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    Category: Marketing Strategies

    Tips for using TikTok for business

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    TikTok has rapidly emerged as a powerhouse social media platform, captivating millions of users worldwide with its short-form videos and creative content. However, TikeTok mashups aren’t just for dancing challenges and viral trends, it’s an influential platform for businesses to engage with their target audience in unique ways. If you’ve considered leveraging TikTok for your business, here are some essential tips to help you succeed.

    Embrace authenticity

    TikTok thrives on authentic and genuine content. Avoid overly polished and promotional videos, and instead, focus on being relatable and human. Show behind-the-scenes moments, share user-generated content, and let your brand’s personality shine through. Authenticity is key to building a strong connection with TikTok users. 

    Understand Tiktok culture

    To effectively engage with TikTok’s user base, it’s crucial to understand the platform’s culture and trends. Spend time exploring popular hashtags, challenges, and content formats. Stay up to date with the latest trends and adapt them creatively to align with your brand. By participating in the TikTok culture, you can increase your visibility and resonate with the audience. 

    Tell compelling stories

    The storytelling potential on TikTok is immense with the ability to craft narratives that capture attention and evoke emotion. Consider using a series of videos to tell a story that leverages suspense, humour, or a surprise that keeps viewers engaged. Since an engaging storyline creates an emotional connection with your audience, it’s a great way to enhance the likelihood of them sharing your content.

    Utilize TikTok’s advertising features

    The TikTok platform offers various advertising features, such as in-feed ads, branded hashtag challenges, and brand takeovers. Explore these options to reach a broader audience and increase brand visibility. However, ensure your ads align seamlessly with the platform’s content style and capture the attention of users quickly. 

    Engage and interact 

    TikTok is all about engagement and community. Respond to comments, engage with user-generated content, and participate in trends and challenges. By interacting with your audience, you’re fostering a sense of connection and building brand loyalty. Be sure to encourage users to engage with your TikTok mashups and further your brand’s engagement by featuring your videos on their profiles. 

    TikTok provides a wealth of opportunities for businesses to connect with a vast and engaged audience. By embracing authenticity, utilizing advertising features, and so much more, you can harness the power of TikTok to elevate your brand and drive business growth.

    What TikTok mashups have you created for your business? Drop a comment below to share. 

    5 tips for increasing email conversion rates

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    Email marketing remains the reigning digital marketing champion when it comes to return on investment (ROI). Since professional businesses everywhere rely heavily on email to announce events, promotions, new product launches, and more, it’s a great resource for generating leads, traffic, and sales. That said, if you currently don’t send emails or your email conversion rate is low, this could be because your list needs more prospects and the delivery needs work. Keep reading for five tips on how to improve your email conversion rate. 

    Be personable

    Most consumers don’t have the time or the desire to read long emails. Even if they happen to open yours, if the design is bland and the information is impersonal, chances are they will delete it. This certainly doesn’t help your email conversion rates. An easy remedy for this is to make your emails sound more personable and not like a robot created them. Encourage replies, start a discussion, and allow them to reach back to you. Also, keep in mind that an email is not a brochure. It was designed for interpersonal communication, which is why you should do just that!

    Tell a story

    Those email conversion rates will see an uptick when you make further efforts to engage with your readers. This means that when they open the email, you could tell them a story. Storytelling is a powerful marketing technique because well-written narratives resonate with readers. If the first couple of sentences can grab your audience, they may likely stay to read the entire thing. Then, this offers an opportunity for you to add a call-to-action right at the end to strategically entice them to take advantage of what you’re offering. 

    Make it mobile-friendly

    With a vast amount of consumers using their smartphones as their primary devices, your emails must be compatible with these screens to ensure a high email conversion rate. Since no one likes to get an email that is hard to read, investing in mobile optimization will allow your potential customers to scroll through easily and read the details of your email without the need to zoom in.  

    Add links to all images

    While elements like buttons always possess links back to business websites, sometimes entrepreneurs forgot the power of images in their email conversion rates. Whether the consumer meant to click the image or not is irrelevant, the part to focus on here is that you want to make it easy for them to take action. 

    Get creative with your subject lines

    If no one opens your emails, how are you supposed to increase your email conversion rate? In our professional opinion, your subject line is the gateway to higher conversions through emails. So, be sure to take added time in crafting an interesting subject line to entice subscribers browsing through to take a shot at what you’re offering.

    Whether you’ve tried email marketing in the past with little to no results or you’re new to it entirely, it’s a digital strategy that’s worth investing in. Try out some of our tips from above and if you need added assistance, Trek Marketing is happy to help get you started with our monthly email marketing service!

    What elements are on your email checklist? Drop a comment below to share.

    5 ways how to build an email list with Instagram

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    Is your end-of-2022 resolution to grow your email list? Are you hoping to utilize your following on Instagram to increase email subscribers? In this blog, you’ll learn five ways to use this popular social media platform to generate email signups.

    How to build an email list using Instagram 

    Did you know that you can grow your email list with Instagram both organically and through paid ads? Instagram and Meta Business Suite have several tools for generating email subscriptions. Let’s walk through these options so that you can learn how to build an email list.

    • Direct link from bio: The easiest way to collect emails is to include a signup link within your Instagram bio. You will first need to create a website landing page with a subscription form that’s designed to collect email addresses from visitors. Then you can add the link to that page on your bio, making it easy for your followers to navigate there. How is this done? Scroll down to the links section and tap edit. Then, enter the URL. Consider also adding a call to action (CTA) to encourage profile visitors to tap the link.
    • Create an email sign-up lead form action button: Instagram rolled out a new feature that allows businesses to include a lead form on their profile. This form is displayed as a button under the business bio. To add a lead form action button to your profile tap the “edit profile” button and scroll down to the action buttons. Then, select add lead form from the list of available action buttons. Tap “done” and the button will be added instantly. 
    • Automate your DM responses: Did you know that email signups and lead forms aren’t the only way to collect contact information through Instagram? In fact, you can ensure that your DMs collect what you need. For those who receive lots of DMs, we recommend setting up an auto-reply to turn prospects into subscribers. This could easily start as a welcome message or a response to FAQs. Simply prompt users to provide email addresses and saved your responses to create a list. To set up saved replies, open your Instagram account and go to business settings. Select “saved replies” from the menu, tap the “+” button and create a response. 
    • Boost your organic content: Posts, reels, and stories possess the power to generate email signups, and this can be done by sponsoring content to help you attract more viewers. Promoting organic content can be done easily and quickly via the “boost” button on your Instagram account. Be sure to choose the goal based on how you want to collect new signups (i.e. directing them to your lead form).
    • Run engagement ads: Boosting content to an uninterested audience is far less effective than running paid promotions through a full-funnel campaign that educates potential customers and warms the audience up to your business. 

    So, how do you build an email list with Instagram? From engaging with potential subscribers to directing followers to your landing pages, there is a wide range of options for generating new email signups. 

    Which of the above ideas are you going to use to build up your strategy? Drop a comment below to share.

    7 useful tips for creating more festive holiday emails

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    A solid email marketing strategy is needed for any business to reach potential customers, especially amid the buzz of the holiday season. That said, since inboxes are jam-packed with a wide variety of emails this time of year, you need to stand out, especially for those on the hunt for last-minute gifts for their loved ones. Hopefully, this blog serves as inspiration, with useful tips on how you can create festive holiday emails. 

    Are you ready to get started?

    Here are a few strategic email marketing tips that will help you to gain traction this holiday season:

    • Brainstorm: Before investing time and money into holiday email campaigns, we recommend that you analyze anything that you completed this time last year. This allows you to see what performed well and if anything can be recycled and reused. 
    • Review your competition: When in doubt, it’s easy and takes little effort to see what competing businesses are doing. Simply sign up for their newsletters and await emails to your inbox. 
    • Spend time on the subject line: Opening rates are extremely dependent on how well a subject line grabs the attention of the audience. Since the context of each email varies greatly, as will the result in given situations. However, as a rule of thumb, you should stick to 50 characters, be mindful of spelling and grammar, utilize capitalization, and consider powerful language. 
    • Take advantage of the holidays: Even if you’re hosting a sale or announcing a new product, a simple holiday greeting is a great way for your email marketing strategy to show the receiver that you care. 
    • Don’t forget the call to action: As much as you don’t want to believe it, customers rely on you to tell them what to do. If you’re promoting an item of a sale, be sure to include a “buy now” button in a large, colourful way to catch their attention and let them know what you’re hoping for. 
    • Account for everything: If you’re showing a picture of an item or service in your email, ensure that it’s something that they can buy. There’s nothing worse than getting hyped up about something that isn’t even available. Also, on that note, it needs to be easy to access as well. Remember to link the items and if needed, create a holiday landing page to make finding things easier. 
    • Emphasize a deadline: Most promotions have an end date, so if you’re running a campaign this holiday season, be sure to mention that this amazing deal won’t last and that it’s only available until a certain date. Likewise, with shipping times varying, make a note in your emails that there is a deadline to receive an item by Christmas. 

    We hope that you’re now feeling inspired by your email marketing strategy and that you’re keen on creating holiday-friendly emails to better connect with your audience. If you need help getting organized or want a professional company to handle the details for you, we’re happy to chat and answer any further questions you may have about holiday email marketing.

    What promotion are you offering or planning to offer for the holiday season? Drop a comment below to share with our readers.

    Digital marketing tips for the holiday season

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    The holidays are quickly approaching, and the holiday season means big business for e-commerce companies. While big box stores are bound to get an influx in sales, the holiday season is also a great opportunity for small businesses to shine. Shoppers are always on the hunt for the best deals, the quickest and cheapest shipping, and unique products to give away as gifts. Since November is when people begin to explore and evaluate their options, it’s a great time to focus on your marketing plan. Here are some tips for the holiday season.

    Set SMART goals

    After you take the time to brainstorm some ideas, it’s time for you to set some business goals. Since goal setting is an important part of launching a successful marketing campaign, we recommend that you try using the SMART goals formula—an acronym that offers a framework to develop a path to success.

    What does SMART mean?

    • Specific: Focus on one area or task
    • Measurable: Assign a number or percentage to your task to measure progress
    • Attainable: Can you reasonably achieve your goal?
    • Relevant: Can you benefit from achieving this goal?
    • Time-sensitive: Can you create a deadline and ensure that you hold yourself accountable? 

    When creating goals, it’s important that you focus on one area at a time. For example, if you want to increase traffic this holiday season, you will want to invest in digital marketing services that directly correlate to an influx in traffic. Next, once you pick your goal, make sure it’s something that you can measure. You could say, “I want to increase my traffic by 10% over the holidays” which is something that you can track through Google Analytics. Not only do you want to ensure the said goal is measurable, but it also needs to be attainable. The holiday season has already started and for most people, ends by January 1. Is it attainable for you to increase traffic by 10%? Possibly 5% would be a better benchmark. With a specific, measurable, and attainable goal, you need to test its relevance. Will a 5% increase in traffic have a positive impact on your business? It absolutely will! Finally, you need to make sure that your goal is time-sensitive. Set your deadline. You have at least six weeks onwards to get the job done and keep yourself motivated.

    Be sure to define your target audience

    When speaking with a specific person, we naturally adjust what we say and how we say it. Your marketing should be the same. 

    Here are some questions to ask yourself when marketing to your target audience:

    • How well do you know your customers?
    • What makes them buy specifically from your business?
    • What are your customers thinking when they begin the holiday shopping journey?

    Knowing your audience is an essential part of creating marketing materials that will appeal to them. 

    Don’t forget to tell your story

    Customers join a retailer’s business journey at varied stages, so the holiday season is a great time to reintroduce yourself. 

    Your story could include:

    • How you got started
    • Your brand’s history
    • Customer success stories
    • Advice on products or services

    Hi, we’re Trek Marketing! We hope that all of the above holiday season digital marketing tips allow you to better connect with your audience in a successful and impactful way. 

    Which tip(s) have you added to your radar for the holiday season? Drop a comment below. 

    How to allocate your digital marketing budget

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    While there is no universal strategy for small business budget allocation, successful e-commerce companies will invest in a mix of both paid and organic initiatives. With a wide abundance of marketing channels available in various sectors of online advertising, it’s important to know where your money can be wisely spent to yield a higher return on investment (ROI) and which activities will strategically reach your target audience. In this blog, we will walk you through some steps that you should take when appropriating your marketing budget and offer tips on how to better budget yourself in the future. 

    Making the most of your digital marketing budget

    Whether this is the first digital marketing budget you’ve ever built or you’re looking to give your process a little refresher.

    Here are some steps that can help you to determine where the money should go:

    • Use a budget tracker: All businesses need to track their expenses and analyze where cuts can be made to further the profit. Likewise, your first step to allocating a budget for digital marketing for a small business is to prepare data into a report that shows proposed spend, actual spend, and the results of your spend for future planning.
    • Review goals: Your organization’s top priorities and initiatives are things to consider when budgeting for the next quarter. However, when reviewing these goals, you also need to factor in new product launches, deals, promotions, and event signups.  
    • Select the right sales channels: What works for one business or industry may not work for another, which is why outreach, demographics, behaviours, and intent are elements to consider when choosing the right sales channels. This will not only help you to avoid wasting money but also build up your buyer persona. 
    • Paid search: Online ad campaigns like Google Ads may use up much of your budget because of the cost-per-click but if you secure the right visitors to your website, the investment is well worth it.  
    • Paid social: Popular choices include Facebook ads, Instagram ads, and LinkedIn ads, which show up for potential customers on their social feeds. Depending on the dollar amount you spend, your chances of acquiring new customers can become heightened. 
    • Content marketing: Content is king and since it can typically be put online for little to no charge, the only cost associated with the content is the time that it takes to write. If you can do that yourself, great! But if you’re one of the many who need to rely on freelance writers to produce awesome business content, be sure to budget what you can afford and post as much as you can. 

    If you allocate your budget based on data, you’re setting yourself up to be successful. Since Trek Marketing works with digital marketing for small business, we have all the services and expertise you need for allocating your budget. 

    What other strategies do you consider when depending on your business budget? Drop a comment below to share.

    How to write social media content that engages with your target audience

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    There is a misconception that creating content is easy, and while that may be true for crafting a single post, generating continuous posts is a challenge for any brand. If your business is on the hunt for tips to create compelling social media engagement posts, you’ve come to the right place. As part of our many digital marketing services, we analyze the ongoing trends with various social media platforms to look for new ways to interact with customers and prioritize strategic methods of connecting with partnering brands. Are you ready to learn how to better engage with your target audience? 

    Use fewer words and more visuals

    As people who endlessly scroll through social media ourselves, we know how exhausting it can be to be hit with a wall of text. Not only do consumers lose interest but this may even extend further and discourage them from finding your content in the future. Our best suggestion to avoid this roadblock is by delivering a healthy dose of visual content s well. Videos are a fantastic and quick way to deliver your on-brand messages through social media engagement posts, plus they offer a way to get creative and speak with your audience.

    Stock photos are good but not great

    If video isn’t something you can commit to, start with some personalized photos and watch comments and likes rise. While stock images can be effective for social posting, the don’t perform quite as well as authentic images, and as a result, they’re bad for search engine optimization (SEO).

    Do you need help creating custom, unique social media images? Here are some tips we’ve crafted for readers like you: 

    Repurpose your site’s evergreen content

    Evergreen content is search-optimized content that is continually relevant. Since this content is already sustainable, it’s a great resource for repurposing. Take your best pieces and transform them into infographics, charts, graphs, and social media images. Not only is it great for showcasing but you have a high chance of it being shared on assorted social channels.

    Host some competitions 

    Whether you want to host seasonal sales or promotions based on increased following, social media competitions are a surefire way to grow your audience and gain tons of engagement. 

    Those who aren’t interested in re-inventing the wheel can try one of the following to get things moving:

    • Like, comment, and share campaigns: This allows you to gain as much attention as possible in the given time frame.
    • Tag a friend: This allows you to extend your reach to new audiences.
    • User-generated content: User create posts according to the parameters that you set and tag your business—allowing you to get awesome content that can be used promotionally later on.

    With creativity and effort, you can create engaging content that will drive traffic to your website and increase brand awareness.

    Which tip are you most keen on trying to increase the following for your social media engagement posts? Drop a comment below to let us know.

    3 ways to get the best return on investment for your company

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    Before you can work to improve your business return on investment you must first define what “return” means for you. This could include higher sales, increased revenue, bigger profits, reduced overhead or production costs, higher employee retention, better customer satisfaction, increased brand preference, or fewer government regulations. Once you select your “return” goals, you can work towards achieving them. However, for the purpose of this blog, we will discuss three ways to get the best return on investment for companies overall. 

    Increase revenue

    One way to increase your return on investment is by generating more sales. While the easiest way to achieve this could be to just raise your prices, this is not always the most beneficial. We recommend always looking at ways to improve your sales without affecting your current business practices. For example, you could increase your spending budget on advertising or host a sale. While this will cost money, the return could elate your profits, making an improved return on investment!

    Reduce costs

    Another way to improve your return on investment is to reduce your expenses. You won’t need to raise prices or increase your sales if you can reduce costs. Overhead and production costs vary between industries but there are ways for business owners cut these costs and get their best return on investment. For example, focus on reducing non-product costs like rent or having a work phone. If possible, you could focus on an online shop rather than a brick-and-mortar and have a responsive email instead of a work phone. On the other hand, you could focus on reducing production costs as well. Shop around and see if you can lower your cost of materials and labor. It may not be possible but it’s worth it. 

    Reevaluate your expectations

    Every investment doesn’t need to provide an immediate dollar benefit. In fact, many forms of digital marketing, such as search engine optimization or pay-per-click advertising, can take time to increase your sales. However, this shouldn’t stop you from considering these services. These types of marketing campaigns are not only valuable over time but they allow you to track insights like new customers, increased traffic, and increased awareness. Maybe it’s time that you re-evaluated your expectations. 

    Which ways do you plan to adjust to achieve the best return on investment? Drop a comment below to let us know.

    The customer buying journey explained

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    With the accessibility of the internet and vast amounts of information available, the modern shopper is now more informed than ever. Because of this transition, sales conversations are in the hands of the buyer. With no pushy salesperson to push the features of a particular product like it used to be, instead, online businesses must adapt to continue to target their audience on their path to purchase. This is known as the customer buying journey. 

    What’s the customer buying journey?

    The customer buying journey is everything that happens on their path to purchase. Since people don’t usually just wake up and decide to make purchases on a whim (this can happen!) the process in which they become aware of a product and/or service, consider and evaluate that product and/or service, and decide to purchase that product and/or service is known as the customer buying journey. Understanding the experience of the customer buying journey can help business owners to influence their digital marketing decisions and allocate their budget to a service that best reaches their consumer audience.

    What are the stages of the customer buying journey?

    There are three steps in the customer buying journey:

    1. Awareness: The buyer because aware of a problem or something that they need
    2. Consideration: The buyer defines their problem or their needs and considers options that might solve it/them
    3. Decision: The buyer evaluates and devices on the right provider to administer a solution—this includes elements like price, delivery time, reviews, etc.

    The awareness stage applied:

    The buyer is experiencing a problem with pain in their back and their goal would be to alleviate it. They may then decide to use online resources to understand and frame the problem. For example, “Why is my back hurting?”

    The consideration stage applied:

    The buyer has defined that their back pain is a problem and they are committed to researching and understanding all of the available approaches to solving their problem. For example, “How do you treat back pain when you sit at work?”

    The decision stage applied: 

    The buyer has decided on their solution strategy, method, or approach. Their goal now is to compile a list of available online vendors, and ultimately, make a final purchase decision. For example, “Is better chair support needed? Should I get a sit-stand desk? 

    How to tailor your sales process to better meet the customer buying journey

    With everything mentioned above, it remains important for sellers to know that buyers don’t wish to be pursued and simply want to rely on your knowledge when the time feels right. We recommend utilizing services like social media marketing and search engine optimization as a way to get noticed, display your knowledge, and await sales.

    Did you have any further questions about the customer buying journey? If so, drop them below for a prompt response.

    2 Halloween-inspired marketing ideas to boost your online sales

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    Since Halloween continues to be a popular annual tradition, your digital marketing efforts should mirror the same tricks and treats. Similar to the spending habits that are exhibited during the holiday season, customers enjoy shopping throughout the spooky season, even if it isn’t for terrifying props and knick-knacks. Even if your e-commerce business doesn’t sell products or services that are specific to the season, we recommend utilizing Halloween digital marketing ideas to get into the spirit and embellish your brand’s creativity. Here are some suggestions.

    Advertise a bone-chilling sale

    You don’t need to be selling costumes or candy to host a Halloween sale. In fact, all you need to do is organize a discount or special promo around October 31st and ensure that your advertising efforts are Halloween-inspired. That way your business gets a bit of the action. Be sure to change up your verbiage to align with the holiday as well. It’s not easy to stand out from the competition, but seasonal offers are a great way to try!

    Ex. “This Halloween Our Prices Are Being Slashed By 15%”

    It’s not easy to stand out from the competition, but seasonal offers are a great way to try! Be sure to offer some grim and dramatic explanations of your products and/or services as well.

    Give your website, emails, and social media posts a spooky look

    It’s important that you take every effort to boost your sales and conversions at given opportunities, which is why it’s time to gear up and make your Halloween digital marketing ideas come to life. 

    For starters, overhaul the design of your site’s homepage to include colors and images that embellish Halloween festivities. Even if you aren’t hosting a sale or some sort of promotion, decorating your website according to the season offers great incentives for business owners, as customers who love the look and feel of the website tend to purchase twice as much as they need due to satisfaction.

    Be sure to mirror these efforts in your e-newsletters and social media posts. Not only will this offer consistency across all of your business platforms but these services offer a huge outreach to your target audience, which will be happy you chose to do something spooky to celebrate the season. Since today’s customers prefer personalization, utilize your company’s email by luring clicks through creep-tastic antics. We also recommend decorating your social profiles to create strong messaging for Halloween and sprucing them up with visuals, GIFs, and videos. 

    *Note: The web development company that we work with offers an exciting design, development, and marketing asset package that includes a custom homepage design, newsletter image, and Facebook promo so that you can advertise your Halloween sale across all of your desired platforms. Learn more here.

    Which digital marketing effort will you be focusing your attention on this Halloween? Drop a comment below to share with our readers.