June 2019 - Stevens & Tate Marketing

Pump Up the Power of Your Digital Advertising Display

June 26, 2019/in Articles, Blog, Directors /by Nicole Wagner

Display ads are one of the oldest forms of online advertising. Unfortunately, the typical display ad doesn’t have as much of an impact as it once had. It has been surpassed by many other online marketing strategies. This is in part because display ads are often irrelevant to the consumer viewing them, not to mention they may disrupt the consumer’s website experience. But that doesn’t mean that display ads don’t have a place in your marketing strategy. The following are a few tips for using a digital advertising display in an effective manner:

1. Combine Your Display Ads With Native Formats

Using a native format allows your digital advertising display to blend in with the content on the page that they are being displayed on. Whereas users often skip over traditional display ads, they are more likely to read native display ads because they are part of the overall content experience. Several studies have backed this, finding that consumers view native display ads 52 percent more frequently than traditional display ads.

2. Set Targeting Dimensions Of Your Display Ads

Contextual targeting allows you to target your display ads to specific demographics, which means that your display ads will be more relevant to the user experience. Private platforms, such as Google and Facebook, allow for contextual targeting by letting you choose who you want to target (age range, gender, etc.) and when.

3. Test Your Display Ads On Social Media

Because of how social media lets you target specific demographics when running display ads, it’s also a great way to test your display ads. This is because social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook have excellent analytics tools that you can use to measure your advertising outreach’s value. This means you can test different display ads against certain demographics to see which perform better. This allows you to adjust your strategy so that it’s more effective.

Check out our article: What’s New with Google: How Page Speed Affects SEO and Adwords

4. Make Your Digital Advertising Display Mobile-Friendly

Make sure that you design your display ads with mobile use in mind. Some display ads may look great on your desktop but won’t translate as well to a smaller screen. The fact that the majority of your audience is going to be viewing your display ads on a mobile device, it’s incredibly important your ads are built for mobile viewing.

5. Focus On Delivering Your Message Quickly

A display ad functions in the same manner as a roadside billboard. Billboards can’t be jam-packed with text and information because drivers don’t have the time to read it all as they pass by. They must deliver their message within a couple of seconds. The same applies to display ads. Users need to be able to consume the message with a quick glance.

The traditional method for using a digital display ad is somewhat outdated. However, display ads can still be effective if you know how to use them. Follow these tips and your display ads are likely to have a bigger impact on your audience.

Local SEO Marketing In 2019: 5 Easy Tips To Dominate Local Search

June 11, 2019/in Articles /by Nicole Wagner

If you sell products or services online, then SEO is an extremely important part of your marketing strategy; however, if you also happen to have a physical location, then you’ll want to make sure that you address local SEO as well. A strong local SEO strategy will help ensure that you attract an audience that is located near your physical location, thereby increasing the odds that they will come visit in person. The following are five tips to help improve with local SEO marketing:

1. Claim Your Google My Business

Google My Business is a free platform that you can use to build your presence online. Since most people will do a Google search when looking for specific products, services, or businesses located in their area, having a Google My Business set up will make it easier for people in your area to find you. Setting up a Google My Business account is easy. If your business is already listed, you’ll want to claim your business by going through the verification process.

2. Optimize Your “Google My Business”

The more complete your Google My Business account is, the more users will trust your business. There are a number of things that you will want to do in order to properly optimize your Google My Business page for local SEO marketing, including:

Choose the exact match of your business category
Write a description of your business and include location-based keywords
Make sure your NAP (name, address, and phone number) is correct
List your business hours
Add a logo to make sure your brand will be identifiable
Show interior and exterior photos of your business to prove your location is real
Add photos of your products and/or services

3. Collect More Customer Reviews

Customer reviews are important for a number of reasons. First of all, potential customers are going to look up reviews of your business before they decide to visit your location or order online. The more reviews you have, the more they will trust you (as long as those reviews are generally positive). You should also respond to negative reviews in a positive manner to try and resolve any issues customers had with your company. This showcases good customer service.

The more reviews you have, the more popular Google will assume your business is, which will help when it comes to page rankings. Last, but not least, the more reviews you have, the more real estate your business takes up on the SERP (search engine results page), thereby making it difficult for users to ignore.

Are there ways to increase SEO? With the help of Google Trends, anything’s possible!

4. Publish Locally Optimized Content

You should also focus on local SEO marketing tactics when implementing your content strategy. To attract customers within your area to your website, create content that’s more locally focused. This doesn’t just mean using local keywords (such as the name of the city you’re in or the neighborhoods nearby), but also writing content that actually has to do with the area you’re located in. For example, content about local events or things to do near your store.

5. Optimize Website For Mobile Use

A significant amount of local searches are performed by customers who are on the go. They will search for certain businesses on their phones as a result. For example, if they’re out running errands and get hungry, they may look for a nearby place to eat. As such, you’ll want to make sure that your website is optimized for mobile use.

Local SEO marketing is a must if you have a physical location and want to increase your company’s exposure throughout the area. Use these tips to improve your local SEO marketing efforts.

As more Companies Catch on to the Benefits of CBD, Here’s What You Need to Know About This New Type of Marketing Strategy

June 5, 2019/in Articles /by Nicole Wagner

CBDs (cannabidiols) are becoming incredibly popular throughout the country, leading to many CBD products and businesses popping up everywhere. One reason for this is the continual legalization of marijuana throughout many states. Note that CBD is only illegal in states where marijuana is illegal (if it was derived from marijuana). It can also come from hemp, in which case it’s legal everywhere.

It’s hard not to argue that CBD’s popularity isn’t related to the increasing acceptance of marijuana. However, it’s not the only reason behind the sudden increase in demand for CBD-related products throughout the country. Surprisingly, these products aren’t just sold at marijuana dispensaries. They are also sold at many health and food stores too. There are even rumors that major corporations like Starbucks and Coca Cola are strongly considering offering CBD products. If you’re in the CBD business, you’re going to want to know what type of marketing strategy to implement as the industry continues to explode.

Type of Marketing Strategy for CBD Products

The CBD industry is still in its infancy, but studies are predicting that the industry will be worth $22 billion by 2020. One of the major contributors to its popularity has been word of mouth. Today’s culture has a thing for natural, health-related products, and CBD is just that. However, there are so many big players hopping on the CBD train. Knowing how to market your CBD business is going to be vital to growing your business. Proper marketing allows you to compete with the many other CBD-related companies in the near future.

How To Market CBD

The most important element of your marketing efforts in today’s CBD market is going to be your content marketing strategy. Consumers are still learning what CBD is. Many consumers don’t understand how CBD is different from marijuana, which isn’t surprising considering how many misconceptions about marijuana there are (such as the fact that it’s not an addictive substance).

Although CBD is from marijuana, it is not the ingredient that can cause the high marijuana is known for. That ingredient is THC, which is a psychoactive ingredient. Many consumers may think that CBD is psychoactive as well since it’s found in marijuana, but it’s not.

8 Tips on Social Media Best Practices For Your Business

Informing Consumers

All of these misconceptions are important to dispel in order to be able to successfully sell your CBD products. Creating content that informs consumers about CBD is going be extremely important. Not only will you be helping to inform your audience, thereby generating more interest in your products, but high-quality CBD content will help attract more leads who are interested in learning about CBD and will help to build trust in your brand. Content focusing on what CBDs are, what the potential health benefits are, how CBDs are different than THC, and what some of the common myths about CBD are can be quite helpful to your audience. In states where marijuana is still illegal, you may also want to highlight how CBD products derived from hemp are legal.

The CBD industry is relatively new, but it’s absolutely exploding. You can expect many CBD-related businesses to begin popping up over the next few years, not to mention that big, established companies will likely begin offering their own CBD products as well. The type of marketing strategy you implement plays an important part in helping you stand out in an industry that will be soon oversaturated.