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    Tag: Brand Awareness

    3 steps to building successful digital marketing campaigns

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    A successful digital marketing campaign involves the execution of a marketing strategy across a variety of digital channels where a brand’s consumers engage. Dynamic and conversion-focused, digital marketing campaigns are time-consuming and involve efforts where data is exchanged through social media, email marketing, and the process of search engine optimization (SEO). If you’re unfamiliar with launching and managing a digital marketing campaign, stick to the following steps below to ensure that your approach is efficient!  

    Start by defining your goals 

    Every great venture begins with goals in mind, however, eagerness to see results might lead some businesses to launch digital marketing campaigns without planning. Since success can be measured by sales, traffic, and improved conversion rates, depending on the specifics of your business, you must consider what you’re hoping to achieve at that moment and long term. 

    Here are some examples of goals for digital marketing campaigns: 

    • Brand awareness: While there are several ways that one can measure brand awareness, word-of-mouth, following, and knowledge of said brand are a great start. Engagement and searches are two ways to message brand awareness as both of these actions signify consumers are on the hunt for your products and/or services. 
    • Social media following: A branch of brand awareness, when a business has a strong social media following, it shows that consumers are interested in your business. While it’s worth tracking followers, we recommend measuring the rate of increase, rather than the raw number. This is because many people unfollow pages as they lose interest, which could be related to the content you’re sharing.  
    • SEO: Search engine optimization (SEO) is a complex business process that relies on many factors to influence where your website appears when consumers are entering queries on search engines. One of these is the number of backlinks your website receives from other reputable sites.

    Know your target market

    While anyone and everyone have an opportunity to purchase from your e-commerce business, shoppers that have a use for or interest in your products and/or services are more likely to complete a transaction. This is why you need to use your resources wisely to ensure these types of customers can find your website. No matter your budget, crafting your marketing materials to appeal to the demographics of your business is an efficient way to build your online presence, versus simply throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. Begin by establishing who’s currently buying your products and how they reach your marketing and eventually branch out via digital marketing campaigns to the customers you hope to reach. 

    Define your persona

    An extension of the step above, a persona is the detailed description of your ideal customer. This includes knowing their age, possible occupations, wealth and class status, family situation, and other variables that will determine how likely they are to spend money. 

    While your target demographic is broad, your persona is more defined and detailed and often includes more information about their hobbies, interests, and/or personal lives. You might be thinking why is this information important for you to know? Well, it helps you to grow your business safely utilizing the current market but to expand your demographic by knowing more in-depth about the people that you want to be shopping with you. 

    Is there any other dynamic or traditional methods that you’ve used or plan to use to build up your digital marketing campaigns? 

    Social media marketing vs. brand community marketing

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    As much as today’s consumers seek individuality, they also have a very instinctual nature to want to find a sense of belonging with the purchases they make. This is why creating brand loyalists through online presence and word-of-mouth has become one of the largest growing forms of client retention. Naturally, social media platforms have tapped into this by offering people the chance to engage with their favorite brands and build upon these relationships by engaging with other like-minded shoppers. But have you ever heard of the term, “brand community marketing” and how it works alongside social media marketing? 

    What’s the difference between social media marketing and brand community marketing? 

    Social media marketing involves the utilization of an assortment of social platforms and websites to promote the sale of a product or service. Otherwise known as a form of e-marketing or digital marketing, the development of a social media marketing strategy helps business owners to connect with their online audience, build larger brand awareness, increase their conversion rates, and drive more traffic to their website. 

    On the other hand, a recent development in the realm of digital marketing is brand community marketing, which is when a community is formed based on attachment to a product or service. In fact, connecting to consumer behaviour is one of the most important elements of digital marketing, allowing there to be a communicative relationship between brand, individual identities, and culture. 

    How are they connected? 

    The arrival of the digital age has facilitated an opportunity for two-way conversations between brand and consumer, and while this online media landscape has expanded over the years, audiences are being swamped with information daily and it has become more complex to navigate. 

    Forging a strong, meaningful and long-last bond with the consumer lies within the brand community — those who have an affinity towards the brand after engaging with their product and now share a sense of purpose, passion, and values that are inspiring them to constantly seek connections through interactions both online and offline. 

    Starting a quickfire conversation about your brand can be challenging, but with community members recommending products and swapping stories, much of your social media marketing content can be showing off your community’s support and managing this emotion-building engagement rather than creating it all from scratch. After all, brand community marketing offers a wealth of insight that can be repurposed to boost customer appreciation of your brand and ensure that they keep coming back for more. 

    How do brand communities assist your social media marketing strategy?

    If a community thrives through the empowerment of your products or services, it means that you possess a great advantage to better target and connect with your audience. Consider the fact that most members that are showing their attitude towards a certain brand are likely digital natives who have grown up with access to the internet and social media available at their fingertips (ages 16 to 25). However, while this age group is likely the best demographic to set up within your brand community, retention focus can be achieved among other groups with the help of early access to price promotions, special offers, and sales, especially as more and more users venture within the realm of social media and online shopping. 

    So, if you’re an e-commerce business whose primary focus is to build up your brand loyalty rather than simply focusing on driving sales transactions, it’s time to transform your social media marketing strategy using the roots of brand community marketing! 

    Did you find the above topic to be a refreshing addition to our weekly submissions? Drop a comment below and let us know your thoughts and if you can think of a topic we haven’t addressed, include that as well!

    Aside from SMM, how else can you build brand awareness?

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    brand awareness

    When it comes to creating brand awareness, social media marketing is a powerful tool that many businesses use to utilize their influence. However, although various social media platforms possess vast advantages to reach a company’s target audience, when it comes to building a brand, the more you diversify your strategy, the quicker and more effectively you will be able to spread the world. That’s why in addition to SMM you may also want to consider the following effective brand building options.

    Blogging

    While blogging can take a long time to generate traction in terms of conversion rates, it has the ability to help spread brand awareness. Not only is blogging a free and easy tool to use but when it’s done right it can be an extremely powerful way to draw customers to your e-commerce website by educating the general public and creating a connection to potential buyers through the expression of your niche expertise. That being said, blog posts should follow a regular blogging schedule and discuss an array of subjects, such as upcoming promotions, how to use your products and other various industry discussions that are taking place on social media platforms or in the news. Blogging isn’t just a weekly journal, it’s a tool to establish a professional feel with your target audience.

    Email Marketing

    Email marketing is a marketing strategy that’s known for its intense ability to generate sales. After all, people are constantly checking their emails and if they receive an exciting, generous promotion, it may give them that little extra nudge to finish placing their aspired orders. That’s why you should offer an email subscription as a way to build up your brand awareness and as a reward to your loyal customers. Email marketing allows subscribers to receive sales, promotions and giveaways as well as establishes a strong, branded connection between the business and each individual customer.

    The Extras

    While social media marketing, blogging and email marketing are all insightful digital marketing tools there are a few other options that you can use to help assist with your brand awareness.

    • Enhancing your customer service: Customers are the beating heart of your business and although having quality products and good marketing is important, an active voice in dealing with questions and concerns will also help you to gain an enhanced brand reputation.
    • Knowing your target audience: Although you want anyone and everyone to buy your products or services, knowing the demographics, values and needs of the audience you’re targeting is essential if you’re going to be able to effectively build your brand. Reaching out to your target audience will create a “quality over quantity” approach to your digital marketing strategy.

    Are there other tactics that you’ve personally used to build the brand awareness of your company? Tell us in the comments section below.

    Starting off the year with a few hotel digital marketing tips

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    digital marketing for hotels

    Digital marketing for hotels is constantly evolving with the times. This ever-changing online landscape requires business owners and their marketing counterparts to constantly tweak their strategies in order to remain edgy and up-to-date within their niche. With an emergence in social media technologies it’s always important to have your eyes on new trends, but it’s even more essential to focus your energy on the marketing tools that will empower you to entice your target audience to click and share. Start by trying out these tips when it comes to developing digital marketing for hotels.

    Optimize your website

    It’s paramount to ensure that all of your content possesses strong SEO (search engine optimization) in order to engage with a far-reaching crowd — this will help your hotel appear organically in the search engines of potential customers. Start out by performing an online audit to ensure that you understand your current online marketing efforts. If you do not know how to do this, a professional digital marketing team can assist you by recommending designs and approaches that will increase your ROI (return on investment).  

    Ask yourself questions. Is your site easy to navigate? Does your copy have clear call-to-actions that assist potential guests through their booking journey? All these of pointers help you to fill your website with clear, concise and advantageous information that makes it not only invaluable to book on, but also a positive experience.

    Understand that hotel digital marketing is competitive

    Once you ensure that your website is up-to-speed in terms of design, development and content then you want to start setting achievable goals for yourself as a business owner. It’s meaningful to understand that you’re in a very competitive industry and although your website now performs great, will it compare to more recognizable hotel booking web pages?

    Know who your competitors are and visit their websites periodically in order to compare how they engage with guests. Use this as an opportunity to see where they may be failing to connect with them and try to find ideas on how you can outperform them in the future. Ask yourself, “how do our digital marketing efforts differ?” and try and adapt your strategy to its fullest potential.

    Use social media marketing

    The power of modern-day social media, especially when it comes to anything travel related, is a huge means for businesses to reach their target audiences. Hotels create a message, that message is shared on various social media channels, consumers receive the message, consumers relate to the message, consumers feel empowered to book and the customer lifecycle repeats itself. Just make sure that your social media interactions are delivered in a way that makes your customers feel valued in order to increase their awareness with your hotel brand.

    Other marketing methods

    Now that you understand the world of digital marketing for hotels, you can try these other tips as a means of promoting your business.

    • Embrace your specialization: What makes your business so special? Maybe it’s the location, the fact that it’s an older building or it is surrounded by breath-taking views?
    • Target your niche: Although you’re running a hotel, maybe there is a niche that you develop on to promote your digital marketing?
    • Reward customer loyalty: Perhaps once your guest has checked out, you can send them an email requesting a quick review of their stay. This gives them an opportunity to provide you with rewarding feedback and maybe, in turn, you can give them a special voucher to use during their next stay.

    As always, if you need help in the field of digital marketing for hotels, remember to reach out to an agency that will help you keep on top of the latest hotel trends and campaigns.

    How do you keep on top of your digital marketing? Tell us in the comments section below.

    A quick guide on how to conduct a competitive analysis on social media

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    competitive analysis

    Social media is the heart of modern communication. It gives business owners the power of outreach and the ability to spread beyond the simple means of selling at a community market or relying on the word-of-mouth of friends. Although the use of social media to gain product hype is not a new concept, the use of competitive analysis is still relatively contemporary. Using this tactic as part of your social media strategy is a crucial element that will help you shape your competition and understand how to market your product or service.

    What is competitive analysis?

    Competitive analysis is the evaluation of your competitors, the assessment of their strategies, the determination of their strengths and weaknesses and how it all compares to your business. In the context of social media, it’s looking at your competitor’s social accounts and better understanding the methods that they are using to create a social media landscape within your industry.

    How do you conduct a competitive analysis?

    In order to understand the scope of your competitor’s success on social media, you will first need to gather as much information as you can on them. Who are they following? How often are they posting? What kind of content are they posting? Which social accounts are they using? Once you’re able to answer these questions, gather the data together and compare between each competitor and your current social media strategy.

    How do you find out who you competitors are?

    For many businesses this is an easy answer, but for others you may need to do a bit of digging around. Just remember that Google is always a good tool to help answer your questions. By typing in keywords or phrases you will be able to see who ranks above you — BAM, your competition. Be very specific in your search efforts and also take into consideration that your competition may not be local.

    Another great method that will aid you in determining your competitors is to use your audience’s social following. Chances are they are following brands that are similar to yours and might be exceeding you when it comes to sales.

    Once you make a pool of potential competitors, narrow your list to a few of the strongest ones. From there you can start investigating.

    • What social networks are they on?
    • How big is there following?
    • How often do they post?
    • Are their followers engaged?
    • What are their strengths/weaknesses?
    • How are they a threat to you?
    • Where are your opportunities to grow?

    After you have gained some useful information on your competitors, your creative process will begin. Remember to be inspiring and not merely duplicating what your competition is already doing well. Also, it is best practice to look for a bold, unconventional and unique way to approach your future engagement. Stay organized and keep at it. Establishing a strong social media presence takes time and competitive analysis is only a single step in your journey.

    If you need a little motivation to get started, consult with a professional about your social media strategy and have them dedicate the time to complete a competitive analysis for you!  

    Did you find our tips helpful? Tell us in the comments section below.

    How do you build a successful brand?

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    brand awareness

    Creating brand awareness is one of the most important things you can do as an e-commerce business owner. Familiarity and accountability generate devoted customers and establish a relationship that will grow through proper marketing, word-of-mouth and organically as your company expands. Naturally, brand building is so much more than a fancy website, an eye pleasing logo and an assortment of advertising, it is about establishing a target audience and focusing on their needs.

    The first steps of brand building

    First and foremost, you need to determine who your target audience is. Although you want anyone and everyone to buy your products or services, selecting a more narrow-focused audience will allow you to target how you will reach them, tailor your messages and accommodate what they need. The key part is to be as specific as possible. For example, college students who enjoy the outdoors. You’ve narrowed your demographic to include educated people, between the ages of 18 to roughly 30, that enjoy spending time surrounded by nature. This will allow you to cater your marketing approach to appeal to them and perhaps even other consumers along the way.

    Create a mission statement

    When you’re aiming to create brand awareness, you’ll have to craft a clear statement that expresses what your company is passionate about. Once you establish your target audience, you will be able to form a message that intrigues them. For example, the brand Nike has a clear, distinct message to their demographic, “Our Mission is to Bring Inspiration and Innovation to Every Athlete* in the World”, with a footnote indicating, “*If You Have a Body, You are an Athlete.” Those are some pretty smart choice of words when it comes to brand building.

    Research, research, research

    It’s naive to think that your brand is the only unique one, especially in a world of endless competition. However, dedicated time to research what is already being done is really worthwhile. Study how your competitors have effectively built their brand and identify how you can use the same processes within your own company

    Hire professional help

    A quality marketing team or professional graphic designer will be your saving grace when it comes to building brand awareness. They will work with you to reach your target audience by resonating your message through social media, newsletters and blog posts, all while creating an innovative logo and an attractive website design.

    Do you have any other tips to help e-commerce businesses build their brand awareness? Let us know in the comments section below.

    Third-party software tools that help with social media marketing

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    third-party software tools

    Social media is one of the best methods of getting your message out into world. With a wide reach to your targeted audience, branding on social media networks is almost a necessity for any e-commerce business wanting to assert their knowledge in their field. Needless to say, social media marketing can be a little overwhelming if you don’t have access to the appropriate third-party software tools. Whether you want to have the ability to repurpose old content, engage with your audience regularly by means of a posting schedule or have more time to focus on your other business arrangements, third-party software tools have the ability to retain a social presence without dedicating an endless amount of time every day.

    Hootsuite

    If your business has a presence on multiple social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc.) then Hootsuite will make it simple to post, schedule and customize to each of your social feeds from one easy-to-use platform. You simply add all of your social accounts, craft a post in the post manager section and schedule that post for as far in advance as you need.

    Hubspot

    This third-party software tool is beneficial for tracking which posts and channels are driving your sales. Not only do you have the ability to post and schedule content to your social media, but you can also monitor your channels closer and track the data.

    TweetDeck

    If you are on a tighter budget due to e-commerce startup costs then TweetDeck is the perfect third-party software tool for you. Although it is only used to post to Twitter, the free, multi-columned layout makes it easy to follow conversations, retweets and future scheduled tweets all from one screen.

    Sprout Social

    Comparable to the more widely used third-party software Hootsuite, Sprout Social allows you to monitor your client’s social media mentions, engage with your brand advocates and schedule your future content.  

    Google Analytics

    Data can be gathered from your social media platforms by the use of Google Analytics. That gathered data has the ability to break down traffic and conversions in order to find out which social feeds are converting into sales and which ones need to be revamped.

    Content Calendars

    Although this suggestion for a third-party software tool does not require you to subscribe or purchase any complex software, it is recommended that e-commerce businesses create one in Google Docs or Microsoft Word. If you plan out your content in advance you have a distinct advantage that ensures you are present on your social media without needing to worry about coming up with unique ideas every day. This will give you more free time for other aspects of your business that require it.

    Have you used any of these third-party software tools for your e-commerce business? Tell us about your experience in the comments section below.

    Social Media: How do you optimize your social media?

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    social media optimization

    Social media should definitely be one of the focal components of your digital marketing plan. While it remains one of the easiest ways to reach potential and existing customers, it also has the potential to drive traffic from your social sites to your e-commerce web page. On the other hand, when you optimize your social platforms, you enable a strategic force that has the ability to drive your business to its full selling potential.

    What is social media optimization:

    When you use a number of social media networks to increase the awareness of your brand, product or service, you are optimizing your social media presence and therefore maximizing the reach you have to your target market. Instagram, Facebook and Twitter are usually the social media platforms that most businesses start off with to promote the growth of their company, but be sure to only focus on networks that will add value to your brand.

    Why is this so important? Well, by optimizing your social media, you have the power to increase your reach to potential customers and drive more traffic to your site.

    Steps to optimizing your social media profiles:

    With the opportunity to create and enhance your outreach using social media you will be able to grow your company’s online reputation, assert your voice within your niche and maintain a presence with your audience.

    • Optimize your strategy: Once you lay out a social media strategy for each social profile, you are then able to define any goals or objectives that match between them. A social media strategy should focus on growing your presence and establishing a voice for your brand with your given social networks.
    • Regularly check your keywords: Identifying phrases and topics that your audience may search for is the key to creating relevant content and optimizing your social accounts. Referencing applicable topics, hashtags and words will heighten your chance your reaching out to your target audience.
    • Optimize your social profiles: The social profile is the foundation behind any e-commerce-based company. Make sure to have a profile photo embellishing your company logo, a username that clearly states your company name and a bio section artfully filled out explaining what your company does using relevant industry keywords.
    • Optimize your content: Content is the driving force behind any social media marketing strategy. In order to successfully showcase your business, you will need a mix of created (made by you) content and curated (made by others) content. Quality always beats quantity, however, regularity (create a posting schedule) is ideal when you are trying to get yourself recognized.  

    Are there any other tips on how to optimize your social media that we haven’t mentioned? Tell us in the comments section below.

    Social Media: How to use LinkedIn for business

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    LinkedIn for business

    Although many business owners are drawn to using Facebook, Twitter or Instagram as key components of their social media strategy, companies are neglecting the power that LinkedIn has to spread the word. While it is one of the best networking tools that is used by people seeking jobs, it is also an excellent platform to advertise your business. Attracting talent, positioning your company as a thought leader in your niche and promoting your products and services are just a few of the basic networking strategies that are beneficial to business owners. Furthermore, here is how you can use LinkedIn for business.

    Create a LinkedIn company page

    By creating a custom LinkedIn company page, you open your business to a world of potential customers. A company page allows consumers to learn about your business, brand, products, services and job opportunities and it only requires a verified email address. Remember to edit your page to include a company description using keywords as well as describe the history and mission of your business. There will also be an option to fill in details such as location, company size and any specialties that you are known for. Be sure to use this platform to advertise your company logo. Sometimes pictures are easier to remember than names.

    Create a career page

    If you are seeking employees that have the skills and the means to fit into your company culture, then creating a career page is simply a must. This portion of your LinkedIn account allows you to tell a story which will help the talented job seekers measure how their goals meet your own. You are also able to upload photo galleries, company insights and videos to this section.

    Tips and tricks to using your LinkedIn page

    Now it’s time to start promoting LinkedIn for business. Creating a company and career page are just the sections that get your started but how do you build your business with these pages?

    • Get followers: Publishing content is absolutely pointless unless someone is seeing it on the other end. It’s important to gain a following so that you have an audience that is benefiting from your knowledge and expertise. Try not to be overly promotional and use this as an opportunity to connect with your audience.
    • Publish and share content: Make sure you publish regular and relevant content that your audiences find interesting and enticing.
    • Try to keep on schedule with a content calendar: Since publishing regularly is the key to social media success, sometimes setting up a content calendar, where you will post how and what is to be scheduled, is the best way to ensure you are using this platform to your advantage.
    • Use social media days to your advantage: Playing off of specific stat holidays or even social media only holidays are a good way to ensure that your content offers a nice mixture to your audience.
    • Track your results: The best way to know if what you are posting is engaging your audience is to track the past post in order to determine what is working and what is not.
    • Experiment with both photos and videos: LinkedIn offers users a video and photo feature within the mobile app, where you can post it directly to your timeline. This is a good opportunity for you to share behind the scenes content that you don’t offer on your other social media channels.

    Too busy to manage all your social media platforms? Allow the Trek team to take over some of the responsibility so, you don’t get too burnt out.

    How have you used LinkedIn for business? Tell us about it in the comments section below.

    Do brick and mortar businesses need a digital marketing strategy?

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    brick and mortar businesses to use digital marketing

    If you’re a retailer that prefers the more traditional selling approach that brick and mortar businesses have to offer, you may still find that you need a digital marketing strategy to get your business noticed. Although you offer your customers a more personable face-to-face interaction, when it comes to doing business, it is difficult to complete with your web-based counterparts. While ecommerce businesses make it their job to become noticed on the web in order to receive any sales at all, brick and mortar businesses can also leverage the benefits of digital marketing to their advantage

    What is a brick and mortar business?

    The term brick and mortar is used to describe a company that possesses a retail store, factory or warehouse for its operation. Your local bookstore or grocery shop is a perfect example of this. Brick and mortar businesses offer their consumers the opportunity to touch, try out and discuss any concerns they may have with an item prior to making any purchase. These types of businesses also provide consumers with an immediate form of gratification because they do not need to wait for the item to be shipped before they can enjoy it.

    Needless to say, even though a business is doing well in physical form that doesn’t mean that with a proper digital marketing plan it couldn’t be doing a whole lot better.

    Why does your brick and mortar business need a digital marketing strategy?

    With the rise of ecommerce businesses snatching up internet friendly consumers, it is important for brick and mortar businesses to use digital marketing to establish a strategy in order to remain technologically with the times. Many long-time retailers — Sears, Zellers and Kmart — have shut down dozens of store locations due to slow traffic and a decrease in sales.

    Whether your company is better suited as a brick and mortar business or you’re resisting the need to embrace e-commerce, you can have the best of both worlds with the proper digital marketing strategy.

    In order for brick and mortar businesses to use digital marketing to its fullest potential they will need to:

    • Build an online community: This will increase your customer base and allow you to offer your product to a much larger demographic.
    • Find your target audience: Unless you have found a location in a local neighbourhood where everyone uses your product, a digital marketing strategy will allow you to find an online audience that has an interest in the product or service that you are selling.
    • Engage with your consumers: Although it does not offer the same face-to-face personalization as the traditional brick and mortar business, digital marketing allows you to speak to customers online, comment on their reviews and troubleshoot any problems they are facing without them even needing to step foot in your store.

    If you need help getting started with your digital marketing strategy, consult our team of professionals to learn more about what we can do for your business.

    Do you prefer to shop in retail stores or online for your products? Tell us about it in the comments section below.