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Five Things Your Competitors Know About Authentic Online Marketing

authentic online marketing
authentic online marketing

Authentic: We hear this word often in business, not only when it comes to online marketing.

  • Build authentic relationships.
  • Create authentic marketing messages.
  • Send authentic letters or notes.

The reason we hear this word throughout all facets of our business is because authenticity stretches across every person in your company.

But how can brands show their audience that they are authentic without coming on too…inauthentic?

Let’s see what consumers think about authenticity and brands online.

  • 86% of consumers say authenticity is important when deciding what brands they like and support.
  • 81% of surveyed consumers said that they need to be able to trust the brand in order to buy from them.
  • 66% of consumers think transparency is one of the most attractive qualities in a brand.
  • 77% of consumers buy from brands who share the same values as they do.
  • 79% of people say that user generated content highly impacts their purchasing decisions.

These numbers are astounding. And for a business owner like yourself – they should impact how you position your brand online.

What Exactly is Authenticity?

Webster defines authentic as “not false or imitation: real, actual” – which sounds simple enough. But how do we translate this throughout your online marketing.

Here’s Five Things Your Competitors are Doing that You Should be Too!

Do you watch your competitors online marketing and wonder why yours is falling on flat ears? Keep reading.

1.      PEOPLE Are the Heartbeat of Their Business

online marketing employees

One of the best ways to build authentic marketing campaigns online is to show the backbone of your business, your employees.

Your employees not only serve your customers but they are the difference in a thriving business and one that well, isn’t thriving.

Likewise, consumers want to support businesses that care and support their employees. Pulling down the sheet to show the back-bone of your business and integrating your employees throughout your marketing messages builds authenticity online.

2.      Understand How to Serve Your Audience

Authentic online marketing stems from the understanding of your audience. Answer these questions before creating content online:

  • Who is your audience?
  • What do they like/dislike?
  • When they make purchased, what do they value the most?
  • When it comes to your brand, what means the most to them?

By identifying what matters to your audience your brand can build authentic, relevant content that inspires, educates and helps your audience.

3.      Humanize Your Tone of Voice

Do you know what drives a consumer mad online? Seeing the same generic, bot responses to any questions that are posted to their brand.

Allow your social media managers to craft responses that are both authentic and human. Not only does this humanize your brand on social media – it builds great customer service and leaves a lasting impression.

Automated, generic responses are one of the most inauthentic things your brand can do online.

4.      Consistent Content Creation & Publishing

Whether you content is on social media, YouTube, blog content or Podcasts – having consistency builds authenticity online.

Why?

The content your brand creates and publishes should serve your audience. But, if you go MIA for a few weeks, it leaves “some not-so-good tastes” in your consumer’s mouths.

Your audience follows you on these channels because they are interested in your brand. When you provide inconsistent content for them, it shows where your priorities are.

5.      Support Non-Profit Causes

Does your business support non-profit organizations? This is a great way to build authentic messaging and get your audience involved.

Consumers want to feel that they are doing good when they spend their money. Showing them how you support different causes and organizations is just one way they know your brand is one they want to support.

However, inviting them to support the organization with you builds a human connection with your audience that drives an authentic approach.

Cut Through the Noise

When it comes to cutting through the noise in today’s online marketing arena – be authentic. Transparent companies that are considerate, compassionate and honest with their consumers build authentic online marketing campaigns.

Brands that are authentic in everything that they do seeps into their marketing messages online.

About Backstage Digital

Backstage Digital is a digital marketing agency specializing in lead generation for their clients. We create custom digital marketing campaigns that generate results for our clients. More importantly, our clients have a 24/7 dashboard to review the ROI of all digital marketing campaigns. Contact us to learn more.

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7 Ways to Ignite Your Business with Digital Marketing

digital marketing ideas houston

7 Ways to Ignite Your Business with Digital Marketing

Digital marketing can sometimes feel overwhelming because there can be so many moving parts for your business. We are here to help! Below we have outlined 7 ways to use digital marketing to ignite your business.

1. Engage on Social Media Platforms as Your Business

Did you know that many forget about this important aspect of social media marketing? So many times, a business jumps on their Instagram page to make a post and then closes the platform until it is time for the next post.

Take a few minutes before you post your content to interact with individuals in your feed, find new prospects through searching hashtags and responding to any comments or DMs on your profile.

Not only will this help humanize your brand, Instagram loves it when you hang out on their platform vs. just hopping on to post and hopping off.

Sort your Instagram following to those you’ve least interacted with and make an effort to build a relationship through social media with those individuals!

2. Launch an Email List Building Strategy

Does building an email list seem overwhelming? It doesn’t have to be! Start small and continue to provide value to your audience, while creating actionable ways to build your email marketing list. Below are some ways to increase your subscribers:

  • Include options on your website to subscribe
  • Create social media posts to promote your emails, exclusive email content helps increase subscriptions
  • Launch a promotion or a giveaway for those who signup for your email
  • Attend tradeshow events to grow your audience
  • Launch Social Media Advertising Campaigns that build your email list

Building your email list should be a top priority for your business. It is essential to have subscribers who want your content and are interested in what you are saying. Things can change quickly on digital channels that you do not control.

3. Keep Fresh Content on Your Website

Built your website years ago and have just let it sit since then? Guess what, that is not helping your business much at all. Having a monthly website strategy can help you play into search engine algorithms while also keeping your audience up to date on new services, staff changes and more!

 

Not sure what content to add to your website? Consider launching a blog and strive to create one blog post a month!

4. Plan, Plan, Plan

We like to call this “putting pen to paper” and that is exactly what you should do. Take some time to brainstorm ways that you can leverage digital marketing channels that align with your business goals. Your plan should always start with goals, then outline exactly what steps you will take to meet those goals. 

If planning an entire year’s digital marketing efforts feels overwhelming, start with a quarterly plan, and begin executing.

5. Create a Marketing Funnel

Want to supercharge your business? Create a marketing funnel that continuously brings new prospects into your business. A funnel does the heavy lifting with automatic emails or SMS messages from those who opt-in to your offer.

Be sure to market your funnel across several different channels like Google Adwords, Social media ads and on your website!

6. Generate Lead Magnets

A lead magnet is something that you create and giveaway for free in exchange for contact information. This could be an e-book, checklist, webinar, etc. This type of lead magnet is great for building out your pipeline as well as increasing your email subscribers.

Keep your lead magnet hyper-targeted to your ideal audience for higher conversion rates of the right prospect.

7. Think Long-Term and Short-Term Marketing

Certain digital marketing channels (like Google Adwords and Facebook Advertising) are short term and your ROI typically happens quicker. Long-term digital marketing channels include SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and organic social media content.

Most short term channels include monetary investment, but the payoff is quicker for your business. These will definitely generate short-term successes but are just as important as your long-term strategies that help your business continue to grow. The ROI for long-term marketing channels is a bit longer, but the wait and effort are worth it!

Invest time and resources into a multi-channel marketing approach to build a lasting business.

Digital marketing can ignite your business but only if a strategic approach is taken. If you are looking for ways to take your business to the next level, let our team help!

About Backstage Digital

Backstage Digital is a digital marketing agency serving small and medium sized businesses across the US. We specialize in SEO, PPC, Social media marketing, social media advertising and data analytics. We serve as the marketing arm for our clients and build strategies that meet business goals. Contact us to learn more.

  • 832-948-5930
  • info@backstagedigitalagency.com
  • 8000 Research Forest Drive
    Suite 115-341
    The Woodlands, TX 77382

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5 Great Questions to Ask a Digital Marketing Agency Before You Hire Them

5 Great Questions to Ask a Digital Marketing Agency Before You Hire Them

Written By Brittni Castilaw

When it comes to hiring a digital marketing agency partner, there are several things to consider. If you’ve interviewed a potential agency, you probably have certain questions you’d like answered. We’ve outlined a few to add to your list to ensure you find the right fit for your business.

How Long Has Your Digital Marketing Agency Been in Business?

Learn more about the agency’s background by asking about their history. While there isn’t a magic number of years that gives you a hard yes/no during your interviewing process – what you’re looking for is expertise in the digital marketing field.

Even agencies that are newer have the potential to bolster your business. Use this question to learn about the expertise of those who will be working on your project and what they can bring to the table.

What Type of Clients Does Your Digital Marketing Agency Work With?

Most often, digital marketing agencies work with specific niches. It is important to understand if this partner has experience in your business area. This can give you assurance they will be able to meet the objectives of your campaign.

This question also opens the conversation to allow the agency partner to expand on what type of results they have garnered for businesses like yours.

How Quickly Can Our Project Get Started?

There is likely lead time for most digital marketing projects. This will depend heavily on what type of project (website, SEO, Social Media, Etc.), how quickly contracts are signed and access is given to the agency. Lead time could be 1-2 days or a couple of months.

Understanding the timeline helps keep everyone on the same page and under the same expectation. Digital marketing agencies work with several clients so understanding how your project aligns with their timeline is important when deciding.

Do you have any case studies?

We like to call it “the proof is in the pudding” – because that is exactly what this is. Ask them for previous work results. You want to see that they have delivered results for their clients in the past.

This will build trust between you and the digital agency partner which is essential prior to jumping into a business relationship.

How Often will I see Results?

If an agency does not provide any type of reporting, this should be a red flag. Having monthly reporting should be the minimum. What’s better is when a client offers technology that delivers 24/7 digital marketing reporting for their clients.

Backstage Digital’s client dashboard giving you 24/7 access to your digital marketing results.

Transparency in your digital marketing spend is a factor when seeing results. Having a digital marketing agency partner that delivers results and timely reporting is an important factor. Learn more about how to track ROI for your digital marketing efforts here.

Digital marketing agency partners provide valuable strategies, deliver impeccable results and can serve as a right hand to your business. Selecting the best fit is essential to having a successful partnership. Contact us to see if we can help propel your business forward with digital marketing solution.

About Backstage Digital

Backstage Digital is a full service digital marketing agency based out The Woodlands, TX serving clients across the US. Our goal is to be an extension of your business while delivering leads utilizing online marketing channels like social media marketing, SEO, paid advertising (Google Adwords, YouTube and Social Media Advertising) and Content Marketing. If you are interested in partnering with our team, fill out the form here and we can jump on a quick call to see if we should work together.

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The Importance of Keyword Research

keyword research

The hard truth about digital marketing is your audience doesn’t use the same keywords that you do to describe your products and services. Your business offers a solution to a problem and your website has to clearly communicate how your company can solve their problems. So where does keyword research come in?

Keyword research is important in attracting new prospects. Your clients start at Google to research, analyze and understand how to solve their problem. It could be anything from cleaning to dining to finding a local pediatrician. The things that people type into Google aren’t important – unless they are typing in keyword phrases that segment them into your target audience.

TIP: Use Google’s Free Keyword Tool to Conduct Keyword Research

Let’s say you are a local dermatologist. You might offer a range of services on your website to help your audience decide what they need from you. You might offer services to treat acne or eczema or even aesthetic services like Botox and dermal fillers.

But what do your prospects type in? They might not know what service they need, and rather search with intent, questions and reviews rather than a specific service. So think of phrases like the below:

“How to get rid of forehead wrinkles”

“Acne treatments for teenagers”

“Underarm sweating treatment”

Your website has to offer quality content that answers questions your audience is asking. And your prospects do not use the same words that you do to describe the services you offer.

Quality content isn’t one paragraph describing that topic, but rather, well-thought out content that answers questions for your visitors. When you think of Google as a business, it is easier to wrap your mind around how SEO ranking work.

Google’s job (from a search perspective) is to serve up the best results for a particular search query. They are extremely good at this job because they hold the market share in search engines (opposed to Bing or Duck Duck Go). Your job, as a business owner is to create the best content for your specific search keywords that move your pages up on search results.

TIP: Shoot for 300+ words on website pages that you are working to rank for a particular keyword phrase.

This is why keyword research is important, if you use the term “hyperhidrosis” across your site regarding your underarm sweating – your audience will likely never land on your site. Your competitor (who has likely done keyword research) will outrank you and get that traffic.

Keyword research is important to your SEO strategy, not because it’s just a step in the process. It drives warm leads straight to your site. When you do it right, you can attract people who are actually looking for your products and services, what more could you ask for?

If your website isn’t bringing in quality leads and serving as a hub for your entire business – it’s not doing its job.

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How to Spot Black Hat SEO

how to spot black hat seo

Here’s the deal. There is no easy, fast way to get your website to rank number one in Google search. If there was, everyone would be number one.

When a marketer or an agency promises a number one spot with a “secret method” – shake their hand and walk them out.

I’m still in awe of the amount of black-hat SEO tactics that are being promoted in today’s digital marketing arena. If you are looking to hire an SEO agency and don’t know exactly what to ask, or look for – these questions will help.

What goes into your SEO strategy for my website?

For this question, you want to hear the process of how they will deliver results. There are over 200 ranking factors that Google looks at. These include meta tags, back linking, social signals and content. Focusing on one of these isn’t going to be successful. Understand their process, what goes into the planning and more importantly, how they will execute.

How would you build links for my website?

Several business owners understand that link building, or backlinks, to your website is a good thing for SEO. While backlinks are an important factor, the type of links impact your rankings. If someone will “sell” 3,000 backlinks for $50 – it’s not a deal. Don’t buy into that.

The only way to obtain credible links is by offering quality content that provides value. Once you do this, you can promote those pieces of content in order to increase your backlinks.

How do you incorporate keywords throughout my site?

This is an important question. If they mention that the keywords will be hidden or tiny to give signals to search engines…RUN! This is the furthest thing that you need for your website. Keywords should be used in a normal manner, that is beneficial to the audience. Tagging pages on the backend, incorporating keywords and phrases in the copy are great ways to include your targeted keywords on a page.

I cannot stress enough that once SEO is done wrong, it’s extremely difficult (and expensive) to go forward. Google knows what they are doing and they can see all of the black hat tactics mentioned above. They will demote your website and could possibly remove your site from their index.

Don’t fall into empty promises. Remember that SEO is a marathon – strategic and small changes are what bring you over the finish line.