Crafting a Successful Digital Brand in the New York Market

Crafting a Successful Digital Brand in the New York Market

by Digital Marketing

Over 8.4 million people are swarming the streets of New York City every single day. To say that there is a lot of human interaction is a massive understatement. If you want to stand out with a new digital brand targeting even a minor segment of this population, you’re going to need all the help you can get.

Every digital marketing effort we propose from Griffon Webstudios is tailored to the unique needs of our clients. While we work and grow in NYC, it certainly helps to adjust how your strategy for online promotion will work. We suggest starting with:

 

1. Social media

Using eye-catching videos and visuals helps differentiate your brand from the competition. Given the vast sea of content available, you want to go with TikTok, Facebook, X, and Instagram. How we help is by promoting these networks through ads and organic optimization that includes tying back to your website so when you do go viral, you’re ready.

2. PPC Ads

When it comes to digital marketing, few methods are as direct and quantifiable as Pay-per-click (PPC). The beauty of PPC lies in the power of precise keyword targeting. By harnessing long-tail keywords such as “pizza in Lower Manhattan” or “apartment to buy in Brooklyn,” marketers can achieve a sniper-like focus on their audience.

3. Gamification

New York is tough to succeed in without some slant or angle to your marketing efforts. You need to inform and entertain your target audience. Gamification, or the art of turning marketing campaigns into rewarding games, fits the bill perfectly. Make every ad, post, and content page a game or adventure for viewers to enjoy. Take them on a journey, and you’ll gain way more interest.

72% of overall marketing budgets get put towards digital marketing channels.- Wordstream

4. Word of Mouth: Customer Referral Programs

New Yorkers love the insider knowledge of personal referrals. Despite the digital transformation, the age-old word-of-mouth retains its potent charm. People will put more trust capital into your online brand when you integrate some form of customer referral program. Something as simple as a 10% off coupon for throwing a friend your way can do a lot for your bottom line.

5. Email Automation

Right along with referral programs is getting the news out about your specific offers through email automation. The trick lies in segmenting your audience and continually growing your email list. Businesses can maintain consistent customer engagement by crafting high-quality mailers that resonate and add genuine value. Most importantly, you can scale quickly. That way, when your pop-up noodle shop gets big on Instagram, your email automation schedule goes into hyperdrive to respond to demand.

6. Geolocation/Local SEO

In the city that never sleeps, time is of the essence. When anyone does a search for “nearby hotdog stands,” they don’t want to search through endless web pages related to Montreal, San Francisco, or Dallas, Texas. You need to integrate local SEO keywords throughout your website content, so you are easily identifiable as a locally run NYC business.

Need Help?

Building a robust digital presence in New York’s fiercely competitive market is no small feat. However, success is within reach with the right strategies and a keen understanding of the local audience. Behind every workable digital marketing strategy is an expert team, like Griffon Webstudios, that can leverage modern SEO techniques, social media platforms, and precise targeting to transform your online advertising, making your brand shine brighter in the Big Apple.

Contact us today, and let’s develop a unique strategy tailored to your business, audience, and local insights. As a New York-based business, we understand your challenges ahead and can help improve your odds of succeeding in the Big Apple.

 

NFTs Explained - How Is It Beneficial For Businesses?

NFT Explained – How is it Beneficial for Businesses?

by Blockchain

It is impossible to read any technology news or financial article and not have the phrase NFT come across at some point. What may have started as a trend a couple of years ago has exploded into a new realm of importance thanks to the proliferation of cryptocurrency and the Metaverse name change from Facebook. Now, if you want to stay current with modern business trends, you need to understand the ins and outs of NFTs for businesses.

 

What are NFTs?

NFT stands for a non-fungible token, which is a fancy term for something that is one of a kind. Think of it like this: a dollar bill can be traded for another dollar bill; in fact, that is what our economy is based on. This is a fungible token, an item that can be exchanged for exactly the same thing.

 

An NFT is one of a kind. It is like owning a Babe Ruth baseball card signed by The Babe and attached to a ticket for a specific seat for his last game. This is a one-of-a-kind package. There may be similar items, but nothing matching that exact thing – thus non-fungible.

 

How do NFTs Work?

Most NFTs are part of the Ethereum blockchain. This gets technical quick, but the idea is that Ethereum is like Bitcoin. It is a cryptocurrency built using a specific ledger of transactions supported by algorithmic equations (i.e., the blockchain). Users post, buy, sell, and trade NFTs in marketplaces supported by this technology and use the blockchain as evidence to verify they own the NFT in question. Kind of like authentication for the Babe Ruth baseball card, but in this case, the blockchain is the expert giving the assessment and not some random pawn shop owner.

 

 

NFTs can be anything as long as you have a proper right to the creation. You can draw your own funny-looking cat, use a snippet of audio, video, or photo to create an NFT. They are a way to make money, and that is where the hype comes into play, especially over the past years during Covid 19.

 

So many artists, musicians, and trading houses have been stuck at home are have been incredibly happy to join in the rush to buy and sell NFTs. That is why you see some celebrities and well-known artists suddenly making millions from selling a single NFT. Consumers are willing to pay a lot of money for an original digital creation that they can lay claim to from now to eternity. Just like owning a Picasso gains in value over time, so will owning NFTs.

 

What About NFTs for Businesses?

Now for the nitty-gritty. How can NFTs benefit your business operations? For only a couple hundred dollars, your brand can mint and sell a series of NFTs based on your logo, catchphrases, mascots, and other related features that your audience loves. Loyal customers who want to enjoy a Starbucks coffee every day are willing to pay a ton of money for the NFT rights to the coffee cup’s official logo or digital art.

 

This is essentially just another avenue for growing revenue as a business. Disney is an excellent example of this new trend. They periodically release a set of NFTs related to Star Wars, The Simpsons, or their traditional Fab Five (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, Goofy). From Luke Skywalker to the funny-looking two-legged droid in the latest release of The Book of Boba Fett on Disney Plus, each character has value as a digital piece of art that can be sold for thousands to millions of dollars.

 

NFTs provide a direct pathway to a younger audience that can be attracted to the idea of the Metaverse and blockchain-related goods/services. Securing your own brand’s digital assets in preparation for a future when complete customer interactions can be done via an avatar in the immersive virtual space of the Metaverse is not a whacky idea, but a valid plan for the future. There is a good chance we will see complete worlds being launched and developed for people to work, live, and play all from the convenience of their living room couch and an Oculus Rift or similar VR device.

 

The writing is already on the digital wall. When you have major brands like the NBA, NFL, Nike, Disney, Marvel, and more leading the charge for adopting NFTs into daily use, you may want to pay attention.

 

How Does a Business Sell NFTs?

NFTs for businesses is about the same as they are for individuals. You start by selecting a marketplace appropriate for your brand. The more popular ones include OpenSea, Axie Marketplace, Rarible, SuperRare, and Mintable.

 

Once your brand has signed up and created an account, you’ll need to “mint” your NFT. This means turning your digital file into a crypto collectible available on the Ethereum blockchain. Most marketplaces include a step-by-step guide to get you started on minting your first NFT.

 

Finally, you need to fund your NFT using a cryptocurrency wallet. This is giving real value to your digital asset. Again, read the fine print of the marketplace you’re using, and they’ll tell you which wallet to use and how much USD you’ll need to convert to mint your NFT.

 

After all that is complete, you’ll be allowed to list your NFT for sale. This will include “gas fees,” which are network fees for recording the transactions.

 

Before you launch, be sure to use Twitter, Reddit, and Instagram to blast your following with the details of the expected sale. The more upfront marketing you can do before the actual sale, the more the value of the NFT will grow and the higher your ROI.

 

Where to Get Started

This whole NFTs for businesses process may seem overwhelming, but it is more of a conceptual problem than a physical one. Pick any of the marketplaces we’ve listed, and you’ll find all the info needed to succeed in the NFT world.

 

If you are looking for more bespoke help, try our experts at Griffon Webstudios. We have the experience and technical knowledge to transform your brand, original art, or other digital assets into viable NFTs for listing. Reach out to our contact page today to schedule a consultation with our experts.

 

Tips-to-Choose-the-Best-Webdesign-Company-in-New-York

Tips To Choose The Best Web Design Company

by Website Development

As a web design company in New York, we see our fair share of website monstrosities. Sloppy design, low-resolution imagery, terrible user interface, the list goes on and on.

We understand the desire to shape your online presence on your own. Creating with the best of intentions. Unfortunately, the end result seldom represents the quality of the company. Web design companies exist to deliver an end result you can be proud of. A website worthy of carrying the company name. In the search for the right web design company, these are the things to consider.

Web design

Building a website requires insight into the operation of the operating company. Each design is created to capture the essence of the company that the online space is emulating. In short, a well-designed website operates within the confines of the requirements provided.

By addressing and assessing these requirements you can focus on creating a personalized online presence that suits your needs and desires. Different purposes can often shape fundamental building blocks of the website.

With overall purpose informing each detail. From presentation to operation. The intended audience plays a significant part in interface and design. Creating a cohesive and comprehensive interface remains at the forefront of every design. The goal is to serve all audiences regardless of computer competency in order to maximize interaction.

Website Development

The design is merely a starting point. Development is required to grow and sustain. Remaining current and embracing the online space is crucial for continued success. Amassing an audience can be a slow process, build quality content to encourage repeat interaction.

Removing the hurdles for customers should be your primary focus. eCommerce websites rely heavily on simplistic design with a personalized touch. Leaving customers with a feeling that the company and product are unique to them. This fosters a relationship between company and consumer. Keep that relationship strong by improving their overall experience.   

Most modern website designs incorporate scalable builds for mobile interface. The frustration of perusing a website ill-formatted for mobile use is no longer acceptable considering their universal usage. All of these factors come into play when planning your website.

Adaptability is crucial in the online space. Innovations are released at a rapid pace with trends exploding onto the scene. Remaining current keeps your audience engaged and happy. Resulting in continued usage while building a reputation for dependability. 

Choose the Best Web Design Firm

The art of web design is capturing the beauty in purpose. Building every element in support of the whole. Achieving the vision of the company and offering proper representation in the online space.

Griffon Webstudios prides in our ability to create personalized websites for our clients. Built on years of dedication mastering our craft. Still filled with the hunger to learn more to maintain our status as the premier web design specialist. We cater to the requirements of businesses big and small. We are honored by the trust placed in our ability.   

How-to-engage-your-clients-in-B2B-Marketing

How to engage your potential clients in B2B Marketing?

by Digital Marketing

The B2B marketing world is constantly changing and the B2B SEO strategy and B2B SEO tools that worked for you in the past are now outdated. If your company doesn’t manage to find a way to keep up with the latest B2B marketing trends, it will get left behind and fail.

Whatever those new trends bring, you still need to figure out how to use them to engage potential clients into using your products and services to meet their needs. Here are some ongoing B2B SEO strategies and other emerging trends to help you to do that:

Exploit Social Media Usage

These days having a website isn’t just enough. A business also has to have a robust presence on social media sites like LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, etc. Social media offers a chance for one on one instant communication and engagement with your clients. Good b2b marketing requires that you stay in touch and know exactly what your targeted audience wants and needs. Social media lets you do that on a very personal level.

Be sure you are active on your social media sites daily and always answer the questions of your prospects and clients as quickly as possible. This helps to make your brand easily approachable, and it provides a face to the brand.

Make your client’s impression a lasting one

So, once you engage the clients/prospects on your social media sites, you have to create a lasting first impression. Make sure that you stand true to your brand promise and be more professional and a reliable connection.

You could always send out a personal note to your clients after they post a review or sending them a small gift like stationery or other small trinkets with your business name stamped onto it. This helps them remember you and your brand. Do whatever it takes to make your client aware that you value and appreciate them!

Make sure you provide personalized service and follow-ups

A big mistake a lot of B2B businesses make is trying to use automation to handle all their interaction with customers. This doesn’t give your customers a great experience because it isn’t very personal. However, if you try to find ways to personalize the messages you are sending out, it shows personal engagement with your clients that they will never forget.

For instance, you can keep track of when their last order was and if you know they are likely about to run out of the products they bought the last time, you can gently remind them it’s reordering time, and maybe include a coupon on the next order.

76% say they can name a brand or company featured on promotional merchandise on their desk without having to look for confirmation.

Be sure to address it to their first name and reiterate how you helped them in previous orders so they know you are actually trying to be helpful and not just trying to make a hard sell.

Study Your Targeted Client’s Preferences for Content

Another way to engage is to figure out the kind of content your target audience is looking for and then provide it in a format they love. So if your audience likes the familiarity of blog posts, then create blog posts on the topics they are likely to desire to read. Some clients may prefer images or videos, so you need to engage them on sites like Instagram or YouTube for best results.

What topics? Well, studies have shown that B2B customers like to read up on the latest business-related content, so they can make up their minds on whether or not to buy a product or service.

They also prefer to read reviews and product descriptions of your new items prior to buying them. So, if you engage your customers and know what they want, you will know what kind of content to post so you can bring more sales.

Focus on the needs and interests of your potential customers

All of your site’s content has to meet the needs of your B2B clients. You need to truly engage your customers by focusing on them instead of focusing on your products and services.

Therefore, your content has to be engaging enough for them to read and it has to identify and address their problems and offer valid solutions to those problems. You must get them to trust in your brand and know you truly want to meet their needs, and once you have gained that trust, they will be your long-term clients.

Use SEO to become more visible to B2B audiences

SEO is all about making your business show up in a higher position on the search engine queries. Prospective clients don’t normally find you via a sales funnel merely by chance. They have to be able to find you fast, and SEO can do this for you.

You need the best B2B SEO tools and the best B2B SEO strategy, and that could mean hiring a reliable SEO company to help make your website design or your mobile app design better, so you can engage more customers and widen your market share.

They know exactly the latest trends and can help you to get ahead of your competition with proven SEO techniques.

The bottom line is that in today’s fast-paced digital business environment you have to give your clients what they need, and it is imperative that you engage your potential clients with the above-mentioned B2B marketing strategies to stand out in your niche.

How-is-Branding-done-through-digital-marketing

How is brand building done through digital marketing?

by Digital Marketing

I am certain you have heard the phrase “build your brand.” However, what does that really mean?

A company’s brand is a combination of its identity and all the things that make it unique, i.e. its name, the particular type of products or services, and everything from the color of its logo to the way its ads are written.

A company’s brand delivers a particular experience to its customers that can be good or bad, depending on the company’s reputation. Branding provides your customers with a type of experience that can be either tangible or intangible.

Not only does it involve a company’s reputation, but branding can also involve things like the value clients put on the business’ products or services, as well as if they see the company as one that is good for the environment, or how it treats its customers, etc.

What is Branding?

Branding is a vital process in the world of digital marketing, as well as being a type of PR strategy that helps a company get established in its chosen niche. It gives your business meaning and it’s the way your customers see you and can instantly recognize your products or services. It’s vital for a business to be able to build their brand via the proper type of digital marketing PR strategy.

One way of doing brand building is through digital marketing. There are many channels used in digital marketing that can help a company build its brand.

Through digital marketing, businesses can meet their customers’ needs all through the purchasing cycle. It is very powerful and versatile and has great potential to help build interactions between customers and businesses in ways print never did.

Some of those channels are email, websites (both mobile and regular ones), social media platforms, and more. Every digital marketing channel you use has the potential to make or break your business.

When your business interacts with a customer on, for instance, Facebook then there is a chance the business can either gain or lose that customer depending on how that interaction goes. That is part of what makes digital marketing so powerful.

Here are some common ways to begin building your brand via digital marketing:

1. Content marketing:

One of the first ways today’s savvy customers check out the credibility of a business these days is by going online to find you. Anything you post online whether on your business website, a blog, a social media site, ads, etc. tell who your business is and what it sells as well as how others see you and how you fit into your business niche.

To keep building your brand you have to always ensure you sound credible in your field, are putting out information that is relevant and up to date for your industry, and are finding ways to keep your customers in the loop on how things are going in that industry.

2. Social Media:

Social media is another part of your PR strategy for your digital branding plan. You have to be on social media sites relative to your industry and have a good social media strategy that aids your customers. i.e. posting current info on your industry, interacting with customers and answering their questions, and doing whatever you can to share your business with them.

This not only garners new customers; it can help you keep the interest of potential employees too.

3. Business Website:

Your business website is your branding foundation. You must always keep that website current and up to date otherwise, your customers will lose interest in your products or services, as well as lose faith in your brand, thus you push your brand down instead of building it up.

4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay Per Click (PPC)

SEO and PPC are considered as the back-end of your PR strategy for building your brand. They aren’t a feature that some new business owners are that clear on and most of the time the services are farmed out to experts who help you in your branding plans.

Maintaining good SEO is what keeps your online presence up to date and relevant, and it helps Google and the other search engines rank your business. As we all know, most people choose the first business on the list when they are searching online for a product or service they want to buy.

PPC is those pop-up Google ads that help to get your potential customers. They need to be interesting and work to lead your potential clients to your website or other location to help them learn all about you and what you sell so you can convince them to buy it from your company.

Where to Point your digital marketing PR strategy

Digital marketing has become an even bigger branding adventure than ever before with the emergence of so many types of personal devices from smartphones to smartwatches and tablets to laptops and more.

There are so many ways you can communicate with your target audience. In order to keep building your brand, your business strategy must include finding the best ways to reach your target audience via digital marketing. For example, mobile customers are reached by ensuring your mobile sites undergo mobile optimization strategies.

The bottom line is that digital marketing isn’t going away, and in fact, it keeps getting more important every year. Your customers are who make or break your brand, so as long as you don’t forget that and are always striving to meet their needs, your business brand should stay on top.

More and more people get online every day and if your business doesn’t keep up it’s PR and branding strategies up to date, then you may lose a large part of your market share to your competitors.

How-can-in-store-sales-be-increased-using-online-marketing-Griffon-Webstudios

How can in-store sales be increased using online marketing?

by Digital Marketing

Are you focusing a lot of your retail marketing strategies on online marketing? While many businesses are concentrating on increasing their retail sales online, it’s also important to use your online marketing tactics to increase your sales in-store as well.

Even though many customers love to shop online, studies show nearly 90% of the people who research a particular product or service they want to buy will actually go to a brick and mortar store to buy it.

That means companies need to find ways to get those types of clients to come into their physical store after they are done looking up a product online.

Here are some of the best ways your company can increase sales in-store by using the right online marketing strategies:

Provide customers a good reason for shopping in-store

Shoppers can head to any store they please to make a purchase, so you need to find a way to get them into your retail store.

 64% consumers want personalized offers from retail brands. (Salesforce)

This can be done by giving them incentives that make them eager to choose your store. Some examples could be letting them order online and pick up the item in person, providing coupons that are good only in-store and having great sales.

Give customers a great mobile experience

A large majority of customers shop using their phones, so if you want them to come into your store to buy that item they are looking at on their phones, then you have to provide them a great mobile experience by,

For example, enduring your mobile website is up to date, relevant and optimized.

Rethink print advertisements

Printed advertisements are still valuable these days! You just need to use them along with other kinds of marketing tools. One way to do that is to post those ads not only on your website but also on social media, and as emails.

Measure what is working

It is vital to have a tracking method in place that shows if your online marketing strategies are working. Focus those measurements on the things your customers do that end up garnering retail sales in-store so you know what you are doing right.

Localize your strategy

Be sure to create local messages that don’t just target your geographic location. You also want to determine things like how those local messages can be used, who they should be targeted to and when they should be used.

For instance, Google has great local business pages you should sign up for to attract potential customers who live close to your brick and mortar store.

Be sure to remain tactful

Even after you put together a large stock of online marketing messages, be careful not to overdo it and turn off your potential customers from coming into your physical store by sending out too many notices at once. Spread them out carefully over different digital platforms.

Know your customer’s needs

Understanding exactly what someone needs and determining the best way to give it to them is the first step to getting a person to come into your store to buy something.

You can do this better by analyzing the needs and wants of your target audience via sources like search engines, social media, third parties, and customer relationship management systems to get some insights.

Create Content Based on Specific Segments of Your Audience

Being able to create content that has been personalized for a precise group will ultimately bring you more retail sales both in-store and online.

Get your targeted audience to move from online to in-store by posting content on your website, blog or on social media that meets a known need via the use of niche articles, how to videos, customer testimonials, and interacting with your customer’s posts so they recommend your company to others. Once your potential customers trust your reputation, they will happily head instore when they are in town.

Target Clients and Ramp Up Content via Ads

After you have determined what your customers are looking for in their online searches, use some paid ads to get more visibility and throw in some in-store sales to lure them into your brick and mortar location.

Studies have reported that potential customers are going to click on a locally sponsored ad twice as often when they are searching for a product or service they need.

You can use this to your advantage by placing ads to showcase your unique products or services. Also, make the ads show up when potential shoppers are within a specific distance from your store. These could include banners, mobile, social media, or other ads.

Bank on Dependable, Consistent Branding Efforts

Once you have grown your brand into the one your customers trust and rely on, Be sure that anything showing up regarding your brand stays consistent no matter if it is online or offline.

If what the customer sees instore doesn’t match the same branding online, then your retail sales will drop due to customer confusion. Online marketing has to be consistent to work in your favor!

Use some influencer outreach to get customers

In order to get brand advocacy that goes further than online sales and turns into more in-store sales, you have to get your followers and fans onboard.

You can do that by encouraging happy clients to post reviews online, as well as do word of mouth regarding their experience offline. Put together some reward systems for them to come instore, like special coupons, a rewards points system that only can be redeemed instore, etc.

Expand your relations with customers to get more support

These days customer support goes a lot further than just calling a help desk or asking to speak to a store manager. Whether you know it or not, your customers are talking about you both on and offline.

Make sure you monitor those discussions online and use them to your advantage by rewarding their posts with in-store coupons, etc.

Conclusion

The bottom line is that in-store sales are influenced greatly by online marketing efforts. If you want to gain more retail sales instore, you have to have a good online marketing campaign that builds up your brand’s loyalty and makes your store a great place to shop.

If you stay involved with your clients online via interacting with their posts and reviews, in the long run, it will help you get increased in-store traffic as well.

evaluate-brand-awareness

What Tools Can I Use To Evaluate Brand Awareness?

by Digital Marketing

Most business owners who are goal-oriented know how to track their sales and conversion rates, but how can you track and evaluate your marketing strategies on brand awareness?

Before the digital age, it just didn’t happen. We had no idea how many people saw an advertisement on a billboard or paid attention to a radio or television advertisement and knew what a brand was all about unless perhaps some surveys or questionnaires were taken.

But in the digital age, we have a much greater awareness of what people are seeing and how they are reacting to it. Just because a digital marketer has the same goal for every business they market, a business does not have to have the same goal as another business.

Some businesses are hoping to reach a different set of customers whilst others may want to target their target audiences only. How can we evaluate if our marketing techniques are effective in brand awareness?

1. Investigate your Social Media Followers

Calculating the number of people who follow your brand across the social media channels available, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin, Reddit Google+ etc., is a great way of evaluating who is aware of your brand. Needless to say, those with greater social media following tend to have a more successful business.

It is also important to track the involvement of these followers, so you can put more time and effort into the channels that are more active than the ones where not too many people show an interest or engage with.

As you follow these engagements, you can assess progress within your brand to see what marketing strategies work to garner more interest and build bigger followers.

2. Look at Website Traffic

Using Google Analytics or a marketing automation platform such as this one, to directly track the number of people who typed your URL into their address bar, clicked a link in an email or offline document or used a browser bookmark gives you over time, incredible depth into how your brand awareness is increasing or decreasing.

Measuring your website traffic over time when you look in the right places will certainly offer you insights into how people are aware of your brand.

Of course, measuring keywords has become more and more difficult with the introduction of private searching, so you will not entirely be able to evaluate who searched for your brand because they knew of it before or whether they happened upon it by chance.

Of course, not every brand is dependent on their website for sales, advertising may come from another point of call and the website is purely additional information for those interested

3. Surveys

You can conduct a survey either through email, telephone, website, social media or at the end of an order form. This will give you an opportunity to either ask existing customers how they heard about you or you can reach out to a randomly selected group of people to ask whether they have heard about your brand or not.

The latter approach is more useful if your brand already has the following of a decent percentage of a group of people, perhaps in your local town or community.

If a local business asked globally if their brand was known, the statistics would not come back in their favor.

When conducting a survey, you need to be aware of response bias, where people may not give accurate answers based on how they were asked. A way around this might be to be a fly on the wall. Again, social media is great for ‘listening in’ on organic conversations about your brand.

4. Don’t forget to benchmark your findings

It is all well and good to get more involved on social media, get your customers involved and use a few analytical tools to see how many people are viewing your website, but if you don’t benchmark these findings, that is to say, you do not have a baseline from where you have begun, you will not be able to document any natural peaks and troughs, or any irregularities. You can use this information to change how you chose to advertise.

89% of B2B marketers say brand awareness is the most important goal, followed by sales and lead generation.

We will continue the article by explaining some of the metrics that you can apply to assist with measuring brand awareness. Although the use of digital marketing has made it easier for us to gather information about our customers and leads, understanding and using all the tools available out there can be mind-boggling. Here are a few you should know about that you can use to evaluate brand awareness.

5. Reach

Reach is defined by the potential number of people who will view something about your brand online and will go and view your brand’s content.

This is the reason that influencers are given free products in return for writing a blog post or making a video about it. The number of followers an author has is the ‘reach’ that the author has for your brand when they mention it.

6. PPC analytics

This is probably the easiest tool you can use to gauge online brand awareness. PPC analytics can help you to calculate the conversion rate by providing you with the number of people that clicked your ads.

By using this information, you can also understand how many people you are converting through your paid advertisements.

This online tool is available on any individual platform that you are spending money advertising on, such as with Facebook Ads or Google Adwords.

Using brand awareness effectively results in an effective marketing strategy for your business. When you are able to understand how your customers are reached and how they respond once they have been made aware of your brand, you are able to design marketing tools effective to bring leads into sales.

Generally, the more consumers that are able to remember your brand, the more successful your brand is going to be. With social media being such an effective marketing tool, we are now able to use a huge amount of information that is obtained to our benefit and reach more people than ever before.

shopping-cart-abandonment

How to Reduce Shopping Cart Abandonment with a Seamless Checkout

by Website Development

It has happened to all of us. We pick products on a website, add them to the shopping cart, and for one reason or another, finally, we do not buy and the order remains in the limbo of unpaid orders.

Facing the abandonment of a shopping cart by customers is something that creates a lot of insecurity in online stores. It is also a problem for many online business owners.

Fortunately, more and more studies reveal the different reasons why abandoned carts appear, which allows companies to improve the sales process and adapt it to improve the conversion rates in their stores.

Reasons for having abandoned carts

There are many reasons why consumers abandon full shopping carts in an online store. Although, difficult navigation or a complicated interface to use are some of the main reasons for the abandonment of the shopping cart.

The following are also some of the major reasons shopping carts are abandoned:

1. The inability to save in order to validate later
2. The number of shipping costs is not visible
3. The impossibility of contacting customer support
4. The impossibility of using a third payer
5. The volume of information requested is too high
6. The complexity of the payment process

Seamless checkout tips that can solve the problem of abandoned carts

We will discuss the issue of how to reduce shopping cart abandonment in your online store. Fortunately, more and more studies reveal different reasons why this happens, which allows companies to improve the sales process and adapt to improve the conversion rates in their stores. We have tried to collect the potential solutions that can be helpful in creating a better experience for your shoppers.

1. Quality customer service

We must pay special attention to communication with the client. E-commerce creates a new way of relating to the consumer, a relationship that is essential for the purchase process to be formalized successfully. Customer service is key. It has to be accessible and impeccable, we must realize that it is the only “contact” the client has with the company, so, even if it is virtual, it must provide adequate trust and demand from the client.

It is proven that when customer support is available at a single click, the abandonment of the shopping cart is reduced by 30%.

In the United States, 21% of online shoppers prefer a chat conversation with the company’s own support.

The ability to respond and the need for more information from the users have made companies rethink their sales process and bring a change in their strategy. The importance of knowing each client individually and building a lasting relationship will ensure better sales numbers.

2. Free shipping or discounts

Many online buyers abandon their shopping cart either due to a high shipping cost or the seller has not mentioned it during the entire purchase process, which may be an unpleasant surprise when they find it on the checkout page.

Also, keep in mind that customers are more likely to buy more products when you offer Free shipping.

3. Show the break-up of the cost

In the shopping cart, there must be a clear break-up of tax, shipping cost, and the final price, as it can mean a considerable difference that causes the customer to abandon their purchase.

Not indicating the final price on the products until the end of the transaction, can shoot the number of abandoned carts on your website

 

 

 

 

 

4.

The shopping cart must always be visible

Keeping it this way reminds customers to buy. Sometimes the product itself could distract the buying activity so a visible shopping cart will bring the customers to engage with the website.

5. Give them fewer steps

The customers are there to purchase, not just to fill out some irrelevant data. This may seem obvious, but there are still thousands of stores that put obstacles to their customers by adding an increasingly longer purchase process. You should minimize the number of clicks and make the customers buy the product at ease.

Analyze the heatmaps and study the behavior of your website visitors to know where you are failing.

6. Offer several payment options

You need to provide the clients with all possible payment options. The ideal thing would be to be able to pay by credit card, by conventional methods such as bank transfer or counter-reimbursement, by Paypal, or even other alternative methods.

There are many payment alternatives, the more the better. This will eliminate one of the most important barriers that a consumer would encounter.

AUGMENTED-REALITY-AR-IN-MARKETING

Augmented Reality in Marketing

by Artificial Intelligence

At the moment, Augment Reality (AR) is still new and under-explored. This novelty makes it the latest solution for sharing information. It is set to beat the amount print, online, and TV advertisements combined. AR can capture people’s attention for at least 85 seconds, raise interaction by 20%, and raise the click-through rate to buy by a further 33%. Soon it will be the mainstream and competition will rise—as is the case with all other industries.

With time, there will be more companies focusing on AR-inspired experiences. A rise in people incorporating AR into marketing will yield an equal rise in competition. The quality of campaigns will improve in quality as companies seek to impress audiences. Creativity will determine the best performing products. You will, therefore, need to improve your ingenuity and innovativeness to retain relevance.

Here’s Why Apple Acquired a Small Augmented Reality Startup

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook predicts that AR will become part of our daily lives. It is, therefore, of vital importance for marketers to learn how it works. Let us explore companies that already utilize the technology. These leading companies focus on innovativeness and are keen on taking risks on future technology.

Sephora

Purchasing products online is continuously easy and convenient for most people. However, there are certain products such as makeup, which needs trying on first. Women make up the target group for beauty products and face a problem of having to try on desirable products.

 

Sephora’s Virtual Artist App with ModiFace is an AR tool responsible that helps you view makeup on a similar face. Not only does the app reveal how your face will appear when you apply that product but also suggests tools you need. It also shows the appropriate equipment for application and things you would need to accompany the product.

Virtual Artist also reveals the long-term effects of the consistent use of skincare. This is not possible with beauty professionals.

 

Timberland

Many people are not fond of utilizing dressing rooms when shopping. They prefer to try outfits in the comfort of their homes. Most stores allow returning dresses, shoes, hats, and other items if they do not fit. As a result, many shoppers choose to purchase items but retain the right to return them if they are not satisfied. No one likes to carry a pile of clothes into a public dressing room and wait in a line.

Timberland created a virtual fitting room to help people who want to avoid the hassle in stores. It is, therefore, designed for convenience and comfort. Using Kinect motion sensing technology, the AR lets shoppers view their image. You can see a model body with your size in various outfits.

 

Home Depot

Decorating homes is trendy and exciting but very cumbersome and involving. It is not easy to predict the outcome of a color, for example. Working on your house requires a predictive image to confirm if you will like the results. Products may seem impressive online but fail to give you the level of satisfaction you expected. You may end up with a bathroom that is too bright due to the wrong kind of paint.

Furniture can also go wrong. A piece of furniture may fail to impress you. For example, you may purchase a bulky coffee table at a high cost that does not fit in your living room like you wanted. Going through the hassle of acquiring and transporting an item that does not fit is demoralizing.

Project Color App is Home Depot’s AR tool. It uses patent technology to depict the outcome of colors in rooms. The technology is capable of incorporating a variety of conditions. For example, it takes into consideration, the lighting, objects, and shadows in the room of choice. You can see the real version of your room and share with friends to help you assess it.

 

StubHub

For Super Bowl lovers, StubHub provided an AR feature on their mobile app. The app allowed ticket buyers to view a virtual 3D model of the U.S bank stadium. They could visualize their experience at the stadium before purchasing it.

The different views helped them select seats. Hesitant buyers could not resist the offer. Sales increased tremendously.

 

Pepsi

Pepsi is responsible for designing one of the most exciting tools with AR technology. The tool was made in a London bus shelter. One side of the structure appears as though thrilling objects such as flying saucers, and a tiger is headed for the commuters.

This AR technique was used to amuse the public. It reveals the playful personality of the company. It entertains the Londoners with an exceptional experience. A video of the shelter’s exceptional design made 6 million views on YouTube. This became the most viewed advertising campaign ever.

 

AMC Theaters

AMC Theaters sought to enhance delivery of latest movie trailers in time. When movie lovers come across a movie poster in a theater, they can launch the AMC app and scan the poster. They will instantly receive information about it and a trailer too.

Technology accuracy and timing has given mankind a vital piece of technology of the future.

Billion-Dollar-Business-Model

Billion-Dollar Business Models

by Digital Marketing

A business model helps you define your customer value proposition and pricing. It provides a helpful guide on how to organize your business, whom you should partner with to generate revenue, and how to structure and manage your supply chain accordingly.

Airbnb, Amazon, Netflix, and Uber are among the most innovative tech companies. Their success lies in the viability of their respective business models. Any creative mind can design an attractive brand image to lure potential customers. Without a realistic business model, however, it would be impossible to monetize the attention. The ultimate goal of a business is to capture and retain customers to enable consistent growth. Failure to achieve this would prove costly to the firm.

For the best examples of business models, we sampled four innovative tech companies.

Amazon

Amazon has risen to become one of the most successful companies on the globe beating the biggest retail stores in the game. With a revenue of approximately $177.8 billion, the company surpasses Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Macy’s and other biggest retail stores combined.

Constant innovation that enables it to reach millions of people globally is responsible for this success. Amazon has diversified to as many markets as possible to achieve the widest variety of revenue options.

The company makes 67% of its revenue from retail. Negotiating with wholesalers for low prices helps boost their profit. Since they are dealing with massive amounts of products, the profit margin immensely increases. Over time, the company has developed a network of warehouses and lately manufactured its own products.

There are currently over 45000 robots working in the Amazon Warehouses

Amazon marketplace makes up to 17% of net sales according to their latest reports. The platform allows third-party sellers to conduct business on the company website. These sellers may also purchase Fulfillment By Amazon, which is a service that stores, packs, and ships products with world-class facilities.

Web Services contribute 9% of net sales for the company. Cloud computing infrastructure allows customers to access the software at any location and with any device.

A further 5% of net sales are derived from Amazon Prime. Through monthly subscriptions, Amazon Prime provides customers with shipping options, offers no-cost, unlimited space, and gifts.

Netflix

Netflix generated USD 11.6 billion from big data and analytics making it a major tech company. They buy and create content that resonates with subscribers. They can monitor and predict subscribers’ behavior and preferences with precision.

Netflix aims for 700 original series, movies in 2018

The streaming services come with free monthly trials. After the trials, the subscribers may continue with membership by paying for three plans. The plans are; Basic, Standard, and Premium. The basic plan is the cheapest and allows you to watch Netflix on one screen. The standard plan has an average price. It allowed you to watch Netflix on two screens simultaneously while the premium plan offers four screens running concurrently. It is the most expensive.

Most of the revenue comes from streaming but they still maintain DVD services.

Uber

Uber set out to revolutionize taxi tradition. It transformed the perception of the business. It has changed into a lucrative and efficient business. Since 2009, the company quickly increased its success in providing quality services. Today, it manages 15 million rides a day without owning a single vehicle. At the close of the previous financial year, Uber recorded $ 37 Billion in revenue.

The management-focused their effort on perfecting convenience for riders. They strove to increase speed and lower the cost of service. The company succeeded in addressing the issues facing most city dwellers. It made it possible for customers to book a ride with the nearest driver. They can also see the prices and track the driver’s location on the app.

Uber’s continued customer-related strategy attracted a huge following.

Customers may cancel a request before their driver arrives but at a minimum cost. If it takes too long to meet the driver, they hold the right to cancel the deal. Drivers can also accept or reject the request based on a user’s rating. The request immediately goes to the next available driver nearby.

Uber says it has 2 million drivers globally and 750,000 in the United States. They are the backbone of the company, which is valued at $70 billion.

Uber charges customers depending on the estimated time and distance of their route. Another contributing factor to pricing is the current demand for rides in the area. Your choice of the type of car also contributes to the rate. For example, for your comfort, there are four categories namely; economy, premium, extra seats, and more.

Economy level offers average carpool opportunities with other customers in a sedan. Premium level, on the other hand, offers a luxury ride with a professional driver. The extra-seats option offers space for 6 with a professional driver in an SUV or Uber XL. The final option named ‘more’ offers space for special cases such as wheelchairs.

Uber keeps between 20% to 25% of the revenue and leaves the rest to the drivers. Prices hike during rush hour, bad weather, holidays, and whenever there is high demand.

With the app, it is easy to track users. The app generates massive revenue for the firm due to its popular use by over 40 million active users. Other businesses can also advertise on the app and earn Uber more income.

Airbnb

Airbnb connects over 140,000 travelers with hosts in 190 countries every day. Like Uber, it owns no single property but manages accommodation services. It reached USD 2.6 billion by the end of 2017.

Airbnb became popular because of the creative ideas that give hosts a chance to use their property as a side hustle.

Airbnb have accommodated over 60 million people in 34,000 cities around the world.

Guests simply book rooms in a home that come at affordable prices in comparison to hotel rooms. Spending nights in a foreign home gives you the feeling of the local culture. This is not possible in a hotel.

According to this Fortune article, Airbnb bookings will increase from around 79 million “room nights” in 2016 to one billion per year by 2025.

The booking is easy and cheap. 3% of every booking goes to Airbnb. Guests, on the other hand, are charged 5% to 15% of the booking cost. Hosts can review their guests online before accenting to the deal.