The day we’ve been waiting for has arrived. There has been volatility all over Google relating to all areas of Search. We’ve received the warning signs, we’ve let our clients know, and the first thing we do every morning is to check on any updates. Google has released their Core Update.
It has arrived. And although this is not the final time we will see a drastic change, we hope the change is for the good and future of Search. Google Search Central on Twitter (now known as X) announced on the 22nd of August 2023 that they have released the Google Core Update.
Not often do Google actively announce an update, they like to keep all involved in Search Engine Optimisation on their toes, and so we’re delighted they let us know. Over the past few months, if you are an existing client, you would have heard the chatter and been informed of the imminent Google Update.
Broad core updates tend to happen once or twice a year, however, we were and are particularly concerned about this one because of the emergence of AI and Google’s own Generative AI chatter. The repercussions of this Google Core Update can take weeks to roll out and affect website performance and keyword rankings, however, we’re here to support your campaign.
As mentioned above, Google Core Updates happen once or twice a year, so its no surprise. However, with the worldwide use of AI (Artificial Intelligence), ChatGPT, Google’s own Bard with Generative AI experience, and Bing’s own AI chat, all dominating the industry of late.
As we have already seen, there has been considerable volatility with keyword rankings, page speed, and page rankings. While, luckily, some areas of different clients have not been affected at all.
The expectations we have had previously were; to prepare for the worst, and hope for the best. But now, we are armed and prepared to address any changes in our client’s website performance metrics.
Quoted in the prominent Search Engine Journal article about the August Core Update:
“Google stresses that if you see a decline in performance after a core update, it doesn’t indicate an issue with your website.”
As long as you continue to provide value and helpful content to the end user, your ideal customer, we seem to be hitting the nail on the head. Google favours helpful content on a well-optimised website.
So do not be too alarmed if the keyword rankings are jittery, the impressions on Search Console seem to dip, and Google Analytics reports weird on-page time, the core update can take a few weeks to embed and then the real work begins.
So we’re monitoring all the campaigns we have ongoing at the moment with a keen hawk eye, to watch the rollercoasters, and make adjustments that do not harm our client’s businesses as much as possible.<
Once the core update has fully rolled out and everything seems to be relaxing and getting ‘used to the new norm’ then we can adjust, change, and re-strategise for each of our clients. The internal meeting has been set, booked, and in the diary already.
Our experts in technical SEO,content marketing, and data analytics are primed for core updates and have already laid down the groundwork for minimal disruption to your business.
There is great comfort in knowing that an experienced and expert SEO and Content Marketing agency knows the warning signs, is able to adjust, and implement a change in strategy for your digital marketing campaigns.
If you need to know more, feel free to reach out to us and we can let you in on what we know to ensure your website’s performance is at its peak, no matter what Google has up its sleeve.
When we talk about KPIs, we are referring to Key Performance Indicators - something which is important to consider when producing content. This is because they allow content creators to measure the success of each piece of content against their business goals. But, deciding on what these KPIs can be tricky, which is why in this article we will highlight which KPIs you should be looking at for your content and why they matter.
Before we delve into the nuances of KPIs, it’s important to understand exactly what content marketing is and why content marketing is a critical part of any digital marketing strategy. In simple terms, content marketing is the creation, publication and distribution of content that is designed to:
As you can see, content plays a key role in every element of the customer journey, which is one of the reasons it’s such an integral part of successful digital marketing. However, this isn’t the only reason why content marketing should be a top priority for any business.
Content marketing is arguably one of the most important aspects of a digital marketing strategy, but why is content marketing so important? As well as being a valuable activity in its own right, it also forms the basis of many other marketing activities, including:
After all, these marketing activities rely heavily on ‘content’ to engage and motivate the audience. From drafting informative, keyword-rich blog posts to drive targeted traffic to your website to crafting compelling ad content to entice users to click-through to your landing page, content marketing underpins so many aspects of a digital marketing strategy and has a critical impact on the success of marketing activities.
It’s easy to assume that, if you create engaging and compelling content, it will automatically bring users to your site and convert them into paying customers, but the reality is a little more complex. Without effective distribution, your reach will be limited, and the impact of your content marketing will be reduced.
Once you know how content marketing works and how to set KPIs, however, you’ll be well on the way to implementing an effective strategy. You may want to create content that targets search terms and keywords your target audience are frequently searching for so that you can drive organic traffic to your site, for example. Similarly, you may decide to create social media content focused on targeted hashtags to increase the reach of your content or original and innovative video content that has a high chance of going viral.
While the quality of your content is obviously of paramount importance, an effective distribution strategy is also critical if you want to get the most out of your marketing and setting meaningful KPIs can help you to achieve this.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are measurable metrics that track your progress towards a specific goal. Essentially, they give you an indication of whether your performance is on track to meet your objectives and allow you to gauge the success of an activity or campaign while it’s still ongoing.
KPIs are important because they provide useful and actionable insights that can be used to optimise campaign performance and deliver better results. Rather than waiting until the end of a campaign to assess its performance, you can use KPIs to undertake mid-campaign analysis. This gives you an opportunity to adjust the campaign to achieve optimal results and, therefore, avoid unnecessary losses and increase the ROI.
There are many metrics and KPIs that can be used to monitor the success of your content marketing, including:
However, the specific KPIs you use may depend on the type of content you’re publishing, as well as additional marketing activities that you’re undertaking and the overarching goal you’re aiming to achieve.
If you want to raise brand awareness via social media marketing, for example, your content marketing KPIs may be CTR, engagement, page views, and likes, shares and comments. Alternatively, if you’re using SEO to generate targeted website traffic, SERPs rankings, page views, share of voice and leads generated may be your most important KPIs.
Before you can set KPIs, however, you’ll need to define your overall goals. For example, what’s the purpose of a specific piece of content and what do you want to achieve with it? If you’re publishing a blog post with the intention of generating leads, then you’ll need a way to define a ‘lead’ and measure how many leads are obtained via the post.
Once you’ve set your overall goal, you can set KPIs accordingly. If you want to achieve 40 leads within a 4-week period with an 8% conversion rate, for example, your corresponding KPIs can be broken down to 10 leads per week, 120 page views per week etc.
All KPIs should be quantifiable, but how do you go about measuring them? Fortunately, there are many analytics platforms that make it easy to access the data you need to measure KPIs. If you’re using GA4 and Google Search Console to monitor website performance, for example, you can use this data to analyse key metrics of specific content pages, while external platforms, such as Google Ads, LinkedIn Campaign Manager or Meta Business Suite provide in-platform metrics too.
As this post shows, an effective content marketing strategy is about much more than simply creating great content. To succeed in a competitive digital world, you’ll need to take a strategic and holistic approach to content marketing – and we can help.
To find out more about our bespoke content marketing services, get in touch with our team now!
With the rise of social media, some of us may wonder if it is still worth including email marketing into our digital marketing strategies. Our answer – it very much is!
We established in a previous blog article that email marketing has been used since the late 1970s as a form of direct marketing, whereby businesses communicate various bits of information with their customers – so why is it still relevant?
Well, some of the biggest companies in the world continue to use email marketing to communicate with their customers, as this form of digital marketing can have a number of benefits when producing a successful Digital Marketing Campaign.
Email Marketing software enables senders to insert hyperlinks into their email template, which readers can then click on and be automatically directed to the company's website. In doing so, customers are presented with an easy way to visit your website as they can just click on the link and go straight to the page they want, rather than typing in the URL themselves.
With so businesses communicating with people online, it can be easy to become drowned out – especially as a small business. With the help of email marketing, you can reach your target audience on a regular basis, which in turn, helps drive awareness of your brand.
Email marketing allows you to reach a vast amount of people for very little cost. In fact, towards the end of 2022 HubSpot announced that email marketing produced an ROI (Return on Investment) of $36 for every $1 spent.
Due to the fact that Email Marketing is a form of direct marketing, this method allows senders to create content that is a lot more personal to their readers, meaning those receiving the email will not only feel special but also valued by your brand. Whereas because social media is a form of mass media, its content can be very generalised, due to the number of people it is trying to target.
People who sign up for an email newsletter do so because they are interested in your business and want to stay up to date with the latest news. This means that content being produced in an email campaign is very likely to be effective.
For example, if a popular clothing brand is having a sale and sent out an email to promote it, then it is likely that the reader will buy into the promotion as they like the brand and enjoy buying their products.
Email Marketing allows you to directly tell your customers about the latest offers, news, events and company updates. This helps keep customers engaged with the brand, which in the long run helps support the development of brand loyalty.
Email Marketing can also be used to communicate with customers who haven’t made a purchase in a while. A lot of successful brands do so by offering their customers a free gift or discount to encourage them to make a purchase and reengage with the brand. This is also a good way to remind customers of your brand's presence.
Email Marketing is a great way to increase brand recognition and secure more sales. For example, whenever a business runs a promotion, or has a new release, email marketing provides you with a quick and easy way to directly send this information to your customers, as well as links that allow them to make a purchase. You can also send follow-up emails to those who have made purchases from your store, as well as target potential customers.
Email Marketing platforms will provide you with useful insights into how effective each campaign was through open rate and click rate. This allows your business to see what is and isn’t working when communicating with your customers.
For example, certain times of day may be better than others to send out content or you may find you receive a higher level of engagement from customers on a weekday, as appose to a weekend.
So if you’re thinking about neglecting email marketing from your digital marketing strategy – think again!
Don't miss out on the opportunity to leverage the power of email marketing for your business growth. Contact us today and let our expert team create customized email campaigns that drive results and boost your ROI. Take action now and unlock the full potential of email marketing for your brand.
Sustainable business practices are not only a moral imperative but also a key driver of long-term success - companies are seeking effective strategies to achieve both environmental impact and business growth. One such strategy that has proven to be highly impactful is content marketing.
By leveraging the power of compelling and informative content, businesses can engage with their target audience, build brand awareness, and foster meaningful connections. In this article, we will explore how content marketing can serve as a catalyst for sustainable business growth.
‘Content’ really is the foundation of all of your marketing activities, which makes it an extremely important element of your success! When viewed in isolation, content marketing can elevate your brand to ‘thought leader’ status, educate, inform and convert your target audience and differentiate your brand from its competitors.
When you consider the impact ‘content’ has on other marketing activities, however, you really begin to see its value. The quality and consistency of your content has a major impact on your search engine rankings, for example, which is why content marketing should be used in conjunction with search engine optimisation (SEO).
Similarly, the content you create and share on social media underpins your social media marketing (SMM) strategy, while ad copy and/or visuals have a significant impact on the success of your paid media campaigns.
As you can see, content marketing is integral to the success of your marketing activities, and it can (and should!) be a critical component of your green marketing strategy.
Green marketing refers to the practice of promoting eco-friendly brands, products, services or initiatives. If being environmentally friendly is a core component of your organisation, for example, you may want to work with a green or sustainable marketing agency to reach, educate and engage your target audience(s).
Similarly, if you’re modifying your operations to minimise your environmental impact or reduce your carbon footprint, a sustainable marketing agency can help you to integrate this into your brand’s ethos and raise awareness of your green objectives and activities.
Content marketing is a valuable way of increasing brand awareness, converting customers and fostering trust, but there are many ways it can help sustainable businesses to grow, such as:
To recognise the value of green businesses, products and services, your target audience must first understand the problem. Although consumer awareness of the climate crisis and environmental harm is increasing, don’t assume that your entire target audience will be aware of the issues you’re aiming to solve.
Instead, work with a green content marketing agency UK to educate the audience about the issue – and position your brand as the solution. This gives you the opportunity to put your sustainable operations into context and really explain why and how you’re making a difference and how your focus on sustainability sets you apart from your competitors.
Content marketing is a fantastic way to raise brand awareness. From thought leadership pieces and blog posts on your website to social media posts and press releases, there are many different types of content that can be used to share your sustainable messaging.
As environmental issues are continually growing in relevance and popularity, they are highly shareable online. This means that sustainability-focused content has an extended reach and the opportunity for reports, shares and likes is significantly increased. For companies that want to maximise their reach and boost awareness, marketing sustainability principles and activities is one route to success.
Fostering meaningful connections is vital if you want to retain your customers and build a following of loyal brand ambassadors. Fortunately, sustainable businesses can rely on their green credentials to establish trust and loyalty amongst their target audience.
By educating your target audience, explaining your sustainability strategy and keeping your customer base up to date with your sustainable initiatives, you can consistently build trust and gain their loyalty. With a regular cadence of sustainability-focused content, a green content marketing consultant can help you to deliver consistent yet innovative and exciting messaging that helps nurture long-term relationships with your target audience(s).
In most markets, consumers and B2B buyers are overwhelmed with choice and there’s no doubt your business will be facing competition from other companies. Developing your organisation into a sustainable business helps to set your enterprise apart from its competitors and gives your target audience a compelling reason to engage with your brand over any others.
However, you’ll need to convey your sustainable messaging in order to successfully differentiate your brand and how do you do this? Content marketing, of course! From blog posts and White Papers to videos, images and social media posts, there are endless formats that can help you to share your sustainable achievements and give you a competitive advantage.
Your conversion rate is arguably one of the most important metrics for your business. After all, generating a high volume of website traffic or getting large numbers of content views is beneficial, but it doesn’t equate to sales or profit. Instead, you need to ensure that your conversion rate is high enough to facilitate business growth and content marketing can help here too.
When a user sees any of your content, it should propel them through the sales funnel and strengthen the relationship they have with your brand. With help from a professional content strategist, you can ensure that your company’s content is designed to accelerate the customer journey while increasing conversions and optimising your commercial performance.
To succeed with content marketing, you need a detailed strategy that incorporates the frequency, format and theme of your upcoming content. Similarly, you’ll need a good understanding of your target audience(s) so that you can deliver content that’s relevant, engaging and compelling.
From audience research and content calendars to digital PR, content creation and reporting and analysis, our expert team provides innovative content marketing services that help sustainable businesses grow. To find out more, get in touch with the Smarter Media team today!
When looking into Digital Marketing, you may have come across the term ‘Email Marketing’. Since its birth, email marketing has become a powerful tool within an organisation's digital marketing strategy, hence why it still proves to be a vastly popular choice for digital marketers.
To help you understand the concept of email marketing further we will take a closer look at what email marketing is and where it is used.
In 1971, Ray Tomlinson sent the world’s very first email. Not long after in 1978, Gary Thurek, who at the time was working as a Marketing Manager for Digital Equipment Corp used email to directly communicate with his company's customers about a new product. This was the very first commercial email from a corporate company and is said to have resulted in $13 million worth of sales. It is this level of success which gave birth to what we now know as Email Marketing.
Email marketing is a digital marketing strategy that involves sending commercial messages to a group of people via email. It aims to promote products or services, build customer relationships, and drive engagement and conversions. By leveraging personalised content and targeted campaigns, email marketing helps businesses reach their audience directly and nurture leads.
When we talk about Email Marketing we are referring to a form of direct marketing, as well as digital, whereby businesses promote their products or services via email.
Sometimes, businesses may take on a softer approach, whereby they use email marketing to educate their audience on the true value of their brand to help keep them engaged between purchases. An example of this may be sending an email to customers about charity work the company's employees have been involved with or a climate pledge they have recently made to show how they are doing their bit to help the planet.
Email Marketing can also play an important role in customer lead generation, brand awareness and building strong relationships. This is why many successful brands implement email marketing into their digital marketing strategy, including Ted Baker, ASOS, Boots, Tesco, Pizza Express, Travelzoo and many more.
To help give you some idea of where email marketing is typically used, we’ve gathered up a few examples from popular brands to showcase how email marketing is used as a tool within a company's digital marketing strategy:
The frozen yoghurt company Pinkberry used email marketing to help reengage with customers who held a Pinkcard, but hadn’t ordered from them in a while. They did so by offering them a gift to encourage them to make a purchase.
This method not only got their customers to go onto their account and order additional products to go alongside their gift, but it also helped remind them about the brand’s presence and the tasty products they have on offer.
This campaign helped Starbucks showcase some of the benefits of holding a Starbucks membership. The image was used as a moving graphic which presented the reader with a number of different drinks they could get for a discounted rate if they held a Starbucks membership.
Since this email wasn’t just a static image, it helped make the campaign fun, while stressing the importance of exclusively for Starbucks members.
One of the great things about email marketing is the ability of personalisation – something which Spotify did very well with this email campaign. The subject line was “Olivia Rodrigo made you something special” which only went out to fans of the artist.
This meant that readers were very likely to click the ‘Buy Cassette’ call to action button as the email was not only relevant to their interests but helped make them feel valued by the artist.
At our digital marketing agency, we take a strategic and results-driven approach to email marketing, focusing on business growth and maximising return on investment (ROI) for brands and companies. Firstly, we conduct thorough audience research and segmentation to ensure that each email campaign reaches the right people with tailored messaging.
Secondly, we craft compelling and engaging content that not only promotes products or services but also adds value and solves customer pain points. Additionally, we optimise email deliverability and open rates through effective subject lines, personalised sender names, and proper list management practices.
Furthermore, we employ sophisticated email automation techniques, such as drip campaigns and triggered emails, to nurture leads and guide customers through the buyer's journey. Lastly, we track and analyse key metrics, such as click-through rates, conversion rates, and revenue generated, to continuously refine our strategies and achieve measurable business growth and ROI for our clients.
Don't miss out on the powerful potential of email marketing to boost your business growth and ROI. Contact us today and let our digital marketing agency unleash the true potential of your brand through effective and impactful email marketing strategies.
In today's rapidly evolving world, where environmental concerns have taken centre stage, businesses are increasingly adopting sustainable practices to meet the growing demand for eco-friendly solutions. At the forefront of this movement is the concept of green marketing. But what exactly is green marketing? How does it differ from traditional marketing approaches, and why is it crucial for businesses to embrace it?
In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into the world of green marketing, exploring its principles, strategies, and the transformative impact it can have on both brands and the planet. Join us as we uncover the power of sustainable branding and the role it plays in shaping a greener, more conscientious future.
Green marketing, also known as sustainable marketing, refers to the practice of promoting products or services that are environmentally friendly or have a positive impact on the planet. It involves incorporating eco-friendly attributes into marketing strategies, such as highlighting energy efficiency, sustainable sourcing, or reduced carbon footprint. Green marketing aims to appeal to environmentally conscious consumers and contribute to the overall sustainability goals of businesses and society.
Green or sustainable marketing refers to the promotion of eco-friendly products, services, initiatives or brands.
In some instances, green marketing can be used to raise awareness of new companies that have been developed with the specific aim of enhancing the environment and protecting the planet. Alternatively, existing companies may use a sustainability marketing agency to promote their green initiatives and educate their customer base about their sustainability strategy.
If you’re still wondering, what is sustainable marketing, then taking a look at some examples will certainly make things clearer.
A ClimateTech company that develops a new product to reduce CO2 emissions in the logistics industry may use green marketing to ensure the market is aware of their new innovation, for example.
Alternatively, an established and well-known global cleaning products company may rely on sustainable marketing to show that they are committed to reducing their carbon footprint and making their products more environmentally friendly.
As companies transition from using single-use plastic packaging, for example, they often use green marketing to make their target audience aware of their increased sustainability.
Marketing is essential for every business, but what’s so special about green marketing, and why is it so important?
As awareness of the climate crisis grows, environmental concerns are becoming increasingly important in the decision-making process of consumers and B2B buyers. Many consumers are actively seeking out brands, products and services that enhance the environment, rather than harm it. As a result, companies need to adjust their operations to maximise sustainability and, crucially, make people aware of their commitment to sustainability.
Green marketing is the ideal way to achieve this goal. By educating your target audiences about your sustainable practices and ethos, you can attract new customers and even increase retention rates too.
While many companies are choosing to build a more sustainable future, there are an increasing number of regulations that demand businesses operate in a more environmentally friendly way. The incoming Corporate Reporting Sustainability Directive (CSRD) will mean that many organisations are required to report emissions across their entire value chain, for example.
This is particularly important for B2B companies, who will want to partner with businesses that have established emissions monitoring and transparent sustainable practices. So, businesses operating within the B2B sector may work with a B2B content marketing agency to ensure their target audience is aware of their sustainable operations.
Meeting stakeholder expectations is vital for continued success, particularly if businesses are reliant on shareholders to generate funds. In today’s environmentally aware landscape, investors are placing more reliance and emphasis on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG), which naturally includes a company’s carbon footprint and sustainable practices.
If companies want to educate and satisfy their stakeholders about their ESG strategies, green marketing is the obvious way to do so. With a focus on the brand’s environmental and sustainable performance, green marketing can enhance the perception of the brand and reassure stakeholders that the company is transitioning to a more sustainable future.
Similarly, ESG factors are increasingly important to companies who are seeking investments. In fact, potential investors or venture capital firms will use established ESG assessments to determine the suitability and potential of an investment opportunity.
For any company that wants to create a viable growth strategy, it’s important, therefore, to factor ESG, sustainability and green marketing into its future. By using green marketing to showcase and exemplify the brand’s sustainable operations, for example, companies can secure additional investments both now and in the future.
Green marketing works in a similar way to regular marketing, but it places an emphasis on the company’s environmental and sustainable performance or the environmental impact of its products or services.
A successful green marketing strategy incorporates a variety of goals and KPIs and uses a range of activities to achieve these objectives. For example, a company may want to increase awareness of its new sustainable packaging. To facilitate this, they may work with a content marketing agency and use green content marketing services to explain how their new initiative will decrease the brand’s environmental impact.
Then, the firm may use various marketing activities, such as search engine optimisation (SEO) and paid media, to reach and engage its target audience(s).
As you can see, the underlying principles of green or sustainable marketing are the same as regular digital marketing. By recognising the importance of a brand’s environmental impact, however, we can use green marketing to help the company achieve its overarching objectives, such as:
People often assume that green marketing is only suited to companies that are wholly focused on the environment, but this simply isn’t the case. Environmental awareness and climate concern is now mainstream, which means companies across all sectors and industries must recognise the effects that sustainability (or lack of) can have on their commercial success.
By integrating green marketing into your current marketing strategy, you can expand your messaging, engage your target audiences and futureproof your brand. To find out how green marketing can enhance your strategy, contact us at Smarter Media today!
In an era marked by pressing environmental challenges and a growing consumer consciousness, businesses are recognising the need to go beyond profit-making and prioritise sustainability. This has given rise to the concept of sustainable marketing, a powerful approach that aims to create a positive impact on the planet while building successful brands. In this article, we will explore the principles and practices of sustainable marketing, shedding light on its potential to drive meaningful change, engage conscious consumers, and forge a path towards a better, more sustainable future.
Read on to discover the transformative potential of sustainable marketing and its role in shaping a more responsible business landscape.
Sustainability marketing, also known as sustainable marketing, is an approach that focuses on promoting products or services that align with environmental, social, and economic sustainability. It involves integrating sustainable practices and values into marketing strategies to create long-term value for both businesses and society.
Sustainability marketing aims to address the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, fostering a more sustainable and responsible business environment.
The terms ‘sustainable marketing’ and ‘green marketing’ are often used interchangeably, and it’s easy to see why. Both of these forms of marketing refer to the promotion of brands, products and services that are environmentally friendly, but ‘sustainable marketing’ is a little broader in scope.
While green marketing typically focuses on the environmental impact of a product, service or company, sustainability marketing incorporates this but extends to the brand’s social and economic impact too.
By marketing sustainability, companies can showcase their commitment to building an environmentally friendly future that prioritises equality and equanimity. As these principles are a top priority for today’s consumers, it’s vital that brands use sustainability marketing to promote their sustainable practices, goals and achievements.
A sustainable marketing agency delivers a range of services that enable brands to reach their marketing objectives, such as:
At their core, these activities work in the same way as regular digital marketing in that you might use sustainable SEO to target keywords that are relevant to your brand, products, services and target audience to increase awareness, boost search engine results page (SERP) rankings and drive organic traffic to your website.
However, a sustainable SEO strategy may focus on promoting your company’s environmental benefits, rather than purely its products or services. So, a cleaning product manufacturer may want to target keywords like, ‘eco friendly multi-purpose cleaner’ or ‘sustainable cleaning spray’ as part of a sustainable marketing strategy.
Ultimately, working with a sustainability marketing agency or a sustainability content marketing agency in the UK gives you the opportunity to identify the core sustainable principles that underpin your brand and showcase them in the most advantageous way.
Environmentally aware business owners and conscientious entrepreneurs may develop new products, services and companies with the sole aim of enhancing the planet. Electric vehicles are a great example of how new innovations can reduce emissions and have a positive climate impact, for example.
However, your company doesn’t have to be born from sustainability to be sustainable. In fact, most companies are modifying their operations to enhance their sustainability, even if this hasn’t been a core component of their brand to date.
So, even if your company doesn’t offer products or services that are intrinsically designed to resolve the climate crisis and protect the environment, this doesn’t prevent you from becoming a sustainable brand or using sustainability marketing to convey your company’s ethos.
With the right sustainable marketing agency, you can launch successful campaigns and strategies that enable you to achieve a wide range of goals, including:
If you’re taking steps to make your company more sustainable, make sure people know about it! Consumers are increasingly aware of which companies are committed to sustainability and this is reflected in where they choose to take their custom.
By making your sustainable strategy and ethos part of your brand, you can ensure that your target audience naturally associates your company with environmentally friendly and environmentally aware practices.
As consumers continue to prioritise sustainability, they are choosing to make purchases from brands that have a recognised sustainability profile. By working with a green content marketing consultant, for example, you can incorporate sustainability-related content into your site to promote your company’s sustainable practices.
By maximising the reach with additional marketing activities, such as paid media, you can engage both B2C and B2B customers who are actively looking for sustainable companies and solutions.
Customer retention is a top priority for every business, but you could lose existing customers if you fail to exemplify your company’s commitment to sustainability. Whether you’re already operating at net-zero or you’re taking steps to make your company more socially conscious, keeping your target audiences updated will ensure you don’t lose customers who may be tempted to switch to a more sustainable brand.
Your target audience needs to be aware of your brand before they can engage with you, which is why brand awareness is always an important aspect of a company’s marketing strategy. When raising brand awareness, however, it’s vital to consider what you want your target audiences to know about your company and what attributes they should associate with your brand.
By using your green credentials to increase brand awareness, you can elevate your company’s reputation and develop new opportunities for promotion and recognition.
Acquiring a new customer is good for business, but generating customer loyalty is even better. When a customer is loyal to your brand, they will return again and again, thus increasing their customer lifetime value. Additionally, a loyal customer is likely to become an informal brand ambassador who endorses your company both online and in a real-world environment.
Being transparent about your company’s environmental impact, sharing your sustainability strategy and aligning your principles with your target audiences’ priorities is, of course, an effective way to gain their trust and loyalty.
Like all marketing strategies, a sustainable marketing strategy should be clearly defined and have distinct objectives and KPIs, as well as established monitoring, analysis and optimisation techniques in place.
When combined with innovation, expertise and experience, these elements come together to deliver a seamless and successful sustainable marketing strategy. To find out more or to talk to our experts about your sustainable marketing strategy, contact Smarter Media now!
Consumers are increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of their purchasing decisions; businesses have an unprecedented opportunity to leverage their sustainability efforts as a powerful marketing tool. This is where green marketing comes into play. By effectively promoting your sustainable business practices, you can not only attract environmentally conscious customers but also differentiate your brand from competitors and contribute to a greener future.
In this quick guide, we will explore the strategies and best practices for successfully marketing your sustainable business.
Sustainable marketing is the promotion of eco-friendly and/or socially responsible brands, products, services, missions or initiatives. By using sustainable marketing strategies, companies can showcase their ethos and commitment to building a healthier future for all, which is why it’s such a valuable way to engage with your target audience.
Every business is different, so an original approach is always required to develop a winning marketing strategy. However, there are some basic concepts that you can use as the foundation of a successful sustainable marketing strategy, such as:
As consumers become more focused on a brand’s environmental impacts, many businesses are promoting their sustainability. However, this has led to widespread concerns regarding ‘greenwashing’, which is when companies try to appear more environmentally friendly than they really are. As you might expect, this can foster distrust amongst your target audience and damage your company’s reputation, so it should be avoided at all costs.
Instead, be authentic and transparent in all of your green marketing communications. Even if you have a long way to go to reach your sustainability objectives, you can work with a sustainability marketing agency to educate your audience, establish sustainability goals and educate your audience about your efforts to build a sustainable future. By doing so, you’ll engage your target audience with sustainability-focused content and gain their trust by being authentic, reliable and trustworthy.
Reviewing your company’s sustainable principles and the environmental impact of your operations gives you the opportunity to decide whether you want to be about more than simply generating profits. By committing to a sustainability strategy, for example, you can ensure your business is part of a larger purpose, such as reducing emissions, minimising plastic pollution or creating fairer supply chains.
Once you’ve established your mission, tell people about it and keep your target audience informed. By working with a professional content marketing agency, for example, you can deliver content that informs, educates and excites in a variety of formats and keep your audiences up to date about your sustainable progress.
Whether you’re a B2C brand or you’re launching a sustainable strategy with a B2B content marketing agency, make sure your customers remain the focus of your activities. In many cases, companies focus on pushing a product or service in the hopes of increasing sales and generating revenue, but they fail to look beyond this and really drill down into their target audience’s needs, wants and pain points.
By being customer-focused, you can truly understand what motivates your target audience(s) and respond accordingly. Not only will this help to increase sales, but it can also boost retention rates and foster trust and loyalty as you focus on delivering value, rather than being solely focused on generating profit.
Sustainability isn’t simply a trend or a fad; it’s a core principle that’s here to stay. For today’s businesses, sustainability and environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) should be an integral element of their brands and a critical component of their future.
Instead of thinking of sustainability as a barrier to success or making it an afterthought, incorporate it into every aspect of your operations. By taking a sustainability-first approach to every aspect of your business, you can ensure that it becomes embedded into your operations and, therefore, a key element of your brand personality.
Furthermore, integrating sustainability into your brand in this way makes it far easier to achieve your sustainability goals and to have a positive impact on the planet.
If sustainability isn’t something you factor into your business and marketing decisions, then you’re going to struggle to be consistent when it comes to delivering sustainable messaging to your target audiences.
With a defined sustainability marketing strategy and regular activities, such as green content marketing services, you can ensure that you’re delivering consistent messaging that continually educates and updates your customer base and your target audiences.
As a result, you’ll find that your brand becomes more trusted and more highly regarded, both commercially and in terms of your sustainability. In turn, this enhances your company’s reputation and helps to set you apart from your competitors.
Some companies, such as those operating within the CleanTech or Climate Tech sectors, have a clear need for a sustainable marketing strategy. After all, their entire purpose is to have a positive impact on the planet. But what about companies that aren’t rooted in sustainability?
You might be surprised to learn that every company can benefit from having a custom sustainable marketing strategy, regardless of what industry or sector you operate in.
As customers place increasing importance on the sustainability of their preferred brands, they are expecting companies to take real and actionable steps to mitigate their environmental impact and failure to do so could affect the long-term success of your organisation. So, the real question is not whether should you have a sustainable marketing strategy but, can you afford not to have a sustainable marketing strategy?
At Smarter Media, we’re committed to helping brands achieve their goals with innovative digital marketing. Combining our expertise and experience with data-driven insights and continual optimisation, we develop and implement winning sustainable marketing strategies that fuel business growth and elevate your ROI.
To find out how our in-house experts can supercharge your brand with sustainable marketing strategies, contact us today!
Social media has revolutionised the way businesses advertise their products and services, allowing them to reach a vast audience with ease. With the growing popularity of platforms such as Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok and Twitter, social media advertising has become an essential part of any successful marketing strategy.
Each platform offers its unique advertising features and capabilities, making it essential for businesses to understand how to leverage them effectively. In this article, we will dive into the world of social media advertising and explore what you need to know about Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads, TikTok Ads and Twitter Ads.
One of the most significant changes in marketing in the past decade has been the rise of social media advertising. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn have become major players for brands looking to reach consumers with targeted messaging. The trend is driven by increasing usage of social media platforms.
Social media ads offer a range of benefits for businesses. They can target specific demographics based on factors like age, location, interests and behaviours. This allows companies to create highly tailored campaigns that will resonate with their ideal customer base. Additionally, social media advertising can be significantly cheaper than traditional forms of marketing such as television or print ads.
The rise of social media advertising has also led to new types of content creation and delivery strategies. Brands are now creating more video content specifically designed for social media platforms and investing in influencer marketing campaigns to reach new audiences through trusted sources. As our reliance on technology continues to grow, it's clear that social media advertising will continue its upwards trajectory as one of the most effective ways for brands to connect with consumers online.
Social media ads are an effective way to reach a large and diverse audience. Social media ads also offer cost-effective advertising options for businesses of all sizes. Unlike traditional forms of advertising such as television or print ads that require significant budgets to reach a broad audience, social media ads allow businesses to set their own budget and only pay for clicks or impressions received.
Moreover, social media platforms provide detailed analytics on ad performance. Ad managers can track metrics such as click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates and engagement levels in real-time. This data helps advertisers understand which campaigns are most effective and make necessary adjustments to optimize future campaigns for even better results.
Different social media platforms have their own unique ad formats, targeting options and placement strategies. Understanding these differences is crucial to create effective campaigns that meet your business goals.
Moreover, measuring the success of your social media ads is not a one-size-fits-all approach either. While some platforms offer robust reporting features like conversion tracking and attribution models to measure ROI (return on investment), others might require using third-party tools or custom analytics solutions. Therefore, knowing how each platform works will help you allocate budgets effectively while maximizing performance metrics.
Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is one of the largest social media platforms in the world. It has a vast reach that makes it an attractive advertising platform for businesses. Meta's ad platform allows businesses to create ads and target specific demographics based on factors such as age, location, interests and behaviours.
The ad creation process on Meta is straightforward and user-friendly. Businesses can choose from various types of ads such as image or video ads and carousel ads. Additionally, they can select their ad objective from options like brand awareness or lead generation. The targeting options available on Meta are extensive and allow businesses to reach their desired audience effectively.
One unique feature of Meta's ad platform is its ability to retarget users who have shown interest in a business's products or services but have not made a purchase yet. This feature helps businesses generate more sales by reminding potential customers about their offerings while they continue browsing the internet.
LinkedIn is a professional social network that allows users to connect with other professionals in their industry or line of work. It is considered the top platform for business networking. LinkedIn's advertising feature provides businesses with an opportunity to showcase their brand, products and services to a highly targeted audience.
With LinkedIn ads, companies can target specific demographics such as job title, company size, location and more. This level of targeting ensures that businesses are reaching the right people who are most likely to be interested in their offerings. Companies can also use LinkedIn ads to promote events or job openings on the platform.
LinkedIn is an excellent tool for both individuals and companies looking to expand their professional network. Its advertising feature provides businesses with a unique opportunity to reach a highly targeted audience while allowing them to build brand awareness and drive sales leads. LinkedIn is a valuable platform for those looking to advance their career or grow their business within their industry.
TikTok is a rapidly growing social media platform that has become increasingly popular among younger audiences. The app allows users to create and share short videos set to music, with various special effects and filters available. TikTok's user base has grown significantly in recent years, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic as people have spent more time at home.
One of the ways that businesses can take advantage of TikTok's popularity is through advertising on the platform. TikTok Ads offers a range of options for businesses looking to reach their target audience, including in-feed ads, brand takeovers and sponsored hashtag challenges. In-feed ads appear in users' feeds as they scroll through the app, while brand takeovers allow brands to display full-screen ads when users first open the app.
Sponsored hashtag challenges are another popular option for businesses on TikTok Ads. These involve creating a unique hashtag around a particular theme or idea and encouraging users to create content using that hashtag. This can be an effective way for brands to engage with their audience and generate user-generated content that promotes their products or services. As TikTok continues to grow in popularity, it presents an exciting opportunity for businesses looking to connect with younger audiences through innovative marketing strategies.
Twitter's ad platform supports different types of ad formats that allow businesses to advertise their products or services on the social media site. The platform is designed to help businesses reach their target audience more effectively by targeting specific demographics such as location, interests and behaviours. One ad format available on Twitter is Promoted Tweets, which appears in users' timelines and search results; this type of ad can also be retweeted, liked or replied to like standard tweets.
Businesses looking for effective advertising solutions should consider using Twitter Ads given its extensive user base as well as its robust targeting options. By leveraging these features, they can ensure their marketing messages are delivered to the right audience at the right time and increase engagement with potential customers.
Harnessing the power of platforms like Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Twitter is essential for any modern marketer. These advertising giants offer a multitude of opportunities to connect, engage and ultimately convert your target audience.
However, navigating the ever-evolving landscape of social media advertising can be a daunting task. That's where Smarter Media comes in—the guiding compass that helps steer your ad campaigns towards success. With our expertise and industry know-how, we provide a comprehensive range of services tailored to elevate your social media advertising game.
At Smarter Media, we understand that each platform has its nuances, intricacies and best practices. Our team of seasoned professionals stays up to date with the latest trends, algorithms and audience behaviours, ensuring that your campaigns are not only on par with industry standards but also ahead of the curve.
Whether you're looking to conquer the vast user base of Meta, tap into the professional network of LinkedIn, ride the wave of creativity on TikTok or join the fast-paced conversations on Twitter, our team is equipped with the knowledge and skills to unlock the full potential of each platform.
We go beyond the basics, crafting compelling ad creatives that capture attention and drive action. With meticulous campaign optimisation, we continuously refine and enhance your ads' performance, maximising your return on investment.
Smarter Media goes the extra mile to provide comprehensive analytics and reports, giving you valuable insights into your campaign's impact and areas for improvement. We believe in transparency and collaboration, working closely with you to align our efforts with your business objectives.
So whether you're a small startup with big dreams or an established brand seeking to solidify your digital presence, Smarter Media is here to help you conquer social media advertising. Let's elevate your campaigns to new heights, captivate your audience and achieve remarkable results together.
In today's digital world, paid search marketing has become an essential part of any successful marketing strategy. Google Ads is the most popular and widely used paid search advertising platform. While businesses can manage their own Google Ads campaigns, many choose to work with a paid search marketing agency to ensure their ads are optimised for maximum performance.
But what exactly does a paid search marketing agency do to manage your Google Ads? In this article, we'll take a closer look at the role of a paid search marketing agency in managing your Google Ads campaign and the key strategies they employ to ensure your ads are effective and successful.
A paid search marketing agency is a company that specialises in managing and optimising paid advertising campaigns on search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. These agencies help businesses increase their online visibility by placing ads at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs) based on targeted keywords.
Paid search marketing agencies use various techniques to create and manage effective ad campaigns. They conduct keyword research to identify relevant terms that people are searching for. They also create compelling ad copy and design eye-catching display ads that attract clicks from potential customers.
In addition, paid search marketing agencies monitor campaign performance regularly using analytics tools to ensure maximum return on investment (ROI). By tracking metrics such as click-through rates (CTR), cost-per-click (CPC), conversion rates and revenue generated, they can optimize campaigns for better performance over time.
Conducting a comprehensive audit of existing Google Ads account
A comprehensive audit of an existing Google Ads account helps you understand the current state of your campaigns. The audit should include analysing performance data, identifying areas for improvement and developing actionable strategies to optimise the account. This process involves reviewing various aspects of your campaigns such as targeting settings, ad copy, landing pages, bid strategies and conversion tracking.
The first step is to analyse performance metrics and identify trends or patterns that indicate strengths or weaknesses in your campaigns. This could include reviewing click-through rates, cost per click, conversion rates and return on ad spend. Once you have identified any issues or opportunities for improvement, it's important to develop a strategic plan that addresses these areas.
Creating or optimising Google Ads account structure
The structure of a Google Ads account is crucial to the success of any campaign. A well-organised account can increase the relevance and quality score of ads, which in turn leads to higher click-through rates and lower cost per click. The first step to creating or optimising an account structure is to determine the main goal of the campaign. Is it lead generation, e-commerce sales or brand awareness? Once this has been established, campaigns should be created based on these goals and ad groups should be organised by theme or product/service. This allows for more targeted ad copy and relevant keywords.
In addition to organising campaigns and ad groups based on goals, it's important to utilise keyword match types effectively. Broad match keywords can lead to irrelevant clicks, while exact match keywords may limit reach. Using a combination of broad match modified, phrase match and exact match keywords can provide a balance between relevance and reach.
Ongoing monitoring and analysis of keyword performance
By continually evaluating the performance of different keywords, advertisers can identify which ones are driving the most clicks, conversions and revenue. This information can then be used to adjust bids, ad copy and landing pages, improving overall campaign performance.
An important consideration when analysing keyword performance is search intent. Understanding what users are searching for when they enter a particular keyword is crucial for creating effective ad copy and landing pages that address their needs and motivations. By focusing on high-intent keywords that align with your business goals, you can increase the likelihood of attracting qualified traffic that's more likely to convert into paying customers.
Testing different ad variations and messaging
When it comes to running a successful Google Ads campaign, testing different ad variations and messaging is crucial. It's not enough to simply create one ad and hope for the best; you need to constantly be refining your strategy based on data and user feedback. There are several ways to test ad variations, including A/B testing, multivariate testing and split testing.
A/B testing involves creating two versions of an ad with only one variable changed (such as the headline or call-to-action) and then seeing which performs better. Multivariate testing is similar but involves changing multiple variables at once. Split testing involves dividing your audience into two groups and showing them different ads, then measuring which group had a higher click-through rate or conversion rate.
By regularly testing different ad variations, you can identify what resonates best with your target audience and optimise your campaigns accordingly. This process can help improve your ROI by increasing click-through rates, conversions, and ultimately sales or leads generated from your ads. Additionally, it allows you to stay ahead of competitors by continually improving messaging that will grab the attention of potential customers over theirs’.
Utilising analytics tools for data analysis
One of the most significant advantages of using analytics tools for data analysis in Google Ads is to track your performance. With these tools, you can measure your campaign's success and identify areas that need improvement. You can also track important metrics such as click-through rates, conversion rates, and cost-per-clicks to evaluate the effectiveness of your ad campaigns.
Analytics tools provide valuable insights into how users interact with your ads. They help you understand which keywords are driving traffic to your website and which ones aren't working as well. This information enables you to make data-driven decisions about where to allocate your advertising budget and how to optimise your campaigns.
Moreover, analytics tools enable you to generate comprehensive reports on a regular basis that show key performance indicators such as impressions, clicks, conversions, and revenue generated by each campaign. These reports allow you to stay up-to-date on the progress of your marketing efforts and identify trends over time that can help guide future decision-making processes. By leveraging analytics tools for data analysis in Google Ads agency reporting, businesses can gain a competitive edge by making informed decisions based on real-time insights rather than guesswork or assumptions.
Monitoring campaign performance in real-time
One of the critical areas of focus for any Google Ads agency is monitoring campaign performance in real-time. Regardless of how well-planned a campaign is, there will always be room for improvement, and this makes continuous monitoring an essential activity. Real-time tracking enables agencies to identify any issues promptly and address them before they can cause more significant problems.
Real-time monitoring allows agencies to optimise campaigns based on their performance data as it comes in. This approach helps them make informed decisions about budget allocation, bidding strategies, ad placement, targeting options, and more. Agencies that monitor their campaigns regularly are better equipped to adjust their tactics quickly and capitalize on new opportunities.
Google Ads agencies understand the importance of staying up-to-date with changes in consumer behaviour and market trends. By keeping track of campaign performance metrics such as click-through rates, cost-per-click, conversion rates, etc., they can analyse trends over time and adjust accordingly. Continuously fine-tuning campaigns ensures that they deliver optimal results throughout their lifespan rather than just at launch time.
Partnering with a paid search marketing agency can significantly enhance the effectiveness and success of your Google Ads campaigns. From initial assessment and strategy development to continuous monitoring and improvement, these agencies bring a wealth of expertise and resources to the table. By entrusting your Google Ads management to professionals, you can focus on other aspects of your business while enjoying the benefits of targeted advertising and improved ROI.
When it comes to managing your Google Ads campaigns, Smarter Media is a trusted partner that can take your online advertising efforts to new heights. With our team of skilled professionals and proven strategies, we are dedicated to helping businesses achieve their marketing goals. From meticulous keyword research to compelling ad copy and ongoing optimization, we tailor our approach to your unique needs and deliver measurable results.
At Smarter Media, we understand the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing and stay up-to-date with the latest industry trends and Google Ads policies. Our proactive approach ensures that your campaigns are constantly optimised to maximise their impact. With regular communication, transparent reporting, and a collaborative approach, we work closely with our clients to achieve mutual success.
Don't let the complexities of Google Ads management overwhelm you. Let Smarter Media be your trusted partner, guiding you through the intricacies of paid search marketing. Together, we can unlock the full potential of your Google Ads campaigns and propel your business towards sustained growth and success.
Contact Smarter Media today and experience the difference that professional Google Ads management can make for your business. Start harnessing the power of targeted advertising and achieve remarkable results in the digital realm.
