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lick ommunicator The Digital Marketing Guide for Small Business Make Every Click Count Tips for Creating Killer PPC Ads These SEO Trends Will Dominate in 2018 8 Secrets of Local Marketing in 2018 21 Click Worthy Ideas to Create the Perfect PR for Your Local Business Powered By www ClickMode co za
Contents Make Every Click Count Tips for Creating Killer PPC Ads 03 When you create pay per click ads you pay for every click you get So it stands to reason that you want to make every click count Even if you don t think of yourself as a marketing pro there are some simple tricks you can learn to take your PPC ads to the next level These SEO Trends Will Dominate in 2018 08 Trying to stay on top of SE0 trends is like trying to hit a moving target while on a speeding train The landscape and perspective changes so quickly that it can feel impossible to keep up But you need to try The good news is that there are some new trends on Google that can help increase your visibility if you know how to use them 8 Secrets of Local Facebook Marketing in 2018 12 Have you made New Year s resolutions for your business Here s one suggestion Master local marketing on Facebook The chances are good that many of your customers use it daily but that doesn t necessarily mean that you re doing a great job of connecting with them With that in mind here are eight things you can do starting right now to ring the new year in with a bang and become a master of local Facebook marketing 21 Click Worthy Ideas to Create the Perfect PR for Your Local Business 17 Your business needs publicity and there is no better marketing tool for your business than publicity I E online exposure It s vital to the growth of your business But if you have ever struggled to come up with ideas on how to promote your business these expert tips will show you how to turn your business s news and events into publicity and attract more customers Welcome To Clicks Magazine Thanks for checking out our 5th issue of Clicks your online marketing resource guide for small business Each month we will be covering topics that resonate with local businesses just like yours Our goal is simple We want to enable you to do big things online and it all starts by breaking down the complexities of marketing your business online It doesn t matter if you re are just starting out or an established business owner in your local community you can always benefit from increasing your brand s visibility online To your Success Carol Dippenaar CLICK COMMUNICATOR is BroughT To You BY Click Mode is the leading small business marketing service in the Pretoria since 2007 We help small businesses connect with more customers online If you want to build your business you need to market it s that simple But you can lose thousands of dollars if you don t know what you are doing So we urge you to take action with some of the strategies we recommend For a more hands off approach we offer affordable solutions and can deliver results We hope you enjoy this issue of Click Communicator and feel free to reach out to us anytime
Make Every Click Count Tips for Creating Killer PPC Ads When you create pay per click ads you pay for every click you get So it stands to reason that you want to make every click count But how can you do that The key is to hone your ad creation skills so that your ads Appeal directly to your target audience Give people what they need and expect to see Persuade them to click through and visit your site The good news Even if you don t think of yourself as a marketing pro there are some simple tricks you can learn to take your PPC ads to the next level Here they are
1 Make Your Ads MobileResponsive 2 Use Numbers in Headlines and Copy You probably already know that mobile searches now outstrip desktop services That means that your PPC ads must be adapted for mobile users if you want to get great results People respond to specificity in ads and headlines If there are dozens of ways to use your product or customers get access to millions of email addresses say that in your headline Here s what to do Using numbers adds to your credibility too It s why politicians often reel off a string of statistics when they re in a debate Make your landing pages mobileresponsive so they can be read on any device Bonus you won t have to create special mobile landing pages Add a click to call button on your ad Use IF functions to add special text and deals for mobile customers For example you might offer free shipping on mobile orders These simple tweaks to your ad can drive mobile engagement and sales Try adding numbers percentages and other stats to your PPC ads Of course make sure they re both accurate and relevant to your target audience If you do you ll see what a difference a number can make in your click through rate
Make sure your headline and copy match the intention of the keyword You ll have a better chance of getting people to click if you do 3 Use Persuasive Language in Your Headline 4 Tailor Your Message to Customers Places in the Sales Funnel If you re running an AdWords campaign your headline is likely to be the focus of anybody who searches your keywords That means it s got to be snappy direct and appealing The people who see your ads won t all be at the same place in the buying cycle Some may be looking for general information to help them solve a problem Others may be ready to pull the trigger and make a purchase It s important not to be misleading in your headline It should be clear what product or service you re selling Often you can tell where a customer is based on the keyword they use to search A customer who searches for general information about pest control might say Originally AdWords allowed only a few words per line so there wasn t room to get fancy Now with the new expanded headline format you can add a few more words But your goal should still be to get to the point quickly How to get rid of pests Of course if you re running a Facebook ad you have a bit more room The key thing is to make your headlines persuasive without resorting to clickbait Someone who s ready to hire an exterminator on the other hand might search Best termite exterminator in Grand Rapids See the difference When you write an ad you choose keywords to target Make sure your headline and copy match the intention of the keyword You ll have a better chance of getting people to click if you do
5 Use a Compelling Image for Your Facebook Ad On Facebook users are accustomed to seeking out images and looking at them first It s why visual content gets so much more engagement than plain written content You can increase your clicks by finding a compelling relevant image to use in your ad This isn t the place to use an image that s unrelated to your offer Original images meaning not stock images are best Photographs illustrations and infographics can all get the job done if you use them properly 6 Match Your Landing Page to Your Ad Nobody and I mean nobody likes a bait and switch When your ad and your landing page don t match it tells people that you can t be trusted And considering how essential trust and authority are in marketing you can t afford to do anything to undermine the trust you ve acquired In other words if your ad promotes an offer it should direct them to a page that promotes the same offer When the details match it creates trust and reassures the people who click That means they ll be more likely to take the next step whether that means opting in to your list or making a purchase To make it easier you can even use dynamic text replacement technology to swap out text based on the keyword used to find your ad That way you ll always be sure that your page and your ad are in synch
7 Use Retargeting to Close the Deal You already know that your first touch with a potential customer is unlikely to lead to a sale You may need to connect with them several times before they re ready to take the leap You can use PPC ads on Google and Facebook to retarget people who ve clicked on an ad and visited your site Specifically you can target them based on what they did on your site For example the Facebook pixel lets you track which pages people visit or even which blog posts they read You can then retarget them with content that you choose based on what they looked at That increases the chances that they ll click again and maybe this time they ll buy from you You re going to pay for clicks one way or the other That s the nature of PPC ads after all The best thing you can do to improve your CTR and conversions is to dedicate yourself to using these seven tricks to create ads that compel clicks and ultimately increase your sales
These SEO TRENDS Will Dominate in 2018 Trying to stay on top of SEO trends is like trying to hit a moving target while on a speeding train The landscape and perspective changes so quickly that it can feel impossible to keep up But you need to try The good news is that there are some new trends on Google that can help increase your visibility if you know how to use them There s a bit of a learning curve here but we re going to break it down for you and tell you how to take advantage of each one so 2018 can be your best year yet Use Google s New SERP Features You ve undoubtedly noticed that Google s search results have changed in recent years Where there used to be a list of ten links per page now you ve got all kinds of features including Knowledge Graphs The Local Three Pack Featured Snippets These things can all help you get more traffic For example strong local SEO that includes local keywords and links can help you earn a place in the three pack Having great instructional content can earn you the Featured Snippet position which appears above organic search results
Use Structured Markup to Enhance Your SERP Listing Have you ever noticed that some businesses have pictures review stars and other relevant information alongside their link on the SERP You can do that too Structured markup allows you to use HTML to give Google instructions about what to display when one of your keywords is searched For example you might choose to display A picture of your business Your business hours Your average review rating in stars You can find a detailed explanation of how to do it It s important to think about what the people searching your keywords are most likely to want Then you can use structured markup to include those things in your SERP listing As a bonus including structured markup can increase the chances that you ll end up with a Featured Snippet or Knowledge Graph spot on the page Increase the Relevance of Your Content Every time Google updates its algorithm it gets more difficult to appear near the top of the SERP Why Because the increasing sophistication of Google s ability to determine the relevance of a page its new RankBrain features is a key example means that you can t get away with sub par content Of course there are things you can do to increase your relevance One of the main things is to use LSI that s Latent Semantic Indexing to bolster your keywords LSI are terms that relate to your main keywords You can find them by searching your keyword and scrolling to the bottom of the page LSI terms appear beneath a headline that says Searches related to your keyword Using LSI in an organic and informative way can improve your relevance and help Google index your site It also reduces the chances that your site will be penalized for low quality content
Use Structured Markup to Enhance Your SERP Listing If you ve ever said OK Google to search for something on your phone you know that voice search is here to stay In fact usage of voice search is very likely to increase in the coming year To make the most of it try researching the questions and search terms people are most likely to use in voice search One tool you can try is Rank Tracker they have a free version Some of the keywords you come up with may include misspellings You ll have to decide whether you want to try to rank for those The addition of Google s RankBrain has made it easier for Google to determine what searchers want and it can hurt your credibility to include awkward phrases and misspelled words on your site Make Sure Your Site Loads in Three Seconds or Less Three seconds isn t much but if your site takes longer than that to load you may end up frustrating searchers and making them hit the dreaded back button Both mobile and desktop users are impatient Google has a free tool you can use to check your loading speed If your site loads quickly you re good to go If not they ll give you an explanation for the slowness and some tips to help you fix it The first thing you need to do is test your page and it s essential to test each page of your site separately Your home page might load quickly but if even one of your landing pages is slow you could be losing out
Use Google Personalization to Your Advantage Increasingly Google and other search engines are tailoring the SERP to the searcher s preferences and history That means they use the searcher s Location Previous searches Demographic info age gender etc Social media profile think Google If you want to get a look at your unbiased SERP use an incognito window to do it You ll need to do your best to earn a spot near the top but once a user clicks your listing you ll become a preferred listing for them One of the most important thing you can do to take advantage of personalization is to use local keywords and SEO to improve your rank Cultivate Linkless Mentions Link building is a cornerstone of SEO but what if you didn t need someone to link to your page to reap some SEO benefits That seems to be the way things are headed name can potentially help you build authority and improve your SERP Bing has already confirmed that they re using linkless mentions of brands to rank pages There s some reason to believe that Google may be headed the same way But you can keep up The seven trends mentioned here are likely to make a big impact in 2018 By getting on top of them now you can get a leg up on the competition and grab the lion s share of clicks and sales That means that anything you can do to encourage people to mention your brand by SEO is always changing
8 Great Local Marketing Strategies in 2018 Have you made New Year s resolutions for your business Master local Facebook marketing on Facebook keeps refining their algorithms and that s made it harder than it used to be to be sure your target audience sees the content you post Facebook is huge with 2 2 billion users and counting The Think about it It s a new year chances are good that many and it s one that s full of oppor of your customers use it daily With that in mind here are tunities Even if you killed it with but that doesn t necessarily eight things you can do startyour marketing in 2017 there s mean that you re doing a great ing right now to ring the new job of connecting with them always room for improvement year in with a bang and beSo here s one suggestion for a And let s face it social mar come a master of local Faceresolution keting has some challenges book marketing If not why not
1 Create a Facebook Event 3 Fill in the date and time of your event choose a category for it and put in keywords that will help people find it 4 Add a Google map or directions 5 Link to a ticketing site if people need to buy tickets Once the event is set up you can invite people and share it on your page You can even pay to boost it or run it as an ad to attract more attendees 2 Let People Know What You re Doing Are you attending a trade show Hosting a booth at a community event Maybe you ve sponsored a soccer team and you re attending a game Creating events on Facebook helps raise your visibility engage existing customers and attract new ones Here s how to do it 1 Come up with an event It could be a sale a social event or even a performance 2 Go to the Events tab to create your event Whatever it is it s an opportunity to check in at your location tag other businesses and events and keep your audience up to date on what you re doing It s important here not to overdo tagging Nobody cares if you stopped at Starbucks for a latte Stick to events and locations that highlight your business and your audience will thank you
Bright Local survey found that 92 of all consumers read online reviews before they make a purchase 3 Create and Share Local Content You re a local business so show some local pride to connect with potential customers If there s a local tradition or event coming up or if you see an article that highlights something unique about your city share it with your followers Of course you need to do more than share You can increase your page s visibility by tagging other local businesses events or landmarks in your post This is an opportunity to connect with other local business owners too You might be able to help one another out 4 Get People to Write Facebook Reviews of Your Business Reviews are hugely important They provide social proof and a recent Bright Local survey found that 92 of all consumers read online reviews before they make a purchase Facebook reviews can help increase your profile and attract new customers You can encourage people to leave reviews by reaching out to your list or creating a post where you ask for reviews Keep in mind that star reviews without a written review accompanying them won t get you as much visibility as written reviews You may want to create a template for people who aren t sure what to write where you ask things like What problem did you have before buying our product or using our service How did working with us help you What were the biggest changes you experienced because of your purchase Once you ve collected some reviews you can share them on your page You can do the same of course with reviews from Yelp and Google 5 Create Groups for Your Followers Did you know that Facebook allows you to create groups for people who follow your page Creating a group can be an effective way of building a community and focusing conversations and content on a topic For example if you offer an array of services you might create a group for each one That way people can connect with others who use the service ask questions and even recommend your services to others
6 Give People a Reason to Come to Your Store Many local businesses rely on foot traffic to drive sales If you do you can use your Facebook account to encourage people to come see you in person For example you might create and share an in person coupon that people can use when they come to your store Or you might offer a giveaway for those who visit your location Other things you can do to entice in person visits include Aligning yourself with a local cause or charity Hosting in store events Teaming up with other local businesses to create joint promotions Having a contest or sweepstakes for people who make a purchase within a specified timeframe These things can all help attract customers to your store and get them to make purchases 7 Run a Contest Running a contest on Facebook can help you attract new followers and build engagement If you decide to do it keep in mind that Facebook has strict rules about what you can and can t do For example you can t require followers to Like or Share a post to enter Make sure that your contest has A clear start and end date Prizes that are appealing and relevant to your target audience Well defined rules And of course you ll need to deliver prizes on schedule and as promised
8 Market Your Facebook Page in Your Store In local marketing one hand washes the other While you might put your focus on bringing customers from your Facebook page to your store it can work in reverse too For example you might put a link to your Facebook page on flyers business cards and coupons You can also ask customers to take a picture in your store and post it on Facebook while tagging you Offering an incentive like a 10 off coupon or a gift card can help Conclusion Local Facebook marketing poses some challenges but now you know how to address them Local content events and contests can all help you attract new customers to your Facebook page and your store
Following the tips in this guide will result in a perfect PR for your local business How to turn your business s news into publicity to attract more customers Jane Russell the actress once said Publicity can be terrible But only if you don t have any It s true Your business needs publicity and there is no better marketing tool for your business than publicity I E online exposure It s vital to the growth of your business because it gets people talking about you and brings customers through the door or to your website It is so powerful that companies have huge marketing budgets and hire specialists and agencies in order to generate a steady stream of publicity for their company The internet has created a level playing field because now any business no matter how small can generate publicity easier and more efficiently than ever before It is now possible to generate publicity online very quickly and your business has the power to reach hundreds of thousands of people every day If you have ever struggled with ideas on how to promote your business you will get a lot of inspiration from these tips and ideas which will show you how to turn your business s news and events into publicity and attract more customers
Turn your story into an online press release At first you might be thinking that you don t have any stories to release but when you think about it as a business you make news regularly opening your business or launching a new product or service you can easily turn everyday events that you take for granted into stories that can generate publicity For example In addition to the obvious milestones such as 1 Has your company or member of staff recently won an award or have you had a major breakthrough like land a large contract If so that is a story to people interested in your industry People always like to read inspirational stories so if you have been successful in your business or you have recently run a marathon for charity tell people 2
3 If you are a skilled craftsperson or your business specialises in a particular niche why not share some of your expertise and teach others how to do something similar It helps you to build credibility and be a real expert in your field Are you passionate about a particular charity You can create awareness about a cause you believe in and create some publicity for your business Companies do this all of the time and that is why so many of them are keen to sponsor charities and be involved with them 5 If you can identify and positive or worrying trend happening within your niche for example you may be a dog breeder and want to warn people of the growing number of illegal puppy farms where the dogs are not looked after properly you can share this news and turn your knowledge and expertise into a marketing asset for your company There are lots of holiday events throughout the year and almost every type of company organisation or industry marks these events in a particular way So why not inform the tons of people in your area who are searching for events and shows with a news release 7 4 6 Put an end to popular myths or misunderstandings in your industry For example if you are a dentist you might want to write a release explaining that bad breath can be caused by several factors only one of which is poor dental hygiene Explain some of the causes of bad breath and what people can do if they experience it
There will be common myths in your industry too Journalists and online bloggers love these kinds of stories and they can go viral very quickly Is your business contributing to helping the environment In the days of global warming don t underestimate how making even slight changes to the way that your business does things can make a difference You can win customers over with a green story 9 If you can share new market studies research survey or poll results from your industry you will find that this will be a popular story for you and your business 8 Turn to any magazine or news story and there will be some kind of stats or survey result mentioned Everybody loves stats and surveys and none more so than journalists Why Because they find ready made stories to write about in this type of news release Stories like this are quick to go viral too as readers love to share facts and figures and will provide links to them on their blogs they will tweet about them and them to their Facebook or other social media page
Provide useful tips your customers find value in Be generous and get your industry out there by publishing a few helpful tips You will be rewarded by converting search engine users into potential customers If you sell cameras for example you could publish a list of features that potential buyers should be looking out for when buying a camera or produce a guide on which type of camera would best suit the kind of photography that they are wanting to do 10 And I ll bet that there are hundreds if not thousands of people each month searching for useful tips advice in your industry Making this an ideal way to get connected It s worth noting that just one or two brilliant tips are much better than a long list of useless ones There are many other ways that your business can create PR stories and get your business noticed
Breathe some life into your story Now that you have received some inspiration it is time to bring your story and press release to life particularly if your story about your new product or promotion seems boring 11 Give it a human element If your story feels a bit flat try putting people at the forefront of the story You story will have much more success because people are much more likely to share stories that involve people rather than the story being focussed on the product especially if it features people that they know or who are local to their area For example if you have got a happy customer who got great results using your product or service write about that Or perhaps you have an employee who could demonstrate how effective your product is Link your story to a current trend If you have a story that comments on and contributes to industry trends it will get a lot of buzz on social networks because that is what people interested in your industry are interested in and want to read not to mention journalists and bloggers who cover your industry By linking your story to an industry trend can help give your story more legs and the potential to create a buzz so that people will share it 12
13 Attract attention with an image The Internet is very visual so it is a good idea to break up a copy in your press release with a well placed image that gives visual impact to your story Don t worry too much about the image itself You might just want to include your logo or a picture of your product or service It will add interest to your story and make people more inclined to read it Direct people to your website If you have submitted a great story that captures people s imagination don t leave them hanging at the end of the story It is the perfect opportunity to direct them to your website using a strong call to action This could be something as simple as Find out more at www YourWebsite com It doesn t really matter too much how you phrase it The aim is simply to instruct your readers to take action and to make it easier for them Use Social Media to create a media buzz for your story Once you have created your press release it is time to promote it on your social media networks This is going to give your publicity and even bigger boost and drive thousands of extra people to your website 14
How to promote your press release on Facebook 15 Link to your story in your Facebook status This is a simple way to promote your news to your whole network in a single click If your network happens to include bloggers and reporters your news will reach them without you having to do a single pitch and they will be able to run with the idea immediately Share an interesting fact from your story Despite having a great headline for your press release it is a good idea to give your readers yet another reason to click through to read the press release You can do this by adding an intriguing quote fact or statistic out of your press release and make that the main focus of your Facebook post 17 16 Ask for a Like This is one of those occasions where you should not be afraid to ask for likes or reposts when you promote your story on Facebook If you have already built a loyal following of fans and have been an active part of the community they will be happy to spread the word for you especially if your story is interesting
18 Promoting Your Press Release on Twitter Twitter is perfect for telling people about your press release because you can easily reach a wide audience and it is easy for your followers to share and re tweet your post You can literally spread the word in seconds Tweet your story more than once Not everybody will see your Tweet depending on the time you post it and where in the world your audience are so don t be afraid to repost your Tweet a day or two later and at various times To avoid annoying the ones who might have seen the tweet already change the headline and be careful not to post it too many times 20 19 Be Generous and promote those who promote you If one of your followers has been kind enough to re tweet your post acknowledge it by thanking them Not only is it courteous but it is also a good way to create a second round of buzz and publicity on Twitter It means that your story will appear twice in the feed every time it is re tweeted Use Hashtags Categorise your story by adding a Hashtag to a keyword or phrase relating to your story or industry As well as getting your story seen by people outside your network of followers it will also put you on the radar for journalists and bloggers who follow that particular Hashtag 21
Getting the story out there Social media of course goes beyond Facebook and Twitter You can Pin your story on Pinterest and Google it as well as blogging it and sharing it on LinkedIn The online world really is your oyster and provides you with many exciting opportunities to get your story out there and have people all around the world reading about your brand in a matter of minutes If you have got an announcement or newsworthy story about your business there are so many places that you could promote it Our job is to help businesses like yours to get the word out and drive thousands of new clients to your website and company Contact Us And Discover What We Could Do For Your Business
Want to BOOST Your Online Traffic by as much as 50 in as LITTLE as 7 Days Yeah we can help with that Contact us today for a FREE marketing audit and strategy session We ll show you exactly how to increase your web traffic by 50 in as little as 1 week Guaranteed Call us today at 082 203 4180 or visit us online at www ClickMode co za
