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. 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.

The post Social Media Ideas for Your Business to Grow  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.

Perfect for a quick website audit, Grow My Store gives a comprehensive report on your website. That report includes competitive benchmarking, recommendations, and tailored insights to help you optimize your customer/user experience. You should also check out Test My Site for developer-friendly tips on boosting site speed. It is important to have a fast-loading website to decrease bounce rate. Any corrections suggested may require you to hire a professional web agency for help. 

Do you have an app version of your company’s website? App campaigns help reach mobile shoppers and encourages them to make a purchase, or take action, for example, installing the app itself. Embedding deep links provides better mobile experiences by taking your app users from your ads directly to the corresponding app page of your app. This is key to the customer journey and the path to purchase. It makes it easier for them to complete their desired action, which is essential for good user experience.

Showcase Product Information Across Google

On Google, the Shopping tab helps to showcase your products across many places where customers turn to shop and directly integrates your product within an ad experience. You can increase your exposure at no cost by listing your products on Merchant Center or directly through your e-commerce platform such as WooCommerce for WordPress websites. 

With video increasing popularity, you now can include an interactive product feed directly within the ad unit to turn viewers into customers. Think of the product feed  as a way to turn your ad into a digital storefront. Well design ads that display your company’s brand properly will attract new customers and flag down existing customers to your product or service. Create a seamless path to purchase between brand awareness and the call-to-action.

Increase your click-through rates and conversions by adding information about promotions, sales, free and fast shipping options, and return and refund options directly to your product listing. Shoppers are constantly on the hunt for good deals and want to know all relevant information up front, so it is best to have these pieces of information clearly visible.  

Engage New Customers

Customers shop across multiple Google surfaces every day. Google avenues are Search, Discover, YouTube, Maps, and the Shopping tab. To grow your online sales, it’s important to know which ad campaigns are right for your target market. Reach the right person and convert them into a loyal customer with Google Ads.

Back in April, Smart Shopping and Local campaigns gained an upgrade to Performance Max campaigns. Performance Max campaigns allow you to promote your products or services across all of Google’s advertising channels and inventory by creating one easy-to-manage campaign. This should be less stressful for small businesses due to fact they now can focus on one area of Google analytics instead of multiple analytics for separate campaigns. With new ways to discover, research, and purchase, customers are engaging across an ever-growing number of channels, and it is important to appear on most of them. 

As mentioned earlier videos are big in advertising right now. A Video action campaign is a simple, cost-effective way to drive more conversions on and off your company’s YouTube channel. This campaign helps you drive engagement with your video ads by scaling them across the YouTube Home feed, watch pages, connected TV, and more with a clear call-to-action button. These are perfect for businesses that require demonstration of their product or service.  

Inspired to start a Google Ad Campaign? Call 248.528.3600.

The post Insights to Grow Your Online Shop with Google appeared first on Miller Media, Digital Marketing Agency, PPC, Industrial Web Design, WordPress.

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

The post Grow Your Business on LinkedIn with These 7 Strategies  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.

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 

The post 6 Easy Steps to Start Email Marketing  appeared first on Miller Media, Digital Marketing Agency, PPC, Industrial Web Design, WordPress.

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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