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Marketing Blog | Addison Clark | Richmond, VA

social media and covid19

The current health crisis has led to the temporary shuttering of numerous businesses and a general halting to everyday activities as restrictions and quarantine become the daily norm. While we're all practicing social distancing and many are working virtually, online platforms, such as social media and email, remain as important as they've always been, if not more. 

In these uncertain times, many are logging more screen time than usual, particularly on social media and in their inboxes. While you may not be meeting face-to-face with clients right now, the best practices for connecting with customers, building brand loyalty and being a relatable brand still apply.

youtube

YouTube is a social media platform that is designed for viewing video content. It essentially acts as a search engine, like Google, for videos and is the third most visited website worldwide! With the explosion of online video, YouTube provides a way for you to offer timely video content to your audience, as well as reach new potential customers. While you've most likely used YouTube in your everyday life, there are ways you can turn the platform into an asset for your business as well. Every business can benefit differently from having a YouTube channel and keeping it up-to-date, but here are a few of the main benefits:

social media sizing

When using social media, it’s important to make sure you are sizing your images specific to the platform, whether that is Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, or Twitter. These platforms utilize images the most and strongly favor them over other types of content. Ensuring that your images are the correct dimensions for each specific platform can be a challenge. Image requirements can depend on the type of device it will be used on andwhere it will be shared which creates a lot of variation in sizes. Beyond dimensions, it’s also best to use file types such as jpeg or png when uploading images. To help navigate you through this confusion, we’ve created a super simple guide to find all of the social sizing in one place!

reduce spam

In this digitally volatile day and age, spam is part of our everyday lives. From the relentless calls to constant emails, everyone gets spammed. But if you are a business who has forms on their site and are getting spammed, there are things you can do to reduce it.

What exactly is form spam?
Form spam is the entering and submitting of website forms with fake information. Things like unwanted offers, phishing, etc. can come through your forms and be considered spam. This can be done through bots or manual spammers.

analytics

Now more than ever, data is everywhere. According to Forbes, there has been more data generated in the last two years than in any time in human history. An estimated 1.7 megabytes of new information is generated every second for every human being on the planet. Sadly, less than 0.5% of that data is ever analyzed and used. 

Throughout each stage of a marketing campaign, marketers are able to capture valuable data that can be analyzed and transformed into useful insights and strategies. Marketing has moved a long way from the days of mass-targeted advertising. In 2020, there is no excuse for not knowing what your customers want or whether your marketing efforts are effectively driving results. The degree to which you can successfully analyze and implement data can make or break your marketing strategy. Here are six things you can and should do to make your data work for you:

take 5 with mary 2

We asked Mary, one of our account managers some questions about marketing trends and challenges. Here's what she had to say....

1. What's the best piece of marketing advice you've ever heard?
Focus on the problems you solve! Consumers want to know how your product or service helps them and why they would benefit from investing in that. 

2. What do you consisder to be the biggest challenge for today's businesses?
Turning website visitors into buyers. In order to encourage visitors to stay on their website, minimize abandonment, and complete their conversion, businesses have to optimize their websites for the best experience. This means eliminating clutter, making the message clear, and keeping the navigation simple and frustration-free.

data privacy

 

When it comes to protecting your personal information, what safety measures are you taking? Are you using strong passwords? Keeping your phones locked and secured? Keep suspicious emails in your junk folder? If you are, that's a great start! Here are five additional things you can do to ensure that you and your personal data are protected.

email optimization

So you've added email marketing as a part of your marketing strategy. Maybe you've been doing it for some time. While having an email strategy is a great first step, it's important to keep optimizing so that your campaigns really resonate with your target audience. Here are 5 things you should keep in mind when developing your next email marketing campaign. 

1. Choose an email service. Managing an email strategy can be a lot of work. Email services like Constant Contact, MailChimp, and a number of other providers make it much easier. They give you the ability to design, schedule, and track emails that you are sending out. 

2. Rethink your subject lines. As soon as your email lands in someone's inbox, it needs to grab their attention. The subject line is the perfect place to do just that. When writing your subject line, make sure it's relevant to your audience and to the email, and use actionable language. 

take 5 with anne stuart

We asked Senior Account Manager Anne-Stuart some marketing questions. Here's what she had to say....

1. What's one thing you think every business should know about marketing?

A general understanding of analytics. You don't need to be a data nerd, but having a working knowledge of how your campaigns are performing is important. Learning to identify some key metrics will allow you to have a handle on if your various marketing efforts are working. 

2. What's your go-to strategy if a client is struggling to reach their target audience?

I like a combination of SEO and Google Ads. I think SEO is one of the most important marketing efforts any business can invest in, but it takes time to see results. That's where Google Ads (or pay per click) comes in. Google Ads allows you to bid on keywords you know will produce a qualified user and I love manipulating the ad strategy to see results. 

local search

A strong local presence is essential to small businesses that operate on a regional level. By focusing on local SEO, you can prioritize appearing on search engine results pages (SERPs) in a specific location instead of nationally. If your business goal is to dominate a specific market in a certain area, local search engine optimization should be an important piece of your marketing strategy. 

Local SEO has become even more essential in the last decade with so many consumers armed with mobile and tablet devices. Consumers are looking for businesses when they're on the go. In fact, Google estimates that 35% of all search traffic is local and proximity is one of the three major ranking signals for search results. 

If you're trying to improve your business's local SEO, here are our top 5 tips:

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