Taking a Break from Marketing is Risky BusinessHaving a good marketing plan is essential for small businesses to be successful. After a while, it might be tempting to take a marketing break to save money, time, etc. However, taking a break will actually be a detriment to your business. This is because when it comes to online marketing, consistency is the number one key for success, and taking a break breaks your consistency streak.
Customers will wonder where you went Let’s say you're a customer looking for a business coach. You google business coaches on Google and click the first result. You are browsing their website and decide to check their social media accounts and blogs when you see they used to post almost every day and now haven’t posted in a month. What goes through your mind? You probably exit out of that website and look at the next search result on Google. You might also say that this would not make a difference to you, but there are many potential clients out there that it DOES make a difference to. Potential clients who value consistency are the type of clients you want your business to have. Your following will dwindle The goal of having a social media presence for your business is to drive traffic to your business and have a following. Taking a break from posting gives the impression that no one is actively interacting with your business. You will notice that your trend in followers and engagements will drastically decrease, so when you come back from your marketing break, you will find yourself playing catch up to get back to where you were before the break. Broken Trust “Inconsistent branding makes it harder for people to verify the authenticity of your communications” - Social Media Today. Taking a marketing break makes it look like your business is taking a break. Potential clients will see the break in marketing and see your business as less trustworthy.You may also be missing important messages from clients. If you had a friend who all the sudden started missing phone calls, texts, and emails, you would probably not have much faith in them even after they started answering your messages again. Keeping the trust of your clients is essential in being a successful business.
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What are Instagram reels?
Have you heard of TikTok? If so, then you already know what Instagram reels are. Reels are basically Instagram’s version of TikTok. If you haven’t heard of TikTok, this description probably is not very helpful. With reels, you can make a short video, add audio, and share them to instagram. Reels show up in all parts of Instagram, including your main feed, explore page, and profile. You may be thinking that this type of media is for teenagers, but using Instagram reels can actually greatly benefit your business. How Instagram Reels Grow Business
The Impact of Reels Reels are still relatively new, so it’s best to take advantage of them now. More reels means more chances to connect with potential and loyal customers. Creating reels is an easy way to begin or continue to grow your marketing. If you are interested in using reels or learning more about them, contact Arsenal Marketing Strategies to help get you started! What is grassroots marketing?Marketing to new customers is key when maintaining a long-term business. Digital marketing is one of the top ways to do that. Digital marketing uses search engine optimization (SEO) to “pull-in” new customers to your business using keywords and deep-file naming. However, experts have found a new method: grassroots marketing. Grassroots marketing is when a company or brand targets a small group that will then spread the message to a larger population. Think of it as a marketing company planting grass seeds and watching the grass spread and grow. Hence, grassroots marketing. What are the benefits of grassroots marketing? Saves money: Grassroots marketing is a budget friendly way to start marketing. When you run a business, it sometimes can be hard to find a budget for marketing. Grassroots marketing is a great way to get started without breaking the bank. Gathers customers quicker. With grassroots marketing, anything is possible. Including gathering a large group of customers in a small amount of time. When grassroots marketing works the way it is intended, not only are new customers gained but loyalty from those customers as well. Interacting with local communities. One of the best things about grassroots marketing is it can get you involved in local outreach and events. Being involved in your local community as a business gains loyalty and trust from customers and can put your business’s name out to local members of the community who might not know you yet. Also, getting involved is fun and rewarding! It’s a triple win situation! Where to start Working with professional marketing teams like Arsenal Marketing Strategies is the best way to ensure success when planning a marketing campaign. Getting educated about marketing will also be useful for business owners. Here are some steps to take when putting together a grassroots marketing campaign:
1. Research your target audience 2. Figure out what is trending within your target audience 3. Create content that appeals to the pathos of your audience 4. Ask your target audience to share your content with others If you are interested in starting a grassroots marketing campaign and are unsure where to start, let Arsenal Marketing Strategies start it for you for true, tailored results. Do you have “Find My Friends” downloaded on your phone? Or Life360? Or location services turned on? All of these apps that tag your whereabouts is part of something called geo-fencing. While geofencing may seem like a creepy-stalker trend or a great way to know where your kids are, geofencing can also be extremely helpful in your place of business. What is geo-fencing? According to CIO US, geofencing is “a location-based service in which an app or other software uses GPS, RFID, Wi-Fi or cellular data to trigger a pre-programmed action when a mobile device or RFID tag enters or exits a virtual boundary set up around a geographical location, known as a geofence.” Geofencing can prompt push notifications, automated text messages, location-based marketing and more. It also can be used for security purposes by alerting you whenever someone enters or exits your building. How does geofencing work?In order to use geofencing, a developer must virtually establish a boundary in a specific GPS location. Think of it like the developer drawing a virtual fence on google maps around a specific area. Geo-fencing usually comes in the form of an app on your phone, typically one that requires location services to be on in order to send information to you. For example, you might go see Christmas lights this year where they make you download a special app to make the experience more interactive. Geofencing is not just for phones. It can also be used for drones, computers, and other internet-connected devices. This concept sounds useful for app developers, cell phone users, and other high tech organization jobs, but did you know geofencing can be a great marketing tool for your business? How geofencing can help your business?Small businesses are less well known than big, brand-name companies, which means geofencing can be especially helpful for small businesses. First, geofencing brings in customers by sending out ads, sales, and promotions straight to the smartphone of people in your business area. According to statistics from Plotprojects, “geofencing increases app usage by over 200%, leading to high customer engagement and an increased probability of making a sale.” Geofencing ads also have a click rate 15% higher than push notifications, meaning potential customers are more likely to click on a geofencing ad than push notifications. Geofencing can be a huge asset to customer awareness.
Geofencing is also a cost-efficient way to advertise. While most small businesses do not have a big budget for marketing, marketing is extremely important for business growth. Geofencing is a cost efficient way of marketing because a business can make their own geofencing channel for free instead of paying to be on someone else’s. No matter what the marketing budget is, geofencing is a great way to market at a low price. Lastly, people want geofencing notifications. As opposed to regular ads, 70% of consumers think that geofencing is valuable. (Business Insider). On the other hand, people are getting tired of too many regular ads and will more likely pay more attention to a geofencing ad instead. Additionally, 53% of people are likely to engage with your geofencing advertisement. If you are interested in adding geofencing to your marking, talk to Arsenal Marketing Strategies and we can help set it up for you the best we can. Technology is moving forward, your business should be, too.
And if your social media presence is already solid, chances are even better that you also have a videoblog, or "vlog," that viewers can watch to establish a more personal connection to you, your product, your service or cause. According to those who track such things, over 44% of Internet users watch vlogs every single month. The average person spends 100 minutes a day watching videos online. Here's a statistic that should attract your attention: 85% of businesses use video as a marketing tool. So which is right for your business: blogs or vlogs?If you are a regular reader of this blog, the answer should be obvious. We encourage our Arsenal Marketing Strategies customers to adopt a social media presence strategy that combines ALL tools available to you to boost engagement with visitors. Whether they are existing customers or prospects, every visitor to your website, YouTube channel or social media platform should learn something about you each time they click on a blog, vlog, webpage, post or Tweet that you put out there. Although the "Blog V. Vlog?" debate rages on the Internet, we come down on the side of those who answer C) All of the above. Blogs and vlogs are similar in that both are generally deemed to be short-ish, diary-like entries created by single or multiple authors to discuss a specific topic, product, trend, opinion or event that the author(s) are knowledgable or passionate about. Because some web surfers will never watch a video and others prefer a visual presentation to the written word, we tell our customers that a strong social media and Internet presence requires a combination of blogs and vlogs - even if by necessity the content is virtually the same. It is very easy to track readership vs. viewership; we do it for clients all of the time and would be happy to do that for your business. If your audience is generally older, the written word is what they grow up with and blogs are often the preferred choice. Younger people grew up with iPhones, iPads and other devices that put a seemingly endless supply of video at their fingertips. But those are just stereotypes. As the Internet ages and evolves, so do users. Today, a 90-year-old great grandmother knows how to punch up a recipe on YouTube and how to check in with family on Zoom, Skype or Facebook. Millenials attending college know (or quickly find out) that the ability to read and write is still the primary requisite to academic success. Variety and alternative methods for delivering information about your business or service is of paramount importance. Don't be that business that never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. You probably have a blog already. A vlog is easy to create with any number of free apps or video capture utilities installed on just about all phones or tablets built in the last 10 years. We recommend that after you publish a blog, create a short video clip on the same subject and embed it on the webpage or post. When you record a video, make sure to tell viewers how to find you on the web or social media. Vlogs that go viral or offer useful insights to get passed around, so it is important that clips viewed on a webpage or platform other than your own include your web address, social media address, email address or phone number. UNCLOGGING THE CONTENT BLOCKRegular readers of this blog know that we believe in the "publish or perish" principal. Having a blog or vlog is not enough. You have to feed those voracious animals regularly or they'll die. To build your brand, you simply must offer something new so that those eyeballs you have already captured come back day after day, month after month. We know that can be difficult. That's why our account managers and associates spend a lot of time thinking about your company and what you do. Whether blogging or vlogging, here's some content ideas that just about any business or service can create to keep your readers and viewers engaged:
Blog Vs. Vlog? There should be no debate. Both provide a different user experience, but ulimately a combination of the written word and visual medium will help build your brand and grow your business. At Arsensal Marketing Strategies, we stay up late into the night creating new content ideas for your business' website or social media platform to help you do that. Reach out to us for a free consultation and flat-fee price quote on a marketing campaign geared toward you, your business and your dreams. For thousands of years, farmers and ranchers protected their investment in livestock by burning a unique, identifying symbol to a fleshy part of each animal so that they and their competitors could readily verify ownership. It was a low-tech way of telling others, "Hey, this is mine. Respect my brand or I'll turn my branding iron on you!" In fact, the word "brand" literally meant "to burn" in Old English. Over time, the marketplace recognized brands of livestock owners with healthy inventory and rewarded them with higher prices per head at auction. The same was true for pottery, textiles and other goods made consisently well that had recognizable markings. This still occurs today - for cattle, cars, blue jeans, fast food, TVs, phones, computers and just about any product or service offered in the marketplace. A pair of Nike running shoes, for example, sells for a lot higher price than some generic, no-name sneaker of the same exact quality. That's because Nike has a trusted and recognizable brand. Customers trust that the product will be well-made, reliable and will last. So how do companies build their brands in a crowded, highly competitve marketplace? Prior to the tech boom that started in the mid-1990s, successful companies spent a lot of money trying to burn a positive image into potental customers' minds through advertising, slogans, logos and jingles. That's how McDonald's and Burger King came to dominate the burger scene. Coke and Pepsi did the same for soda. Toys, cereal, soap, cars - every sector of the company learned that to make it, you had to create a brand, that thing that made a product or company unique and worthy of consumer attention. But those days are long gone. Today, companies devote just as much time and energy into buidling their brand through social media presence as they do through old school advertising methods. People don't watch TV or go to the movies like they once did. According to We Are Social, a website that tracks trends, the average Internet user spend 2 hours, 24 minutes a day visiting social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and the rest. If you want to build your brand, you have to be there too. That's going to require four things: 1) faith 2) commitment 3) a strategy 4) goals. FAITHIn the 1989 film, "Field of Dreams," the protagonist Ray Kinsella plowed a cornfield to create a baseball diamond because a voice promised him, "If you build it, he will come" - a reference to a famous baseball player his elderly father idolized in childhood. Ignoring the naysayers who didn't hear the voice, Ray risked everything and built his ballfield. Ultimately, the prophecy was fulfilled and Ray got what he really wanted - to reconcile with his father. Like Ray Kinsella, you have to keep the faith when it comes to brand building. You need to think about your social media presence as your own Field of Dreams. You have to believe that if you build it, they will come. Every post, every photo, every Tweet, every "like" or "share" are key components of the online platforms you build to show off your product, service or idea. If you keep at it, you will fill the stands with ticket-paying fans who are rooting for your business to succeed. COMMITMENTOnce you have faith that your social media presence can help build your brand, you need to commit to tending for your field of dreams. Posting a few links now and then, sharing someone else's content on your Facebook page and re-tweeting something that caught your eye on Twitter won't get you there. You have to work across the various platforms and constantly burn into the consumer mind what it is that makes you special. STRATEGYA scatter-gun approach won't do much good. You need a strategy. That means blogs. That means photos. That means video. That means special events and promotions. That means planning out an editorial schedule a month out and then sticking to it as much as possible. As consumers come to trust that you will deliver a good product or service in a consistent and dependable way, your brand will grow. Your loyal customers will want to tell other people about your company. They'll want to check out your social media offerings regularly to see what's new. They will enjoy watching you grow your company. Make them feel like they are part of it. GOALSAs you grow your brand, it is important to set goals and set milestones for measuring your growth and success. For example, if you have only 100 followers on Twitter now, you may set a goal of 100 new followers every month for 9 months to get it to 1,000. If you have 900 likes on Facebook, offer something of value for the 1,000th person to like your page. It doesn't have to be expensive. Try anything. Try everything. That's the great thing about social media; it is still relatively new and companies are still inventing new ways to go viral.
At Arsenal Marketing Strategies, our entire team is devoted to helping clients build their own field of dreams using the power of social media presence. You no doubt understand why it is so important to build your brand online. If you are ready to commit to it, we will work with you to develop a social media strategy, set reachable goals and then implement an action plan and editorial calendar to help you achieve them. We never ask for a contract. We just ask for the opportunity for us to get to know you and for a chance to show you what we can do to help you tell the world what it is that makes your company, product or service special. We like to think of that as our brand. BECAUSE VALUE MATTERS, ARSENAL THREW AWAY THE RED TAPEYou've probably seen the commercial on television: A young couple shrieks in horror when they are told that the document they couldn't decipher was actually a legal agreement binding them to a big, bad cable TV provider for two years. The spot is funny because it strikes a familiar chord.
Who among us hasn't felt that sense of dread when being handed a pen and asked to sign a document we have not read (and do not understand) just to shell out our hard-earned money to someone we just met? Hidden fees, trap doors, small print, early termination penalties -- these are the common denominators of the long, overly complicated agreements that protect big business at the peril of the customer. But, it's not just corporate America. When you enter a parking garage, merely paying the fee and accepting receipt shields the property owner from liability. You cannot even ride the teacup ride at Disneyland without holding the park harmless should you vomit on your new suede shoes. Well, it’s not like that with Arsenal. Not ever. Arsenal Marketing Strategies will never ask a client to sign a contract for the search engine optimization and social media enhancements we engineer so that your business, service or cause gets the "eyeballs" it needs online to promote sales growth, build an audience and educate consumers to what makes you special. Our reasoning is simple: We built our brand based on value, trust and service. In our experience, long-term contracts are often the standard operating procedure for companies that are the least responsive to customers and the hardest to do business with. Think about this: If you have a customer locked into a contract for a year or longer, you don’t really have to deliver great service because the customer can’t really leave without paying some sort of financial penalty. That kind of approach just doesn’t work for us at Arsenal. We strive to apply a “give more than you get” approach to every client. Every happy customer is likely to bring us four more. That’s our business model. Although we don't require a contract, every client will get a Statement of Services. This merely memorializes the ways in which we will go about doing what we do best - putting your business front and center as quickly as possible using tried and true methods. We start by analyzing your online presence and coming up with an action plan for addressing areas that need improvement -- your website structure, your Google My Business listing, your Facebook and Instagram presence. We can even build you a website if you don't have one. Our packages are flat-fee proposals. You'll never see a charge for something you did not agree to in advance. All we ask in return is that you give us a shot for three months. During that time, you'll see a lot of action on our part. That will include things you can see (content updates, ads, promotions) and things you cannot see (Google SEO, keyword maintenance and other back-shop wizardry we do to keep the client’s websites or social media platforms leading the pack). We are confident that even though you are not bound to us by a piece of paper, our commitment to your success will keep you a member of the Arsenal Marketing Solution's family for a long time come. Sorry, but we can't do anything about those handcuffs your cellphone provider placed on you. But please do contact CEO Jessica Lynn at Arsenal Marketing Solutions if you want a hassle-free, no-pressure assessment of your online presence and how our team uses research and analytics, business coaching, technical know-how and constant communication to help your business standout in a crowded online marketplace. TO SLAY THE GOOGLE DRAGON, GET IN ITS FACEYou don't need an MBA from Harvard University to know that when it comes to attracting eyeballs to your website, smartphone app or social media pages, Google's search engine by far reigns supreme. But did you know that Google and its sister platforms (Google Maps, Google images and YouTube) combined account for 90 percent of all online searches? In fact, seven out of every 10 online searches begin by typing a few words or phrases in the box at the center of Google's minimalist homepage, www.google.com, or the Google search app on smartphones and other devices. Google's overwhelming dominance in the search game makes it a creature of mythical proportions that must be tamed if you want to be seen and heard in the online marketplace. To slay the Google dragon, you have to get in its face. Stated differently, your service or company needs to have an online presence that Google simply cannot ignore. Having a good story to tell, a great-looking website and products or services customers need or want isn't enough. If you are in charge of promoting a business, an employer or even yourself, it falls on you to make sure your web platforms are accessible and appealing enough to Google and are worthy of the clicks Google can send your way that will keep the revenue coming into your accounts. It's sort of like going on a singles cruise. Of course, you would take the time to groom and dress to look the best you possible can when strolling the Lido Deck so that you might make an introduction, perhaps get a wink or even a phone number, right? Well, it's sort of the same for websites courting Google. You will want to dress up your site so that it catches the eye of Google's robots, those super-smart content probes that crawl the Internet 24/7/365. You don't see them and they leave no trace, but these "bots" regularly checkout your site or app to see 1) how it is structured 2) whether it is technically safe and family friendly 3) whether it has content worth its customers' time 4) how often it is updated and 5) whether it has useful links. So how do you introduce your website or app to Google? Before even knocking on Google's door, make sure you have an inviting website or app that is well-organized, visually appealing, user friendly, content rich and loads cleanly and quickly. No one wants to wrestle with a website that is disorganized, cluttered, clunky, outdated and takes forever to load. It is also important that your platforms clearly tells users who you are, what you do, how to contact you and why they need or want whatever it is you are promoting: consulting services, products, advice, technology, food - whatever it is you hope to sell or even give away. Most do-it-yourself website and smartphone application hosts (GoDaddy, Wix and Wordpress, just to name a few leaders in the field) can guide you through the basics of the technical side of "search engine optimization," which is known as SEO for those of you who actually do have MBAs or spend a lot of time in front of computer screens. SEO involves a combination of technical tags and strategically placed keywords, links and other treats baked into your website or app that serve as breadcrumbs the search-engine robots follow. A "sitemap" - a file where you provide information about the pages on your site - is recommended but not a must, according to guidance from Google. Search engines read sitemaps to more intelligently and efficiently crawl your site, making them a good idea. The crawling "bots" are on a never-ending mission to report back to Google's algorithms so that they can make judgments about 1) how your website is structured 2) whether it is secure 3) whether it has content worth Google users' time 4) how often it is updated and 5) whether it offer links to other goodies on the web (and how often whether others link to you). Put simply, like the guy or girl passing by on the cruise ship deck, Google internally and automatically rates your platform in every number of areas and then determines what kind of relationship Google might want to have with you - um, we mean your website - (if any at all). There are people and companies out there that offer SEO services that can assess with your platform is optimized for Google's search engine and even make that happen for you for a per hour or flat fee. A word of caution: Check out these services carefully. Some may be teenagers working out of their parents' garage. Beware of come-on offers of "free" SEO. With the possible exception of SEO online forums, there is no such thing as free SEO. If you have the time and money is a consideration (isn't it always?) you might take a stab at SEO yourself. Google itself offers several tools that really are free. The best is "Search Console," which helps you monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot your site's presence in Google Search results. Upon request, Search Console can confirm that Google can: find your site; crawl your site; fix indexing problems; tell you who links to your site; tell you how often your site appears in Google Search; and, offer any number of other insights that may help you, your webmaster or SEO service improve your Google presence. ESTABLISH A STRONG LOCAL PRESENCEAn equally important Google service is "Google My Business." Also free, this service ensures that your correct business information is up to date on Google Search and Google Maps. If you have ever used Google Maps to "Find gas stations near me," you already know what it means to have a strong local presence on Google. For brick and mortar shops that rely on foot traffic, Google Maps alone makes it critically important that Google has the correct information about what you do, where you do it, when you do it and how Google users can reach you. "Businesses that verify their information with Google My Business are twice as likely to be considered reputable by consumers," Google advises. Google My Business also enables companies to read and respond to customer reviews and to post photos. Google says that businesses that add photos to their Business Profiles receive 42% more requests for directions on Google Maps, and 35% more clicks through to their websites than businesses that don’t. If your website or app is ready for your Google debut, we recommend that you check out these pages on Google.com that go into greater detail how this powerful tool works. HOW GOOGLE SEARCH WORKS:https://www.google.com/search/howsearchworks/
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All proceeds from our logo shirt campaign with MI Screen Printing Inc are being donated to a local food bank. Thank you for your support & helping US help the community!! Check out MI Screen Printing for any screen printing needs (and soooo much more)!!! Contact us today for a FREE consultation- Let’s transform your "SEO & Social Media” into a tool that works for you & your business in 2020.
Buy Gift Cards to Use LaterBuying a gift card will give business the money they need right now, and while you get what you paid for down the road. Give your future self or someone else a treat by getting a gift card from your favorite local shop, hair salon, or restaurant to use at a later date. Order Food for Takeout or Delivery Most restaurants that are still open are adapting to curbside pickup or food delivery to your doorstep. Save yourself from a night of cooking and order takeout from a local restaurant. If Able, Continue Paying Your House Cleaner, Dog Walker, etcThese types of workers heavily rely on your monthly/weekly/biweekly payments. Being generous can be a game changer for them right now. Consider supporting the people who do a service to you during this pandemic. Tip More than UsualKeep in mind the workers who depend on their tips. Make sure to keep tipping workers who service you (extra if possible) even if you aren’t able to fully utilize the service they provide. Delivery and restaurant workers are more susceptible to contracting the virus and are generally under-paid. It’s also best to order delivery directly from the restaurant since third-party apps can charge extra fees. Shop OnlineBefore going to Amazon, see if any local stores you enjoy have online shops. Just because a physical store is temporarily closed does not mean they ended all operations. Keep an eye open for stores that usually do not do online orders- they might be doing so now. Purchase gifts or personal items through a local store’s website.
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