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Website Trends for Small Business Owners

Website refreshes mean more business and happy customers. — Website pages should be accurate, easy to read, and full of calls-to-action.

A website is your online business card. It’s what customers see first when they look for your services. Trends are constantly shifting based on what customers want to see.

How do you know if your website in on-trend? Take a look at some of the most popular design elements for small business sites:

From Flat to 3-D (Again)

Gradients, drop shadows, video, motion graphics, scrolling effects, etc., bring new life to a website.
Add realism and depth to graphics, bridging the gap between the digital and the real world.

Video Home Page Headers

Videos replace standard sliding images to convey a message and grab visitors’ attention quickly.
Videos can run on auto-play, or be prompted to play, and text could be added over the video for further description.

Large, Attention-Getting Text

Large, eye-catching text has become front and center, with much smaller subtext as needed to direct users to additional information/actions.
Pair a video background with bold or large text to get the attention of visitors instantly.

Large “Hero” Images

Hero images are the main banners placed on a website*, on the home page and inner pages.
High quality, relevant images are key for this design.

Responsive Design

Responsive websites are sites that are functional on any screen—no pinching and pulling required.
Non-responsive sites turn off users, and get penalized by search engines for not being user-friendly.

Micro-Interactions

Micro-interactions are touches which surprise and/or encourage users in an area of the website.
Notifications, text pop-ups or a button turning another color, etc., can help foster engagement.

Great Written Content

Quality content should focus on storytelling and communicating effectively with your audience.
Promote knowledge, products and services while implementing SEO** keyword research into your text.

Website pages should be accurate, easy to read, and full of calls-to-action to draw readers into the next step of your marketing/sales funnel.

**SEO (Search Engine Optimization): methods used to increase traffic to a website by increasing its search engine page rank (techopedia.com).

Source: OpenVine.com, reported by Kelly Thomas Mango; *omniconvert.com

3 Ways to Drive Customer Engagement

Customer engagement – attracting and influencing customers — is earned through trust and over time. There are three layers to effectively nurture prospects into customers:

Emotion: Customers need to feel something for your brand and trust your proposition.
Rationale: Lock in commitment and ensure that what you’re offering makes logical sense.
Ethics: Communicate your brand virtues.

Customer engagement is achieving the right balance of compassionate and rational marketing.

Following are the best tactics to conquer all three layers:

1. EMOTION: Trust-building — Inspire emotions to engage customers:

Tell, don’t sell.

Use storytelling to activate desires.

Put your social proof to use.

Shout about your endorsements: ratings, reviews and testimonials.

Personalize your message.

Seventy-four percent of marketers say personalization increases engagement.

2. RATIONALE: Commitment-building — Align your proposition as a solution to an existing want, need, or problem:

Position your product to meet a need or desire.

Content should paint a picture of where customers will be after their purchase.

Use data to segment your audiences.

Use preferences and behaviors to customize content: 91% of consumers are more likely to purchase brands that provide recommendations and 83% are willing to share their data.

Leverage different channels.

Use multiple media channels to ensure consistent communication throughout the buying cycle.

3. ETHICS: Promotion-building — Putting ethics before profit inspires: 66% of consumers spend more money with ethical businesses:

Make a commitment – and stick to it.

Showing that you’re making a difference earns consumer trust and confirms your reputation.

Make customers feel your dedication after they’ve purchased.

Inform customers of your local commitment.

Make it about more than the transaction.

Convey your community involvement; customers are appreciative if their purchase helps others.

Customer engagement is achieving the right balance of compassionate and rational marketing. Authentic narrative inspires prospects to become customers.

Source: dotdigital.com, reported by Chris Cano; jasmconsulting.com

Give Your Business a Fall Marketing Tune-up

“The key to setting achievable marketing goals is to spend time evaluating your current position.”

Marketing remains essential for businesses in order to successfully compete, sell products/services and become profitable and grow. Following are effective marketing best practices.

Set Attainable Goals

Determine your position in the market and decide what you want to achieve.
Keep your goals realistic, making them something you will be able to accomplish.

Establish Brand Identity and Target Market

Brand Identity: Communicate what your business does with the right name, logo, colors, imagery.
Target Market: Consider the age, gender, interests, location, etc. of your target customer.

Maintain a Website

Nearly two-thirds of small businesses rely on websites to connect with customers.
In this digital era, websites are the window to virtually any type of business.

Combine Online and Offline Strategies

Combine online channels such as blogs, social media, etc., with offline marketing practices.
Be mindful of SEO (Search Engine Optimization¹): incorporate relevant keywords into websites/online portals to rank higher on search engines.

Use Google Tools

List your product/service on Google My Business² to gain search visibility, customer insights and display useful information to help customers find you.
Prepare for a Google Ad Words³ campaign by setting a budget, finding the right keywords and creating landing pages that bear significance.

Don’t Discount Email Marketing

Every new subscriber to your email list is a potential paying customer.
Sixty-six percent of emails are opened on mobile devices; use mobile responsive templates that automatically adapt emails to mobile formats.

Prioritize Content Marketing

Eighteen percent of marketers said content marketing had the greatest impact on their business.
Create and share quality, unique content through webinars, blogs, social media posts, etc.

Join Local Business Groups / Solicit Customer Reviews

Network and showcase your business and meet like-minded people to share stories/goals by joining local groups.
Ask your customers for a review: feedback is a powerful tool for small business owners;

“The key to setting achievable marketing goals is to spend time evaluating your current position.” — Shanelle Mullin, Director of Marketing-Onboardly

¹SEO: methods used to increase traffic to a website by increasing its search engine page rank (techopedia.com).
²Google My Business: a tool to manage your online presence across Google.
³Google Ads: an online advertising program (support.google.com).
Source: smallbiztrends.com, reported by Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead

Digital-Out-of-Home Trends Dominate Top Stories

Digital-out-of-home (DOOH) has been dominating advertising news with key trends and innovative technology. Following are the top five stories:

1. What’s driving the digital-out-of-home market?

Advertisers realize the value of trading static images for digital, delivering content that responds to the audience directly.
Two factors driving the expanding DOOH market are improved targeting and dynamic content — content that is continually updated¹.

2. Eye tracking tech delivers DOOH ads:

Dynamic content has the potential to engage audiences in a deep way because it addresses customers’ needs.
Displays can track users’ eyes to deliver content.

3. Three ways to bring DOOH content to life:

Out-of-home continues to outpace other traditional advertising, fueled by the fast growth in DOOH.
Three basic tips for DOOH: adding motion, delivering contextual content and carefully handling the timing.

4. Businesses are using big data to deliver the best DOOH experience for customers:

Big data is information that is analyzed to reveal patterns, trends, and associations relating to human behavior and interactions.²
The key to using big data is to offer good deals and a good product. It’s about the customer’s journey, not just the aggregated data.

5. Three tips for successful indoor digital signage:

When you deploy digital signage indoors, consider factors such as space, branding and messaging.
To be successful, have key strategies in place for all three factors.

When delivering digital signage experiences, experts recommend focusing on broader audiences, which will lead to increased sales and brand awareness.

Source: Digitalsignagetoday.com, reported by Bradley Cooper; ¹Braze.com; ²Google dictionary

4 Ways Alexa Will Change How Businesses Reach Customers

AI (artificial intelligence) assistants*, like Alexa, could better connect businesses with customers, and new features expand Alexa’s reach. Here are four Amazon updates for voice application developers that could change how businesses operate:

1) Skills Recommendations

“Skills” are applications (apps) that let Alexa speak to devices, even websites, allowing users to perform more actions with voice-activated control and third-party offerings:

Amazon’s “CanFullfillIntentRequest” interface checks location, so Alexa can answer questions like “Help me find a nearby carpenter”.
Alexa can tap into its universe of voice apps with this interface, offering a new and growing way for local businesses to reach customers.

2) Payments

Amazon accepts Amazon Pay for one-time payments or ongoing subscriptions:

Curation services that recommend local activities and offer to buy tickets could also help facilitate commerce and provide convenience for users.
With user location access extended to third-party voice app developers, businesses can complete the transaction loop by offering delivery.

3) Notifications

Voice apps are bypassing some voice commands to interact with users through notifications:

Notifications can be sent via an auditory noise or by animating the ring of light atop an Echo speaker.
They’re available for a select group of skills, including Domino’s Pizza delivery updates, Washington Post news, and AccuWeather alerts.

4) Voice Identification for Skills

If paying by voice alone, Alexa needs to understand whose credit card to use:

“Your Voice” by Amazon is a voice identification service that provides personalization: playing news flash briefings, adding events to calendars, choosing the right number to call, and logging a user’s previous interactions with a game or skill.
Alexa can also remember whatever you tell her, including what you recently said.

Don’t Fret/Forget! If you are a GSM client with business listings management, you are already listed on Alexa! Since Alexa uses Google, Yelp and Bing listing data for local service/product voice searches, your business will be found if someone is searching for a service/product you provide.

*AI (artificial intelligence): Conversational computers that people can interact with simply by having a conversation.

Source: Venturebeat.com, reported by Khari Johnson.

Promised #1 on Google? It Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Does

Many internet marketing companies state that their services can get you to “number one” on Google, but do you know what is actually being done to get you there? Search engines have changed and “number one” cannot be guaranteed. Here is what you should know:

1. Getting to “number one” on Google isn’t necessarily the best goal for local businesses.
The first position on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) are paid ads. This is what is being offered to you when you hear the line “we can get you to number one on Google” (see example at right)

People who search for local businesses tend to ignore ads, and scroll to listings and search results.
Searchers know that ads may be from national companies with no local presence in the community.
Nearly all clicks on ads are accidental during searches for a local business.

2. No one can guarantee that you will be “number one” on Google.
Google doesn’t allow any website to be the “king of a keyword”; it’s about showing searchers what THEY want to see, based on their prior internet activity and location at the time of search:

Google changes its ranking algorithms¹ frequently, so what worked previously, might not work today.
If your business/website was previously visited, you are more likely to be number one, or high up on the page, if that person does a search relating to your business.
You might be number one for those who live around the block from you, and number five for those who live one town over. Your position is NOT static even if it looks that way when you search for
your own business.

3. Google AdWords² is not Search Engine Optimization, so what is?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is about the content/structure of your website being tuned to peoples’ searches, not about placing ads leading to clicks to your website:

The hit on your website through AdWords is not making it more “in demand” in the eyes of the search engines because the click did not originate from your website’s link on the SERP.
Focus on actual SEO, so that the rankings you generate are real, with quality over quantity content that is relevant to who you want to drive to your website.
Come up with a specific goal, such as pushing a product, service or sale and keep track of results.

Local businesses should have a unique approach when it comes to SEO, based on industry, location, and other factors. Be wary of companies making promises before getting to know your goals. Being number one on Google is not necessarily the ticket to success anymore in today’s digital landscape.

¹Algorithms: how social media platforms filter, rank and organize the content we see based on a specific set of criteria (prosperforpurpose.com).

²Google AdWords: An advertising service by Google for businesses wanting to display ads on Google and its advertising network. Businesses only pay when people click on ads; the service is largely focused on keywords. (webopedia.com).

4 Ways to Give Your Business a Digital Tune-Up

All businesses are digital in some aspect. Between finding new customers or staying connected to current ones, there’s much to consider for your marketing strategy. Below are 4 key ways to give your business a digital tune-up:

1) Give your digital platforms a review.
Consider the look of your website, which is often your first impression to consumers:

Ensure that your website is clean, responsive and easy to navigate.
Fix broken links, refresh images, and update designs to engage more visitors.

2) Yes, you probably should pivot to video.
Research predicts that video will account for more than 80 percent of web traffic¹:

Video can often better engage and tell a story than can a whitepaper or blog post.
Video can be repurposed and shared across multiple platforms.

3) Think about your social media strategy.
Determine how social media plays a part in your overall business:

If it is a source for new customers, or if continued engagement is important, then focus more attention on social media.
Social media platforms each have their own strengths and weaknesses. If you have a loyal following or products/services that do well on a specific platform, stay the course.

4) Great content still matters.
Research indicates that longer-form, higher-quality content will be even more important in the years ahead²:

Avoid generic filler content that populates the page with useless language.
Provide readers with value so they feel they’ve learned something beneficial.

Leading trends in digital marketing will help move your business forward with a vision for success. A balance between traditional marketing and an eye toward the future of brand building through digital is important in today’s media landscape.

Source: BusinessNewsDaily.com, written by Derek Walter, founder of Walter Media; ¹Cisco Visual Networking Index-Forecast and Trends 2017-2022; ²Forbes-buzzsummo.com; internetmarketinginc.com

Business Growth: Top Marketing Priority

A recent study shows that CMOs (Chief Marketing Officers) rank business growth as the top priority in marketing goals. Following are insights into achieving this objective, as well as other strategies and challenges*.

What are the top priorities in marketing?

Business growth ranks first as the primary role of marketing:
• #1: Delivery of business growth.
• #2: Ensuring effective brand management.
• #3: Developing the overall customer experience.

How do CMOs support business growth?

Building lasting relationships with customers is key to delivering business growth:

• #1: Securing long-term customer relationships.
• #2: Driving revenue growth.
• #3: Enhancing margin growth.

CMOs see a battle for consumer attention.

There are challenges in building long-term customer relationships:
• #1: Increasing levels of competition.
• #2: Consumers’ less responsive to traditional advertising.
• #3: Information overload.

*Top 3 rankings for each category

Source: Dentsu Aegis CMO Survey Report, reported by Marketing Charts

What Are Connected Consumers Doing and Not Doing Online?

Online activity is a two way street: consumers are “showrooming”— browsing businesses and going online, and “webrooming”— researching online and purchasing in brick-and-mortar establishments. Following are insights about success in the connected commerce space.

What Consumers are Doing Online (activities scoring high):

Looking up product information.
Checking/comparing prices.
Searching for deals/promotions/coupons.

What Consumers are not Doing Online (activities scoring low):

Clicking on email ads.
Subscribing to product/store emails.
Liking/tweeting/commenting on social media.

Consumers Pursue Information All the Time (see chart):

87% before visiting a business.
79% while visiting a business.
35% after visiting a business.

Strategies for Omni-Channel (Online/Offline) Success:

Be customer-centric: Understand consumers’ demographics, purchase habits, path to purchase.
Prioritize personalization: Provide clients with relevant, personalized information/offers.
Think digital, but don’t neglect in-store: Physical establishments maintain many key advantages over online-only channels. Customer service is a differentiator in every channel — providing exceptional service should be a primary focus for businesses.

Connected consumers = smart consumers, and they are using digital options to make informed purchase decisions, from reviewing products/services online to using in business establishments.

“Digital is viewed less as a threat to brick-and-mortar… and more as an opportunity. Today’s winning brands use a combination of on and offline strategies to… help consumers make more informed decisions… [and] add value throughout the entire [purchase] experience.”

— Patrick Dodd, President, Nielsen Global Retailer Vertical

Source: thinkwithgoogle.com

The New Role of Marketing

A Customer Experience strategy achieves higher customer satisfaction/retention, a positive impact on customer loyalty and increased revenue.

Marketing is always changing, and Customer Experience (CX) – interactions between a business and a customer throughout their relationship (ex., awareness, discovery, cultivation, advocacy, service, purchases) – is the new marketing battlefront, focusing on making businesses people-friendly.

89% of businesses expect to compete mostly on the basis of CX.¹
74% believe that CX impacts customer loyalty.²

Following are tips to help build Customer Experience through marketing:

1. Emotion
Create emotional connections: emotionally-engaged customers are at least three times more likely to recommend your product/service, three times more likely to re-purchase, and less likely to shop around (44% said they rarely or never shop around).³

2. Empathy
Put yourself in the shoes of people who use your product/service; connect and empathize with any situations that are facing your customers.

3. Certainty
Spend enough time identifying and aligning any problems; use solutions that will create the most people-friendly outcome.

4. Simplicity
Don’t overcomplicate — simplicity wins with focus geared towards key principles.

5. Vision
Create a clear customer-focused vision, with guiding principles that will drive the behavior of your organization, and communicate this to your team.

6. Feedback
Capture customer feedback in real time with post-interaction surveys, using a variety of automated tools through emails and calls.

Customer Experience needs constant nurturing, and businesses who implement a CX strategy achieve higher customer satisfaction/retention, a positive impact on customer loyalty and increased revenue.

¹Gartner Study; ²Oracle; ³The New Science of Customer Emotions by Harvard Business Review
Source: The Marketing Insider, reported by Joe Parrish; SuperOffice, reported by Steven MacDonald