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Tag Archive for: Organic marketing
If you have social media of any kind, chances are you’ve heard people talk about “algorithms” pretty regularly. When someone posts content and it performs poorly, whether they be a business, an influencer, or your Average Joe, you might hear them blame it on the algorithm.
“Oh, the algorithm hates me… I can’t figure out the algorithm… The algorithm is always changing, I can’t keep up!” And so on and so forth.
At Digital Storyteller, we recognize that there is some truth in these statements. Algorithms are always changing. But first, what are algorithms—and how do they work?
What is an Algorithm?
While the word “algorithm” is thrown around a lot today, it can be hard to fully grasp what this term even means.
Kristien Matelski at Vizion puts it perfectly. An algorithm “is a pattern or set of rules that problem-solving operations (especially computers) use to make calculations.”
Let’s dive into what this definition means for Google and social media specifically.
The Google Algorithm
The Google algorithm is “a complex system that allows Google to find, rank and return the most relevant pages for a certain search query.”
Like we mentioned, algorithms are constantly changing. In fact, Marketing Whiz Neil Patel shares on his blog that Google makes minor changes to its algorithm daily!
Google “might even release multiple updates in 24 hours,” says Patel. “These changes are usually small, and you probably won’t notice a drop in search page rankings due to these updates alone.”
However, knowing that the algorithm can literally change overnight (and multiple times at that!), it can feel impossible to keep up. (We know our social team at Digital Storyteller works hard every day to stay fresh with new updates and trends you can’t ignore.)
Google holds over 70% of the search market share and therefore, is the most popular search engine, according to Hubspot. This considered, how can you use the algorithm to your advantage? What does the algorithm take into account when ranking content?
Well, you’re in luck! According to an explainer video posted by Google titled “How Google Search Works,” there are hundreds of factors that go into determining what pops up on a search engine. Here are a few.
- Keywords: Keywords play a significant role in the optimization of your content. You want to ensure you’re paying close attention to the keywords you choose to use. For example, if you own a smoothie bar in downtown San Diego, you probably want to rank for “good smoothies San Diego” or “downtown San Diego smoothies,” as opposed to keywords like “pizza” and “tacos!” For more on keywords, visit our article on how to optimize your content for search.
- Meta Descriptions: Keywords aren’t the only thing Google looks for when curating a search engine results page (SERP). Meta descriptions, sometimes called a meta description attribute or tag, “is an HTML element that describes and summarizes the contents of your page for the benefit of users and search engines,” according to WordStream. Write meta descriptions carefully, as you only get about 155 words to show off what your content is about!
- Images and Alt Text: Google LOVES images, and so do humans! Think, if you’re looking up a recipe on how to make the ‘World’s Best Lasagna,’ would you be more likely to click on the recipe with or without photos? Alt Text, or alternative text, is also important. It’s a short written description of the image that Google can read to help rank your page.
- Title: Your title needs to be well thought out and something people would actually search for. Your title should summarize your content and include your target keywords.
- Meta Tags: “Meta tags are invisible tags that provide data about your page to search engines and website visitors.”
- Backlinks: The Google algorithm also looks for backlinks. Backlinking is the action of linking back to another external site on your own and is an extremely valuable tactic to use in sharing your site content. Backlinking helps position you as a trustworthy, authoritative source. For more on backlinking, visit our blog titled “PR vs Backlinking Strategies: What’s the Difference?”
- Site Health: A site with a score of 80% or above is typically considered “good” site health. Site health is determined by the number of errors and warnings found when your site is crawled.
- Site Authority: Google also cares about your site authority score. Authority is built slowly over time but is determined by your site’s backlinks and organic keywords. For more on how to build your domain authority, visit our article to get the secret sauce behind improving organic search rankings.
For our friends who are interested in watching Google’s quick explainer video for more information on how Google search works, here it is.
Social Media Algorithms
So, what’s a social media algorithm? “A social media algorithm is the mathematical calculation that sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and [Snapchat] use to understand user habits and to customize the social experience,” says Matelski.
“Social media algorithms work seamlessly behind the scenes, optimizing the user experience without them knowing the system is at work.”
No two algorithms are identical but they all use similar structures to determine what content you see, to organize the way you see it, and when you see it. Here are a few elements to consider.
- Social Signals: Social shares, likes, tweets, and pins on search engine rankings have been shown to increase SEO through several case studies. Social sharing helps boost your SEO ranking significantly if you stay consistent with organic content and ask people to share your content. For two more content marketing SEO tips, read on here.
- Hashtags: Hashtags help categorize your content and will help users discover your business. Using hashtags in your social posts can also place your content higher in SERPs.
- Captions: While it may be trendy to keep your captions simple (*cough cough* influencers who write one-word captions or only use emojis!), this is not the best practice for SEO and algorithm purposes. Great captions are engaging, SEO friendly, and memorable. Great captions take time and effort. Don’t underestimate the power of a great caption!
- Video Content: We all know that video content is the number one media being pushed right now. So, get your business ready to push out some awesome video content if you haven’t already—Instagram reels, TikToks, explainer videos, testimonials, culture videos, the list goes on. Bonus tip? Use trending music in your videos to rank higher!
For those of you whose business is ready to take advantage of the benefits of video content, check out our article on Instagram Reels to learn how video content supports your social strategy.
At Digital Storyteller, digital marketing is our specialty, and we know that staying ahead of algorithms can feel like a full-time job. Whether it’s Google or social media platforms, algorithms determine how your content is ranked and seen.
Understanding and adapting to these changes is essential for success. From keywords and backlinks to hashtags and video content, each platform has its own rules—but we’re here to decode them for you.
If you’re ready to take your digital marketing to the next level, reach out to our team.
Interested in learning more? Check out our guide, The Linkedin Algorithm Explained: How to Make it Work for You, here.
Amazon, Apple, and Google. We’re assuming you, like pretty much everyone else, know about each of the aforementioned companies. They have some of the highest global brand awareness.
Everyone wants more brand awareness. Why? The more people who know about your brand, the more likely they are to engage with you and ultimately purchase your services or product(s). Let’s discuss more on how you can use an organic social strategy to build your brand awareness.
What is Brand Awareness?
Brand awareness is how consumers recognize or remember your business. The more brand awareness you have, the more people are familiar with your logo, who you are, what you do, and most importantly- your products and services.
Why is Brand Awareness Important?
Brand awareness is a vital part of your overall marketing plan. The goal with bringing awareness to your brand is to increase the number of people who are familiar with your business. This familiarity breeds trust, which, in turn, creates deals.
Toobla Blog says it best, “If you can build brand awareness among your target demographic, you can help your brand become top-of-mind when these consumers are ready to research and make a purchase.”
Consumers are more likely to buy from a brand they are familiar with than a brand they have never heard of.
For more secret sauce tips on brand awareness, watch our Chief Creative officer speak more about it in the video series here.
Now, that you’re a brand awareness expert, let’s discuss how an organic social strategy is one of the best ways to build it.
What is an Organic Marketing Strategy?
An organic marketing strategy is essentially the opposite of paid advertising and with more benefits (woohoo!) Learn more about the difference between paid and organic social media marketing here.
Examples of organic marketing include:
- Blog posts optimized for SEO
- Website (optimized)
- Landing Pages
- Email campaigns
- Eye-catching social posts
- Articles you write for other publications or industry blogs
- Videos you post on YouTube
- Instagram Reels or TikToks
All of these items combined help increase your business’ visibility digitally. When you share your organic content to social media and your website, it will be seen by the following consumers:
- Existing followers/clients
- Followers of your followers
- People following the hashtags or locations you mention
It’s not enough to show up online a few times, you need consistent content to help create a consistent brand message and build an engaged community.
Inconsistent messaging confuses your audience. It makes it harder for them to understand who you are and what your business does. This inconsistency leads to a lack of trust among your audience and therefore fewer leads.
Best practice is to choose your brand archetype and stick with it. Your audience will thank you for it.
Content that is consistent and aligned with your brand voice performs. Every time. Keep in mind that it won’t happen overnight. Be patient with the timeline because the rewards are worth it.
When working with our clients, here’s a typical timeline of what we see and when.
Read on for more information on how each media platform and what each should be used for your business.
So you’re wondering what type of marketing you should implement for your business? Well, you’ve come to the right place.
The two biggest types of marketing are outsourced and in-house. Both want to promote your business to the best of their ability, but they have a few big differences. Learn more about the differences between outsourced and in-house marketing below!
Welcome to the ultimate guide on how to make the LinkedIn algorithm work for you! If you want to improve your LinkedIn game and ensure that your posts get seen by the right people, you’re in the right place. And to sweeten the deal, we’ve got a free download at the end of this blog post (you’re welcome.)
In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about the LinkedIn algorithm. We’ll explain how LinkedIn categorizes posts, how to avoid being flagged as spam, and how to achieve high-quality status. We’ll also share tips on how to make the most of the golden hour, when to post, how to encourage engagement, and what not to do.
By the end of this guide, you’ll have a solid understanding of how the LinkedIn algorithm works and be equipped with the knowledge to take your LinkedIn game to the next level. So, let’s get started!
When you post, LinkedIn puts it in one of three categories.
These categories are:
- Spam
- Low quality
- High quality
How to Avoid Being Categorized as Spam
So, how can you avoid being flagged as spam? It’s easy, just follow these simple tips:
- Use good grammar
- Limit the number of links in your post
- Tag no more than five people
- Avoid posting too frequently (wait at least three hours between posts)
- Don’t use engagement bait (like asking for likes, comments, or follows)
- Avoid using hashtags like “follow,” “comment,” or “like.”
But, How Do You Achieve High-quality Status?
That’s where things get tricky. Here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Only tag people who you know will respond to your post
- Use around three hashtags, with one being broad, one slightly more niche, and the last very niche (for example: “#socialmedia,” “#b2bsocialmedia”)
- Format your post for readability
- Focus on niche topics instead of broad ones
- Encourage engagement by asking questions
- Avoid using outbound links (put them in the comments)
- Use strong keywords to help your post get discovered.
LinkedIn Golden Hour
What’s the deal with golden hour, you ask? It’s not just a trendy Instagram filter – it’s the first hour after you drop a post on LinkedIn. And trust us, you want to make that hour count.
LinkedIn measures the initial engagement to see if it’s worthy of moving on into other people’s feeds. If your post does well in the first hour, it’s much more likely to do well all day, week, or month.
In other words, if you can generate some buzz in that first hour, you’re on your way to LinkedIn fame and fortune. But if crickets are chirping during the golden hour, it’s like your post has been condemned to social media purgatory. So don’t waste your time on lackluster posts – give them the golden hour treatment they deserve!
Let’s talk LinkedIn Golden Hour Do’s and Don’ts
Not sure where to start? We got you covered.
Do’s
- Post when your followers are most active online to increase the chances of them seeing it.
- Get people talking by asking a question or encouraging discussion in the comments.
- Boost your post’s visibility by engaging with other posts around the same time you share yours.
- Stick to a consistent posting schedule so your followers know when to expect new content from you.
- And most importantly, don’t forget to respond to anyone who engages with your post. It’s the polite thing to do!
Don’ts
- Set it and forget it! Make sure to return to your post and engage with any comments.
- Tag more than one person unless you’re confident at least one will respond within an hour.
- Refrain from editing your post once it’s up. I’ve noticed this tends to weaken its reach.
If people are liking, commenting on or sharing your post, you’ll make it through to the next filter (and appear in more feeds!)
So, you’ve made it past the first filter – congratulations! But your journey to world domination on LinkedIn is far from over. The next step is to get people to like, comment, and share your post. Think of it like getting a stamp of approval from your audience. The more love you get, the more likely you are to appear in even more feeds. Keep ’em engaged, folks!
If people mark it as spam, hide it from their feed, or just ignore it, LinkedIn is going to penalize your content.
To avoid having your content penalized by LinkedIn, it’s important to create high-quality content that resonates with your audience. This means knowing your target audience, understanding what they want to see, and crafting posts that meet their needs. It’s also important to avoid using spammy tactics like engagement bait or excessive tagging. Instead, focus on creating engaging and valuable content that encourages likes, comments, and shares.
As long as it keeps getting engagement, your post stays in the mix and continues to be distributed in the feed.
On LinkedIn, there are three key factors that influence what appears in your feed.
- Personal connections: To determine which posts are most personally related to members, LinkedIn considers factors such as who you work with/have worked with and who you’ve interacted with before.
- Interest relevance: The LinkedIn algorithm evaluates what groups you’re in, the hashtags, people, and pages you follow, and also looks at the language of the post, as well as the companies, people, and topics mentioned in it.
- Engagement probability: The algorithm evaluates the likelihood that you will share, comment, or react to a post, and takes into account timely feedback to content creators. The quicker a post starts raking in interactions, the more likely LinkedIn is to include it in the feeds of others. The more you interact with others daily, the more people will engage back, and the more likely you’ll be seen in other people’s feeds.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, understanding the LinkedIn algorithm is crucial for anyone looking to increase their visibility on the platform. The algorithm evaluates factors such as engagement probability, interest relevance, and personal connections to determine the relevance of content to its audience. By following the do’s and don’ts of the golden hour and creating high-quality content that encourages likes, comments, and shares, LinkedIn users can boost their engagement and increase their chances of appearing in more feeds.
Want to optimize your business’s LinkedIn page but not sure where to start? Download our freebie, here.
Read on to learn how to leverage your business using LinkedIn. Then, get in touch with our team to schedule your FREE Brand Storytelling Session.
There are two types of marketing available to businesses today: paid marketing and organic marketing. Paid and organic social media are different tools that achieve varying end goals. That being said, it’s critical to understand the pros and cons of both. We introduce you to “Paid vs. Organic Social Media: A Complete Guide.”
What is Paid Social Media Marketing?
Unlike organic social media, paid social media is, well, exactly that, paid.
Paid social media marketing includes posting paid advertisements on social sites and paying to boost existing posts to reach a greater audience of viewers. For example, we’re sure you’ve received an Instagram ad or Facebook ad.
More recently, paid social marketing has increased as consumers have grown more comfortable with the experience of buying directly from their Instagram feeds, for example. Where ads may have once been seen as an annoyance or clogging one’s feed, the ability to target such specific audiences has become a foot in the door for successful paid advertising.
In fact, the best paid social media marketing likely means that at a first glance you didn’t even realize it was an ad! In cases like this, the business targeting you deserves a round of applause. Ads that come off naturally, and not salesy, are the goal when it comes to paid social media marketing.
Overall, paid social media advertising is best suited to target new audiences and convert them into clients. Paid social advertising is commonly used to accomplish the following:
- Raise brand awareness (Why is this important? Click here!)
- Attract new followers
- Promote their newest deal, content, event, etc.
- Generate leads
- Drive conversions (including e-commerce sales)
While one option is to attract a new audience, reaching outside of your business’s typical bubble, most often, the best use of paid social media advertising is to target audiences that have already shown an interest in relevant topics.
For example, in running a paid ad campaign on Instagram, a recently opened vegan bakery might target local audiences that have recently liked or saved vegan recipes. They know, based on this audience’s previous behavior, that they would likely be interested in their vegan bakery.
To provide a further example… If someone were trying to attract Digital Storyteller, (or any of our employees for that matter!), they might show us an ad for a monthly wine or chardonnay subscription. Well… Because everyone knows we love ourselves a glass! Oh wow, you didn’t know that? Well, it’s time for you to check out our awesome Chardonnay Review series with Andrew Marr, Digital Storyteller’s Owner and CEO.
What is Organic Social Media Marketing?
In this case, organic doesn’t mean twice as expensive—thank goodness! However, your content WILL be healthier than your competition’s through the use of organic social media marketing. But first, what is it?
Organic social media marketing includes the ‘free’ content that your brand shares to your unique accounts. Well, free in terms of money. Organic content creation requires a great deal of time and effort.
The content that you include in your organic strategy may include blog posts, video, visual graphics, infographics, client testimonials, the list goes on. When your business shares organic content to your social media channels, you can assume that it will be seen by one of the following consumers:
- Your existing followers
- Your followers’ followers (should they choose to share it)
- People following the hashtags or locations that you mention in your content
Why Should I Care?
As a business, organic social media marketing should be at the foundation of your digital marketing strategy. But why? “Because [organic marketing is] the best way to nurture a connection with your customers at scale.”
Businesses use organic social media tactics to establish their brand voice, build relationships, engage with prospects and clients, and provide stellar customer service.
Let’s dig a little deeper into each of these.
Establishing Brand Voice
Establishing your brand voice is ideally something you want to do before rolling out your organic social media marketing strategy. Your brand voice determines so much! Your brand voice is the distinct and consistent personality that your business takes on.
Coca-Cola, for example, has a great and clear brand voice. “The Coca-Cola voice is positive, friendly, and down-to-earth… On the market for over 130 years, [their voice’s] purpose [is] to evoke happiness. You can see polar bears, families getting together to have dinner (and a Coke) or friends dancing and smiling—in every marketing campaign you’ll see the concept of happy-life.”
Think about it this way, you probably talk to your Grandma a little differently than your best friend.
Inviting Grandma over for dinner might sound something like, “Hi, Grandma! I’d love it if you joined me for dinner at my house on Friday night at 7 pm” whereas making plans with your buddies might sound more like, “Hey man, wanna grab a pizza Friday?”
Although this example might not be exactly the case with everyone, you can understand the differentiation based on who you’re planning to address. Determining your brand voice works the same way. Identifying your brand voice should start with pinpointing WHO you’re targeting and go from there.
Lastly, making sure your brand voice aligns with your business’s values and goals is critical.
Build Relationships
Take a minute to think about those few Instagram accounts or select news pages you’ve always followed on social media. Chances are there have been other news outlets or Instagram accounts that pop up, however, the accounts that you’ve been following longer, you’re more likely to trust and support.
Establishing a following base with whom you can build a relationship is critical. Ideally, you want to become a source that your followers look forward to seeing content from.
Maybe you post a weekly #MarketingMonday video, or consistently share new inventive vegan recipes. Whatever the case, your organic social media content should be a resource that helps build relationships your followers are equally as invested in.
Engage with Clients and Prospects
Social media has changed the name of the game for marketers. While we once may not have been able to determine who we’re talking to and who actually views and appreciates our content, social media has provided the insight of every analyst’s dreams.
Growing your business’s organic social media presence and social network creates a platform for your consumers to engage with your brand. Whether it be getting feedback, growing relationships, or otherwise, having conversations with your audience through social media is key to ongoing organic growth.
Provide Customer Service
Stellar customer service is an important aspect of every business. Whether B2B or B2C, ensuring customer satisfaction is the backbone of a successful business. That being said, it can cause frustration when clients don’t know where to turn to gain the support they need to solve problems and answer questions.
Social media can help.
Social media, for many, is often the most reliable source of information. The public nature of social platforms makes them a quickly accessible way for clients or prospects to directly get in touch with a brand. When we’re busy planning a company retreat or Happy Hour for our team, chances are we check social media for reviews and photos.
Additionally, when clients or prospects have issues or challenges, many turn to social media to have their problems solved. Whether it be tweeting Chipotle for forgetting your guac or DMing Nordstrom about a delayed package, social media is the perfect platform for quick, easy problem-solving.
Why You Need to Implement Both Paid and Organic Social Media
While organic marketing has significant upsides and success factors, there are some notable flaws in pursuing a strictly organic strategy. Due to the ranking algorithms of social media platforms, not all of your content will be seen by all of your followers.
The recent decline in organic reach is due largely in part to the social platforms pushing to create a user experience that is both “meaningful” and “responsible.” The goal is to show followers more of what they like and want to see, which is determined by their ongoing engagement.
When a user likes, comments on, saves, or shares your posts, it tells the algorithms that they like that content. Based on their engagement, the platforms prioritize similar content with regards to content, hashtags, and accounts.
Getting your content to reach as many eyes as possible is the ultimate goal, and this is where paid social media tactics come in.
How to Implement Both Paid and Organic Social Media
In many cases, the best practice is to implement a strategy that combines both paid and organic social media efforts. Keep reading for a few tips to consider when making the decision of how best to incorporate both.
Promote Your Best Content
Not all of your posts need to be boosted and paid. Best practice is to identify your best, strongest organic content, then boost that.
You may decide to boost a specific post that’s focused on an upcoming launch or product update, but your most relevant post during a given timeline may just be a well-crafted organic post that appeals to your target audience and builds a positive relationship.
Optimize All Posts
Regardless of what you decide to boost, how often, and how much funding you allocate towards paid social media marketing, all of your posts should be properly optimized. Even a paid post can perform exceptionally well if it’s well optimized for your target audience.
Posts can be optimized in many different ways:
- Utilizing relevant hashtags
- SEO keywords in captions
- Performing A/B testing on posts
Overall, optimization is key to ensuring the best possible performance of your content.
Use Your Organic Audience to Determine Your Paid Audience
We recommend building your organic audience before jumping into paid advertising. By analyzing your organic audience you can answer questions like: Who is looking at my posts? Where does my audience live? What is my audience interested in?
These questions can help tailor your content for the future to ensure that it’s best suited for both your existing audience and the audience members you’d like to earn.
In a perfect world, organic marketing would be everything. But in many cases, organic social media doesn’t provide the booming results many businesses strive for. That’s where paid is brought in.
Once your organic audience is identified, the goal is to continue growing your audience within that very same bucket. Paid social media is helpful in doing exactly that.
Measure Results Using Data Analysis
One of the most important aspects of both paid and organic social media marketing is to track your results. What’s performing and what’s not? What posts led to the great increase in profile visits? Which produced the greatest increase in new followers?
Paying close attention to the type of content that performs the best for your unique audience is critical as you continue to invest more time and money into ongoing content marketing. Social media channels collect an unreal amount of data from their users, much of which is available for review and analysis by marketers. Take advantage of it!
For more on how you can implement organic content creation to grab your clients’ attention, read on.
Are you frustrated with low views on your YouTube channel despite your efforts? We may have some bad news: simply posting videos is not enough. With 122 million daily active users and 500 hours of content uploaded every minute, competition on YouTube is fierce.
The good news? You can optimize your Youtube content to increase your visibility and attract more viewers with just a few simple steps.
Let’s dive into how you can do it.
Engaging Your Audience:
Audience engagement plays a crucial role in driving interactions and building a connection with your viewers. Encourage interaction by responding to comments, creating a community, and asking for feedback. Experiment with different formats like Q&A sessions, challenges, live streams, or contests to engage your audience effectively.
Make sure to complete your profile to provide viewers with more information about you and your content.
Directing Viewers to Your Website:
Don’t underestimate the power of simply telling people to visit your website. Incorporate a bookend approach in your videos, mentioning your website at the beginning and end. Display your URL in the video description. By explicitly inviting viewers to visit your website, you can significantly increase referral traffic and expand your reach.
Encouraging Subscriptions:
While immediate traffic is important, focusing on long-term growth is equally crucial. Ask your viewers to subscribe to your channel. Subscribers receive notifications about your new videos and are more likely to become loyal fans. As your subscriber count grows, so does your viewership and potential website traffic.
Interacting with the Comment Section:
Here at Digital Storyteller, we’re all about embracing the fun and excitement of the comment section! It’s like a virtual hangout where viewers can ask questions, share their thoughts, and create an awesome community.
But wait, there’s more! By actively engaging with the comment section, you not only get to showcase your expertise (cue the expert mode), but you also have the perfect opportunity to sprinkle some magic. Share relevant links to your website or other valuable content, turning the comment section into a gateway for epic discoveries.
Partnering with Other YouTubers:
Collaborating with other YouTubers in your niche can be mutually beneficial. Look for channels with a slightly larger subscriber count than yours to expand your reach. By sharing audiences, both parties gain access to new traffic sources and increase their visibility – sounds like a win-win to us!
Optimizing Video Metadata:
We know, we know, the word “metadata” doesn’t sound like the most fun, but it’s the secret sauce that helps your videos rank higher in search results.
Metadata refers to the valuable information you provide about your video, including titles, descriptions, and tags. By optimizing these elements, you can work your way up the search results ladder and increase your video’s visibility.
Here’s how to work your magic on metadata:
Enchanting Titles: Create descriptive titles that incorporate relevant keywords. Think about what your target audience is searching for and craft titles that catch their attention.
Captivating Descriptions: Craft detailed descriptions that captivate viewers and provide valuable information about your video. Be sure to include targeted keywords and consider adding URLs to direct viewers to your website or other related content.
Strategic Tags: Add tags to your videos to include additional keywords that couldn’t be naturally incorporated into the title or description. These tags help search engines understand the content of your video and improve its discoverability.
By optimizing your metadata, you’ll increase your chances of ranking higher in search results and attracting more viewers to your videos.
Utilizing Descriptive Playlists:
Creating playlists for your videos helps organize your content, improves discoverability, and enhances viewer engagement. Group videos with similar topics or themes into playlists to make it easier for viewers to find what they want. Playlists also rank in search results, driving additional traffic to your content.
Final Notes
Optimizing your YouTube channel is essential for standing out from the competition and achieving success on the platform. By engaging your audience, directing viewers to your website, encouraging subscriptions, interacting with comments, partnering with other YouTubers, optimizing metadata, utilizing playlists, and harnessing the power of annotations, you can maximize your channel’s potential and drive more traffic to your content.
Remember, building a successful YouTube channel takes time and effort. Consistently create high-quality content that resonates with your target audience, and apply the optimization strategies discussed in this guide. Monitor your channel’s performance, analyze the data, and make adjustments as necessary.
Keep exploring new techniques, staying up-to-date with the latest trends, and learning from successful YouTubers in your niche. With dedication, persistence, and a well-optimized channel, you can increase your visibility, attract more viewers, and achieve your YouTube goals.
Good luck on your YouTube journey!
Marketing: It’s What We Do Best
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, Monday emails, and content calendars to make sure you know what’s happening, always.
We have monthly reporting where we let you know what the return on investment that you’re getting is from your relationship with us.
Of course, there’s always a team member available to you just a call, email, or even text away. Not to toot our own horn, but we’ve been told on multiple occasions that our bi-weekly calls are their favorite calls!
Happy with the direction we’re headed in? We’ll keep running that way. Want to tweak something? More than happy to adjust.
We’ll bring you fresh ideas from our kick*** creative team from a relationship built on trust. Because that’s the beauty of digital marketing.For those who are interested in learning more about the difference between outsourced marketing and in-house marketing, read on here.
If you’ve made the smart decision to partner with a marketing agency, you’re on the right track to accelerating your business growth. But to truly maximize the potential of this collaboration, there are certain steps you can take to set yourself up for success (spoiler alert: this includes communication, patience, consistency and yes, timely approvals for content – pretty please!)
In this blog, we’ll guide you through a series of essential strategies and best practices that will help you foster a thriving partnership with your outsourced marketing agency. From clearly defining goals and expectations to establishing transparent communication channels, we’ll cover all the crucial elements that contribute to a successful outsourcing relationship. Let’s dive in!
Set Yourself Up For Success: The Foundation of a Thriving Partnership
Clearly Define Goals and Expectations: The Roadmap to Success
Take some time to define your goals and expectations. Do you want to increase brand awareness, boost conversions, or expand into new markets? Lay it all out and share it with your marketing agency. With a shared vision, you’ll be cruising towards success in no time.
Communicate Your Brand’s Voice and Values: A Unified Front
Share your brand’s personality, tone, and values, so they can create content that hits all the right notes. A unified front will resonate with your target audience and create a memorable brand experience.
Establish a Transparent Communication Channel: Keeping the Conversation Flowing
Communication is key to any successful relationship. Establish a transparent communication channel with your agency, whether it’s through email, project management tools, or regular video calls. Keep the conversation flowing. Share updates, ask questions, and provide feedback. The more you communicate, the better your agency can understand your needs and deliver exceptional results.
Provide Necessary Resources and Information: Sharing is Caring
Provide your agency with access to relevant data, customer insights, and industry knowledge. Share your brand guidelines, creative assets, and any other resources they might need. By equipping them with the right tools, you’ll empower them to create marketing campaigns that hit the bullseye.
Being an Active Participant in Your Own Success
It’s time to break down the walls between you and your marketing agency and embrace collaboration. You bring your industry expertise and deep knowledge of your target audience, while they bring their marketing prowess and creative genius. By working together as a team, you’ll unlock new ideas, innovative strategies, and out-of-the-box solutions that will propel your business forward. So, let those creative juices flow and let the magic happen!
Actively Engage in Strategic Discussions: The Power of Brainstorming
Strategic discussions are like electric storms of ideas, where sparks of brilliance fly around. Don’t miss out on the fun! Actively engage in these discussions with your marketing agency. Bring your unique perspective to the table, ask questions, challenge assumptions, and explore new possibilities. Together, you’ll uncover hidden opportunities and forge a path towards marketing greatness.
Be Patient – Organic MarketingTakes Time
Patience, grasshopper, patience. In the fast-paced world of digital marketing, it’s easy to expect instant results. But here’s the reality check: organic growth takes time, my friend. So, let’s take a deep breath and embrace the art of patience.
Understand the Nature of Organic Marketing: Planting Seeds for Future Success
Organic marketing is like nurturing a beautiful garden. You plant the seeds, water them, and patiently wait for them to bloom. Similarly, organic marketing requires consistent effort, valuable content, and genuine engagement. It takes time for your brand to gain visibility, build trust, and establish a loyal following. Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is a thriving organic presence.
Set Realistic Expectations
Managing expectations is key to maintaining your sanity in the world of marketing. Set realistic goals and timelines based on the nature of organic growth. Understand that it may take several months or even longer to see significant results. But rest assured, with a solid strategy, consistent effort, and a sprinkle of patience, your hard work will pay off in due time.
Embrace Consistency and Long-term Growth: Slow and Steady Wins the Race
Consistency is the secret sauce to organic success. Stay committed to delivering valuable content, engaging with your audience, and nurturing relationships. Keep showing up, even when it feels like progress is slow. Remember, every interaction, every piece of content, and every effort
Respect the Agency’s Expertise: Collaborate and Trust for Mutual Success
When you partner with an outsourced marketing agency, you’re tapping into a wealth of knowledge and experience. To get the most out of this dynamic relationship, it’s crucial to respect their expertise and foster a collaborative environment for mutual success.
Recognize the Agency’s Knowledge and Experience: Trust the Experts
Your marketing agency brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table. Recognize their strengths and value their expertise. Trust that they have the skills and knowledge to guide you towards success.
Be Open to New Ideas and Strategies: Embrace Fresh Perspectives
One of the benefits of working with an outsourced marketing agency is access to fresh ideas and strategies. Be open to their suggestions, even if they challenge your current thinking. Embrace their unique perspectives and explore new possibilities for your marketing efforts.
Trust Their Recommendations and Insights: Follow Their Lead
Your marketing agency has your best interests in mind. When they make recommendations or provide insights, trust their expertise and follow their lead. Remember, they’re working towards the same goal as you: success for your brand.
Approve Your Content (Please…We’re begging.)
We’re begging you, please, make timely approval a priority. Your marketing campaigns rely on the smooth flow of content creation and deployment. Delays in approval can disrupt the momentum and effectiveness of your initiatives. So, be responsive and proactive in reviewing and approving the content. Your agency will be eternally grateful, and your marketing engine will run like a well-oiled machine.
By embracing the content approval process, you play a crucial role in maintaining the quality, consistency, and success of your marketing efforts. So, grab your red pen, don your discerning marketer hat, and let’s give that content our seal of approval. Pretty please, with a cherry on top!
Get on Camera (However Much You Hate It)
Lights, camera, action! We know that the thought of being in front of a camera might send shivers down your spine, but trust us, it’s time to conquer that fear. In today’s digital landscape, video content reigns supreme, capturing attention and connecting with audiences on a whole new level.
So, why should you get on camera, even if it’s not your favorite thing to do? Here are a few key reasons:
Captivating Visuals: Video has a unique ability to grab attention and engage viewers. With eye-catching visuals, dynamic storytelling, and the power of motion, videos can leave a lasting impact on your audience.
Authentic Connection: Videos allow you to showcase your personality, passion, and expertise in a way that resonates with your audience. By putting yourself in front of the camera, you humanize your brand and create a genuine connection with your viewers.
Expanded Reach: In the age of social media and sharing, video content has a greater potential to go viral and reach a wider audience. Engaging videos are more likely to be shared, increasing your brand’s visibility and attracting new viewers and potential customers.
Increased Conversion Rates: Studies have shown that including video on landing pages or in marketing emails can significantly increase conversion rates. Video has a way of capturing attention, keeping viewers engaged, and compelling them to take action.
Highlight Humans: Take Pictures at Your Events
In the digital age, where everything seems to happen online, it’s important not to forget the power of in-person connections. Events provide a fantastic opportunity to bring people together, showcase your brand, and create memorable experiences. And what better way to capture those moments than by taking pictures?
When you host or participate in events, whether it’s a conference, trade show, workshop, or even a casual gathering, make sure to have someone dedicated to capturing the highlights. These photographs not only serve as mementos for attendees but also become valuable assets for your marketing efforts.
Sharing event photos on your website, social media platforms, and other marketing channels humanizes your brand and gives your audience a glimpse into the real people behind it. It adds a personal touch and helps build trust and familiarity with your audience.
So, don’t be shy to whip out your camera or hire a professional photographer to capture the energy, excitement, and human connections at your events. Let those pictures tell a story and make your brand come alive.
Get Sales Involved: Marketing Serves Sales – Let Them Talk to Each Other
Marketing and sales are two sides of the same coin, and their collaboration is crucial for driving business growth. By fostering a strong relationship between your marketing and sales teams, you create a seamless customer journey and maximize your conversion opportunities.
Encourage regular communication and collaboration between the marketing and sales departments. This can be achieved through joint meetings, shared insights and data, and even cross-training sessions.
Marketing can provide valuable information and resources to support the sales team, such as targeted content, lead generation strategies, and customer insights. On the other hand, the sales team can provide valuable feedback and insights from direct customer interactions, helping to refine marketing messages and strategies.
When marketing and sales work together harmoniously, it creates a powerful synergy that boosts the overall effectiveness of your business. It aligns your messaging, ensures a consistent customer experience, and ultimately drives revenue growth.
So, break down those silos, encourage collaboration, and let marketing and sales teams talk to each other. Together, they can unlock new opportunities, improve customer engagement, and drive business success.
Interested in Learning More About Outsourced Marketing?
Give us a call or shoot us a message to schedule your Brand Storytelling Session today.Read on to learn more about why organic marketing is especially great for financial services companies.
The use of social media in financial services is often disputed. Some believe that social media does not hold the same value for business-to-business (B2B) brands as it does in the business-to-consumer (B2C) market.
This, however, is not the case.
While it may be true that B2C companies are often more successful on social media than B2B companies, there are still a multitude of various reasons why building a social media presence benefits a financial services company.
Take it from our Social Media Team at Digital Storyteller: “A marketing strategy without social media is like a margarita without tequila. No one wants that!”
In this article, we’re detailing the key benefits of using social media marketing for financial services companies.
1. Strengthen Existing Relationships
One of the greatest benefits for all businesses to developing a social media presence is to strengthen their existing client relationships.
This may refer to:
- Engaging with existing or past clients, or
- Nurturing relationships with contacts that have yet to become clients
Either way, social media networks provide a platform to maintain relationships.
Email marketing and consistent calls are of course another option to nurture relationships! These methods, however, have the potential to get irritating rather quickly.
While blasting your clients’ inboxes with emails may lead them to the dreaded unsubscribe button, they may not feel the need to take such drastic measures when their level of engagement is the casual viewing of sporadic Instagram posts.
Social media provides a relaxed addition to your existing client nurturing process while additionally providing a platform to develop new relationships.
2. Build Trust
In the same way that Google evaluates content for SEO purposes, viewers evaluate clients based on their authority and expertise. Developing a depth of content on social platforms provides potential clients an opportunity to review your level of expertise within your field.
Over time, existing clientele and prospective clients will likely begin to follow your accounts and engage with your content. Engagement with your content shows that you have a proven following and support system that trusts your business.
Read on to learn more about Instagram engagement.
3. Provide Customer Support
Social media has turned into an easy, new line of communication.
It has become common for consumers to utilize social media to gain support and answers from companies rather than going through their traditional customer service channels. Various social media platforms provide space where clients are comfortable and familiar.
It is easier for a client to tag, tweet, or comment on a company’s latest post than it is to sit on hold with the customer service line for hours trying to solicit help… No, thanks!
Companies love to see their favorite clients and prospects engaging with them on a personal level through social media. Brands that engage and respond to their clients on social media have overall higher customer satisfaction ratings.
It’s 2022, your clients are on social media—and your competitors are, too.
The truth of the matter is: Brands are expected to have a social presence.
Giving your clients an additional outlet to contact you offers them the support and guidance they’re looking for.
After all, your product or service already serves to solve a problem that they’re facing. Why not fix another one by making yourself more accessible?
4. Humanize Your Brand
In a sense, this goes along with the previously mentioned need for customer support. Making your brand available on social media is like positioning yourself as their friend. Social media platforms were created to connect friends and share experiences, so why can’t the same be the case with brands?!
Social platforms allow your brand to share a behind-the-scenes look at the people that make your brand what it is. For example, our co-founders, Andrew Marr and Amanda Rogers, each have their series of relevant videos that we share weekly.
Not only do these videos “share the secret sauce” behind our brand, but they also give our viewers insight into the faces behind the brand! Plus, who doesn’t love a chardonnay review!?
The same may also be the case with your brand. Finding a way to interact with your clients on an informal basis allows them to consider you a friend or peer. It creates a relationship of trust and mutual respect: Two things you definitely want in your client relationships.
5. Gain Insight
Lastly, being engaged on social media allows your brand to gain insight. Be it consumer or competitive insights, social media functions as a reporting platform.
The way that consumers engage with your social media account can tell you about their buying behavior, likes, dislikes, and needs.
Instagram, for example, has transitioned its functionality to operate similarly to a search engine for users. Tracking the views of your page, accounts reached, post likes, comments, shares, and saves can provide significant insight into how your brand is performing.
Read on for our article “What is Going on With the Instagram Algorithm!?”
Similar claims can be said about your competitors. One of the benefits of public social media accounts is that you can track insight into your competitors’ content. As they provide content for their followers, you have a front-row seat to see what they’re doing!
A Final Word
If your brand is already on social media, there are additional ways to ensure that you are optimizing your channels. This is particularly the case for financial services companies interacting on social media.
Check out this article for additional tips on the use of social media for financial services companies!
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:
- Conversions: How many of your site visitors are qualified leads? How many of them convert to closed sales?
- 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.
- Organic Visibility: How are people finding your site? Are you showing up through organic search?
- Organic Sessions: How many users are finding your site through an organic search?
- 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.
- 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.
- 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?
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.”
- 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 …
- 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.
- Define your KPIs- Which specific KPIs will your business track? How will you collect the data and how often will you track shifts?
- 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.”
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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.
- 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!
- 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).
- Offer an incentive. Think outside of the box of gifts! An incentive can be more brand recognition on your website.
- Post the testimonial (with a nice headshot) on your website.
- Check out our testimonials page on our website for more inspiration.
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.
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.
“At Digital Storyteller, we focus exclusively on [marketing for] financial services companies in the B to B space.”
Above is the text you’re faced with when you first visit DigitalStoryteller.io. Some of you might be thinking, “Great!… But what the heck is a financial services company?”
Most marketing agencies work with brands (think: restaurants, fitness centers, influencers, beauty companies, the list goes on). At Digital Storyteller, we’re a bit different… Here’s why.
Why Do We Focus on the Financial Services Industry?
So, why do we focus on financial services at Digital Storyteller? Well, aside from the fact that our team thinks financial services are wildly sexy (kidding… kind of?), we recognized a need and a gap in industry offerings.
But first, before we go into more detail, what is the financial services industry?
What the Heck is Financial Services?
We’re glad you asked.
According to the International Monetary Fund, the financial services sector “covers many different types of transactions in such areas as real estate, consumer finance, banking, and insurance.”
At Digital Storyteller, we have clients ranging from law firms to HR consulting firms, commercial real estate firms to wealth advisories, and commercial insurance. (Geez, that’s a mouthful, isn’t it?)
Anyway, when we say financial services, that’s really the realm we’re talking about.
Marketing for Financial Services Companies
So, back to why we market for financial services, at Digital Storyteller, we feel like that level of business, and that community of businesses, are underserved from a marketing perspective.
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.
A Quick Aside
How did all of this come to be? In 1997, Amanda Rogers, Chief Creative Officer and Founder of Digital Storyteller taught herself how to code from a book when the actors union was on strike.
She taught herself to write HTML, CSS, and Javascript before WordPress, Squarespace, and WIX existed. Although Amanda believes a lot has changed in the “how” of creating online presences for people and their businesses, the why is still the same… Tell the world what you do better than anyone else and the right people will be able to find you.
Why is Marketing Important for Financial Services Specifically
The financial services industry is a competitive and unique industry to market for. We know that those in the financial services industry navigate the difficult terrain of regulatory and compliance hurdles while seeking to successfully market their products and services.
Moreover, when it comes to financial services, you must build trust and authority through consistent content that is:
- Reliable
- Informational
- Educational
- Engaging
This considered—its difficulty—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 companies.
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.