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Don’t Be Scared of AI: A Marketer’s Guide to Overcoming Fear and Maximizing Potential

AI has been making waves in recent months, with advancements in technology fueling discussions and piquing interest across various industries. From sophisticated writing assistants to innovative image editors, it feels like AI is everywhere. But for many marketers, diving into the world of AI can feel a bit daunting.

Questions start swirling: “Will our content sound too robotic if we use AI?” or “Can people tell if our blogs were written by a machine?” It’s natural to have these concerns when you’re thinking about bringing AI into your marketing game.

But we’re here to tell you – don’t be scared of AI, embrace it. AI isn’t here to take over our jobs—it’s here to make them easier. Sure, there might be a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, AI can be a game-changer for your marketing strategy. 

So, let’s tackle those worries head-on and see how we can make AI work for us, not against us.

AI Can Get You 60% of the Way There

Let’s address the elephant in the room: the fear of sounding robotic or artificial. It’s a valid concern, but AI isn’t here to replace human creativity entirely. At Digital Storyteller, we’ve found that AI can take us about 60% of the way. It helps us generate ideas, outlines, and even assists in rewriting awkward sentences.  But, we still need writers to edit, fact check, and make everything sound human. 

Insider tip: Also have your writers double check for words that are especially known to be AI. Our running list includes words such as: landscape, demystify, realm, unveil,  crucial, and ending with “in conclusion.” Now that we told you the insider secret, see how many blogs begin with “In the complex landscape of…” 

How AI Can Streamline the Writing Process

Writing can be a time-consuming process, but with the help of AI, we can streamline various aspects of content creation to make it more efficient and effective.

Topic Generation

Gone are the days of staring at a blank page with no idea where to start with topics for blogs. How do we begin writing with the AI process at Digital Storyteller? We enter data and generate a list of potential topics. From there, we can propose multiple options to our clients or choose the strongest topics ourselves.

Improving Research

AI-powered tools can quickly gather and analyze vast amounts of data from various sources, providing writers with valuable insights and information to support their writing. For example, AI can scan through relevant articles, studies, and industry reports to gather data on a specific topic, saving writers hours of manual research time.

Enhancing Creativity

AI can enhance creativity by generating creative ideas, suggesting unique angles, and providing inspiration for engaging content topics. By analyzing existing content and identifying patterns, AI can propose innovative approaches to storytelling and content creation, helping writers overcome creative blocks and generate fresh ideas.

Automating Repetitive Tasks

Tasks like formatting, proofreading, and fact-checking can be automated using AI, freeing up writers’ time to focus on more high-level aspects of content creation. AI-powered tools can automatically correct grammar and spelling errors, ensure consistency in writing style and tone, and even suggest improvements to sentence structure and clarity.

Challenges with AI and How to Overcome Them

As beneficial as AI can be in streamlining the writing process, there are also challenges that businesses may face when implementing AI-powered tools. 

However, with the right strategies and approaches, these challenges can be overcome.

Adoption and Integration

One of the primary challenges is the adoption and integration of AI technology into existing workflows. Many businesses may be hesitant to embrace AI due to concerns about complexity, cost, or resistance to change. To overcome this challenge, it’s essential to provide training and support to employees, clearly communicate the benefits of AI, and gradually integrate AI tools into existing processes.

Quality Control

Another challenge is ensuring the quality and accuracy of content generated by AI. While AI can assist in generating ideas and content, it’s crucial to maintain human oversight to ensure that the content aligns with brand standards, is factually accurate, and resonates with the target audience. Implementing quality control measures, such as manual review and editing, can help maintain the integrity of the content.

Creativity and Originality

AI-generated content may sometimes lack creativity and originality, leading to generic or uninspired writing. To overcome this challenge, businesses should use AI as a tool to supplement human creativity rather than replace it entirely. By combining AI-generated ideas with human creativity and expertise, businesses can produce more engaging and impactful content that resonates with their audience.

Ethical Considerations

Ethical considerations, such as bias in AI algorithms or concerns about data privacy, can also pose challenges when using AI in content creation. It’s essential for businesses to prioritize transparency, accountability, and ethical AI practices to ensure that AI-powered tools are used responsibly and ethically. This may involve regular audits of AI algorithms, data privacy protections, and ongoing monitoring of AI-generated content.

By addressing these challenges proactively and implementing best practices, businesses can leverage AI effectively to streamline the writing process, improve content quality, and drive greater success in their marketing and communication efforts.

Final Notes

By capitalizing on the benefits of AI in marketing while remaining mindful of the implementation challenges, businesses can unlock new opportunities, drive growth, and stay ahead in their industry.
Interested in finding out more? Read on to learn about the ROI of organic digital marketing (yes, it can be measured!) Then, get in touch with our team to schedule your FREE Brand Storytelling Session.

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How Digital Marketing Supports In-Person Events

So, it’s finally happening—everyone’s dusting off their business cards, polishing their pitches, and diving back into in-person events. But wait a minute… Do you find yourself staring at a pile of outdated materials from 2019 and wondering how to make your presence felt in this brave new world?

Don’t worry –  marketing has your back! In fact, it’s here to support your in-person events in more ways than you think. 

Amanda Rogers, Owner and Chief Creative Officer, and Andrew Marr, Owner and CEO, dive into all the details in the video below:

Let’s dive into the exciting ways marketing can elevate your event game and make you stand out like never before.

How Can Digital Marketing Support In-person Events?

Let’s explore how digital marketing can take your event strategy to the next level:

Digital Promotion: Broadcasting Your Presence

Digital marketing serves as the megaphone for your in-person event, spreading the word through invitations, reminders, and social media posts. It ensures your entire network knows you’ll be at the conference or booth, inviting them to swing by and join in.

Personalized Outreach: Targeted Communication

In addition to broad promotion, digital marketing enables personalized outreach. It segments distribution lists to send tailored invitations to key individuals, ensuring they feel valued and informed about your special event or booth presence.

Post-Event Follow-Up: Maintaining Connections

Once the event is over, digital marketing doesn’t leave attendees hanging. It facilitates post-event follow-ups, seamlessly integrating contacts into your CRM and initiating drip campaigns to nurture ongoing relationships. This ensures you stay connected and don’t lose touch with valuable leads.

Design Excellence: Professional Presentation

Your marketing agency, like ours at Digital Storyteller, provides essential design support, creating polished visual assets such as pull-up banners, tent folds, and tablecloths. These materials ensure you appear professional and prepared, ready to make a strong impression at your event. 

Live Engagement: Interactive Experiences

Digital marketing doesn’t just stop at promotion; it can enhance engagement during the event itself. Live streaming, interactive polls, and social media engagement can create real-time connections with both attendees and those who couldn’t make it in person. This dynamic interaction adds depth to your event, making it memorable and fostering a sense of community among participants.

Data Insights: Informed Decision Making

One of the most powerful aspects of digital marketing is its ability to provide comprehensive data analytics. By leveraging tools like Google Analytics or social media insights, you can gather valuable data on attendee demographics, engagement levels, and content performance. These insights enable you to make informed decisions for future events, refining your strategies to better meet the needs and interests of your audience.

Content Amplification: Extending Reach

Beyond the event itself, digital marketing extends the lifespan of your content and messaging. Through blog posts, email newsletters, and social media recaps, you can amplify the impact of your event by reaching those who couldn’t attend in person. This not only maximizes your ROI but also keeps your brand top-of-mind long after the event has ended.

Community Building: Nurturing Relationships

In today’s interconnected world, building a community around your brand is essential for long-term success. Digital marketing provides avenues for ongoing engagement with event attendees, fostering a sense of belonging and loyalty. From online forums to exclusive content offerings, you can continue to nurture relationships with your audience, turning one-time event attendees into loyal advocates for your brand.

Integration with Sales: Driving Conversions

Ultimately, the goal of any marketing effort is to drive conversions and generate revenue. Digital marketing seamlessly integrates with your sales process, providing valuable leads and insights that can be leveraged to close deals. By aligning your marketing and sales efforts, you can maximize the ROI of your in-person events and ensure they contribute directly to your bottom line.

Any Questions?

The goal of an outsourced digital marketing agency is to understand your business and your brand voice to then let the world know how awesome you are.

We start every engagement with a Brand Storytelling Session where we identify your unique brand voice. Then, our team uses bi-weekly client calls, and shared content calendars to make sure you know what’s happening.

We’ll bring you fresh ideas from our kick-a** creative team from a relationship built on trust. Because that’s the beauty of digital marketing.

Download our Ultimate Guide to B2B Marketing for Financial Services Companies here (yes, you’ll want to check this out).

For those who are interested in learning more about the difference between outsourced marketing and in-house marketing, read on here.

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B2B vs. B2C Marketing: What’s the Difference?

sign pointing one way to b2b marketing and the other way to b2c marketing

Business-to-business (B2B) companies know that their business-to-consumer (B2C) counterparts invest thousands in marketing every month and see great ROI.

Yet, B2B companies consistently underperform when adopting the same strategies as those consumer-facing brands.

WHY? Because (shocker!) B2B marketing is different from B2C marketing.

In this article, we will highlight the differences between B2B marketing vs. B2C marketing, as well as why we start with organic content long before we encourage our clients to invest in pricey ad campaigns.

What is B2B Marketing?

Business-to-business marketing, more commonly known as B2B marketing, is the process of selling products or services to other businesses. This can include anything from office supplies to software, to industrial equipment.

B2B marketing is usually more complex than B2C marketing, as it involves more decision-makers and requires a deeper understanding of the needs of businesses. 

Moreover, B2B marketing budgets are usually larger than B2C marketing budgets, as businesses have more money to spend on products and services.

What is B2C Marketing?

Business-to-consumer marketing, or B2C marketing, is the process of selling products or services to consumers. This can include anything from clothing to cosmetics, to appliances.

B2C marketing is typically more focused on emotion and creating a personal connection with consumers, while B2B marketing is more focused on logic and rational decision-making.

B2C marketing often has a shorter sales cycle than B2B marketing, as businesses take less time to make decisions about purchases.

What’s the Difference Between B2B vs B2C Marketing?

So, what’s the difference between B2B and B2C marketing? Here are a few key points to recap:

  • B2B marketing is usually more complex than B2C marketing, as it involves more decision-makers and requires a deeper understanding of the needs of businesses.
  • B2C marketing is typically more focused on emotion and creating a personal connection with consumers, while B2B marketing is more focused on logic and rational decision-making.
  • B2B marketing often has a longer sales cycle than B2C marketing, as businesses take more time to make decisions about purchases.
  • B2B marketing budgets are usually larger than B2C marketing budgets, as businesses have more money to spend on products and services.

Why Do We Focus on B2B Clients at Digital Storyteller?

At Digital Storyteller, we focus on marketing for B2B financial services companies. 

Why? Because we recognized a need and a gap in industry offerings. After all, there are plenty of agencies out there who spend their time on biotech, startups, and influencer marketing—but not a lot who spend their time with financial services.

We love to focus on this niche—using the “Digital Storyteller Hierarchy of Marketing”—because it’s a competitive and unique industry to market for.

Those in the financial services industry navigate the difficult terrain of regulatory and compliance hurdles while seeking to successfully market their products and services. This considered, it’s essential that financial services companies seek out the right marketing for their businesses.

Interested in learning more? Read on in “The Importance of Digital Marketing for Financial Services.”

A Final Word

So, there you have it! A brief overview of the difference between B2B marketing and B2C marketing. Keep these key points in mind when planning your marketing strategy, and you’ll be sure to appeal to the right audience.

Interested in finding out more? Read on to learn about the ROI of organic digital marketing (yes, it can be measured!) Then, get in touch with our team to schedule your FREE Brand Storytelling Session.

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Why Do You Need Video in Your Digital Marketing Strategy?

girl on video using camera on tripod to build her digital marketing strategy

Are you a business owner? If the answer is yes, please tell us you’re incorporating video into your digital marketing strategy… If you’re not, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity. 

Why? Because video is crucial to showcasing your brand and ultimately, getting more clients. And what business owner doesn’t want more clients? After you’re done with this article, circle back to find out how to attract the right clients.

But for now, we’ve got Andrew Marr, Owner and CEO of Digital Storyteller on camera to discuss the importance of using video in your digital marketing strategy.

Let’s hear what this ranting Scot has to say.

Why is Video Important to My Digital Marketing Strategy?

So, why is video important? At Digital Storyteller, we love our metrics and statistics. (Our awesome SEO manager, Devin Aubert, however, is on another level when it comes to statistics love!)

This considered, we thought we’d demonstrate the importance and popularity of video with some stats from Techjury. Let’s take a look at the booming industry. Did you know…

  • “Video is the number 1 source of information for 66% of people.
  • Over 500 million people watch Facebook videos every day.
  • More than 75% of all video views come from mobile devices.
  • The global video market was valued at $39.61 billion in 2018…” (Imagine where it’s at now!?)
  • “YouTubers upload 300 hours of video content to the platform every minute.
  • 93% of businesses gain new customers as a result of branded video content.”

The point is so many individuals watch videos nowadays.

In fact, our owner and CEO Andrew admits to watching at least 50 to 100 short videos a day through Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Hey, it’s where his enjoyment sits!

But it’s not just cute puppy videos that grab his attention, Andrew reminds us.

“I learn from video. Most clients in the financial services world, the clients that we work with, have a hard time with video, and understandably so…”

Why? Truth is, it’s hard to sit in front of the camera and talk, especially about ourselves!

Today, Andrew says, your digital marketing strategy must include not only long-form blogs, newsletters, white papers, etc. but also videos. Why? If not, you’re missing out on a huge group of viewers, and therefore, prospects.

How Can I Get Started?

So, if you’re a business owner, you might be wondering… “How do I get started with this video stuff?”

Don’t worry, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

All you need in terms of video length is 30 seconds to a minute.

“But what do I talk about?!” Don’t worry—Think about the questions you receive over and over as a business owner.

For Andrew, these questions include the following:

  • Why should I outsource my marketing?
  • How long does it take to see an ROI when it comes to organic marketing?
  • Why does Digital Storyteller specialize in financial services?
  • How much does your marketing cost?
  • What is organic content marketing?

So, think: What are the five main recurring questions you get? Then, sit down and answer those questions.

Make your videos short and to the point.

If you’re not answering a question that you frequently get from clients, consider telling a story instead. You can tell a story about…

  • How your business helped a client
  • Someone on your team

You can even ask a client to record a video testimonial for you if you’re not quite ready to jump in front of the camera yourself! Here’s how to ask for a client testimonial.

Still Not Convinced?

Video is social media’s favorite form of content right now. By using video, you will increase your traffic, up your engagement, AND people will simply get to know you better by seeing your face, hearing you talk, and getting to know your personality!

Read on for more information about boosting your engagement via video in our article “Want to Connect with Your Prospects? Use Video.”

How to Record a Great Video

Need more guidance? Not sure what to wear in the video? Or, how to position your camera? Read our article “How to Record a Great Zoom Testimonial” for all the answers you seek.

PS: These tips apply just as well to non-Zoom video recordings! Happy recording!

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Your Guide to Marketing KPIs

tracking marketing kpis

SEO, CTA, KPI … The list of terms you need to know for your marketing strategy seems to go on and on. We’re here to help break it down and make it easy for you to understand. Keep reading for our full guide to marketing key performance indicators (KPIs).

What is a KPI?

KPI stands for key performance indicator. They are a way to measure performance over time. Following certain metrics over time can help your business reach milestones, gauge processes, and provide insight to make better business decisions. 

What Marketing KPIs Should You Track?

Tracking the right key performance indicators can provide a holistic view of how  your business is performing. 

We, like Semrush, believe that these are some of the best KPIs you should be tracking:SEO KPIs

  1. Conversions: How many of your site visitors are qualified leads? How many of them convert to closed sales? 
  2. ROI: Return on investment is a metric that tells you how profitable an investment is/was, in this case, likely how profitable your marketing investment was.
  3. Organic Visibility: How are people finding your site? Are you showing up through organic search?
  4. Organic Sessions: How many users are finding your site through an organic search? 
  5. Bounce Rate: How quickly are users leaving your site after visiting? If your site is not user-friendly, loads slowly, or doesn’t provide the information your users are looking for, they might exit the site after viewing only a single page. 
  6. Average Time on Page: How long are your users spending on your site pages? Pages with more content, such as blogs or videos, typically tend to drive longer time on-page.
  7. Organic CTR (click-through rate): Does your site have clear calls to action (CTAs)? How often are users clicking buttons or links on your site? Which buttons/links are you driving them to click?
  8. Backlinks: Sites with higher authority are more likely to see increased backlinks. If your site provides valuable, authoritative information that users find helpful, and useful, they may be more likely to link to it from their own sites. This helps drive referral traffic to your site and continues to support authority improvements. 
  9. Keyword rankings: Keyword rankings are the primary driver of organic search traffic. Targeting specific keywords relevant to what your business does is critical to increasing organic search traffic. It’s important to track keywords in two ways: total ranking keywords, and keyword ranking positions. 
  10. Branded vs. Non-Branded Traffic: Branded keywords are directly related to your unique business. For our brand, this would include keywords such as “Digital Storyteller,” “Digital Storyteller marketing agency,” “Andrew Marr,” etc. Non-branded keywords are those that your site ranks for that are not specific to you, such as “digital marketing,” “social media management,” and “search engine optimization.”
  11. Page Speed: Page speed is a huge determinant of how your site performs. According to backlinko, the average page loading speed is 10.3 seconds on desktop and 27.3 seconds on mobile. If your site takes longer than this to load, chances are your user won’t wait and will instead visit a competitor’s site instead. Safe to say we’ve become a pretty impatient society … 
  12. Coverage Issues: Performing site audits can ensure that your site is functioning properly and that Google is indexing and reading your site as it should be. Google Search Console is a critical tool in identifying coverage issues and can help you solve any issues that you find.  

How to Develop your Marketing KPI Strategy

Your business’ marketing KPI strategy should be unique to your business needs. Sure, you can glean ideas from other similar business models, but tailor yours to help guide you where you want to go. 

Here are a few tips on how to develop your marketing KPI strategy.

  1. Define your KPIs- Which specific KPIs will your business track? How will you collect the data and how often will you track shifts? 
  2. Use the SMART Method- KPIs should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-Bound. For example, “Onboard 7 new clients in the next 12 months.”
  3. Keep your KPIs clear- Your team should understand your KPIs and how to act on them to make decisions that ultimately lead to reaching your goals.
  4. Revisit your plan- Sometimes plans need to change. Revisit your KPI strategy to make sure the strategy is still working for you. Maybe you need to adjust a few action items based to keep propelling forward in the right direction. 
  5. Don’t overdo it with KPIs- Try to avoid doing too much, too quickly. With access to a plethora of data, it can be easy to try to measure every little thing. We recommend using the information to stay on track with your most important targets- however you define them. This will help you avoid KPI overload. 

See an example below of how we at Digital Storyteller keep track of the important KPIs to our business strategy.

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How to Ask for Client Testimonials

man using a phone

Frequently, our clients ask us, “Should I ask for testimonials?” or, “Do people even read testimonials?” and, “Should we do video testimonials?”

The short answer to all of these questions is… YES!

The bottom line is that we receive a lot of questions around the idea of other people (past or current clients!) talking about what you do as a business and how you help people.

So, how do you request a client testimonial? Listen to our CEO, Andrew Marr, speak more about how to ask for a video testimonial.

Why Are Testimonials Important? 

Don’t lie, you’ve spent time on Yelp or scoured Google reviews… The truth is, as we all know it, a review can make or break someone’s decision to partner with your business.

Use this fact to your advantage. This means you should showcase clients you’ve helped and those you’ve created great partnerships with (because your business is awesome!)

Collecting and displaying testimonials for the world to see helps prospects know how great it is to work with you. After all, Boast found that 72% of consumers say positive testimonials help increase their trust in a business.

Testimonials are powerful, and video testimonials are especially imperative to tell the story of how you helped people.

Many of us grew up in a culture of not asking for help and not talking about ourselves. Video testimonials, however, go against the grain.

When you ask a client to contribute a testimonial for your business, what you’re essentially asking is, “Please, will you talk about us? Will you talk about how we helped you?”

(Hint: These questions are super consequential to those reading—or watching—your testimonial!)

Different questions you can ask your clients to help guide the testimonial are:

  • How did we solve a problem for you?
  • How did we help you save money?  
  • What was working with us like?
  • Why do you like working with us?
  • How can others benefit from partnering with us?

If you ask your client for a video testimonial, remind them that it doesn’t need to be very long at all. Ideally, the video should be very short, 30 seconds to one minute. Keep it straight to the point.

The clients might need some coaching, but it’s very easily done.

Lucky for you, we have an entire article that you can send to your clients to prep them titled, “How to Record a Great Zoom Testimonial.” Check it out!

Once you have the video, put it everywhere. We recommend testimonials live on your website, in blog posts, on LinkedIn, and more. Tell the world how you help people. Hell, shout it from the rooftops!

We’re sure that the clients that you did help will be more than happy to do this for you. 

The Right Way to Ask for Client Testimonials

Don’t make things complicated. It’s just five simple steps.

  1. You have to ask for a testimonial to get one. Think about it… When was the last time you gave a testimonial unprompted? You can ask clients whom you’ve partnered with for years, a new client who is excited to partner with you, the list goes on!
  1. Create an easy form fill for your clients to fill out their experience with you. Strike while the iron’s hot and ask for the testimonial during or right after the conclusion of your partnership (these days you can also ask for a testimonial through a short text message).
  1. Offer an incentive. Think outside of the box of gifts! An incentive can be more brand recognition on your website.
  1. Post the testimonial (with a nice headshot) on your website. 
  1. Check out our testimonials page on our website for more inspiration. 
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5 Signs You Need a Digital Marketing Agency

Digital Marketing Team optimizing marketing for business

How do you know if you need a digital marketing agency? The simple answer is: if you’re ready to focus on your business and do what you do best. Then, you can let a marketing agency do what they do best- help market your business. 

There are, however, more signs that your business is ready to partner with an outsourced marketing agency. 

1. You have a Reactive, Not a Proactive Marketing Plan 

Yes, there is a time and a place for a reactive strategy, but that time and place is not with your marketing. Why? Because reactive marketing doesn’t work. It’s a band-aid for a long-term problem. 

It usually sounds like this… “Oh s**t, we don’t have any holiday posts scheduled for tomorrow!” and/or “We need more leads, ASAP!” Last-minute posts made hastily are more prone to contain errors or be off-brand. 

At Digital Storyteller, we help create a proactive marketing plan for our clients through our content calendar that details an entire month’s worth of content.  This accessible and downloadable template can be customized to fit each client’s needs. It also helps our team stay aligned with deliverables. 

Need a Thanksgiving post? Boom added to the calendar. Celebrating an employee’s birthday? Bam! Added to the calendar. 

Trust us, this content calendar is the best thing since sliced bread. 

2. You’re Not Focused on Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Are you focused on Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? If not, how are people supposed to find you in the black hole of Google?


Amazing blog posts paired with a stunning website can only get you so far without SEO. SEO is how you can tailor your content to rank for search engines like Google. For an in-depth review of SEO, read our article here.  

When you use SEO consistently and throughout your content and social media, you’ll see organic growth, keyword ranking, and a higher authority score. Hint- it’s what we see with our clients when we apply these same methods. 

3. Your Content Isn’t Consistent 

Be honest with yourself: Is your business posting content consistently? That could look like weekly blog posts, and at least 3 social posts a week. It won’t cut it anymore to post on social media when you feel like it. In today’s market, your audience is looking at how active you are. 

Posting consistent content helps build a better experience for your customers by building credibility and trust. You are seen as an authority in your field as well as a resource for people to go to. 

The audience we’ve built at our digital marketing agency knows to expect to see a new article a week along with social posts on our different social media platforms.

4. You’re Not Posting on Your Social Media Platforms 

Now that you know you need to post consistent content, let’s discuss where you should be posting this regular content. 

As an organic digital marketing agency, we believe in the value of blog posts on your business’ website. Each week, we announce our new blog post on social media platforms that work best for us: LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. To find out which social media platforms your business should be on, read here.

We also use these social platforms to post relevant content that add value to our audience. Sometimes, we like to have a little fun with our social posts (okay maybe most of the time we do!)  

You’re Not Optimizing for Mobile

It’s 2022, everyone uses their phones for everything- unless somehow you managed to survive this long with just a flip phone. 

Everything you do, from emails, blog posts, website builds and social posts should be optimized for mobile. Think about it, we all live on our phones. According to research from Oberlo, 63% of Google’s United States organic search traffic came from a mobile device. 

It’s time to get with the times and be as mobile-friendly as possible. If not, you may lose customers who are frustrated with navigating something that is non-mobile friendly. 

A Final Note

If you find yourself committing one or more of these marketing no-nos, it’s a sign that it’s time for you to partner with a digital marketing agency. An outsourced partner has the resources to help your business grow, rank, find leads, and establish yourself as an authority in your field. 


Read on to learn about more benefits of outsourced marketing.

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Your Email Marketing Sucks… Here’s How to Fix It

person using laptop on email with email icons popping up

So, you’re a business owner, and your email marketing strategy sucks. It might be ineffective for a number of reasons. Perhaps:

  • Your business doesn’t have the bandwidth to have a consistent email marketing strategy
  • Creative copy isn’t your forte and your emails are boring
  • Or, you didn’t even know you were supposed to be focused on email marketing! (Of course, you have a lot of other things going on while running a business…)

Regardless of what the reason may be, poor email marketing isn’t going to cut it anymore. So, let’s talk about how to fix your email marketing.

What is Email Marketing?

Email marketing, according to Mailchimp, is “a form of marketing that can make the customers on your email list aware of new products, discounts, and other services.”

Why Is Email Marketing Important?

Email marketing is extremely important for your business. However, promoting products, discounts, and services isn’t the only thing email marketing is used for.

Email marketing is a great way to:

  • Incentivize customer loyalty
  • Educate your audience on the value of your brand
  • Keep clients and prospects engaged between purchases

And yet, according to Inc., 60% of small business owners don’t use email marketing. What a shame!

What Platform Can I Use for My Email Marketing?

There are a TON of platforms you can use in crafting a killer email marketing strategy. At Digital Storyteller, we work with a number of different customer relationship management (CRM) softwares to design, build, and optimize our clients’ email marketing strategies, including:

  • Hubspot
  • Constant Contact
  • Salesforce
  • Pardot
  • Campaign Monitor
  • Stripo

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

How We Create Kicka** Emails

Let’s take your email marketing strategy from meh to awesome! Let’s start off with an example.

Our Most Recent Email Workflow

So, we know we previously mentioned all of the different CRMs you can use… But, it’s not all about the software you use. In fact, what’s IN the email and as well as the CADENCE of your emails is more important than anything.

Here’s a sneak peek into an email workflow Digital Storyteller recently launched for ourselves. It’s a “prospect workflow,” a series of emails are sent to prospective clients to accomplish a specific goal (i.e. onboarding a service or purchasing a product). For us, in this case, it’s to onboard a new content client!

Below is a screenshot of the first email in our prospect email marketing series. The subject line was: “Why Would You Outsource Your Marketing?”

This email received GREAT feedback, with over 600 opens and 48.6% of people read the email (“read,” according to HubSpot, is defined as contacts who have “opened and viewed [the email] for eight or more seconds”).

People responded directly to the number and we got some prospecting calls on the calendar as a result. Why?

  • The email was FUNNY (in our brand voice!)
  • It was punchy yet informative
  • It provided a call to action (“Find out more”)

Emails will look different for everyone as far as brand voice and what your call to action is (depending on what you’re trying to get the reader to do), but here’s what every email should include.

What Every Successful Email Should Include

There are a few elements to consider when crafting awesome emails. (No, it’s not as easy as just slapping something together! Well, it is… But that wouldn’t provide a great ROI, would it?)

Define Your Target Audience

A majority of cold emails get ignored.

This considered, the first thing you need to do is define your target audience. This concept goes further than just creating a list of who your ideal clients are.

You need to understand your target audience at their core. In our prospect email workflow at Digital Storyteller, we used a combination of Andrew Marr’s (the Owner and CEO of Storyteller!) existing LinkedIn database as well as the LinkedIn connections from his Kennected sequence (Kennected is a LinkedIn automation, messaging, and outreach tool that we use) to increase response rates.

Connecting with people prior to emailing them adds a human touch and is a great strategy to practice.

Read on to learn more about how to attract the ideal client.

Catchy Subject Line

For a cold email to get read, you need a catchy subject line.

Your subject line needs to be descriptive, short, and something your ideal client would want to open. Examples of subject lines that have worked for us?

One time we titled a prospect email “We think our clients are sexy…” And boy, was this email a wild success! People were shocked, and of course, opened the email… which then said:

“Get your mind out of the gutter – we mean we think our clients’ businesses (financial services) are sexy… At Digital Storyteller, we work exclusively with financial services companies. It’s our bread and butter.”

Now, we get that this type of subject line won’t work for everyone (we’re Jesters!) – but it works for our brand voice.

At Digital Storyteller, we believe marketing without a brand voice is like a margarita without tequila… Learn more about the importance of brand voice.

Preview Text

Preview text is the words that show up next to or beneath the email subject. It’s a sneak peek of the coming email. And do you know how important it is? Research shows that 24% of people look at preview text before deciding to open and read an email. So, use it to your advantage!

Personalization

Personalizing an email goes beyond just adding your prospect’s first name to the greeting or subject line.

According to Campaign Monitor, “personalization is when marketers use subscriber data within their email content to make the content feel tailor-made for the individual.” And the result? Personalization “is proven to increase open rates and drive revenue by as much as 760%.” Wowza!

You can take advantage of this by:

  • Adding your recipient’s name
  • Selecting images based on data and customer profiles
  • Personalizing offers and product recommendations
  • Mentioning a mutual friend or contact
  • Mentioning something your prospect has done in the world recently (i.e. business move, family trip, a conference they’ve spoken at, etc.)

Add a Strong Call to Action

Make it easy for your prospect to understand what you’re asking of them. Do you want them to follow you on social media? Do you want them to download a free PDF or brochure? Always be sure to add a clear, strong call to action (CTA).

Follow Up

When it comes to email marketing, it’s not a one-and-done thing. In other words, you need to include follow-up emails!

Not sure what this looks like? Get in touch with us today to learn more about mapping out your email workflows.

A Final Word

So, to recap, email is not dead and is very much a crucial part of your marketing strategy. With that being said, however, we know cold emailing isn’t easy—which is why we’re here to help. Interested in learning more about how we help our clients? Read on to see how we shorten sales cycles for our clients (using email marketing and more!)

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What is Going on With the Instagram Algorithm!?

scrolling on instagram burgers in background

Social media algorithms, we’ve written about them before. It seems, however, that with every month, week, and sometimes daily, Instagram is implementing new changes.

Instagram has recently implemented a number of changes to its algorithm that have crashed engagement across nearly all accounts.

The most common complaints we hear? “I never see my friends’ posts anymore,” “I think I’m shadowbanned…” “My engagement sucks lately.”

We’ve heard it all and we feel your pain! Let’s talk about some of the recent changes Instagram has implemented and address some of these concerns.

What’s Going on with The Instagram Algorithm?

What better way to dissect the algorithm than to look at a blog post that Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, wrote titled “Shedding More Light on How Instagram Works”?

Most importantly, Mosseri wrote that one of the main misconceptions about Instagram is the existence of “The Algorithm.”

“Instagram doesn’t have one algorithm that oversees what people do and don’t see on the app,” says Mosseri. “We use a variety of algorithms, classifiers, and processes, each with its own purpose.”

There’s a ton more good stuff and information on how the Instagram algorithm works (or lack of!) in the actual article, so check that out if you’re interested.

For now, let’s talk about some of the recent changes Instagram has implemented that might affect your content being seen or not.

Chronological order is back!

It’s about time! Instagram’s @Creators account finally announced the return of chronological order.

Back in the day—in 2010, to be exact—the Valencia filter ran rampant and the app itself looked like a neutral-toned vintage camera. Moreover, your home page was a single stream of photos that were sorted in chronological order.

Viewing posts in chronological order, however, was a feature that was removed in 2016. If you ask some, this choice nearly started WW3 (Just kidding … Kindof).

But flash forward to today, it’s back!

“You’ve been asking, and we’ve been listening! 👀” is what @creators captioned the announcement.

Following and Favorites

Instagram decided to take things a step further.

Instead of reverting back to solely chronological order, Instagram now offers three options to view your feed:

  • Home
  • Favorites
  • Following

Here is a brief description of what makes each different.

Home: According to @creators, “home” refers to the feed you’ve gotten used to. This feed will “remain a mix of content from people you follow, recommended content you may like, and more.” Home will remain your default view when you first open the app.

Favorites: Your “favorites” feed will show you the latest posts “from a list of up to 50 specific accounts that you choose.” This might include your best friends, favorite creators (including Digital Storyteller of course), or other favorite accounts that you follow.

Following: Just as it sounds—the “following” feed will show you posts from only accounts that you follow.

Are You Using All of Instagram’s Features?

Over the past five years, Instagram has launched a ton of new features, including reels, stories, IGTV, and even shopping.

We’ve noticed that sometimes it feels like Instagram either rewards or punishes accounts based on your usage of the app as a whole. The bottom line? Instagram wants you to use and try all of its features. 

Depending on your business or goals, your digital marketing strategy might include a combination of:

  • Standard posts
  • Reels
  • Stories
  • IGTV videos
  • Shoppable posts

Consistency is Key

The algorithm favors consistency and patterns. Find out when your target audience is most active, and tailor your posting schedule toward that. At Digital Storyteller, we do this with ease using the scheduling platform, Metricool. Of course, there are various alternative scheduling platforms and tools that can be used similarly as well.

A Quick Rundown of Each Social Media Platform

Lastly, it’s important to know which social media channels are best suited to help you attain the unique needs and goals of your business. That’s why we’re sharing a brief rundown of what each platform can be used for when it comes to your business. So, what the heck does each of them do? Speed round, go!

Instagram

Instagram is great for building engagement and sharing culture. That means taking pictures of your team at events, showing off your pets, and happy hours and posting them!

When an Instagram user visits a business’ Instagram, they want to see the people behind the business. Show them who they get to work with when they decide to buy your product or become a client.

Facebook

Facebook is for your grandma… Just kidding, kind of!

Facebook, in the business world, is a largely pay-to-play platform. In simple terms, if you’re not putting money behind your Facebook efforts, chances are not many people will see your content. Boosting a specific post to your Facebook audience can attract thousands of impressions, whereas organic content doesn’t typically reach the same levels of performance.

(Please note: We’re not suggesting that you dedicate your entire marketing budget to your Facebook page, but putting $50 behind a post here or there can significantly support your Facebook performance).

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a professional platform, which means it’s probably not the best-suited platform to share your family photos or pictures from your latest island vacation.

LinkedIn is a great platform to help you build authority and build a professional network. Chances are, LinkedIn is your best bet if you’re looking to identify qualified leads via social media. It’s also a great way to gather expertise from established experts in your industry.

Twitter

In a nutshell, Twitter is for politics, news, and funny one-offs (think: memes, GIFs, recaps of the Oscars…)

A Final Word

We know that managing your business’s social media presence can be a lot to keep track of on top of running your business. That’s why we recommend you pass on the work of crafting a killer digital marketing plan to our team of experts at Digital Storyteller.

Not ready to make the jump yet? Let’s get REEL instead! Check out this article on how Instagram reels support your social media strategy. Then, shoot us a message.

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How to Attract the Right Clients

How to attract the right client

So, you’re a business owner looking to get more clients? (Trust us, you’re not the only one!)

Every business owner ever:

But hold on – before you go all Heidi Klum on us and start looking to get MORE clients… Have you taken a minute to consider how to attract the right clients? Yes, the right clients. After all, you don’t want to be marketing your products and/or services to every person you walk by…

Not sure where to start? Lucky for you, we’ve got Andrew Marr, CEO and Owner of Digital Storyteller on camera to chat about how to attract the right clients.

Let’s see what he has to say.

Who is Your Ideal Client?

Clients, for any business owner, are obviously extremely important. Without clients, you’d have no business! (But you already knew that).

This considered, building a successful business and getting more clients is most likely one of your primary goals as a business owner.

Before we jump the gun and talk about getting more clients, however, it’s important to first discuss who the right clients are for you. How can you attract the right clients to your business?

Identifying the Perfect Client

The question isn’t, “Do you want more clients?” Of course, you do! The number one thing is, have you identified your perfect client?

Then, after you’ve identified your ideal client, think: Are you willing to create strategies around that particular client?

Our Perfect Client at Digital Storyteller

At Digital Storyteller, we focus on marketing for financial services companies. The realm of financial services ranges from commercial insurance to wealth advisories, commercial real estate firms, the list goes on.

While we love whisky, chardonnay, puppies, and tacos, we don’t market for companies that have anything to do with these elements. Why not? Because we’ve identified our perfect client (financial services clients) and unfortunately, whisky, chardonnay, puppies, and tacos have nothing to do with this industry (a little sad, right?)

We know it’s difficult not to accept whatever business walks through the door. It’s important, however, to hone in on who your ideal client is and not accept anyone else apart from this target audience.

So, to attract more clients, you have to first, figure out who your perfect client is. Put your energy and resources into that.

Interested in meeting one of our ideal clients? Check out this spotlight we did on our client Frank Crivello, founder and CEO of SBMA Benefits.

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How Do We Help Our Clients Shorten Sales Cycles?

Woman conducting a work meeting

At Digital Storyteller, we market for financial services companies. This can encompass a lot of different types of businesses that offer different products or services. Think law firms, HR consultants, commercial real estate firms, wealth advisories, commercial insurance, and more.

We know, a little bit random… but we love it! Read on to hear more about why we chose marketing for financial services (hint: this industry is wildly underserved).

Working in the financial services industry means helping our clients might look a bit different from your typical B2C marketing agency. So, how do we help our clients?

Today, we’ve got Andrew Marr, CEO and Owner of Digital Storyteller answering that very question. It’s your lucky day.

But what is the main goal of a digital marketing agency? We’re going to hand things off to Andrew.

What is the Main Goal of a Digital Marketing Agency?

There’s one major goal, and it’s simple. That is to shorten the sales cycles of our clients.

What is a Sales Cycle?

A sales cycle is defined as “the repeatable and tactical process salespeople follow to turn a lead into a customer.”

This includes everything from the first encounter a client has with your business (whether it be through seeing your posts on social media or through receiving an email) to closing the deal and follow-ups.

sales cycle seven steps
A great illustration demonstrating sales cycles, courtesy of Snov.io.

How Do We Help Our Clients Shorten Sales Cycles?

Well, there are a lot of things we do to achieve a shorter sales process at Digital Storyteller. This might look like:

As you can see, there are a lot of different branches that come off of that tree.

The number one goal, however, for any marketing agency, is to use their toolkit to shorten sales cycles for their clients.

Want to hear some more of this Scottish lad ranting? Visit this page on our site that’s decked out, head to toe, with Andrew reviewing chardonnay. (We know, it’s kind of ridiculous—but we promise it’s entertaining!)

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Why is Organic Marketing Great for Financial Services Companies?

Why is Organic Marketing Great for Financial Services Companies?

When you think of ‘marketing,’ what do you think of?

Chances are the first place your head goes is to advertising—billboards, television commercials, magazines, Instagram ads, the list goes on.

We don’t blame you! We are bombarded by ads every day. In fact, did you know research shows every day the average person encounters between 6,000 to 10,000 ads? This is a massive jump, considering that back in the 70s, “it was reported that the average person saw between 500 to 1600 ads per day.”

But remember, advertising is just a small piece of the marketing pie. Although paid ads have their time and place there’s a better way to market yourself. (Psst… It’s called organic marketing).

Amanda Rogers, Founder and Chief Creative Officer at Digital Storyteller, talks about why organic marketing is great for financial services companies (and all companies for that matter!)

Let’s get into it.

The Mistake Many Business Owners Make

If you’re in the business-to-business (B2B) space and are trying to get more clients under your belt (as one does!), your thought process about doing so might go something like this:

  • “I’m going to put out some ads and tell people what I do.
  • Then, they’ll come to my website.
  • Then they’ll give me a call.
  • And BOOM! I’ll get clients.”

Sigh… if only it were that simple! In today’s world, paid advertising alone is not enough to attract the right clients. So, what else do you need in addition to occasional paid advertisements? Enter, organic marketing.

Paid vs. Organic Marketing: What’s the Difference?

Let’s make this simple.

Ads are about building awareness; organic content is about building trust. While different, BOTH are important to building a successful digital marketing strategy for your business.

As Amanda shares, there are often situations in which the two overlap even. “There are elements of organic content that also build awareness.” For example, integrating boosted posts into your organic social media strategy.

What Does Organic Marketing Actually Do?

Most importantly, you need to know the primary benefit of organic marketing: building trust. Organic marketing might include email marketing, a thought-out video strategy, blog content, etc.

The greatest benefit of all of these things, however, is that organic marketing increases the feeling that people have of knowing and trusting your brand.

Don’t get us wrong, there are certainly strong benefits of paid ads (which you can read more about here) but it shouldn’t be the only marketing effort your business is focused on.

However, as Amanda puts it, “If and when you do decide to do ads, [if] you’ve been doing a strong organic digital marketing push,” the benefit will be much greater.

  • Your domain authority will be higher
  • Your ads will show up in the top three search results
  • And most importantly, your ads will be supported by showing up on that first page of Google with an organic result

“This reinforces in the viewer’s mind, not only do I see their ad, but I also see that they are legitimately what I’m looking for,” says Amanda.

And the best part of all? If you’re paying less for ads, you have more money left over that you can spend on wine! What better motivation is that?

So, are you ready to save money on ads so you can spend it on wine? Us too. At Digital Storyteller, we specialize in organic marketing for financial services companies. If you’re looking for a digital marketing agency that will grow your business better than just pushing paid ads, contact our team today.

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Six Benefits of Outsourcing Marketing

Outsourced Marketing

Outsourcing isn’t as complicated as it sounds. When you outsource your digital marketing services, you save time, energy, and money. Here are six benefits of outsourcing marketing.

Read more
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How Do You Measure the Success of Your Digital Marketing?

How Do You Measure the Success of Your Digital Marketing

So, you finally caved and implemented a kick*** digital marketing strategy for your business. Congratulations, that’s amazing!

But how do you know if it’s working? How do you measure the success of your digital marketing strategy? It’s an important question and is often an inquiry that Andrew Marr, CEO & Owner of Digital Storyteller, gets from prospects and clients.

He’s here to answer it today. Watch Andrew’s video below to learn how he measures the success of a digital marketing strategy. Let’s get started.

The Most Important Question to Ask

Whether or not your digital marketing strategy is successful or not comes down to one main question: Are you getting more clients?

If the answer is no, it’s time to reevaluate your strategy. Here’s how you can do that.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

We’ve all heard of KPIs.

Digital marketing KPIs, according to Digital Dot, are “quantifiable metrics that you can use to measure and monitor the partial and overall success of your digital marketing strategy.”

KPIs help to establish clear goals regarding campaigns and can be used in a variety of marketing approaches, including:

  • “Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
  • Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC)
  • Social Media Marketing
  • Email Marketing”
  • And more

Here are some of the most important KPIs to track when it comes to your digital marketing strategy.

How to Measure the Success of Your Digital Marketing Strategy

At Digital Storyteller, we conduct monthly and quarterly reporting for all of our clients. These reports help us show clients how we’re moving the needle, what’s working for them in their digital marketing strategy, and where we can shift to improve.

Below are some factors we evaluate:

Authority Score

Authority score, according to Semrush, is their “compound domain score that grades the overall quality of a website or a webpage.” Your score can range anywhere from 0 to 100. The higher the score, the more credibility a site typically has. Obviously, an authority score of 100 is #goals, but realistically, a score ranging from 32-48 is where you’ll see a strong organic marketing score lie. 

This figure is determined by a few key factors including:

  • Backlinks
  • Organic keyword rankings
  • Site health
  • Site age
  • Among many other factors

Because of these factors, authority score takes time and consistency to grow. After all, you can’t grow your authority score overnight– even though we wish you could. 

Ranking Keywords

There are, of course, specific keywords that your business will want to rank for. If you’re in the commercial insurance industry in San Diego, for example, some of your keywords might include:

  • “Commercial Insurance San Diego”
  • “Business Insurance”
  • “Business Owner”
  • “Risk Management”
  • And so on

Using a tool like Semrush—which collects research on your business’s SEO, PPC, content, and social media efforts—can help you identify the keywords you are currently ranking for (or currently not).

Information about ranking keywords is critical to making your way up the Google Search Engine Results Page (SERP).

Organic Traffic

Organic traffic is defined as “visitors that land on your website from unpaid sources.”

The amount of organic traffic that your website receives is a huge indication of where or not your marketing strategy is successful.

Average Session Duration

Session duration shows how much time visitors spend on your website. As a general rule of thumb, you want a high session duration. That means people are engaging more on your sight instead of clicking away! 

You can increase session duration by:

  • Providing quality informational content on your site
  • Ensuring your site is easy to navigate; user-friendly
  • Incorporating video content

Bounce Rate

What is bounce rate? Bounce rate indicates how quickly someone exits (or “bounce” from) your website after visiting it. For this reason, we want a high session duration and a low bounce rate. Semrush tells us that “an optimal bounce rate would be in the 26% to 40% range.”

Our goal is to keep people on-page as long as possible. You can decrease your bounce rate by:

  • Making sure your website loads quickly
  • Including all information that prospects might be looking for
  • Creating an easy to navigate the site
  • Prioritizing engaging content
  • Eliminating page errors

Social Media Statistics

We, of course, cannot end this article without talking about social media statistics. In our monthly and quarterly reports we give in-depth information for each social platform being used on:

  • Growth (i.e. followers)
  • Interactions
  • Reach
  • Comments
  • Clicks
  • Number of posts
  • Profile views
  • Impressions

As we’ve worked with our clients, however, we’ve noticed that it’s not uncommon for clients to get hung up on numbers. For example, the number of followers or likes they get on an Instagram post.

It is very important, however, to identify where their prospects spend time. For example, Instagram followers and likes might not matter so much for a financial services company compared to a clothing brand.

While it’s important to be active and engaged on Instagram, a better indication of a financial services company’s success might come from a platform like LinkedIn or YouTube. For those interested in learning more, here’s an article on what social platforms are best for your business to be on.

To reiterate, likes and followers don’t automatically equate to success, but it is important to be engaged and consistent within your social media strategy. Naturally, this means that as time goes on, your following, likes, engagement, etc. should increase.

Notice the trend? Slow and steady growth wins the race. 

Depending on who you ask, engagement might be a more important factor than the number of likes and followers.

Well, that’s all folks. We hoped you learned a thing or two from this article! If you’re interested, read on for more on social media, specifically the difference between social impressions and social engagement.

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Digital Marketing Trends for the New Year

Digital Marketing Trends for the New Year

And just like that, it’s 2022! We hope your New Year is going wonderfully. 

In celebration of the New Year, we’d like to address some digital marketing trends for the new year. We know… Digital marketing trends are always changing. It can be hard to keep up! But it’s crucial to identify current trends and strategies for your businesses, and we’re here to help. 

Let’s get into it.

Video Marketing

We’ve written about it time and time again. Video marketing is, and will continue to be, an absolutely critical part of your digital marketing strategy in 2022.

Not convinced? Research according to Hubspot shows that video will account for nearly 82% of consumer internet traffic. Wowza!

For those of you who flinch at the word ‘video’ or the idea of crafting one yourself, don’t worry. We promise it’s not as scary (or expensive) as you think. All you need is a quality camera and a microphone. (Even a smartphone can work in most cases!)

To increase search traffic to your website, HubSpot recommends you:

  • Make sure your video contains useful information to solve your ideal customer’s problem
  • Optimize your video on YouTube using relevant keywords

The title of your video is also important. For example, someone would be more likely to click on “how to cook the perfect scrambled eggs” over “how to cook eggs.”

The bottom line about video marketing is: Video is the preferred form of content by all social platforms right now: Instagram, TikTok, YouTube (of course), you name it.

Don’t be discouraged if there is already content out there that is similar to your video (in fact, we guarantee that there will be). The most important thing is finding a way to make your content stand out, says HubSpot.

Honestly, we could talk your ear off about video (and we probably have…) We’ve written about how Instagram reels support your social media marketing strategy and how to connect with your prospects using video. What’s that? You haven’t read those articles yet? Finish this one and then get to it!

SEO

It’s time to brush up on your SEO skills. Search Engine Optimization is still as important as ever. Quality, thought-out SEO is the bread and butter of increasing traffic to your site.

Search engine algorithms, however, are always changing. In fact, a really awesome feature that Google’s algorithm has now adopted is the ability to differentiate between search and intent.

What does this mean? (Aside from a very happy SEO manager on our team…) Google search intent, according to Yoast, is “the term used to describe the purpose of an online search. Google wants to rank pages that best fit the search term someone is using, as well as the search intent behind the search query.”

Because of this new feature, it is crucial that you “segment queries that you want to rank for and make competitor analysis a big part of your SEO strategy,” according to HubSpot.

It’s crazy to think that Google is now smart enough to interpret why you are searching for what you’re searching for.

Optimize Content for Voice Search

This is a trend we mentioned back in November in our top five digital marketing trends you can’t ignore article. And guess what? It’s still relevant.

Thanks to AI-powered voice assistants (like Siri, Google, Alexa, and Cortana), millions of people every day search for things online without even touching or being near their phone or computer. User experience and web accessibility today are so important.

This considered, it has become all the more important to optimize your content for voice search. Start 2022 off with a bang by doing so. Not sure where to start? Contact our team today.

Social Media

Truth be told, it feels a little silly to even have to mention social media on this list of digital marketing trends. You’re ten steps behind your competitors if your business is not:

  • Active on social media
  • Providing engaging and informative content on a consistent basis
  • Interacting with prospects and clients

We recommend our clients have profiles on at least:

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

The platform that you place the greatest amount of attention on will depend on your business’s unique goals and target audience. For example, if you’re selling branded hoodies to Gen Z, Instagram is likely your best bet. If you are an insurance broker, however, you might opt for the more professional nature that LinkedIn offers.

Still don’t believe in the power of social media? According to DigitalMarketing.org, “3.96 billion people use social media today, which accounts for roughly half (51%) of the global population.” Wow!

Think: This is a huge loss for businesses who opt out of a well crafted social media marketing strategy. If they want to stay relevant, the more traditional companies (who are fearful or overwhelmed by social media) need to learn how to adapt.

Rentech Digital recommends that businesses use social media to not only attract prospects but also to retain them. Remember, the more frequently a prospect sees your brand, the greater opportunity to build a trusting relationship with them—and ultimately to convert them into a client.

For those of you who are interested, read on to learn which social media platforms your business should be on and why.

What Is YOUR New Year Resolution? (Marketing Edition!)

Will you outsource your marketing this year? Get your team on a weekly Instagram reel to boost social engagement? Take a course on SEO? Let us know your 2022 New Year Resolution, and if there’s room for our team to help!
Read on to hear our team’s 2022 New Year Resolutions. Cheers!

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