Category: Online Marketing
Having a good marketing strategy is crucial to the success of any business. Nowadays, digital marketing is hands down the best way for businesses to thrive and attract more clients. Video marketing, on the other hand, seems to be an essential aspect of companies’ marketing techniques in recent years.
If you are looking for ways to improve your content efforts in 2018 you should give infographics a try!
If you haven’t already claimed your Google My Business listing (GMB), you should do so immediately. In doing so you can take advantage of a free tool from Google that will spread your brand and drive traffic to your website. Once you claim your business on Google, you will be able to take advantage of GMB posts.
Continue reading “Take Advantage of Google My Business Posts”
Google has good news for professionals. Google typically required business listings to have a physical address. Individuals working from a home office or servicing client’s at their location can now claim their listing. This is great news for non-profits, service groups, real estate agents, consultants, online marketers, online sales and individuals whom provide their services from a home office or at a clients home or location.
It is now possible for professionals and service providers to claim their Google My Business and take advantage of all the possible marketing options available.
There is more to growing your business than building a website or sharing content on your social media sites. Customers won’t just to come to you! You have to attract clients to your website by implementing a combination of steps. There is a process. If you are ignoring the process, your online marketing will not see the Return On Investment (ROI) you are hoping for.
You must have a digital marketing strategy to be successful with your marketing. It is essential that you have clear and measurable goals to direct your actions. Here are key components that must be a part of your plan.
This 2017, we witnessed how social media dominated the digital marketing industry with innovations of various platforms to accommodate the needs of marketers and advertisers. The changes and improvements in the last few years were dramatic and creative agencies and marketers had to radically reinvent their campaigns to keep up with the trends.
Continue reading “Marketing Trends That Will Dominate Social Media in 2018”
Google Analytics is a powerful tool that allows you to drill deep into every interaction the outside world has with your website. You can use it to discover who your visitors are and what they like doing, then adjust your site to optimize it’s performance. It may seem complicated at first, but with these tips and some practice, you’ll soon be a Google Analytics master.
Most website owners have no idea where to begin to discover ways to generate trouble-free traffic to their website. In fact, when first starting out, it might seem like a huge mystery and an impossible task to build a devoted audience because enough visitors aren’t finding your site.
Continue reading “3 Strategies That Guarantee Trouble-Free Website Traffic”
Think of your content marketing strategy as a hot fudge sundae. Your blog is the scoop of vanilla ice cream. It’s the foundation of the sundae — without it, you can’t make a sundae at all!
But all on its own, it doesn’t make for a very magnificent dessert. 47% of business to business (B2B) buyers consume 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a salesperson — making your blog essential for content marketing success. However, if you rely only on your blog, you limit who you engage with, creating huge missed opportunities.
Google offers a FREE tool that can help local business stand out. “Google My Business” (GMB) allows you to manage how your business information appears across Google, including Search and Maps. GMB is an online dashboard designed to streamline the management of business information across multiple Google properties. This marketing tool allows you to interact with customers new and old and tell them the story of your business.
Google reports that “businesses that verify their information with Google My Business are twice as likely to be considered reputable by consumers.”
Customer Retention Using Social Media is one way to jump-start your business to exciting new heights. It usually comes down to how well you use social media to increase brand loyalty.
Continue reading “7 Insanely Simple Ways To Increase Customer Retention Using Social Media”
Dear Marketers, get over Millennials and prepare your brand to speak to the Generation Z (Gen Zers). The new age consumers who are also known as Centennials or Post-Millennials are born after 1995.
Inbound marketing is a strategy where marketers attract prospects through delivery of relevant, interesting and helpful content, then convert those prospects into leads, and eventually close those leads into customers.
There are so many times when I hear companies say that social media does not work. They always say what a waste of time it was and how they did not get any conversions from their time spent scheduling to social media. They could not be more mistaken. Social media marketing works and it can lead to sales. However, this is only true if you understand how social media works and that behind every account, there is a person with their own goals, targets, and needs. If you focus your social media strategy around these three basics, you will begin to see an ROI from your social media scheduling.
Customer care is an integral part of every business’s success. Customer service is a way of building a better relationship with your customers, thus increasing the opportunities for a positive impact on sales and customer loyalty.
Does your blog struggle to keep readers interested and coming back for more? Are you looking for ways to be a little less boring? In this infographic MyTasker emphasize the importance of readability – keep words, sentences and paragraphs short and free of fluff.
What Are You Trying To Do?
Your brand can either be maintained in a proactive way which encourages forward growth, tread water, or be utterly ineffective. Which of these qualities best characterizes yours will depend on how you go about maintaining your business’s image in terms of marketing and outreach. Following are several surefire ways to destroy your brand’s reputation, and the strategies you can take to prevent that from happening.
Buyers and sellers are both on the hunt for gold. However, buyers know what they’re looking for. Best-in-class organizations know how to approach buyers early in their quest for the right solution. Are you helping buyers, or pushing them farther away? The following infographic with research from Forrester, CEB and IDC illustrates the reality of modern buyers and how to aid them.
Twitter is a powerful marketing tool for business. When it is used properly Twitter can spread your brand, build strong connections and generate leads. However, if you have limited followers, your business will not be able to benefit from everything this powerful platform has to offer.
It is more important than ever to optimize your on-site and off-site Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies for customers who may be searching for a local business. Local businesses that aren’t keeping up with the online world will soon be experiencing a drop in their customer base. No longer can you depend on newspaper ads, radio or television ads to create awareness for your brand.
Continue reading “Key Steps to Improve Your Website’s Local Search Ranking”
This article will provide the perfect recipe for your event’s social media marketing strategy.
Follow these steps for a successful online campaign!
Online reviews help us decide where/what to eat, to watch, to buy, to sell. They become an integral part of who we are as a consumers and business owners. This infographic shows how consumers read and use online review sites in numbers.
Video is fast becoming one of the most important marketing tools online. Below you will find some convincing stats on the importance of adding video into your online strategy.
Blogs, a nice name for written articles, are the marketing vehicle for the future. Check out these five reasons and find out why blogging should be a key component of your online marketing strategy.
Twitter is a great tool for marketing, but are you getting the most out of your profile? This infographic will teach you key ways to optimize your Twitter profile (both for individuals and for brands), best practices for tweet structure, and how to increase engagement. Check it out.
How do you find out how your new customers heard about your business? It is important to ask every first-time customer this question:
“How did you hear about our business/service/product?”
It sounds so simple, yet most of the businesses we talk to do not have a policy to ask this question, and simply don’t think of its importance. I hope that when you review the following information you will not only consider the value of the question, but the useful information the answers can provide.
Are you looking for more traffic to your blog? Wondering how your going to get the attention of readers? If you’re thinking “write a blog and they will come”, you might be in for a long wait! Read the inforgraphic below which will give you some ideas on what it takes to get noticed.
Twitter is the ideal social platform for Real Estate Professionals. It is the “must have” social channel to spread your brand locally. Therefore, for agents Twitter is a must!
Maximize your brand awareness with the following tips and recommendations.
Did you know you can share Instagram posts right from your Computer? It can be inconvenient to use your smartphone to post to your Instagram account. This is especially difficult for marketers who are managing other social media accounts. Many have to use their own personal smartphones to make it happen. If you are challenged with getting images to your smartphone, give these steps a try.
Facebook has recently announced that they are testing some Business Pages and allowing them to use videos as cover images. Any thoughts?
As an online and social media marketer, for almost a decade, I have seen more changes on Facebook Business Pages than on any other social media platform. I will admit that the majority of those changes have had me banging my head on my keyboard at times. However, I am excited about this change. (P.S. – Remind me that I said this in a couple of months!)
Continue reading “Is Your Business Ready for Facebook Page Cover Videos?”
Your target market can cover a wide age range. The wider the age range, the more you must know about marketing on social platforms. Each generation have different interests, so to get them involved in something, you have to show them something they’re interested in. This infographic shows how to market different generations.
Your business is crazy and you have identified that online marketing and social media management is a much bigger job then you or your internal staff can handle. You are contemplating looking outside your business for a social media manager or an online marketing company to take on the responsibility. Where do you find someone and how do you know if they are the best person for the job?
A mobile responsive website is a must for small business. It is no longer an option if you want to remain competitive in your industry. The world spends a majority of their time online now, and that is where your business must be. Remember, your competition is going through the same marketing transitions your business is. Don’t let them get ahead of you in the race for customers.
All the buzz online is about Blogging! As a business owner you have heard it, thought about it and then placed it on the back burner in your marketing strategy. It’s time you reconsider. Our clients often indicate that they KNOW they need a blog, but are not sure how to begin. Here are some tips and tools to help you get going with blogs.
Have a look at these Search Engine Optimization (SEO) predictions for 2017. As predicted, mobile optimization leads the way. If your website isn’t mobile you need to make those changes NOW. Google, still the search engine leader, has identified that a mobile site must load quickly and ensure a great user experience.
Video continues to be a factor and something that all business should include in their marketing plan. 93% of all online experiences begin with search. Make sure you’re ready!
A content marketing strategy is critical for implementing a successful online marketing campaign. A well-thought out plan can elevate your digital marketing and take your business to a new level. It is worth the time to develop and document your content strategy.
Don’t waste your time on Facebook Ads if you don’t have a strategy. So many businesses spend money on these adds with no clearly defined goals. You might as well just throw your money out the window of a speeding car. If you don’t have a clear plan you will see little results. Take some time to ask yourself a few questions before you begin!
5 Questions To Ask Before You Start A Facebook Ad Campaign
In this infographic, we are going to go through visual social Media and visual content marketing statistics you should know in 2017. Some of the interesting statistics about visual content marketing are following: 85% Facebook videos are watched without sound. 55% Marketers consider Facebook their major marketing platform. 74% Internet traffic will be represented from videos content at the end of 2017. Landing pages with video lead to 800% more conversions
Continue reading “Visual Content Marketing Statistics You Should Know In 2017”
Instagram can be a powerful social media platform for marketing your business. More and more companies are signing up for accounts and adding Instagram to their social media marketing campaigns.
Instagram is the perfect platform to show off great products and services. When used effectively it will help you connect with new customers and clients, build an online network, promote your other social media sites and best of all increase sales.
These Instagram tips will help you get off on the right foot with your marketing.
So, how do the successful bloggers reach a large audience and even make money from their blogs? What is it that they do that allows them to have a popular blog? The secret to their success is a strong brand. And branding is something you can learn to how to do. This infographic below guides you through the steps.
One of the biggest struggles for businesses and social media marketers today is how to manage the results of Facebook’s declining reach. Many companies, large and small, have had a crushing blow over the past several months as they’ve watched their content posts reach an all-time low. We have seen some abandon their Facebook Business pages and head to other social media platforms.
BUT WAIT… before you give up on your Facebook marketing consider this.
“Worldwide, there are over 1.79 billion monthly active Facebook users which is a 16 percent increase year over year. (Source: Facebook as of 11/02/16) What this means for you: In case you had any lingering doubts, statistically, Facebook is too big to ignore.” – Zephoria Digital Marketing
At cktechconnect inc. we use these effective strategies to successfully improve Facebook reach. Yes, it’s possible. We recommend you consider these ideas before you desert your Facebook Business page and leave it in the worldwide wasteland.
Videos are more effective as a communication medium than pictures or words. As a result, YouTube has become the prime platform for marketing products and services. Whether you want to expand your business locally or internationally, you can use this platform to create an effective marketing strategy.
Twitter is an effective marketing tool for both small and large business. Whether you are marketing to your local community, or hoping to make connections worldwide, Twitter is an effective platform to help you reach your target audience.
Many brands appear to be including Twitter in their arsenal of social media sites, but many remain struggling with how to use it correctly. Mastering your business marketing on Twitter in 2017 should be a priority in your online marketing approach. Continue reading “15 Twitter Tips You Can’t Ignore”
It’s the perfect time of year to examine your marketing methods. Certain online marketing patterns have emerged over the past year and there is nothing more energizing than putting together some fresh ideas to take advantage of what these strategies can offer your brand.
In spite of the fact that it can be difficult to incorporate new ideas into your marketing strategy, it is the perfect time to take your business to the next level in the digital world.
I have put together some Marketing-Must-Dos you should consider. Don’t feel you need to incorporate all of them at once. Take your time and evaluate which strategies best match your business, your time and your budget.
Just incorporating one of these suggestions into this year’s marketing can take your brand to the next level!
Instagram is a rapidly growing Social Media Platform. One that you may want to consider adding to your social marketing strategy. If it is something you are considering, you will want to review this Infographic and other resources below.
“How do I know what kind of content to post?” This is one of those most asked questions during our social media platform training and consultation sessions.
The business and professionals who are working hard ensuring they follow social platform etiquette are often challenged with coming up with content that their fans and followers will find engaging and informative.
However, when you understand what type of content people love, it becomes easier to discover and create posts.
Social Media Marketing is essential for every business, service and professional. Its importance in a content marketing strategy is key to the success of future business. Companies are rethinking their social marketing budgets and online campaigns in hopes to catch up with other business who took their social marketing serious several years ago.
One industry that has benefited from social media is tourism. As we move into 2017, marketers would be wise to note the Key Trends listed on this infographic.
We are often questioned about the value of Social Media Marketing by professionals and business owners. They all typically want an answer about whether there is any value in investing their time or money into including these strategies into their current marketing. What’s the Return on Investment (ROI)? When am I going to see a sale from social media marketing? If you have ever asked yourself these questions then you will want to continue to read and review the story of Campers Cove Campground. Continue reading “Social Media Marketing Works!”
Image quality is crucial on Facebook. Knowing which sizes are appropriate is always important on this ever-changing social platform. This Infographic is an easy cheat sheet to follow when you are reviewing the dimensions of the various types of posts on this platform.
If you are considering running Facebook Ads or promotional posts make sure you review the Post and Ad Dimensions that are crucial for your desktop and mobile ads marketing.
There is so much information online in respect to what does and doesn’t affect your websites search rankings. In this article we discuss the role that social media can play in your SEO efforts, as well as the importance of following Google recommendations when building a website.
The importance of your business being found online should not be underestimated. Typically, the information and advice you receive, on the best way to get your website to the top of the search, can be overwhelming. Unfortunately, we hear too often how big and small business have made choices about what methods to use for better Search Engine Optimization (SEO) with little understanding of the options available. These choices may have come with large costs and on many occasions little results.
Continue reading “How Social Media is the New SEO”
Twitter is a terrific marketing platform for any size business. This social site allows you to actively search and find followers that match your target audience. Whether you are providing service in a specific area, looking to make connections in your own industry or hoping to market your product worldwide, Twitter can work for you.
However, in saying that, Twitter also comes with several irritants, and unlike other social platforms, it is not Twitter itself but the users who have become the problem. I believe that a lot of this has to do with the lack of understanding on how to use Twitter as a marketing tool as well as business using old strategies on an ever-growing and changing social site. If you want to get the best from this platform, then it’s time to use it wisely.
Continue reading “4 Things To STOP Doing in Your Twitter Marketing!”
If you are using Facebook to market your product or business you have most likely found that there are many challenges in your attempts to reach customers and clients. I know how frustrating it can be to put time and effort into creating content that ends up with no reach or engagement. I have put together some information to help you organize your approach to marketing with Facebook. I hope it gives you some new ideas on how to grow your audience, and get your Facebook marketing on track.
Twitter Training is Essential For Business Marketing Success
I love Twitter as a marketing tool. It is a great social platform for making and building online connections. There isn’t one business, agency or association that can’t benefit from getting their brand actively using Twitter.
As an active Twitter marketer for over seven years, I have seen many companies, towns and products create accounts and then abandon them. There are many other accounts that are simply failing to use Twitter to its full potential. The sad truth is that business is losing out on the potential of this social platform for making connections with customers and clients.
Just because signing up for a Twitter account was free, certainly doesn’t mean that including it in your online marketing campaign will be easy. I believe the platform is abandoned before the account holder ever knows what it could have done for their business.
Continue reading “What You Should Learn In Twitter Training”
We are pumped and prepped for our upcoming presentation in Trinidad. Although we would love to be sitting with the crowd at the University of The West Indies, we will be virtually visiting with the use of today’s online technologies. Of course we can’t wait to talk Social Media Marketing and how you can effectively use it to market your business, product or service.
Continue reading “Taking Social Marketing to Trinidad & Tobago”
Thanks for watching!
Sandi Booth is the CEO, web developer, content strategist, graphic designer, social media manager and trainer at Cktechconnect Inc. located in Chatham-Kent, Ontario. Sandi’s creative style and dedication to clients has ensured that Cktechconnect has become the online marketing company it is today. Since its inception in 2009 Cktechconnect Inc. has helped dozens of business and associations with focused successful, dynamic multimedia marketing campaigns.
Great quotes from popular marketers and online marketing experts. Perfect for social marketing posts and Pinterest Pins!
Twenty Social Marketing Posts! – Every business owner attempting to use social platform marketing knows how difficult it can be to find great content for their posts. It can be very time consuming to come up with enough content to ensure your posts are consistent and engaging.
Remember, to be successful with your social marketing only 20 percent of your posts should be direct advertising or product related posts. What that means is, 80 percent of your content should be a variety of posts that your followers find entertaining, thought-provoking and informative.
Have a look at these twenty post ideas and see which ones work for your business.
Using social media platforms to market your business, organization or industry takes dedication and determination. The most efficient worker can be assigned your business marketing online and without a few key components will not likely be successful in their attempts. This is particularly true for small business and non-profits that attempt to manage their social marketing, as well as carry out their day-to-day roles.
Continue reading “Social Media Marketing Takes Staying Power”
Are your social platforms in limbo? Do you need some ideas to get them jump started? Review the seven C’s of successful social marketing and implement them on every occasion.
If you notice the “C’s” of Social Success list below, you will see that it doesn’t include: CRAM (your products down our throats) CRUD (sharing content that is visually poor and tastefully inappropriate) CONCEITED (all about you and/or your product/company).
So now is a great time to change things up and move your marketing to the next level. Use the suggestions below like a checklist. Consider them all.
Well, as the old saying goes, “a picture says a thousand words”. Here’s hoping that some businesses, agencies, professionals, read and consider my picture before they open their Twitter accounts again.
Here are a few of the recent testimonials from some of our clients. If you would like to talk to any of these clients directly, please let us know.
Cktechconnect Inc. is a small agency with large clients. Since our inception in 2009, our focus has been to help grow companies by creating successful, dynamic multimedia marketing campaigns. We deliver strategic marketing and branding solutions. When you are serious about taking your online marketing to the next level give us a call.
Adding an element of “Social” to your current online marketing is much easier than you think. You can simply follow the tips below to take the first step in becoming a more “social” business.
Continue reading “It’s Time to Add Social to Your Marketing!”
Did your business think that social marketing meant signing up for one or more of the top social platforms? Or did you really have a strategic plan in place at all for your online marketing? Oh…you don’t have to tell us, we can see. Unfortunately, an improperly used, static or abandoned social site gives us all the information we need to evaluate your attempts. The bad news for you is, your customers and clients see it too.
Continue reading “Are You Serious About Your Social Media Marketing?”
Does your business take your social marketing seriously?
Follow these five suggestions to get your social marketing headed in the right direction. Remember, marketing in today’s social world is about the customer, not about your various product lines or samples.
This is the symbol for a Hashtag #. Although Hashtags are used on other social platforms, they are a must for marketing on #Twitter. They were created by twitter to help users search, find and follow key words or topics. If you have a Twitter account and having been taking advantage of the power of the Hashtag then these tips should get you started.
