Google handle users’ personal information. It also strengthens individuals’ rights to control the collection and use of their data. Last week, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, said his company would offer its users all over the world the same privacy controls required under the European law."
Sales Renewal's insight:
Nice, high level review of some of the general requirements and rights under the new European privacy law, called the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
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Google's New Mobile-First search ranking system may impact eCommerce sites with older templates or using mobile-only pages.
Sales Renewal's insight:
Having mobile specific pages is definitely not good enough anymore, and now, having a responsive design may not be enough, either.
As the article says, "The overall trend is clear. Google wants fast-moving, mobile friendly, and mobile content-rich pages. Follow these practices, and page rankings will improve."
It's hard to keep up with search ranking changes, but they are exactly what drives an improved web experience for everyone online. There's no end to the continuous improvement trend, either. Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) will be the next necessary step to keep your website at the top of the rankings.
Does your website need some work? Want to get ahead of the AMP curve? Contact us to discuss what to implement, how, and when.
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A consistent NAP (name, address, phone) is critical to your SEO and getting your business found online. Yext is a tool to manage your business listings on multiple directories.
Sales Renewal's insight:
Who's minding the store? In 2018, what you want to ask is, who's minding your reputation? Get found, and manage your reputation, the easy way. Power listings are just $75/month.
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This Houzz article explains to service professionals that high quality photos, compelling storytelling, and minding your reviews and your community are four key ingredients in effective branding.
Sales Renewal's insight:
Good advice and examples here for B2C service businesses. We whole-heartedly agree that consistently good images are necessary to enhance your brand. But many small businesses don't have budget for professional photography! If you need better business images but can't hire a professional right now, read our photography tips on how to get better pictures for your website, and all of your marketing material.
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WordPress claims slightly over 60 percent (up slightly from November 2015's number of 58.7 percent). The nearest competition? Joomla with 3.1 percent market share (up from 2.8 percent). Drupal is also up from 2.1 percent to 2.2 percent.
Sales Renewal's insight:
As we've been saying for a while, WordPress has won the war for website software dominance: it is the server software for 60+% of all web sites. It's worth pointing out though that that the data is skewed a bit because WordPress is often used by less popular, less sophisticated sites so it's dominance in the top 1000 or 10000 sites is likely far less.
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Following a slowdown in e-commerce sales over the holidays, Walmart today is readying a new strategy to attract online shoppers with an increased focus on..
Sales Renewal's insight:
Wal*Mart, Amazon and Target are busy providing retailers, brand managers and and analysts with much food for thought and new business partnerships to study. What lessons can small businesses learn from these industry giants?
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Do you know all the ways that online reviews impact your business? Explore the top 3 ways reviews can help your business reach more consumers.
Sales Renewal's insight:
Most people know how powerfully online reviews influence buying decisions. What many don't know: review sites differ tremendously in terms of how powerful they are. See our blog to learn how your reviews can work harder for you.
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You’ve found a product and created your online store. Now, what? Once you’re up and running, it’s time to start driving traffic to your store and closing sales. Whether you’re trying to make your first sale or you’ve been open for business for a while, it’s always good to find more ways to promote your products.
Sales Renewal's insight:
Of the many topics covered here, most have one thing in common: You need good images to promote your products and services! Read it and then, check our blog for recent posts on how to get better images of your products and your people at work.
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Sales Renewal's insight:
Stuck in a marketing rut? Maybe it's time for you to do something different. Happy Groundhog's Day!
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The early days of the federal government shutdown won’t slow the American economy much, but that could change if the impasse drags out.
Sales Renewal's insight:
Whether they're real, weather-related storms or storms created by political turbulence, temporary but significant events like the US Government shutdown can affect your business. The more managers are able to focus on their core business role, the better able they are to adjust as necessary to weather the storm. Or better, to take advantage of changing conditions! Do you see opportunity in this kind of news? Share your thoughts in the comments. |
We've been working on our own EvE metrics (stay tuned for the results!), and agree. It comes down to understanding where to put your efforts to get the best results.