Avoid keyword stuffing for SEO

 Avoid plagiarizing body copy 

Avoid pulling images straight off Google & stealing artwork 

Avoid spamming email marketing

Avoid posting only selling content on social media 

Avoid AI generated content if unfamiliar with the tools & copyright laws 

 Avoid prioritizing traditional marketing over digital 

Avoid not proof-reading social copy 

Avoid hiding cost for ecommerce 

Avoid making hard to cancel subscriptions 

Avoid inconsistent branding 

Avoid vague creative goals 

Avoid ignoring data tracking 

Avoid these tactics by working with us! Call 248.528.3600

The post Yikes! It’s Friday the 13th! appeared first on Miller Media, Digital Marketing Agency, PPC, Industrial Web Design, WordPress.

1. Create a New Year post for social media 

2. Launch a new product or service 

3. Use Google Ads to help with specific marketing goals

4. Update your branding & website

5. Sponsor a charity event 

6. Offer a New Year’s sales discount 

7. Promote referral programs

8. Create a gift guide based on new year’s resolutions

9. Participate in festivals & events

10. Create a snappy email marketing campaign 

11. Launch a giveaway

12. Share popular purchases from the previous year

13. Host a New Year Event 

14. Highlight loyal customers 

15. Run a contest 

16. Share company New Year’s resolutions 

17. Blend digital marketing with traditional marketing campaigns 

18. Partner with complementary businesses

Need help create New Year content? Call 248.528.3600 

The post 18 Ways to Celebrate New Year’s with Your Marketing  appeared first on Miller Media, Digital Marketing Agency, PPC, Industrial Web Design, WordPress.

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.

The post Use PR to Support Your Content Marketing Strategy   appeared first on Miller Media, Digital Marketing Agency, PPC, Industrial Web Design, WordPress.

A Mission Statement 

What is the goal that you want your company to achieve? What value does your products or services have for the public? This should be a statement the drives your company to continue to function. Think about what problem your company solves and how would you make lives or society easier with your product or service. This statement can be broad.

A Vision Statement 

How do you see your company maneuvering with the business word? What type of business do you appear as? Your vision statement should be purposeful. This is what keep stakeholders and employees interested staying with your company. Think about where your business will be long term. This statement often relies on internal goals for your company and helps drive decision making. Keep this statement specific and short. 

A Target Audience Description

Who is your product or service for? A useful way to narrow down who you want to sell to is to use one or more Buyer Persona profiles. The most common way to use buyer personas is to break it up into Primary Buyer (person who will love your product and recommend it frequently), Secondary Buyer (person who likes your product, but is less like to recommend your product and may return on rare occasions) and Negative Buyer (someone who does want, like or need your product). The profile usually consists of:

• Sex or gender identity (optional) 
• Income (helps in pricing)
• Lifestyle
• Daily tasks
• Likes & dislikes
• Other brands they are interested in 

Your Brand Personality 

How do you want the feel of company to come off to potential clients? Are you chilled and laid-back or are you serious and urgent? Look up adjectives that others would use to describe your company. The goal is to stand out in the market. Your brand personality will help inform your packaging, photos or illustrations, color pallet and other graphic elements to help market your product or service. 

Your Core Values 

Break down the beliefs your company has into simple words. These words are guide for behavior you want your employees to follow and brand to extrude. For example, you are gym and your company’s goals are to make exercise fun. Some core values you might come with are:

• Friendliness
• Humility 
• Humor 
• Optimism 
• Encouraging 

Let us help you come up with a brand style guide. Call 248.528.3600.

The post Your Business Needs a Brand Style Guide appeared first on Miller Media, Digital Marketing Agency, PPC, Industrial Web Design, WordPress.

1. Product Purpose

What purpose does your product serve? Is it a luxury good or does it help solve a problem your target market has? Make a list of reasons why someone would purchase your item and how they would use it in their daily lives. This will help you or your marketing team create content around the reasons why a customer would purchase your product and how to use it. Marketing avenues that pair well with this discovery are:

• Company Blogs
• Video Ad Campaigns
• Influencer Marketing 
• Paid Advertising 
• Guest Articles/Reviews

2. Price

Keep an eye on the economic market. Research similar companies to see what they are charging. Create an in-depth customer profile how much they make and are willing to spend on similar items. Calculate how much profit you must make before discounting your products. A popular technique a lot of ecommerce businesses use is to reward first time buyers with discount codes for their website through email marketing. 

3. Placement 

In what areas of the internet do you plan for your product to be seen? The destination should be your website that acts as a digital storefront, but where are other places your customers socialize on? Utilize Google Ads for SEO and social media marketing to maintain communication between new and returning customers. Now, social media can get chaotic and may require a digital agency to help you control comments, post creation, and profile updates. If you’re a small business, stick to one platform to start out with. Make sure it is the platform your target spends the most time on. 

4. Promotion

Brag about all the great qualities of your product. Highlight any unique features. Also compare how a customer would prefer your brand’s product over a competitor. If an existing customer leaves a glowing review spotlight it on your company’s website, social media, and paid ads. A few underrated ways to promote your product are: 

• Online Events
• Social Media Group Pages
• Chat Groups 
• Livestreams
• Podcasts 

5. People

People trust people more than bots or faceless products. You don’t have to have a person on every piece of content but sprinkling in a person’s face will help put customers feel at ease. This can come in many forms:

• About The Founder Page on Your Company Website
• Meet Our Team Page on Your Company Website
• Photos of Clients Using the Product
• Stock Photos of Models with the Product 
• Company Photos at a Tradeshow or Event 
• Videos of an Expert or Influencer Promoting a Product

6. Process

How is your product made? Where do you get your materials? Many people love to see behind the scenes of how the product they are about to purchase is made. Have photos or videos taken of the manufacturing process. There is a rise in demand of items to be made ethically. This provides proof that your company is true to their word, especially if your company claims to be eco-friendly or ethically sourced. 

7. Physical Evidence of Improvement

It is impossible to create a product that is perfect. There will be clients that leave negative reviews. Resist the urge to delete or hide these reviews. Have a ticket system or a way to contact the company for further feedback and refunds. If it is a problem with the product itself, take a “before” photo along with the negative reviews. When you fix the problem, take an “after” photo and post them on your website and social media. This will make clients feel heard and valued. 

Create a dynamic digital marketing strategy for your Ecommerce business. Call 248.528.3600.

The post The 7 P’s of E-Commerce Marketing   appeared first on Miller Media, Digital Marketing Agency, PPC, Industrial Web Design, WordPress.

What are Some Best Practices to Avoid Clickbait? 

Google’s algorithms can understand the content on your site and will check if it matches its headline and page title, so it is vital that you pay attention to your word structure. Google’s Page Title Update back in 2001 enables the search engine to display a “replacement” title tag when your page’s title does not accurately match its content. Make sure to check your page title and headers that they accurately represent what your content is about.

How to Create SEO-Friendly Titles & Headings

Start by doing keyword research. This can help you discover target keywords that you can include in your web page’s title, headings, and body copy. Using your target keywords throughout your content signals to Google that your page is relevant to your target keyword. You can use Google’s Keyword Planner to discover relevant or related keywords to target with your content and ads or hire a digital marketing agency with SEO services. Once you have your keywords, it’s important to implement them into your content. Include your target keywords in your page title and headings. Make sure you proofread to find and fix keyword stuffing in your content. Your goal is to make it friendly to web crawlers and readers. Pretend that you are a 5^th grade teacher and write your article in a simple manner. For your content’s semantically related keywords make sure to also check readability, page title meta descriptions, and backlinks.  

Successfully Match the User’s Search Intent

There are 4 types of user intent you can tailor your content to. Let’s take a look:

• Navigational Intent

When a user wants to navigate to or around a specific website of a specific company, they will likely add branded keywords in their search (ex. “Starbucks website”). Target these branded keywords with ads to increase brand awareness.

• Informational Intent

When users want more information on a certain topic. They might ask questions or use keywords that indicate they’re looking for help (ex. “Where can I get a pumpkin spice latte?”). Target keywords with informative content, like videos, lists, infographics, blog, and tutorials. Focus on creating useful, actionable content that answers your readers’ questions. This also may help lessen the number of common questions your potential client needs to ask, quickening the path to purchase.

• Commercial Investigation Intent

Once a user decides they want to purchase a product or service from your company, they will likely perform a search to compare the different options available (ex. “Starbucks vs Tim Hortons.”) Target keywords with comparison articles of your competition, reviews of the use of similar products/services, and how-to guides to capture web traffic. 

• Transactional Intent

Certain keywords or phrases signal that a user is ready to buy (ex. “Add to Order”). Users are ready to buy and are now searching for the best price value or deal. They are more likely to be susceptible to clickbait while looking for the best deals. Be extra careful when creating discounts or being transparent with your pricing. Make sure if it has an expiration date it is easily readable or if it is a subscription the yearly or month payment is accurate. Target keywords with strong, SEO-friendly content that highlights your unique selling proposition. Also target these keywords with ads, but make sure your CTA is clear, precise, and your landing page reflects what is in the ad. 

Avoid clickbait SEO practice and call us at 248.528.360. 

The post Does Clickbait Marketing Work? appeared first on Miller Media, Digital Marketing Agency, PPC, Industrial Web Design, WordPress.

1. Send a Pitch to a Journalist

Writing an email that includes your bio and a link to your website is the bare minimum. Think about what the journalist might want to write about in relation to your company or industry. For example, if Halloween is coming up, you might they be considering content themed around the getting ready for the holiday or Fall/Autumn? Say you sell furniture, you could pitch a few of your own creations as suitable additions to shopping guides the journalist might be pull together for the season.

2. Research the Publication & See What They Typically Feature

Do you have a favorite magazine or news outlet you subscribe to? Get to know the magazine or piece of media you can see content about your product or service in. Certain publications have inspiration pieces. Think about how they write them and match the tone. Journalists are busy and juggling lots of items, so make their life easier by sending them a text-rich, well-informed pitch deck along with everything they need like photos and logo files. If they have a submission page, follow their instructions to a “T”. The less correcting they have to do the more likely they will work with you now and in the future. 

3. Make Your About Page “Journalist & New User Friendly”

When trying to find out about a business to write about, one of the first things users do is click on the About page of their website. If they can’t find the information, they need they will back out of your website altogether. Here are the items that put users and potential journalist off and that you need to fix right away: 

• Not including your full business name
• Not including your location or locations you serve
• Not having a professional photograph of your business or its work 
• Not including an email address and/or contact form
• Not making it obvious that media enquiries are welcome (encourage questions)
• Not providing enough information about your background or history (how did your business come to be)

Make sure to add in details to make life easier for anyone hoping to write or interview you. If need to deliberately avoid some of the above features due to privacy concerns have a FAQ section or add a sentence that says, “For media enquiries, a professional bio, and a full portfolio please email us directly.”, then add a way for them to contact you. 

4. Become “Podcast Ready” 

Podcasts continue to grow in popularity for all kinds of industries. Buy a half-decent microphone and headphones. Let your internal marketing team up with your sales team to create media and graphic content. Also, on your About page say how you have everything needed for a quality broadcast and that you are open to podcast interviews with others in your industry or any media outlets willing to talk about your product or service. 

5. Add a Case Study Page  

Say your company launched a new product or service for a client and it was a complete success.  Create a nice case study that goes in dept about the problem and how your product or service solved it. Bonus if you can add a client testimonial. Then add it to your website. Make sure to create the visuals for all your social media accounts and link them to your new case study page. This help builds credibility and authority to your business. Potential clients have more reasons to trust you vs other companies that don’t have case studies. 

6. Spend 15 Minutes a Day Engaging with People

Social media gets a bad rep when it comes to discourse, but it doesn’t have to be a war zone. Take as few as 15 minutes liking or sharing people’s tweets, commenting on clients’ updates, and reaching out to brands you’d love to work with. This helps to build a network as well as raise your own profile. By being active on social media, you are opening doors and creating more avenues for brand awareness. 

7. Optimize When You Post 

Know when it is the right time to tweet, add an Instagram post or share a LinkedIn update. The algorithms are difficult to figure out because they are always changing. So, the best way to approach this is by analyzing your own feeds and seeing when you have had the best engagement. It is also a good idea to research when your target demographic in on the platform. For example, if you are selling to mothers. Avoid posting at early hours when they are taking their kids to school. To make life easier, schedule updates during the best times for you. Use an automation tool to schedule and publish your tweets and posts whilst you are doing something else or hire an agency that provide social media marketing services. 

8. Ask Clients if They Want to Stay Informed Via a Newsletter

Build your own subscriber list. Never rely on social media platforms alone. People take breaks or leave social media all the time. If a platform disappears, you still have connection to loyal customers. If you have your own newsletter to send out to people, you are in control. Create a well-designed monthly newsletter and include things like your latest product, service, or industry news. Include links to recent blog posts that demonstrate your wealth of knowledge. People are more likely to check email daily and there is a high chance they will open it every month. Include spaces on your website where they can sign up. WordPress has widgets and tools you can use. Mailchimp is also a good option to get start with due to it being free based on 2,000 contacts. 

9. Write a Blog

Speaking of a blog, add a blog to your domain and not as a separate site. Each blog post is a new landing page, enticing potential clients to you. Write about problems or questions potential clients might have. Users like to Google questions and if create a great piece of informative long-form content Google might show your business directly to them. Use it to educate, compare to competitors, and share industry insights with viewers. You can also use it to foster b2b relationships. You can share and interview other complementary businesses. This will strength your relationship and if you need to partner up on a project, they are more likely to say yes with enthusiasm. 

Need help integrating PR into your marketing strategy? Call 248.528.360

The post 9 Overlooked PR Tips for Businesses  appeared first on Miller Media, Digital Marketing Agency, PPC, Industrial Web Design, WordPress.

Top: Drive Traffic & Awareness

The top goal of your content should be to drive traffic and awareness to your company’s website, social media, or local storefront. Make your ideal customer aware of the problem your product or service solves. This can be done with online advertising, direct email marketing, instructional video marketing, and SEO. 

Middle: Generate Leads 

Turn awareness and engagement of the user into qualified leads to pass to your sales team. Use content that can only be accessed by a user if they provide personal information such as name, email, phone #, etc. This can come in the form of a contact forms or email subscriptions boxes. Unlike the top, this content coverts traffic already gained into leads that your salesperson or team can follow up on and start a conversation. 

Bottom: Convert Leads to Sales 

The audience is engaged, you provided valuable content, collected emails, and given your sales team something to take action with. So, what now? You create supplementary content that team can use and that makes potential customers feel confident in their purchase. This content is usually case studies, specific use-cases of your product, free trials, or statics showing the benefits of your product. This type of content helps potential clients feel that your business is reputable and that their purchase will not be wasted. 

 Keys of Content Marketing Success

 Understand the Buyer’s Journey

• Awareness
  • Identify the problem
  • Conduct online research 

• Consideration
  • Explore solutions
  • Research Vendors 
  • Determine relevant strategies 

• Decision 
  • Create a shortlist of solutions 
  • Assess the ROI of each
  • Make purchase decision 

 Tailor Your Funnel the Buyer’s Journey

• Create Content for Each Stage:
  • Top: SEO, Blog Content, Videos, YouTube channel, How-To Content, Webinar Snippets, Social Media ads, Targeted Web ads, Direct Email, Cold Email/Outreach.
  • Middle: Case Studies, Templates, Drip Campaigns, Newsletters, Webinars/Events, White Papers, GooglemyBusiness Profile
  • Bottom: Customer Stories/Testimonials, Competitor comparisons/spec sheets, Trials, Demos, Sales Deck. 

 Customer Retention 

This phase is often forgot, but very important for your business to stay relevant and successful. Your sales, customer service, support team, and marketing team all need to be working to maintain the customers attention. Share insights and resources into your product or services that will help customers succeed and create behind-the-scenes content from your company to keep the client engaged and part of your business. This strengthens the relationship and creates community around your product or service. 

Create a content funnel with us today! Call 248.528.360 

The post How to Create and Succeed with a Content Marketing Funnel appeared first on Miller Media, Digital Marketing Agency, PPC, Industrial Web Design, WordPress.

1. Content Campaigns
2. Contest Campaigns
3. Email List-Building Campaigns
4. Holiday Campaigns
5. User-Generated Content Campaigns
6. Event Campaigns
7. Product Launch Campaigns
8. “Ditch Your Old Product” Campaigns
9. Brand Awareness Campaigns
10. Partnership Campaigns
11. Give-Away Campaigns
12. Deal/Sale Campaigns
13. Google Ad Campaigns
14. Customer Loyalty Campaigns
15. Referral Program Campaigns
16. Influencer Campaigns
17. Thought Leadership Campaigns
18. FAQ Campaigns
19. AMA Campaigns
20. Viral Marketing Campaigns

Start your campaign today calling 248.528.360. 

The post 20 Proven Effective Marketing Campaign Ideas appeared first on Miller Media, Digital Marketing Agency, PPC, Industrial Web Design, WordPress.

Sell on TikTok 

The TikTok Shop feature lets your target audience discover and purchase products directly through the app. This will increase your sales. Also, user-generated content can help boost sales. Use hashtag challenges, giveaway challenges, and encourage users to add your branded hashtag to their video entry. This will help you grow organically, as well as have your brand come off as more authentic and trustworthy. 

Go Live on TikTok

Do a TikTok live broadcast to connect with your existing audience. You can talk directly to your potential clients and answer any questions they may have about your product or service. It is also a nice way to break up from direct selling or promotional content. 

 Stay on Top of Trending Audio

Audio is an often missed by marketer as a fantastic way to capture an audience. People often remember visuals if paired with interesting audio. The right audio can increase you views since these people searching for audio will also come across your product or service video. Go to Discover at the bottom of your screen and research the most popular song and hashtags to incorporate. 

Post Often

Post frequently and consistently. This will give you better chances of going viral. You will refine your video-making skills the more videos you make. Try to make sure you always have a video ready to follow up on your latest post. If you need help, create a team or higher an agency with social media marketing services help you stay organized. 

We can help organize a social media marketing strategy for your business. Call 248.528.3600

The post How to Advertise on TikTok appeared first on Miller Media, Digital Marketing Agency, PPC, Industrial Web Design, WordPress.