Determining the Best Marketing Strategy

How do you know how you’re going to be able to move forward? What considerations are you going to have to make when it comes to trying to figure out the best course of action for your needs as it relates to taking care of your marketing needs? These are the important questions that need to be considered and explored, no matter who you are and what you’re doing. Let’s take a look at some of the factors that need to be explored when you’re looking at marketing strategy.

Who is your target audience? The first thing that you need to figure out is who exactly your target audience is. There are a lot of different things that go into this, including how old the audience is, how much you plan on interacting with them, where your audience is located, the gender of your audience, and a variety of other demographics that will play a big role in whether or not you’re going to be able to target the audience that you want to work with. Don’t forget other important factors, like family size, profession, or whatever else that you may be thinking about exploring as part of the whole for your marketing plan. That audience is going to give you answers to everything else that you want to do.

What is the message that you’re trying to convey to your audience? There is always a message of some sort that you want to tell your audience about as part of your plan. Because of that, you want to be certain that you make that message as clear as you possibly can. The message needs to be as pointed as possible, while at the same time giving you the flexibility to touch and communicate with as many people from your audience as you possibly can. This takes a little time to flesh out, and Chicago marketing strategy firms can help you to figure out exactly what you’re trying to show your audience and why.

How are you going to ensure that your audience is engaged with what you’re telling them in your content? Many people will ignore marketing and advertising because they really aren’t engaged with it at all. So, what do you plan to do to catch their attention in some way? What can you do so that your audience will actually play attention to your message in the first place? This is something that you really need to determine ahead of time because if your audience isn’t in the least bit engaged, you’re not going to get the results that you want. Look around and see what you can do that is working (or not working) for other businesses and then develop your own ideas and identity based on those building blocks.

What makes your product and/or service something valuable to your audience? The center of your marketing message absolutely must answer the question of what you’ll be able to offer them with your product or service. What makes it so different compared to the other things that are out there that are similar? By making them understand why they will want your product in the first place, you’ll be able to get them more engaged and they’ll be a lot more likely to be receptive to whatever it is that you’re offering to them as part of your business.

As you can see, there are a lot of considerations that have to be made when it comes to dealing with your marketing strategy. Do you need some help with your marketing plan? Then contact our Chicago marketing strategy firm to learn about everything that we have to offer and how we can help you to get everything set up. Our Chicago marketing strategy firms will be happy to help you with whatever you need to do, no matter how big or small it is. Give us a call today and see what we can do for you!

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Mistakes to Avoid When Hiring an Internet Marketing Agency

Hiring an Internet marketing agency is a necessity these days. Their expertise can land your company right in front of your market. That being said, you need to know what to look for in order to hire the right one. Otherwise, the one you end up with will be far more trouble than they’re worth.
If your company is in the market for an Internet marketing agency, this should be a pretty exciting time. Soon, your bottom line will benefit from the expertise of a company that can bring you more exposure than ever before. However, now is not the time to lose your head. Hiring the right Internet marketing agency is indeed going to be a huge help. Hiring the wrong one, on the other hand, could set your business back considerably. So here are some mistakes you’ll want to avoid making.

Not Being Specific about SEO
SEO is an essential field for getting ranked on search engines and finding your market. Unfortunately, it’s also a very broad subject that leaves itself open to vague service descriptions. So you want any potential Internet marketing agency to be specific about what they’re going to offer.
One mistake is to hire a company because they say they can handle things like backlinks, social media, directory listings and a whole collection of services that all happen away from your website. These things can definitely help; there’s no doubt about that. But what you want is a company that will also handle on-site SEO. That’s absolutely essential to climbing the ranks of Google.


Not Providing SEO Campaigns
Along the same lines, simply providing you with some blog posts or changing your meta descriptions won’t help either. You need a company that can actually give you legitimate SEO campaigns. This means syncing up every component of their SEO services so they all work in tandem to get you up those page ranks.
Don’t just take their word for it either. Ask them specifically about your company and website. What do they plan on doing with it to get results? Can they give you examples of when they’ve done this in the past?

Social Media, Social Media, Social Media
Nothing is as hot in marketing right now as social media. As such, expect that any Internet marketing agency you talk to is going to bring up this golden calf. The problem is social media—a lot like SEO—is rife with vague services and empty results.

One perfect example is Twitter followers (or Facebook friends, etc.). Each follower isn’t worth the same amount in terms of the resources it takes to secure them. Think of them like actual customers. If you ran a car lot that sold minivans, who’s worth more to you:
•    Customer 1: Recent college graduate, single, lives in the city by the subway.
•    Customer 2: Married career man in his 30s who’s expecting twins.
That’s how you need to think of Twitter followers and other social media currency. A company with a long history of securing these may actually not be worth your time. You don’t want followers/friends/pins, you want leads. Hire the company that shows you how they’re able to procure actual leads from social media.

Assuming They’re Responsible for Their Resume
You always want to look at the resume of any Internet marketing agency you’re interviewing. But that doesn’t mean you simply assume they’re responsible for the success they’ve had. In today’s day and age, those numbers could come from a variety of things.
This is why you have to contact their prior clients and ask them about the agency in question and how big a role they really played. It could be that a competitor went out of business, they came out with a new product or they simply started using Facebook. While this would be a rare event to happen consistently for an agency, it’s worth taking a second to make that call.

Neglecting Your Own Talents
The right Internet marketing agency will be a godsend and worth every cent that you pay. However, that doesn’t mean you need to overpay or even purchase certain services. You may be able to handle your blog perfectly well, for example. Updating social media may be in your wheelhouse. If those things aren’t jobs you can handle now, consider taking classes or otherwise learning the ropes. You could potentially save a lot of money and maintain some control.
Before you hire an chicago Internet marketing agency, make sure you’re avoiding the above mistakes. Countless companies before you have made them and some didn’t recover.

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How an Interactive Marketing Agency Can Help

 Marketing agencies have long been essential to a company’s success. But that doesn’t mean they’re still as effective as they used to be. In today’s day and age, an interactive marketing agency is more up to speed. If you want your company to get found online and connect with customers like never before, they’re the solution.

Every company needs solid marketing. It’s how potential customers find out about your business. But it’s also how they become excited about it and even motivated to buy. Decades ago, there was only one type of company when you needed help running ads. Now, however, one of the best choices you can make is considering interactive marketing agencies. Want to know why? Keep reading.

An Interactive Marketing Agency vs. the Traditional Kind
You may be wondering what the difference is between an interactive marketing agency and the traditional type you’re probably more familiar with. Both share many things in common and, actually, most of the traditional versions have some kind of interactive facet to them nowadays, if they’re smart.
The main difference is that interactive agencies tend to put their focus solely on the Internet. This is especially true of social media. Traditional ad agencies usually focus on print, radio and television ads for marketing purposes. Interactive agencies also support a number of other methods like:
•    CDs
•    DVDs
•    RSS feeds
•    Email marketing
•    Online videos
•    Podcasts
•    Apps
•    Games
They rarely, if ever, cross over into traditional channels.
While some traditional firms have evolved into interactive ones, many interactive firms actually started as web design companies. Over time, they simply kept adding services to their line because traditional firms didn’t know how to handle them. A lot of traditional firms even outsourced their customers’ needs to web design companies that eventually became interactive agencies.
The cool thing about an interactive marketing agency that started as a web design firm is that they have a unique understanding of how the Internet works. Many of these agencies are specialists in search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO). Even today, their traditional rivals may still be catching up in a lot of these areas.

Some of the major services these agencies provide include:

Increased Sales
Interactive agencies aren’t just interacting with your audience, they’re studying them. They’re also writing the kind of copy that turns interested buyers into satisfied customers. Plus, unlike traditional marketing through the TV or radio, interactive solutions generally give the viewer the ability to make a purchase on the spot.

Reputation Management
One important area an interactive marketing agency may specialize in is known as reputation management. We all know that our reputations are important, but this is especially true in business. Sometimes, it’s the only thing separating you from your competition. So many companies work hard to keep theirs pristine.
Unfortunately, that can be fairly difficult thanks to the Internet. If someone writes negatively about your company and gets those comments ranked high enough in Google, your business will most likely take a hit.
However, thanks to an interactive marketing agency with an intricate knowledge of SEO and SEM, that page can soon start to lose rank and eventually its potency altogether.
Reputation management can also mean that the agency monitors social media on your behalf to keep an ear out for any conversations about you or your company. Aside from reporting back, they can also work to ensure there are plenty of positive opinions being expressed on various platforms. Also, if a conversation is centered on a customer’s complaint, they can alert the client to reach out to that person and smooth things over.


Feedback
As you’ve probably guessed,Chicago interactive marketing agency also specialize in customer feedback. Unlike ads in a magazine or on a billboard, they have the technology and expertise to monitor what’s really engaging and make necessary changes on your behalf.
Interactive Marketers
Interactive marketing agencies will typically employ a wide range of specialists. This will differ somewhat depending on the industry they specialize in, but most will have some variation of:
•    Graphic designers
•    Web designers
•    Multimedia specialists
•    Copywriters
•    Social media manager
•    SEO specialist
With the right collection of the above, an interactive marketing agency can accomplish all kinds of things on the Internet. Some, however, may only have a few people, but because of their specialties and the industry they serve, that’s good enough.
While you may not have the budget for an agency’s help at the moment, keep the above in mind in case that changes. An interactive marketing agency can help get your company the exposure it needs in some pretty incredible ways.

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How to Pick from All the SEO Companies out There

In a time when SEO is everything to a company’s marketing efforts, it pays having a professional team handling yours. Finding the right one will take some work though. There are some distinguishing factors that the best ones have, so you’re going to want to know how to spot them.
If your business could benefit from some help with their SEO (hint: everyone’s could), it’s time you think about hiring a company for the job. It won’t be long, though, before you realize there are too many SEO companies out there to count. While it’s certainly nice having options, this time that blessing can be a real challenge. So here are some things to think about that should help you bring that list of potential SEO companies down considerably.

Experience
In today’s world, it seems like everyone is an SEO expert. This is one of the reasons why SEO companies are a dime a dozen. Unfortunately, because this is such a necessary tool and so many people who need it don’t truly understand it, a lot of these snake oil salesmen get hired.
Even if they have good intentions, becoming a true expert at SEO takes time. So that should be one of the first things you look for in any SEO companies up for the job.

Resume
Of course, they could have a decade of experience and not be the SEO company for you. Improving your search engine rank takes a number of talents, and chief amongst them is understanding your market. That’s why many SEO companies have a specialty when it comes to industries. One may be the best at helping, say, law firms get ranked. However, if a restaurant hired them, their results could lack considerably.
On top of that, you obviously want to make sure they’ve had successful campaigns in the past. Don’t simply take their word for it either. Call up the client they served and get their opinion. You definitely want to know how long it took them to secure that success. But it’s also worth asking what it was like working with them. Given how important SEO services are and how much they can cost, the last thing you want is a company that you’ll constantly be fighting with. 

Services
Another good way to get rid of some of the one-hit-wonders out there is to ask potential companies about the services they provide. Specifically, you want to confirm the main three. These are:
•    On-Page Optimization, like HTML tags, keywords, meta descriptions, etc.
•    Off-Page Optimization, like backlinks, directory listings, etc.
•    Technical Optimization, like website design, etc.
You may be surprised to find how many companies only handle one or two of these. Again, this is because a lot of these so-called “companies” just learned one to get in the business. Without having all three working in tandem, your SEO will suffer, plain and simple.

Marketing Chops
Somewhere along the way, SEO became divided from traditional marketing strategies. The two are certainly different, however, they overlap considerably too. This means your chosen company should be able to provide you with content that outlines the benefit of your product or services to readers. If you just get a handful of paragraphs with a few keywords included, this really won’t do much for you. Remember, having a user find your website is great. Turning them into a customer is ideal.

A Good Fit with the Rest of Your Company
If your company consists of just you and your laptop, you still want to make sure that you can get along with any SEO companies that are up for the job. As we mentioned before, getting ranked can sometimes feel like you’re in a foxhole with your SEO team and those are cramped quarters during the best of times.
Finding the right fit is even more important for larger companies though. Chances are your SEO company will be interacting with your IT department, customer service, your sales team and more. If they can’t all play well together, you’re not going to get what you need from your SEO.

Excellent Communication
Lastly, you may assume that a company specializing in marketing tactics would be great at communicating, but this is an assumption that often proves wrong. A lot of times you’ll find that many SEO companies fall short here. This is unacceptable. Try to get a sense for their communication style when you interview them to ensure they will update you regularly and respond to communications in a timely manner.While an SEO company can take your business to the next level, it can also stop your progress cold in its tracks. Consider the above to ensure the chicago SEO companies you pick is more benefit than burden.
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3 Myths about Choosing a Marketing Agency

There are a lot of things out there that can help a business grow: your devotement and passion as a business owner, a good idea, having the tools and resources to actually do your job, a sprinkle of luck, and so on. Unlike what some people think, it is never just all about luck when it comes to a business and most of the things out there can be controlled perfectly.

Take your marketing campaigns, for example. For many small business owners out there, the question of a true marketing campaign has not even arisen because they believe that the fact that their business is small also means that they should not market their products and/or services. However, this is completely untrue: marketing campaigns can help businesses of all sizes and even more, they can be crucial for their success.

If you have decided to work with a marketing agency to help you market your products/services out there, then you should first understand exactly what a marketing agency is and what it can do for you. Many people out there believe in certain “myths” that have been circulating out there for quite a lot of time when it comes to what marketing is, but the truth is that these myths are completely unfounded.

Here are 3 of the most commonly spread ones:

Marketing is One and the Same as Advertising

For many people out there (even for people who work in the field and tag themselves as “experts”, marketing and advertising are one and the same thing. Still, you should understand the fact that marketing may involve advertising as a technique, but the reverse will not be true as well. In fact, advertising is the slice of a bigger cake called “marketing” and understanding this difference can help you realize the fact that marketing may be completely different from what you have believed it to be until now.

Online Marketing is One and the Same as SEO

Another myth that has been out there for a very long time is related to the fact that the only thing Internet marketers do is optimize websites for the search engines. Yes, online marketing agencies out there do that in most of the cases, but they can do much, much more than that. They can organize for paid campaigns, online advertising, email campaigns, social media campaigns and so on. Even more, there may be agencies out there dealing with separate niches (for instance, you may find agencies that are marketing-oriented, but which will only provide you with the content you need for your website).

The Price Is Important

This myth is only partially true. In one way or another, marketing agencies that ask for a price that is much below the market price for their services can be tricky and you can end up paying money to receive nothing that leads to actual results in exchange. However, at the same time you should know that even large and extremely important marketing agencies out there can design campaigns that will fit into small budgets and that you should make the difference between the price for the service and the budget for the campaign itself.

Marketing is a very important part of a business (be it large or small). However, many people out there still do not understand what marketing is and, most importantly what it isn’t. There are at least 3 myths out there on what marketing can provide them with and you should definitely get acquainted with them if you plan to hire a Chicago search marketing agency soon.

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How I Used Chicago SEO Services to Sell my Products

The number one thing to remember when dealing with today’s digital world is that there is always a client for your product; you just have to find them. Even if you have the best website in all eternity, it can still be hard for clients to find you. Many of us just do not understand how the search engines work or how we can drive more traffic to our webpage. Or if we do get more traffic to our webpage, it is not the kind of people who are ready to make a purchase. This is where search engine optimization comes into play. Chicago SEO services can help you optimize your website so people can find you easier.

People want to be able to find you! That is the frustrating part of trying to build your online presence. Many people will be searching for you or the products you offer, but they will not be able to find you because your website is not ranked high enough in the search engines. By using SEO techniques you can raise your search engine ratings and make it much easier for people to find you and your products.

You can increase your search engine optimization by first understanding the keywords that people are using most often when they find your webpage. This is the part where your Chicago SEO services firm will come in handy. Marketing firms are familiar with how to find the keywords that your company uses as well as the short phrases people are using in order to find you. Understanding these words and phrases is essential to building a successful marketing campaign to raise your spot on the search engine results page.

The next step will be to design an AdWords campaign through Google. You can technically do this all by yourself, but it will be much easier if you have someone who can help you with the technical aspects of designing a campaign. Your marketing firm can perform highly secure searches to see what people are looking for when they end up on your webpage. Knowing the keywords and short phrases will help you figure out the clientele that you work with most often. This information can be surprising for some but just another additional piece of information for others.

Building a company takes time, dedication, and hard work, so do not let one more second go by without trying to build your company to the size of your dreams. Hiring a marketing firm can help you with this process and I feel like it is essential to hire them for at least the keyword identification part of your marketing plan. Without a good set of keywords you will be spending money and not getting the quality of customers which you need in order to continue to grow your business. Owning a business can be very overwhelming at times, but if you bring in experts in the areas where you struggle, then you will be able to see a large amount of growth in your sales.

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Planning for Your Chicago Web Marketing Agency Meeting

The first time you meet with a marketing agency it can be pretty scary, especially if you are a small firm without much experience in marketing. It is overwhelming to think you are going to pay some of your hard earned money to someone else in the hope that they can help you make more money. But if you prepare yourself ahead of time you will not have to be scared before you hire your marketing agency. Take the time to write down your goals, set your budget and go to a couple consultations before you hire the agency that is going to work with you. 

Make a list of the goals you would like to achieve by using a marketing company. This should be a broad list that includes everything you can possibly think of that involves marketing. When your list is complete, take a look at the items you have and see if any of them are things you or your business associates could complete on your own. If they are things you think you can complete,then take them off the list. The remaining items should be a list of things you do not have the skills to complete and that your Chicago web marketing agency can help you with.

It is hard to set a budget for marketing, especially if this is the first year you will be spending money in this area. It does not matter how much money you set aside for marketing, just set aside what you feel your company can afford. This amount is what you can get started with when you meet with the marketing firms. Remember, it is perfectly acceptable to start your marketing work with a small budget. You do not need to have thousands of dollars to make a big difference in your marketing efforts.  No matter what your budget is, go into your consultation ready to negotiate prices.

Before you hire a marketing company you should visit with a couple different firms and do a consultation with them. During your consultation the marketing company will discuss what you can expect from them and their rates for these services. It is not necessary to accept the first rate they quote you and you can discuss discounts or package deals that may work best for you. Do not settle for the first price the marketing company gives you, instead; take the time to negotiate a price that suites you best.

When you start planning to build your marketing efforts it might be a little overwhelming. Before you go to your first meeting it can help if you have a defined set of goals for your marketing campaign and the budget you plan to work with. When you have your consultation you can talk about your ideas for your marketing campaign and even ideas for the future or additional marketing plans. Your marketing firm is there to help you meet your needs, so do not feel afraid to ask them for exactly what you want.

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