Siren Digital Marketing Blog

The Ultimate Guide to PPC Management

Tue, 01 Dec 2020 13:20:57 GMT

Nearly half of all businesses are using pay per click strategies to land more customers.

There's a lot of benefits to PPC ads and why it works when it comes to generating leads and bringing in more customers. PPC ads are perfect if you want more website traffic, which can help bring in more leads.

However, there's a lot that goes into PPC ads if a business wants to achieve the desired results. This is why PPC management is helpful. It can help businesses discover the right keywords, the intended audience, and better understand metrics.

Most of all, PPC management gives businesses more time to work on other parts of their business.

If you want to learn more about PPC management, this guide can provide insight into everything you need to know.

What Is PPC Management?

PPC management is exactly what it implies. It's when an outside marketing agency handles your PPC ads otherwise known as franchise marketing.

They understand what needs to go into a PPC management strategy that works for your business. A PPC specialized marketing agency will do all the research for you and make sure that you are producing leads immediately.

Here's a further breakdown of what goes into PPC management.

Keywords

A PPC management specialized marketing agency will make sure they understand what keywords your target market is using. These keywords can also benefit your SEO strategy.

For example, if you have a shoe business for men, they would use keywords specific to men's shoes. A marketing agency will find keywords with high search and low competition.

Keywords are critical when running PPC ads because they determine if your ads will be found. They determine how much you know about your target market.

This is why you need to make sure that whatever marketing agency you hire understands everything about your target market. They should understand what they are searching for and how to use keywords in the PPC ads.

Testing

Another part of PPC management is testing. You have to be testing variations of your PPC ads and optimize whichever one does the best.

The PPC specialized marketing agency should be split testing your ads and determining which one is the best. They should be seeing which ad is getting the most clicks or the best conversion rate.

When a marketing agency tests the landing pages and the ads, it helps them improve the quality of the ad. It helps them figure out how to write better ad copy or figure out what's more appealing to the target market.

Competitive Analysis

PPC management also includes competitive analysis. The marketing agency you hire will determine who your competitors are and how they are creating PPC ads. The goal is to figure out what they are doing differently.

Competitive analysis requires looking at their ads and their keywords. You want to find out how they are attracting consumers to their website.

What a Business Should Do Before Hiring a PPC Management Company

While you have an idea of what PPC management does and how it can give you more free time in your business, you still have work to do.

Before you hire a PPC management agency, you need to assess your goals. You have to figure out what you are trying to accomplish in your business with PPC ads.

Here are some goals to consider with PPC management that can help you figure out what campaign is best for achieving these goals.

Website Traffic & Brand Awareness

If you want more website traffic and more people to become aware of your brand , PPC ads can help you achieve that goal.

As a business, however, you have to decide if that's your highest priority when you are running PPC ads. You have to determine if website traffic and brand awareness is more important than conversions and leads.

With more website traffic and brand awareness, you'll discover that more people become familiar with your business story and how you can help them.

Higher Number of Conversions/Purchases

If you are selling products online, you can use PPC ads to drive consumers to a landing page and make a purchase.

With PPC management, a marketing agency can help with creating a stellar landing page and PPC ads that convert leads into paying customers.

If conversions or purchases is your goal, you need to make sure that is communicated to the team running your ads. You want the PPC management marketing agency to understand that you want sales immediately.

This can help them create campaigns optimized for conversions.

More Leads

Lastly, you can have a PPC ad goal of producing more leads. This allows you to put your leads through your sales funnel and warm them up.

It gives you an opportunity to show your leads what your business does for them. You can continue to nurture them on your brand until they become loyal, lifelong customers.

Overall, each goal can help your business. You have to figure out what you want in your business and what you want to accomplish. When you have a goal, you can start optimizing PPC ads until you start producing leads, sales, or website traffic at a higher rate.

Now You Know Everything About PPC Management

PPC management can help your business deliver more leads, more purchases, or more website traffic, which can help your brand. This kind of management gives your business more opportunity to focus on the product or whatever you want to do in your business.

In addition, PPC management is perfect when it comes to your budget because you are only paying whenever someone clicks on your ads. You also get faster results than if you only did organic traffic.

If you want help with running PPC ads, you can contact us here .

How Quality Web Design Benefits Your Business

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:34:48 GMT

It's no secret that the modern Digital Era has streamlined businesses more than ever before. Optimizing your brand's website design, then, can have more of an impact if you're willing to invest.

Consider what even the New York Times has reported about business in the year 2020. It suggests that Internet usage has skyrocketed around the world. If digital marketing wasn't a top priority for your business before COVID-19, it should be now.

That's why you'll find a complete guide below detailing the benefits of hiring web design services these days. If you want to stay competitive in your niche market, you'll focus all marketing efforts online.

Further, to truly engage with your online target audience, it's worthwhile to seek expert guidance. Keep reading to see why and how top-quality website design could benefit your business.

Professional Website Design Can Centralize All Digital Marketing

No matter what products or services your business sells, consumers will expect to find you online. In fact, there are specific target consumers most likely to do business with you. Depending on their buying habits, there are content marketing techniques best suited to engage them.

Without the right strategy, managing your business's digital marketing can seem like a juggling act. There are so many platforms to promote your business's brand. This includes everything from social media, to paid advertisements, to your website itself.

It's understandable to wonder about the best use of company resources for digital marketing. One way to streamline these efforts is to develop a well-integrated website. In essence, your website can become the foundation for all other digital marketing avenues.

Proper web design will help your business grow on every level of operations. Integrate social media marketing content so followers can find just what they need in a few clicks. Develop a strategic Google Ads campaign that leads back to your home page.

Only those experienced in integrations like these and more can help your website turn a profit. That's why it's so worthwhile to invest in customizable website design services available by reliable experts. Doing so will ensure your brand reaches as wide of a digital audience as possible.

An Easy-to-Use Website Is Essential to Sell Goods or Services

As a responsible business leader, your top priority is always the bottom line. You want to ensure you're making the most of company investments, even in web design. The question then becomes how to convert website visits to actual sales.

Part of strategic web design, then, ensures that online users have a positive overall experience. Some essential guidance you should remember is to ensure your website is easy to navigate . Online users, upon visiting, should find the exact information they need or product they're interested in after just a few clicks.

That also means the loading time of each of your web pages needs to be quick - almost instant. A slow-loading or tough-to-navigate website will turn potential buyers away.

Instead of taking that risk, hire a web design team skilled in building a website that users want to stick around on. That's how you can expect to turn a profit from digital E-commerce sales in time. A reliable and engaging website is key in developing long-term customer loyalty, too.

Don't Underestimate the Value of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Another way in which a team of experts can make your website more valuable is through SEO. You're familiar with popular search engines like Google and yahoo. When online users search for your business's products or services, are they directed to your site?

If not, it's worth the investment to hire SEO marketing services to ensure your business can be found online. They'll know what keywords and phrases will be most likely to draw potential consumers to you. One specific strategy, for example, is called local SEO , which is crucial for any home-based business.

Don't expect that adding keywords and phrases in a few places on your website will cut it, though. An in-depth SEO analysis can only be properly done by experienced web developers.

There are ways to incorporate SEO strategies in both your site's internal data and external content. Leave it to the experts to maximize the site's potential to attract and maintain the attention of online users looking for a brand like you.

Reliable Website Support Will Always Be Available

The last reason it's worthwhile to hire web design services is for the support available. If a hiccup occurs in your website's page loading, for instance, you don't have to troubleshoot alone. A proper website design service will have support staff on hand to assist you.

For one thing, this will allow your business to maintain digital operations on a reliable day-to-day basis. Don't let your website stay down for long when you're relying on it to make sales. Reach out to your website support team to get the issue resolved quickly.

In addition, though, this continued support system can ensure your website improves over time. A longstanding relationship with your website design team can build on your brand's reputation even more.

Hire the Most Reliable Web Design Services for Your Needs

In today's Digital Era, your company needs to do whatever it can to stand out online. Developing an authentic online following can make or break your long-term success after COVID-19. That's why you'll take the above guidance about web design services to heart.

In fact, that's where our team of website design and development experts can help. We help businesses like yours navigate the digital marketplace with profitable success. We also see the value of a customized solution to fit your unique consumer audience.

So, we would love for you to look through our website and available services at your convenience. On our blog, we've gathered the latest and most reliable trends in digital marketing. Browse through our article archives to see what marketing tips might be needed for your business.

First, take a look at the different industries we specialize in design websites. Then, enjoy a more connected and recognized brand in no time.

A Beginner's Guide to Local SEO: What Is It and Why Does It Matter?

Tue, 06 Oct 2020 14:08:28 GMT

Did you know that 46% of the daily searches in Google are of people searching for local content? About 72% of these consumers performing local searches end up visiting a business within their location. If you have not invested in local SEO, you're missing out on many opportunities.

A local SEO strategy is one of the best ways of targeting people who resonate with your business. Instead of competing with big international brands through the general organic listing, you can focus on local SEO for local prominence. You’ll compete favorably and have your brand visible to relevant markets.

If you're new to local SEO, our guide will shed more light. Keep reading to know what local SEO is and why it matters.

What Is Local SEO?

Local SEO is a branch of search engine optimization that focuses on a website's optimization for the site to rank on local search results. Its purpose is to attract customers within smaller areas like in a city or town. Businesses with a physical location often consider local SEO to drive traffic to their store within a specific area.

A local SEO strategy increases a company's visibility in the SERPs based on the local area and Google Maps. For you to rank, you need to consider relevance, prominence, and proximity. With time, your local SEO conversions will determine if your approach is bearing results.

How to Execute a Local SEO Strategy

The approaches you take with the typical SEO are almost similar to the local SEO strategy. However, the latter is localized for better targeting. Here are some of the local SEO tips to consider;

Google My Business Optimization

You should start your local search by optimizing your Google My Business. The tool is Google’s way of verifying the authenticity of your business.

Start by creating a Google My Business page and verify the account. You should then use Google Posts as you encourage customers to leave reviews. Ensure that you have specified the location at this point.

Localize Your Content

Content marketing is a game-changer to your business. However, you'll need to localize your business for you to attract a relevant local audience. General topics can attract a broader crowd that might not necessarily be relevant to what you're selling.

If you want to become a local authority within a specific industry, the content you share can make a significant impact. Use your content to promote the local industry, share news, and educational stuff. Your content should go beyond what you’re selling for you to appeal to your local audience.

Optimize Your Online Citations and Directories

Your citations need to be consistent across all the data aggregators. Conflicting information and misspellings can disfavor your local SEO. Google will not show your local business in search results if the details you have used are inconsistent.

You should also remove duplicate listings in the directory. With directories and citations, the accuracy of information is the best way to have your brand rank.

Your Website Should Have Location Pages

You can enjoy the key benefits of local SEO for your business by having location pages on your website. The location pages should include your business, phone number, address, store descriptions, working hours, and information relating to promotions and customers’ testimonials.

Optimize Your Headers, Title Tags, Meta Description and URL

With every new blog, you get an opportunity to target a specific audience in a given region. You'll increase your chances of being found when you optimize your content. Other than the content, you can optimize headers, title tags, meta descriptions, and URLs.

You should make these optimizations by having relevant keywords in each. Your content needs to be geo-targeted for it to reach the intended audience.

Benefits of Local Business SEO

Local SEO services are essential for any business. With the right SEO strategy, you’ll get desirable benefits for your company. Here are some of the reasons why local SEO matters;

Increased Web Presence

As it stands, more than 3.5 billion people are online. With local SEO, you’ll be sure to have a significant web presence in your target local market. You’ll be more visible, which is a favor to your brand.

High Conversion Rate

If you have invested in local SEO, your listing will be available when one makes the 'near me' searches or the queries mentioning a location. There are chances that people will call you if your products are what they are looking for. With contact details, you're likely to convert local searches into successful purchases.

More Reviews and Ratings

Local SEO encourages customers to review and rate businesses. The more reviews you have, the more your business appears reliable and trustworthy. Consequently, the search engine will push your business listing higher based on your ratings.

Enhance Your Business Reputation

Your local SEO strategy will help increase your vicinity. With the right treatment of customers, you'll be sure to have a business reputation that will increase your popularity in a given locality. Your business will grow to greater heights over time.

Retain Existing Customers and Attract New Ones

A business listing will probably give you more customers in the area that you operate. If you have great reviews, quality products, and amazing customer service, retaining and attracting customers shouldn’t be a problem. You'll have more people visiting your site and your physical store based on what they see when searching for the products or services you offer.

Local SEO Is an Indispensable Part of Digital Marketing

A local SEO strategy is essential for your business. With local SEO, you'll be marketing your services to the intended market. The benefits, which range from increased conversion to better competition, are undeniable.

Local SEO for a beginner can seem quite complicated. The strategies keep changing, and you'll need to know the tactics for the strategy to bear results. If you're not tech-savvy, it would be best to leave the work to SEO professionals.

Are you in need of any digital marketing solution? Siren Digital Marketing has services such as SEO, Google Ads, Paid Social, Website Design, Directory Listing, and Website Design. Contact us today for services that will take your business a notch higher.

5 Things That Impact Your Ad Copy

paul@sirendigital.co (Paul McIntosh) — Fri, 28 Aug 2020 12:31:46 GMT

The Top 5 Things That Impact Your Facebook Ad Copy

What separates a great Facebook ad from one that is simply mediocre?

There are five elements that impact your ad copy, including:

Audience targeting
Ad visuals
The actual offer
Ad placement location
Copy length

Many people obsess over copy length and visuals and forget about audience targeting. This is a mistake.

In fact, nearly 30% of the social media marketers we surveyed said that audience targeting has the most impact.

In this post, we’re going to share three tips to help you improve your ad targeting.

Know your audience inside and out

This almost seems too obvious to include, but many marketers forget this. Before you write any copy, you have to understand the audience you are writing for.

Khris Steven of Khrisdigital.com says, “Writing a highly converting Facebook Ads copy has to do with deep-diving into your niche and your audience’s mindset, goals and problems. When you know the niche well and basics of copywriting, you can generate ad copy with a great offer that gets great results. Then, keep it curiosity-based, conversational with multiple CTAs (Call-To-Actions) across the ad text.”

In addition, this means segmenting your audience.

Linda Musselwhite of Musselwhite Marketing adds, “Writing ads generically is easier, but exponentially less effective. Segmenting your audience by interests, pain points, age, gender, etc. takes a lot of work, but the results (when done correctly) speak for themselves.”

“While it may be tempting to write as if you're speaking to an entire audience, you should be writing to one person and one person alone,” says Jordania Nelson of Divining Point . “By directing your copy to someone part of your target audience, you're giving 100% of your attention to them, and the chances of them connecting to your ad are higher.”

Use the same language your customers use

Show that you understand your target audience by writing copy that uses the same language that they use. If you appear like one of them, it will resonate more.

“For writing high-converting Facebook ad copy, you need to talk with your audience's voice,” says Jonathan Aufray of Growth-Hackers . “You have to understand your audience in order to write the right message and use the right wording, so they feel that you're directly and personally talking to them.”

Here are a few tips to help you with this:

Survey your audience with open-ended questions.
Start conversations and ask lots of questions to your customers and prospects on email and social media
Talk to them on the phone. You can learn more in a 15-minute call than 3 hours of Internet research

Focus on their biggest pain point

Another way that you can improve your ad targeting is to empathize with them and show that you understand their biggest pain point or problem.

“Focus on the end user and talk TO them,” says Toni JV of JVT Media . “The biggest mistake beginner Facebook Ad marketers make is they go in and yell at the top of their lungs; ‘Hey, look at me! Look at my awesome product! Isn't my product just amazing?’

But no one cares about that.

Talk to your audience about something that they specifically really care about. You have to really dig down to something that they're struggling with, and then position yourself as the solution to that problem.”

Andrea Moxham of Horseshoe + co . adds, “Clearly call out your audience's biggest pain point to establish that immediate resonance. Drill down as detailed as you can get and focus on one pain point per ad variation.”

***

In sum, if you understand your audience, know what their biggest challenge is, and can write about how your product or service addresses that problem in everyday language, you’ll be miles ahead of most Facebook ad marketers .

For additional tips on writing high-converting Facebook ad copy, check out this post .

5 Essential Franchise Marketing Hacks That Will Change Your Business Game

Thu, 27 Aug 2020 20:16:24 GMT

With so many marketing tactics available, how do you pick the best one? You want each franchise location to stand out from the pack—without too much distance from the parent company, either.

You can market across multiple channels or use different strategies for your franchise marketing . Your business needs the best approach to stand out. Finding the best method is often a challenge.

You can combine different digital advertising strategies to tap into local markets, with the right knowledge. Read this guide for some essential tips.

1. Make Your Brand Voice Heard

An inconsistent brand can wreck your franchise marketing strategy. As part of a parent company, you should have a strong brand identity to rely on. That identity might also depend on your region or a niche customer base for word-of-mouth advertising .

Variety in your brand identity can help or hurt your digital advertising. If you miss the mark on local customers, your brand voice appears inconsistent. Even as part of a larger company, you should remain within your unique identity for emotional appeal.

When you share a brand voice, you need to represent your local market. It would be best if you also stayed within the overall branding of the parent company. Stepping too far outside of this can weaken your brand's voice.

To avoid making this franchise marketing mistake , consult your parent company's marketing team. They should be open to innovation, especially if you can present evidence for local impact. The important thing is to help customers recognize the brand voice of a franchise locally and beyond.

2. Market to Your Local Community

When you market to your followers, use your parent company's brand recognition. No matter how small your regional impact, you have a voice to use online. Your franchise marketing benefits from your use of this voice to communicate with followers.

Unlike small businesses, who often struggle with recognition and visibility, your SEO marketing can flourish. You have to take direct action to make this possible, though. Customer engagement is as essential digital advertising as it is in person.

Content marketing can grow your local following. With useful keyword research, you can use local SEO marketing. Your headlines and in-depth content should communicate how your brand benefits its particular region.

When you share your brand voice, you should use diverse and engaging content. Local branches should use videos and visual media that represent their local communities. Keep content relevant to local demographics.

3. Communicate With Your Followers

Your franchise marketing relies on recognition and consistency. It also depends on a solid line of communication with your followers. You can do this with unique marketing strategies tailored to your local demographic.

Explore customized email marketing campaigns. You can generate new templates and content based on local market insights.

Using local preferences supports the community. It shows your business cares about the local market. You can extend this to social media marketing , too.

Social media helps to corner in on local markets. With the recent growth in mobile searches , you can benefit from reaching consumers where they are.

Digital marketing on social media platforms allows you to retarget potential customers, too. Retargeting can integrate with any automated processes you have, such as PPC management.

4. Be the Best Host Around

Another way to hack your growth strategies for franchise marketing: be a pillar of the community (so to speak). Depending on your industry, your establishment can play host to virtual or live events. When you diversify your engagement, customers notice.

Creating live opportunities for customer engagement create organic leads, too. You can market the event on social media, using brand voice to garner attention. You can also incentivize digital traffic with registration for the event, too.

When customers register (either for free or a nominal fee), you can use this to market the event's exclusivity. This makes your location seem more desirable and may set it apart from the competition. It also provides a unique chance for the local marketing of a franchised brand.

Hosting events generates interest and free content. Record the event, live stream it, and follow up with attendees. Offer them unique discount codes or engage them by sharing their content online. When you do this, you connect with entirely new customers who follow your customers previously.

5. Work Within Your Comfort Zone

Although digital marketing helps market franchises well, you can not underestimate the importance of in-person interaction. Although you want digital interaction with customers, the biggest payoff in franchise marketing is people who visit physical stores. The goal is to direct visitors to your brick and mortar location(s).

When you market locally, you can virtually push customers into your store. Take advantage of the three-mile radius. This hyper-targeted marketing uses patterns in consumer behavior to advertise.

This distance represents the average area most customers will travel to reach a local business. Using location extensions for your Google My Business profile, you can market within this 'comfort zone.'

Where to Turn for Professional Franchise Marketing Support

You want your brand voice heard. You want earnest and direct communication with customers. You want the most influential franchise marketing strategy around.

With these essential hacks, you can begin to change your business. You might find this process daunting. That means it's time to consult a professional marketing agency.

At Siren Digital, we offer full-service digital marketing to help you grow online. We want to support your advertising efforts and grow your business. Connect with us today to strengthen your marketing efforts.

7 Things You Need to Know About Marketing on TikTok

Thu, 23 Jul 2020 00:43:33 GMT

One of the reasons people always come back to social media is because of the community .

People feel connected to a community of followers and friends. They feel connected to what their followers are doing on social media. They want to see the most recent pictures, videos, and posts about their friends.

That's why social media advertising is powerful. It's useful because people want to see what influencers are posting on social media. It's effective because people are always hanging out on social media, which makes it the perfect place to advertise on.

Marketing on TikTok is no different. It's about knowing your audience and figuring out what strategy works best.

Keep reading to learn you need to know about marketing on TikTok for you to be successful.

Know Your Audience

Before you market on TikTok, you need to know what strategy will be most effective. But you also need to know who you're targeting.

You need to know your audience when it comes to their interest and their problems. Knowing these areas of your audience, including demographic, age, and gender, is also critically important.

The more you know about your audience, the more likely they are to engage with your advertisement. The more likely they are to watch the TikTok videos and listen to what influencers are saying.

With the TikTok app, you should know that it caters to younger generations, especially Gen-Z and Millenials .

When you know the people predominantly on the TikTok app, it can help you create a campaign around a specific audience. It helps you figure out what audience is resonating with your advertisements.

You also have a better understanding of the age group and have a sense of why younger generations are hanging out on TikTok.

Know What Strategy Works Best

After you figure out your audience, you should consider the best marketing strategies on TikTok.

A lot of the strategies revolve around influencers and how they get followers to your business and to action. With various methods, they can influence people to buy from your business.

By collaborating with an influencer, you can implement effective campaigns to help your business.

TikTok Dances

One of the most popular types of videos is the TikTok dances. These are often dances with one or more people.

You can have a hashtag at the bottom tagging a business or doing it in support of something.

The dances are a great way to have people join together in support of a business or sending a positive message. You can also have an influencer start a chain of dances that highlight apparel.

All influencers have to do is have a song played and dance to it. By doing this, it allows people to follow the same routine.

TikTok Competition

One of the most viral ways to get people to engage with influencers and with your brand is to do competitions or challenges.

A TikTok challenge encourages other people to do the same dance move. With in-brand hashtags challenges, people can tag the dances they do.

In-Feed Ads

Aside from hiring an influencer to market your brand, you can also create TikTok in-feed ads. Similar to Facebook and Instagram ads, in-feed ads on TikTok appear on the feed of a user.

These are ads are a great way to increase visibility. While a challenge gets people to engage with your brand, an ad offers visibility in what action people can do.

They can tap on the ad and immediately be on the product page of your site.

Brand Takeover

You should consider a brand takeover marketing strategy on TikTok.

It allows you to create an ad that appears as soon as someone opens the TikTok app. It's instant visibility, and someone can click on the ad right away or go to the TikTok feed.

It's a great way to show your brand and what you're offering as soon as users open the TikTok app.

You can check out how we spread brand awareness on TikTok by visiting our website .

Test Test Test

Lastly, you should test to see which of these advertisements will work best for your business.

You may have to test variations of your audience and see which one performs the best when you do in-feed and brand ads. You should also test different strategies that were discussed in this article.

While a TikTok influencer can help, there are also other effective ways to promote your brand. You have to figure out how much you want to spend on an influencer or on TikTok ads.

Ultimately, testing marketing campaigns is the best way to produce the best results. You can figure out what the audience resonates with different offers.

It's very important that you monitor your TikTok ad campaign so you know what changes to make. You can change your ad campaigns every couple of days to optimize performance.

Why You Should Be Marketing on TikTok

You should consider marketing on TikTok because you are connecting with a younger generation of users. You are also figuring out how to connect with these users and how they engage in TikTok.

While nothing is a sure success, you should always test variations of the ad and how to market on TikTok. It can help you figure out the best way for people to connect with your brand.

If you have more questions about how to market on TikTok or need help developing a strategy, you can contact us here .

5 Franchise Marketing Mistakes to Avoid for Small Businesses

Fri, 26 Jun 2020 12:18:58 GMT

Are you looking to gain traction in the community with your franchise company? If so, then it's all about learning where to get started.

But what's just as important is learning where not to get started. Many franchises make common marketing mistakes that lead to a huge setback down the line. Knowing what those mistakes are will help you avoid the same fate.

See below for several franchise marketing mistakes that you should actively avoid as a business owner. Make sure your local marketing strategy is void of any of these tactics so that you can zero-in on pushing your brand the right way.

1. Only Using Your Franchise's Budget

Sure, running a franchise is a lot like running your very own business. However, at the end of the day, there are certain advantages of having a parent company (corporate) involved.

One of the most apparent benefits is being able to use their connections and funding for your franchise's marketing endeavors. Far too many franchises make the mistake of digging too far into their own pockets to pay for their marketing needs.

However, the chances are that your parent company has budgeted money for marketing their franchise around the nation. They want to help you push their brand out into your community.

Be sure to give your budget some relief by inquiring about corporate's budget for such ventures. See how much they're willing to help you with and make a decision from there.

2. Going Too Far Away From the Brand

Starting a franchise means gaining access to a nation-wide level of exposure for the business that you run. It allows you to hit the ground running as soon as you open your doors.

Customers are already familiar with the parent company and what they can expect when they walk in the door. Heck, they might already be loyal customers to the company of the franchise you're running.

It'd be a mistake to cover up that brand power by deviating too far away from it. Some franchises make the mistake of using different logos, names, and colors to separate themselves from the parent company.

In so doing, they lose a lot of marketing momentum. If you stray too far away, customers won't recognize the company anymore and will be hesitant to step inside your doors.

Use the company's reputation to your advantage. Use it to get you started, then establish your franchise as a staple within your local community.

3. Relying Too Much on the Parent Company

Just as many franchisees make the mistake of not using enough of the parent company's marketing, other franchises fall victim to depending too much on it.

Make no mistake about it, while your franchise might have to company name attached, you still need to establish your own variation of the brand. There's still a crying need for franchise marketing services to help you grow your business.

No two markets are created equal. Not every community will cling to the broad marketing tactics that your parent company gives you. For that reason, you need to compile a local marketing strategy that will create action among your target audience.

One of the most helpful tactics is to look at what marketing initiatives the parent company already has for you to use, then connect the dots with other marketing tactics of your own.

4. Not Paying Attention to Online Reviews

Online reviews are the lifeblood of any marketing strategy, especially at the local level.

They're feedback and reviews from other customers within your target market, and your franchise's prospects will take them to heart.

Whether you knew it or not, there's an actionable step that you can take to help your brand, regardless of whether the reviews are positive or negative: respond.

Taking the time to respond to online reviews is a lost art in the local marketing industry. The fact that you keep an open ear to what they have to say won't go unnoticed by them.

If their review was negative, they might consider giving you a second try. If their review was positive, it will continue to build their customer loyalty with your brand. Be sure to take a few days each week to respond to the reviews online.

5. Inconsistent Marketing

This isn't just a mistake that franchisees make; it's a marketing mistake that all companies make from time to time. If a tactic doesn't show measurable results, then the company will change course too quickly.

Take the time to sit down with you and the rest of your management team. Devise a marketing plan that handles all different aspects such as print collateral, PPC ads, social media pages, etc. They all have their place in your marketing plan.

Since you've taken the time to carefully think through which avenues to pursue, you'll have the confidence to stick with it for the long haul.

Just make sure that your local marketing tactics line up with the marketing initiatives that your parent company has. Otherwise, it might confuse your clientele and veer them away from your franchise.

Avoid These Franchise Marketing Mistakes as Much as Possible

If you've already made one or two of the franchise marketing mistakes on this list, don't beat yourself up. It's all about learning from the mistakes you make and how you can better your local marketing plan because of it!

Be sure to read this article for the main benefits of SEO and local SEO for franchisees to learn more about the perks of passive marketing.

For more inquiries, please feel free to reach out via our contact us page and we'll be happy to assist you further!

Why You Need Franchising Marketing Services (Now!)

Mon, 01 Jun 2020 12:21:56 GMT

As of 2020, franchised businesses in the United States account for more than 733,000 establishments . Franchises support roughly 7.6 million direct jobs. That makes the franchise sector one of the most important components of the country's economy.

The franchising industry has been around for almost two centuries. Presently, few sectors are experiencing the exponential growth that franchising is. But why are so many investors opting for franchises instead of independent businesses?

Well, the vast majority of independent businesses fail to make their mark in the market. Franchise outlets offer a much safer alternative. For instance, franchisors helping franchisees in franchising marketing.

As you probably already know, effective marketing is one of the top determinants of a business's long-term success.

But what exactly is franchising? Why is franchising marketing important? Should you hire an expert franchising marketing services agency when marketing your franchise?

These are some of the issues we cover in this comprehensive guide. Read on to learn more.

What Is Franchising?

Before explaining what franchising is, it's helpful to first look at franchise definition. A franchise refers to a business that's owned by an individual but branded and overseen by a larger company. The owner of the outlet is known as a franchisee, while the larger company is referred to as a franchisor.

So, what is franchising? Simply put, it's an arrangement where a franchisor licenses certain rights to a franchisee to sell their products, or services. The franchisee uses the franchisor's brand name and trademark.

The franchising marketing system creates an image of how a company's services or products can meet customers' needs. As a business strategy, franchising is effective in capturing market share. Franchising allows the businesses in its network to share:

Brand identification
A successful marketing and distribution system
A proven method of doing business

Ultimately, the aim of franchising is to dominate the market by getting and keeping more customers than their competition.

What Is Franchise Marketing?

Franchise marketing refers to the various tasks and processes that a franchise does to grow. These activities include search engine optimization, PPC advertising, email marketing, and content marketing .

Franchise marketing is usually different from conventional marketing by independent businesses. That's primarily because the franchise is typically a broader marketing field.

When you're supporting a franchise, you will usually be dealing with a broader landscape compared to marketing a single business. Even new franchises can have tens of different locations or franchisees. Multinationals usually have tens of thousands of outlets.

That's why the marketing strategy you adopt as a franchise needs to be different to work for all your outlets. Established franchises usually have their in-house marketing teams to handle their marketing needs. Many startups that have dozens of outlets may be understaffed in this department.

Fortunately, many franchising marketing agencies exist around the country. These can help develop an effective marketing strategy for your franchise.

Why Are Franchising Marketing Services So Important?

Each year about 300 companies start franchising globally. That increases competition in the industry. It calls for a robust marketing strategy to stay ahead. The fact is how you market your franchise will determine whether you succeed or not.

Below, we give five top reasons for how franchising marketing services can help your company grow.

Marketing Helps You Engage Customers

Every franchise needs to engage its customers, and there's no better way to do so than through marketing. Digital marketing , in particular, is a powerful tool when it comes to keeping the conversation going. Social media is a good platform to give customers relevant information about your company and products.

Use short videos and humor-laden images to keep your customer base engaged. These marketing tricks help give your customers a sense of belonging.

Marketing Helps Create and Maintain Your Franchise's Reputation

Whether your franchise will grow and last will depend on your reputation as a brand. In other words, your franchise's reputation equals your brand equity.

Effective franchising marketing aims at showing how your brand is meeting customer's expectations. It demonstrates how your franchise is a responsible member of the community. That helps customers to become proud to associate with your services, products, and brands. A reputable franchising marketing services provider can help you build a good reputation.

Marketing Helps to Boost Your Sales

Ultimately, your franchising marketing efforts should aim at promoting your products or services. As soon as a product or service has been effectively marketed, it's on the radar of potential customers. Customers will want to try out the advertised product and services, which triggers a buying decision.

If customers enjoy a product or service, they become ambassadors for your franchise. They spread the word, and, with time, you'll notice an increase in your sales.

Should You Hire an Expert in Franchising Marketing?

Earlier, we mentioned that some large franchises already have their in-house marketing teams. The smaller ones may not have the resources to run a full-time marketing team. Either way, any franchise can enjoy the help of a professional franchise marketing agency.

How? Well, a reputable marketing agency will usually have established marketing tools and materials. So, you do not have to spend a fortune on equipping a marketing department for your company. Moreover, a top marketing agency brings a wealth of expert knowledge. They understand your business model and can suggest the best ideas on how to market your brand for the best results. Finally, these agencies have a good understanding of the many regulations required to launch and run a franchise. They can help you navigate any complicated processes, so you don't stall anywhere.

Franchising Marketing Is the Key to a Successful Franchise

An effective marketing campaign can take any business to new levels. Partnering with a top franchising marketing agency can help you get the biggest back for your advertising buck.

Would you like help with your digital marketing strategy? Contact us today to see what we offer.

7 PPC Mistakes You Might Make (And How To Avoid Them)

Sun, 31 May 2020 11:00:00 GMT

The global digital ad spending was $240 billion by the end of 2018. The market size is projected to grow to more than $510 billion in the next three years. With the increasing use of the internet, the growth isn't surprising.

Businesses have embraced this change and are already using pay-per-click advertising to increase traffic to their websites. Yet, marketers make several mistakes in their PPC campaigns, which affect their effectiveness.

If you’re new in the world of PPC, it will help to know some of the mistakes that you're likely to make. Click here to know more about PPC mistakes and how to avoid them.

1. Lack of Clear Goals

What do you hope to achieve with your PPC campaign? For most people, the goal of PPC marketing is to get more revenue and leads. Yet, you might want to go deeper for your goals to be more specific.

It would help to identify the ideal leads based on the target market. Defining your audience will make it easier for you to write relevant ads and build landing pages that resonate with your intended clients. Use quantitative and qualitative research to create personas for your online advertising.

With the right information about your audience, you’ll be in a better place to create specific and measurable goals. Your chances of having a successful PPC campaign are high.

2. Failure to Optimize PPC Campaign

If you know what PPC is, you probably understand that it’s not static like billboards and print ads. With online advertising, optimization is indispensable. You’ll need to keep monitoring the ads and making adjustments as necessary.

With optimization, you're likely to improve the performance of your ad considerably. Understanding how SEO works is a great step towards having optimized PPC campaigns. You’ll learn more about keywords and different strategies that allow your ad to rank high on search engines.

Keep checking the performance of your campaign to know if there's a need for any adjustments. Depending on the results, you can tweak the budget to get more relevant leads.

3. Using Wrong Metrics

When you invest in advertising, you have to measure results. Focus on identifying leads that bring in money. Analyze the behaviors and motivation of such leads to know how to optimize for more traffic.

You can start with Google ValueTrack for relevant data relating to your ad clicks. This tool will enable you to make better optimization choices. You can research more on the tools to use for your site to focus on relevant metrics.

While the conversion rate is a good sign, it might not be the ultimate metric. Money on your account is the only sure way that your PPC is paying. Your analytics need to record the most relevant data for you to succeed.

4. Avoiding Geo-Targeting

Having your brand across the world is a dream-come-true. However, one of the PPC mistakes that you’d want to avoid is failing to geo-target. Despite wanting to sell your products across the world, it would be advisable to geo-target for a more local focus.

About 46 percent of the 3.5 billion Google searches are users looking for local information. Most consumers want a business that is within their locality. It would be vital to have a PPC campaign with a specific focus, such as a state or city.

If you want to sell across the country, have different ads with specific states for your campaign to bring better results. You’ll connect more with your site visitors. Geo-targeting will increase the click-through rate, which will mean a low cost per click.

5. Doing Too Much

Digital marketers using PPC want to get returns on any dollar they invest in advertising. When output increases, one considers the campaign as successful. Unfortunately, bidding on everything in an attempt to increase your revenue can be disastrous.

It is advisable to focus your keywords on a specific part of your business. Trying to use all the possible keywords likely to be searched might reduce the quality of your site’s content. Less is more when it comes to PPC.

If anything, focus on quality. A few great keywords will get you the conversion that hundreds of keywords might never reach you. Besides, the right targeting will ensure that your campaign budget is reasonable.

6. Doing It Yourself

A DIY on Google advertising might not be the best decision for your PPC marketing. Unless you're an expert in digital marketing, Google ads can be complicated. One mistake can jeopardize your entire campaign.

You’ll need a digital marketing strategy that’s easy to monitor and track. The strategy should consider ads and relevant optimization. If you haven't worked on your site, investing in online advertising will be futile.

Working with a professional will save you the frustrations. An expert in the field will handle your campaign professionally and the results will be worth every investment you make.

7. Having a Poor Website

Your website is the ultimate place where your target audience lands after a PPC campaign. Some marketers focus solely on the ads and forget their sites. This mistake can beat the essence of having a campaign in the first place.

If your website isn’t making leads to convert, you need to evaluate your strategy. You’ll spend a significant amount and still fail to meet your targets. Your website should be optimized, fast, and user friendly for it to convert.

PPC Mistakes Are Common In Digital Advertising

Investing in pay per click ads can be a game-changer in your digital marketing. While it might seem simple on the outside, PPC is quite complex. You need to understand some of the Google algorithms to make strides in this marketing approach.

It is prudent to hire a professional for your digital marketing and, especially for your pay per click campaign. A professional has the skills, knowledge, and experience to pull a PPC campaign that will increase sales. You don't have to struggle to do it yourself as a seemingly small mistake can make you run losses.

Do you need digital marketing services for your business? Contact us today for a range of services that will drive your company to the next level.

Key Benefits of SEO and Local SEO for Franchises

Thu, 23 Apr 2020 11:44:20 GMT

Local search engine optimization (SEO) services for franchises are designed to help these entities promote their services and/or products online to customers located within a specific local geographic area. Organic SEO and local SEO are different regarding their intent. Google understands “local intent” as opposed to broad intent. This pertains to the searcher desiring search engine results of local businesses based on a keyword search. Often these searches have local map listings showing nearby businesses. At Siren Digital Marketing, we understand SEO and local SEO and how to apply it effectively for the benefit of franchises.

Using search engine optimization to rank a product or service related term is one thing. It has the potential to get your business noticed anywhere in the world. It can help you achieve long-term visibility and credibility in your industry. However local SEO enables you to gain visibility to customers searching for your products or services in your particular city or region of your state. A marketing strategy that employees local SEO for various locations utilizes tactics such as using geographical keywords in content, in addition to location specific reviews and testimonials, and other specific location details on your website.

Benefits of Local SEO for Your Franchise

Franchises are already established brands. Local SEO can provide the exact solution you need to help prospects find your business and location.

One of the greatest benefits of local search engine optimization for franchises is that it helps your business get in front of customers that live or travel in the vicinity of a particular storefront location.

Franchises are typically connected to widely known brands, making them a comfortable destination for customers at various locations. However, customers need to know the location exists so they will not be able to make a visit and purchase products or services.

Regardless of whether you own a specific franchise location or work in a corporate office franchise brand, local SEO for franchises is highly beneficial for connecting with customers and producing sales.

Additional benefits of local SEO services for franchises include:

You get a strategy that is focused to ensure your website is optimized to reach local customers
You can track your marketing dollars compared to the progress and growth of your franchise business
You can rank quickly in local search results, enabling your business to be discovered by prospective customers, including those using mobile devices at home or outside of home.

For more information about the SEO and local SEO services we offer for franchises, give our team a call today at 651.419.5565 or use our contact form .

Why You Need a Digital Marketing Strategy?

Thu, 16 Apr 2020 10:54:52 GMT

Over the last few decades, advertising and marketing have come a long way. In the past, marketing campaigns were restricted to television, newspapers, radio, and magazines. However, as the entire landscape of society moves in the digital direction, businesses have enlarged in their ability to reach out and connect with audiences through the means of digital marketing strategies. At Siren Digital Marketing, we are your premier source for digital marketing services for businesses that result in improved conversion rates and higher returns on investment.

As a business, some of the reasons why your brand needs to take advantage of the digital marketing strategy are as follows:

Direction and Goals

As a business, some of the reasons why your brand needs to take advantage of the digital marketing strategy are as follows:

Consumers are in the Digital Marketplace Now

A large percentage of consumers use websites and look at reviews while searching for information, products, and services. At least one quarter of consumers use blogs and social media to discover new products, solutions, and brands. Therefore, it is essential as a business to have a digital marketing strategy that gets the attention of these potential buyers. This strategy can also help you increase the recognition of your brand.

Easy to Track and Monitor

Through analytics, markers can evaluate different aspects of advertising content and manage campaigns and how audiences react to campaigns. Some of the metrics to be evaluated include number of page views, number of visitors to the website, bounce rates, average time spent on a website, conversions, and growth over time. From this information, you can obtain accurate measure of ROI and determine areas that need improvement.

Develop a More Interactive Brand

Certain digital marketing campaign such as online advertising, blogging, social media marketing, enhancing search results, affiliate marketing, email marketing, you can provide a more interactive and personalized experience for your customers. In addition, remarketing on social media platforms can help you communicate to consumers by reminding them of your brand and your product or service offers they have already seen but have not responded to yet.

For more information about our digital marketing services and how we can help your business execute an effective digital marketing strategy, give us a call today at 651.419.5565 or fill out our contact form .

SEO Tips for Law Firms and Attorneys

Thu, 09 Apr 2020 15:39:00 GMT

For competitive industries like law firms, choosing the right partner can be challenging and knowing where to start isn't always obvious. At Siren Digital Marketing, we can help you market your law firm effectively through the application of well-thought-out and strategic search engine optimization strategies that work best for law firms.

Below are some important SEO tips for law firms and attorneys:

Pick the Most Effective SEO Keywords

Keywords are important element of carrying out effective SEO. Choosing the right keywords is important, because picking the wrong ones can deflate your SEO strategy. Keywords should be chosen based on your target audience, keywords’ volume, keywords’ competition, and keywords’ search intent.

Know How You Compare With Your Competition

Once you’ve got your keywords, you need to find out how you are currently performing in the search engines compared to your competitors. Factors to consider include: secure or unsecure site (HTTPS or HTTP), mobile-friendliness, website schematics, page load speed, length and quality of page content, quality of backlinks, social signals pointing to the site, and optimized images on web pages.

Make Technical SEO Improvements

Once you have an SEO analysis it is important to move forward to solve your websites technical issues. Some of the best improvements you can make include speed, security, mobile-friendliness, and schema markup.

Optimize Website Pages for Search Engines

After you have chosen the right keywords in your website and improved it is time to optimize the pages on your website. Each page needs a title tag and meta description that includes your keywords. Content should thoroughly cover the subject of the page. Use heading tags on your pages. Use your keyword phrase and variations of that phrase through the content of your landing pages.

Build Missing Website Pages

It is important to make sure you have a specific webpage created on your website for each individual service your business provides.

Optimize Your Law Firm’s Social Media, Google My Business, and other Local SEO Properties

Highly effective local SEO for lawyers can help place these law firms at the top of search engine results within a local service area. This involves an emphasis on the local pack in Google search results which is the box of Google Map results on a search results page. It is located above the organic search results and below the paid advertisements.

Create a Blog

A law firm blog can enhance the chances of your office website ranking in search engine results for particular keyword phrases such as “burn injury attorney Evansville.” Consumers who spend time online doing their own research about legal issues they are facing can benefit greatly from the content you provide in your law firm website’s blog section. This content can help you attract new clients because they trust and benefit from the information you provide and are linked directly to your website.

Build back links to Your Site

The greater number of links you have to a webpage, the greater authority Google can provide your website, giving you a high search engine ranking. Building back links is a proactive SEO strategy that requires continual attention through adding links and checking the links already in place for their effectiveness.

Finally, track, measure, and analyze the results of your SEO efforts. Then, tweak your SEO campaign as needed based on your analysis.

For information about the law firm SEO digital marketing services we offer at Siren Digital Marketing, call us today at 651.419.5565 or leave us a message through our contact form .

How Content Marketing is Game Changer for Businesses

Thu, 02 Apr 2020 13:14:57 GMT

Content marketing is a great way to draw people to your business without being highly aggressive about it. Instead, you can describe your brand and solutions and produce interest in your prospects as they see you as an authority for the problems for which they are seeking to find solutions. At Siren Digital Marketing, we have your content marketing needs covered to help you achieve the positive exposure to your prospects you need over time.

The ways in which content marketing can benefit your online presence include:

Develop Curiosity
Human beings are by nature curious about new information, products, services, and other things. Content in the online arena has moved from a product centered focus to a consumer centered focus. Outstanding content provided about a single product is not necessarily effective at achieving consumer sales if consumers cannot relate to the content in some important way. Potential customers take a certain journey that involves their awareness of a product or service and consideration about purchasing – all of which is propelled by effective content.

Create Brand Reputation
A particular brand can become a reliable source of information to potential customers when the brand provides trustworthy and educational content these potential consumers can trust. A brand can set itself up through effective content as the go-to source for information and solutions, creating for itself a strong reputation as an authority in a particular market sector.

Subtle Form of Marketing

Hard selling is the way it has been done in the past. Attempting to hard-sell to the customers of today can hinder your chance of making the sales you need to make. Therefore it is important to avoid in-your-face advertising and content marketing helps you do that.

It is important to achieve a proper balance between marketing aggressively and consideration for the customer’s position and preferences. You certainly do not want to be overly passive with your marketing efforts, but an aggressive approach that is too strong can certainly backfire and turn off potential customers.

To learn about how we can help you with content marketing for your websites and website properties, give us a call today at 651.419.5565 or fill out our contact form .

How Content Marketing Drives Sales

Thu, 26 Mar 2020 10:34:59 GMT

On increasing basis, businesses are focusing on the benefits of content marketing to drive sales. This means an increased spend on content marketing services has occurred with a large increase in content creation. Content marketing can have a profound impact on sales in understanding how to use content to increase these sales and even make some of the work for your sales team easier is important. At Siren Digital Marketing, we have the digital and content marketing capabilities you need to achieve results that drive sales for your business.

The ways in which Content marketing solutions can help you achieve greater sales include:

Educating Potential Buyers
Educational content is a powerful way to help prospects pinpoint their own concerns and needs early on in the purchasing journey. Through content marketing, you can inform prospects of the solutions they are missing in the form of a product or service they need without conducting a hard sell.

Creating Brand Awareness
People need to know your product or service exists before they can purchase it. Quality content, you can help your prospects find you in your product as they are searching for the solution they need to a particular problem.Developing Relationships With Prospects

Developing Relationships With Prospects
Through the consistent creation and publishing of high-value content, you can build and foster relationships with prospects and existing customers over time. You can use content in this manner to share resources and helpful tips to demonstrate your prospects that you care for them and not just about selling them something. This personal connection can help you ultimately close a purchase.

Building Trust and Business Credibility
In today’s marketplace, it is important to earn the consideration and attention of your prospects. Content, if it is valuable and substantial, positions you as a credible leader in your industry. This builds trust with potential buyers of your product or service.

Driving Traffic and Producing Leads
Driving the right traffic to your website and making a conversion is achieved through effective content. Developing this relevant quality content can enhance your ability to be found in search engines and address the needs of online searchers at the same time. The searchers are satisfied with your content, they will engage with your website, which gives you the next opportunity to help them with the products and/or services you have to offer.

Using Tools to Enable Sales
Tools such as case studies, guides, infographics, and white papers can help sales personnel bring in, engage, and convert leads into paying customers. This provides sales reps a great way to reach out to prospects and give them great information that answers there questions.

To learn more about how we can help you with your content marketing efforts to drive sales to your business, call us today at 651.419.5565 or fill out our contact form .

Why You Should Use PPC to Grow Your Medical Practice

Thu, 19 Mar 2020 08:00:51 GMT

As a medical provider, it is vital to have your services visible to those who need them. In the digital arena, you certainly want potential patients to be able to find information about your practice, doctors, hours, locations, and other important details. You can implement various digital marketing strategies to achieve this goal, one of which is pay-per-click advertising (PPC). As a top PPC management company , our team can develop a Google Ad campaign on your behalf to achieve fast and effective results. We can help you spend your advertising funds wisely, performing optimization for your paid search campaigns to get you the ROI you need.

The Importance of PPC for Medical Practices

PPC is a popular advertising option for businesses in various industries. It involves exceptional levels of budget control and targeting and is quite valuable for those operating in the medical field.

Many people who are searching for keywords related to medical practices want to set up an appointment in a fairly short amount of time. Others may be looking for information about a particular medical condition.

Using PPC in Your Medical Practice

Creating and managing an effective PPC campaign requires careful planning and an understanding of your platform to choose the right keywords and bids. Selecting keywords that are targeted and specific is important. Highly targeted search terms focus on the specific wants of users. These terms should ideally include service- and location specific terms. For example, a dentist in Ohio may use a search terms such as “root canal in Dayton.”

If you produce ads based on certain services you offer, they connect to pages about the services on your website. If you have ad copy that mentions scheduling an appointment, it should take users to a page that allows them to schedule an appointment.

In addition to enhancing conversion rates for your landing pages, you can utilize PPC campaigns to generate traffic to specific pages that already convert well.

It is important to research keywords to find out which ones attract potential patients. However, once you determine these keywords, you can use them in your content, enhancing the conversion rate of your pages and increasing business.

To learn how we can help you with PPC advertising for your medical practice, calls today at 651.419.5565 or use our contact form .

How Does Digital Marketing Differ From Traditional Marketing

Thu, 05 Mar 2020 06:27:53 GMT

Traditional methods of marketing include TV and radio ads, handing out business cards, flyers, notices, newspaper advertisements, magazine ads, and other public announcements. However, technology continues to advance when it comes to methods of marketing, and digital marketing is one of those powerful methods. digital marketing services include the use of websites, search engine paid ads, organic listings in search engine results, YouTube videos, and social media. At Siren Digital Marketing, we have all of your digital marketing needs covered to help you achieve the increased visibility you want in your marketplace.

Online marketing has similarities to traditional marketing – both are used to pursue the same objectives which are to build a brand and increase the number of customers.

Ongoing Results

Traditional marketing can take weeks or even months to start to see improving business results. However, online digital marketing increases in exposure, leads, paying clients, and profitability can be had much quicker.

Costs

The costs associated with traditional marketing such as TV and radio, magazine ads, and other print ads are generally much higher than those associated with social media advertising. Marketing online has a cost attached to it, but with an effective strategy, it can be much more targeted and cost-efficient than traditional marketing.

Often it is difficult to measure the results of traditional marketing techniques. However, the results of digital marketing services are easy to analyze. Using Google analytics tools, return on investments (ROIs) are readily determined.

Better Analytics

Digital marketing allows for better analytics to determine which techniques are performing and which ones are not. Metrics such as incoming traffic, bounce rates, visits, conversion rates, and other trends can be viewed in report form. From this information, decisions can be made about adjusting digital marketing strategies and tactics, paid advertising, etc. to achieve better results.

Digital marketing opens up a whole new world for businesses that have only utilized traditional marketing in the past. As a business owner, it is important for you to claim the share of the marketplace online and search for the products and services you have to offer.

To find out how our team can serve you with effective digital marketing services to increase your brand’s exposure to your target market, give us a call today at 651.760.7888 or drop us a message through our contact form .

How Does SEO Work?

Thu, 27 Feb 2020 12:18:41 GMT

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a particular digital marketing strategy that includes tactics to increase the standing of the website in search engine result pages – primarily on Google and Bing. By understanding how SEO works, you can employ the most effective tactics to improve your visibility – your ranking – in search results. At Siren Digital Marketing, we are highly skilled at delivering SEO services that achieve the results our customers are seeking.

On-Page and Off-Page SEO

There are two major types of SEO strategies. They include:

On-page SEO – this involves SEO tactics employed on a website Off-page SEO – this involves SEO tactics employed on other areas online other than your website

Both strategies are directed at making your website more appealing, friendly, and trustworthy to online searchers and website users, in addition to finding favor with search engines. Search engine crawlers evaluate various factors of a website to determine its ranking in search engine results. There are numerous factors search engines use to generate their search results. This means many different elements can influence placement of your website in a search result produced by a keyword phrase query.

In addition, a non-responsive website, which means smartphone and tablet users are not able to navigate the site easily, is going to be affected negatively when it comes to search engine ranking.

Search Engine Page Results and Ads
After you enter a search query in a search engine, the page you are brought to is referred to as a search engine results page (SERP). Organic search results are displayed on the SERP in addition to paid search results, also called pay per-click-ads (or PPC pads). Search engine optimization (SEO) determines how organic results are listed. PPC ads are paid for by advertisers to show up in SERPs for particular keyword search queries.

Google and other search engines make their money by the ads that show up on search engine results pages. This gives an incentive for the search engines to provide the most relevant results possible for online searchers based on their keyword phrase searches.

For information about our SEO services that can help you elevate your organic search engine rankings or achieve excellent results with PPC advertising, call our team today at 651.760.7888 or contact us online.

How to Choose a Digital Marketing Agency

Thu, 20 Feb 2020 07:15:05 GMT

An increasing number of businesses are outsourcing their marketing efforts to digital marketing companies. Regardless of whether you black the internal capabilities or intend to launch forth with an aggressive growth effort, finding the right agency to handle your digital marketing needs is essential. At Siren Digital Marketing, we offer digital marketing capabilities for business customers that lead to higher rates of conversion and return on investment.

Consider the following factors when choosing a digital marketing agency:

Know your Budget and Business Goals

Your business budget and objectives will play a significant role in your decision on a digital marketing agency . An experienced agency should be able to meet your goals as it regards leads per month, revenue targets, ranking positions, and more. Make sure your prospective agency understands how to leverage your goals into effective action. The company should be able to provide you with examples of its work with previous clients and the success it has obtained for them.

Determine Your Desired Services

Before you contact a digital marketing agency, gain an understanding of the services you will probably need. This will make it easier for you to have substantive consultations with your prospective agency. Then you can obtain a quote from the agency for the various services you require in addition to separate services for SEO, copywriting, AdWord, or landing page design.

The services you need will depend on your objectives and your audience. An adept digital agency will perform a complete market analysis and provide you with recommendations for the best services and channels for your audience. A prospective agency should focus on your core campaign goals and not necessarily their most expensive or profitable products and services.

Investigate Industry Experience and Technical Capability

Prior to contacting any agency, check out the agency’s website. When you contact the agency, learn about its work with previous clients and campaigns. The agency should be transparent and provide you with past references as needed to help earn your business. If possible learn who at the company will be running your campaign and their experience successfully handling previous projects in your industry.

Only Accept a Customized Strategy

Avoid cookie-cutter digital marketing services and strategies. Opt for a tailored strategy which an experienced digital marketing agency that produces great results consistently for clients should be able to provide. The strategy employed on your behalf should take your critical business considerations into account.

To learn about the digital marketing capabilities we offer for your business at Siren Digital Marketing, call us today at 651.760.7888 or contact us online.

Benefits of Digital Marketing for Small Business

Fri, 14 Feb 2020 15:09:14 GMT

The days when consumers spent long hours looking through pages of newspapers, phone directories, and magazines for information about services or products are over by and large. Enter digital marketing. The vast majority of consumers now find the information they need regarding potential purchases through the Internet. This has made the entire buyers journey very fast and efficient and the need for highly competitive digital marketing strategies on the part of businesses critical. At Siren Digital Marketing, we offer highly effective digital marketing services to help your small business achieve the exposure and success it needs in the competitive online marketplace.

Higher Conversion Rates

If advertising is not effective enough it isn’t going to generate the necessary ingredients to make a difference. The right leads result in sales and profit. Through the application of effective digital marketing into your marketing strategy, you can get the attention of your target audience much faster than through other traditional forms of advertising. This means faster lead generation and higher conversion rates.

Cost Effective

Hiring a digital marketing company can save small businesses a ton of lost time and money. These services are currently replacing other more traditional and expensive types of advertising such as radio, television, newspapers, magazines, etc.

Achieve Higher ROI

Whether you own a medium sized company or its brand-new startup, return on investment (ROI) is an important gauge of business profitability. Through all executed digital marketing strategy and the use of web analytics, a small business can track and precisely measure the origin of its leads and their activity. Evaluating reports of analytical data can reveal ROI.

The first step in optimizing your Google My Business is to create your listing and go through the process of verifying your business. Once you’ve been verified by Google, you can submit updates about your business through posts, encourage, share and respond to reviews from your customers, and ensure your business is listed in Google maps.

To get started with Google My Business, follow Google’s simple set up process here , or give us a call and we can help.

Attract Mobile Customers

As smartphones are used increasingly for shopping online, it is vital for small businesses to harness the tremendous marketplace available among mobile customers. This can be done through various forms of mobile advertising, including blogging, and social media.

Provides Real-Time Customer Service

Traditional marketing is far less interactive with customers and digital marketing. Through digital marketing, businesses can implement marketing strategies that connect themselves with customers in real time. This form of marketing is a powerful way to inform and acquire new customers and maintain business relationships with existing customers.

Increases Trust and Credibility

Partnering with a digital marketing company enables your small business to increase its credibility and trust among customers. When your company provides quality products and exceptional services, customers will naturally share that news with their friends and connections online. The entire process can increase your company’s reputation in your marketplace

To learn how we can help your small business achieve greater visibility to your target market through our digital marketing services, call our team today at 651.760.7888 or contact us online.

The Complete Guide to Local SEO in 2020

Sun, 29 Dec 2019 17:50:05 GMT

Local SEO for small businesses will be more important than ever in 2020. Nearly 80% of all consumers used search engines to find localized information in 2019. In 2020, if your local business isn’t optimized for search results, you could be giving up 4 out of 5 potential customers to a competitor. To put it simply, small businesses must make local search engine optimization a priority this year if they wish to remain relevant.

To help you optimize your website for local search, we’ve created the complete guide to local SEO in 2020, full of user-friendly SEO tools, best practices for optimizing your website, and super easy to follow local search hacks to help your business grow.

After reading this guide, you will have a firm grasp on what action is needed to content to reach prospective customers who use search engines regularly to determine which local services/products to buy.

Local SEO Defined

Local SEO is simply the practice of search engines prioritizing the results it shows to a consumer based on geographical location, or geographic terms entered into the search box.

This practice helps small businesses show their products and services to prospective customers who are local to the business and typically, actively looking to make a buying decision.

Search engines, primarily Google and Bing, are able to do this by indexing unique information for local SEO that it might not otherwise collect on global results. In most cases, this is information collected from the consumer, like the location of their device matched with local businesses, who’s sites are optimized for that users intended search.

For small businesses who want to benefit from local search traffic, we cannot control the location of a potential customer, but we can control how well we optimize our content for the local marketplace.

Implementing Best Local SEO Practices

To succeed in local search, there are a few key best practices to follow: optimizing your Google My Business is a must, focus on optimizing your website, especially your website speed (this is known as on-page optimization), and ensure your local directory listings and links are up to date. For any small business owner, this can seem like a lot to handle, but rest assured it’s not as complicated as it sounds, and were going to walk you through each one to help ensure your success in 2020.

Optimize Google My Business

If you’ve been living without the internet for the last decade, or you’ve just ignored the trends, then let’s introduce you to Google My Business , which has become one of, if not the most important resources in recent years when it comes to local search. Google’s job is to provide the most relevant and up to date content it can find for any given search. Google’s My Business tool is a way for Google to verify the authenticity of a business, it’s information, website and reviews. Businesses that can be verified as legitimate, will earn a powerful business listing display on the side bar of certain Google searches.

To get started with Google My Business, follow Google’s simple set up process here , or give us a call and we can help.

Optimize Your Website for Local SEO

Now that we covered Google My Business, were going to go through a few simple best practices to help optimize your website for local SEO.

1. Improve Your Websites Speed

While this is actually important for all types of SEO, it’s one of the most critical things companies can do to help improve search results in 2020 and that includes local businesses. In America, there are over 600 million blog pages created each year. That’s enough for every man woman and child in the country. Google made a huge shift in the last few years, to push the internet towards USER FRIENDLY EXPERIENCES. Your websites speed and especially mobile speed are now 100% verified signals for ranking factors. If you and a competitor both rank for the exact same keyword, the site with better speed will always win.

There are several things you can do to improve your websites speed and performance:

Test your site and page speed using a free tool like Page Speed Insights .

Deploy a CDN, or content delivery network to your site. Free CDN’s like cloudflare are available and easy to set up.

Implement page speed best practices using a caching tool. If your using a CMS like Wordpress or a web based site builder, most platforms now have plugins for this.

If you want to improve your site speed and on-page SEO, you can use our Free Website Audit Tool and get detailed recommendations on improving your websites performance.

2. Optimize Your On-Page Content with Geographic Search Terms

This is a very powerful, yet simple strategy any local business can use. Let’s say your have an AC repair business in Toluca Lake, CA (a suburb of Los Angeles). Instead of optimizing your titles, meta descriptions, headers and content with AC Repair Company, or AC Repair Company Los Angeles (which is a huge land mass), consider changing that title to AC Repair Company Serving Toluca Lake.

First, if you’ve ever been to L.A. and know how big it is, you know that no one is going to order an AC repairman to come to the Toluca Lake neighborhood if that business is located in Long Beach. Second, if you use the neighborhood modifier, Google will now try to show that content to people specifically in that neighborhood, which not only makes it easier to rank but will send you higher quality customers.

3. Add Location Pages to your Website

If your business has more than one location, creating location pages is a must. Location pages provide customers and search engines specific content to display your business's location and offerings in more than one place across the web. You can also do this if your a single location, but serve multiple areas. You can create multiple service area pages each with unique content for that location.

4. Create Local Content

In a major shift for our industry, search engines are finally getting smart enough to understand the user's intent, meaning businesses can finally create content for people (not just for search engines, which wasn’t always the case). This means it’s mission critical for businesses to stop only focusing on general content for mass audiences, but rather create localized content which enables them to become the local leader. Businesses that are focusing on being helpful and providing value, not just creating content around what they sell are going to see huge gains over the latter in 2020.

5. Update Your Website Design

This is a simple exercise. Step one, look at your website on a desktop, think about how it makes you feel, step two, look at your website on your phone, think about how it makes you feel, and step 3, thinking about step one and step two, think about what your business does. If your website makes you feel confident and your site makes it easy for people in the local market to do business with you, your in good shape, if it’s anything but, it’s probably time to update your website .

Having a well designed, mobile friendly isn’t just a good idea, it’s a must for improving local SEO. Trust us, if you still have an old junky website built by your brother in laws cousin, Google knows and so do your customers.

Building Links and Optimizing Local Listing Directories

Now that we’ve covered how to optimize your Google My Business, and make your website friendly for local search, it’s time to discuss building links to your website through optimizing your local listings.

A simple explanation of what were referring to is as follows: In order for search engines and customers to find you, you need to make it easy for them. To do this, there is some basic information they will need. Your business name, address and phone number.

For your customers, this information should be clearly visible both on your website and in your Google My Business listing.

For search engines, you want to make sure the information on your site is in HTML/Text form so it can read it. In other words, don’t post a picture of your NAP (name address phone number). You’ll also want to make sure this information is registered with about 30 (minimum) Directory Sites, also known as directory listings across the internet with information that is consistent with what’s on your site and GMB page.

Listing Directory Guide

You’ll want to make sure your site is listed, optimized and registered on the four major map data providers which are, Google, Apple, Bing, and Yelp.

In addition, you can download our list of the top 30 local seo listing directories here, or consider purchasing a service to help you create the listings.

Every time you create a new listing, your creating a citation for your business description + NAP. Your also creating a backlink to your company from a powerful website that has high relevance scores. To help you keep track, you can also download our Local Listings Checklist Template.

Get Local Inbound Backlinks

Don’t let anyone tell you different, backlinks are still the most powerful tactic to improve local SEO, but it can also be the most challenging. Every high quality backlink to your site signals to Google that you are an authority and a legit business with great content. Below are a few examples of places even small local businesses can get great inbound backlinks.

Build links through partnerships

Sponsor local events

Link outreach to guest blogs

Host your own event or webinar through a third party

Answer FAQ’s on sites like reddit or quora

These are just a few. You can also talk to a professional company that can help you create a link building strategy for Local SEO.

Free Local SEO Tools & Resources

Now that you have a good understanding of how to optimize your business for local search in 2020, let’s look at some of the best free tools and resources you can use to help you along the way.

1. Local Listings - Moz Local , provides a great free local listings audit tool to see which directories your currently listed on and which ones need work.

2. Links & On-Page SEO - One of our favorites is a desktop program called Screaming Frog , which is free for up to 500 URLS. You can map out all of your inbound and outbound links, analyze your titles, meta descriptions, and content very quickly.

2. Analyzing Results - Google Analytics and Google My Business provide valuable insights on how customers find you, your traffic, and your reviews.

4. Identify Keywords & Relevant Topics - Ubersuggest is a super intuitive and user friendly keyword research tool. Paired with a resource like buzzsumo , you can discover easy to rank for relevant topics and keywords to help guide your content.

5. All-In-One Solution - For those seeking a DIY solution, BrightLocal is probably the best tool out there for small business owners that want to work on their local SEO themselves but need a central platform. There is a cost for the service, but it’s probably the most affordable solution for any DIYer.

Final Thoughts

Local SEO in 2020 will be more important than ever, and with the digital advertising space becoming more expensive every day, we expect to see the smart money get back to basics and re-invest in search engine optimization once again. If you enjoyed our guide to local SEO, please share and if you still need help, please contact us for a complimentary consultation with one of our local SEO experts. Let’s kill it in 2020!

Who Are Your Facebook Competitors? How to Use Facebook Ad Library

Tue, 10 Dec 2019 18:57:58 GMT

Remember how panicked everyone was when the announcement about GDPR came out? It seemed like the world was going to end, and no one was ever going to be able to run a successful or affordable ad online again.

But the adjustment wasn't that extreme, and while marketers had to learn some new strategies, online marketing is alive and well.

In the case of Facebook's new ad library search feature, one could even argue that GDPR and the Cambridge Analytica scandal gave us more tools than it took away . This new tool allows you to see your Facebook competitors' ads, how much they're spending, and a little about who they're targeting.

When you're doing competitor research, what could be better than that?

If you haven't heard about this new tool or don't know how to use it, don't worry. We've got everything you need to know below.

The Facebook Ad Library Development

After the famous Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook felt forced to come out with more ways to be transparent . At first, we saw that as them giving out less information about users (which made making audiences harder), then them rolling out things like news fact checks.

They put out their transparency Facebook Ads Library update in the first week of April in 2019. According to the company , the library acts to "provide[s] advertising transparency by offering a comprehensive, searchable collection of all ads currently running from across Facebook products."

You don't have to pay to use this service, or even be logged in to Facebook. It's available to anyone and allows you to see "all active ads, even ones that may not have been shown to you because you weren't part of an advertiser's intended audience."

The fact that you can see ads that wouldn't be targeted to you separates this update from the "Facebook Ad Archives" one before it, that allowed you to see all the ads that targeted you in the past week/month/year.

To be clear, you can now see every single ad your competitor puts out on Facebook, at the click of a search button, thanks to this April update.

While that's awesome, they can indeed see all of yours too. But since this is is still a relatively new development and not all brands know how to use it (which you will, after finishing this article), you're still a step ahead.

How to Use Facebook Ad Library to Beat Your Facebook Competitors

Everyone has an ad strategy. If you don't, you're already behind and need to get one ASAP.

And if you're part of a big company or have outsourced to a marketing company, there's likely someone on staff whose job it is to investigate and understand your competitor's ad strategy. Their job just got way easier.

Instead of spending hours and hours trying to find competitors' ads, here's the new and easier way to do competitor research using Facebook's Ad Library.

Step 1: Make a File

This file is the place where you'll put all the ads from your competitor into, for quick reference and trend tracking. You can do it on a multitude of different devices, as long as they have file organization settings and the ability to search by hashtag.

Start with one competitor (you can add more later) and make them a file. Then, open Facebook's Ad library.

Step #2: Find Your Competitor's Ads

Once you've opened Facebook's ad library, there are few ways of finding your competitors. You can search by company name, product type, or even a general hashtag like #shoes.

For example, we searched for the b rand name "Lifeproof ." They're a company that makes durable phone cases and have both national and global campaigns running at this time.

*Note: if you run this search, you'll likely get different results, as new ads come out often.

Once we've chosen the page "LifeProof" we're taken to the Facebook Library page for their service, which shows us how many likes they have, what ads they're currently running, where their current country location is, and when they first made their Facebook page.

Scrolling down from that, we're given the ability to filter ads by Country, impression type, and what platforms the ads run on.

Right below that shows different pages (in this case, Lifeproof's different global arms) that we can investigate if we'd like.

Finally, at the mid-bottom of the page, we see all their most recent ads. The title of the section says "Launched December 2019" and will update to the month you're searching.

Step 2.1: Looking At Individual Ads

Right now, the most current ad Lifeproof has running started on December 9th, 2019, and is running on Instagram. The library shows us that it's active, gives us a preview of the ad and its copy, and even provides us with the advertisement's Facebook ID number.

Below the preview of the post, there's an option to "See ad details."

Clicking on that will allow you to see a full-size version of the ad, the full caption, and provides a link to LifeProof's Instagram profile.

Step 3: Familiarize Yourself With Facebook Library Search Options

After you've looked over your competitor's general ad library, it's time to get even more detailed. Go back to the first page you came to (with all the ads) and find where it says "Filter By:"

There's a drop-down that shows you where the company is running ads, and if there are multiple countries, you can see country-specific ads by clicking each option individually in the drop-down menu.

The next option is to search by "Impressions." This tells you how many people have seen the ad over time. It allows you to search impressions in

The last day
Last 7 Days
Last 30 Days
Last 90 Days
All Time (All Impressions)

This is useful if you or your competitor has just rolled out a new product or if there's been a big industry event.

Ad Platform

The last option the library gives you is to search by Ad Platform. This includes four options:

Facebook
Instagram
Audience Network
Messenger

Keep in mind that many companies run the same ads on each platform, so there may be overlap in the ads you see below.

If the ad is run on multiple platforms, you should see the icons for each platform under the Facebook ad ID, above the preview of the ad.

Step 4: Using What You've Learned

Before you try to list insights, play around with this tool, and get comfortable with it. Once you understand how it works, then you can put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard).

Take special notice of where your competitors are not sending ads. Do they have blind spots in different countries?

Are they advertising on every platform? If they're not, and there is a blind spot that allows you to swoop in and make your brand stand out on that media type.

If they're not running any messenger ads, make that part of your ad strategy this quarter and, when it's over, weigh your results.

The number of impressions each ad has will show you which types of ads are working for them and give you inspiration for what you should try next.

This tool gives you all the information you could ever want, but it's up to you to use it to your advantage .

Step 5: Find More Competitors

New companies and products come out every day. Try using the Facebook Ad Library to search for general hashtags and product names like "shoes" to make sure you have a list of the competitors in your market.

Do this relatively often, as the business that doesn't plan and evolve to fit the current market won't exist in that market for long.

Taking the Time to Do the Work

Thank you for reading to this point in the article, we're glad you're still with us. And if you're still with us, you're likely overwhelmed by how much work it takes to look at the ads from one Facebook Competitor.

That doesn't include the time it takes to analyze the image, the copy, and the audience your competitor is using. Once you add all of that in, just keeping track of your Facebook competitors is a full-time job .

If you don't have the time or the personnel for that, you're not alone. More and more people are outsourcing their marketing services to professionals, like us, who make your marketing strategy our full-time job for less than it would cost to hire someone in-house.

If that sounds good, give us a call . We'll be happy to talk to you about your marketing goals and see if we're a good fit to work together, with no obligation.

How the New Google Lead Form Extensions Helps Your Search Advertising

Mon, 11 Nov 2019 12:41:06 GMT

The percentage of search engine visits from mobile devices has been climbing for years. In 2013, mobile devices like smartphones and tablets made up a little over 25 percent. In 2019, that number is up to 60 percent .

Google has been adding new features to the Google Ads network to help advertisers target those mobile users. The most recent addition is the Google Lead form extension, an add-on that makes it easier for you to capture leads from your mobile visitors.

Let's look at how this new Google Ads extension works to improve your search advertising.

How the Google Lead Form Extension Works

The Lead Form extension adds a link below your paid ads with a call-to-action such as "Contact us" or "Subscribe." The link will only show on mobile devices like iPhones and tablets, not on desktop systems.

When someone taps the link, the lead form opens and lets them submit their information. The form can collect up to 4 pieces of data:

Name
Email address
Phone number
Zip or postal code

You can choose any or all of these when you create the lead form for your ad.

How You'll Pay for Leads

Lead form submissions are still considered pay-per-click (PPC) ads. You'll be charged when someone clicks on the lead form link below your ad, not when they submit the form.

If someone clicks on the link to the lead form but doesn't submit their information, you'll still get charged. This will likely be more common when the extension is new and people aren't familiar with it. Once they start seeing the lead forms in more ads and they get to know how it works, the conversion rates will most likely improve.

Building a List of Leads

When someone fills out the Lead Form and submits their information, Google stores the details for you. The form doesn't forward leads to your CRM system or email service provider (ESP) by default.

You can download your list of leads from Google as a CSV file, which you can import into your CRM or ESP system or you can connect the Lead Form results to other web-based services through webhooks that will connect to services that offer API integration.

Connecting to other services through webhooks requires some coding skills. If you can't build custom connections, you can use the webhook integration through a site called Zapier , which lets you connect different web services to create automated workflows.

For example, Zapier can pull the leads from the Lead Form results and add them to a Google Sheets spreadsheet on a preset schedule so you've always got an up-to-date list to work with.

Google only stores the lead information for 30 days so however you retrieve the leads, make sure you do it within a month of when they're submitted.

How to Set Up the Google Lead Form Extension

You can add a Lead Form to your digital ads from the Google Ads dashboard. You can only add the forms at the Campaign level, not the Group or Ad level.

To start building a form, click on the Ad Extensions item in the menu on the left-hand side of the dashboard and choose the Lead Form Extension.

Choose Your Call-to-Action

The first step is to choose a call-to-action (CTA). The CTA shows below your ad in the search results and is essentially the "headline" that draws searchers into your lead form.

Google provides eight CTA options:

Get quote
Apply now
Sign up
Contact us
Subscribe
Download
Book now
Get offer

Whether they will add more options to the list or give you the ability to create your own CTA remains to be seen. These eight were the only choices at the time the Lead Form Extension launched.

Google automatically translates the call-to-action text into whatever language the searcher's mobile device is set to but this doesn't apply to the form itself. You need to create the form in whatever language you want to target in your ads.

If you're running your ads in different languages, you'll need to set up a separate campaign for each of them since the form gets attached at the Campaign level.

Create the Lead Form

After choosing your CTA, you'll see a page where you can enter the details for your Lead Form. This form is similar to the one you use to create ads in Google Ads. It gives you several options:

Business name
Headline
Description
Which fields to include
What to do after the lead gets submitted

Your business name shows at the top of the form, followed by the headline, the description, and whichever fields you choose to include.

You need to provide a link to your company's privacy policy when you create a form and it will be linked from the form itself. Google is collecting the leads for you but it is done under the terms of your privacy policy, not theirs.

You can also include a background image that will display behind the lead form if you wish.

After the Lead is Submitted

Once you have created the lead form, the next step is to set up the form submission message. This is the page people will see after they submit their details through the lead form.

You can enter a short (200 character) description that is the main content for the page. You can use this to thank them for submitting their information, give them some details about what to expect next, or anything else you want to share.

You can also add another optional call-to-action on this page. You have three choices:

No CTA
Visit your website
Download something from your website

If you add a CTA here, it's shown as a button below the description. It's worth noting that if a lead taps that link, it's treated as another click on your ad so you'll pay for that click as well.

Getting the Most Out of Your Search Advertising Campaigns

Setting up and maintaining your search advertising campaigns can be time-consuming. You need to stay on top of the latest developments, like Google's Lead Forms Extension, in a constantly-changing industry.

If you'd rather focus on what your business does best and put your search engine marketing in the hands of experts, Siren Digital Marketing can help. Our award-winning team will take care of managing your Google Ads campaigns for maximum returns, guaranteed.

Get in touch with us today to find out what we can do for you.

Everything You Need to Know About the New Google BERT Update

Fri, 01 Nov 2019 23:19:32 GMT

Google algorithm updates are now increasingly frequent, so when a "big" update comes, everyone tends to stand at attention.

The latest important update to come down the pipeline is fondly named BERT. The announcement came on October 24, 2019, but like other previous releases, it had already hit the net a few days before.

Why is Google BERT so important?

In some ways, BERT is a follow-up to some of the updates relating to voice search and an improvement on the 2015 RankBrain update , which used machine learning to determine the most relevant results for search queries by searching for intent. BERT is the latest in attempts to use AI and machine learning algorithms, which always whip up a frenzy of interest.

What is BERT, and do you need a new strategy to accommodate it? Keep reading to learn more about the latest SEO update.

What Is Google BERT?

BERT is a cute acronym that stands for "Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers," which is decidedly less catchy.

The essence of BERT is that it's a machine learning tool that uses neural network-based techniques for natural language processing (NLP). That's a sentence written for neuroscientists and quantum computing engineers. If you want a break down for marketers, check out this resource for a layman's explanation.

In short, these tools try to interpret the intent of human speech like a human would.

Why is this so important?

Usually, Google's algorithms look at search queries on a word-by-word basis. In recent years, long-tail keywords have become more prominent. But these don't always represent what the searcher is looking for exactly. So, Google wants to use BERT to understand the motivation behind the search query to provide better answers.

Is Google trying to read your mind? No, that's ESP - not NLP. Instead, Google wants to help get around human errors or small qualifiers that aren't keywords to better provide results.

For a quick understanding of what this means, let's look at one of their own examples and one of the English language's biggest nemesis: prepositions.

Google Wants to Learn Our Prepositions

In case you need a refresher, a preposition is a part of speech that expresses a relationship between a noun or pronoun with something else on the clause (often another noun or pronoun).

For example, in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone , Hermoine says to Ron and Harry, "I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We all could have been killed - or worse, expelled."

The preposition "with" connects Harry and Ron with their hindsight in the sentence. More importantly, the preposition "with" delivers Hermoine's devastating sense of sarcasm. The connection is more critical for BERT, and we can all admit that it would be a very different sentence than "I hope you're pleased."

Of course, this example also implies the use of tone, which is far beyond the kind of search intent currently possible with machine learning or AI, but you get the point (and you got a funny Hermoine quote).

Prepositions are the kinds of things that Google BERT wants to learn about.

Why? Because "on the moon" and "over the moon" are very different things. If you search for "on the moon," you might be looking for the latest NASA news. If you were searching "over the moon," you might be an English nerd.

Google also gave an example of how it plays out in search queries.

Let's say you enter the term "2019 Brazil traveler to USA need visa."

On the U.S. Google page, it would bring about a page telling you whether American citizens need a visa to go to Brazil.

But that's not what the query said. The word "to" is a huge giveaway that the algorithm ignored before Bert. After Ber t , the top result is the U.S. Embassy in Brazil, which shows Brazilian nationals who want to go "to USA" how to apply for the relevant visa required.

This isn't a case of "potato, potato," this is a hash brown: the first link was only related to the keywords in the search term, and the second one understood those keywords in their context by reading the preposition.

Another good example provided by Google is the "parking on a hill with no curb" term.

In the past, Google focused on the big word "parking" and "hill," but it ignored curb when it chose the snippets. With the new updated, it acknowledges the whole string provides a much more relevant snippet.

How Does the Google BERT Update Affect You?

The update impacts 10 percent of all search queries, which is a significant amount compared to past uses. But what does it mean for your SEO strategy?

Let's start with who BERT will and won't help.

BERT won't do any work for a site that's got little direction or has a nonsensical structure. It also won't help poorly written sites. It's machine learning - not a miracle worker.

BERT is also like RankBrain in that it's not something to organize an entire SEO strategy around. Google specifically says optimizing for RankBrain is rather fruitless .

However, if you lean into the concept of search intent and employ it into your on-page SEO and your content marketing , you can make the Google BERT update work for your site and maybe even climb past some of those who still think of BERT as Bert and Ernie. It will also eventually help out eCommerce product pages, but that seems to be further down the pipeline.

What does this mean in real terms? It means optimizing for your users and the use of natural language.

Why Focused SEO and Content Is Going to Be More Important Than Ever

Now that Google is trying to speak like a human (in all its complexities), you have less room to play around with keywords.

Instead, you need to focus both your keyword strategy and the content (both on-page and in your blogs).

Neil Patel provides a stellar example of what that means.

According to his example, if you run a weight loss clinic and you want to target "how to lose weight without taking pills," you need to steer clear of things that look like pills, like supplements or shakes.

But supplements and shakes aren't the same as weight loss pills! We know, but BERT might penalize you for it because the searcher wants to go "without pills," which probably means they don't want fat-burning shakes either. So your best bet is to steer clear from those kinds of topics if you're going to keep that focus keyword.

As you help BERT along, you should be focusing on several principles:

Search intent
Topic clusters
Straightforward, useful content
Specific keywords and queries

You should be prioritizing these over past worries like:

Keyword density
Keyword placement
Word count

You can still use these technical approaches, but it's important to remember that BERT is query-focused.

It wants to join together the naturalness of the search query with the human element of your content. That means you can play by all the keyword rules, but if you don't answer the question in a fresh, humanistic way, you won't earn any points with BERT.

Let's Talk Briefly About Search Intent

You know what straightforward, useful content and specific keywords are, but until now, you might not have considered search intent.

Search intent became prominent with the Hummingbird and RankBrank updates, which attempted to understand what the user was looking for and provided things like the Knowledge Panel.

Broadly, searchers generally have one of four intents in a query:

To learn something
To go somewhere
To do something
To get something free

To meet these searchers, you use the interrogatives (the questions) in places like your titles, headers, and descriptions.

These interrogatives can also help you create topic clusters that better cater to searchers.

What are the benefits?

They filter the right pages to the correct search queries. Someone looking for a free trial doesn't want to end up on your premium product page, so you will see lower bounce rates.

You should also score:

More Answer Boxes
Greater reach
Increased page views

Optimizing for intent is probably the only way to optimize for BERT (and Google says you cant). It will also land you more leads in the process.

Are You Ready for BERT?

Google BERT is here. While it's not exactly game-changing for your SEO strategy, it should improve the search experience for everyone. Plus, it could end up sending poorly-written and unfocused websites down the rankings, which is an opportunity for you.

At Siren Digital, we stay on top of all the latest Google algorithm updates, so you don't have to. Do you have a question about SEO, Google ads, or local optimization? Get in touch , and we'll answer your question in 24 hours.

Retargeting Marketing Basics: How to Utilize Retargeting Ads

Tue, 24 Sep 2019 22:12:24 GMT

Did you know that 96% of the people who visit your website aren't ready to purchase? That means that it's up to you to get the 4% of visitors who are ready to buy to purchase an item that you're offering on your shop.

Fortunately, there's a way that you can bring back the visitors that have clicked off of your website without purchasing anything. With the right understanding of retargeting marketing basics , you can bring back customers that were interested in your products.

Your marketing funnel is one of the most important assets that the marketing part of your company has. However, if you want to make sure that you're taking your marketing to the next level , you need to include customer retargeting in your marketing plan.

What exactly is retargeting marketing and how can your business benefit from it? Keep reading to learn more!

What Is Retargeting?

Retargeting allows businesses the ability to keep their products in front of potential customers after they've left your website. With the use of retargeting ads, you're able to persuade your customers to reconsider your products when they're in the need of your services.

By using retargeting campaigns, your company has the ability to target people that were potential customers with customized ads. Plus, retargeting campaigns can help to show your existing customers any new offers that your business is providing.

Never used retargeting ads before? Don't worry! We're going to go through all of the basics of exactly how retargeting marketing works, as well as how you can use this form of marketing to support large goals that you have.

Why Should You Use Retargeting?

Retargeting campaigns benefit both businesses and customers. From the perspective of a business, retargeting can help to produce higher click-through rates.

Did you know that retargeted ads that are on Facebook are 76% more likely to get a click than regular display ads? Leveraging the right retargeting ads with creative, personalized, and direct ads can help to exponentially grow your sales.

If you've been using a one-size-fits-all message on your ads to attract customers, chances are your click-through-rate isn't that high. Think of it this way; if a customer lands on your page where you're selling salon services, they're going to be added to your company's salon services retargeting list.

Once they're on your retargeting list, they'll start seeing ads for your services and receiving beauty-related emails in their inbox. Seeing your services advertised on another website will have customers returning back to your website, creating a sales funnel!

Marketing Basics: Collecting Data for Retargeting

Retargeting advertisements aren't based on the searches that a visitor makes to ensure that the ideal audience views your ads. You can start developing your retargeting ads with the following tips:

What Are the Different Types of Retargeting?

There are two types of retargeting campaigns: list-based and pixel-based. The way that these two retargeting campaigns work are different, but each has its own unique set of advantages it can offer your business based on your advertisement goals.

Pixel

Pixel-based retargeting ads are a way that you can show your products to a visitor who's visited your website anonymously. Out of the two, pixel is the most common type of retargeting marketing.

Whenever someone visits your website, JavaScript (which is often referred to as pixel) pops up on the visitor's website. As an end result, the browser the visitor is using is 'cookied' .

This means that when the visitor visits your website, clicks off, and goes to search along the Internet, the cookie lets retargeting platforms what specific ads to serve the visitors. These ads are chosen based upon the pages that they viewed while they were on your website!

What's the advantage of using pixel-based targeting?

Using pixel-based targeting is that the targeted ads can be shown to the visitor immediately after they finish browsing your website. Plus, the ads are also chosen based on the behaviors the visitor displayed while visiting your site.

The downfall of pixel retargeting is that there aren't as many people using the campaign at one time, since this type of retargeting is all about how often people are visiting your website, how long they're looking at specific pages, and leaving.

List-based

List-based retargeting works after you have access to a customer's information, once it's in your database.

If you have a list of e-mails that your customers use, you can use this list to a retargeting campaign on Facebook. Facebook will then show you all of the accounts that are on their platform, eventually allowing you to serve your advertisements to only those accounts.

List-based retargeting allows you to create highly customizable ads based on the behaviors of your customers. The biggest downfall to list-based ads is that if the e-mail address that they provided you with doesn't match up with the one that they're using for Facebook, they won't see your ads.

Campaign Goals

There are two types of basic goals that you can create when you develop your remarketing campaigns. These goals are:

Conversion

Campaigns based around conversions are for website visitors that are familiar with your brand and the products (or services) that your brand has to offer. However, these visitors may not have committed to purchasing something from your site.

The ultimate goal is to make these visitors commit to an offer on your website, which would cause them to click on the ad, direct them to the page you've linked to, and convert the click to a sale.

The best thing about using a conversion campaign is that you can use it for several different funnels. You can use it for pixel-based advertisements to encourage visitors to visit specific landing pages. As an end result, your customers will give you their information, such as their email address.

You can also use conversion campaigns for list-based ads to encourage potential leads to turn into customers. As an example, you can use a targeted ad to send list-based leads to download an eBook that'll also provide customers with a free trial of your service or a discount to a product.

Awareness

Campaigns surrounding brand awareness are used to let people know about the different products that your website offers. This type of campaign is more generalized, as it's mainly targeted at people who haven't interacted very much with your company.

However, you can use awareness campaigns to bring new customers to your site, who you can eventually use a conversion campaign with!

No matter what the goal of your campaign is, making sure that you're creating a successful campaign is all about audience segmentation. You can segment your audience by:

Time
Behavior
Existing customers

Behavioral Retargeting

There are two different types of behaviors that a customer will display while they're visiting your website. These behaviors include:

Interested
Not interested

When a customer is interested, they'll browse through the content on your website, click through a couple of pages, or may even visit your contact us or about us page. A customer who isn't interested will only spend a few seconds on your website, won't take the time to visit any other pages, and will immediately click off.

Not interested customers don't have high intent, so creating ads that include customers that aren't interested will only add to your overall marketing fees . Plus, serving to not interested customers won't improve your ROI.

However, making sure that you're targeting your ads words interested customers that have a high intent means that your chances of higher profitability will be returned to your company.

You can customize your retargeting by customizing your ads based on the behaviors that people displayed while visiting your website.

Time Retargeting

You can set up ads based on a time frame too! A successful time retargeting campaign is based on three things:

How often a viewer sees a specific ad
The time between when a customer visits your website and when they see the first ad that you've created
The duration that's between when your customers visit your website for the first time and the time they see your last ad

When creating retargeting ads on Facebook , there's a time duration thats selected by default that's selected when a new customer gets added to your retargeting list. This default selection is 30 days. Keep in mind that this cycle will be reset if a visitor ends up visiting your website again with the time duration that you've selected.

Depending upon the campaign that you have set, you can increase the number of days for the cycle. Just keep in the back of your mind that you should be careful not to show your ads too often. This can deter customers from shopping on your website, as it can create a negative perception surrounding your brand.

Showing your ads too frequently to your not-interested customers could completely turn off the possibility of them ever shopping with your website, especially if they've only spent a couple of seconds on your website.

Existing Customers

When's the best time to retarget your existing customers?

Whenever you've updated your pricing, are running a sale, or released a new product! Retargeting existing customers with these types of updates will help encourage customers who aren't very active on your platform to become more active.

No matter what your goals for your ads are, it's important to make sure that you're aligning the creative, positioning, and the next steps of the conversion process.

Optimizing Your Ads

There are several important parts that go into creating a successful display ad. It's effective to have a mix of rich media, videos, and images to keep your audience engaged with your ads.

To make sure that you're developing effective retargeting ads, it's important to make sure that the copy and the image are relevant to whatever product you're trying to grab your website visitors' attention with.

Here are a few tips to make sure that your retargeting ads are properly optimized:

Create an engaging headline. Make sure that the headline is going to an accurate description of what your visitors are going to experience on your website. Find a way to grab the attention of your viewers.
Use the right type of media. Find an appealing statistic, a unique video, or a fun animation to put on your advertisement. Just make sure that the media you're showcasing is relevant to the ad that you're displaying.
Include a CTA that encourages your viewers to click. Make sure that you've designed the CTA to have a personalized, yet actionable phrase.

Successful Retargeting Ads

As with all other forms of marketing, remarketing is something you need to commit to. You may have to keep tweaking your ads to make them the perfect fit for your customers.

Your ultimate goal with retargeting ads is to market to the people who have already shown interest in your products. The better you get to know your audience through marketing basics, the better you can direct them through the marketing funnel for your company.

Posting and running an ad is easy, but the true value that an ad has to hold can be found in your ability to segment and target it. While a generalized ad to reach a bunch of people in your target audience may work, it won't work nearly as well as structured remarketing ads.

Are you looking for other ways to increase the leads your business is generating? Click here to learn more!

6 Cost Effective Marketing Strategies For Small Business

Wed, 04 Sep 2019 12:33:46 GMT

In this post, we'll explore 6 marketing strategies, broken down by cost-effectiveness that small businesses can use to attract more customers.

This blog is specifically designed to make sure that your business has the best marketing strategies implemented regardless of what kind of business you are running – whether B2C or B2B. We are going to tell you the six most effective and proven marketing strategies that our experts highly recommend.

First and foremost, marketing doesn’t require you to have any magical powers. All you need is the drive to make your business successful and efforts in the right direction.

Before implementing a marketing strategy, make sure you known what are your customer demographics? Where they live? What they seek in products? And what motivates them to purchase something?

Now without any further delays let’s jump into some of the best strategies you can use for your small business.

Facebook Advertising

More than 3 million businesses are using Facebook for their business advertisement. Facebook advertising is both effective and inexpensive for marketing purposes and it allows brands and companies to reach virtually everyone when done properly.

How much do Facebook Ads Cost?

This is one of the most common questions we come across, especially since paid only advertising can be a confusing system. Essentially, here's a general guideline of what a solid Facebook Ad looks like in terms of cost. While the range can vary depending on industry, quality, and competition our experience after building over 4,000 Facebook Ads is and average cost of:

$3-$5 for every 1,000 people that see your ad (also known as CPM or Cost Per Viewable Impression)
$1.86 - $2.35 for every 1 click on an ad you get (also known as CPC or Cost Per Click)

If you google average cost of Facebook ads, you'll see lot's of ranges, charts, and data on this, but this is our own internal data, after running thousands of campaigns. So now for the burning question:

Are Facebook Ads Worth It?

The short answer is YES! While we have our own methodology surrounding ad spend, and what's appropriate based on a businesses goals the bottom line is, Facebook Ads (which includes advertising on Instagram) is probably the most cost effective channel of paid advertising that exists. Facebook Ads Are:

Easy To Use & Easy To Track
Very Cheap
Extremely Effective
Affordable On Any Budget

The way your standard Facebook Ad works, is you set a daily budget and a period of time for your ad to run. Let's say you own a local small business and you want to reach potential customers within a 5-10 mile radius of your business. You can set a small $5 per day budget.

If your area is wide enough with enough people, on average, your going to reach about 1,000 people per day with 2-5 clicks minimum depending on your CPC.

So in a 30 day month, you spent $150 to reach over 30,000 people and drove roughly 60-150 new potential customers to your business. Ultimately, it's up to each business to do a little math to ask themselves weather those numbers check out, but for most, the answer will be yes.

Let's look at a quick example: Assume you own a burrito shop. Your Facebook ad is designed to drive in-store traffic. Now, we'll assume your average in store purchase is roughly $12 (accounting for single orders at $8-$9 on the low end, and 2 person orders at $15-$17 on the high end).

If you spent $150 on your ad, and 75 people visited your store to place an order as a result your ROI looks like this:

$12 (Per Order) x 75 (New Customers) = $900 (Revenue) - $150 (Ad Spend) = $750 (Gross Profit)

Gross ROA (Return on Ad Spend) = 500%

This means, for every $1 you spend on Facebook Ads You Get $5 Back

How much will you spend next month?

Google Ads & Microsoft Ads

Google gets more than 40,000 queries every second, every day. There is no other method that has more potential than Google Ads to provide your business with the attention that it deserves, but it does come at a price. The platform is not the cheapest way to market your small business, but it's been around the longest and is a tried and true method. When done properly, it can certainly be a cost effective marketing strategy to have in your arsenal.

How much do Google Ads Cost?

To understand this, you need to understand that Googles Network has 2 parts. The search network and the display network. Ads on the search network will typically cost between $1-2 per click, while clicks on the display network average about $1.

However, unlike it's biggest competition, Facebook Ads, Google Ads work differently and require (in most cases) a much larger budget to be effective. When you run an ad on social media, your reaching people in a more general sense. When you run search ads especially, your reaching people that are actively searching for your product or service just right then. We call this the Zero Moment.

Are Google Ads Worth It?

Because Google Search Ads are more active than passive, you can expect more clicks and impressions a lot faster, and as such, you will usually burn through a smaller budget much quicker than through Facebook ads. Because you will usually see higher clicks, you don't have the extra budget to pay for the impression side of things through the day without a bigger budget.

For this reason, Google Ads are extremely effective and in some cases better suited for certain industries, but they typically come with a higher cost to be effective than other methods. That being said, the formula we used above doesn't change. If you can get $5 back for every $1 you spend, then budget becomes less and less of an issue.

***Pro Tip - If you are new to Google Ads, it may be in your best interest to pay a little extra to hire a professional Google Ads management company to help, because of it's complex nature.

Organic Search & Social Media

The word Organic gets thrown around in our industry a lot. In it's basic form, were referring to being seen or found online, with content you didn't have to pay to promote. On e cannot deny the importance of social media and organic SEO for small business marketing because hey.... It's free right?

Yes, being found organically is free, but before you read this and decide this is your best bet, understand, that every other business in the world thinks the same thing. Because of that, this is the most competitive space to advertise or marketing your business. I mean, who doesn't want to be #1 on Google or Have 2 million Instagram followers.

Understand that while it can be done, and there is no paid advertising cost, building a strong Organic presence online takes time, patience, experience, Time TIME and TIME . So while you may be thinking, this is the obvious way to go, I'll tell you that after building over 500 SEO campaigns and Organic Social Media profiles in our lifetime, it can actually cost a lot more long-term than paid ads.

So is it worth it? 100% Yes, but you really need to understand the patience required. With the right strategy, you can get $20, $40, $400 back or more for every $1 you invest in Organic marketing, and it pays further dividends beyond that. But it requires a much higher cost up front with less of a ROI out of the gate than paid ads.

Content Marketing & Inbound

Content Marketing (AKA Inbound Marketing) is the concept of using high quality content to attract new customers through permission based selling.

To make this concept EXTREMELY SIMPLE. Here are the facts.

Inbound Marketing & Content Marketing is going to have the single highest overall return on investment for any company on the planet period.
At the same time, to do it properly, requires a high commitment of time, which cost money. In addition, to really leverage it to it's potential, you'll need planning and in most cases marketing automation (making your inbound content, SEO, Paid Ads, CRM, Sales Enablement, and Customer Service, all work together)
Most small businesses that think they are ready for this are not. It doesn't mean you shouldn't do it, but content marketing isn't a DIY thing. It takes in most cases, a professional, or more likely a team to make it work.
Before starting any content marketing strategy, you have to have a plan and a playbook which should take no shorter than 3-12 weeks of research to create.

You can expect to pay in most cases a $1,000 - $15,000 / month retainer for the brainpower, plus automation software costs, plus costs for the content itself. Then to really push it out, you'll need email, paid ads, social media, and good SEO.

However, companies that adopt this model and drink the proverbial Kool-Aid, are the most successful overall. A true content marketing and inbound strategy encompasses all of the 5 other channels above and makes them work together.

More than a return on ad spend, companies that adopt this method of marketing usually throw out numbers in OVERALL NOT JUST REVENUE GROWTH in ranges like 400% - 1,200% and that's normal, not one off case studies.

In summary, we rank these 6 strategies in order of lowest to highest cost as follows:

Facebook Ads are the most cost effective, and they work. There is no reason a small business shouldn't have a minimal Facebook Ad Budget.
Google Ads & Microsoft Ads are moderately cost effective. They usually require a slightly higher budget, but when done properly, are incredibly effective and can skyrocket your small business.
Organic Media like SEO and Social Media are one of the most effective strategies on the planet. They always work. Beyond initial returns, organic media pays an incalculable amount of dividends.
Inbound & Content Marketing is the culmination of all other strategies rolled into one. While the cost is high, the returns are unmatched v.s. any other form of marketing that exists.

Our advice as always, is to do a little homework , and remember, as a business owner, your time has a $ value and should always be considered. Live long and grow : ).

How does social media marketing actually help your business?

Thu, 01 Aug 2019 17:19:43 GMT

It's quite simple... Money follows attention!

If you want proof, ask yourself this... Why would a company spend as much a $4 million dollars a month to advertise their brand on the largest billboard in Times Square, New York?

You guessed it. Money follows attention. And that fact is why Social Media Marketing can be so powerful, especially for small and medium sized businesses that don't have $4 million / month ad budgets. By the way, if you do have a $4 million dollar ad budget, our team can be reached 24/7 at (651) 760-7888.

Social Media platforms give you access to at least 2 billion people every single day. Now, of course you can't just join snapchat or instagram and instantly reach that many people, but like anything worth doing, study and practice make perfect. So let's dive in.

How does social media marketing help your business?

All businesses no matter how big or small they are, need brand awareness. You can have the greatest product or service in the world, and if no one knows about it, no one is going to buy it. People will never admit it, but they love to buy things from people they can trust. The more awareness you raise, the more attention you get, the more exposure your brand has. So the formula is

Brand Awareness = Trust = Sales

In this perspective, social media outperforms most marketing channels by a long shot for a number of reasons. It's doesn't cost anything to post organically on social media. Also, VERY IMPORTANT, when done properly, it's non-intrusive, meaning individuals choose to pay attention to you or not, which is how every consumer, business person and individual on the planet makes buying decisions these days.

Taking that one step further, the ability to advertise on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have proven to generate extensive amount customer traffic along with being cost-effective. According to a study, 97% of marketing managers focus on social media platforms, particularly Facebook, to reach their target audience.

The average CPM for Facebook ads (cost per 1,000 people that see your ad) across all industries is $1.86. That means, that even if you run a super simple ad (who you are, what you do, here's our website), you can expose 10,000 people to your companies brand for $18.60.

Hopefully, your starting to get the picture. Essentially, any business no matter the size can spend very little time and money to grow through social media simply by letting people know who you are. In addition:

Social Media is Engaging

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. are extensively used by brands to market their products, but more importantly, the best of them use social media to help their customers.

Remember, what makes a business successful is simple problem solving. I.E. smart phones are actually dumb, Apple invents the iPhone and changes our world forever.

One of the reasons why this happens is that people are more responsive on social media than other mediums. Secondly, as an alternative to other channels like SEO, search, and traditional advertising, people aren't always looking to buy something just right now.

Sometimes you have to capture peoples attention first. In fact, in any given market, only 5% of the entire market share is ready to buy today. 85% that will buy haven't even heard of your product yet, but will most likely take action within, or be ready to buy within 90 days or so.

If you post on social media with the intent of engaging with your audience, you will succeed. PRO TIP: Content doesn't need to be perfect, it just needs to be authentic.

Maintaining a consistent brand image

Despite there being so many options online marketing, nothing beats the content that is posted on social media platforms. Because their is no limit to how much you can post, or how active you can be, a business can control their brand image, keep things consistent, and get real time feedback from their customers. We'll cover some ways to do this in a later post so as to stay on point.

But your brands image is important and if you use social media to control the narrative, it allows you to stay agile, pivot when needed, and overshadow other areas where maintaining a good and consistent brand is more expensive or takes longer to keep up to date.

Generating Traffic With Micro-Content

If you take away one lesson from this post, please remember this. TLDR - which stands for to long, didn't read. No one and I mean no one reads everything online word for word. In fact, I bet you just skimmed the headers of this to see if you were even interested in reading it before you jumped in.

For sooooooooooo many businesses, this is a really misunderstood concept, and social media marketing can help fix it naturally.

Many products / services, ect... have more depth to them than a catchy headline and an image. Not all, but enough and this probably applies to most people reading this. With social media, you can use micro content (a snippet of the best parts) of what you want to connect with people about to capture peoples attention before forcing them to read a long blog post like this, or a landing page, or sales page of your website.

By deploying this, you'll find that you not only generate more traffic to your other content, but the traffic you do generate is much more likely to convert, or take a specific action, because you gave them the opportunity to take a pass in the beginning using highlights v.s. cramming content down their throat from the get go.

So let's recap, in case you skipped to the end. Social media marketing a business access to billions of potential customers worldwide on a daily basis.

This is important because we know money follows attention.

Getting peoples attention builds brand awareness which increases trust. Increasing trust by establishing your brands image means people are more likely to pay attention to you.

The more people pay attention to you and trust a business, the more engaged the customer base will be.

The more choice you give an engaged audience that trusts you and pays attention to you, the more effective the entire footprint of a business becomes both online and off.

And all of this combined, which starts with connecting to people on social media, will lead to increased sales, happier customers and more referrals to your business.

Spend or Save: Are Google Ads Worth It?

Mon, 01 Jul 2019 17:57:54 GMT

Any small business struggles to become profitable. Depending on your market, you could expect to be in the red for at least three years . That's a lot of lost time and capital.

But what if you could accelerate the growth of your small business? In the right hands, Google Ads is a wildly popular service that could jumpstart your profitability. Although you've probably heard of it before, is Google Ads worth it for a small business?

And what are Google Ads anyway?

What are Google Ads?

If you've ever searched on Google for anything -- and we know you have -- then you've encountered Google Ads. It's a pay-per-click advertising system with two distinct components. With pay-per-click advertising, you pay each time a user clicks on your ad.

Google Ads operates through the Google Search Network and the Display Network.

You're likely familiar with the first component. Has a user searched for your keyword? Then your advertisement will appear at the top of the search. For this to work, you'll have to bid on the keyword in question.

The second component runs through the Google Display Network. The Display Network doesn't advertise during a Google search. Instead, it presents advertisements such as banner and video ads directly on targeted sites.

The Display Network is comprehensive and pervasive. According to Google, it reaches 90% of worldwide internet users.

Using Google Ads

It all starts with a Google Ads account . Google will first ask you to decide on a campaign type. Along with the Search and Display Network, you'll have the option of a shopping, video, or universal app campaign.

Then you'll decide on the goal of the campaign, whether you are looking to generate leads, sales, or traffic to your website.

In the next step, you'll outline the methods you'll use to achieve that goal. This could be as simple as directing users to your landing page. But Google also has more complex options, such as generating phone calls or app downloads.

But let's focus on the important part: the bidding strategy. If you want to set a maximum cost-per-click for your advertisements, select Manual CPC bidding.

Otherwise, you can select the Maximize Clicks option. But be careful. This automated system could burn through your budget.

After setting your budget and delivery method, you'll select keywords. This provides a good traffic estimate along with its typical CPC price.

And now the parameters are set. For the last step, you'll actually create your advertisements with Google's in-browser system. When that's done, you can immediately launch and monitor your campaign.

Is Google Ads Worth It?

There's no denying that Google Ads can be an expensive luxury. However, an intelligent advertisement campaign can lead to some worthwhile results. For the right small business, Google Ads can accelerate growth and drive sales.

Make sure your website is in good shape before opting for a Google Ads campaign. You may drive traffic, sure, but you'll be paying for clicks that lead to a massive bounce rate. That money would be better spent on a website redesign.

With that out of the way, why is Google Ads a good choice for a small business? We'll show you.

1. Test Your Messaging

Google Ads is an automated service. After creating your campaign, your advertisements will start appearing for users. There's no paperwork, no waiting period, and no contract.

This allows your small business to be more experimental. For one, you can test the efficacy of your campaign. If your Ads campaign appears successful, you may want to consider expanding into Facebook ads with the same strategy.

But what if it's not working out? Then you'll be able to make changes to your advertising strategy or just cancel the PPC program with a click of a button.

2. Reach Your Target Customer

The right keywords are everything. If you anticipate the search habits of an ideal customer, you can catch them right before they make a purchase. Let's say your company sells winter coats.

A potential customer may Google a phrase such as, "buy winter coats." That's an opportunity to generate a sale and a returning customer. Many companies target SEO keywords for the same purpose. When your SEO can't compete, you can still appear above your competition with Google Ads.

If you're a roofing company, it'd be a waste to pay for clicks made by people on the other side of the country. Since Ads also allows you to target based on location, you have more control over who sees your advertisements.

3. Advertise to Multiple Demographics

As important as SEO may be, it is not the answer to everything. You're limited by the space and quantity of your blog posts. To gain any chance of success, you'll have to devote yourself to a specific set of keywords.

This can present a problem for companies with varying target demographics. Let's say your company sells a durable body camera. Your customers might include outdoor enthusiasts but also police and security detail.

Google Ads provides the flexibility you need. Your SEO strategy likely can't make meaningful progress by targeting both demographics simultaneously. But the Ads campaign could include keywords that target both.

4. Personalize Results

Technically, your company landing page should be optimized to convert. But maybe your analytics suggest a different page has a higher conversion rate for a certain type of customer.

Rather than having every keyword lead to the same landing page, Google Ads gives you the control to separate them. This is beneficial if your company sells several products or products for different demographics.

Personalized results have better conversation rates.

The Right Campaign Leads to the Right Results

So back to the question at hand: Is Google Ads worth it? Any small business could benefit from an Ads campaign, provided the campaign is properly managed. From precise targeting to message strategy, this PPC system provides some serious ROI in the right hands.

But if you're a small business owner, you probably don't have time to learn about intelligent advertisement campaigns.

We at Siren Digital can help. Our team of Google Ads experts is ready to provide custom strategies for your small business. Learn more about our Google Ads management services and see what we can do for your small business.

Let There Be Leads: How to Design a Lead Generation Website

Sat, 01 Jun 2019 17:52:27 GMT

According to Forbes , website visitors spend two minutes on a page before moving on. You need to be ready to make those two minutes count!

With an optimized lead generation website, you can attract potential customers, increase brand awareness, and ultimately boost sales.

Grow your company with these 10 strategies for developing a lead generation website.

1. Reve Up Research

Before you can attract website leads, you need to know who you're trying to attract first. With the proper research, you can develop a lead generation website designed specifically for your target audience.

First, determine who your customers are. Dive into the details, including demographics and buying habits. Once you know their age, gender, household income, and interests, you can use that information to craft your message.

Next, take a look at your current website analytics.

Which pages are already performing the best? By analyzing the current performance of your website, you can determine what's already working—and use that information to your advantage.

Using this research, you can design headlines, page content, and a call-to-action (CTA) that appeals to your customers.

2. Formulate Your Forms

According to this report, 50 percent of marketers say inbound marketing methods, including forms, are their main source of leads.

A difficult-to-navigate form, however, can scare visitors off your website.

First, make sure there's an opportunity for website visitors to convert into leads on every page. A well-designed lead generation website provides visitors numerous methods for converting.

That can include a form, a click-to-call phone number, or a download button.

Make sure these buttons are prominent. Use an eye-catching color to attract visitors towards these lead generation opportunities.

For your form, keep it sweet and simple. A long and daunting form can leave visitors feeling too tired to reach the end. This can cause you to lose leads when you're so close to snagging them.

Finally, make sure these lead generators are mobile-friendly. That way, you can generate leads on mobile devices as well as desktop computers.

3. Consider the Conversion Path

When you're designing your lead generation website, consider how customers are interacting with the website content.

If you're using search engine optimized blog posts to attract visitors, make sure those blog posts feature a form. You can also use a plug-in so the form floats on the side of the page even as visitors read.

That way, you maximize your lead generation opportunities.

Put a strong, compelling CTA (more on this below) at the end of each blog post as well. That way, you can remind visitors about what you have to offer them and encourage them to fill out the form.

Once someone fills out a form, they should land on an attractive thank you page.

You can finish off this conversion path with a confirmation email, too. These emails can improve engagement rates and bring visitors back to your website later on.

Once you consider the conversion path, you can build a website that's optimized to perform at its best.

4. Kick Up CTAs

Your call-to-action uses verb-oriented language to encourage visitors to take action.

This action can include filling out a form, chatting with a representative, or making an online purchase. Each of these actions improves engagement while improving your lead generation, too.

Make sure your CTAs are placed in prominent locations on your website. This can include the top navigation bar or footer.

CTAs should also appear in bright colors that contrast with your website's background.

Try using white space to help these buttons stand out even more. That way, you can improve clicks and conversions on your lead generation website.

5. Add Value

Offer customers value with ebooks or other downloadable content. Then, request they fill out a form so you can email them the downloadable.

By providing this content, you're reminding visitors your company is a valuable resource in your industry.

6. Go Live with Live Chat

Adding a live chat feature to your lead generation website can also improve engagement.

Live chat shows visitors you're available and willing to help. It can also help you generate immediate results and fresh leads.

7. Talk Up Testimonials

Testimonials are another great lead generation strategy to show visitors your company's value.

Use these testimonials to show visitors why your business is the best in the business. You can also create a CTA encouraging visitors to post their own reviews.

That way, you're improving your content, attracting new leads, and boosting engagement from happy customers, too!

8. Nurture Every Lead

Now you're attracting new leads. Awesome!

The next step is to nurture these leads into paying customers.

Make sure to follow up on these leads with a nurturing email. You can use these emails to offer relevant content and value, which can encourage leads to further interact with your company.

These nurturing emails also guide your new leads through the purchasing funnel.

That way, you can encourage your leads to make a purchase to grow your business.

9. Test It All Out

Once you start implementing these lead generation website strategies, test them all out.

For example, you can A/B test different button colors or CTA language to see which is most effective in attracting leads. Make sure to only test one change at a time. That way you can determine which change is actually making an impact.

10. Optimize Everything

As you test out each element of your lead generation website and landing pages, you'll begin to develop a good idea of what your website visitors like and react to most.

That doesn't mean you're done!

Make sure you continue updating your website to optimize leads. What works today might not work for your customers six months from now.

After all, digital marketing strategies are constantly changing. By keeping up with the times, you can optimize your website to perform at its best and bring in those leads!

Amplify Your Audience: 10 Strategies for a Lead Generation Website

With these 10 strategies, you can amplify your audience with a stunning lead generation website! With more website traffic and new leads, you can boost brand awareness, sales, and so much more.

Give our blog a visit for more effective digital marketing strategies.

How to Run Facebook Ads like a Pro (And Why You Should)

Wed, 01 May 2019 17:45:15 GMT

About one-third of the world's population is on Facebook. If you want to reach a massive audience with your products or services, Facebook ads are the way to go.

However, if you want your ads to be successful, you have to know how to run a Facebook ad. For first time users, the process can appear complicated.

Keep reading to find out how to create Facebook ads so you can start growing your business and reaching a wider audience.

Why Use Facebook Ads

Before we jump into how to do Facebook ads, let's quickly go over two of the biggest reasons you'd want to do this. These are in addition to the wide audience that you'll be reaching.

Extreme Customization

You can narrow down your target audience by numerous factors. This can help ensure that you're only advertising to people that will actually be interested in your business.

You can target customers based on:

Age
Gender
Location
Marital status
Interests

You can also be so specific as to choose people who have liked or interacted with certain groups or pages. This can be a great way to target people that already know who you are.

Cost Effective

Compared to most other digital advertising options , running Facebook ads will be less expensive. Your ad cost will be even lower as you create a more targeted ad because Facebook knows it will be more effective.

Plus, because you set your own budget, you can spend as much or as little as you'd like. This allows you to save money by limiting how much is spend per day or per ad campaign.

How to Run a Facebook Ad

Now let's look at the three steps you need to follow to run a Facebook ad. As you'll see, there are a few additional steps within each one, but it's important to follow each to completion to be as successful as possible.

1. Strategize

Before you jump into creating an ad, you need to make sure you have a plan for it. You never want to set up an ad campaign without a clear goal for your advertisement.

First, consider what you want to accomplish with your ad. Do you want to sell a specific product, or get views on one of your company's videos? Do you want more likes on your company's page or raise brand awareness?

Once you know your primary goal, you'll need to know exactly what you're going to be promoting to your audience. This could be a specific product or service you offer, or your company itself.

If you don't already know who your target audience is, you'll want to take some time to create a buyer persona . This will help you determine your target audience while setting up the ad campaign.

2. Create Your Ad

When you have your strategy in place, creating the ad itself will be a breeze. Simply follow the steps as Facebook gives them to you and you'll soon have your ad up and running.

Here are the steps Facebook will take you through:

Choose your marketing objective
Narrow down your target audience
Decide where you want your ads to appear
Set your lifetime or daily budget
Pick the format you'd like your ads to have
Fill in additional details to customize your ad

As you can see, the more time you spend on strategizing, the less time you'll need to spend on the ad creation itself since you'll just be plugging in the information as you go.

What's great about the budgeting section is you can spend as much or as little as you'd like on your advertisements. This is particularly helpful if you're a small business with a limited marketing budget.

When choosing the ad format, keep in mind that the best conversions are seen with video ads and those with eye-catching images. So, whenever possible, advertise with a video or images.

Don't forget to spend some extra time on those little details, either. These can include customizing a call-to-action which can encourage more audience engagement. It also ensures the ad is sending people to the correct webpage.

3. Analyze Results

You never want to just set your ads and forget them. You always want to make sure you're getting a good return on your investment and that your ads are doing their job.

Check on your ad results every day to make sure you're getting conversions. If an ad isn't performing as well as you'd hoped, you may need to tweak it to get it to do better or take it off and try something else completely.

If you have an ad that's performing particularly well, you may want to increase the budget on it to reach a wider audience. You'll also want to try to figure out what aspect of it is working well so you can replicate it in future ad campaigns.

Split Testing

An easy way to analyze results is to do split testing. Fortunately, Facebook has this feature built into it, though it is limited compared to other split testing tools. Even so, it's certainly worth using if you want to split test some of your ads.

To run a split test with Facebook ads, click that box after choosing your ad's objective. You can then choose which variable you want to use, whether it's your audience, ad placement, or delivery optimization.

From there, you'll set up how each ad will vary from the other. From there, you'll be able to set up your ad like normal and can start seeing how well each one performs.

Need Help with Social Media Ads?

Now you know how to run a Facebook ad. Hopefully, you have everything you need to start growing your business through social media advertising.

If you need help maximizing the impact of your social media posts, contact us today . We'd be more than happy to provide you with the help you need to ensure every ad you place gives you a great return on your investment.

Major Player: 7 Game-Changing Small Business SEO Tips for 2019

paul@sirendigital.co (Paul McIntosh) — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 11:36:28 GMT

Google receives over 63,000 searches per second on any given day. 30% of these searches that originate from a mobile device are directly related to a location.

Most small businesses operate in a small, geographical area. 72% of consumers who do a local search visited a business within five miles. All it takes to work out what your potential reach could be is simple math.

These numbers don't lie.

Small business SEO is a different game — are you ready to be a significant player? Here are seven tips that make a world of difference in 2019.

General Small Business SEO Explanation

Most business owners and marketers are familiar with SEO (search engine optimization) and the basics of the process itself.

Simply put, if you want people to find your business through a Google search, then SEO needs to be a priority in your efforts. You will never generate authentic, online leads if your business can't be found.

Small, local businesses need online visibility for their business growth. Online local marketing is a foundation for ranking success. Small business SEO will help build your brand awareness because most search engine users are likely to trust a site that appears on the first page of search results than brands who don't.

Your SEO strategy and success will assist in building a strong web presence, gaining an advantage over your competition and procuring new customers. Here's how you do it:

1. Keywords Keywords Keywords

Shall we say it again? Keywords.

Small businesses need to do keyword research as much as the big guys out there.

Do competitor research and see what phrases and keywords are used throughout their site and specifically the ones that are applicable to your small business as well. And steal your competitor's keywords.

Basically, keyword research discovers the actual search terms that potential customers would type into a search engine. The keywords you decide on should ultimately reflect your products, services, information and the answers you have to your customer's problems.

2. Produce High-Quality Content, Everywhere

Your website needs to be updated. And often. If you've got a site that's been the same since you built it, then your SEO ranking is probably not where it should be.

Driving more traffic to your website and increases its performance and popularity means you have to give visitors a reason to keep coming back. New and old visitors are important to increasing your website rankings.

Think of these three words to drive your content strategy:

High-Quality
Relevant
Regular

If the content you're posting on your small business' website checks these three boxes, then you're on way to attracting new online visitors.

If your content is good, then they will spend more time on your site, which in turn increases the stats that ramp up your rankings.

Websites that post highly informative content will have visitors who spend more time on their pages. It's about what you post.

Having said that, your content strategy needs to tie in with your keyword research. Make sure your keywords make regular appearances throughout your published content.

3. Prioritize Mobile Optimization

Consumers spend more than 5 hours a day on their smartphone. In 2019, 16% of US internet users will use a mobile phone exclusively to go online.

This means that the move of consumers to exclusive web usage on mobile is imminent. You need to make sure that your website is optimized for viewing on mobile.

Most searchers will exit a site if it is too difficult to read and navigate on their smartphone or tablet.

SEO for small business needs to include mobile optimization. Speak to your developer and make sure that your website is intuitive and easily interchangeable between devices. It will mean the difference between a simple website visitor and a qualified lead.

4. Use Outbound and Inbound Links

Outbound links are a great way to increase the credibility of your content and your website. If you quote facts to back up your content, then use these to link to the relevant, authoritative website that you found them on.

Links to resources from before 2009 will be irrelevant, so make sure the links you use are to more recent information.

Once you've chosen your outbound links, make sure you use the content within your website to link to other pages on your website. This will assist in keeping your visitor on your website for longer, particularly if they don't have to navigate to other sections on your site manually, and you've done the hard work for them.

5. Encourage Social Media Sharing

Make your website content shareable for social media in the easiest possible way, and then encourage it. We're sure by now that your website is active on at least one social media channel. Use this to your SEO advantage.

You can improve your SEO ranking by having people share links to your website on their social media.

Include share icons on all of your content, so with one simple click, a visitor can share your content or your product with their audience as well.

6. Optimize URLs and Meta Descriptions

There's something to be said about URL descriptions that contain hundreds of numbers and letters, and the content itself is not reflected in the URL name.

Make sure that the name of your URL has your title keywords in it, so it is easily readable and actually correlates to the content on that page.

Once you've done that, focus on the text description that shows up under the URL name: the meta description .

Make your Meta description descriptive, unique and short. Summarizing your content in your meta description with the right wording can convert a scroller to a website visitor.

7. Look Into Google Business

Google Business will allow you to create a business profile that appears right at the moment when people are searching for your business on Google or on Google Maps.

Capitalizing on this resource is paramount for small business SEO success. Use the resource to your advantage, make sure you keep your profile up to date and relevant and we guarantee it will aid in your SEO endeavors.

Small Business SEO Success

If you are in search of small business SEO success, then you've just read the right article. Take all 7 steps, and navigate through them.

Pay attention to detail and take your time when building your SEO strategy.

Remember, your SEO strategy needs to evolve. So what you do today will need to be kept regular and up to date, and your strategy might change over time. SEO is a journey, so good luck.