Responsive Web Design vs. Mobile Apps – Which Is Right for Your Business?
You might have heard the phrase mobile first recently in regards to optimizing your business’ online presence. The idea behind this is that with people using their smartphones more and more, and sitting down at their computers less often, it is important that you think about how your business is seen on those mobile devices. Essentially, your mobile experience is one of the most important aspects of your digital marketing. However, even if you know that your business needs to adapt to...
Hitting A Moving Target with Text Communication
Texting – it is not a new technology, yet when many business owners are asked if they utilize text message marketing, many will laugh at the premise. Why? With people relying more and more on their mobile phones, doesn’t texting them seem like the ideal way to get their attention and deliver a powerful message in a world where advertising saturates our environment? In some examples, 95 out of 100 customers who have opted in to a text messaging program OPEN and READ mobile messages...
3 Reasons to Hire a Professional Video Production Team
If you’ve been thinking about shooting a video for your business, whether it is an ad, introduction video, or a related video for social media, there are many reasons hiring a professional video crew is in your best interest. Here are three of the reasons you should hire a professional video production company to help with your next video project: Save Yourself Time One of the biggest advantages of having a professional team handle your video production is saving yourself time, because...
Our #1 Tip For Getting the Most from Your Video Shoots
As a marketing-savvy business owner, you know that video marketing is no longer just a passing phase. Videos are being used to boost sales on landing pages, engage audiences on social media, and even educate buyers on your products or services. With video becoming so valuable to your business, it really is worth taking a look at how a video shoot could fit into your marketing budget. Whether it is a smaller shoot that will be used for a quick product demonstration or social media post, or a...
5 Basics to Shooting Great Video for Your Business
Videos are taking over. Videos are now in everything from emails, to landing pages, to social media channels, and even product descriptions on websites. These videos preset a unique way for businesses to stand out from the crowd and attract new customers. But how do you get started shooting video without making something that looks like a high school film project? Here are five basic tips for businesses looking to create and share profession-quality video: 1. Know What You’re Making...
3 Tips for Getting More Online Reviews
Whether it is a physical product, digital product or service, there are places on the Internet to review it. Those reviews can mean a lot for the companies selling those products and services. - 92% of consumers now read online reviews vs. 88% in 2014. That means that what people say about your product or service is having a bigger impact than ever before, and if you have little to no reviews, it’s very likely that you’re losing customers. - 44% of consumers say a review must be...
How to Respond to a Bad Online Review
Haters gunna hate… or at least that’s what they say. But when they start leaving negative reviews or comments on sites such as Facebook, Google, Twitter or Yelp, how do you respond? Stay Positive Even if you feel that the negative feedback is unwarranted, replying in a caring, thoughtful and constructive way can turn that negative into a positive experience and show that you’re a genuine business. People look for humanity in businesses, and responding to a negative review can...
Looking Back at 25 Years of Digital Change
Sales & Marketing Technologies SMT is proud to be celebrating our 25 th anniversary this year and in celebration, wanted to look back at all that has changed in the digital world since we started SMT in 1991. The Beginnings December 20, 1990, Tim Berners-Lee launched the world’s first website, which is still live today. In the following years, many more websites emerged offering users information with bare-bones usability and optimization. As the Internet began to grow with more and...
3 Tips for Improving Bounce Rate and Conversions
Most people or businesses that track their website’s success have probably heard about their website’s ‘bounce rate’. The bounce rate measures the percentage of visitors who clicked away from your website back to search or to another website after they first landed on a page. When you have a high bounce rate and customers ‘click and go’, search engines begin to look at your content’s quality as questionable and your rankings can suffer. So what can you...
How to Optimize for Mobile Marketing
Mobile marketing goes beyond having your landing pages the correct size for mobile or tablets. Consumers' behaviors and goals vary depending on which device a person is using at the time. Building a strategy specifically for mobile will help you get the most out of your mobile audience and bring you more leads. Here are some things to note when building a mobile marketing strategy: Mobile users are typically in research mode. Studies have found that mobile audiences are generally in a research...
5 Marketing Elements Every Business Needs
Every business, big or small, needs the same basic marketing elements to survive past year one. Beyond that, if these businesses are looking to grow, there are going to be even more steps in the marketing process. For now, we’re going to focus on the five basic marketing needs for any business. #1 A Marketing Plan Even small businesses can benefit from a solid marketing plan. From social media and content calendars to places they are going to be advertising offline, these actions and...
The Top Predicted Trends for Digital Marketing in 2015
2015 Online Marketing Trends 2014 has been a wild ride with Google updates, the realization you now have to pay to play for Facebook reach, and content creation becoming more important than ever. As we approach the end of 2014, let's take a look at what has gone on this year and what we can expect moving into 2015. Mobile-Optimization Importance Continues In 2014, responsive design became a priority for businesses as mobile traffic continued to steadily increase with the introduction of larger...
Designing Your Brand’s Logo
They’re the ultimate symbol for your brand and they’re anything but simple to design. Logos are often your first impression, and can ultimately lead to the decision to purchase from you. In a world full of logos, how do you make yours stand out? Know your brand When creating your logo, the most important aspect is ensuring it speaks to what your brand is about. Creating a list of words that embody your brand is a good place to start. Taking that a step further, you could also...
Pay-Per-Click Advertising Provides Instant Exposure
Over the years, Pay-Per-Click advertising PPC had developed a negative reputation. People claim it is too expensive, or generates little results. However, if used correctly, PPC advertising is a way for your company to get instant exposure to new clients and revenue opportunities. I have found it’s the mismanagement of the PPC campaign, rather than the product itself, that has led to poor reviews. When used properly, PPC advertising is a way to get your businesses name on the front of...
Does Experience Matter for Digital Marketing in Orlando?
Imagine a scenario in which you, or a loved one required heart surgery. After hearing the diagnosis, would you solicit two or three additional medical consultations? Once you elected to move forward with the surgery, how much time would you spend finding the right heart surgeon? I am sure you would evaluate how long the surgeon has been practicing medicine as well as look at his/her track record. In this scenario, experience matters. You want someone conducting the surgery who will put you in...
Time to Transition your Yellow Page Ads to Digital Marketing
Two weeks ago, a package of eight Yellow Page directories, bound together, appeared lying next to our mailboxes. I opened the package and took out one of the Yellow Pages. It was notably lighter than years past, a sign advertisers had begun to pull their ads. I wanted to conduct a social experiment, so I left the seven remaining Yellow Page directories by the mailboxes. Two weeks had passed and the seven Yellow Page directories remain slightly bound in plastic. The Yellow Page books, once...
Considering Writing a Newsletter for Your Company?
Have you ever sent out a newsletter for your company? A newsletter is an excellent way to get in contact with your past and present clients, and possibly up-sell products or services. But how do you write a newsletter that they will find interesting? Here are some things to check for in your next newsletter: • A Good Subject Line - if you do not include a good subject line, no one will want to open your newsletter. • Personality - it is important to show that your company is made...
How to Create an Infographic
You’ve heard it before - infographics are a great way to engage readers. They help make content more interesting, and they are easily used across your marketing platforms - not only on your website but also in social media marketing. How do you create an infographic? 1. Have a Goal First and foremost, you need to have a goal in mind for the infographic. That way, you will be more focused when deciding what information to include within it. You should also make sure that you know your...
Three Things Marketers can Learn from Media
A recent article in Mashable reviewed some tips and tricks of the trade that those in the media have learned this year that can easily be applied to marketing efforts as well. Here are three of the take-aways: Integration is the way of the future. In applications for a company’s marketing efforts, this means making sure that the marketing plan offers real time branding of your company’s message, and involves many different aspects of marketing – events, advertising, social...
What Are QR Codes?
QR Codes are two-dimensional barcodes. QR stands for Quick Response and were developed to contain more data and character types then current barcodes. QR Codes can contain up to 7,089 characters versus the 20 characters for traditional barcodes. The mobile adoption rate has fueled the use of QR Codes in recent years through the use if QR Code Readers. QR Codes are currently being used to connect to a web address, compose a text message, dial a telephone number, or prompt your email client with...