1. Establish Your Company Values 

What kind of travel experience do want your company to represent? Are you exotic and adventurous or quiet and comfortable? Does any of your products or services benefit the environment and/or include fair-trade practices? Identify what your company stands for and work with a designer or marketing agency that has designers to include visual elements and persuasive body copy that accurately portray and represent what your company stands for. 

2. Identify Your Audience’s Interest

Find out what interests your target market. Is there anything specific that a lot of people in your target demographic talk about? Ask: who, what, where, when, how, and at what time? You can gather this information through user persona profiles, social media, and competitor research. Think about how you can create content from it. Examples include a FAQ section on your website, host live Q & As on social media, a how-to video, or surveys through email marketing. Once you have built an audience continue to build off that information with Google Analytics with your Website, Google Ads, Social Ads, and interactions from other digital marketing avenues. You can use data to help inform future projects. 

3. Choose Formats Popular with Your Target Market 

Short-form video is popular with young gen z and millennials, but not every piece of content must be in this format to get views. Look at different content styles on the social media platforms you are on. For example, on Instagram carousels often get high engagement rates. Your business could create a “what to bring to ______” post. Then include branded items and include “anything we missed?” statement at the end to encourage interaction. May sure to switch post types a few times a week so existing followers don’t get bored. 

4. Create Immersive Content 

With new technologies you can create or integrate exciting digital experiences on your website and social media accounts. VR, augmented reality, and Google Maps are a few ways to this. Since you are in the travel industry, this is a great way to create sneak peeks of tours, trips, or products in use. You want to entice the client to stay and interact with what your company has to offer. If create a positive and exciting experience online, they are more likely to trust and choose you over a generic company. 

5. Create a Unique Style

With competitive research you may be tempted to recreate popular layouts and slap your logo on it. At best you could lose potential clients due to brand confusion, at worst, you are accused of plagiarism and get into legal trouble. Make sure you are adding and changing up photos, videos, motion graphics, and body copy tone of voice to create something that is identifiable uniquely to your company. Not only will you stand out from the crowd, but you will create trust with your audience.  

Need help creating effective branded content? Call 248.528.3600

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1. Data-Driven Marketing

Data is always important when making informed decisions, but reports are not always brought to marketing meetings. This is changing in 2023. Successful marketing involves research and numbers as well as creativity and uniqueness. Using tools like Google Analytics to track and collect data from your website, Google Ads, PPC ads, email surveys, social media, and other digital marketing avenues helps inform what areas your marketing team needs to focus on. Going into meetings with reports and findings can create better connection between your design and sales time. It can also save time during meetings because the data will guide the conversation so your marketing team can create item truly tailor for you target market. 

2. A Rise in Video Content 

Long-form video such as tutorials, essays on industry topics, or webinars are becoming popular amongst b2b communications. They are a great way to show off your topical knowledge and build your industry authority. Going live through video platforms, such as YouTube helps foster community and allows you target audience to know that there are real people behind your company. You can answer any questions clients have about your product or service and discover knowledge from other experts in your industry. Short-form videos are good for business quick tips, sneak peaks, and announcements. These are good to post on social media to quickly grab the attention of your audience. They also do not take too much time out of your day, which is important for busy business owners and employees. 

3. Dark Social Prevention 

Dark social refers to when people share website links through email, SMS, and private messages on social media. These links do not have tracking codes automatically appended, so it is not possible to know how the website visitor found the content. As a result, it hard to measure attribution which can make hard to know which platform needs marketing attention or is effective. It can also make it difficult to educate your buyers about your product or service. B2B buyers like to research and self-discover before contacting a sales agent. They want to learn, compare, and review product options well before speaking to sales. You want marketing to drive funnel conversions through smart use and encouraging of direct contact instead of platform avenues. 

4. AI Utilization 

While AI technologies are controversial in terms of art creation and body copy creation, there are other ways to use AI tech that are timesaving.

• Personalized shopping creates recommendation engines through which you can engage better with your customers. 

• Virtual assistants and chatbots help improve the user experience while shopping online. 

• AI can help reduce the possibility of credit card frauds taking place.

• On Instagram, AI considers your likes and the accounts you follow to determine what posts you are shown on your explore tab. 

• Facebook AI is used along with a tool called DeepText.  It can understand conversations and can be used to translate posts from different languages automatically.

• AI can deliver highly targeted and personalized ads with the help of behavioral analysis, and pattern recognition, etc. It also helps with retargeting audiences.

• AI chatbots can effectively resolve customer issues, respond to simple inquiries, improve customer service, and provide 24/7 support on your website and social media. 

5. Lead Nurturing 

The process of engaging potential customers and helping them become a sale requires nurturing, especially if you are in an area where the economy is in a tight spot. Drip marketing campaigns in the form of sending out automated emails over the course of several weeks or months is one way to nurture a potential client relationship. With business clients being every busy it is important to stay in contact with potential client to close the sale. When the sale is done, you are still not finished. Add them to your email list and offering deals or notifying them about sales will help them keep your company top of mind for other product and services. 

 Create an effective B2B marketing plan with us today. Call 248.528.3600

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1. Use PR to Facilitate Content Promotions

Reach out to relevant journalists, editors, influencers, bloggers, or other media outlets with your content. Your content should be data-focused, but emotional enough to connect with the average consumer. This should lead to more sharing among social media, increased media coverage, and a wider audience that may include merging complementary industries. A study by ON-Broadcast, a broadcast specialist agency, showed that many journalists admit to finding stories on social networks or other media outlets. This means that reporters could possibly pick up your story when you distribute your content across different channels. Consider looking out for guest posting opportunities on reputable websites. Having regular articles and press mentions will amplify your reach in the long term.

2. Use PR to Build Relationships with Influencers

PR is more than just sending a single inquiry email and hoping to get more eyes on your content pieces. It is about building and nurturing mutually beneficial relationships. The better your PR, the easiest it gets to attract new partners, which is a valuable asset when using influencer marketing. An influencer has the trust of their audience and to keep that trust, they try to work with companies that are reputable. Create an influencer strategy built on honest reviews of your product or service. Make sure your content is clear and easy to understand. If the influencer created the content, check that their work doesn’t have any misleading information. After that, enjoy a steady stream of media coverage, co-branded content, social media mentions, and product or service reviews. 

3. Use PR to Help You Become an Industry Authority 

Public relations help you increase authority through speaking engagements, interviews, media coverage, or social media presence. Keep an eye out for local tradeshows, community events, or schools hosting a career day. Allow your employees to build personal brands and share industry insights or news under the company name. Also allow individuals within your company to become thought leaders by publishing insightful content pieces, such as industry reports or expert commentaries. This not only will build the creditability of your company but will show your employees that they are valuable members of the team. Potential clients will feel more at easy if they see real people interacting with the company. 

4. Use PR to Improve Your Online Visibility 

Proactive PR and reactive PR are two ways to approach improving your online presence. Proactive PR involves sharing content with the public in the forms of research and press releases being published on high-ranking high authority websites. Press releases are usually distributed by PR specialists or via newswire services, but you can easily send them out yourself with dedicated PR tools or with the help of a digital marketing agency with SEO services. The goal is to create buzz around your brand and become “findable”. You want journalists and potential customers look for information through Google Search and have you pop up in an ad, snippet, or the first or second page of Google’s results page. 

Pair proactive PR with reactive PR which involves responding to journalists’ needs. There are all sorts of new platforms from local to international online magazines or news companies. Once you find a suitable outlet to share your content, make sure to answer fast and personalize your pitch, depending on the media outlet and its requirements. This PR tactic helps to build quality backlinks and drive traffic to your business’s website.

5. Use PR to Leverage New Communication Channels

Create an online newsroom or company blog is an important communication channel for PR specialists and content marketers. You can use it for publishing press releases, in-house announcements, messages from the founders, or other newsworthy stories your company may have. Unlike traditional media coverage, this is where brands control their own story entirely and decide what to make public. Having an online newsroom or creating a company blog via WordPress will add a sense of legitimacy to your website. It will also make it easier to nurture media relationships and help you manage your online reputation on your own. This shared desire for PR and content marketing is an excellent way to manage and improve your brand’s online reputation. A better reputation equals a higher chance a potential client will pick your business over another’s. 

Need help incorporating PR into your content strategy? Call 248.528.3600.

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1. Post a customer review

2. Live Q &A with prepared questions

3. Live event or party your business hosts or is attending 

4. Share good news from different local businesses 

5. Share a post from a local charity or non-profit looking for help

6. Answer questions or comments from potential or existing customers

7. Host a customer meet-and-greet and post highlights

8. Post “Did you Know?” or a historical anniversary relevant to your market or community

9. Post seasonal picture of your business 

10. Post customer stories (with consent)

11. Post about a business challenge you overcame 

12. When a local school team or organization is having success, post about their success

13. Turn FAQ into an advice post

14.  Post good news for the business or industry 

15. Celebrate a new hire

Need more help with social media marketing? Call 248.528.3600.

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1. Ask what your target audience is doing around the holidays

According to data.ai, studies show mobile app usage and mobile shopping go up in November and December. Consumers are also looking for deals for gifts and holiday supplies. Create mobile-friendly web and ad content that helps your target audience find what they are looking for. Special discounts are often offered to help draw in consumers that need to spend for a lot of people in their lives. Check and secure your supply and delivery chain. Consumers are usually stressed and are looking for items that arrive quickly. Include call-to-actions that encourage urgency, especially if you are limited in supply or time. 

2. Adjust your normal social media content calendar 

Make sure you increase the frequency of your posts leading up to the holiday. Try to avoid posting the day before or the day of. People are usually finish shopping the week of and last-minute shoppers usually grab whatever closest. Remember that not all social media posts have to be direct sales. Some quick ideas are: 

• How to use video
• Customer testimonials
• Suggested gift post 
• Showcase bestsellers
• Live video asking what audiences are doing for the holidays 

3.  Keep in mind your employees’ time off

Whether you are open the day of the holiday or closed, employees are going to take time off on or around the time of the holiday to relax and be with their friends and/or family. Keep this in mind when you are creating your ads. You want to have enough breathing room for consumers to see and buy and for employees to register the purchase and do their jobs. Make your content in advance, especially if it evolves employee interaction. You want to be courteous of employee’s time because they are the one keeping your products or services moving. If possible, include ai or a social media manager that had access to software that automatically posts in advance. 

4. Keep in mind of other winter holidays besides the major ones

This is especially important is you are an international business. If you’re not selling something that is directly tied to major holiday or there is intersection of holidays that your target audience may celebrate, create content acknowledging different holidays. For example, you can create content based on Hanukkah or Kwanzaa in addition to Christmas. It can be blog post or a social media post. If there are too many holidays during the winter month and you are having trouble incorporating them in an authentic way, then just stick to “happy holidays” posts, blog articles and ads. 

5. Include sales-enablement collateral into your holiday content

This is important for b2b buyers. Web landing pages, case studies, client testimonials, and other sales aids content are still needed during the holidays. One would argue even more so due to other business’ fiscal year ending. Other businesses are deciding what to do with end of the year budgets and upcoming ones. Gather whatever content you can that make your business look like they have a smooth and positive experience. Exchange internal and team holiday news. LinkedIn is a great platform to highlight these items.

Need help preparing a marketing plan for the holidays? Call 248.528.3600.

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1. Photos of current staff member(s).

2. Photos of a new team member.

3. Photo of owner or boss interacting with the business.

4. Photo of new products being unboxed or stocked.

5. Photos of satisfied customers (with legal and proper consent).

6. Photo of an office pet or mascot. 

7. Photo of a holiday gathering or charity event.

8. Photo of staff members in action (meeting, helping customers, stocking shelves, etc.).

9. Short video of a happy customer’s testimonial.  

10. Photo of new equipment. 

11. Photo of staff working on location (especially if it is out in the field).

12. Photo of “behind the scenes” or “how it is made”. 

13. Memes made from your own pictures.

14. Short video of company birthday or employee birthday.

15. Video announcement of a promotion, product, or special.

16. Video tour of the business or areas you serve.  

17. Video/podcast with some helpful industry advice for the customer. 

18. Video supporting a local cause or volunteered event.

19. Video showing off use new products or services (30 seconds to a minute).

20. Video of the owner talking about the mission of the company.

21. Video/podcast interview with team members.

22. Assemble product or service photos into a collage. 

Create a content strategy for your business. Call 248.528.3600.

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1. Keep the Number of Fonts Used at a Minimum

Resist using more than 3 different types of fonts for your website. If you use too many it runs the risk of looking like a broken site, which in turn, leads to high bounce-rates. Usually there is one font used for heading, one for body copy, and one for your main home display image. You may have seen fancy websites that have a bunch of fonts and look cool, but those clusters of fonts are usually images and are not meant to be read. They often don’t have any important info about the company’s product or service. 

2. Use Standard Fonts 

If you are wondering “how can you tell what type of fonts you can use for web?” Well, Google Web Fonts and Typekit have you covered. They have downloadable fonts that are guaranteed safe for web usage. Whether you are custom coding or using a web template from a site like WordPress these fonts can be integrated. Keep in mind the other rules mentioned and not get too crazy with downloading too many fonts. 

3. Limit the Number of Lines 

If you have a have a lot of content you want to share, make sure to limit the number lines of text. A wall of text can easily tire out a user. A general rule is to break up paragraphs every 6-8 sentences and break up paragraphs with supporting graphics. Different types of fonts can also eat up width space so before going live test out your website on different browser, screens, and mobile devices.  

4. Choose a Typeface That Works Well in Various Sizes

Sometimes all you need is one font that comes in regular, bold, and italic. Find a font that has different weights, and you can use it for your body copy and headings. This will allow for easy contrast, and you don’t have to worry about mixing up fonts. 

5. Use Fonts with Distinguishable Letters

Certain fonts make letters too indistinguishable. Take the word “Illusion”. Can you tell which the capital “I” and which is the lowercase “l”? If your target market has vision problems or doesn’t use English as their first language you may want to find a clearer font. You are more likely to find fonts with distinguishable letters if your search for “serif fonts”.

6. Avoid All Caps

If you have a short headline or one word that you to emphasize using all caps it is fine. Avoid using all caps for any sentence longer than 3 words. Not only is it hard to read, but it looks like you are “yelling” at the user. Depending on what you are selling this can be a huge turn off. For example, you are selling psych services for people with anxiety. Which sentence looks more inviting:

“We here to help you calm down. Our company deals with patients with anxiety get back to living their lives.”

Or

“WE HERE TO HELP YOU CALM DOWN. OUR COMPANY DEALS WITH PATIENTS WITH ANXIETY GET BACK TO LIVING THEIR LIVES.”

7. Have a Reasonable Space Between Lines

In paragraphs spaces between lines, it is possible to be too tight or too far away. Usually, your template or code will default to even spacing, but you still want to check on mobile and other computer devices. If lines are running into each other or are too far away that they don’t look like the info is together, then this will negatively impact the user experience. 

8. Have Color Contrast

No light text on a light background and no dark text on dark background. If your logo or brand colors involve hard to read colors incorporate a neutral color (black, white, grey) into the web design. Neutral colors rarely destroy brand consistency. It is very important for text, especially if you want users to read it, to be in color that the majority of the population can see. 

9. Avoid Coloring Text in Red or Green

Speaking of hard to read text colors, red and green. Individuals that are colorblind cannot read red or green text, especially if it small. Avoid at all costs for body copy. You might be able to get away with large headings if your background is white, but it is best to avoid these colors. If these are your brand colors, incorporate them into the graphics instead. 

10. Avoid Using Blinking Text

While it fun to use flashing text for social media marketing or online ads, it is best to avoid on your actual website. Flashes or flickers can cause headaches or worse trigger seizures in certain individuals prone to seizures. Users want to able to read important info without interruption.   

Let us create a type-friendly website for you. Call 248.528.3600.

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1. Optimize Your Business Profile 

Your profile page should also act as a landing page. People and companies don’t usually except connection request without checking out your business profile to make sure you are legit. Make sure you have 60px X 60px logo file that is easily recognizable at a small size. Your cover image should be well designed and demonstrates your company’s brand. If you can fit services and contact info even better! The headline section should have your company name, industry, and a small summary of the services you provide. Your “About” section should demonstrate your expertise and include any accomplishments or awards you have. Remember to keep the summary brief and to the point. Here is checklist to help: 

 A brief overview of your business

 Awards and accomplishments

 Description of your business’s products and/or services

 Data and numbers to prove your expertise

 Use relevant keywords to improve search discoverability

 Add a call to action

2. Post Relevant Content

It is important to be active on the platform and post regularly. If you a limited-on time only post on certain days or hire a digital marketing firm that has social media management as one of their services. Content should be relevant to your target audience and useful to solve their problems or challenges. A quick content marketing research strategy: 

• Define your ideal reader/customer 
• Set your objectives based on their problems 
• Identify the important metrics to track success 
• Define your brand’s editorial layout 
• Create the type of content that appeals to your target users or solves a problem they have
• Measure results with social media analytics tools

3. Prioritize Articles 

Articles are very popular and favored on LinkedIn. Try to treat content like a mini blog. Some article tips to help you get started:

• Create a catchy headline and write in a clear, concise style
• Use images, infographics, and videos to break up your text and add visual interest
• Make sure your articles are well-researched and sources are easy to find 
• Use keyword-rich tags to help your articles get discovered
• Update content on a regular basis

4. Interact on the Platform to Boost Visibility

Treat LinkedIn as a networking event. Set aside at least 15 minutes to leave a comment or reaction to show support for the clients you’re aiming for. Try to avoid spamming them with a sales pitch. Remember you want to build a healthy relationship with the potential client or business you want to partner with. On your own page, you can host webinars, polls, events, and other interactive media that encourage others to leave a comment. 

5. Drive Users to Your Lead Material and Landing Pages

You can add links to your LinkedIn posts to promote your website, blog posts, webinars, and other lead materials. The platform does not a limit on how many people it can reach unlike other social media platforms. Add relevant hashtags and hashtags targeted at the audience you want to attract. Have a call-to-action and contact info include in graphic or post. Make sure your posts, updates, ads, and promotions are educational and provide some value to your readers. Most regular ads are ignored or missed. Videos are also gaining popularity so consider adding motion to graphic or converting a blog post into an informational video.

6. Participate in Groups

LinkedIn also allows professionals to join groups for conversations around specific topics. If you are on Facebook, it is like a Facebook groups. Look for groups within your niche or industry. You can trade knowledge and skills with each other. Make sure to review the rules and regulations before joining a group. Sensitive topics, like mental health, medical information, and political topics can get you kicked out fast. If you must talk about these topics because you are in field related to the topics, keep it practical and triple check your sources. Avoid aggressive self-promotion or sales pitches. Respect others and avoid de-humanizing languages (slurs & cussing). Appreciate notable contributions from other members in the group. Everyone is there to benefit from each other. 

7. Leverage Ads on LinkedIn

Paid ads can drive traffic to website and increase sales. Use this technique strategically, especially if you are a small business on a budget. LinkedIn has a variety of products that put your content in front of your target market. You can target users based on job title, industry, and company size. A native ad that appears in the LinkedIn feed. LinkedIn outreach messages that are delivered straight to the target users’ LinkedIn inboxes. Make sure you have specific content related to your product or services. Check spelling and grammar. Due to scams people are a little cautious when it comes to messages they don’t know. 

Need help coming up with a winning LinkedIn Strategy? Call 248.528.360

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1. Build Your Mailing List

Your email must be shared by users of their own free-will. Forms such as “subscribe”, “contact”, “become a member” are good examples to have on your website. When you collect their data include name, date, email, birthday or month, and any more pieces of info tailored to benefit them. Be careful not to violate privacy policies. To not come off as a scam, it best to give something in return for the info. Examples include discount codes, free eBook, or member-exclusive video. Remember to ALWAYS have an option of unsubscribing from your email list. It is illegal to send marketing emails without the opportunity to disengage.

2. Select an Email Service Provider (ESP) 

The old-fashioned way is to collect email addresses, add them to your contacts list under a label, and send email newsletters that way. This is time-consuming, inefficient, and you could be missing out on some fantastic online services that will increase your business efficiency. Here is the top 7 ESP used according to wpbeginner:

• Constant Contact
• SendinBlue
• HubSpot
• Omnisend
• Drip
• ConvertKit
• MailChimp 

3. Create a Marketing Strategy

There needs to be goals that you aim to accomplish in your email marketing plan. First start with your audience. Who are you going to be emailing? Who are you targeting to grab details to send your emails to? Knowing your audience can help you build your customer base and make sure you aren’t sending it to people who don’t need your product or service. Once you have your list and have been emailing for a while, segment your email info into groups. Organize by who engages, who opens the emails, and who clicks through. This will allow you to tailor different campaigns to your most engaged viewers. Speaking of content and goals. Are you trying to get the people who engage less to click through more? Do you want to reward the most active people on your list? Do you have news to give or a new product or service to market? Your campaigns should focus on answering these questions and be designed to accomplish these tasks.

4. Design Your Emails

Plan text on a white background won’t cut it. These emails usually end up in someone’s spam box or worse you email is reported and banned. You must add you brand colors and imagery to the email, so you look legitimate. Most modern email software in use, will also allow you to include HTML links, embed videos, and more, making it much more desirable to the end-user. Interactivity should help the potential client through the sales process. If you are struggling hirer a graphic designer or a digital marketing agency with designers to help you. 

5. Test the Email Systems

Before you send ANYTHING, test that it works. This also includes any automation you’ve set up. Here is a checklist of items to go through before you send to customers:

 Subscribe to your service and see if your free offer works.

 Set a test list with five or so emails with different browsers or different email software systems.

 Send the emails and then read them to find spelling or grammatical errors you may have missed.

 See if the emails work on mobile devices as well.

6. Implement Email Automation

If everything is working and you are quickly gaining more emails, it is time to start automating simple tasks. Have a welcome email, thank you email, the gift, and the multi-step EDM campaign all automated. This will free you from micro-managing email marketing and open up your time schedule to work on other more productive and profitable things with your business.

Too busy for email marketing? Let us do it for you! Call 248.528.360 

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1. Instructional Videos

2. Live Video Streaming 

3. Mini TV Skit

4. How It Is Made Videos

5. Preview of New Product/Service

6. Host a Webinar/Class

7. Create an Inspiration Series/Playlist 

8. Interview Industry Experts

9. Promotional Videos

10. Interview Customers/Clients

11. Thank You/Customer Appreciation Videos

12. Live Q & A 

13. Host Contest Videos

14. Conference/Event Highlights 

15. Industry News Report

16. Tour of Your Store/Office/Location

17. Appealing Static Visuals 

18. Time-Lapse Videos 

19. Holiday Special Videos 

20. Top 10 (Industry Topic) Videos 

21. FAQ Videos

22. Charity/Give Back to the Community Videos

23. Industry Tools Videos

24. History/How We Started Video

25. Unboxing New Equipment 

Incorporate video into your marketing strategy! Call 248.528.360

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