Part of the ‘Real Deal with Bob Kehoe’ series

THE ADVANTAGE MILLENNIALS BRING TO THE WORKFORCE

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It’s strange for me to put this into perspective but, to some of my employees, I’m not a young guy.

Without divulging my age, the younger sect I employ and do business with have, either verbally (“that was REALLY back in the day, yo!”) or non-verbally (a facial expression that combines astonishment with sympathy) called me out on my alleged “middle aged” status over the last few years.

While I consider myself young at heart, and I do pride myself for maintaining an above-average physique and energy level compared to others in my age group, these young whippersnappers were amazed when I recalled the following from my younger days:

 

  • Seeing Walter Payton wreck havoc at Soldier Field, pre-Mike Ditka
  • Getting fouled out by cigarette smoke – at the grocery store and Dunkin Donuts
  • VHS vs. Beta
  • Seeing the original “Star Wars” in a movie theater (where smoking was allowed in the lobby)
  • Listening to a) Steely Dan with my parents b) in their wood-panneled station wagon c) on 8-track
  • A workday that started at 9 a.m. sharp and concluded at 5 p.m., with a set one hour lunch

 

Admittedly, while I can get the ribbing from my Millennial counterparts regarding the five points above – I do take pride in experiencing Payton and “Star Wars” firsthand, but still cringe every time I hear the Dan’s “Aja” – they have, over the last few years, turned me to their way of thinking when it comes to work hours and ethic.

I will always hold myself, as well as those who work for me, to giving no less than 100% to the responsibilities and projects they’re tasked with, be they on the creative, sales or administrative sides. My concern though, is the outcome of the work. Whether they started at 9:15 a.m. instead of 9 a.m. to get the job done doesn’t really mean squat.

While this isn’t solely confined to Millennials– in every business with employees of every age, there will always be slackers and go-getters – a lot of the best workers I have known and have to this day are aware of the tasks and projects at hand and, equally important, understand the time and energy it will take to get the work done to the best of their abilities, and these are also some key characteristics of millennials in the workplace. If this means they’re logging on earlier than the local banker, burning late night oil, or coming in or working via remote on a Saturday or Sunday to meet their responsibilities or make their deadline, they’ll do so for the benefit of the work and the pride they have for the job, which is one of the best strengths of millennials.

Think of it this way: any schmuck can work a 40-hour week and punch a clock, but not everyone can meet a deadline and provide stellar results or product. And I’ve noticed, that by emphasizing results and outcome over a structured schedule, the cream of the employees has, and will continue to, rise to the top.

Maybe it is a generational thing: working with Millennials that are just starting their careers they are hard-pressed to remember when the Internet was not a prominent tool in their education or working environment. But it’s this age group, I’ve noticed, who have embraced this project/responsibility-minded ethic with gusto. This has served them well, as well as myself and Leverage’s clients.

I may not be a young buck, but I’m certain these kids are onto something good.

Contact Us to learn more about what the Millennials here at Leverage can do for your business.

Marketing is Going — and Staying — Mobile

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The distance we’ve come in terms of the Internet and its impact on society over the last two decades is, if you think about it, pretty jaw-dropping.

In 1995, the World Wide Web was at an infantile stage, to say the least. Businesses and households were just catching onto this new means of communication and information gathering, and the now-primitive dial-up connection was nothing short of amazing to new users. Additionally, the ink was barely dry on Amazon and Yahoo!’s articles of incorporation papers, and present-day essentials such as Google and Hotmail were a few years away from launching.

Additionally, many people were skeptical when it came to the web and it’s potential. Take a read below at excerpts from “The Internet? Bah!”  a column published in Newsweek in 1995 by author Clifford Stoll.

Visionaries see a future of telecommuting workers, interactive libraries and multimedia classrooms. They speak of electronic town meetings and virtual communities. Commerce and business will shift from offices and malls to networks and modems. And the freedom of digital networks will make government more democratic. Baloney … We’re promised instant catalog shopping–just point and click for great deals. We’ll order airline tickets over the network, make restaurant reservations and negotiate sales contracts. Stores will become obsolete. So how come my local mall does more business in an afternoon than the entire Internet handles in a month?

I can’t fault Stoll for this. The technology was just learning to crawl twenty years ago, and the leaps and bounds in which the internet has grown into as we see it today was hard for even the most ardent supporters to forecast.

These days, mobile searching – both in terms of PPC ads and SEO – has become the norm, and no longer a practice confined only to the select tech-savvy few.

It wasn’t long after 1995 and Stoll’s prediction, that online search became common practice for consumers and a primary focus for companies directing their advertising and marketing online. Like the internet as a whole in its early days, users took some time to get acclimated to using their mobile devices as a means to search. The last few years, though, has seen mobile searching grow by much more than leaps and bounds.

Numerous publications and internet marketing websites, from the Wall Street Journal to eMarketer, noted the declination in desktop search revenue and increase in mobile search spending last year. This will continue to be the case this year and, three years from now, mobile search will make up the majority of search spending.

With mobile technology and the number of mobile users both advancing rapidly today, this is no surprise. But while the ad dollars are following the new medium, it is expected that the return on investment from mobile marketing will take some time to catch up to that of desktop marketing.

A September, 2014 column on medium.com pointed to three reasons for slow growth in mobile ROI:

  1. Consumer use behavior – shoppers and users generally use their smartphones when they are out of home or office. Tablet users, on the other hand, are more prone to using their devise at home
  2. Multi-screening – these days, most PC users have two screens at their disposal and, while using their smartphone as the first point of reference, they tend to go to their PC to complete the transaction
  3. Functionality – again, this is more for the smartphone the tablet. Despite the growing size of smartphones, they are still wieldy for some users in terms of viewing products, navigation and viewing.

It’s expected, though, that continued technological advancements in terms of both mobile hardware and software, along with consumers’ growing confidence in mobile searching and shopping will contribute to the growth of calculable ROI from mobile marketing.
Despite the ROI challenge, I’m certain that mobile search and marketing will become as common to the masses as waiting for the dialup to process was in the `90s. As a tech enthusiast, it’s going to be fun to watch it evolve, and here at Leverage, it’s going to be exciting to evolve along with it.

2015: THE YEAR OF…?

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To be honest, I don’t put much stock into New Year’s.

For revelers, New Year’s Eve is amateur night and, save for college bowls, this time of year for me is pretty much like every other week. The work on my plate at the start of 2015 is pretty much the same as it was at the end of 2014, and both myself and Leverage are as psyched about what’s in front of us this calendar year as we were in the past.

The new year does, though, provide a good opportunity to look forward.

Listed below are a handful of predictions for 2015 and possible trends to watch out for, in and beyond the digital marketing strata. While some of these are more likely to come to fruition over others, I think it will be interesting to see how each of the scenarios below pan out 12 months or so from now.

  • Marketers in the U.S. will spend more on mobile search — both PPC ads and SEO – than on desktop. According to a new report from digital research firm, eMarketer, less than a quarter of search spend went to mobile last year, and by 2018, the tables will turn. Mobile is expected to account for 76.7 percent of search spending by then.
  • The first of the new “Star Wars” trilogy will break box office records.  The original three will still be the best.
  • Magento will continue to outpace other shopping cart solutions.  Last year, they had 26% of the market share and increased by 34% in the Alexa top 1M sites. Magento’s percent share is projected to increase even more as the number of ecommerce sites balloon and other carts also increase in size.
  • Adele will put out her first album since “21.” Five million people will purchase it, yet and it will be deemed a failure.
  • Ghost buttons will become more prevalent on certain types of websites, especially designs featuring full width images on the home screen and sites using full screen videos.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks will, for the third time in the last five years, bring the Stanley Cup to the Windy City.
  • Google will experiment on mobile with more left and right swiping motions on SERPS and increasingly novel UI. They will also try and find new ways to expand the paid presence on the mobile SERPS.
  • “Better Call Saul” will be no “Breaking Bad.”
  • Journalists will rebrand themselves as Content Marketing Specialists.
  • Above the fold will become less important than ever as people continue to scroll.  If the content works and is engaging, they will scroll.  The younger generation has been scrolling on iPads and other devices for years and this is becoming a de facto standard.  Having to click to get information can be considered annoying.
  • Hillary will run.
  • Chris Christie won’t.
  • eCommerce advertisers will make Shopping Ads and CSEs the backbone of their online search marketing. This will upstage Classic text.
  • Cards design, which is increasingly being adopted by Google, Apple and Microsoft, will become more prevalent. Cards design is designed to present content, images and video in a clean, concise manner.
  • “Mad Men,” “Parks and Recreation” and “Two and a Half Men” will end. The internet will be littered with complaints about their finales.
  • Expect more search marketers to have to diversify their skill set and thinking more like display marketers. Personas and behavioral targeting will increasingly layer on top of the typical keyword based targeting.
  • Courtesy of new coaching staffs, the Cubs and the Bears will reign supreme in 2015.

Breaking Away from Tradition: New Uses for SEO Research

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I may catch flak from some quarters for admitting this, but last week, I got drawn in to an episode of “The Newsroom.”

For those out of the small screen loop, “The Newsroom” chronicles the trials and tribulations of the anchor and staff of a fictitious cable news show and is the brainchild of Arron Sorkin, who created “The West Wing” as well as hit movies such as “A Few Good Men” and “The American President.”

It wasn’t the subject or its creator of “The Newsroom” that caught my interest: it was a heated argument between the news show’s president (played by Sam “Jack McCoy” Waterston) and the young, new owner of the station over the direction of the show. Waterston’s president is an old school newsman, preaching integrity, accuracy and a sturdy moral compass, while the owner wants to make new technology from on-the-street witnesses and on-the-spot reporting – checks and balances be damned – an integral part of the reporting process.

The divide between old and new marketing strategies may not be as vast – or as ethically debatable – as that between Edward R. Murrow and a tweet, but what was once an innovative means for companies to reach out to their clientele or consumer base has become old hat.

Convincing the CEO or marketing head that embraces the old school means of communication to give organic marketing and SEO a serious shot is usually no small feat. The reluctance to embrace the long-favored, yet increasingly antiquated mediums remains common in 2014.  Yet other companies have switched sides, putting their digital marketing plans for the year front and center in their annual plan at best or investing that chunk usually reserved for print, radio or television into digital and lessening their concentration on one of the old school means of communication.

Consumer behavior speaks for itself; whether they’re shopping at the local car emporium or Target, consumer online research has been the rule and not the exception for years. It’s estimated that 90% of potential customers will turn to blogs and social media sites, as well as the company’s pages, before setting foot out the door or clicking “buy.”

Companies that now rely on marketing tactics such as keyword targeting, content optimization and pay per click ads are also doing their homework. They consider the data and reports that come from these practices (which we put into play for many clients here at Leverage when it best suits their needs), but also use it as an indispensable resource for future marketing and sales campaigns. Market research that can be conducted through Google Trends/Insights and Adwords reports can help you see if the market for your product is growing or declining and also forecast seasonal trends for that product. Entire industry trends can be analyzed along with the activities of main competitors.

Additionally, SEO is moving beyond of the sales and marketing realm and is now being used by some smarter companies for other purposes, such as product research and development. Rather than inventing a product and then figuring out how to market it to the masses, Google and other search engines can give companies insight into what the consumer is looking for and create that product, upgrade or add-on based on consumer queries and other behaviors.

These are some of the reasons why Leverage Marketing can provide such powerful insights to its clients and use digital marketing and advertising to boost their business and their bottom line to the next level.

I can’t think of any print ads, TV commercials or non-digital PR tactics that provide these kinds of resources…

 

THE NEED FOR SPEED

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The Real Deal with Bob Kehoe

A few years ago, we worked with a very lucrative Midwest-based property management company, who sought out our services for their website. At the same time in which we were enhancing their Internet presence, they were also changing their management software from an antiquated program (think second Clinton term era) to a more streamlined and user-friendly program.

Having developed close relationships with their IT staff, I was often kept in the loop as to the progress of the software switch. After the launch, the new program crawled to the extent that employees returned to the DOS-based Clinton era software. Unfortunately, the property management company was tied to the new program contractually, and it would be several months – and ‘excruciating” ones at that, according to the IT head – before the kinks were worked out. Meanwhile, prospects and anyone else wanting to access the company’s site had to have the patience of a saint or bounce – the majority of them bounced.

How Site Speed Affects Your Sales

Significant loading time can be a factor in making or breaking a sale or scare off prospects from making further inquiries into a company’s operations. In an infographic provided by Kissmetrics, the following data was revealed related to consumers and page load time issues:

Could your site benefit from loading faster? GET A FREE SITE SPEED ANALYSIS

 

  • Nearly 50% of consumers anticipate waiting 2 seconds for a web page to load
  • 25% the users bounce from a website if the load time takes more than 4 seconds
  • 79% of shoppers were less likely to purchase from a site based on its subpar performance

 

Additionally, Amazon reported that a 100-millisecond increase in page speed translated to a 1% increase in its revenue. In 2010 Google announced that page load time is part of their ranking algorithm. If all this isn’t enough to convey the significance of page load speed to a business owner, I don’t know what is.

 

HOW DO WE REMEDY A SLOW WEBSITE?

In the end, our overall goal is to have our clients up and running come the day to go live, glitch-free and optimized. We want our clients’ to profit from our work on their websites and for their consumers or viewers to spend quality time purchasing their goods or services, not waiting to see what they have to offer and, in the end, go somewhere else.

 

The Leverage development team tests the speed and usability of your site before launching, and is able to diagnose and fix page loading problems your site may currently be experiencing, whether they be due to a lack of image optimization, files that need to be compressed, web hosting, setting up browser caching or minification of Java and CSS files.

 

To talk to one of our design experts on how your design or coding may be affecting your web site speed, contact us now by phone or form and we’ll get back to you right away with some answers.

Sizing Up The Competition

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Does anybody remember “Used Cars”?

For those of us of a certain age – or non-film buffs of any age – “Used Cars” is a 1980 comedy starring Kurt Russell as Rudy Russo a ruthless salesman at a struggling used car lot. Most of his time is spent trying to sell the clunkers that make up his inventory and scheming against the lot and its equally slimy manager across the street.

Anyone looking for social commentary or a clever message in between the laughs is better directed elsewhere: “Used Cars” is a boneheaded, vulgar and fun comedy worth a watch, albeit not with the young ones around.

At its core, though, “Used Cars” is about one-upping the competition, which is something any business owner or sales person strives toward regularly. And, unlike the movie, this is serious business.

In any industry, consumers can always purchase products or services at more than one place. Consumers know this, as do the companies vying for their business.

For a company to have a working knowledge about their competition’s operations is critical. Oftentimes, the competing businesses share many of the same supply vendors, compete head-to-head for new clients or accounts, and are keenly aware of any big sales or events the other guys have lined up on the horizon.

It’s also commonplace for the dueling businesses to poach each other’s employees, which can be as big a win as landing a desired contract or client. For many industries, this isn’t shifty or unethical: it’s simply the nature of the beast.

When it comes to providing a prospect a thorough assessment of their current online setup and creating a winning, long-term and profitable marketing program, we also hone in on professional opponents. Basically, when we come on board, we do a thorough competitive analysis and their competition becomes our competition.

The same detail and energy we put into evaluating a prospective client’s pre-Leverage Internet marketing operations is also put into those of their rivals. We look for any strengths they may have working in their favor and make ourselves aware of any elements sorely missing or neglected in their online operations.

As each business that requests our services or takes us on as a client is unique, our approach to providing them a winning online presence is unique as well.

We pride ourselves on tailoring a plan for our prospects that’s exclusive solely to their operations: we never have and never will offer a one-size-fits-all or boilerplate plan for any companies who seek our expertise. And this philosophy along with our competitive analysis is most important when it comes to aiding companies who look to the Internet as a means to sway clients or customers from their professional adversaries.

Also, we expect our clients to experience changes – for the better or for worse – in their business. Be it an unexpected bump in profits or the arrival of a new company with deeper pockets opening up down the road that poses a threat to their existence, we at Leverage find ways for our clients to capitalize on their surprise windfall with their website or counter any adversity when it comes to their online endeavors. While a company may experience bumps in the road, we’re continuously evolving, and all for the continued benefit of our clientele.

And unlike Russell’s Russo and his “Used Cars” cohorts, there’s not a lemon to be found in our lot.

Landing on Success

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I like to think that “The Real Deal” is appropriately titled.

Like many a blogger that came before and the many that will follow, I, more often than not, have fun shooting the proverbial shite here. Be it in my blog, in a professional setting with a prospect or established client, or shooting the breeze with friends and family outside of work, I get a charge at whatever forum is available for me to talk about what Leverage has done, can do, and its place front and center in the ever-growing internet marketing universe.

“The Real Deal” allows me to have fun in discussing these things, but fun is always secondary to the topic at hand. Take away my (occasional and admittedly goofy) insights and the primary goal is simple: relay to readers what Leverage has to offer and back up each entry with a Leverage or industry-related issue that I will sign off on without hesitation.

Or, to turn a phrase here, I have not, nor do I plan to, write a check here that my arse can’t cash.

In fact, there are many services and tools we encourage our prospects to consider that Leverage relies upon and utilizes when it comes to our marketing goals.

Here’s an easy example: for many of our clients, we incorporate the use of landing pages into their marketing strategy.  Generally, landing pages aren’t accessible through site navigation. For the most part, they bring in traffic from social ads, browser ads or long-tail searches. When the search history of a consumer or prospect shows that they are either ready to make a purchase or take the next step as it relates to our client’s operations, the consumer is then taken to a landing page.

Landing pages are designed with a singular goal: to convert. The landing page is a shortcut from wherever a user might be online to a page that can close the deal immediately. Landing pages are not only used for the B2C sale of consumer goods, they can also be used for micro-conversions that give hot leads to your sales team. For example, landing pages can provide another type of transaction: information for information. A landing page can ask for a tidbit of the prospect’s information, such as an email address, in exchange for a white paper or case study. This acts as a stepping stone of sorts for the next phase in what the client hopes is a profitable relationship with the person or organization on the other side of the monitor or tablet.

We at Leverage use landing pages for ourselves to reach prospects when they are ready to do more than just browse for internet marketing companies. Our pages prompt the prospect to give basic information (name, e-mail address and phone number) that provides us an introduction of sorts. The end goal for the page is that they request initial contact with us. Once they do, we can move the ball further down the field.

Over the years, landing pages have proven successful for Leverage. At the very least, we received inquiries from companies seriously considering making an investment in the marketing of their company or overhauling their current digital marketing model. Our clients have also reaped many benefits, from direct online sales credited solely to the placement of our pages to bringing browsers further down the path to conversion.

To me, that’s yet another real – and good – deal.

CHEERS TO RETARGETING!

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It’s funny how a couple casual cold ones with a friend can turn into fuel for this here blog.

A few Fridays ago, I met up with a pal for a pit stop close to the home front. Being a Friday afternoon, the corner pub was its usual busy self, but on this particular end-of-week stop, all eyes were on a table full of 20-somethings and early 30-somethings who, judging by the rowdy celebration (not to mention quantity of booze consumed), were celebrating landing a big client or account.

Anyone whose livelihood is tied to sales should be able to identify with these guys. The crushing hangover that had to follow that Saturday morning, though, is optional.

The importance pretty much any company puts on new business is immeasurable, from the CFO making sense out of spreadsheets and percentages to the corporate salesperson whose fate lies in those numbers their bosses are looking over. New business is paramount, putting it mildly, to companies of all sizes, shapes and forms.

Leverage is hardly immune to this mindset. Like any business of any size, our annual goal isn’t solely to keep the lights on and our staff paid: we want to prosper and grow, both fiscally and in terms of innovation, at a steady clip. We are also elated when our hard work results in a new client and, on the other side of the coin, have been dealt our fair share of blows in terms of missed opportunities.

Yet to continue to thrive, we at Leverage are just as concerned about maintaining our relationships with the clients who have rewarded us with their business. That means continuous evolution of their online marketing strategies, with the end result being further success – and profit – in their online endeavors as well as continued satisfaction with our work.

For our clients, this means retaining their customers or clients. Once they have established their relationships with their base, continuing and expanding upon those relations is crucial.  While this is a long-term and continuously evolving process for all parties involved, the cost to our clients to retarget their customers is, compared to the cost of establishing the relationship in the beginning, much lower, and the practice is as, if not, more rewarding long-term than bringing them into the fold the first time. We all know how significant the lifetime value of a client is. Retargeting keeps customers in the loop and makes the rewards of customer lifetime value a reality.

Retargeting generally produces between 25%-40% more in sales revenue than targeting new clients

There are many approaches to site retargeting for an online client base, but three proven methods immediately come to mind:

  • Using marketing automation to trigger customized e-mail retargeting based on the browsing and purchasing behavior of customers.
  • Using paid search to retarget current customers with ads based on items they have viewed.
  • Using an e-mail database to trigger ads in social media news feeds based on the clients’ interests.
  • Remarketing solutions generally produces between 25%-40% more sales revenue than targeting new clients.

To me, the ability to be a company that continues to dazzle our clients by retargeting their proven customers with unique and profitable solutions is as satisfying and worth celebrating – be it with a Budweiser, bourbon or Barq’s root beer in hand – as that first success. First time clients are exciting, but repeat customers are what keep you in business. Are you ready to start reaching out to your customers? Contact us today for a FREE evaluation on your digital marketing strategy and learn how retargeting can benefit your business!

CREATING THE PERFECT WAVE FOR SURFING SHOPPERS

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Here are a couple dates that, depending on what side of the fence you sit on, will have you circling your calendars or hiding for cover:

Black Friday, the quote-official-end quote retail kickoff to the holiday shopping season, is November 28. “CyberMonday,” its online counterpart, is slated for Dec. 1.

Both retail and Internet shopping present pros and cons for me. Being of a certain age, I have fond memories of trips to malls or department behemoths, be it with my parents shopping for me for Santa or making the rounds for my kids during the holidays. I’m also appreciative of the luxuries the click of a mouse and a credit card number afford when it comes to stacking the space around my Christmas tree or stuffing stockings.

In fact, the latter is starting to take precedence over the former. Why battle packed parking lots, hordes of shoppers and long lines at cash registers when I don’t have to start the car? Or require footwear, for that matter?

The big retail chains have prepared for the growth in online ecommerce and have designed ecommerce sites that are extremely user friendly, converting visitors to customers online. This allows them to capture a share of the over $262 billion dollars being spent online. These large ecommerce sites are sure to see a boost in their fourth quarter earnings, courtesy of their well-oiled online sales machines.

Through experience we've found that successful ecommerce businesses treat their websites like storefronts.

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for many smaller, market-specific shops with ecommerce presences.

A couple years back, for example, I was looking high and low for a hard-to-find vinyl album for a friend of mine and, despite locating it on a music-geared website from a Midwest record store, it took no small amount of work on my part to track it down within the site’s confines. After purchasing it, I saw it on a competitor’s website that was much easier to navigate.

Our primary goal at Leverage, for all of our clients including ecommerce clients, is to promote and optimize their online operations to gain them the best returns possible. For ecommerce, driving relevant traffic to the site – which we’ve optimized to convert visits to sales – is of chief importance. We’ve seen great success in marketing ecommerce websites and have turned numerous online stores around from stagnation to monthly revenue increases. There is no doubt about it, the online ecommerce landscape is competitive but the opportunity is huge. It requires staying on the cutting edge of online marketing, design and reporting and measurement.

Through our experience, we’ve found that successful e-commerce businesses treat their websites like their physical storefronts. Storefronts, in order to be successful, require maintenance, investments into upgrades, advertising and promotion, customer service, and an efficient sales process. Consider how your ecommerce site would appear in the physical world and ask yourself, would anyone come to that store and purchase a product? If you have any doubts, you may not be ready for the upcoming shopping season.

Nuts & Bolts of Online Niche Marketing | Leverage Marketing

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When I was a young teenager – think between 13 and 15 years old – pickings were slim for a lot of my peers when it came to generating income independently.

 

Too old to completely rely on an allowance from your folks and, with the minimum age to work a proper part time job being 16, too young to find anything steady and that paid regularly, my choices, as well as most of my friends growing up in my neighborhood in the early 80s, were basically regulated to paper routes, cutting lawns, and odd jobs and errands for neighbors and family members.

 

Danny was a junior high school friend of mine who found a unique approach to lining his pockets:  most Saturday mornings, a couple days a week during the summer and on the occasional school day off, Danny weighed and filled tiny boxes of screws, nuts and bolts for a company that provided supplies to a supply wholesaler that catered primarily to electrical and industrial wholesale companies.

 

This being junior high, Danny was the butt of many a wisecrack and often went by the handle “screwball” or “screwhead,” depending on which clique you were in. But I gave Danny a lot of credit: he was industrious enough – or jumped at the opportunity offered by a friend or family connection – to take on work for himself at a job that wasn’t the norm for your average young urban teen.

 

I am extremely loath to refer to the company Danny worked for as “off the beaten path” but, as I’ve seen over the years,  many a small business that caters to a specific professional sect  give little, if any, attention to their wholesale internet marketing.

 

The business owners or CEO’s rationale for this may be valid: their companies primarily attract vendors and companies with whom they’ve already established working relationships, companies already considering doing business with them, and their competition. Also, given the industry-specific nature of their operations, a niche marketing strategy with a thriving website isn’t essential and/or worth investing in.

a key to specialty marketing success is in the content

Yet Leverage has made many specialized business owners change their tune in this regard and reap rewards he or she never thought possible with their niche marketing and online presence.

 

A key to this success is in content, and this is where the specialized nature of the business works in their favor. Online, we have a canvas to be thorough in our description of the business, its products or services, and its operations. We also have the opportunity to educate site readers on the history and workings of the particular industry as well. Throw in continuous updates with industry-minded news and content, and that website becomes a destination for those vendors, prospects, and competitors and the company may be recognized as leaders in their field.

 

Recently, we broadened the Internet horizons for a data center equipment company, a document scanning business and data storage outfit. And these are only three specialty companies who have seen what informing prospects online can do for them, thanks to the Leverage touch. As a prime example, our client selling data center equipment has seen an 858% increase in organic traffic since May of this year.

 

While a company’s reach may be tailored to a specific group, the opportunities a well-constructed and informative site can provide can prove to be boundless in the long run.

 

To get help with your online niche marketing approach, Contact Us.