Category: Marketing Strategy (Page 1 of 2)

Through what we call a brand audit, Pearl Marketing has helped many businesses in different stages of business growth. Perhaps you’ve heard of the effectiveness of brand audits, but haven’t taken the time to embrace one, or perhaps there’s still some mystery to it all. Whether you’re a leader of a big company making changes, or a small business owner getting your business off the ground, running a brand audit is of significant importance because it assists one in understanding the current or future status of one’s brand internally (to employees and staff) and externally (to consumers and the public). A brand audit can give you pertinent information that helps in making pivotal brand decisions that affect the success of your business. Read on to better understand when to run a brand audit and why you should run one.

When… launching a business.

Why…

Make sure your brand identity is clear! A brand serves as the heart of a businesses and sends a message to the outside world. If a business doesn’t have a solid and defined brand, you won’t have a solid and defined business. Your employees (and maybe even YOU as the business owner!) won’t know what they’re working for and helping to build, and consumers won’t know what the business is about. A brand audit allows you to find clarity in defining your brand both internally, for employee and staff morale, and externally, for consumer recognition and effective marketing. You might hear that a brand audit only serves for those businesses that have a brand currently, but we advocate for the perspective that running a brand audit before officially launching your business gives you a strong foundation to build your business off of. You can better understand the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats your business plan has and better prepare for the competition at play in your industry.

When… taking advantage of rebranding efforts.

Why…

You’re ready to start the efforts to rebrand your company. This is the perfect time to run a brand audit so you can understand the current state of your brand – what’s working, what’s not working, how your current brand is translating to your target audience, how you’ve been doing in comparison to your competition, what needs to change to improve your brand, what could stay the same. Your current brand needs a current analysis and then a fresh perspective in order to make informed rebranding decisions to carry out an effective transition. The current analysis allows you to cultivate the fresh perspective and make the best decisions for a successful rebrand. In conclusion, the brand audit should be the first step taken in your rebranding efforts.

When… your business is facing challenges.

Why…

Something is not working. You see a substantial problem within your business or company, or maybe even multiple problems. Perhaps it’s a decrease in sales or leads, or maybe a lack in employee productivity or an increase in the turnover rate. Assess your brand to find effective solutions! Often times these problems can be better understood and fixed through the process of a brand audit. Brand audits focus just as much on a business’s internal goals and values as the external because both are important and both work in tandem to get the job done and ultimately bring in revenue. Remember, your brand is the foundation and the heart of your business, and many of your challenges can lead back to that. If there’s a crack in the foundation, or a misunderstanding of the heart, a whole assortment of problems can result. Brand audits can help you find the gaps within your brand and allow you to fix them more efficiently so the internal and external goals of your brand can be met once again.

What does a brand audit through Pearl Marketing look like?

At Pearl Marketing, we run extensive brand audits that include a SWOT Analysis of your company to understand the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of your business. They include analyzing the internal end external goals, attributes, and values of your business that cultivate a healthy and defined brand. They also include the assessment of a brand statement and elevator pitches to ensure clear brand communication among employees and the outside world. Through market research, an analysis of relevant competitors help your business get ahead of the competition. Lastly, recommendations on how to proceed are given to either build a strong brand foundation, fill in gaps and holes, or assist in making necessary changes that will benefit the business’s current brand and future growth.

Partner with us….

To have Pearl Marketing run a brand audit for your business, contact 603-732-9070, or email info@pearlmarketing.com. Visit our website at www.pearlmarketing.com. Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Youtube!

A New, Simpler Way to Access Google Docs!

By Elena Barker

On November 5, 2018

In Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Uncategorized, Viral Marketing

Are you someone who uses Google tools like Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc.? Perhaps your team at work shares them to get projects done more efficiently. If so, this blog post is for you! At Pearl Marketing, we certainly use our share of Google Docs & Sheets, so we were thrilled when we learned about the new way to access these features. It’s as simple as typing!

Here’s what you do!

This isn’t something you have to sign up for, or wait to try. You can try this out for yourself as you finish reading this blog post. Simply open up a new tab, and in the browser type doc.new. Hit enter, and voila! (I tested this and you can type doc.new or docs.new and it will still work) You should have a fresh Google Doc pop right up for you to start working away. You can do this with all of the Google tools – sheets.new, slides.new, form.new.

Make way for the “new” top-level domain.

For those who might not be certain, a top-level domain, or TDL, is essentially what comes at the very end of the URL after the . (dot). For example, www.pearlmarketing.com (there’s .org, .edu, .gov, .net, etc.). It is now time to embrace the .new! The .new TDL will also be a future way for businesses to start marketing products and services to the internet public that are brand new. So, even if you don’t utilize the Google tools mentioned above, you’ll still want to keep tabs on the .new TDL and how it can help you with your marketing efforts.

Your time is precious!

Gone are the days of having to click through steps to get to your Google tools. No longer do you have to click that icon of six squares at the top of your page, click the tool you want, and then click “blank.” There’s a lot less clicking and more typing to get your job DONE. This might seem trivial to some, but in the fast paced world of marketing, we sure are grateful for anything that helps us get down to business faster. Your time is precious, so we wanted to share this bit of news with you so you can use it to your time advantage too!

To receive expert marketing coaching and consulting, and to learn more about all of the marketing services we provide businesses and individuals, contact Pearl Marketing at 603-732-9070, or email info@pearlmarketing.com. Visit our website at www.pearlmarketing.com. Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Youtube!

How to Protect Your Facebook Account Amidst Another Data Breach

By Elena Barker

On October 5, 2018

In Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Viral Marketing

Another cyber-attack. Another breach.

You probably have heard in recent news that there has been another Facebook data breach, which has compromised 50 million Facebook users’ information. This latest breach has left people questioning (more than ever) the Facebook company’s intention on protecting its users’ and wondering how safe their private information really is.

What happened?

It’s important to understand what happened. Hackers were able to find a way into the code associated with the “View As” privacy tool, which allows users to see how their profile looks to others viewing their page. This allowed the hackers access to user information.

Were you affected?

As soon as the breach was realized by a team at Facebook, the company responded by logging all compromised users out. In a statement by Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, the compromised users would receive a message at the top of their newsfeed about the breach.

Has the problem been fixed?

The answer is yes! There has been confirmation that vulnerability with the code has been patched and fixed and those that were compromised are safe to sign back in to their account. The problems, however, have just begun for Facebook, as they must come up with ways to gain the trust back of and assure more security to their users.

Pearl Marketing’s Cyber Safety Recommendations in the wake of this latest breach…

Facebook is so tied in to the fabric of today’s digital marketing world as well as being one of the most popular social media networks. It’s hard to make a decision to stop using Facebook overnight, so as we mull this over and watch the fallout, Pearl Marketing recommends the following safety measures to help protect your Facebook information online.

Change your password!

Especially if you know your account was compromised, changing your password is the easiest and “no brainer” option for protecting your account.

Don’t stay logged in to your account.

Many people, especially on their phones, choose to stay logged in to their account to make it easier to check their Facebook notifications when they’d like. In other words, they don’t want to deal with the hassle of logging in and out, so they stay logged in 24/7. Don’t do this to give yourself a little more protection. Take the time to log in and out.

Activate Two-Factor Authentication

This is another layer of security that will help thwart hackers to your account and will keep you better informed about something fishy going on with your account.

To receive expert marketing coaching and consulting that will help guide you in the best reaction & approach to matters like these and all things marketing, contact Pearl Marketing at 603-732-9070, or email info@pearlmarketing.com. Visit our website at www.pearlmarketing.com.

Implementing a Successful Rebrand | Pearl Marketing

By Elena Barker

On September 5, 2018

In Lead Generation, Marketing, Marketing Strategy

Change is good!

Every sustainable business will change and rebrand throughout the years. It’s what keeps your business growing and improving. Whether it’s internally through the business plan and the products and services, or externally through the branding and logo design, change in your business is inevitable if you want it to stay relevant and provide consumers with something of current value. Staying up to speed with the trends and technologies of your target audience is important, and coming up with new ways to engage and share your business’s messaging is crucial. Major corporations that we all know and have seen have decades of business success and relevance, like Pepsi and Apple for example, know this. Even those famous golden arches have changed and modernized over time.

If your business or company is stagnant, or seeing a decline in sales, consumer interest, brand recognition, or online traffic and engagement, perhaps it’s time to…..CHANGE. Changing your business direction and revamping your brand does not mean you have failed. It means you’re being a wise business owner and adapting to changes that need to be made. If you are a business owner that found your way to our blog, we want to encourage you through this post. If you are an employee of a company looking for new ideas, or a person thinking about starting a business, we want to provide you with meaningful and beneficial insight on where to start developing your brand.

We’re speaking from experience.

In this blog post we’re speaking from experience, as well as from our knowledge as marketing consultants. Our company, Pearl Marketing, is in the midst of a rebrand itself. We’ve changed our company name from Pearl Marketing “& Design” to reflect the new direction and focus the company is taking to bring the most value to our clients and increase employee productivity. Our goal as a marketing company is to increase our clients’ return on their marketing investment (ROI) and allow business owners to confidently work IN their business knowing there are experts working ON their business. One way that helps us recognize the need to define and refocus our brand is through running a brand audit!

Brand audits allow you to reflect on your business’s internal and external attributes, values, and goals and how well those have translated to employees (internal) and logo, marketing collateral, social media messaging and website (external). Organizing your business’s current strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis) helps you to better understand what you should focus on, what you can improve upon, and what is or is not going to help your business grow. It also helps you to evaluate the current market your business brings value to in the way of competition and helps you understand the changing trends of your target audience.

Knowing how to set your business’s brand apart from your competition and reach your target audience effectively is key, and over time what was understood and worked in the past might not work in the present. Brand audits also help you organize the important elements of brand representation that you will update, like a defined brand statement, slogan, catch phrase, and elevator pitches, an eye catching logo, and a refreshed, user-friendly website.

Preparation and follow through is key.

While your new and improved brand is coming together, we suggest preparing your current audience and clients for the change. Be sure to use your social media, your website, your email newsletters, any blogs, and press releases to avoid brand confusion BEFORE you incorporate your rebrand. This also creates excitement and hype around your business or company, so use this time to your advantage! Once you have launched your new brand, be sure to be consistent with the changes made. If you change your business name and update your logo, make sure your social media pages, website pages, etc. are updated to reflect these changes, or people will become confused and won’t know what to call you, or how to search for you online. It’s important not to overlook a single spot where your brand may be represented online or in print, including the metadata associated with your website (metadata = how people find your website on search engines like Google).

You don’t have to do it all yourself!

Hiring a marketing coach or consultant during this time to stay on top of these aspects of rebranding and to ensure the audit is done right is another recommendation of ours. Partnering with a relationship marketing company, like Pearl Marketing, strives to make sure you are maximizing your business’s brand potential. Pearl Marketing can run the brand audit for you and walk you through it step by step so the process is understood and completed effectively. We also take care of the redesign elements that come out of a brand audit, like an updated logo and website redesign. Once the audit is processed, we can guide you through the transition – the before and after relaunch – to make sure the new brand is incorporated seamlessly and without any brand confusion.

Consumers have now come to expect businesses to reach out to them with personalized messages based on their interests. A successful rebrand will have a plan in place through lead generation that will provide consumers with the information they want and the business with a standardized process to nurture those relationships. Your beautiful new brand won’t be effective if this is not understood and followed through with.

The reasons above are why Pearl Marketing works to implement creative messaging that captures consumer attention, and we strive to educate our clients on search engine optimization (SEO), which is a way to make sure your rebrand is reaching your target audience. Our marketing coach and consulting services help businesses to run effective campaigns and advise on proper lead generation tools. This leads to an increase in brand awareness and keeps messaging consistent across channels while nurturing leads that turn into sales or new clients.

In conclusion…

From one business to another, don’t discount how far you’ve come and throw in the towel. Just get creative and get to changing/rebranding! Pearl Marketing is here to help, so if you need a hand, just let us know! To receive expert coaching and consulting services on rebranding, brand strategy, and lead generation, contact us at 603-732-9070, or email info@pearlmarketing.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn for updates and more insight. Visit our website at www.pearlmarketing.com.

Stay tuned for more info about Pearl Marketing Academy, which will provide business professionals with a complete education and training experience focused on marketing fundamentals, lead generation, brand management, and highly developed skills for any social media platform through seminars, trainings, and online courses.

Strategic SEO Marketing | Pearl Marketing Design

By Tarah Begley

On July 23, 2018

In Lead Generation, Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Our Employees, Press Releases, Uncategorized, Video Marketing, Viral Marketing

The world of digital marketing is continually shifting, learn how your company can improve their platform visibility through SEO.

What is SEO?

Search Engine Optimization is the basic activity that increases your company’s ranking within search engines. Mostly commonly known search engine is Google, which displays links to pages that receive credible authority by analyzing the number and quality of links from other web pages.

In simpler terms. Google presents the most qualified searches first.

My content is resourceful and relevant to the services/products we sell, but we still are not ranked number one. Why?

Google doesn’t give out participation trophies. You have to earn your right to be at the top.

And that’s where proper utilization of SEO is necessary when trying to rank your website within the first few results. This means that having experts use the right tools to achieve high search rankings.

Who should manage my company’s SEO?

There are many options including hiring a marketing consultant, using a marketing agency, or utilizing your marketing department. There are also SEO companies that specifically specialize in the craft of search engine rankings.

Can’t I just use Google Analytics?

Google Analytics is powerful tool for increasing search rankings. When used to its maximum potential, it can increase your company’s traffic and ultimately convert clicks into actions.

Google’s ranking algorithms are the magic behind what companies have the best chance for audience views. The two most famous algorithms are Panda and Penguin. The animal theme stemmed from creator Navneet Panda who actually created Panda first in 2011. In brief, Panda reduces the number of low-quality sites appearing at the the top of Google’s results whereas Penguin focuses on the backlink profile of your site in real time.

Do I really need someone to managing my SEO?

Before Google’s ranking algorithms, there was a possibility of almost anyone being able to create relevant content for consumers and potentially coming out on top. Now, it is much more difficult to do so without a professional. It is important to not only create great content to get people to link your pages, but also show Google that your pages are interesting and authoritative.

Who should I contact?

At Pearl Marketing, companies hire us for objective advice and marketing strategies related to launching a new product, service, or business idea. We have a combined 55 yeas of experience in various industries and can effectively penetrate target markets. Primary consultant and CEO, Amanda Schneck has over 13+ years of marketing and social media experience and over 12+ years of being a marketing professor at one of the top business universities in the country. Contact us today to see how we can help your company’s search rankings!

Why Hire a Marketing Consultant | Pearl Marketing Design

By Tarah Begley

On June 5, 2018

In Lead Generation, Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Our Employees, Press Releases, Uncategorized, Video Marketing, Viral Marketing

If you have stumbled upon this article, you might be deciding whether your business should invest in hiring an independent marketing consultant. There are many different factors that contribute to whether a company should hire a contract marketing agency to help evolve their marketing strategies. In a competitive online world of getting your brand recognized, sometimes help from a specialist might be the best option. Here are 5 advantages to hiring a marketing consultant.

If you have no marketing team or want to strengthen your current marketing team.

Marketing consultants are great resources for those who currently have no marketing strategy and are not currently looking to build out a team within the company. On the other hand, if you think your marketing team is losing a sense of direction, hiring a marketing agency could be a great solution. Often times agencies can provide unique insights and ideas that the team can run with. This can add a huge rate of return directly to your company and marketing team.

No fear of losing staff mid-way through projects.

Marketing consultants are hired on a contract basis, so there is no fear about losing staff throughout the year. Losing a member of a team during important projects or right before a large event, could take a massive toll on your company’s future financial health and success. Hiring a marketing consultant can take the edge off of that worry due to the contract they sign, agreeing to be committed to your business for a certain amount of time. This also allows your company to be flexible and decide after the contract ends whether you might want to build your own marketing team instead.

No on-board training.

Marketing professionals can immediately give you advice and tend to have experience in many industries. This will save on time and cost that a new marketing hire would have to go through with their on boarding training. The advantage to this cost savings can go directly back into areas of your marketing needs such as website development, promotional content, and other projects your consultant might recommend.

Team of experts costs less than you think.

You would think that a team of marketing professionals would induce costly expenses. Marketing agencies are formed as a team of strong professionals who have 10+ years of experience in various industries. The cost of hiring a marketing agency to place you with one of their advanced consultants will almost always cost less than hiring a whole team. This is especially important if your company is just starting to build upon their marketing developments.

Ability to ‘Shop Around’ to find the right fit.

Every marketing consultant has a different expertise, this allows your company to research and meet with whomever could be the best fit. When researching various agencies it is important to ask yourself some questions. Does this firm’s functionality match the unmet needs we have? Is the price range flexible and can meet your company’s budget? What efficiencies are you looking for and do you think the team/consultant is the right fit to work with your company? Do you need local knowledge or a consultant that strictly specializes in one field? All of the questions answered can lead you to the best consultant to form your marketing strategy.

Marketing consultants bring a lot of knowledge to companies who need more focus. Sometimes a company might need an external perspective to figure out how to improve their marketing strategy. And in some cases, companies might have too many ideas in which they ultimately spread themselves too thin. A marketing consultant can use their expertise to ultimately determine which ideas to put into action for your company for maximum brand recognition. If you or your company identifies with one or more of these statements above, meeting with a marketing consultant could be the next step.

6 Ways to Implement an Effective Marketing Strategy | Pearl Marketing Design

By Tarah Begley

On May 22, 2018

In Lead Generation, Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Our Employees, Press Releases, Uncategorized, Video Marketing, Viral Marketing

With summer just around the corner, there is a strong likelihood that many of your clients will be taking extended vacations with their families. This might allow you more “free time” to focus on other areas of your business development. One area in particular, is the overall development of generating leads to your company.

Many companies have a documented marketing plan that is set up by their marketing department or by a contracted hire. It outlines the details of future marketing endeavors and the progression of business growth versus the rate of return over time.

The cost of this document to be produced can be pricey for a small company, especially if the company is not proactive about pursuing the marketing recommendations produced in this lengthy document. All small companies should take these simple initiatives to create a solid foundation for developing an effective marketing strategy.

Here are six ways to effectively implement a marketing strategy for your company.

1. Set up realistic expectations and a detailed timeline.

Remember that good marketing is constantly adapting and changing to a clients’ desires. Blue Kite marketing tells companies that it normally takes 6-12 months before they start to see a return on their marketing efforts. It does take a certain amount of time and effort to see your marketing efforts grow from the foundation you had set up for it. Make sure that your team is on the same page in terms of understanding the time it will take to reach these marketing goals.

Your current marketing strategy should have a detailed project timeline. This will help employees understand when certain tasks need to be done and overall organize various aspects of developing your company’s marketing means. For example, many companies find it helpful to have a content calendar which has specific dates and times to release social media posts. You can also use project management software to make this tasks easier. There are a wide range of them and great ones for for small businesses so they don’t have to shell out huge bucks.

2. Have a clear end goal.

Where do you want to see your business a year from now? A month from now, or even by the end of this week? Having goals sets up a direction for yourself and your company to work towards completing these objectives. Use SMART Goals to help you create attainable objectives for your inbound marketing strategy. Have sensible expectations, measurable efforts, achievable plans, realistic objectives, and lastly time specific goals to keep you motivated.

3. Set up mobile marketing campaigns.

There are many options to implement mobile marketing applications, and this has been one of the most important tools a company can have for their marketing efforts. These applications can help companies learn how to gain popularity in search rankings which can translate into lead generation. This can help them locate qualified mobile users and build relevant context driven content. With more than 77% of people owning smartphones in the U.S. it is vitally important implement these mobile campaigns in order to develop your customer relationships.

4. Continually monitor your progress.

You can’t modify your marketing strategy to become more effective unless someone is properly monitoring aspects like campaigns and outreach calls. Communicate this plan with your team to help them understand the role they play in the implementation efforts.

Another helpful tip is to set up a dashboard for tracking success. A measurement dashboard is beneficial in keeping up with key metrics throughout your campaigns. You must track the number of leads and sales generated from your efforts in order to track your increased revenue. Tracking KPIs are also important which can include email sign ups, eBook downloads and webinars. Once all of this is set up, it should be easy to plug in the necessary information and complete monthly check ins.

5. Execute precise competitor analysis.

Tracking competitors is vital in knowing your progress in terms of your industry growth. Looking at core competitor’s marketing strengths whether its their website or campaigns, can help you determine what your company should be capitalizing its marketing resources on. Using systems like SEMrush can be expensive but help with competitor research for online marketing. The purpose of the competitive analysis is to determine the strengths and weaknesses of competitors within your market. Use the competition’s strengths to learn from and exploit any weaknesses that can be used to disrupt the product life cycle.

6. Build the right team or hire an outsourced marketing vendor.

Know approximately how many people to hire for your team. Many small companies struggle in determining whether they should hire a freelancer or if they can monitor it with a part-time role.

Think about hiring an outsourced marketing vendor like an agency if you are seeking expert advice. Generally these agencies have multiple employees who are all experts in marketing advice and can dedicate time to various specialties of what your company needs in their marketing goals.

At Pearl, we help you increase the quality of traffic to your website through organic searches (some refer to this as Google searches). Contact our company today at www.pearlmarketingdesign.com to learn how we can can help you.

SEO Management – Who should manage your website? | Pearl Marketing Design

By Tarah Begley

On May 3, 2018

In Lead Generation, Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Uncategorized

The Importance of Having a Website and Having Someone Manage your SEO

The industry of digital marketing has evolved into more than the use of the Internet and technology to aid ‘modern marketing’. It has grown into a confusing jumble of technical jargon of various meanings by professionals and academics. One common phrase that is tossed around is SEO.

SEO stands for ‘search engine optimization’ and is the process of getting traffic from free search results, otherwise known as ‘organic search results’.

SEO is important to growing a company’s brand presence because Google alone has market dominance over over search engines, totaling 74.54% of the market in 2017 and 3.5 billion searches a day. That totals to 1.2 trillion searches per year worldwide. And this number is expected to grow. These numbers increase opportunity for brand awareness, but also competition in validating a spot in the top searches. The challenge is figuring out the optimal way of increasing online visibility of a web page in the search engine’s unpaid results. According to Search Engine Watch, there are four pillars of SEO Management to successfully target your audience.

content optimisation framework

Image Source – Andy Betts, Adobe Summit EMEA, Optimizing Content for The Customer Journey

Identify your demand

Knowing what topics your target audience is searching for is crucial in the beginning stages of SEO optimization.

Benchmark the competition

For SEO management it is important that your content is ranking high, but more importantly outranking your competition. This is why it is important to recognize your company’s competitive advantage against other brands.

Create and optimize your content

Using the right keywords (more of the marketing jargon) is essential to providing material to your clients that they will want to read. The more clicks content receives, the higher it will be pushed up in the ranks. It is important to create unique content catered to your industry.

Measure your Results

The analytics that are behind all of this cultivated data is the key to unlocking your future campaign strategy. It is vital to track each stage of your campaign because you want to adjust your strategy each time to move forward in your SEO investment rather than staying stagnant.

Worldwide internet user penetration

Searches made each day

Image Source: https://www.smartinsights.com/search-engine-marketing/search-engine-statistics/

SEO Management. A Full Time Job

Does this seem overwhelming and a lot to handle? SEO Managers are being equipped into large and medium sized companies due to all the varying demands that come from developing campaigns and tracking them. For smaller companies though, this is not always feasible to hire a salaried position for running SEO optimization. Lead generation is just one of the many aspects that Pearl Marketing Design incorporates in their business. A marketing agency to manage effective brand and marketing strategies is generally the best option for small to medium sized companies looking for an alternative to individual hires to run their campaigns.

How To Use Facebook Data To Your Advantage

By Pearl Marketing

On April 20, 2018

In Marketing, Marketing Strategy

Facebook and its data sharing has been one the most talked about stories of the year. Americans are now becoming even more aware of the immense amount of personal data that is collected on them, and shared, daily. Pearl Marketing and Design has known this for years, and although we remain mildly concerned about our own personal information floating out there in cyber space, the tools that Facebook and Google provide helps to fuel the success of our business and our clients. To provide you with a better understanding of how this can work for your business, we will start by explaining a few facts about Facebook and Google’s data collection:

How does Facebook collect data?

Actions and behaviors, aka your interactions (likes, comments, links, clicks, and saved content).
Profile information, including content uploaded to your page.
Digital footprint on mobile devices (i.e. location, contacts).
IP addresses, operating systems, browser types, etc. on laptops or desktop computers.
Through partners (i.e. companies that sell data) and cookies on your operating system.

How does Google collect data?

Keywords that you are using to search for specific content.
Websites you are visiting and the videos you are watching (YouTube is owned by Google).
Ads you click on and keywords you searched for to find that advertisement.
Your location, device information, IP address and cookie data within your browser history

Why is collecting data important?

Allows businesses to make data-driven decisions instead of acting on intuition. A lot of different companies collect your personal data (especially social media sites). Often they’ll use that data to provide you with personalized suggestions to keep you engaged. Facebook for example uses your personal information to suggest content you might like to see based on what other people similar to you like.
Transactional data is incredibly important for businesses because it helps them to analyze variability in consumer trends, uncover hidden patterns, and identify correlations. This information provides insight into consumer behaviors that can then be used for decision making, strategies, and competitive advantages.
Web data is important because it’s one of the major ways businesses can access information that isn’t generated by themselves. When creating business models and making important business decisions, companies need information on what is happening internally and externally within their organization and what is happening in the wider market.
Sensor data is produced by objects and is often referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT). It covers everything from your smartwatch measuring your heart rate to a building with external sensors that measure the weather. The power of this data is its real time reporting and geolocating capabilities.

Who uses your data?

Personal data is aggregated (to privatize it somewhat) and thensold to other companies, mostly for advertising purposes. That’s one of the ways you get targeted ads and content from companies you’ve never even heard of.

What are these data “tools” we are talking about?

Pretty much every website and social media site you visit collects transactional data of some kind, either through Google Analytics, another 3rd party system or their own internal data capture system. Our company subscribes to several tools that retrieve this data.
Cookies are placed on your computer and track your search history.
Surveys, focus groups, and interviews are tools and ways to collect data as well.

How can I use these tools to my advantage?

Data can be used to monitor competitors, understand consumer behaviors, track potential customers, keep track of channel partners, generate leads, build apps, and much more. Considering the immense amount of activity occurring online each day, there is no better way to make informed decisions for your business. It is no coincidence that today’s most successful businesses utilize online data to expand their influence and grow their enterprises.

How can Pearl Marketing help?

Pearl Marketing & Design utilizes data collection and analytics to provide our clients with consumer behaviors and trends. This information can be used to make informed decisions on business strategies and brand positioning. Call us today at 603.732.9070 to schedule a consultation on how to best utilize data services to benefit your business. www.pearlmarketingdesign.com

10 Types of Marketing Strategies

By pearlmarketingdesign

On February 21, 2018

In Marketing Strategy

A wide variety of marketing strategies have made it easier for businesses to promote their products and services. When used correctly, each of these strategies can help your business beat the competition. Dig deeper into the marketing approaches below to discover which ones can make a big impact on your organization.

Paid Media Advertising

Paid Media Advertising is a tool used to grow website traffic through paid placements on search engines and/or social media. One of the most popular methods is pay-per-click (PPC).

With Google Adwords multiple campaigns can be created such as a branding campaign or product campaign. You only pay when a visitor clicks on your ad. Additionally, with built-in conversion tracking every click can be traced back to a purchase or form fill. LinkedIn is a popular paid advertising channel for B2B selling.

Storytelling

Brand storytelling engages consumers at an emotional level. Storytelling enables brands to tell their unique tale.

Typically through video (the hottest content marketing strategy out there), storytelling lets companies weave a memorable account of who they are, what they do, how they solve problems, what they value, and how they engage and contribute to the community and the public in general.

Marketing Automation

Marketing automation uses a flow (or drip) of emails to advertise and drive sales. As lead are funneled into your database you can market to them based on type of lead and where they are in the process.

Referral Programs

A referral program incentivizes people to tell others about your products or services. Implementing affiliate programs, customer referral programs, and partner programs offers the instant credibility of existing customers to grow a customer base. Referral programs are effective because they leverage the recommendations of happy customers, recognize and reinforce customers’ brand loyalty, and are repeatedly popular with customers.

Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing is a powerful way for businesses of all sizes to reach prospects and customers. Your customers are already interacting with brands through social media, and if you’re not speaking directly to them through platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, you’re missing out.

Social media marketing targets users where they spend their time—on social media! This strategy gives customers and leads valuable content to share across their social networks, resulting in increased reach, traffic to the website all while created brand advocates.

Cobranding and Affinity Marketing

Co-branding is a marketing strategy where multiple brands join together to promote and sell one product or service. Each brand lends its credibility to increase the perception of the product or service’s value, so consumers are willing to pay more for it. Tapping into established brands’ consumer base helps to further the reach of a new product.

Earned Media/PR

Earned media is publicity or exposure earned from word-of-mouth, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) or shared content. It can come in various ways—a social media testimonial, a television or radio show mention, a newspaper article or editorial —but is always unsolicited and can only be gained organically. It cannot be bought or owned like traditional advertising.

Search Engine Marketing

Search Engine Marketing, or SEM, is a method that companies utilize to grow their website traffic through paid online advertising.

SEM is effective because of its wide range of online tools and reach, cost-effective way to generate high visibility, and because it is easily adaptable to various markets and audiences.

Word-of-Mouth Advertising

Word-of-mouth advertising is unpaid, organic, and powerful because those having nice things to say about your product or service generally have nothing to gain from it other than sharing good news. A recommendation from a friend, colleague, or family member has built-in trustworthiness, and can spur dozens of leads who expect positive experiences with your brand. In today’s digital world, word-of-mouth isn’t strictly verbal. Leveraging online reviews and opinions are equally (if not more) effective at spreading the word.

Cause Marketing

Cause marketing relationships help to assure your customers you share their desire to make the world a better place. This marketing strategy is a cooperative effort between a for-profit business and a non-profit organization to mutually promote and benefit from charitable causes. Think of popular brands that donate items or funds to people in need for every purchase made.

Regardless of the strategy you choose, marketing effectiveness is dependent on how you execute. Contact the team at Pearl Marketing & Design to discuss how we can help implement these strategies into your marketing plan.

We can help you every step of the way, from strategizing and planning through execution and monitoring. Your brand is our business!

Category: Marketing Strategy (Page 1 of 2)

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