5 Tips for Your Digital Marketing Agency Search: How to Find the Perfect One

A new year, a new website! We are hearing the buzz about how digital marketing is changing and improving day to day, so many of us know how critical it is to keep up if we want to have a competitive edge and the best brand experience for our customers. Now, it's time find a web design and digital marketing agency that fits the mark. Here are a 5 tips for your search to find the perfect one for you:

1. Know what you want to achieveThink beyond "being first in the search engines." What is it you would like to accomplish? For example:– Generate more leads/sales– Keep your customers up to date and informed– Improving your customers' experience– Brand awareness

2. Correlate cost and valueAs with most things we purchase, you really do get what you pay for. This is also true in the digital world. Try to remember it's about the value a partner can provide. Can your agency help you reach goals, get more leads and improve your customers' experience with your website and digital marketing initiatives? If you answered yes, cost to develop the website should not be a deal breaker because you will see the value in return. Do your research, determine the other marketing and communication channels you've been spending your dollars and ask yourself: Am I getting the results I need?

3. Do they have a proven track record?You want to work with an agency that has the experience in your industry, expertise in digital and a track record of success. Do your homework and get what you need to make an informed decision. This might mean:– Talking to references and hearing client testimonials– Asking to see similar work or relevant case studies– Asking for sample digital marketing reports to understand how campaign performance is tracked– Having a more detailed conversation when you have follow up questions or concerns

4. Think aheadThe agency you want to work with will have a reliable, dedicated web maintenance and support team to ensure your new website is on the right track to reaching your goals online. A team that can support you for the long-term means your website won't go stale in a world that is changing day by day.

5. Relationship is keyDo you feel like you have a good rapport with your potential agency team? After the initial conversation, do you feel like they understand your concerns, goals, vision and ideas and can you communicate with them easily? Working with a team that understands your business and what you want to achieve with your overall online presence is key to a successful client/agency partnership.

I wrote this post to reflect on the past year and give a few pointers to anyone searching for a web design and digital marketing agency, but also because each of these pointers are qualities I see in every one of my colleagues here at emagine.

I am proud to say that I have witnessed every department go above and beyond to make sure our clients have the best experience working with us. Listening in on conversations with clients, the rapport and "down to earth" feeling that comes across on both sides is clear. The compliments and testimonials we have received throughout the year from happy clients is proof that we love what we do and we do what we love!

Source: 5 Tips for Your Digital Marketing Agency Search: How to Find the Perfect One

Tips for Testing and Measuring Marketing Campaigns to Improve Results

If you're looking for ways to improve sales and profits in 2017 through marketing avenues, it's important to always remember that top results aren't all about increasing your budget and pumping out more and more strategies. Instead, you must find ways to ensure that your marketing campaigns are actually effective, and learn which tactics work best when targeting the specific businesses you're trying to lure.

To improve your results, it is very important to take the time to regularly test your marketing campaigns and analyze the marketing metrics that matter (which include more than just the number of leads you receive from a campaign). Read on for some ways you can go about testing and measuring your marketing spend in 2017.

Split Test Your Content Marketing

While many people understand the role that split testing can have when it comes to advertising, web pages, and email conversion rates, many haven't thought about using the strategy on their content marketing campaigns. However, a split test can actually be utilized on many different types of situations in which it is preferable to optimize performance, including in content marketing.

Take a look at the results from a 2016 survey of content marketing trends run by Content Marketing Institute, and you'll find that although a whopping 88 percent of B2B businesses use content marketing in their organization, only a tiny 6 percent of them actually find it very effective. These statistics show that there is a definite need for improvement in this area.

Split testing can be helpful here because it enables you to gather current and accurate data about the content you produce, by comparing multiple variants of a post or other format against each other. These comparisons will then enable you to find out which variant performs best.

While the simplest option is an A/B test, where only two versions of content are pitted against one another, you can add a number of other variants to the mix if you like, kicking it into gear to multivariate testing. (Note though that this more involved testing typically requires a lot more website traffic if you want to properly gather valuable data).

You might want to manually conduct the testing yourself, but it's also worthwhile to consider some of the split-testing platforms that are available today, as they can save you a lot of time. As you test the content you create, look for areas where you can enjoy a good-sized uplift in your marketing results. This will ensure that you're seeing proper results from the testing, rather than simple, natural variance that can occur from user behavior.

Keep in mind that the larger the size of the visitors/readers, the smaller the uplift needs to be; and that you should conduct the testing over a reasonable period of time so you can accrue plenty of data and be sure that your results aren't just occurring by chance.

Test the Pricing of Your Goods or Services

If you want to amplify your marketing results it is also beneficial to test the pricing of your goods or services. Many businesses tend to assume that they really know what the best price for their offerings should be, and fail to do any sort of testing of various price points to see how this affects results. This is a mistake though, as consumers can be changeable and incredibly unpredictable.

The best way to get top results from marketing outlets such as online and offline advertising, direct mail, e-newsletters, presentations, events and the like (anywhere you are promoting an offering and its price), is to test to see if the price is right. Conducting these tests will let you find out which price point generates the most inquiries, sales, or other responses, and then allow you to adjust your price and your future marketing to suit accordingly.

To use this tactic, think about splitting up your target market in various marketing platforms. Then, test out multiple price points and analyze the results before choosing a final cost to put in place for your goods that will be promoted to the entire market.

Use Social Media to Test Campaigns

Another great way to test out your marketing campaigns early on, and have them be as effective as possible, is to make use of social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and the like. For example, Twitter, with its limited character space, is the perfect place to test out email subject lines for your newsletters. After all, a predominant factor in the click-through-rate on a mail out is the headline used — it must being interesting and engaging enough that people decide to open the email in good numbers.

You can use the social media site to do some testing by creating a few different headlines, then assigning a unique, short URL to each Tweet so that you can manage the individual click-through rates. If you find that a particular subject line resonates well with your social media audience, this should be a good indication that your campaign will enjoy a similar response.

Homework: Retest and Re-evaluate

It's not enough to test all of these things once. Due to the rapid changes of the digital world, you must constantly test your marketing campaigns to see what's still working and what is no longer effective. Regularly testing will help keep your company fresh and make sure your marketing efforts continue to thrive instead of stagnating.

Source: Tips for Testing and Measuring Marketing Campaigns to Improve Results

My 10 Predictions for Digital Marketing in 2017

It was hard to miss the "good riddance to 2016" trumpet blasts just two weeks ago.

So 2017 starts off in a pretty good position with small shoes to fill.

However, the expectations we as individuals have for our own achievements have not waned. Redo everything and improve it all. "Nothing is sacred" has been my mantra lately. Up takes effort.

For you, let 2017 be the year you say you got better every day. The year you surrounded yourself with smart people. The year you got a hold of better data. The year you made more informed decisions.

In that spirit, I perform my annual exercise of crystal ball gazing, offering predictions for the search marketing and affiliated digital marketing spaces for the year to come.

Why have I done this every year for the last 12 years?

A few reasons:

Everything we do is done in service of this primary goal: Get more traffic to websites.

To get more web traffic, we have to know what works and what will change — and the sooner the better.

With a digital marketing road map clearly drawn, we can gain a competitive edge by innovating strategies around upcoming opportunities.

So the predictions below are the starting point for a conversation about how search marketing is evolving to be smarter over the next few months.

Give them a read and let me know what you think.

My Predictions

1. The SEO world will be shocked to see that organic listings will shrink as PPC and Local Paid Inclusion takes hold. Google will become a pay-to-play space with only the top few organic rankings getting continual search traffic, usually for information-centric sites.

2. Mobile will significantly dominate the traffic on the web. In the early part of the year, desktop search will fall as a percentage of total queries. Later in 2017, desktop search will gain search traffic share as an information portal as mobile search tests a totally paid model.

3. Voice search will exceed half of all searches, and find increasingly common use for desktop search. This will totally flip the concept of keywords as people speak what they want instead of typing it.

4. AMP is here and will likely remain, but it will not be a very successful project. There are several other and more attractive solutions that will gain a foothold … Your website as an app? Yes, definitely.

5. PPC will grow exponentially. When the entire first screen is paid ads you become a believer. We advise ourselves and clients that they need to follow the money … How does Google make money? Certainly not from organic listings.

6. Instagram stores and affiliate programs take hold. The online fashion industry is many billions of dollars, and visuals rule. Look for massive growth in the area of Instagram shopping.

7. Ads on social media continue to grow, not without challenges. Social is rejected by users as an inappropriate channel for ads. While highly targeted social ads are great for the success of advertisers, users will have the final say.

8. We will see new forms of behavior around virtual social rooms. Social media users and platforms innovate new means of social engagement instead of meeting people in person. Virtual reality (VR) chat rooms become a new social experience.

9. Content is going to be a significant SEO focus, driving most projects throughout the year. This is an easy prediction to make. The key is that the quality of the content will be judged by RankBrain, and so content for content's sake will not prevail.

10. New tools will help content marketers produce targeted, high-quality content at the time of publishing. Content writers demand more data and become more technically bold as easy-to-use tools provide traffic and competitor SEO stats, ushering in a new generation of targeted high-quality content.

What's Next? Serving Up Strategy

How should these changes affect your digital strategy this year? That's where my 2017 resolution kicks in.

I've committed to blogging every week, and you can bet these predictions will be a catalyst for many posts to come.

Follow along with me by signing up for free email updates for the blog.

It's always an honor to answer your toughest digital marketing and SEO questions. Let me know of any topics you'd like me to cover here.

Fun fact: 2012 was the one time I took a formal poll to rate how I did on my predictions one year out. I scored a 58%.

As for these predictions, how do you think I did? Let me know in the comments.

About the Author

Bruce Clay is founder and president of Bruce Clay, Inc., a global digital marketing optimization firm providing search engine optimization, pay per click, social media marketing, conversion rate optimization, SEO-friendly web architecture, and SEO tools and education. Connect with Bruce on Google+.

Source: My 10 Predictions for Digital Marketing in 2017

How To Market A Small Business Online | Why you MUST be marketing on the internet |818-275-2429|

Do you need help learning how to market a small business online? Get free training by clicking here:www.LearnOnlineMarketingForFree.com

Small business coach Lauren Cheney will help you learn the basics to ninja strategies your competitors cannot even dream of through her free daily webinars and training information on her website. As a small business owner herself, she knows you have limited time and usually a limited budget – no problem! Her training is designed to go at your own pace.

Learning how to market your small business online includes training on social media marketing, SEO ranking, blogging, internet marketing, Facebook fan pages & ads, YouTube optimization, and so much more.

Make sure to subscribe to this channel to keep up to date on the latest training videos.

Learning how to market your small business online really isn't as overwhelming as most business owners believe. Following Lauren's training step-by-step will allow internet marketing will give your business just the boost it's been needing!

www.LearnOnlineMarketingForFree.com

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Source: How To Market A Small Business Online | Why you MUST be marketing on the internet |818-275-2429|

Trends Showing B2B Content Marketing Won’t Be Boring in 2017

B2B content marketing is one of the most important online marketing strategies employed by various businesses. This form of marketing has been there for years and is still there to stay. While others think that B2B content marketing may decrease in 2017, there are trends that prove otherwise. We will look into the trends that show B2B content marketing will not be boring in 2017.

Video will increase

One of the trends that we expect to see in B2B content marketing in 2017 is an increase in video as a form of marketing. Video plays an important role in the success of marketing strategies. Without including videos in your marketing strategies, you will not see positive ROI on your marketing strategies. Statistics show that 85% of content marketers report positive ROI when using video. When included in B2B content marketing, videos will enhance the marketing strategy and thus, ensure that B2B content marketing is not boring in 2017.

Inbound marketers are creating more content

Another trend that indicates B2B content marketing will still be viable in 2017 is the constant increase in the creation of content by inbound marketers. This is a clear sign that B2B content marketing will not be boring in 2017. Were it to be boring, inbound marketers would not be creating more content. In fact, data compiled by Written indicates that 93% of inbound marketers are busy creating more content on weekly basis. The trend by inbound marketers shows a ray of hope for B2B content marketing in 2017.

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Social media is critical for content promotion

Social media is always moving forward in terms of trend. Every year, social media sites are highlighted as the leading platforms for content promotion. It is fun to engage in social media marketing. The fact that it is fun to engage in social media marketing clearly shows that content marketing will still have a place in 2017. Many businesses will be seeking to target other businesses in social media and make the best out of social media marketing. With this in place, B2B content marketing will not be boring in 2017.

Content is driving demand

According to a study by Mattermark and Drift, indicates that about 80% of companies have blogs or other forms of online publications. The data is from the 50 fastest-growing B2B companies. If this study is anything to go by, then it is very clear that B2B content marketing will not be boring in 2017 for more companies will be seeking to have their online presence felt.

B2B buyers are demanding personalized content

One major trend that will dominate 2017 is the requirement by B2B buyers to get personalized content. This means that companies have to create personalized content to meet the demand of the market. In doing this, they will be engaging in content marketing and thus proving the point that this form of marketing is still here to stay and will not be boring in any way.

Influencer marketing

Another trend that we expect to sustain B2B content marketing in 2017 is the inclusion of influencer marketing as part of marketing strategy in 2017. This time, influencer marketing will be contextualized in a way that both the celebrity and the brand benefit greatly. With immense benefits from this partnership, B2B marketers are bound to continue with content marketing in a bigger way.

VR and AI

Virtual Reality (VR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are among the leading technological trends that will make content marketing more fun. Google is putting more focus on AI and therefore many companies will be keen on implementing the use of this technology to improve their marketing.

Conclusions

Of course, many other trends show how content marketing will be fun in 2017. The above mentioned are only a few that can confirm that 2017 will not be boring for B2B content marketers.

Author: Aashish Sharma

Aashish Sharma is an Internet Research Analyst, and an aspiring social media marketer. He possesses hands-on experience in optimizing and promoting websites on leading search engines and web media. His passion is to keep updated with what masters of the internet such as  Google, Yahoo, Twitter, Facebook etc. are up… View full profile ›

Source: Trends Showing B2B Content Marketing Won't Be Boring in 2017

919 Marketing Wins Prestigious Davey Award

The 12th Annual Davey Awards Honored the Best Independent Marketing Agencies Across the Globe

Holly Springs, NC (PRWEB) January 06, 2017

919 Marketing, a leading national franchise marketing agency, has won the highly coveted Davey Award for their breakthrough franchise marketing work on behalf of Jerky Outlet. The Davey Awards recognize the best independent agencies in Web, Video, Design, Mobile, Advertising and Social Marketing. This year, 919 Marketing won the Silver Award in the Integrated Campaign category for their Inner Carnivore campaign for Beef Jerky Outlet.

"We are so excited to have won our third global Davey Award," says David Chapman, Founder and CEO of 919 Marketing. "As a data driven franchise marketing agency we work passionately to ensure our clients generate measurable results from our content marketing programs. This campaign was validated by national consumer research and measurably increased national brand visibility and store traffic. In addition, the campaign established an ownable and authentic brand positioning for a young emerging franchise brand that clearly resonates with beef jerky lovers. Ultimately, we were very happy with the numbers our Inner Carnivore campaign generated."

919 Marketing's Inner Carnivore campaign put a quirky, irreverent spin on traditional jerky marketing campaigns. The fully integrated video, print and TV advertising campaign had jerky lovers across the country searching for one of the more than 85 Beef Jerky Outlet franchise locations.

Beef Jerky Outlet is the country's first national jerky franchise, and offers more than 100 varieties of premium jerky. Some popular flavors include Prime Rib, Teriyaki, Kangaroo, Venison and even Alligator. 919 Marketing has played an active role in growing the Beef Jerky Outlet brand.

For more information on 919 Marketing, please visit 919Marketing.com.

To learn more about the Davey Awards, visit DaveyAwards.com.

About 919 Marketing:

Formed in 1996 and headquartered just outside of North Carolina's Research Triangle Park and the capital city of Raleigh, 919 is a national content marketing firm with a proven track record of helping franchised based companies increase revenue, create a competitive advantage and improve franchise marketing results. We provide high-powered strategic planning, franchise marketing, franchise public relations, franchise social media, franchise digital marketing, business development support and full creative capabilities — each utilizing proven processes refined over hundreds of client engagements.

Our award-winning staff of marketing strategists, TV and print reporters, and social media trailblazers are seasoned experts, providing content marketing firepower needed to excite, motivate and engage your customers and prospects. 919 clients include startups, emerging growth companies and Fortune 500 corporations — from high-tech to health care, hair care and elderly care. 919 Marketing is a proven, go-to source for national franchise companies of all sizes that want to grow their businesses. For more information, please contact David Chapman, CEO at 919-557-7890 or email dchapman(at)919marketing(dot)com.

About David Chapman:

David Chapman has over 25 years of senior-level marketing experience working with emerging and blue chip national brands. Prior to forming 919 Marketing, Chapman worked in the publishing industry and served for nearly a decade in account management for the Interpublic Group, the largest agency network in the world. His patented LINK® plan ning process has been used by over 75 companies to date, including the Rosetta Stone to build winning content marketing programs.  LINK® has been the catalyst behind a growing roster of successful franchise marketing and franchise PR campaigns.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/01/prweb13964191.htm

Source: 919 Marketing Wins Prestigious Davey Award

Why Inbound Marketing is Crucial to B2B Success in 2017

By Samantha Anderson

Heading into 2017, inbound marketing continues to be the most cost-effective means of attracting new customers and keeping them. While business consumers continue to reject traditional marketing strategies, they are ever more interested in gathering information and learning about products before they buy without all the pressure of a regular sales pitch. Here are a few of the reasons that inbound marketing will be your number one priority for B2B outreach in 2017:

Nurturing Customer Relationships

The problem with traditional marketing strategies is that they often called upon your potential customers regardless of whether or not they were ready to buy. After being contacted repeatedly about products they didn't want or weren't ready for, they often blocked your ads well before they realized they had a need. Inbound marketing overcomes this challenge by inviting potential customers into your sphere to read and learn no matter where they are in the buyer's journey.

Curiosity alone can be enough to reach a customer and begin building a relationship that will be profitable down the line. The important thing is that inbound marketing makes it apparent that you care about their needs and want to hold their hand through the decision-making process. This strategy actually saves you nearly 62 percent on generating new leads over outbound marketing.

Today's Investment, Tomorrow's Profit

The best part of using inbound marketing strategies is not just that customers get to know your company better on their own, but that future customers can come into the fold at any point.

The investments you make today in building a library of helpful resources for your customers through blogs, email content and more actually turn into long term profits. The information you have compiled will continue to be searchable for all clients in the future and will continue to earn returns on a consistent basis.

Instead of paying a salesman to make individual cold calls with a high rate of failure, you are paying to publish a permanent sales piece that will work for you indefinitely. The larger your library gets, the more people will be brought in to learn about your products, and the easier it will be to find your page in search engines via search engine optimized content.

When done right, your web presence can be your single best salesman. You are publishing information piece by piece and depositing it into a larger compendium of resources that will be widely available. However, when a reader discovers this treasure trove of information they have the ability to share it with their friends and family. Without any additional input from your end, suddenly your message has reached dozens more people.

This continues to happen each time someone finds a valuable tidbit in your blog and decides to share it within their sphere of influence. This is both cost friendly and efficient in terms of the actual work you have done, and it provides for ongoing growth in ROI.

Create an Approachable Brand

For years companies have struggled to put their best foot forward. Cold calling and obnoxious ads have overwhelmed their intended audience. Using inbound marketing you can take a step back from the in-your-face tactics and offer a less abrasive alternative. By offering valuable information to customers free of charge they are more willing to drop their guard and hear what you have to say.

In addition, by joining social sites you become a part of the greater conversation about your products, rather than a group of people in an office just looking to make a sale. This approachability factor makes a huge difference in customer satisfaction and trust in your brand.

2017 is sure to be full of plenty of new marketing trends, but the promise of inbound marketing is still strong. Business customers enjoy reading about products and services and learning about options without the pressure to make an instant decision. This allows them more room to weigh their options and make the best choice.

In addition, being able to share relevant blogs and web pages amongst themselves, and read the stories of other customers who have used your service gives them a better idea of what you can do to serve them. When it comes to spending your marketing dollars, it is apparent that inbound marketing dollars will go further than outbound dollars thanks to the regenerative qualities of the content you are curating and the ability to reuse old content for continuous sales.

Photo credit: Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock

Read more here:: business.com

Source: Why Inbound Marketing is Crucial to B2B Success in 2017