It was recently reported by Searchmetrics that Google is strongly prioritizing social media activities in their ranking algorithm. This knowledge should have profound implications in the SEO strategy of your company and how you include social media in your overall online plans. The SEO strategy you have built with your Arkside consultants incorporates this information already and we encourage you to utilize these best practices in your social media efforts.

Social Media Factors for Google SEO

Seven of the top 10 factors in a website’s rank involve social media. They are:

1) Google +1
2) Facebook Shares
4) Facebook Total
5) Facebook Comments
6) Facebook Likes
7) Pinterest
8) Tweets

The importance of social media elements has been a growing trend in Google’s SEO algorithm and 2013 seems to reinforce that notion. Although backlinks continue to remain vital, there are other factors which have decreased in importance such as keywords links and domains. It is interesting to note that Google is specifically including Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, while ignoring LinkedIn which is a hub of deep knowledge on nearly every possible industry. We’ll have to see how or if this evolves over time. When sharing your content on social media, remember that people don’t want to see you talk about yourself all day. For every 7-10 social media posts you make, one should be about you.

Content is Still King for On-Site Google SEO

Also of note in the report are the on-site elements Google is looking for. It is no surprise that “content is still king” and Google wants websites to create unique content that is valuable to the intended audience. As a contrary example, the Arkside Marketing blog is filled with information about the company, areas of marketing, best practices, and client profiles. If we suddenly began blogging about fishing or the latest updates to IRS tax code, Google might devalue our site for being grossly off-topic. Ensure your website has fresh, unique, and quality content in order to build your authority on your topic(s). These are the on-site factors examined by Google:

1. Number of internal links
2. HTML length
3. Keywords in body
4. Keywords in external links
5. Text character length
6. Internal link is self-referential
7. Keyword in internal link
8. Number of external links
9. Image count
10. Keyword in H2

Backlinks Required, But Remain Cautious

Missing from the first list in this blog post is #3 – Number of backlinks. Google still considers this to be a critical metric of your authority on a particular subject. If you have good content, Google assumes people will like it, link to it, and share it publicly via their own site or social media channels.  This does not mean you should implement any “black hat” SEO techniques and create blog farms filled with backlinks to your site. White hat techniques are still the unarguably best way to achieve Google SEO success.

Summary

While Google hasn’t made many dramatic shifts in their ranking priority from last year to this year, social media has climbed in importance and must remain a key factor in your online strategies. Use social media to promote the high-quality, unique content on your site and encourage people to distribute that content via backlinks and social media sharing. This is how you will achieve digital success.

When the doors to the office are locked for the evening, that never means you have to stop receiving phone calls, generating website traffic, receiving emails, or educating your customers. There are many ways that your direct response advertising campaign can continue to sell after hours. Advertising is an investment and, like your money, it should always be working for you.

Let us pretend your company sells mattresses. You have three showrooms within 200 miles of each other and they are open 9am – 6pm seven days per week. Your website shows your full product catalog along with information about your company and how to contact any store.  You are currently running a radio ad campaign and 20% of your commercials are running from 8pm – 12 midnight. (Don’t worry. You got these for free as a result of our negotiating.) You also have a television campaign running from 4pm – 12 midnight, a YouTube channel, Facebook Page, Twitter feed, Google AdWords, and a long-term SEO strategy.

How do you continue to sell after 6pm?

After Hours Call Center Services

Your radio and television ads include a phone number. But after 6pm, you don’t have a live body in the office to answer it. That is no reason to stop your customer from calling after hours. There are many call center services with locations around the world (remember the time difference) that can provide professional operators to take calls for your business after hours. They speak proficient, sometimes fluent or native, English, and can be trained to follow your company protocol for greeting and working with after hours calls. This can include instruction on what to do with urgent calls and whom to reach. Messages can be taken and delivered via fax or email for convenience.

They can also direct customers to your website and/or social media networks, which we will cover in the next sections. Always remember that your staff and marketing media should be a resource to the customer.

Website Live Chat

Your direct response advertising should include a reference to your website. And your website has a live chat operator, right? If your answer was “no”, we hope there is a great reason because a live chat operator can help you move more mattresses when your brick and mortar is closed. According to a 2010 Forrester Research study on live chat, “44% of online consumers say that having questions answered by a live person while in the middle of an online purchase is one of the most important features a Web site can offer.”

In addition to answering questions just before or even during someone’s purchasing process on your site, live chat also offers specific after hours benefits. If most or all of your competitors are lacking a website live chat feature, you are in a unique position to help your customers AND sell to them while your competition waits for 8am the next morning.

Live chat is also a great means of reducing cost-per-sale.

1. Online conversations cost less than a phone call.
2. Call/chat center employees can handle multiple chat sessions at a time, but only one phone call at a time.

Customers hate waiting. By allowing your employees to multitask, you can substantially reduce the backlog on your phone system during the day (not to mention reduce call volume dramatically) and increase the overall number of customers who received support.

Finally – use it in your advertising! Promote your competitive advantage of having help available 24 hours a day, especially if that is when your advertising is running.

Social Media Conversations

It isn’t wasted time or space to include social media in your direct response advertising if you can help questions and sell mattresses via social media. In much the same way live chat can help you sell after hours, so can social media, but with more opportunities. Live chat requires initiation by the user on some level to begin the relationship. All of the social media sites give your business the opportunity to start a relationship, answer questions, promote a new mattress line, or offer advice.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

A recent study showed that Google prioritizes social media factors in its calculations for search rankings. Seven of the top 10 factors involve social media. If for no other reason, make sure your company is using social media to enhance its own rankings in search. Never make it a challenge for customers to find you, especially after hours when customers have plenty of time to search and choose between you and your competitors.

Content is also critical for SEO and customer engagement. No one wants to see a Facebook Page or Twitter feed filled with self-promotion. Talk about events in your community, share interesting and RELEVANT photos and videos, and create contests to prompt customer engagement. These are a few of the things you can do that will earn a customer’s attention while they try to learn more about you and your mattresses in the wee hours of the night.

After Hours Staffing

Ensure that your staff or an outside vendor are monitoring your social media networks after hours. They should have the ability to respond to messages, reTweet, share information, and assist customers with making purchases on your website. The goal is to be far more than an answering service taking messages for someone to handle in the morning.

Your social media team should be thoroughly familiar with your website. This is vital so they can direct customers to the right page at the right time. For example, a customer wants to know how many years a mattress will last. Your social media team should send that person to a Testimonials page about the mattress line, not a description of the features. (Of course, if your product page has testimonials on it, that is okay.)

Summary

There is no reason you need to wait for your doors to open to sell. Utilize your after hours direct response advertising to direct your potential customers to the places they can find answers. With these three techniques, you can successfully and cost-efficiently sell your product or services after hours.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Southern California Marketing Veteran Launches Advertising Agency

Nathan Greenberg departs his role with Moss Bros. Auto Group to create a new ad agency with a diverse team and focus on specific industries.

Moreno Valley, CA (August 26, 2013) – Regional advertising veteran Nathan Greenberg has recently resigned his position as Director of Marketing for Moss Bros. Auto Group and is launching a full-service advertising agency. The official launch date is September 9, 2013.

“I have sold media, worked at advertising agencies, and run an in-house agency for a large Auto Group. I’m very excited to finally realize my entrepreneurial dream,” said Nathan Greenberg, the founder of Arkside Marketing. With the help of startup investment and an experienced sales and design staff, Greenberg says he is optimistic about the timing of the endeavor. He cites a rebounding economy and businesses having a renewed vigor to improve their market share and become more competitive.

The first position to be filled was Senior Account Manager and that duty has been accepted by Eric Moore, of Lake Elsinore. He brings with him extensive experience in digital advertising, sales leadership, and client consultation. Of his new job, Moore said, “I am excited to work with someone that values clients as much as I do, in regards to customer service and retention. This is a great opportunity with excellent potential.” Personnel for other roles have already been found including website development and graphic design.

Clients have already signed on. “We are honored to have companies such as Precision Instrumentation and the Law Offices of Gary A. Bemis begin a relationship so early in our existence,” Greenberg said.  “We appreciate their trust and optimism and the support of our investors.”

Arkside Marketing is a full service advertising and marketing agency based in the Inland Empire and serving a nationwide clientele. Offered services include website and social media development, brand development, market research, public relations, crisis management, online marketing, radio, television, print, and outdoor advertising, promotional products, custom apparel, photography, and video. They can be found online at www.ArksideMarketing.com or on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and Instagram.

We are very excited to offer environmentally friendly options on most of our printed products. As we look for new choices that benefit your business, we hope these paper and ink options provide a unique value. Now you can let your customers know that your company is a responsible steward of the Earth.

SOY & RENEWABLE INK

Look no further for “go green” environmentally friendly ink. The ink we use for both 4-color and 1 & 2-color offset printing are formulated with soy and other renewable agriculturally-derived materials. The Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are kept low and any leftovers are responsibly recycled. Our 4-color digital inks have zero VOCs and meet the demands of European regulation EN71, part 3. Our large format rigid inks have extremely low VOCs and are compliant with South Coast Air Quality Management District regulations. Coming soon, we look forward to announcing LED curing to further reduce our carbon footprint.

RECYCLED PAPER

Same great quality at no additional cost! Every one of our “go green” paper options is available at no extra cost on most of our products. Our “go green” paper is a composite of recycled paper, post consumer fiber, and virgin pulp (saved from a volcano sacrifice) derived from managed sustainable forests. These forests help clean our air, control erosion, and provide environmentally friendly jobs.

PRODUCTION MATERIAL RECYCLING

The materials that make our paper and ink are not the only recycled parts of our printing process. All paper waste, used metal printing plates, waste inks, and solvents are also recycled on a regular basis. Taking these steps helps reduce local air pollution, improve our employee safety and are vital elements of our commitment to sustainability.

WHY CHOOSING RECYCLED IS IMPORTANT

The number of forests around the world is dwindling. Billions of gallons of ink are used in the United States and every American uses 749 pounds of paper per year. By offering recycled and environmentally friendly printing products, we hope to reduce our footprint on our natural resources and keep our pricing amongst the lowest in the industry.

Here is a great perspective on the positive impact of using recycled paper: one ton of recycled paper saves 17 trees, 350 pounds of limestone, 60,000 gallons of water, 9,000 pounds of steam, 275 pounds of sulfur, 225 kilowatt hours and 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space.

Contact us today to learn more about your environmentally friendly printing choices with Arkside.

“The best time to collect referrals from customers is at the point when they realize and acknowledge a good job was done.” –John Jantsch

That moment when a customer realizes and acknowledges when a good job was done can happen at any time. Your challenge is to solicit referrals at that moment.

The world has changed for every industry. Business models have been modified and adjusted to meet new demands and new opportunities. Most importantly, companies are no longer the most important factor in their own brand – their customers are. The wrong criticism on social media can force a company into “damage control mode” or, in some cases force the company out of business. Average consumers now wield tremendous influence through digital media and the enhanced power of referrals.

It is no longer enough to wait for a client to tell a prospective client how amazing you are. You need referrals on a larger scale. Assume your competitors are always looking for new ways to tap the power of referrals.

Referrals Have Always Worked

And they always will. Word of mouth remains one of the most powerful and trusted methods by which consumers choose a brand. Many businesses -even entire industries- have relied on word of mouth referrals for their existence. Lawyers are an excellent example of this. The traditions and esteem of the legal profession naturally lend themselves to a proclivity for clients to tell their friends, family, or colleagues about the great (or horrible) job their attorney did on their case. At a cost of $100-$500 an hour, people want personal stories of success.

But now referrals can be successfully generated through more than a phone call or a Chamber of Commerce mixer. There are means and methods to incorporate referral solicitations into your current or new marketing strategy.

New Power of Referrals Opportunities

The example you see here was taken directly from the Facebook Page of a celebrity friend of ours. He, unfortunately, recently went through a divorce and when it was done, this was what he said about his attorney. This celebrity has a few thousand social media connections. This simple post (which includes the attorney’s name and phone number) is far more valuable than if he had simply told a friend or family member. He told thousands of people. Instantly. People that value his opinion.

The name before the phone number is more than just a name. It is a link to the attorney’s Facebook Page. A convenient form of contact was just facilitated by a simple Facebook post. According to the Small Business Administration: “At the high-value end of the referral scale is an existing customer who facilitates a sale.”

As you look at your own methods of earning referrals, ask yourself:

• Can your referrals not only sustain your business, but enable it to grow?
• If you are the principal or a senior partner, would the firm continue without your referral network?
• Are your competitors including referral solicitation as part of their marketing?

Making Referrals Part of your Marketing

There are three steps to successful referral marketing and tapping the power of referrals:

1. Earning – As Ted Rubin says in his Return on Relationship™ coaching, “Provide the most value, you’ll get the most business.” Do your job so well that your clients will want to refer you to others.
2. Soliciting – Now that you’ve earned a referral, don’t be afraid to ask for it. Your Arkside Account Manager will give you multiple ways by which you can ask for a referral, review, or testimonial that is convenient for the client.
3. Promoting – Show prospects why they should choose to work with you…why others have chosen to work with you. Include your testimonials and other referral comments on your website, social media, and even presentations. Remember, part of online advertising is showing search engines what you want them to see!

Summary

Your business doesn’t have the luxury of waiting for one friend to tell another friend how great you are. You can not survive and expand by bread alone. You need to initiate activities of scale and develop new means by which referral business (the best kind of business) can be generated. Social media and search engines like Google and Yahoo! offer the tools to achieve a higher level of success with the new power of referrals.

If you feel as though your business could benefit from professional marketing direction, you’re not alone. Most businesses would find extreme rewards if an ad agency were part of their structure. From brand development and protection to the quality of advertising, rare is the organization that can execute a well coordinated ad campaign on it’s own.

But the inevitable question is how to acquire that professional experience and insight. Should you hire someone to work from within or hire an agency? Here are five reasons to choose an ad agency:

Ad Agency = Advertising Specialists

You do what you do best. So do they. Advertising agencies exist because their staff have made careers out of successful marketing research, creative ideas, and timely execution. They revel in the latest consumer behavior studies and watch hours of Photoshop tutorials so they can offer the best products and solutions to your marketing challenges. The combination of education and passion culminates in a team of professionals.

Beyond love for their craft, experience is also vital. You are an expert at your business but could benefit tremendously from an objective viewpoint. Listen to the feedback and ideas offered by your ad agency. It is their job to understand your audience and reach them effectively. Ad agencies offer a breadth of knowledge from a variety of industries. That collection of experience offers unique insights to address your marketing goals with important perspective.

Ad Agency = Time Savings

Whether you are a business owner or a CMO, your daily duties are demanding. Hiring an ad agency allows you to focus on your responsibilities while a team of advertising specialists creates the best marketing elements possible. Developing a brand, launching an ad campaign, or preparing in-house marketing materials are all time consuming endeavors. Agency staff can do these things efficiently and cost-effectively.

You know your business better than anyone else. You need time to run it. Choose an agency that will conveniently work with you and your goals. Your ideas should be part of the marketing process, but marketing shouldn’t be all of your day.

Ad Agency = Cost Savings

Advertising is a substantial investment for most businesses. Do you consider your business cards part of your marketing? What about your press releases? Employee name tags? Office decor? All of these things are elements of marketing because they are part of your reputation. They represent your brand. They are things a customer might remember about you. All of them can be provided at wholesale prices by an ad agency.

An ad agency is like CostCo or BJs Wholesale Club. They can offer tremendous savings because they buy in bulk. And a good agency buys in a lot of bulk. They will offer savings on media rates because they represent more than just you (one client). They should also have good relationships with the media sales teams and leverage those relationships for your benefit.

Now look beyond the cost of media. Personnel costs are only going up and it would be a massive expense for you to create your own team of experienced marketing professionals. Ad agencies are able to attract great talent and those costs are shared – not absorbed solely by you.

Why Hire an Ad Agency?

Advertising is an investment. It is money you lay out in order to receive a positive return. An ad agency should be no different. Find the team that will bring your ideas to life and plans to fruition. A team of advertising specialists should save you both time and money while rewarding you with higher revenue and a stronger brand identity.

Contact Us Today

The 2017 Pew survey titled, “When Americans Say They Believe in God, What do They Mean?”, 56% of Americans claim to believe in the God of the Jewish Bible or Christian New Testament. A full one-third more say they believe in some other “higher power or spiritual source”. Reaching 89% of any group is an accomplishment in demographic targeting. In this case, however, it isn’t the same demographic because they don’t believe in the same god, or gods. And it is those beliefs that make things tricky in advertising.

Due to an inability to secure licensing agreements, likeness waivers, and modeling releases, it is fair to assume that using God, gods, miscellaneous deities, names of religions, religious adherents, or religious artifacts carries a certain amount of risk for any brand. Even churches (and other denominational houses of worship) are not exempt from the pitfalls of using holiness as part of marketing efforts. Although the risks are ever-present, there are also benefits to appropriately invoking a holy reference in organizational or individual advertising. We are going to examine those risks, rewards, and a few guidelines on how and when to use God in advertising.

RISKS OF USING GOD IN MARKETING

• Offend – They may not believe in the same god. They may believe god looks different from the one in your magazine ad. They may not believe in god at all. While it is true that you can’t please all of the people all of the time, it is generally bad advertising strategy to intentionally offend customers.
  In one interesting example of controversy caused by a lack of god, Samuel Adams was recently criticized for their omission of god from a recent July 4th television commercial.

• Disenfranchise – A step up from offensive would be disenfranchisement. Not everyone is passionate about religion, even if they believe in one. But if your organization appears to have a highly pious or evangelical mentality, that could encourage customers to shop somewhere they feel more comfortable.

• Limited audience/exclusion – Substantive research will help you understand your audience. And before implementing something as controversial as religion, make sure you know that it will reach most of your audience. If it may or will not, you risk drastically limiting the reach and effect of your advertising.

• Holier than thou – As we’ll get to later, there are opportunities to tastefully and appropriately advertise with god. One risk of inappropriately using god (and not knowing your audience) is to portray an image of being more knowledgeable or important than your customer. Customers are accepting of education, not being treated like a child.

• Improper use – The best example of an improper use would be claiming to be chosen by god. A printer of bibles should not advertise themselves as God’s preferred printer. There is no way to substantiate the claim and it isn’t inherently important to a successful ad campaign.

• No relation to company/product – A logical connection is necessary for any meaningful use of god in advertising. A company making fertilizer should not use a slogan such as “God would want you to care for his earth with Acme Fertilizer.” In industry parlance, this is called a “stretch”.

BENEFITS OF USING GOD IN MARKETING

• Connect with audience – A receptive audience is easiest to connect with when using a message they can understand. With an appropriate inclusion of god in marketing, a stronger connection can be made with a particular demographic.

• Tacit endorsement – Opposite an improper use is an organic inclusion that implies a tacit endorsement. The dating website ChristianMingle.com uses the slogan, “Find God’s Match for You.” Aside from the obvious implication that your heavenly soul mate resides only on their site, it gives a tacit endorsement from God to find love on the holy world wide web.

• Humor – It doesn’t have to be completely serious. When advertising with god, a bit of levity can make an ad more memorable and easy to connect. Taste and respect are key elements in this approach but it can be done well and help achieve greater success in a campaign.

With all of these considerations and potential outcomes, the most critical facet is your knowledge of your audience. Make sure you have an understanding of their tolerance as well as belief. If the inclusion of god isn’t absolutely necessary in your creative, it may be best to leave god to the clergy.

If you would like a FREE consultation to discuss your marketing strategy, please contact us.

Businesses large and small can encounter difficulties when integrating social media into their traditional advertising strategy. The opportunities to reach an audience are more diverse with social media due to the variety of sites, not to mention the methods they use to connect users together. The following tips will help you integrate social media with your traditional media such as print, radio, and television.

Maintain Marketing Responsibility

The same person responsible for your current traditional marketing should also be responsible for social media. They don’t have to do the work, but they should be accountable. You need someone to coordinate the brand, message, and schedule between all of your media properties. This will help maintain cohesion in your marketing.

Cross Pollinate Your Advertising

Show your customers that you are the same company on social media that you are in traditional media. For example, place the Facebook logo in your magazine ad with a call-to-action such as “Like Us On Facebook for Exclusive Coupons!”. Social and traditional media should be used to assist each other. Share your TV commercial on Twitter and other social media the same day it hits the airwaves. Make sure it is loaded on your website or YouTube channel so you can track interactions. Let people know what TV channels they can find it on. We brought a new level of cross pollination to our client, Precision Instrumentation, by including their YouTube channel on all of their product packaging. The channel offers a collection of how-to and self-help videos so their clients don’t have to call a support line for small, quick fixes.

Integrating Social Media on Your Website

Make sure to incorporate whatever features are appropriate: a “Like” or “+1” button, Facebook or Twitter feed, Share buttons, etc. Integrating social media into your website can give you four direct benefits. First, some social media elements such as Like or +1 buttons give you a search engine optimization (SEO) enhancement. Second, it can add dynamic content that keeps your website visitor updated on the latest news from your company or about your product without having to read a blog or press release. Third, your website visitors now have a direct and convenient link to your social media and can connect with you organically (thereby growing your contact potential in the future). Finally, with a Like, +1, or other Share button, you are enabling and encouraging your visitors to share your content with their friends and family. This is equivalent to handing them a bullhorn and providing a script about how amazing you are.

Promote Your Social Media Channels

You may use a newsletter or “email blast” to communicate with your customer database on a regular basis. (If not, please contact us NOW so we can help you get started on this vital marketing component!) But whatever you use to stay in touch, make sure to promote your new social media channels. Tell them to Like you on Facebook, Follow you on Twitter, Follow you on Instagram, Circle you on Google+, or whatever it may be they need to do on a particular social media channel. “If you build it, they will come” only works for strip clubs and open bank vaults. You not only have to tell people where to find you, but what to do when they get there. Make it easy by integrating social media.

Summary

Social media is an important opportunity to reach new customers, stay connected with current customers, and showcase yourself. It also allows public promotion and discourse so that your customers can help sell your product or service. Integrating social media correctly with your traditional media will bring new growth to your bottom line with minimal investment. Truly great potential for ROI!

If you would like to schedule a consultation or ask a question about social media integration, please call or email us today. We always promise a response within 24 hours.

The Apple iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S4 both recently went on sale. With the explosion of mobile advertising, need for new smartphone features, and intense battle for marketshare, the stakes for both companies are incredibly high. When anything this important depends on consumer demand, the wisest companies turn to advertising.

Both companies have new commercials for their flagship phones. Apple’s new “Photos Every Day” spot and Samsung’s “Pool Party” have very different approaches to reaching their audience with a message that will resonate. It is hard to imagine what the goal was for the Apple iPhone 5 ad . They don’t highlight any new features or attack the competition. In fact they do the exact opposite by focusing on a feature that is standard on all smartphones and does nothing to distinguish their product in a competitive marketplace. Samsung, by contrast, highlights interesting and useful new features while simultaneously taking slick swipes at Apple’s failure to innovate.

Here are both commercials for you to decide:

https://youtu.be/NoVW62mwSQQ

As you evaluate your advertising options and match them to your goals, it is important to be an informed decision-maker. Each medium offers a unique combination of assets that can benefit your strategy and help you achieve marketing success. In this article, we’ll discuss five reasons to include TV advertising in your media mix. Read more