Ever wished you could see the top of the Eiffel Tower or stand on the pyramid of Giza? Achieving this could have been impossible a decade ago. People can now take on seemingly impossible activities by sliding on a pair of virtual reality goggles in today's world. Be anywhere you wish with simulated environments that look too real to be a façade.

With its breakthrough some years ago, virtual reality has since garnered attention as a mainstream technology, and its use is firmly rooted in diverse fields.

What is virtual reality?

Virtual reality is a computer-engineered environment simulated to look real. These environments feature virtually everything you can find in a real-world setting. Making use of visual and audio, you can interact with the virtual world.

“The incredible thing about the technology is that you feel like you’re present in another place with other people,” said Mark Zuckerberg after acquiring Oculus virtual reality.

Where virtually reality comes into play, its uses:

1. Virtual reality in the military

With the constant evolution of virtual simulation, soldiers can achieve more realistic training modules ranging from medic training, flight & vehicle simulations to experiencing different battle situations and locations. 

And there’s more, combining effective visualization and audio, trainee soldiers can even take on activities like communicating with local civilians like in actual battlefield situations.

2. VR plays a huge role in the health sector.

There’s no better way to overcome fears, phobias, and anxiety-like having to experience them over and over again, only this time in a safe environment! Virtual reality plays a huge role in helping patients overcome their fears, become calmer, focused, and more! This has been helpful with patients suffering from Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

3. Experience an immersive education experience

Without a doubt, education isn't left out in the Virtual reality race. VR isn't only utilized to simulate real battle experiences like in the military; VR is also used to simulate real learning experiences.

Speaking at the web summit conference in Dublin, Palmer Luckey, the founder, and designer of oculus said, “there’s a lot of potential for virtual reality in the education industry,” he said. “Classrooms are broken. Kids don’t learn the best by reading books.”

That was the story some years ago; with further advancements in virtual reality today, students can engage in activities like going on field trips around the world, learn about the solar system in a three-dimensional environment, and also aids kids to practice real-life skills like making eye contact, building social skills amongst many others.

4. Safer exposure to medical training

When it comes to medical procedures and experiments, VR certainly plays a vital role. With highly educative and safe access to virtually simulated surgery operations, medical trainees can take on intense medical operations without causing any harm or inflicting any damage on patients. It also provides an opportunity to approach medical processes without anxiety. Also, it’s a less expensive medical training approach to working with real cadavers.

5. Fashion

Have you ever visited an online mall and wished you could try on the products sold? Well, that's possible with VR. You can now try out clothes virtually without leaving the comfort of your own house!

Virtual reality is indeed the technology for the future, with a high potential of achieving more impossible feats in the coming years. If you would love to learn more about virtual reality, you’re on the right page. Go ahead and give us a call (718) 273-3070 or fill out our contact form.

Are you running low on engagements? Experiencing a drop-down in conversion can be a lot! Every post you make seems to be deadwood that lags and drags your brand.

Having a long list of social followers with no positive influence on your engagement is a problem most businesses face. Of course, this is narrowed down to a lot of problems.

However, do you wish to know something that works? A Promoted post! And no, you don't have to cut this off yet; wait till you see reasons.

But first,

Why does a promoted post even work?

Targeting a specific type of audience is one of the many wonders of social media marketing- promoted posts specifically.

Without wasting much of your time, here are three very effective ways to turn your social followers into customers;

1. Build the right ads

You would agree that you’ve scrolled past millions of boring and ineffective ads on your social feeds. So much that if you were interested in every Ad you came across, you'd be fully stacked with tons of products and services.

Creating the right Ad requires you to be creative and strategic. In simple words, your ads should appeal to your followers.

A promoted post goes as far as precisely showing your ads to a specific audience. However, it doesn't do more than that. Your ads conversion rate will be dependent on how ‘appealing' and engaging your ads appear on your follower's feeds.

2. Reach out to the right audience

Nothing beats showing your posts to the right audience.

While you would want your posts to appeal to as many followers as possible, tailoring your post to the right audience works best. Why? You're serving water to those who are thirsty. That's just a realistic way to put it.

With promoted posts, you can tailor your posts to specific ages, gender, and language, or even location. This way, you reach out to people who have a high probability of being interested in what you have an offer.

3. Leverage on your best performing posts

Promoting a post comes at a price. The good thing is, there's a budget that fits every pocket. But, even a single penny invested on a post that doesn't convert can be disappointing.

The answer to this? Leverage on your best-performing posts!

Often you find out that a specific post seems to outperform others. A low-performing post is a tell-tale sign of an ineffective social marketing strategy. As such, promoting high-performing posts will no doubt boost your conversion rate by a considerable margin.

Finally,

While promoting a post can be an effective tool in boosting conversion rate, it is more of an “up to you” scenario to determine how effective you’d want this to be.

You can also reach out to us if you require further guidance on achieving more conversion with your followers by putting a call (718) 273-3070 across to us or, better still, fill out our contact form.

Big-tech companies like Facebook and Google have platforms that link end-users to businesses. However, data-protection scandals are everywhere, and some experts often link them to special algorithms in big-tech software that can harvest the personal info of end-users.

It is called data exploitation, and it is big business for a lot of tech companies. How? They simply sell user’s data to advertisers, who then use it to send ads and emails that are tailored to the needs of that particular end-user. That is one of the reasons Google's algorithm on YouTube can send you related videos based on your watch history.

What Is Privacy Protection, Why Is It Important?

Privacy Protection is simply personal information you'd like to keep from the prying eyes of companies, hackers, government organizations, and other online groups. E-marketers (a research firm) estimates that 74 million Americans have smart speakers that are listening devices capable of putting the privacy of users at risk.

That means that roughly 22.56% of America’s population is vulnerable to data exploitation. It also means that most big tech companies wield more influence over a user’s buying decision and if left unchecked can become a severe problem.

What Do Gadget Makers Have To Say About Privacy Protection?

As more things get connected, gadget makers like Apple and Scalys are concerned about data protection scandals, and in some cases, looking to air their views on respect for users' privacy. Snips founder, Randi Hindi, believes that the claim of tech firms needing your data to make the user experience easier is false.

It has become a huge selling point as customers no longer trust big-tech companies for user privacy but are now turning to gadget makers for better security. Some electronic companies like Apple are leading in the race in offering better protection for their customers.

Tech Analyst Bob O' Donnell of Technalysis Researchers says more companies have woken up to the issues surrounding user data protection and privacy. This comes after leaked revelations regarding Facebook, and other tech giants started emerging.

What Are Gadget Makers Doing To Minimize Breaches in User Privacy?

“What happens on your iPhone stays on your iPhone “. These were the words of Apple at a tech show in Las Vegas in 2019. Since then, Apple and Microsoft now lead as the major tech giants committed to the privacy of their users.

It has prompted smaller tech companies to follow suit. Some companies now offer a better way of protecting the internet routers without being connected to the internet.

Others like Scalys now have a router called Trustbox that protects the user's connection and other devices that might be connected to it. Other companies like Snip(a French startup)now offer digital assistants that can easily be installed without using the internet connection.

Protect Your Privacy; It Is Your Right

Scandals like Cambridge Analytica which accessed Facebook data to manipulate political objectives have not prompted many to change their behavior online.

Although user growth on Facebook may be sluggish, the company’s other products, like the renowned Instagram and WhatsApp have dominated cyberspace. If you care about your data or that of your users, call us or fill out the contact form to speak with an expert.

The goal of every business is to get prospects to take action on their offer. It could be buying a product or service, reading a blog post, subscribing to a newsletter, or perhaps growing your customer base. With PPC marketing, you only pay when your ad is clicked.

Before we delve deeper, a look at what PPC is.

What is PPC?

Pay per click is a marketing model that allows businesses or advertisers to place ads on an advertisement platform while paying the advert company each time their ad is clicked. The goal, however, is to get users to click either on the advertiser's website or app where they are converted to paying customers.

Search engines like Google allow advertisers to place targeted ads that are relevant to users. For instance, a quick google search will expose you to ads at the top and bottom of Google SERP related to the inputted queries..

How Paid Search Works

Each time there is a spot on a search engine, an auction for the keyword takes place immediately. However, a lot of factors decide who appears at the top of the position or not. Take note that the auction is what keeps the gears of PPC rolling.

First, it begins when a user punches in some key phrases on a search engine. In other words, the auction is triggered based on keywords bid on by advertisers. Ads that win the auction will immediately appear on the top result page of the search engine.

How To Begin PPC Marketing

To get started with paid search, you can use accounts such as Google Adword and Google Keyword Planner to discover the ideal keywords you want to appear for. Through these accounts, you can also decide the placement of your ad, when and how they appear.

However, accounts are usually split into campaigns for easy management and report based on location, product type, and numerous other perimeters. Going forward, some ads are further divided into ad groups that contain the relevant keywords being targeted.

Ranking Your Ad

There is more to marketing than simply winning the highest bid. Google has numerous criteria used to determine which ads appear at the top of SERP. Some of these factors include:

• Bid amount
• Ad quality and relevance
• Context of the search
• Ad format and user’s device.

Google paid search uses a quality score metric to determine how relevant an ad is before it appears on SERP. The relevance of your ad is important, and factors that influence it include CTR, the relevance of keywords, landing page quality, and relevance to the search query.

As a business owner who desires more sales and customers, running PPC marketing could be one of the marketing strategies that will yield incredible results. We have been in the digital marketing sphere for decades, and we understand the ideal appeal and touch you need to take viewers from reading to throwing their money at you.

Get in touch with us by calling or filling the form, and we’ll help ensure that your PPC marketing becomes a success.

Chances are that you’re reading this from a mobile device. Even if you aren't, about 70% of your target market are mobile users, and it is paramount you put them in perspective during your marketing endeavors. Overlooking mobile users is like throwing money to the dogs!

Think about it, about 65% of Americans own a mobile device, accounting for over 70% of sales compared to desktop users. There's no doubt that mobile marketing is one of the most powerful marketing strategies that you can leverage to scale and grow your business.

Here are a few mobile marketing tips that you can implement into your business.

1. Creating A Mobile App

If your business already has a website, what about creating an app version of it? Mobile apps are proving to be a gigantic success, following the surge of mobile users over recent years. With an app, your target market no longer needs to input your web address to visit.

They can easily access your goods and services, even share them with their families and friends with a single click. A mobile app for your business could be the step to rising as an authority in your industry.

2. Site Development

There have been speculations that site design can impact a site’s ranking on Google SERP. Since the majority of your target market comes from mobile, you must ensure that your business website is professionally designed and mobile-friendly.

You can experiment with a handful of emulators, to know how your website looks across diverse screen sizes. Also, site speed should not be overlooked, especially now that Google now pays special attention to your core web vitals.

3. Mobile Advertising

Thanks to giants like Google, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok, you can run mobile campaigns that drive leads and sales to your business without breaking the bank. If you’ve never run a campaign before, you can always work with an experienced digital marketer or agency for assistance.

With an experienced professional at your service, you can target your ads only to prospects on mobile devices. As long as the ad is well targeted to your ideal users, getting the expected traction becomes an easy nut to crack.

4. Encourage Social Engagement

The fact is that social media is happening more on mobile devices, and your business could benefit a lot through social engagement. The question likely burning on your mind is which social media network should you use?

Pinterest has been pretty popular, with Facebook ranking at the top. One of the ways to encourage engagement is through the implementation of social buttons on your website and app.

As you delve deeper into mobile marketing, don’t also forget to optimize for desktop users. If you’re seeking help with mobile marketing, you should call 718-273-3070 or fill out the contact form. We’ll get in touch and ensure that you get the best!

10 Google My Business Optimizations to Rank Higher in Local Search

Optimizing your 'Google My Business' for local search is not rocket science. Don't allow the techy terms scare you, you only need to understand how keywords and optimization works. It's pretty easy to grasp, if only you can commit your time. 

Take your body for instance, so complex and yet, work together for one goal - to keep you alive. If that is the case, what keeps your business alive and running? Your business is an entity, and surely it deserves its space on the vast web - Google My Business. 

With this sophisticated tool, you give your brand a personality, and more leads. Instead of fighting for a spot at a local blog like touts in the 80s, businesses now utilize Google business listings to attract customers.

To put things in perspective, there are over 5.5 billion searches performed on Google every day. Nonetheless, only a fraction of the market is getting the juice. When you see high performing business listings, you might be grumbling about a secret sauce.

There is no secret sauce, aside from optimizing your Google My Business to the best you can.. When done well, you wouldn’t have to struggle to double your customer base or make a sale. 

Before we get started, take a look at what we’re trying to achieve. When a customer punches ‘hotels in New York’ on his keyboard, hotels close to the user are immediately ranked on SERP based on numerous perimeters.

If you noticed anything, you’ll see that each of the business listings has an image. This makes it more enticing. A customer could go for the cheapest hotel,  or perhaps one with free wifi, or breakfast. One thing you must not overlook is the images. They are the most vital element that brings your Google My Business listing to life.

What an optimized and unoptimized Google My Business Listing Looks Like

An optimized Google Business listing should have all the sections filled. If you’re yet to claim your Google My Business account, you can always click claim this business. Typically, Google will mail your PIN code to your nearest mailing post, or even to your doorstep if you prefer. 

Depending on your location, your mail can take 7 to 14 days to arrive. When you’ve gained full permission to your Google My Business Account, you can optimize your business listing to look like the image below.

Now, take a look at what an unoptimized business listing looks like. Only if he's a monopolist, the business might never generate a lead.

No doubt, the difference between the two pages is glaring. Now, let’s go in-depth on how YOU can optimize Google My Business listing, so your business can rank impressively on local search. 

Ready to devour this delicious delicacy? 

How to optimize your Google my business listing

1. Create a Google My Business Account

Before we dabble into how you can create your Google My Business account, it is important to know that Google My Business account is a separate entity from Google Business Profile. With the former, you can optimize the latter. Your Google My Business Account is like the admin dashboard of your Facebook account.

To create an account, head over to Google.com/business and sign up with your regular Google or Gmail account. You don't need to be a badass geek to get this done. 

2. Fill every section

Google My Business comes with tons of empty fields that you need to fill. This is where you start to input details about your business. Through the details you've provided, Google will know your business better and rank you accordingly. When you play your part well, you will improve your local search ranking, and attain your business goals. 

Sections you should pay attention to the most are:

• Names
• Address
• Hours
• Phone
• Website

For these other sections, you'll need to take your time. It's understandable the rush to get it over with, but that is what will mar you. Take your time, and fill these empty fields. While doing that, always mention some keywords that describe your business. If you don't, Google might never know what you're blabbing about cause it's dumb.

Category & Attributes 

• Products & Services
• From the business
• Questions & answers (Owner-generated queries)

These sections are continual, which means you'll be interacting regularly to solve customer queries. Isn't that why you're in business?

3. Optimize Your Contact

If you want your business to rank impressively on SERP, take your time and ensure your contact details are consistent. ...emphasis here, "consistent. Do you know what works most? Have a document, a spreadsheet, or something, and have these important details saved.

Whenever you need them, you can always copy and paste. Easy peasy!!! Not only will this approach save you energy punching on your keyboards, it also aids consistency.

• Business name consistency

Ensure that the name of your business is consistent across all handles. Google algorithm takes all these into account to know how credible your business is. You can’t use different names to identify your business, as that will create confusion for Google and your potential customers.

• No irregularities on address

If you're to use 'St' or 'Street', know that these can be termed differently by Google. Whichever one you go for, please consistently use them. Like the unique approach shared, you can always copy from a saved file.

• Disclose your regular and holiday hours

This is an important feature, as having those open and close hours encourages your customers to visit. There is nothing a customer hates most, if not driving for hours only to find your business closed. Surely, they will curse your business and probably not visit again.

4. ‘From the Business’ description

First and foremost, the short description under the name of a business is autogenerated. That means you don't have control over it. It's way out of your league, just like your crush was in High School. However, you do have control over an important segment of your Google My Business  - ‘from the Business’ description. 

Ideally, this section is located right under the reviews section. If you can optimize your ‘from my business’ description, you’ll have a better chance at ranking high in local research results. To optimize, you’re required to use all 750 characters, with relevant keywords in the first 250 words. Also, try to optimize for keywords that your customers use to find businesses like yours.

A common mistake most businesses make is repeating information already found in other sections of your profile. Please don't do that, you're cheating yourself. No law prohibits you from hiring a freelancer. The focus is to have a professionally optimized page that ranks for local results. By all means, strive to ensure you don’t include any links or HTML. 

5. Choose a category

Another aspect of your Google My Business that needs optimizing for local search is your business category. For adequate optimizing of your business, the category option must not be overlooked. Not only will it help your business to appear on discovery searches, choosing a category makes your business more attractive to potential customers. 

For instance, a restaurant can have a menu or reservation button. Hotels, on the other hand, tend to shine through the star rating. 

Details like these help your business to stand out from the marketplace. There are tons of categories to choose from, and it is best to choose the right one for the best result. Here are a few tips on how to optimize your Google My Business listing using categories.

• Be specific

There are over 3000 categories, and that’s a whole lot of options to choose from. If you’re running a barbershop salon, it’s recommended you use the 'barbing salon' category, other than using the ‘salon’ category. If you're running a digital marketing agency, there is an option for virtually anything you can think of. The same applies to Other categories. Be specific as possible, as that’s the only way to optimize your Google My Business for local search results.

• Secondary categories

Another important section that you shouldn't neglect is the ‘secondary categories’. This is where you extend more details to your business, and it is determined by the primary category you use. For instance, if you’re running a fast-food business. You can use the 'fast-food restaurants,' category, not the 'eatery" or 'canteens.' 

Most times attributes are confused with categories. But don't, as they are separate sections.

6. Working with attributes

In Google My Business, another section that you need to customize is a list of attributes that further discloses what your business offers. They are special features that potential customers will see. Some of these attributes include free wifi, free breakfast, wheelchair access, and so many others. 

However, this feature is not unique to Google My Business alone, since sites like Yelp also have a similar feature. Sometimes, Google attributes can go a little more specific, like 'a good business laptop,’ or ‘popular among students,’ etc. 

You don’t have to rush this page, but rather take your time to ensure every piece of information about your business is correctly filled. If your business doesn’t do delivery, it is best not to tick the delivery attribute, or the takeout or dine-in if your business doesn't support it. Through your attributes, Google learns more about your business and how to appropriately rank you in local search.

7. Business Pictures

Pictures make your business come alive, and also improves click-through rate. If you’re uploading directly through your Google My Business account, that is best since it ensures quality. As you might already know, anyone can add a picture to your Google listing. But by adding your own through the backend, your Google My Business account, you improve the quality and make the page look appealing.

Another thing with photos is that they have to be frequently updated. Adding pictures regularly sends a healthy signal to Google, which always affects your ranking. For a restaurant business, pictures of local dishes and delicacies might be the magic you need to attract customers.

While for a digital marketing company, reviews from satisfied clients might work best.

Furthermore, GMB increases engagement. According to BrightLocal study, businesses that have over 100 pictures get over 520% more calls, 2717 direction requests, and 1,065% website clicks than the average stat. 

What this means is that to buff engagement and the overall activity on your business listing, images are something that must not be missing from the equation. That doesn't mean you should dump 100 images at once on your Google My Business. Hell NO!

However, you can follow these common optimization tips:

• Your thumbnail photo has to be your logo
• Add at least one new picture every week
• Ensure your cover picture reflects your brand
• Avoid using stock pictures, or pictures with special effects.
• Use pictures that are of high quality for image-enriched results.

 8. Reviews Optimization

When it comes to customers buying behavior, reviews play a vital role in convincing the customer. Also, reviews are a key factor when it comes to what affects ranking. Business listings that appear on the first three local results are often listings with solid star ratings and multiple reviews. 

If your reviews come with relevant keywords, that is also an added advantage that will improve your Google ranking. To better optimize this section, begin with your old customers and let them know that reviews aren't just for the immediate benefits. One of those benefits is fast decision-making for other potential customers. To get more reviews on your Google Business listing, try to include a call to action on your website with a review button.

You can always urge your blog readers to drop a review. That way, your customers are reminded of what they can do and most likely take action. 

According to research, 70% of customers will drop a review if asked. If that is the case, there are many channels that you can use to ask for reviews, like emails, bulk SMS, social media, and even in-person conversation. Including a review shortcut in your website will even prove better, since it makes it easier to access.

Most of all, try as much as you can to always respond to reviews. It is very important and can determine the impression your business gives to customers.

9. Questions & Answers

For many people, this is the section that decides if they will go through with their patronage or not. Through the Q&A section, customers tend to find more about your business, products, and services. Amazon has a similar feature, and it has proven to be an important feature to date. 

To optimize your Google My Business to perform impressively on local search, there is a need to also optimize your Question & Answer section. 

Since anyone can drop a review on your Google Business listing, there are chances of getting inaccurate information from ill-informed customers. To remedy this, set up alerts so you get notified when questions and answers are posted on your profile. 

Also, you can make a list of some frequently asked questions. Ask these likely questions, answer, and upvote. When optimizing, don’t forget to keep keywords in mind.

By constantly monitoring your Questions & Answers section, you ensure that only correct information is disseminated. These questions are crucial and help show off your business in its best form.

10. Enable messaging

Customers want the quickest way to get their problems solved, and one of those ways could be sending you a text. That is why messaging is the best route to take when it comes to keeping in touch with your customers. About 82% of online shoppers are millennials, and they use their smartphones the most for local search.

If you want to enable messaging, quickly select the ‘Messaging’ tab in your Google My Business dashboard. You will have the option to install this via Google Play or perhaps, Apple App Store. Some businesses are often afraid to use this feature, thinking that it might expose their personal number. With Google’s Allo app, you can always use a different number. It will also be best if you turn on alerts for messages, as it will help you respond swiftly to your customers.

BONUS:

11. Regular posting to your Google Business Profile

Just like social media or blogs, you can post to your Google Business profile about a couple of things. It could be an event, announcement, product, or offer. When you make a post on your Google My Business profile, it shows up on the ‘updates’ section right at the footer of your Business Profile. 

Through regular posting, you exponentially increase the number of actions a customer can take. Also, it sends positive signals to Google, the same way images do. Another interesting feature is that customers can equally follow your Business Profile and receive alerts of new updates.

Here are tips that will help you optimize your Google Business Profile with posts:

• Post regularly
• Use event and offer post for marketing purposes
• Include links and CTAs on every post

Wrapping Up!

Just like all marketing strategies, getting your business listing on the top page of Google results entails providing quality and accurate information about your business. Apart from your website, your business listing could be your major source of customers. 

If you had optimally optimized your business listing, climbing to that spot on SERP wouldn't be a hurdle. Since optimizing your Google My Business could cost both time and energy, it might even be best to work with an agency that gets it all done for you. If that sounds like a good deal, call 718-273-3070 or fill out the contact form.

Marketing After The Coronavirus: What Every Brand Needs To Know

When the virus hit in 2020, it was as if the end of humanity was imminent, leading to the lockdown of businesses in a bid to curtail the virus. With vaccination ongoing in numerous countries, how can brands market their goods and services in a post-pandemic world? Have things changed?

The first and foremost thing that brands can do is ensure that protective measures are put in place while gradually returning to normalcy. 

Doing business in this new paradigm will be somewhat different, hence the purpose of this post.

Here are tips for marketing your brand after coronavirus.

1. Talk About The Safety Measures

How is your business going to change, especially now that there is news of new virus strains? You can start by promoting the health of your employees and customers and adjoining them to adhere to safety measures. 

It could also be making face masks a requirement to enter your business premises or changing your working hours, and limiting the number of people in your physical location.

When customers return from the lockdown and see how meticulous you are about their safety, they will love you more.

2. Talk About The Changes.

Indeed, the way business is done is going to change drastically. Besides a few of your employees who might be working from home, it is also necessary to educate your customers about changes. These changes could be a slow response from customer care, product availability, slower shipping times, pricing, and lots more. 

You can choose to send out personalized emails to your customers, telling them the changes your brand has undergone due to the raging pandemic. As you talk about the ongoing changes in your business, you're indirectly marketing your brand.

3. Use More Channels

As your brand gradually returns to business, you must use more marketing channels to reach your target market. For instance, the way people use the internet over the past few months have changed. In other words, your mode of marketing has to change a little. 

According to research from Forbes, social media engagement has risen to a whopping 61% since the virus began. That means that social media marketing should be one of the routes you should consider since more people are spending more money and time on social media platforms.

4. Your Budget Concerns 

As a business trying to operate in the post-pandemic era, it might come as a surprise how high your marketing budget has risen. It has been one of the significant side effects of the pandemic, and businesses of all sizes are feeling the heat. 

Although it could be a little expensive now, marketing campaigns and emails perform much better than a few months ago. So, never be scared to try out a new marketing channel, and don't allow the pricing to discourage you.

Takeaway

The time may be challenging; remember that you need to scale through by maintaining consistent communication with your customers. You need to update them of any slight change, and if you want even to find a better way to market your brand, perhaps calling 718-273-3070 or filling the contact form will play in your best interest.

our revenue in the long run.

Ways to Boost Your Digital Marketing in 2021

It might sound cold, but 2020 was the best year for digital marketers and businesses like Amazon. The world was on lockdown, and the only alternative to communication and business transactions was the internet. Even a video conferencing app like Zoom became a household name overnight, thanks to the work-from-home order.

For the first time, digital marketers spent more money and time promoting their goods and service online. They even made home delivery a possibility, which skyrocketed the need to work from home. Digital marketers utilized social media, Google Ads, Giveaways, TikTok challenges, and even memes to promote their business. However, there are better ways to boost your digital marketing in 2021.

1. Content Marketing

Sometimes, what you need to attract your target market is to solve their problems. Every minute, billions of searches are performed, and they amount to people seeking answers to their various issues. By creating blog posts, videos, apps, and answering some questions in your industry, you present yourself as an authority in your niche. Undoubtedly, this leads to more exposure.

2. PPC Marketing

There are numerous ways to market your products and service for free, but sometimes you have to spend a few bucks. With PPC or Pay Per Click marketing, you pay only for the value you derive. PPC is a formidable marketing strategy due to its targeting feature, thereby putting your ads in front of your ideal audience. As long as your landing page, buttons and links are functional; you will get exceptional value for your campaign.

3. Video Advertising

Video is dominating the internet, with TikTok is already leading the way through its intriguing challenges. It is now becoming an increasingly popular platform, and almost 90% of marketers claim to have noticed a surge in traffic upon adding videos to their content. 

The reason for this is evident, people like visuals. Almost 30% of shoppers said they feel more confident to buy an item after seeing a video ad of it. By incorporating videos into your marketing campaign, you will notice an astonishing difference.

4. Voice Search

As we advance as a specie, the urge for a quicker way to get things done becomes preferable. In 2021, one of the emerging technological trends is voice search, and you’ll be making a mistake neglecting this new technology. To optimize your platform for voice search, ensure you use FAQ and schemas to answer questions. With this, you have a higher chance of appearing in search results.

Conclusion

Now, what do you do with all these tips? Incorporate them in your marketing strategies, and watch how your business gains more buzz and customers. You don’t need to try all approaches, but rather experiment and settle with one that yields the most result. If you’re working with a team, outline these strategies and carry them along. By consistently utilizing these tips, you boost your marketing reach and improving your revenue in the long run.

Most internet users today recognize they will sacrifice some of their personal privacy for the privilege of shopping and socializing online. By willingly sharing information about themselves – including the websites they visit and purchases they make online – they will gain the benefits of having more tailored results and recommendations when they’re searching online for something they need.

People are also willing to sacrifice some level of privacy in exchange for convenience, as evidenced by the prevalence of AI assistants like Google Home and Alexa and the growth rate of Internet of Things (IoT) devices in the home.

Limits to Data Sharing

But sharing data and relinquishing privacy has its limits. Growing numbers of Americans – 32% according to a recent study conducted by Cisco and summarized in the Harvard Business Review – have concerns about data privacy and are willing to switch companies or service providers if they don’t like the way their data is being used. The study called these individuals “privacy actives.”

Ninety-percent of privacy actives said that how a company handles their private data reflects the respect the company has for its customers. And they won’t hesitate to avoid doing business with a company that doesn’t respect and protect their data.

What Does Privacy Protection Mean for Your Digital Marketing Campaigns?

Under the General Data Protection Regulations, companies must ask for permission before collecting a customer or website visitor’s data if the visitor is from EU. With these standards in place, most U.S.-based websites adhere to GDPR rules. But GDPR is the minimum of what a company can do to protect its customers’ privacy.

When you’re launching a digital campaign, it pays to work with a firm that is on the cutting-edge of data protection technology. It’s important to collect only the information you need for a successful campaign and to ensure that data is kept safe through cybersecurity measures.

By safeguarding your customers’ data, you are building trust that can lead to increased sales and word-of-mouth referrals in the future.

Trust TomCo to manage your next digital marketing campaign with privacy protection in mind. Get a quote here.

Are you willing to sacrifice some of your data privacy for a more convenient online shopping experience?

Many of today’s shoppers are.

In a 2019 survey, Cisco identified a group of people considered “privacy actives.” These are shoppers who care about their online privacy and have switched companies due to data-sharing policies. It represented only 32% of 2,601 adults polled.

Further, these individuals were even more comfortable than their counterparts to “trade-off” their purchase history data in exchange for more personalized products and services.

• 62% of privacy actives vs. 32% of non-privacy actives said they would share purchase history information for better shopping suggestions
• 44% of privacy actives vs. 17% of non-privacy actives would share information gleaned from smart speakers like Alexa or Google Home to receive health and safety warnings for their whole family.

Appeal to Privacy Actives to Increase Ecommerce Sales

Those who understand technology better – and the importance of data exchange to provide a personalized customer experience – are more willing to share certain types of data. But only if they understand what they’re sharing and why. Understandably, 83% of privacy actives actually read privacy policies to understand the trade-offs.

And therein lies the bittersweet aspect of data privacy: A more personalized shopping experience can convert to greater conversions, but you must invest the time and technology to deliver an experience your customers trust.

3 Ways to Improve Your Customer Privacy Policies

In addition to ensuring your website follows the General Data Protection Rules (GDPR), which ensures you ask permission to collect a customer’s data if they are from the EU, you can take these steps to maintain transparency about data collection.

1. Follow GDPR regulations even if your customers are based in the U.S. or elsewhere.
2. Keep your privacy policy short and to the point so customers can understand exactly what data you’re collecting and what you will use it for.
3. Show your customers the benefits of data-sharing with a customized user experience on your ecommerce website.

Let TomCo help you appeal to privacy active customers with a clear and visible privacy policy and a tailored shopping experience. Get a quote here.