Let’s face it, managing your business marketing is not for the faint of heart. Setting realistic goals for on-line marketing is difficult with Google’s constant changes that affect page rankings.

If you’re wondering how you will know if your investment in SEO, PPC and/or Social Media is paying off, you are not alone.

It doesn't work to "wing it." Consider adding a technology tool that provides a reporting dashboard showing the ranking of your keyword at the start of the campaign and the current ranking, providing concrete evidence of your campaign’s progress. You can expect to see an increase in traffic to your site as the rankings of your targeted keywords improve.

Sending traffic to a website with a paid search (PPC) campaign is easy. And it’s great to see that big surge in traffic. Remember though, you are paying for every visitor delivered by the PPC campaign so you want to be sure that you’re getting quality traffic, (i.e. visitors that are likely to take action when they land on your site).

Besides finding the best keywords and writing compelling ads, there have to be goals to measure the campaign and compare you different ads.

What do you want the campaign to do for you?

Without a goal you cannot measure cost per click. You could just use Google analytics to measure your campaign. It tracks traffic, most visited pages, pages visitors stay on longest and can be linked to your Google PPC campaign to provide. It even offers keyword suggestions. But there is so much more you can learn about your website if you capture information about those visitors that Google cannot provide.

Testing ads and landing page effectiveness is critical to getting the most of your PPC budget. The dashboard we use lets us see which are working better than others over time. It is easier to do A/B testing and revise strategy, keywords and copy content of ads and landing ages to get the best results. If you have a large budget allocated to web marketing (PPC and social marketing) and you feel you have hit the ceiling you need to consider using a program like Hubspot or Optimize to manage your inbound marketing.

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If you are still questioning whether you should include mobile marketing efforts you are giving sales to your competitors. Now, it’s a question of how soon can you integrate mobile marketing.

People are already looking up your company on smart phones. If you have Google analytics on your web page it will tell you that activity. The figures may be small. Having tracked the activity over the last few years and knowing that the number of homes with landlines is diminishing, there is no denying the trend.

If you have a website and allocated time and budget to maintenance, it’s mobile friendly status should have been discussed with your web master.

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The process of branding your company starts in an unlikely place--your product's packaging. It's your business's image on the marketplace. You need to understand that your product's packaging will always have an influence on the purchaser--be it positive or negative. If a customer doesn't like the way your product's been packaged, it'll detour them just as much as positive reactions could influence them to buy.

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I have been told, no matter your business, the defining decision a customer or client makes in determining whether to purchase from you or your competition, comes down to one single element: service – the overall experience and delight of dealing with your company.

Let’s face it, the price tag of the purchase determines whether customer service is a factor or have a big an impact it, makes on the decision. We all have to buying groceries so convenience can out weight the fact that a store doesn’t provide customer service. Great customer service won’t make a difference if you have a limited budget and you don’t expect to need help with set up or troubleshooting.

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The acclaimed Disney Institute focuses on details as markers for success.  Interiors, door knobs, parking lot, even the office pictures influence consumer experience. Do the details support the image being built?

Traditional or online, the most successful marketing encompasses every aspect of your business no matter the industry you are in. The difference is solely in what your customers notice most...the small details.

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What is branding? That's been the question for as long as human beings have learned that looking at shiny objects is cool. Since the rise of structured economic systems, however, the question has shifted a bit. Now, it's: What is branding in business?

Whether you're still trying to impact the market with your new startup company or simply looking stay relevant in the fast-pasted, ever-changing times, branding is everything. Seriously. If we've learned anything from being a consumer-based society for so long, it's that banding can make or break a company's longevity. A memorable logo and smart product packaging can transform a burgeoning business into a household name. But on the flip side, awkward or ineffective stylistic and creative choices can sabotage a company's chances at staying in the sphere of public influence.

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Photos get noticed and sell your product.

Many businesses think they are saving money by providing their own photos for packaging and marketing. To them the objective of being economical out weights the marketing impact. 

I always stress that every impression is an opportunity to move your business forward and that must be the biggest influence on the graphic solution produced. This is not to say you have to spend a lot of money. But short cutting the creative development, tieing the hands of your marketing department or graphics provider can negatvely impact product sales.

A Package Tells A Story With Great Photographs

You have a great product, tell its story with great photography. A photo can create an emotional connection with your customer and stop them in the aisle. Cutting corners can save money up front but be a big financial mistake in the long run. It is important that you are smart when making any purchase. Smart is the key to this discussion. Cutting corners in the package design process can hurt sales just like a poor decision about rebranding has for some well know brands.  (4 Reasons Package Rebranding Goes Wrong).

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