SEO vs. Social Media

Here at eMarketing247...we are always looking to educate our clients, employees, and friends. 

Check out this fantastic article we found by Travis Bliffen...we couldn't agree more!

If you have the time or budget to use SEO in conjunction with social media optimization, doing so will allow you to reach the broadest possible audience. If your time and budget limit put you in a positon of having to choose, here is some information that will help you do so intelligently.

1. BrightEdge conducted a study in 2014 that indicated 51 percent of website traffic across their study group came from organic search compared to 5 percent from social media. Even more shocking, when narrowed down to service based sites, organic search accounted for 73 percent of all traffic!  (BrigthEdge)

2. Facebook has an average visitor to lead rate of .98 percent. SEO has a visitor to lead rate of over 14 percent. (Hubspot)

3. Organic Facebook posts only reach an average of 12 percent of your followers. Appearing in the top three in Google organic search results in an average click-through rate (CTR) of 60 percent. Put simply, five times as many people will click an organic result as will even see a Facebook post! (TechCrunch & SeoBook)

4. Imagine this, you wake up to a massive leak in your roof. You just moved to the area and don’t know who to call. What do you do? If you are like over 60 percent of others surveyed by Econsultancy you use Google to find a company. (Econsultancy)

5. What about forecasting? Readily available tools such as the Google Keyword Planner allow you to easily see the average monthly search volume for keywords. Using industry averages, you can take the search traffic and accurately estimate total site traffic for a new campaign. Unfortunately, traffic forecasting is not easy to do for a new social media campaign.

6. What about YouTube? Many of you already know that YouTube is the second largest search engine. While some may argue that YouTube is a social site, SEO is a powerful way to market videos as well. If you are not familiar with YouTube SEO, you can learn more about that in our recent post covering how to generate quick search traffic.

Again, social media can be a great addition to a comprehensive marketing plan but if you are looking to maximize your ROI on every marketing dollar spent, SEO is where you should be investing.

 Lucky for you, eMarketing247 can help you reach SEO success. Contact us today to get started!

Marketing Tips for Easter

Easter is just around the corner! It isn't too late to throw together a quick marketing campaign to make the most of the holiday. Here are some simple but effective suggestions:

1. Create a high quality Easter video. This video could include a list of your services, interspersed with some cute bunnies or religious themes. More and more customers are turning to video to learn about services.

2. Have fun with your email campaign. Send out an Easter themed email campaign, and hide small digital Easter eggs around the flyer. Tell customers that they get to partake in a mini adult egg hunt. After watching the children run around all weekend, this might come as a welcome respite.

3. Don't put all your eggs in one basket! We're serious! Leveraging one type of social media or marketing strategy will not get your business to come out on top! In order to succeed, even around Easter time, you must utilize a variety of marketing techniques. You should use SEO, PPC, social media, emails, blogs, and copy writing, just to name a few!

4. Don't forget your "call to action." A cute or inspiring Easter campaign can only go so far without a call to action. Don't forget to ask your potential customers to do something. Is it try out your famous pizza? To make a reservation at your hotel? No matter what industry you are in, don't leave out your call to action.

5. Mail to your best customers. You know who your best clients are. Why not take this Easter holiday to thank them with a personally handwritten Easter card. This gesture is cheap and quick but will make a big impact with your business customers.

Too busy? Don't worry! eMarketing247 would love to help you with your marketing needs. Please contact us today to get started!

4 Ways to Market on Pinterest

Not surprisingly, Pinterest is all the rage these days! Who wouldn't want to plan their dream home, vacation, or wedding, all through beautiful pictures? Pinterest is also becoming the perfect medium to market your business as well! Check out four ways in which you can successfully leverage this hot social media:

1. Set up your profile. You want people to know what your business is about so you need to create a profile that is clear and easy to understand. Use your business name as the title to your account, and your logo or a feature of your business [shoes that you sell if you are a shoe company], as your profile picture. Include your website URL in your "about me" feature.
2. Engage with others. Follow other users. Pin or "favorite" their pins or comment on your favorites. Engaging with others will help you build your brand while demonstrating that you care to engage with other businesses as well. Re-sharing pins will get your username out there each time you pin a new post.
3. Don't over post. This cannot be stressed enough: DO NOT OVER POST. When we say over post, we mean over share material from your own business. Only pin materials that promote your business 20% of the time. Followers, especially on Pinterest, will quickly click that "unfollow" button if your business constantly promotes itself and never shares inspirational or interesting photos. After all, no one wants to see a constant stream of advertisements in their spare time.
4. Describe your images. When pinning your own material, don't forget to write a unique and optimized description with each and every pin. Use your business name in the description so that other users are able to trace the post back to your company.

Need help with marketing? You can always contact us at eMarketing247! 

Content Marketing is Crucial

Translate all of this information to a successful content marketing strategy! 

The saying "content is king" is SO important when it comes to online business marketing. In order to have a successful online presence, your business must have content that is beneficial to your customer's experience, while still having relevant keywords that help your business to be found by internet search engines.

While many businesses try to find a good content marketing balance, few have actually succeeded. Here at eMarketing 247, we want YOU to be one of the successful companies! That is why we created Content Content Content, a podcast about, you guessed it, CONTENT!

During our podcast, we address pressing questions such as:

• Does content marketing even matter?
• How long do customers stay on a webpage?
• Is content just for aesthetic purposes?
• How can you have content outside your website?
• How can you update your website often to have new and exciting content?
• Do you have any success stories to share?

Beat your competitors by updating your content NOW! Not sure? We will show you how!

LISTEN TO OUR CONTENT MARKETING PODCAST HERE!

Why Your Business Needs Video Marketing!!

She's enjoying watching a video. Your customers can too!

Video marketing is SO important for your business because videos involve visual recognition, credibility, and trust. The saying goes that a picture is worth a thousand words, but videos combine thousands of pictures to form movement. What could be better? In addition, people love watching videos because they are fast and easy.

Why not improve your business by adding video? Don't trust us? Give our podcast on video marketing a listen and see if you agree. We bet we can change your mind in under 7 minutes!!


LISTEN HERE

Questions and Answers about Social Media Marketing

Do you feel like everyone is talking about how social media is important for businesses? Have you always wondered why? Is it even worth the effort for smaller companies? eMarketing247 is going to answer all of your questions! So, let's get started:

•  Why is social media marketing important?Well, first off, social media is FREEE and it offers businesses increased exposure! Sure, having great SEO and content on a business website helps, but creating a social media page on Facebook, twitter, Google+, Instagram etc., helps get the word out even more! Who knows when a customer might stumble along and find the company!Social media is also extremely helpful as an avenue of communication. Instead of having to call or email a company when customers have a problem, they can simply comment directly on a social media page, such as Facebook. These comments may even spark conversations with other customers as well, who may have had a similar experience, or who are interested in the product!
• So if customers post a negative complaint about the service/product, what should the company do? The first thing is to RESPOND! We cannot begin to stress this enough! If there is no response on the social media site, then it just proves that the company doesn’t care about their customers. The customer who posted the negative comment looks “informed” and the company looks like it isn't on top of things. Even if the company DOES care about customers, actions speak louder than words! If a company catches a comment in time it is best to respond immediately. Normally there is a 24 hour “grace” period, but after that it looks like the company does not care at all.
• Well, can’t the company just respond privately to the unhappy customer?NO! If the company responds to the customer privately, they still have to put something on the social media site acknowledging that. If other customers/potential customers see that a company did not respond promptly, they will take notice! Responding quickly and effectively to customers is key!
• Hopefully, not everyone who posts is going to be unhappy though! Right? Exactly! Social media is perfect for building a loyal fan base for businesses. Potential and returning customers are able to follow the business on social media and interact with the company on a daily or weekly business. By simply having a social media presence, a company becomes more “real” to a customer who will see it almost every day. Once a company has loyal fans, it is going to want to reward them!
• Reward them how? Like with free stuff? Sure! A company can use social media as an avenue to present special offers to loyal followers and fans. Maybe this special offer is a discount or a buy one get one free coupon. The options are endless! 
• Okay, but is it really worth the time for small businesses to do social media? Yes! It is totally worth it, especially since creating social media profiles is totally free! As I explained above, customers will be able to interact with a company on a daily basis, be first in line for “secret” rewards, and have the option to contact the company right from their Facbeook!
• What type of content should small businesses post on social media? eMarketing247 likes to post links, videos, blogs, and articles related to the businesses that we manage. For example, when we manage social media that is related to cruising, some days we will share our own blog posts or videos, and some days we will share, for example, “Time Magazine’s 10 tips for better cruising.” Businesses should share whatever they think is applicable to their business audience.
• Okay so only business related stuff! Got it.Well, not exactly. Business related stuff is great most of the time, but companies don’t want to bore customers with posts ONLY related to one thing. Throw in some “thank goodness its Friday” pictures and interesting links for a change!   
• What are some ways that businesses can gain more followers on social media? Well, simply posting consistently will help drive exposure! If people like what a business is posting, they will share it with their friends or retweet it to their followers. In addition, People love free/discounted things. Businesses can make special offers only on social media or do drawings or competitions on social media. Current followers may share or retweet to their followers, who may love the content and BAM you just gained another follower. There are so many possibilities! The company just has to be creative!

We hope that we were able to answer some of your frequently asked questions, and hope that we provided you with some insight about social media marketing! Please visit our website for more information about our social media marketing services! 

3 Crucial Marketing Trends for 2015

Mobile is bigger than ever before!

2015 is upon us, and, if you haven't already, it is time to start researching and implementing the top marketing trends for this next year. Luckily for you, we have got everything you need at your fingertips! Check out some of the this years biggest trends:

• Content Marketing will be bigger this year than ever before! If you don't have stellar content on your website, your online presence, and, in turn, your business, will suffer. Content must be relevant to search engines and potential customers who are Googling your product or service, and it must be constantly updated. Don't have this kind of time? Let eMarketing24/7's team of trained professionals do all the work! 
• Mobile-friendly technology will be crucial. In 2015, having a mobile-friendly website is a must. Although people still search using computers, many surf the web on the go, and are tired of navigating websites that aren't mobile friendly. Chances are, if your website isn't customized to fit the mobile environment, potential customers will continue their search somewhere that is more convenient. Luckily for you, eMarketing has created and maintained tons of mobile friendly websites, so we are well-equipped to help your business succeed.
• SEO and Social must work together. Here at eMarketing, we have been saying and doing this for years, and we are excited that the rest of the world is finally catching on! Social media, such as Facebook and blogs, can be tied to websites and products in order to increase Search Engine Optimization. The amount of "likes" and "views" that a post gains will help search engines determine how relevant it is to people looking for similar products. Want to learn more about how to tie your SEO and social media together? Contact us and we will get you started!