Is Your Business Website Mobile-Friendly? (It had better be!)

If the key to real estate sales truly is location, location, location, then the key to online marketing is access, access, access. So, our online marketing tip for today is – your business website must be accessible to everyone – including the increasingly large numbers of those who use mobile devices to research and shop. In other words, make sure your business website is mobile friendly.

In addition to this critical factor, Google began using “mobile friendliness” as a ranking factor for all websites in 2015. Known as Mobilegeddon in the world of SEO, the search engine giant made it clear to us that being mobile-friendly was now very important for future website rankings in the search results (SERPs).

Since then, Google has increased the importance of mobile-friendliness with an “update to mobile search results that increases the effect of the ranking signal to help our users find even more pages that are relevant and mobile-friendly.”

While this is obviously important for business-to-consumer marketing, it begs the question of value for B2B businesses. The simple answer is that you should be mobile-friendly to all potential clients and customers.

Mobile Search Exceeds Desktop Search

So, beyond the importance Google places on this characteristic, why should you care?

Again, the answer is simple because, as of October 2016, mobile traffic officially surpassed desktop traffic on the internet. (AugustAsh.com)

While this may not be the case for you, or others you know, that is irrelevant to ensuring your business website is mobile-friendly.

According to the business data website Statista.com, mobile commerce and shopping have grown by almost staggering numbers, just three of which are compelling for your online marketing strategy:

• 82% of online users in the US used a mobile device for online shopping

• 35% of online users in the US are mobile-only online shoppers

• 57% of online shoppers in the US say they will not recommend a business that offers a poor mobile experience

For B2C businesses, being mobile-friendly can be even more important, because:

• 88% of US consumers research products online to buy in-store

• 63% of US shoppers perform online product research and price comparisons while in-store

While many of you may think the need to be available through mobile devices applies exclusively to retailers, this is definitely not the case.

Just think about your own experience with using your smartphone or tablet to research a business online. Sure, much of that time is spent “shopping” for consumer goods but you’ve also spent time checking out the websites of competitors, suppliers, your own social media, and engaging with visitors to your website.

If you're using your own mobile devices more than ever before, so are your clients and prospects.

There is a very easy way to find out if your website is mobile-friendly, just click here: Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.

Ted remains available for business consulting to the trade, including online marketing tips and the mobile friendliness of your website. Simply… Contact TD Fall today.

Are You Afraid of SEO? No worries, mate! It’s really not that scary.

What do you think of when you see the letters S-E-O? Do you think of a man in a hockey mask, carrying a chainsaw, chasing you through your home? Or, maybe the neighbor’s Rottweiler is “joining” you for your morning run? If so, you’re not alone. Many website/blog site owners are afraid of SEO, even more than a trip to the dentist; while the actual phrase “Search Engine Optimization” will send them back to bed to pull the covers over their heads.

Fear not! As usual, the team at TD Fall is here to help you overcome your fear and optimize your website to the max!

Is your website optimized for search engines?

Do you have a list of effective keywords for your content?

Has traffic to your website stopped growing?

What is SEO?

First things first – and let’s keep it simple. SEO is not some kind of mysterious, online magic that can only be performed by uber-geeks. On the contrary, Search Engine Optimization is a set of techniques and strategies that are used by successful websites to generate interest from the search engines, helping them to direct visitors to your website. Basically, if the search engines are the traffic cops pointing folks in the right direction, then SEO is the map that they use to safely and efficiently lead those folks to you.

Now that you know the purpose of SEO, you can begin to understand its value as well.

Many people seem to believe that Google and the other search engines are like God; all-seeing, all-knowing, and all-loving. Well, while the first two may be true, Google, Bing, and Yahoo will only “love” you, and by that we mean send prospects to you, if you give them a reason to. In other words, when your site is properly optimized, you give the search engines a reason to point people in your direction – to show you some love.

So, what does all of that mean? It means you need to develop a list of high-value phrases (also known as keywords) to drive your content. Then those phrases and their synonyms need to be plugged into the Metadata for your pages and posts, as well as all images and videos.

In other words, you need to learn a bit about organic SEO.

What is Organic SEO?

In short, organic SEO is a strategy of using targeted phrases to direct the search engines toward your content. The techniques for doing this vary, from “on-page” to “off-page” SEO.

On-page SEO involves using assorted keyword phrases within the content you publish, such as titles, headers, images, and page URLs. This also includes your “Metadata”, the information that exists “behind the scenes” of each page, but which the search engines use to identify and rank your content for their search results.

Of course, variations of your targeted phrases will also be used within the text you create, as well.

Off-page SEO focuses on increasing the authority of your website through the act of getting links from other websites; a completely different strategy.

How does SEO help me?

OK, you're asking now, what’s the payoff for doing all of this work? Again, let’s keep it simple:

• Improve your ranking in the Search Results (SERPs)

• Improve your Google Page Rank

• Increase traffic to your website

• Enhance brand awareness on your website

• Build your online reputation

• Make more sales

In an increasingly competitive online marketplace, it has become ever more important to use every tool available to get yourself seen and heard. Ignoring website optimization out of fear or confusion is no longer an option.

Besides, if it’s simply more than you can handle, we are “in the know” with folks who can help you optimize your website for all the search engines. (Wait, you mean there’s more than ONE?!?)

If you're feeling overwhelmed by the idea of search engine optimization, and are still afraid of SEO, we can hook you up. So, feel free to…   Contact TD Fall today.

Client Attraction Tips - Who Is Your Ideal Client?

“How do I attract more clients?”

Without a doubt, client attraction is one of the greatest challenges for businesses when developing an online marketing strategy. This is true not just for emerging online business owners, but even for veterans of the internet marketplace. Regardless of past success, client attraction remains an important element of your business, leading to increased referrals and long-term growth – as well as a steady revenue stream.

Attracting new clients requires two basic steps:

1. Creating or enhancing your brand

2. Identifying and appealing to your target audience

Being recognized as an expert in your niche, someone who can offer solutions is critical to your success. However, it’s just as critical to understand the needs, wants, and desires of potential clients. In other words, HOW you present yourself is as important as WHAT you have to offer, while knowing WHO to target is as important as knowing WHY they will benefit from your services.

Identify Your Ideal Client

To become a client attraction guru for your online business, you have to be able to step into your ideal clients’ heads. If you can create a clear profile of who they are and what they need or want, you’ll be able to speak to them in a way that will make them WANT to work with you! You can repeat this process over and over again when creating new products or services. The result is marketing materials you can use in multiple ways.

Of course, to accomplish this, there are a number of questions you’ll need to answer:

• Who is your Ideal Client?

• What are their Pain Points?

• What are your Solutions?

• What do they need to Know/Learn/Do to find a Resolution?

• What is their Ultimate Why for Seeking your Help?

• What is their Ultimate Outcome?

• What will Success look like?

Ultimately, your goal is to answer the most basic question of all for them, “What’s in it for me?” If they can’t identify a benefit from working with you or from buying your product, they won’t.

When you’ve completed your Ideal Client Profile, develop one simple sentence to put it all together: what’s often called an “elevator statement”. When you’ve finished, you’ll discover a stunning type of clarity around who you want to work with and what you can do for them!

Your elevator statement can then be used in multiple ways: in conversations with potential clients; in networking situations; as material for your home page – and as inspiration for blog posts, articles, newsletters, and list-building materials.

If you have more than one ideal client, work your way through this process again to create a new profile. It’s just that easy, and that hard.

Once you’ve created your unique, identifiable brand and developed your ideal client profile, you can begin to generate content that enhances your identity and speaks directly to your target audience, enabling you to take your client attraction strategy to a new level.

Remember, Ted remains available for marketing and business consulting to the trade. Simply… Get in touch with TD Fall today.

Bye, Bye Resolutions & How Acceptance Lowers Stress

That’s right, it’s time to say bye, bye to your New Year’s resolutions and accept that making them didn’t work out – again! Does this sound like you? Yeah, you’re not alone (believe it). You’re also not alone if you’ve made resolutions every year for decades and rarely (if ever) followed through on them.

But that’s OK because, depending on whom you believe, something like 80% of resolutions goes bust within the first month or two of every year. This begs the question of why we keep doing the same old thing and expecting a different result. (We all know what Einstein said about that, right? Coo-Coo for Cocoa Puffs!)

Why does this happen so consistently? Well, stated simply, it’s because you're human: life and work get in the way while enthusiasm fades. Other priorities kick in. Old habits persist and are hard to change. Limiting beliefs hold you back. It’s hard to let go of last year and focus on this year. You always aim too high and fall short. The list is almost as long as the number of people who make resolutions each year.

So, what to do? What to do?

Change Your Mindset and Accept Slower Change

Making changes is NOT easy. Truly, old habits die hard, and familiar ways of thinking (and feeling) become like that worn-out but comfy old sweater you can’t throw away. Yet, it’s also true that sometimes what’s familiar no longer works – and that’s when changes need to be made.

(BTW… Though this is a business blog, these lessons apply to both your personal and business lives.)

In practical terms, change is stressful and can be frustrating. Failing to reach goals is discouraging and the resulting negative expectations lead to a self-fulfilling lack of faith in yourself. All of this can lead to a persistent, negative mindset that virtually guarantees your goals will not be realized.

“The unfortunate truth is that change, all change, entails some degree of emotional friction, which in turn generates a ‘heated state’ we call stress. Whether you're feeling anxious, depressed, frustrated, fatigued, weak and out of control, or simply bored, emotional friction (stress) becomes the high-octane fuel of failure. When it comes to handling the stress involved in change, many well-adjusted, happy, overweight, out-of-shape people share the fundamental problem of self-sabotage.” (USNews.com)

So, unless you change your mind first, you can’t expect change or acceptance to follow.

Power of Positivity & Successful Goal Setting

Professor Carol Dweck at Stanford University has found that when it comes to achieving success, more important than believing in our abilities is the belief that we can improve upon our abilities. While much has been written about how these beliefs shape our individual success and well-being, her latest research suggests that these beliefs also exist within our organizations, and shape our ability to create innovative, risk-taking cultures and have happier employees.

Research done at Harvard has shown that, if you train yourself to see stressful situations as challenges rather than barricades, a situation to overcome rather than an impossible barrier, you are far more likely to experience “good” stress rather than “bad” stress in that situation. Doing this then leads to the release of the “feel good” enzyme dopamine which leads to a more positive mindset.

Further, as presented by researcher and psychologist Shawn Achor in his entertaining and very popular Ted Talk, there is also ample research that shows a positive mindset affects every aspect of life, including work. Positive people are happy people and happy people are successful people – not the other way around.

As he explains, and as the latest research into the structure and function of the mind suggests, success does NOT lead to happiness; happiness leads to success!

In other words, mindset is the key to success in life and business because a positive mindset leads to:

• 23% Reduction in stress

• 39% Better Health

• 31% Increase in productivity

• 34% Increase in positive social interaction (relationships)

• 37% Increase in Intelligence

“Huh?” Yes, take a look at that last one again. A positive mindset will not only reduce stress, improve your health, make you more productive, and improve your relationships – being positive will also make you smarter!

While there is plenty more to be shared on the relationship of mindset to successful yearly resolutions and goal setting, we’ve pretty much hit the limit for a blog post. So… stay tuned for more in future posts.

Looking for more tips on goal setting for growing your business? Ted remains available for business consulting to interior designers and luxury furniture dealers across the US. Simply… Get in touch with TD Fall today.

Professional Copywriting – Outsource it and Save Mental Energy

Specialists dominate our economy, whether online or in the “real world”. There’s a reason for this and it’s pretty simple: we recognize that no one can be an expert at everything. For example, baseball pitchers can’t hit; quarterbacks can’t catch; public speaking coaches aren’t dieticians. And, more important for us today – none of them are or excel at professional copywriting.

Now, when it comes to types of copywriting, there are several areas where professionals will specialize. Some copywriters focus on website copy. Others spend their time creating landing pages and sales pages (and some of those go further, specializing in products over services, and vice versa). Some writers are great at creating emails and newsletters for you and some are great at writing blog posts for you.

Finally, there are the ghostwriters. These are specialists who can write “in your voice” and can speak to your audience in ways you simply can’t. They are excellent collaborators who can literally write a book for you. They can also generate high-value opt-in content on a variety of subjects you can give away to build your email subscriber list.

Stop Wasting Mental Energy on Onerous Tasks

Did you know there is an increased cost to doing tasks that you struggle with, or simply hate to do? Besides the time wasted and the focus diverted from areas where you excel, there is a huge price to pay in mental energy!

Entrepreneurs and small business owners are often proud of their ability to multi-task, taking on any challenge that affects their business at any time and dealing with it effectively. But there’s a real cost to working this way, in both emotional and mental energy that is physically draining.

Why? Because, as explained in an article at PsychologyToday.com, “Apparently, the human brain is not designed to be able to do two or more things at once.” This is especially true if the tasks are difficult or dreaded.

Further, “Multitasking involves two distinct stages: one is goal shifting and the other is rule activation. Goal shifting consists of deciding to focus on another task than the one you are currently [working] on. Rule activation consists of turning off the ‘rules’ for one task and turning on the ‘rules’ for another.”

What does all of this have to do with outsourcing copywriting for your business?

If you find writing particularly difficult and taxing, you're wasting mental energy that could better be used to – oh, maybe get more clients – or devote more time and energy to the ones you have.

Why Outsourcing Copywriting Makes Sense

Spending so much time and energy on a task that you find especially burdensome doesn't make sense. We’ve supported some great clients who simply stretch themselves too thin and wind up exhausted, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Too many of them get that way because they hate writing copy, emails, and lead magnets instead of focusing on acquiring and servicing clients.

It makes sense to stop wasting your valuable time and outsource that work to others who can do it faster and more effectively. And we can help!

Do you still have questions? We can help with that too. As a business consultant to the trade, Ted is familiar with and can introduce you to a professional copywriter or two who can help. Simply… Contact TD Fall today.

Client Retention – Building Relationships is Critical to Keeping Clients

How often have you heard that relationship building is the key to client retention and acquisition? We know we have trouble counting the number of times we’ve read about it. Guess that means it’s important, huh?

Of course, this begs the question of how you build relationships online, as well as person-to-person.

After all, and as we’ve often claimed and continue to believe, the internet is as impersonal a place as can be imagined. By its very nature, it is completely indifferent to your wants and needs and, while it has value to all of us, we have no value at all to it.

Now that we have the metaphysics of our online world out of the way, what does all of this mean when it comes to doing business online?

The simple answer is – it is entirely up to you to learn how to build relationships with your clients and prospects as the foundation of your online marketing strategy. To do this, you will need to understand what compels them to search for solutions in such an unforgiving environment and let them know that you can be trusted to help them.

Clearly, this is no small task.

Sustain and Grow Client Relationships

Thankfully, we’ve found help for you (and us!).

In an article at Business.com, editor and author Chad Brooks keys us in on how to get this done: “The most important thing in marketing is to retain your most profitable business customers.”

While Mr. Brooks offers a dozen or so valuable ideas to help small businesses improve client retention, we will focus your attention on those we believe to be the most valuable. Our hope is that these will resonate with you and inspire you to follow the link above for more.

• Continually evaluate your market and network – Research your customers’ markets, needs, and goals. Big data analysis tools should be part of your sales team’s planning. Market trends shift often, and you need to know what strategies to employ to increase shares or enter new markets. Engage customers in product development and enhancement via beta tests, focus groups, and pilot programs. Learn their business habits, purchasing patterns, and requirements for effective proactive solutions.

• Use a CRM system – A Client Relationship Management system stores client and potential client data in a format that is digestible by your team. It also monitors things such as customer satisfaction and may provide overviews of sales and other metrics. Typically cloud-based, these programs help businesses organize customer relationships and facilitate interactions.

Since existing clients are your most valuable asset, it is critical to your ongoing success that you understand them on both an organic (i.e., in-person) and digital level (i.e., the metrics).

• Communicate relevant information regularly and effectively – Keep in touch with existing clients with targeted emails and newsletters. Update customers on industry trends potentially affecting them and give your take on upcoming issues. Let them in on your visions for their (and your) success, and then explain your take on achieving it.

Social media is a great connector, so use it wisely to keep communication channels open. However, making a person-to-person connection means much more. Be a person, not a talking head on a website. Humanity trumps digital every time.

• Be accessible and responsive – Talk and listen to customers to maintain a dialogue and build a trust-based relationship. Make it easy for customers to reach you. When they contact you, make it a point to return calls and emails promptly. Implement a customer satisfaction policy that provides a way to resolve and remedy problems and issues. Provide support, service, advice, and information. Train team members on how to manage calls efficiently and effectively so customers have their concerns addressed no matter whom they reach at your business.

• Become the “Go-To” person in your market – Develop skills and knowledge that make you an authority for your customers. A reputation for expertise means the ability to provide valuable resources to clients unobtainable elsewhere, especially your knowledge. Look for ways to add value, be a real partner, and help your customers achieve results. Provide guidance even when there is little chance it will mean any immediate business gain for you. Doing so almost always pays off down the road.

• Redefine your concept of who and what a client is – Clients are much more than a roster of potential purchasers of products and services. Retaining customers requires fostering long-term relationships over pursuing short-term money-making possibilities. Recast the relationship as more of an extended partnership. Then be prepared to meet client needs by adjusting your business services as necessary.

Existing Clients are More Likely to Buy Again

There’ are a few reasons we are so focused on client retention. Based on the latest market research, designers and furnishing dealers will do themselves a favor if they can devise ways to retain or reengage existing and past clients. Why?

• New clients are 7x more expensive to acquire than keeping or reengaging existing or past clients.

• Probability of converting an existing customer is between 60% &70%.

• Probability of converting a new client is just 5% to 20%.

• Repeat clients spend an average of 33% more than new clients.

• Repeat clients are 60% to 70% more likely to buy an up-sell.

These are just a few of the reasons that re-engaging and working to establish customer loyalty is critical to the growth of your business.

Clearly, there is work to be done to improve the future of your business. There is also further guidance available if you choose to use it. Ted remains available for business consulting to the trade. We think he is a master at both relationships with clients and retaining them. So, feel free to… Contact him at TD Fall today..

Getting to Know Your Target Audience – Online Client Acquisition Pt2

The concepts we shared about online client acquisition in a previous post are important steps in a successful marketing strategy. What we’re talking about today though is even more important – gathering product development information directly from the folks you hope will buy it from you.

Once you have the demographics of your target audience in place, thanks to your online surveys, it’s time to get serious about focusing your services on the client profile you’ve developed.

Target Audience Surveys

Here, we employ the advice of some real audience survey experts, the folks at SurveyMonkey.com. In an article titled, The best questions to ask for developing any product, they share ideas for, well... The best questions you can ask for developing any product – or service:

• How do my target consumers currently use my product?

If you don’t already have a product, answering this question may involve discovering what problems consumers have with what they’ve found on the market. Knowing these points of value can help you focus your business on the qualities that are most important. If your business wants to add complicated features or services, yet your customers prefer a simplified experience, that’s valuable time and money lost.

(In other words, learn to accept a “Yes, we like it” statement and stop pushing for more.)

• What do my customers dislike about my product/services?

While it’s useful to find out what your customers enjoy about your products or services, some of the most important information you can gather is what customers dislike. Sometimes the best questions to ask for developing products or services are the easiest to answer, too, as many customers aren’t shy about voicing their concerns.

(It may be hard to do but you often have to set your ego aside and take the feedback in the spirit intended, even when it’s negative.)

• What ideas do customers have for improvement?

Ordinary customers have plenty of great ideas to improve what you offer since they’re the ones using it the most. Surveying customers regarding improvements will not only provide valuable insight but also helps them feel engaged and more invested in you and your offerings.

(Offering them the opportunity to help you improve your product/services shows you are genuinely interested in their opinions, which can gain you huge loyalty points with them.)

• What problems can I solve that my competition cannot?

This question is your classic competitive advantage. It’s the secret sauce in your product recipe. In our scheduling software example [from the article], the software may be faster and easier to use than a paper schedule, as well as cheaper than hiring a secretary or assistant. A paper schedule can be fragile and requires continual hand-entry, and an assistant can be expensive.

(No product is perfect, especially when offered through an impersonal medium like the internet. Use this client input to refine your offerings and try to make them “more perfect” than your competition.)

And then there's this one, based on our experience...

• How can I do it better than my competitors?

This may be the most important question in your target audience surveys because the answer takes you directly to the heart of the matter. That is – exactly why your target customer is looking for an alternative to your competition. Is it their presentation style? Is there a personality conflict between the provider and the customer? Has a once-ripe offering aged beyond its “Best if used by” date?

(There could be any number of reasons a consumer has lost interest in a once-favored product or service. However, you simply cannot presume to know why that has happened. Instead, you need to know exactly what the issue is and find ways to make your offering better.)

The Hard Truth We All Must Accept

We mentioned this earlier but think it bears repeating. It’s a hard truth that ego is often the downfall of even the most sincerely committed, otherwise empathetic entrepreneur. After all, if you’ve devoted the time and invested cash to get training in your niche, you are entitled to some pride in your expertise. We get that, of course.

But, if you're struggling to sign up clients; if you're finding it hard to justify investing time, money, and energy in your business; if you're losing sleep trying to figure out what went wrong, it may be time to realize you don’t have all the answers. But, you can get them, through surveys of your target audience.

We sincerely hope the steps we’ve shared today will work for you to improve your online client acquisition efforts. If you need help, Ted remains available for business consulting to the trade. Simply… Contact TD Fall today.

Online Client Acquisition Pt1 – Getting to Know Your Target Audience

Online client acquisition should be easy in the 21st Century, yet… Not so much!

First, we’re not talking about simply putting up an uber-cool website and waiting for the clients to storm your virtual doors. That just doesn’t happen anymore (if it ever did). And, while a great website can make a huge difference in building your online reputation, you need content to fill it and products or services to offer.

And there’s the rub. What do people want/need that can’t already be found online these days – and that you have to offer?

While we would never presume to tell you how to run your business, we do have some experience with helping designers and furnishing dealers market themselves online. One of the things we’ve discovered is that, while you can certainly try to “walk a mile in their shoes” in an effort to understand what others are going through, your own experiences color your perceptions. This makes it almost impossible to truly grasp the pain points of the people you most want to help.

But hey, don’t take it personally. It’s just human nature to perceive the world from your own perspective. But, you can overcome that naturally built-in bias with tools that are readily available and easy to access in the virtual world.

Develop New Services Using Audience Feedback

We’re not the only ones with some expertise in this area. The digital forms creation service Wufoo and the email marketing platform MailChimp have put together some pointers to help you develop new products. The most important of these are surveys of your audience. (Needless to say, they both offer their services to help you get it done, too.)

Why surveys? Well, think of it like this. If you're like most entrepreneurs, you began your business intending to help others in mind. You perceived a need and sought to fill it. Unfortunately, for most, that vision goes unrealized, and they struggle to survive in a highly competitive marketplace. Either your audience doesn’t see the same need you do, or you’ve somehow missed the mark with targeting and/or marketing your ideas.

In this case, what you need is more information. You need a deeper understanding of what your ideal client is looking for and broader knowledge of how to present it to them in a more compelling way.

The best way to get that information is to ask them for it. That is what a target audience survey does. It gathers information that is critical to the success of your business in a structured way that enables you to process it coherently and effectively. Then, you can take that valuable data and massage your offerings to meet their needs in ways they will find hard to resist.

The result? Cha Ching!

The concepts we’ve shared today are an important start in getting to know your target audience. in our next post, we’ll get into the actual steps you can take to improve your online client acquisition efforts. Stay tuned for our next post or, feel free to check with us… Contact TD Fall today.

Know Your Target Audience – Where Too Many Marketers Fail (Pt 1)

Are you among the few online marketers who know your target audience well? We ask this question only after reading a recent article from the SEO and Marketing Mavens at HubSpot that claims you probably don’t!

It should go without saying, yet must be repeated often, that developing an ideal client profile of the types of people you most want to work with is critical to your success when marketing your business online. Yet, a staggering percentage of businesses lack even the most basic information on their target audience. Without this and other important data, developing such a profile for targeting your online content becomes difficult, if not impossible.

To quote the opening of the article, “In our annual survey of over 1,200 marketers, we found that just 42% know the basic demographic information of their target audience, like their name, gender, and location.”

What Does the HubSpot Marketing Study Tell Us?

Unfortunately, the numbers from this year’s HubSpot study are not in your favor. Although all is not lost if you heed their warning and respond positively.

For example:

• “A whopping 82% of marketers say having high-quality data on their target audience is important to succeeding in their role – but more than half of them say they're missing key information.

• Fewer] than half of the marketers surveyed know their audience’s interests and hobbies, shopping habits, the products they are interested in buying, their purchase history, and where they consume content.

• Only 31% know the online communities their target audience is a part of and even [fewer] know the challenges they are facing.

• Just one-fourth of marketers know the social causes their target audience cares about - a huge, missed opportunity when it comes to expressing your brand’s values, especially when marketing to Gen Z and Millennials.”

As you can see from the image below, in addition to lacking basic data, just 29% of the marketers surveyed claim to know their potential client’s pain points! Further, just 41%, know where to reach them online!

Data Can Inform but Rarely Offers Solutions

These are dismal numbers. In fact, they are so bad, we can’t help but wonder how it is that any of these marketers reach their target audience at all.

So, now that we’ve depressed you with these data, and made you wonder if your marketing efforts coincide with them, we’ll end this post here. That is not to say we’re finished with the subject, however. It’s just that we believe there is too much data to unpack in a single blog post.

Take the time to digest this information, then return for our next post in this series where we will dig deeper into the metrics and, eventually, offer ideas on improving your marketing strategy. We’re talking about things that actually work!

Statistical analyses of data are fine as far as it goes. However, if you continue struggling with ways to get to know your target audience, Ted is available for business and marketing consultation. With more than 25 years of experience in the trade and an exceptionally empathetic approach, he is sure to find ways to help.

Just click here to… Get in touch with TD Fall today.

Strategic Marketing Doesn’t Have to Be Your Most Hated Chore! (There’s plenty of other biz stuff you can hate!)

Seems like all anyone can talk about these days is being strategic for anything and everything you want to do, doesn't it? It's always about “thinking strategically” when you do this and making sure you “create a strategy” for that. It’s almost enough to make an entrepreneur loathe planning for anything; be it strategic marketing, list building, lead generation, or client acquisition.

Or, lately, going to the store, eating out, even entertaining guests – not to mention whether you're “allowed” to.

By now, you must be asking yourself what the big deal is about being strategic with your online marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, and yes, your brand building.

And you may well ask… “Who said it’s so important, and why?”

The simple answer is, “Everyone”. And yes, when we say everyone, we mean us too. For example, we’ve presented more than a few blog posts about the importance and benefits of strategic marketing in the past. These posts include everything from revising your ideal client profile to post-pandemic strategizing to strategic email marketing, business goal setting, and more.

So yes, you can say that here at TD Fall we are fully committed to being strategic about brand building, business building, lead generation, and all types of marketing. This includes content marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, and maybe even direct marketing (which could include “snail mail”).

5 Reasons Strategic Marketing Matters (Make that 5 x 2 reasons)

A well-defined marketing strategy helps you:

• Set – and reach – your business goals.

• A realistic marketing strategy keeps you focused and organized, enabling you to track your successes and (gulp!) your failures.

• Stay agile and responsive to the needs of your target market.

• Know when something works so you can do everything possible to keep it on track or make it better.

• Know when something doesn’t work as planned, as well as why, so you can fix it!

If these are not enough reasons to convince you it’s time to develop a strategic marketing plan, here are five more reasons that should:

1. Top marketers are organized – The most organized marketers are 397% more likely to report success.

2. Top marketers set goals – Goal-setting marketers are 376% more likely to report success. 70% of the most organized marketers achieve their goals Most of the Time, while an elite 10% of organized marketers Always achieve them.

3. Top marketers document their strategy – Marketers with a documented strategy are 313% more likely to report success.

4. Top marketers proactively plan projects and campaigns – Marketers who proactively plan projects are 356% more likely to report success.

5. Top marketers use agile project management processes – Marketers using agile project management were 252% more likely to report success.

This data was borrowed from a 2019 marketing survey of B2C and B2B marketing teams by the folks at CoSchedule.com.

Let’s Talk About Your Strategic Marketing Plan

While we’ve made it as clear as possible that we believe every online marketer needs a strategic business plan to succeed, it must also be said that it’s never been more important than it is as we move from 2022 to 2023! Never… More… Important!!!

In fact, after the madness of the past few years, your strategic marketing plan is so important, it comes before Step One! It’s done pre-marketing; that is, the first thing you MUST do before you invest your valuable time, energy, and money in any marketing activities.

Stated simply: Your guide to whom you target, how you talk about your business, and how you differentiate yourself from all other businesses in your industry. It is the strategic foundation of your marketing house.

If you’d to discuss the things we’ve shared about strategic marketing, feel free to… Contact TD Fall today.