branding design

Properly Brand Your Business

Branding your business successfully is to perpetual be in the process of identifying, creating, and managing the cumulative assets and actions that shape the perception of your brand in all stakeholders’ minds. Branding is a perpetual process because it never stops. People, markets, and businesses are constantly changing and your brand must evolve in order to keep pace. There is a structured process to branding, one where you must first identify who and what you want to be to your stakeholders (internal and external customers), create your brand strategy to position yourself accordingly, and then constantly manage everything that influences your positioning.

Your positioning must be translated into assets (e.g., visual identity, content, products, ads) and actions (e.g., services, customer support, human relations, experiences) that project it into your stakeholders’ minds, slowly building up that perception.

“Brands are essentially patterns of familiarity, meaning, fondness, and reassurance that exists in the minds of people.” – Tom Goodwin.

When it comes to branding your business, there are a few key things you need to keep in mind if you want to be successful. First and foremost, your brand needs to be unique. It should stand out from the competition and be immediately recognizable. Secondly, your brand needs to be consistent. You need to use the same colors, fonts, and logos across all of your marketing materials. And lastly, your brand needs to be relevant. It should appeal to your target audience and reflect the values of your company.

Perception of a Brand

Also known as reputation. This is the association that an individual (customer or not) has in their mind regarding your brand. This perception is the result of the branding process or lack thereof. Branding is absolutely critical to a business because of the overall impact it makes on your company. Branding can change how people perceive your brand, it can drive new business, and increase brand value – but it can also do the opposite if done wrongly or not at all.

Creating a Brand

The first step is to create a brand strategy. This will be your foundation and will guide all of your branding decisions moving forward. Once you have your strategy in place, you can begin to create your visual identity. This includes things like your logo, color palette, and typography.

Your visual identity should be unique and reflect your brand’s personality. It should be consistent across all of your channels, from your website to your social media accounts.

Building Brand Awareness

Now that you have a strong foundation and visual identity, it’s time to start building brand awareness. There are a number of factors to keep in mind.

First and foremost, your content must be high-quality and informative. It should be shareable and relevant to your target audience. You also need to make sure you’re using the right keywords so that people can actually find your content.

Another important factor is SEO. This stands for “search engine optimization” and heavily influences how your business is found and displayed on Search Engines. Make sure to do your research and utilize relevant keywords in your titles and descriptions.

Once you have all of that taken care of, you can start promoting your content across different channels. This could include social media, email marketing, or even paid advertising. The important thing is to be consistent with your branding across all channels.

Tips and Tricks

Email

  • Create your signature.
  • Find your font.
  • Find your color.
  • Add your social branding/handles.
  • Spelling, always double-check your words. Add a quote that helps people remember you.
  • DO NOT leave “sent from my iPhone” !
  • Or “excuse errors”. Don’t make them.

Phone & Voice Settings

  • Setup your voicemail.
  • Keep your voice mail concise and consistent across your organization.
  • Don’t have a full mailbox.

Social Media

  • Create a social media policy.
  • Make sure everyone in your company is on the same page when it comes to social media.
  • Be consistent with your branding across all platforms.
  • Use hashtags, but don’t overdo it.
  • Engage with your audience.

Final Thoughts

To successfully brand your business you need to keep consistency as the foundation. You also should have a strategic communication standard, with all internal stakeholders (including employees) understanding and projecting your message to all who interact with your business, ultimately managing your company’s customer-facing communication. And wherever you choose to market or be visible, be sure that customers and potential customers know it’s YOU, whatever the format, platform, or medium.

Now that you’ve learned a little about how to brand your business, put these tips into action and see the success for yourself! With a little effort, you can create a strong and recognizable brand that will help your business grow.

The AD Leaf Marketing Firm Can Help!

Need some help to help develop and implement a successful branding effort, contact us today! Talk to one of our experts here at The AD Leaf Marketing Firm LLC.! To schedule a free consultation with our marketing teams, call us today at 321-255-0900.

how to beat the summer slump

Beat the Summer Slump Before It Starts

While some businesses boom when the temperatures rise and the sunglasses come out, many find summer their slowest season. Leads lag, and calendars look empty. It may feel like April is too soon to start worrying about summer, but if you can get ahead of the summer slump before it even starts, you’ll be set for a successful season! How do you beat the summer slump? Here are a few tips to keep the season hot!

Seasonal Deals

Consider creating a seasonal coupon code or discount to entice new and returning customers. These are great for ads!

Join In

People like it when brands feel real on social media, rather than just standing behind the image of a corporation. Post updates on what summer looks like for your and/or your employees. This could be vacation pictures, employee spotlights, or other fun bits of adjacent content. 

Test New Offerings 

Your slower season is a great time to try out new service lines or products you’re looking to promote. You can use the smaller sample size to gauge whether or not you’d like to continue during your busy season. 

Reintroduce Yourself 

Reach out to past clients with an update on your business and your employees! While this can have a sales aspect, it should mainly stay informational. 

Go Where the People Are

If you know your key demographic will be spending a lot of time at the beach and less time on their phones and computers this summer, meet them there! Sponsor a beach party or set up an information table on the boardwalk, though you’ll need to check your city’s regulations. 

Don’t Pull Back

One of the biggest mistakes a business owner can make during their slower season is to pull back on advertising. By keeping up brand awareness, potential leads will be further down the sales funnel, which will allow you to finish reeling them in once they’re ready to make a purchase or signing decision. 

Marketing isn’t easy! It’s time-consuming and requires a lot of everyday work to ensure you’re keeping up with best practices. If you don’t have the time to focus on your marketing plan or simply don’t want to, The AD Leaf is happy to help with all of your digital and traditional marketing efforts. Give us a call at (321) 255-0900, complete our contact form, or go ahead and book an appointment with our Growth Team!

We’re looking forward to working with you. 

 

How to Identify & Solve Customer Pain Points

Social media is an essential tool for thriving businesses in today’s world. You have already proved you are open to business and reachable by having active social media accounts. To help your business continue learning and growing, you will want to build genuine relationships with your clients/customers organically. Having these relationships will help you target your customer pain points. 

You might be wondering what a customer pain point is. A pain point is a specific problem that future and current customers of your business experience. By successfully targeting your customer’s pain points, you solve their problem. You must show them why they need you. General pain points include:

  • financial
  • productivity
  • process
  • support

and more.

Key Steps to Finding Customer Pain Points

  1. Utilize your social media platform – You can use your social media to ask for customer feedback. This strategy can be as simple as putting a poll on your Instagram story or creating a post that asks for feedback. Being open and honest with your audience opens the door to engagement and feedback. . Ensure that you are responding quickly to these responses to help build those relationships and keep the engagement flowing! Opening the door to more engagement from your target audience can include posting links to your blogs or posts with questions. If someone comments saying, “Thank you for this info! I just don’t know how to ___.” That is your sign to create a post, blog, or internal fix centered around the concern of your audience. 
  2. Conduct surveys- Conduct surveys with open-ended questions to get detailed answers from your customers. Send these emails to lists built through social media marketing, and let your audience know how you will use their feedback to improve your product or business. They will feel valued to give their responses! 
  3. Research– Put on your investigator hat to search your customers’ social media for pain points. This strategy can include checking their Facebook, LinkedIn, or other platforms to find their likes, dislikes, and discussions. This research can lead you to uncover a hidden pain point. 
  4. Know Your Industry– If you do not feel like digging into your customers’ social media, you can use other tools to aid your research. Regular industry-related keyword searches can be highly beneficial. Explore the “People also ask” box to see what is relevant to your search. You can also utilize “Answer The Public” to find what people recently asked about in your industry. 
  5. Utilize Technology– Live chats are a great way to connect with your customers. This helps you build rapport, gain information and insight, as well as build trust and answer any questions your customers might have.

To take the process even further, you can take a deep dive into your future customer’s path with the following steps:. 

    1. Awareness: The customer must become aware of your business through your company’s efforts to reach your target audience. 
    2. Interest: You spark your customer’s interest by pointing out you can solve their pain points such as doing their taxes, lawn care, roofing, hunger, etc. They will conduct their research about your brand by exploring your socials, website, etc. 
    3. Consideration: This could be a lead or someone inquiring about a service. Free consultations, free trials, etc., are great tools for your potential customers during this phase.  
    4. Intent: Imagine this phase is when your lead is sitting with your product or service in their shopping cart, almost to the checkout but not quite yet.
    5. Evaluation: Leads will weigh their opinions one more time before choosing your company. This step can include comparing your company with another company or service. What can you do to seal the deal?  
    6. Purchase: Your lead has decided they want your company and is now a customer! How can you get a referral? 

Here are a few questions to consider: 

  • What is your customer’s path to purchase?
  • How long is their path to buy? 
  • Can you improve their path to purchase?
  • What motivates your customer? 

Once you have taken this deep dive to learn more about your current and future customer pain points, you will see your business from a buyer’s perspective. Imagine you go to a website to submit a form, and it does not go through on their first two attempts. You would most likely look somewhere else, right? Leads and future customers must still decide for themselves, but if their path to purchase is smooth while you address solving their pain points, they will be interested throughout the journey. 

 

For more information on how you can target and improve your audiences’ pain points or better target your audience in general, please schedule a consultation with our marketing professionals at 321.255.0900, or feel free to email us at  info@theadleaf.com. 

 

Website Design

Website Design For The Best Lead and Customer Conversion

Currently, in 2022 there are over 1.92 billion active websites being hosted throughout the world today. But not all are converting website traffic into leads. It is now more important than ever, to build your website correctly, strategically, and in the mindset of achieving the mission, you expect with each webpage of your website. The Marketing and Advertising industries have conducted extensive A/B Testing with respect to website traffic and website customer lead conversion metrics. Through this discovery process, we have identified 5 components that websites need to show the consumer or business customer within 10 seconds of them viewing the web page in order to realize the best possible lead conversion for their website. Listed below are the 5 components of optimal lead conversion you need to implement within your website design for the best lead and customer conversion.  Remember, the ultimate objective with our website is converting website traffic into leads:

  1. Who are you? Your business logo needs to be strategically placed at the top left-hand corner of the website. Throughout the English language, we read from left to right, top to bottom. This is also standard across most websites and so the reader is programmed to look for it in that spot.
  2. What do you do? The reader(not you, but if you can’t decipher what you do from seeing your website, that’s worse) needs to be able to easily identify in 10 seconds of seeing your website, what it is that your business does, what service that it provides to your consumer?  In order to receive the credit for this, it needs to also be identifiable BEFORE the fold, or before you scroll your webpage down to the bottom.  The area that you see when you type a website URL(website address) into your website browser immediately when it loads, is called the “HERO” area.  Your website is going to be a Hero or a Zero and the customer will make that determination within 10 seconds.
  3. What makes you different from your competitors? Does the consumer need to understand what makes YOU different from your competitors?  The website home page needs to contain U.S.P’s (Unique selling points) and C.T.A’s(Calls to Action) that show the reader why they should call YOU instead of your competitors.  Great calls to action should be featured in strategic places above the fold, utilizing your branding and style color scheme.
  4. How do I contact you?  Your phone number needs to be placed at the top right corner of the website, and your email address prominently displayed so the consumer can easily contact you.  Also, the home page of the website must contain the standard “Form box” or side pop-out contact form.  These form boxes are standard across many websites.  They typically contain three lines:   Line1 is for the customers’ Name, Line 2 is for the customers’ email address, and Line 3 is for the customer to ask a question of you, or request additional information regarding your service and they then submit the form.  The form comes to YOU in an email.  These form boxes represent about 30-60% of total website communication from potential customers. Additionally, it is very important because it allows YOU to capture the potential clients’ email information as a lead so you can follow up with them.  If a contact form box is not feasible add the pop-out contact form plugin that floats along the right-hand side of your hero area within your banner images.  Installing a chat feature will also be a very important component to improve your lead conversion and lead flow.  At the end of the day, with nearly 1 Trillion active websites, you need to shout from the mountain tops, that you are open for business, you are welcoming to your customers, and that you are not forcing your customers to dig through your website just to contact you.  If you do not make it easy for your customers to reach you, you will lose your customers in 2022. The days of customers waiting with bated breath hoping and praying you will answer your phone to speak with the customer are long gone.  They do not have to be committed to you.  There are 9 other organic businesses on page 1 of Google, 3-10 Ad words businesses listed on page 1 of Google, and countless social media businesses listed for them to chose from.  Surely, one of your competitors will make things easy for your customer if you don’t and you won’t be converting website traffic into leads!
  5. Are you communicating effectively to your target audience?  This is where most of you completely miss the mark and target with your online business card or website.   When you developed your website, did you design its look, feel, content, layout, and structure with your target audience in mind?  Most business owners design their website with themselves in mind(based on your likes, your color pallet, your design pallet, what you wanted), and in most cases, the business owner isn’t their own target audience or target customer. As an example:  If your target customer is under age 35, do you have a chat feature installed?  Do you have a contact form box displayed on your home page?  Have you moved away from copy(written content) on the home page?  If you do have any content, is it written in 3-4 call to action bullet points?  If your target audience is an older consumer, do you have your phone number prominently displayed in the upper right-hand corner?  Is your website easy to navigate, is there a proper flow through starting from your home page to your about us page, to your services or products pages, and then to contact you?  If there are inconsistencies with the journey, the potential lead will just leave your page, it’s simple.  There are over 1.2 billion websites active online currently throughout the world right now.  If you do not communicate effectively to your target audience, you will lose your leads.  Remember, the main objective is converting website traffic into leads!

For more information on how you can improve your website by converting website traffic into leads, or how you can make a bigger impact within your business market please schedule a consultation. E: info@theadleaf.com P: 321.255.0900

TikTok for your business

Why Your Business Should Be On TikTok in 2022

After TikTok hit the market in 2017, it quickly became one of the most popular social networking sites in the world. Fast forward to 2022, TikTok has accumulated a remarkable one billion average monthly users. The level of exposure that TikTok offers is truly unbelievable, and business owners are taking notice and making the switch to an innovative video-sharing app.

How is TikTok Different Than Other Platforms?

For those of you that are not aware, TikTok is a video-sharing app that allows you (the user) to create short videos up to three minutes long. What makes TikTok stand out is, unlike other social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram that focus on image and text-based sharing apps, TikTok has cornered the market when it comes to sharing videos. Since its inception, TikTok has become one of the most engaging social media apps currently out. A recent study has shown that on average, TikTok users usually spend around 10.85 minutes on the app (doubling Pinterest’s 5.06 minutes that are currently ranked #2 for engagement) and will open the app roughly eight times per day.

Exposure

What separates TikTok from its competition is the incredible algorithm and exposure that it offers if you are looking to expand your brand awareness. As a business owner, one of the most vital aspects to your success is, “are people aware of my brand?”.

TikTok is home to one of the most personalized algorithms in the social media industry at the moment. Like the Instagram algorithm, TikTok bases its recommendations on a user’s interactions with content within the app. TikTok takes into account: which accounts you follow, videos you’ve liked or shared, videos you’ve watched all the way through (aka completion rate), and even the content you create on your own, among many others. Aside from user interaction, TikTok also takes into account the content that users seek through their Discover tab, which includes captions, sounds, hashtags, video effects, and trending topics. This content is then used to piece together the most optimal user experience to keep their audience coming back.

Trends

TikTok first started as a music and video sharing platform but has transformed into a groundbreaking app that features millions of trends that inspire endless creativity amongst its users. TikTok trends are ever-changing, meaning there are never-ending trends for your marketing team to explore and apply to your industry. The best way to tell when a video style is trending is to begin to see multiple videos using the same sound and video structure. The best way to think of a TikTok trend is to think of it as a live-action meme – applicable across various scenarios or industries and easily understood.

Tips – TikTok Best Practices

Determine Your Goals

The first step to getting started in any endeavor is to establish the goals and objectives of your project. Your plan doesn’t need to be set in stone right away because it’s likely that your goals will change over time. However, it’s great to have an initial direction that you would like to move forward with. Here are some potential “goals” to help outline your TikTok business strategy:

Brand Awareness
Educate Your Audience
Target Future Customers or Employees
Increase Sales
Increase Clicks to Website
Increase Audience Reach

Share Valuable Information

Now that you’ve established some goals for your business, the next important thing is to ensure that you’re giving valuable content to your audience. Think of your business goals as a growing plant, and each piece of content you publish is watering that plant—the more valuable the content, the larger drink of water that grows your overall goal.

Be Consistent

It may seem cliche, but consistency truly is vital. If possible, keep posts on a regular schedule. You may not see the results you want immediately but stick with it. TikTok is a never-ending learning cycle, but you are sure to be rewarded with consistent effort.

How We Can Help

If you are a business owner looking to break into a new and exciting social media platform, TikTok may be the right option for you. Our innovative team of social media specialists has the tools, knowledge, and drive to develop a personalized TikTok strategy for your business. Our team is expertly trained to tailor a strategy to help you achieve your goals.

Ready to elevate your business? Head over to the “Contact” tab to get started and schedule a consultation today!

4 Tips for Writing Better Content

4 Tips for Writing Better Content

How can you write better copy? Business professionals from every industry struggle with their writing, so you’re far from the only one asking. Even marketers struggle to write focused, compelling copy from time to time. So what is it about putting ideas to paper that trips so many people up? Let’s dig into 4 tips for writing better content.

1. Start With a Plan

If you don’t have a plan, your writing will lack focus. Without knowing what the end goal is, it’s difficult to determine what steps need to take to reach that destination. When you sit down to write, start by outlining your main points and then filling in the supporting details.

This strategy benefits user experience in the end, especially for pages on a website. When a writer starts with a main idea and breaks it down into smaller digestible parts, the writing will also be easier to read. Great online content starts with a title (main idea) and breaks that down into smaller digestible parts (subheadings). This way, when someone goes to read that page, they can quickly navigate to the section of the page they’re looking for.

2. Focus on the Reader’s Perspective

This tip may seem obvious, but when it comes to putting our ideas down for someone else to read, we all too often write from our point of view instead of theirs. Practicing empathy in your writing and trying to put yourself in the reader’s shoes can go a long way. Here’s a mental exercise that may help. Think about your ideal reader, consumer, or audience member and not just your target audience. If you could only get the result you want if they experience the fullest extent of your product or service, what would you tell them?

Considering your audience’s pain points will not only make you a better writer by making your content more relatable, but it will also show that you can solve their problems and alleviate their concerns. And that’s what great marketing boils down to in the end.

3. Be Direct and Be Clear

Have you ever thought, “I’m not sure how to phrase this”? If you’re like most, this thought has surely crossed your mind at least once or twice. The tried and true solution to this dilemma is:

  • Challenge yourself with another question, “What is it that you’re trying to say?”
  • Say it out loud, detach yourself from the writing process for a moment and verbally summarize to yourself what the message is.
  • Next, write that down. It sounds simple enough, but we can get so sucked into typing out the next sentence that we give ourselves “analysis paralysis” and freeze up. Explain it to yourself or someone else, and then write that.

A common trap many writers fall into is that they try to sound “smart” by using uncommon words and phrases or some roundabout way of conveying their message. No one likes to feel confused when they’re reading; if anything, confusion will encourage them to put it down or read something else. The best writers can take complex topics and make it so anyone can understand them.

This strategy doubles as a filter for industry jargon, cliches, and passive voice, which hurt your writing and usually waste the reader’s time.

4. Proofread!

The quickest way to lose credibility with your audience is to make careless errors that make it to the final draft. The great Stephen King said, “To write is human, to edit is divine.” It can be easy to cut corners and skip the proofreading/editorial process, but the writing will always suffer for it. If you’re coming up on a deadline and are pressed for time, save time at the end for proofreading and editing.

  • Read your text and reread it
  • Read your writing out loud or ask someone else to read it over
  • Check for typos, grammatical errors, and inconsistencies (if you’re not sure about a grammatical rule or how to spell something, look it up)

Professional Content Marketing With The AD Leaf Marketing Firm

Writing compelling, conversion-focused content is a time investment. Research, planning, writing, and proofreading not only takes practice and years of experience to do well, but it also takes time away from you running your business and spending time with your family. Save yourself the hassle of having to do yet another thing and call 321-255-0900 or email info@theadleaf.com and ask about our Content Marketing services.

Social Media Photography

Product Photography Basics for Social Media

Here at The AD Leaf, we serve a variety of businesses, and because so much of what we do is online, creating quality visuals to market products and services is critical! Suppose you are a business that regularly features your items online. In that case, the goal is to serve your consumers by helping them imagine owning, using, and interacting with your products. The importance of proper product photography cannot be understated, which is why we’ve compiled some basics for you.

Our small business clients often send us photos of products that we feature on their social media platforms. We often discuss how to communicate clearly through those photos, what colors to use, incorporate props, and even stylize the images a bit. One critical takeaway – you don’t have to be a professional photographer to produce decent-quality product photos. You can even use your phone camera if you keep it simple!

The Basics:

 Audience:

As you go through each of the topics below, first and foremost, consider your audience. Your taste may not be the same as theirs.

Ask: What is the persona of your ideal buyer? Meaning; how will they be interacting and using your products? Or what questions and concerns do they have?

Idea:

  1. Get to know your current ideal customers.
  2. Don’t be afraid to ask them how they have enjoyed having or using your products.
  3. Take notes! 


Lighting: 

The goal is for your viewer to see your items’ accurate color and texture.

Natural Light is your best friend when it comes to product photography. Natural light refers to sunlight — simple as that. Avoiding shadows as much as possible, early morning or late afternoon light can be helpful. Photographers call this the ‘golden hour.’ It tends to bring out rich, warm tones that are naturally soft and inviting.

Indoor lighting. If you must use indoor lighting, try to achieve as much light to fill the space as possible while again avoiding too many dark or harsh shadows. LED and most energy-saving bulbs have a whiter and brighter light that doesn’t cast a yellow haze.

 Flash! Caution, this can be a challenge even if you distance the camera from your item. If you are unsure, try to find better lighting.

Neutral Backdrops:

Remember your product is the focus. Avoid too many items that may produce “visual clutter” Visual clutter happens when personal items or other possible distractions attempt to photobomb your product from the background.

When in doubt – keep it simple and neutral.

Small items:
Place them on top of white or light-colored poster boards or foam boards. The light will reflect that color onto your item. So if you are trying to stick with the basics – white and neutral is best.


Larger items:
Plain contemporary spaces and rooms. If the background is busy and you cannot avoid it, try to blur it. If using a phone, try ‘portrait mode.’

 

Ad Leaf Blog post

Styling Photos:

Again, back to our topic of audience. Styling photos goes beyond just what is in the background. Trying to place yourself in the consumer’s mind, pairing your items with what the consumer will have them with, remembering your preferences may not be theirs. These items should complement the products they are paired with, not compete. The goal is to help your audience’s imagination, not hinder it. A good question to ask with each product from season to season is ‘what story am I trying to tell when I share photos of this item with the world.’

EXAMPLES:
If you are selling jewelry, what will the person wear with it? A dress or a t-shirt? If you are selling furniture, what other furniture items will that item be with? Place art or décor in a plain contemporary room or a French-modern-country-bohemian-eclectic. Just keep it simple.    

 

Creating a Human Element:  

People connect with people, especially through Social Media! This is definitely a note to your small businesses. YOU are not a big box retailer – you are the small business – family next door they are supporting. Remind your audience of YOUR value through the visuals too!

Ways to showcase you:

  • Show your face: You are the face of your company! The artist at the easel. The carpenter in their workshop. The baker at their decorating table.
  • Show your team: How many people does it take to keep your business running. This gives your audience an idea of what and who they are supporting.
  • Show your hands: We know you are not a machine. Especially if you do not feel comfortable with the first two, this also shows the size, scale, and context. 

 

Types of Photos and Number of Photos:

Primary photos/videos 

Multiple images straightforward to answer questions – Front, Back, Side, Inside, Outside, etc. — These answer your consumers’ questions.

Secondary photos/videos 

These are images that express angles and details of your item, often in a stylized or artistic way.
These are great for adjacent content – These help them imagine interacting with your items in their hands and home.

Take at least one photo of each item separately. This shows your audience exactly what they are buying.

Take multiple photos of pairings or bundled items – together.
These are items that you can encourage your buyers to imagine together. Be sure to note things that are sold separately.

Take multiple photos of the details of your item. This is an opportunity to show depth, quality, scale, or even smaller moving parts of an object.
As we shared, these are just the basics. Maybe you are a wine seller with a high-end audience. You may want to feature your winery in your photos. Perhaps you are a specialized boat parts dealer. Of course, emphasizing quality and safety is essential. There are ways to feature those elements in your images to build knowledge about your brand’s products too!

So, there you have it. These product photography basics will help you serve your audience better across those Social Media platforms. So go ahead. Start using them right now! If you would like,  our team here at the Ad Leaf can help you and your business to improve showcasing your products by implementing these -and many more- tips! Let us help you tell the world your story. Visually!

Call (321) 255-0900

Top 10 Marketing Trends in 2022

As 2022 quickly approaches, we are looking ahead to see which marketing trends you need to keep on your radar. Do you have a plan for your business going into 2022? If not, you still have time to strategize your next moves. 

 

Start by considering your goals for 2022. What do you want to achieve in the next 12 months? What do you want to accomplish in the next three years? Once you have your future goals in mind, you can begin strategizing your next steps into a successful 2022 by following these 10 marketing trends: 

 

#1 Instantaneous Demand 

Leading into 2022, consumers will continue to look for businesses that give quick responses. For example, having a plug-in on your website for instant messaging through messenger with a brand helps to build trustworthiness. Consumers will continue to look for the highest quality and highest response time. If customers do not hear back from a brand quickly, they will move on to the next brand that will be more timely. 

 

#2 Growing of Influencers

Have you ever seen a post on social media and did not even realize it was an ad? These posts are coming from not a brand but their influencers. Influencers will review a product or highlight a product that they enjoy. This growth of influencers is accurate for B2B as well. Consider looking for opportunities to partner with influencers in your industry. 

 

#3 LinkedIn Continues to Grow

If you do not have a LinkedIn Page, you might want one for your company. Not only is LinkedIn on top of updating and improving their app for better results on businesses and pages, but the number of monthly active users is also continuing to grow steadily. 

 

#4 Less is More

With new digital marketing popping up almost daily, be cautious not to spread your budget too thin. Focus on advertising through one social media platform. This tactic will allow you to have more exposure in one area vs. not being seen on multiple platforms. Focus on your primary platform and hit it with your highest quality ads and posts. 

 

#5 Word-of-Mouth

In 2022 you will see that more and more customers will see what others have to say about your company. For example, if someone tweets raving about your brand, future consumers are more likely to trust you will be up to their standards. The same goes for providing quality service to your customers quickly.

 

#6 Invest in Brand Image 

You will build a more trustworthy and legit brand by investing in your brand image. As online advertising continues to get more competitive in 2022, you will need to stand out from your competitors. This includes building up your brand image across your social media platforms because appearance matters. 

 

#7 Custom Content in Newsletters

If you have not begun newsletter marketing, you should consider this as we start 2022. Newsletters are personal since you are in your customer’s inbox vs. their newsfeed. Newsletters are how you appeal to your audience on a deeper level as you get more of their attention. Also, having your customer’s emails will allow you to do email marketing for your ads.

 

#8 Storytelling Balance

We all know consumers do not want to be sold all the time or hear about how excellent your product/service is. Consumers want you to solve their problems through a story. Tell them how your product/service helped others to solve their problem. Storytelling will make your consumers think for themselves, “Hm, maybe I should try this for myself.”

 

#9 Bring Simplicity Back

The marketing noise for consumers is tremendous. You do not need to be louder than your competitors; but instead, you need to be strategic with your posts. You can post a blog post every day, but you will create more impactful articles if you focus on quality over quantity. 

 

#10 Do Not Forget Foundation 

We all love staying on top of the newest technologies and apps, but it is essential to remember to focus on our foundation. This includes making your website easy to maneuver and ensuring your social media has the correct contact information and links. Checking you are reaching your target audience with each post or ad, building a relationship with your customers online or in person, and much more! 

 

Having a stable foundation for your business will allow you to grow organically and branch out into new social media with success while still reaching your target audience. Focusing on building a relationship with your customers will even work to boost your word-of-mouth. 

 

Since 2020, we have seen an enormous shift in the world of technology and average tactics will not get the return on your investment you desire. Get prepared for new ways of operating your business, creating content, and advertising. Have your goals set as you reign in the new year, and let’s all start with a bang! 

 

If you still feel unsure of the proper steps for your business moving into 2022, give our team of marketing professionals a call at The Ad Leaf! We will be able to help you achieve your goals. 

Are You Marketing to the Right Audience? 

Are You Marketing to the Right Audience? 

They say 90% of advertising doesn’t work, and the tricky part is identifying which 10% does. I’m not sure about the 90% number, but I would agree that not all advertising works or is efficient. It often boils down to reaching the right audience(s) and reaching the right audience at the right time. The truth is the consumer has more sources than ever before to think, decide, and purchase. However, there may be only 3-5 marketing channels that are actually moving the needle for your business, reaching the right marketing audiences.

A New Perspective  on Marketing

Most people think of themselves as a one-person focus group. While personal perspective makes for interesting conversation, you should focus on customer insights backed by reliable marketing expertise when it comes to your business. Our agency works with clients across many industries and regions. We use our diverse knowledge to implement effective, customized strategies to fit our client’s needs and budgets. The AD Leaf works hard to not only improve clients’ sales and business figures in Las Vegas, and elsewhere, but we strive to build relationships and develop thoughtful strategies to help their companies grow from the roots up.

Take A Fresh Look at Your Audience

Sure, you may know who your top customers are and where they live, but do you know how to apply that information? How to maximize your marketing dollars with that knowledge?  And while you may be able to rattle off your best customers, products, and top zip codes, you may also be missing out on a big opportunity to grow your business by attracting new customers. Purchase intent data alongside demographic and geographic data can reveal new opportunities to grow and diversify your customer base. And your sales.

Even if you’re spot on regarding your target audience, you could be missing key ways to reach them more effectively when they’re most engaged. This is where media insights, psychographic data, and behavioral data come into play.

Maximize Your Marketing Spend

When you understand more about both where you might be missing the mark on the target audience and what your ideal audience is interested in, you can more efficiently target your marketing budget. This can provide you with a more focused marketing strategy with an advertising budget maximized towards the right audience.

The AD Leaf Marketing Firm Can Help!

We understand that findings the right audiences for your marketing aren’t always a simple task. We’re here to help! Are you a business owner in Las Vegas or anywhere else in the country? Do you want to take your marketing to the next level? Talk to one of our experts here at The AD Leaf Marketing Firm LLC.! To schedule a free consultation with our marketing teams, call us today at 321-255-0900, or complete our contact form.

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The Power of a Press Release

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You may think the press is old news and the power of a press release is very limited, but we all want our business or company name in the spotlight. It’s one of the best ways to get your name out there! However, for this to be possible, it has to be newsworthy information because what good are hundreds of people reading something when they are not interested?

What Is a Press Release? 

A press release is when a company issues a brief announcement about something they want to promote. The goal is that news organizations will want to cover it in their publications. The goal of this is to give your company as much exposure as possible, as often as possible. This can be an easy way to generate some buzz about your product and services and hopefully attract customers.

 

When Should You Issue a Press Release? 

When something is newsworthy, use press releases. This is critical because journalists want to write about topics that pique people’s interests and are truly worthy of their time. Journalists and reporters must decide whether they want to spend their time and effort conducting research, obtaining quotes, and finally writing the story. Because of this time commitment, journalists are selective, and dull announcements are often ignored.

 

What Information Should Be Included? 

The following are the fundamentals of a press release: 

  • The main announcement
  • Important dates
  • Locations
  • Contact information 

 

The tone should be professional, with proper grammar and spelling. Because this is an official statement from your company, it should be accurate.

 

Benefits and Power of A Press Release

When it comes to Press Releases, there are a wide array of benefits, such as:

  • Increasing the visibility of your company
  • increases your brand awareness
  • establishes credibility
  • saving time from calling individual reporters and pitching your story over and over again

 

Press Releases as a Marketing Tactic

Increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic, and getting to know the surrounding community are common goals of media and marketing strategies.

A well-planned public relations campaign allows businesses to position themselves as authoritative figures in their respective industries while emphasizing the company’s unique benefits and products or services.

The right message can significantly impact sales, revenues, and customer loyalty.

 

Why Press Releases Work

Press releases effectively raise awareness of a product or service because they give media outlets, journalists, and bloggers the opportunity to quickly digest and distribute the message to their readers. Press releases are usually placed directly on websites, creating more opportunities for customers to learn about products. For example, they have been used by thousands of businesses around the world as a cost-effective marketing tactic that can help generate leads and build brand recognition.

 

Stand Out From Your Competitors

By crafting your message correctly, you will increase the visibility of new campaigns or announce better ways to serve existing clients. You will also stand out from your competition by being featured on major news outlets and creating trust with your audience. Also, a press release allows you to highlight new products or services with features, pricing information, usage rates, and other pertinent facts. 

 

How AD Leaf Marketing Firm Can Help

Our professional team of expert marketers can provide high-level press releases, so your business receives the exposure it deserves. Our team has keen knowledge and awareness of cultivating the power of press releases that will drive attention to your brand. Press releases by The AD Leaf ® Marketing Firm, LLC., are newsworthy pieces that are interesting enough to make readers want to continue with the article and read about the company being mentioned.

 

Get Started on Your Company’s Blog

Our approach at The AD Leaf ® Marketing Firm is to help you create brand awareness. Learn how to captivate your audience and grow your company! The AD Leaf’s ® content marketing team are experts in telling your brand’s story and understands the power of a press release. From this, we can help your business stand out from the crowd. 

With press releases, your business will be set up for success from the ground up. We’ll also integrate other essential marketing elements into your blogs and other forms of content.

Are you ready to turn a new leaf with your content marketing strategy? Give The AD Leaf Marketing Firm a call at 321-255-0900 to set up a free consultation today. We are excited to create a blog that works for you!