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Marketing is first a strategic function, performing an internal SWOT in order to understand and position strengths to target markets.  Then, it is executing the strategies through multiple tactical platforms. In its perfect form, the same message is delivered consistently across all areas of your company and across all platforms, and therefore, to the market.

These tactics create awareness for your brand, service or product and drive customers to your business. This is accomplished in any number of ways through your product/service offerings, promotions, pricing, advertising, email, blogs, social media activity, and digital campaigns; all driven by old fashioned research.  All of these activities are marketing and the vehicle that serves as the base of your activities is your website. It will determine how visible you are to the world.

Because you build it, does not guarantee they will come.  An effective strategy, pro-actively delivered across multiple platforms will increase awareness and visibility for your brand thereby generating leads.  Provided you deliver to the brand message – you will increase product/service sales and solidify a customer base for long term growth and success.

We stay committed and dedicated to provide Business Owners the knowledge and experience to help improve their business. Please utilize our list of resources including: Blogs, Articles, and Case Studies focusing on best marketing practices for your business.

Defining, Addressing, & Capturing Your Target Market

To most of us, Marketing is magic.

We hire some resources, spend some money, and hope our business grows as a result. Unfortunately, our experience with business marketing is that we spend a lot of money on advertising, but we don’t know if it was effective. Are we reaching our target market? This is especially true of mass marketing through traditional media. The adage says “50% of our advertising spend is useless. We don’t know which 50%!” Personally, we look at advertisements as an interruption to our show. 

Target Markets - Business Marketing

Some of us grew up with early shows and re-runs having advertisements done by the host or knowing that in 12 minutes, we would be able to get up and get that snack and be back in one and a half to two minutes. We are not looking for information; we want to be entertained or watch our favorite sports team win. Today, the options to get our entertainment to seem limitless and baffling. Modern devices and streaming services promise to help us avoid or skip commercials to enjoy the show.

So, what should a business do?

Early advertising was aimed at making the audience aware that something existed and why they would want to buy it. As advertising evolved, it became more competitive and became more complicated in the messages. Today, many commercials end with the last 20 seconds of a ‘fast talker’ telling you the risks and disclaimers. So, we must make sure the message we intend to communicate is relevant, consistent across multiple media, strikes a nerve with our target market, and has a call to action.

Brand Equity: What is our message?

The first and most critical in figuring out our marketing plan is to know what we want to say. Our brand message. Why do our current customers like us? What do we do differently? Why would they need what we offer? Most importantly, what action do we want them to take? These are the questions we need to answer in determining our marketing strategy.

Are we a start-up and need for people to know what we offer and how it will benefit them? Do we have a product or service that is better than all the rest because of our new improvements? Are we trying to appeal to a new generation or translate our message to a different audience? Taking the time to craft a compelling and relevant message is the first and most critical step in any marketing strategy.

Defining: Who is our target market?

Once we know what we want to communicate and what action we want the audience to take, we must determine the best means of getting to that specific target group. Many well-known brands have defined one or two very specific customer profiles they want to reach. This can often include things like gender, age, income, geographic location, hobbies and pastimes as well as others that help us determine the ‘who.’ 

Addressing: How do we reach our target market?

After defining who are target market is, we must decide how to address them. Understanding how your target market gets information, makes decisions, and acts, is critical to determining what media best suits your marketing efforts. The marketing strategy in which you execute must take all these considerations and more into defining your path to your target market.  

How does my target market get information?

Is it traditional media, like reading the newspaper, a particular magazine, radio programs, or watching a particular television show? Is it through referrals and recommendation of close contacts? Do your customers find you based on industry or trade associations? Or is it through digital media, like search engines, emails, social media? Do your customers use Google like the yellow pages to find a solution?

What information does my target market need?

Which influences do they ‘trust?’ What process do they take in researching and purchasing? Do they use online directories or reputation management companies like Angi or Yelp? Is your product or service an impulse or an need based item ‘OMG! My ____ is not working? Do they need instructions, tutorials, or how to information that would help them decide? 

Capturing: Successful target market conversions

Once you have connected with your target market by crafting a relevant message and communicating it through the proper channels, you now have their attention. What action do you now want them to take? Defining your success is vital to know if your marketing is successful.

What is a successful conversion for this target market? This could take many different forms. If your product service requires additional information to decide, how do potential customers get this information? You can still have a Call to Action, without a “Buy Now” or “Add to Cart” button. This could look like, having customers call an inbound call center through a toll-free number, a schedule a call or contact us form / page on your website, or just to have them sign up for a mailing list?

Alternatively, do they have enough information can you send them directly to your ‘storefront’ to make a purchase? In this sense, your goal would be sending them to a literal retail location, an online store, or a combination. Unless your marketing is strictly brand awareness, you need to lead the potential customers to act toward purchasing your product or service. The simpler and timely this action is, the higher the success rate.

Digital Presence: Customer Experience

Now that we have captured our target market, and gotten them to our desired goal, we must be ready for them. While the messaging might be tailored to the specific group through multiple media, the importance of ‘consistency’ is not to be ignored. Your message, branding, and call to action must be cohesive throughout your marketing strategy. This does not mean that a specific market might get a slightly different ‘message’ or be crafted to appeal to their unique characteristics. But even if you have multiple target audiences, these steps can be taken for each one with more predictable and often measurable results. 

Your business has both a physical location and a digital presence. Do you have a website, social media platforms, business profiles on search engines, and listings in online directories? Do you manage them by answering questions, comments, and reviews? Are you part of idea sites like DIY, user groups, or Pinterest? Do you have demonstration videos, training videos, or how-to videos? All these things contribute to your ‘digital presence.’ It is a collection of information about your online business, sometimes whether you put it there or not. You need to manage your digital presence by actively knowing what is being said and reviewed. This can be a great source of referrals or leads if used properly.

Customer Data

Do you collect cookies on your website? What do you do with them? Do you have any Customer Relationship Management system or lists of past and potential customers? Do you use email or social media marketing techniques? Unlike mass media channels that might provide a basic ‘exposure’ figure without many trackable data, digital marketing can be targeted much more surgically, and results can be measured. This means that when you find a successful channel and begin to get tangible results, you can know where to invest your marketing budget in order to get the most valuable results. For most businesses, there are multiple target markets of target audiences and multiple ways to reach them. 

Engaging our Target Market: Summary

Proactively managing your digital presence is a must these days. Make sure you have someone monitoring and commenting on these platforms. A good marketing strategy starts with your message, defines your target market, uses the appropriate channels, knows what is being said about you, and is measurable to refine your marketing spending based on trackable results.

Importance of Marketing in Business

Marketing is a strategy that businesses do to advertise their businesses. Every business entity needs to understand such a strategy and how to employ it. Business sectors have been using marketing strategies. They even hire people knowledgeable in marketing to help them sell their products. On that note, how important marketing in business?

Marketing and its Importance to Business

There are many important things marketing can do for different business sectors. That is why many business establishments adopt many marketing strategies. Give yourself time to know the importance of marketing to your business.

Importance-of-marketing-in-business
  • Marketing helps to boost the sales

Marketing is one way to give information to consumers. This way, consumers will have a basic idea of what is your product all about. They will also know the benefits of buying your products. Marketing educates many people about a certain product. When people are well-informed about your product, your sales will increase.

  • Marketing creates revenue options

Marketing is a great help for many business establishments to create revenue options. It is when business sectors use different marketing strategies to increase business profits. One way to increase the profit is to reduce the product costs. This way many customers will buy the product.

Reducing the product costs will increase the number of potential buyers, thus getting more sales. It is better to gain smaller profits but consistent sales.

Another way to increase the revenue is to run media advertisements and promotions. It is the easiest way to make people know about your products.

  • Set better goals for your business

The success of a business depends on its goals and objectives. Marketing can help a business set its goals. By practicing some marketing strategies it will lead to the popularity of their brand. By this, it will motivate the company to maintain its reputation. They will now set clear goals and objectives for their employees to know their targets. These goals will also reach their consumers.

  • Build a Reputation for your Brand

Another benefit of implementing marketing strategies is to build a reputation for your brand. But it is essential to ensure you are giving outstanding quality and useful products to your target market. This way, you won’t only build an excellent reputation for your product, but also your brand.

  • Improves Decision-Making

When a company hires a market specialist, they will do everything to boost the sales of your products by making appropriate marketing actions. The first thing to consider in doing these activities is knowing your audience. When the company has known fully their audience, this will help them decide what lines and details they will create in convincing people to buy their products.

The company will gather different tag lines to choose from. Marketing will help them decide what fits and what works for the people.

Types of Marketing

Importance-of-marketing-in-business_part2
  • B2B Marketing

B2B Marketing is the term used for business-to-business transactions. They used this type of marketing strategy when a company sells goods or any other services to an organization.

  • B2C Marketing

B2C Marketing is another term for Business-to-consumer marketing. This is done when an organization sells its products to people. B2C marketing promotes the business through advertisements.

  • C2B Marketing

We also know C2B Marketing as Consumer-to-Business Marketing. It is the opposite of B2C Marketing. It is a marketing strategy when consumers give goods or services to a company.

  • C2C Marketing

C2C Marketing or consumer-to-consumer marketing is a strategy in which the consumers can have an interaction with their co-consumers. It happens when they share a common product or service. This business model enables a customer to transact business with another customer.  A good example of C2C marketing is OfferUp and let go apps.

The main objective of C2C is to establish good relationships by helping sellers and buyers. By this, it would be easier for the customers to find products at the same time benefit from it.

How Marketing Strategies Lead to Success?

Every successful business has a story of its marketing strategies. It is the marketing strategies that boost the success of the business. Marketing strategies may include promotions and advertising. It also deals with media relations. Marketing can promote a certain brand, product, and people.

Even though you provide quality goods and services, it can be useless when people do not know about it. One of the marketing strategies is by giving information to consumers. When people are fully aware of your product, it will help in increasing sales. Thus, it means success to the business.

Also, another benefit of marketing strategy is by building a good image for the company. When the company has maintained its reputation and pleasant image to the public, consumers’ trust will increase. This can lead to some companies or individuals investing in them.

Impact of the internet on Marketing

As the world continues to reach advancements in technology, businesses have used it to their advantage. They have used the power of the internet to promote and advertise their products. Using the internet is important in promoting one’s product. 

Information about a certain product can now reach many people of different countries using the internet. Consumers can also know a product using browsing on the internet. They can know everything about what a certain product offers.

There are also ways in how your business reaches people.

Bottom Line

Marketing helps businesses reach success. With the right marketing strategies, your business will continue to grow and develop. Finding the best marketing strategy for your business is challenging at first. This post will guide you to determine which marketing strategy will best fit your business and help you succeed. There is no single marketing strategy that will make you succeed overnight. Thus, it is best to do research and try some strategies for your marketing venture.

Author Bio:

Sunny Popli

Sunny Popli is the owner of SPOPLI Web Development He loves to learn and grow. His key interest areas are to learn and implement the latest & impactful ideas in the field of digital marketing. The SPOPLI Web Development & Services can help you create a friendly website to interact with your clients. This will help you in promoting your products.

Safety and Marketing: How it Affects Profitability

Many business owners do not realize that their Experience Modification Rate (EMR) safety rating can be a powerful marketing tool. In industries where the competition is stiff, business owners are always looking for the upper hand to increase their bid: award ratio. It is not uncommon to have a business owner try and undercut a competitor’s offer. That is not always the best plan, as it will eventually cut too much into the business’s profit. The better option is to find a place where your business has more success and market that to the prospective client.

As a small business owner or marketing manager, you are always looking for that differentiator that separates you from the competition. Whether it is an award for being one of the companies to be listed three times on the INC 5000 fastest growing companies or a certification from a safety company like U/L, it is essential to share your company’s wins. By your company having those awards and credentials, it provides you with small differentiators that can influence a client when they are comparing you to a competitor. A safe company has another internal certification that can be just as important as the external certifications, and that is the companies EMR.

What is an EMR?

Insurance companies and OSHA use a measurement called EMR or Experience Modification Rating to rate their clients based on the number and severity of an injury to an employee. These ratings are number-based, with 1.0 being the average for a company in an industry.

Ok, our company has an EMR Rating, how can that differentiate our company from our competitors. 

The EMR tells the insurance company how your company is doing compared to all the other companies in your industry. If you are rated:

  • a 0.8 EMR rating means that your company is performing its duties in a very safe environment in your industry, and you should be paying lower rates. 
  • A 1.0 EMR rating means that your company is performing average in safety in your industry.
  • A 1.2 EMR rating means you can pay an additional 20% over a standard premium and that your workplace is a less safe work environment.

The rating is part of a system that your insurance company uses to charge you for insurance coverage for on the job accidents by your employees. 

The other major part of your insurance charge is the type of industry. A steel mill worker will have a different higher incident rating over a receptionist. These combine with other environmental factors determine what you pay for insurance.

EMR safety Marketing

So you have an excellent rating, everyone gets up and cheers, the safety manager continues to go out and change the number of days without a lost-time accident by plus one along with the company historical record of consecutive days 1,863. Then everyone gets back to work and figure out how to be better next year. 

We are back to that great marketing manager and how he can include this information on the company’s brochures and train the salespeople on the EMR talking points when in conversation with the client’s buyer or senior management.

Here are some idea starters for your company’s marketing package each focusing on the strength of your companies safety record;   

  • When you are in an industry that has few accidents and even fewer differentiators use the record of consecutive days without a lost-time accident and or your current record. Add the rating to your document with your U/L and industry credentials as a differentiator from the competition.   
  • IF your EMR is a high number, put it on your sales literature and have your salesperson educated on what it means. A well-aware buyer will consider this, similar to a U/L listing or an award. 
  • List your EMR position. If there are 100 companies in your industry and you and ten others have no incidents, you can list that you are in the top 10% in the industry or that your company has the highest rating awarded by Osha and the insurance industry.

Generally, a buyer or an accountant is aware of the EMR rating, as they have to shop around for the insurance and pay for it. 

If they are not aware, tell them about it and tell them how they can help to improve their rating by working with their insurer. The insurers, generally, use some of their proceeds to help improve overall industry rating, which also helps their clients improve, they do this by making services and trainers available to the client, mostly at no charge. These speakers and demonstrators will come and help your company to raise their employee’s awareness and assist them in improving their safety rating. 

Your company will become more profitable when both the safety and marketing teams work together. Your marketing team will be able to help your salespeople relay the information that you have the accreditation needed once the safety team helps your company earn a lower score. By marketing your rating, you will likely help your company win more of the jobs you are bidding for, increasing revenue, while also decreasing an insurance expense

In closing, safety is a great tool to communicate to the world, mainly your clients, on how well your company is performing. It is a confidence builder, that you are not passing on the cost of poor safety to them and gives the impression your product may have fewer problems because your employees are aware and care. 

And if your company’s story is not great yet, tell your safety director about the insurer’s program. You will both be doing a service to your company!

At Cogent Analytics, we never stop looking for ways to improve your business and neither should you. So, check out some of our other posts for helpful business information:

Does Your Brand Message Speak to Your Audience?

"Most small businesses focus on increasing revenue (72%), but they also see a great value in establishing new customer relationships (60%), and marketing and advertising (46%)." - Business Insider Report (2017)

It’s difficult to imagine the number of devices and content verticals your clients/customers interact with. In a day or even a few hours of any given day, they may interact with ads on TV, radio, smartphone, billboard, or computer.

Today’s digital environment is where clients/customer are constantly exposed to various forms of advertising from multiple channels and platforms. To ensure your business doesn’t get lost in the crowd it’s essential that the brand message you’re presenting is clear, concise, and consistent.

These tips are for ensuring that your marketing content is conveying the message you would like to present.

Start with the Basics –
Think about the basics of your business.

  • How well does your website present itself on mobile devices?
  • Can a new visitor to your website quickly understand what you do and whom you serve?
  • Do you respond quickly to communications from client/customers on your social media?
  • Does your brand imagery speak to the need your business satisfies?

To remain relevant, you must ensure a consistent experience for your audience. Every time someone interacts with your brand, they should receive the same message of who you are and what you do.

When it comes to content creation for marketing purposes, you may choose to outsource or make it the responsibility of a current staff member that you trust to cultivate your brand. Whoever you choose, ensure there are safeguards for checking their work before taking it live.

Why Does Consistency Matter When You’re Marketing Your Brand?
For SMBs cost is often an issue—to help with this—they need to present their message with simple, effective content, that potential consumers can consume easily and regularly:
Avoid consumer confusion.

  • Provide clear and consistent communications from your brand.
  • Teach your clients/customers something valuable to them.
  • Remain relevant to your audience’s needs and the services you provide.

Small businesses, due to the white noise of constant digital advertising, often struggle to get their brand to register with new consumers.

Keeping the messaging of all brand exposure simple and memorable is the best way to grow your brand recognition.

Create a Purposeful Message –
Create a brand message that conveys the tone and voice of your company:

Test Your Message with Your Audience-
Use any means at your company’s disposal to test your brand messaging:

  • Publish a blog article on your website.
  • Post on Facebook.
  • Send a Tweet.
  • Promote through a local radio or television station.

Monitor your audience’s reaction and track KPIs and statistics from social media traffic to your site. to your new branding. You will quickly see what is most appealing to your clients/customers and what isn’t.

From there, you can build a cohesive and targeted brand message. By presenting this message clearly, concisely, and consistently your brand will begin to resonate and grow with your target audience.

At Cogent Analytics, we never stop looking for ways to improve your business and neither should you. So, check out some of our other posts for helpful business information:

Want More Sales? Improve your Brand

The idea to improve your brand isn’t new, but it can be a confusing concept for business owners. People think of branding as an “it.” They believe a thing (i.e., website, logo, catchphrase, product/service) is the brand. But, your brand – your reputation – is not a finite object or idea; it is how the customer perceives and experiences your company.

Improve Your BrandA customer’s experience is composed of many different interactions and aspects, which collectively create their perception of your company. These perceptions create an image or idea about your business and its products or services; this is your brand.

If you are like most business owners, you have ignored the link between branding and sales for too long.

Well, it is time to get serious about it because your competition has probably been ignoring it too. As your competitors’ customer service gets worse, due to the continued neglect of their brand, you will be able to gather the low hanging fruit through the maintenance of your brand.

Creating and managing a brand can seem overwhelming, confusing, and mystifying–especially if you are already having trouble keeping up on all the other things a business needs (i.e., production, regulation, finances, quality, personal) but this does not have to be the case.

Remember, a brand is your way of selling to your customers through their perception of you and what you have to offer.

The way to build a customer-centered sales philosophy is to break the process down into small manageable pieces that you and your employees can achieve over time.

Depending on your type of business, starting with these two fundamental principles may be all you ever need to establish and support your brand. You will undoubtedly be far ahead of your competition.

1) Improve Your Brand – Visual Image

One of the first things owners lose sight of is their company’s visual image, especially their electronic presence. They get caught up in the inside day-to-day operations and ignore how the world sees the outside. Ignore the outside at your own risk – that is where your clients are.

You may not care about how things look, but potential and current customers do, and it is their opinion that matters.

What people see is what they remember, it heavily affects their perception (i.e., your brand). You want to project success, professionalism, and trustworthiness. As your company grows its image should grow also.

Are you using the same cards, website, letterhead, logos, taglines, graphics, and documents you have had since opening? Do they look homemade, cheap and out-of-date? What do your service people and vehicles look like? How about the outside of your building? There is a difference between a working yard and trash-filled eye-sore. Do not trust your own judgment; ask people how they see it and listen to what they have to say.

2) Improve Your Brand – Customer Experience

Is your customers’ experience simple, intuitive, and enjoyable? If so, great! If not, why? Why make it difficult for your clients to do business with you?
Understanding your customer’s viewpoint is the second basic strategy you need to create a successful brand. When was the last time you called your company and worked your way through the voice mail system? How about the last time you updated your website? Have you tried to use it to order a product, make contact, or ask a question as a customer? Do you have sales people or order takers? Are your salespeople required to have ideas about improving service? How often are clients asked for feedback on the buying process?

The biggest complaint consumers have about buying experiences is poor customer service–this includes business to business transactions. The practice of impersonally selling via technology has made the need for excellent customer service more important than ever. The simpler you make it for people to do business with you the better chance you have of selling more and more often.

To improve your brand is not a complicated goal if you start with these basics. It takes commitment, effort and time to execute them successfully, but the effort will pay off. Customers want a positive interaction with your company. Show them that you are serious about your brand and giving them what they want. If they do not get it from you, they will get it from someone else.

At Cogent Analytics, we never stop looking for ways to improve your business and neither should you. So, check out some of our other posts for helpful business information:

How to Repair Your Failing Digital Marketing Strategies

As a small business owner or a corporate pro; there will come a time when you will have to repair something that is negatively affecting your digital marketing strategies. It will never be as easy as correcting one issue and allowing the rest to fall where it may. You might think that if you fix one problem that should fix it all, it won’t, so you should consider dismantling the entire situation and rebuilding.

We want to take the time to provide you with the critical information required and some tips that will repair your broken digital marketing strategy.

You Must Begin By Understanding The Audience You’re Targeting:

  • The moment you realize that your digital marketing strategies may be in ill repair, you must gather your team and thought leaders to begin your brainstorming sessions. Go back to the beginning and study the audience you’re targeting. As technology continues to advance, you may start to see an evolution in the needs of your clients/customers. If you encounter this, you may find that you’re not clear and therefore will need to consider tweaking your digital marketing strategy.
  • Try reconnecting with your targeted audience. Try to locate its most significant issues and understand how it may be engaging itself with your business.

It May Be Time to Redefine Your Business:

  • If the way that you are engaging with your market is beginning to evolve, then continued engagement will be critical. You will need to offer consistency with your online messages. While you’re doing this, you will have the opportunity to redefine your business and be confident that your clients/customers understand their importance to you as a business owner. Your clients/customers may not be receiving the message of what your business means to them.
Digital Marketing Strategies Blog Cogent Analytics
  • Are you, as a small business owner aware that 1 in 3 users of social media would prefer social media client services as opposed to speaking to someone on the phone or participating in email exchanges? When a potential client/customer poses a question to you via social media, it’s critical that you provide the information they are requesting. A friendly, personal, and trustworthy answer is essential to remaining in front of them as much as possible.
  • Should you find that you’re dealing with a demanding client/customer about your products or services on social media, then that is where you need to respond to them. This quick response in kind will provide you the opportunity to clarify within the social media venue that you are willing to go above and beyond to resolve their problem as immediately as possible and are eager to go above and beyond. This interaction is very similar to standing on a stage with millions of people watching. As a point of fact, that’s what is happening precisely.
  • Social Media is far more than a place to post content. You must remember that this medium can be a delicate balancing act. You need this medium for your digital marketing strategy.
  • Social Media is a tool to establish yourself as the thought leader that you are. The more of this that your audience sees, the better they understand just whom they are dealing with when they consider your business for their products/services.
  • According to SBA Social Media is utilized by more than 3 billion people.As a small business owner, you should be well aware that your target audience IS somewhere on social media at all times. You need to be there for them or consider placing a social media specialist in your stead.
  • Only you can build trust through consistency with your clients/customers. On average it requires eight contacts with members of your target audience to achieve a sale.
  • It’s time to make your business future-centric. Social media is here to stay, no doubt about it! The success of your small business in many ways will depend upon your footprint in the digital world. It’s part of your business; it’s time to accept it.

Social media is a two-way street. It requires a lot of conversation. Be confident that you are giving the content you want to share with your audience. If your clients/customers are not engaged, your strategies will continue to fail your business. Stay in front of your audience, personalize email communications and keep the discussions positive. Before you know it, you’ll be back on track again.

At Cogent Analytics, we never stop looking for ways to improve your business and neither should you. So, check out some of our other posts for helpful business information:

Marketing Terms for Business Planning

Not all small business owners/managers are familiar with marketing terms and how understanding their meanings will benefit them as they continue to grow in the global electronic community. We would like to provide this extensive list of marketing terms and their definitions so that small business owners will become more educated in what they are and how they are instrumental in business planning.
business planning marketing terms

This is a categorized and defined list of marketing terms that you’ll have the ability to bookmark and refer to as often as you need.
As 2019 approaches, these terms will become even more important to small business owners. Take some time to look over these terms and definitions as you can.

Beginning With the Top Need-to-Know Terms –
• Analytics – An interpretation and discovery process of data that a company has input into their analysis software that will predict trends.
• Algorithm -A sorting process that takes place internally. Online platforms use this information to show written content that visitors would be most interested in reviewing
• Brand Identity – This would best be described as the personality traits and characteristics that would best define your company or organization. It’s your company’s entire message and the selected identity that will be viewed by the world outside the business.
• Cross-Channel Marketing – This is a strategy that shall promote an identical message across several channels. Important to know for business planning and budgets
• Conversion Rate – This is the rate in which your clients/customers will actually complete a step that creates a conversion to a sale of goods or services.
• Engagement Rate – This is the rate in which specific followers tend to engage with social media content.
• Experiential Marketing – is a marketing strategy that engages and therefore connects consumers with brands, live and in-person, up close and personal.
• Evergreen Content – This type of content is one that is relevant regardless of the time of year.
• Inbound Marketing– By use of informational content that is created by a brand, company or organization, this is a strategy that is used to attract clients/customers that will come to the brand as a result of the content provided.
• Influencer – One who is well known and well followed in a social media environment. Followers are often moved to a call to action by these people to consider trying products/services they endorse.
• Impressions – This is the number of clicks your published advertisement or content experiences views.
• Key Performance Indicators (KPI) – Are generally used in business planning to measure against goals and also in marketing to measure the effectiveness of campaigns against investment. (ROI)

• Keyword – Words or terms that are used by search engines so that they may categorize search results.
• Lead Nurturing – An avenue used to assist in guiding potential clients/customers to purchase from one particular company, brand or organization.
• Long Tail Keywords – A composition of short phrases that are shortened to provide specificity pertaining to what is being sold.
• Meta Description – This is an HTML tag of approximately 150 characters that will summarize the content of a page. This metadata is provided by search engines generally when the phrase is actually listed in the description. It’s important to know that optimization of the meta description is vital for ‘on page’ search engine optimization (SEO).
• Marketing Funnel – The way that a company guides a client/customer from mere prospects to buyers and repeat clients/customers.
• Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) – Would be a lead that a marketing person or team would consider viable in comparison to other leads based on actions taken by the potential client/customer while they visited a website.
• On-Page Optimization (or on-page SEO) – Is any change that can be made within a website that will provide an improvement in search rankings.
• Organic Traffic – Persons who make it to your website not because they’ve been influenced by ads, influencers or any type of paid content, but purely because the web page had been ranked by specific keywords and drew the interest of the visitor.
• Page Views – A number provided stating how many times a brand’s page has been reviewed.
• Page Authority (PA) – A score that Moz had developed to predict how well any page would within search engine results pages; also known as (SERP). The scores will fit into a range between 1 and 100. The greater the number, the better the page is likely to rank.
• Reach – When statistics are applied to the analytics of advertising and media this would refer to an overall number of various people who have been exposed at least one time to a particular medium during the span of a specific period of time.
• TOFU -MOFU-BOFU Funnels – Top of the Funnel (TOFU), Middle of the Funnel (MOFU), Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU) – All of the stages in a marketing funnel.
• User Generated Content – This is a form of content that is created by persons who are fans or unpaid persons who contribute with various forms of media that will promote a brand as opposed to the brand promoting itself.
• Unique Selling Position (USP) – A benefit that a company, product and/or service exhibits that will allow them to stand out among other competitors.

Pay Particular Attention to the Following Terms as All SMBs Should be Aware of Their Meanings:
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) – This is the ability of a machine (computer) to imitate the intelligence of the behaviors of humans.
• Average Revenue Per User or Unit (ARPU) – This is a measure that is generally utilized by networking companies, digital media companies or consumer communications entities. It’s the total amount of revenue that is then divided by the number of active subscribers.
• Business to Business (B2B) – Marketing or sales that occur between 2 businesses.
• Business to Customer (B2C) – Sales and/or marketing that will occur between a business and it’s clients/customers.
• Big Data – These are very large sets of data that are likely used for analyzing trends, patterns, and associations that will generally relate to human interactions and behaviors.
• Brand Identity – A message that is created by the use of taglines, logos, the tone of the message etc that will enhance the appeal and provide a consistent message for its audience.
• Buyer Persona – A summarization of specific data to include but not limited to; interests, hobbies, patterns of purchases and demographics. These summaries will provide clearer information pertaining to who may be more likely to purchase a business’s products/services.
• Churn Rate – A calculated percentage rate in which clients/customers will end subscription to a service.
• Conversion Rate – This is any company’s calculated percentage of website visitors who become purchasing clients/customers.
• Cross Chanel Marketing – Also known as multi-channel or omnichannel marketing provides client/customer engagement across all channels and through any device. This will monitor and track the data pertaining to customer/client movements and actions.
• Customer Insights – Also known as a consumer insight – Interprets those trends in human behavior that will assist in increasing the effectiveness of a particular product and/or service on behalf of the consumer and creates increases in sales. This will mutually benefit both the merchant and consumer.
• Customer Journey – A full client/customer experience (to include the number of interactions with a company or brand) leading up to the point of purchase from a brand or company.
• Demographics – This is defined as any statistical data that is related to the population in specific areas and the groups within the area.
• Hard Offer – Is an offer to purchase something for less; after a soft offer has been presented and there has been no response. The goal is to get the consumer to purchase before leaving a site. The product or service would be paid for in advance before the product/service is provided.
• Lifecycle Stages – These are the various stages that your audience will experience while they consider purchasing a product/service. They research, consider a purchase, purchase the product/service and purchase again, post-purchase of the product/service being offered.
• Machine Learning (ML) – This is a branch of artificial intelligence (AI). Involving computational science; uses statistical techniques and methods that allow a computer a way to learn from the data input and not manual programming.
• Marketing Funnel – The paths taken by clients/customers that will continue to nurture and guide them through to a sale through a company or organization.
• Marketing Trend – This is a perceived probability that a financial market could perhaps move in some specific direction in time. Trends are classified as “secular” for longer time frames; “primary” for a middle amount of trending time and “secondary for shorter time periods.
• Market Segment(ation) – This is a process of the division of a particular market of clients/customers into groups. The groups are comprised of consumers who are likely to have similar responses to various marketing strategies. The consumers possess common needs, interests, locations and other traits.
• Niche Market – A smaller branch of a core market whereas the focus is on a specific product or service. The niche is features of the product or service that would better satisfy a market’s needs, quality of production, price, and demographics for which it’s intended to impact.
• Objective – A specific goal that a business owner would like their business to reach.
• Omnichannel – The integration of retail that sells across different channels i.e. a bricks and mortar store, online or by telephone.
• Pain Points – The various problems or issues being currently experienced by a customer/client that may lead a client or customer to purchase a product or service from a business.
• Return on Investment (ROI) – The monetary gain received per each dollar spent on strategies or tactics that have been used to market a product/service.
• Strategy – A forward-looking and long-term approach in business planning to creating a plan with a goal of achieving a competitive and sustainable advantage.
• Tactics – A plan or means that will help a business reach a specific goal. These are usually planned to support the strategies outlined during business planning process.
• Target Audience – A specific group of people to whom an advertising campaign would be aimed as they are the most likely group that would be willing to purchase the products or services that a business specializes in selling.

Social Media Terms and Definitions –
• Algorithm – A process of problem-solving operations and methods used by a computer that would provide posts that would be most interesting to the user upon inquiry.
• Engagement Rate – This is a rate that followers engage with content on social media.
• Followers – Users of social media who have opted to follow a particular social media page.
• Hashtag (#) – This is a phrase that precedes the # sign that provides a specific identity to a post regarding a particular topic.
• Impressions – This is when an ad is fetched from the source making the fetch countable.
• News Feed – News that is transmitted by an internet newsgroup or broadcaster.
• Reach – Is an application of stats to analyze media and refers to the number or amount of different people and/or households who are exposed to any medium of advertising at least one time.
• Social Proof/Social Influence – This is a social phenomenon that is psychological in nature whereas one may imitate the actions of others who appear successful in receiving approval because they would like to reflect behaviors that would also be true and correct in any given situation.
• Share of Voice– This is known to be used to “represent the relative portion of ad inventory available to a single advertiser within a defined market over a specified time period.” (Advergize)
• Social Media Campaign – Increases focus measurability and targeting for the purpose of reinforcing or assisting with the goal a business has set and will carry out on one or various media platforms.
• User-Generated Content – A written story or a content piece that is created about a specific brand by a user who would like to share information about the brand to their network of followers.

Digital Marketing Terms –
• Bounce Rate – This represents a number or percentage of visitors who actually enter a website and leaves immediately as opposed to continuing to tour the site. This term is used most often in the analysis of web traffic.
• Chabot – Is basically a computer program that is specifically designed to converse with human users usually online, however, there are also auditory chatbots that exist within many bricks and mortar business’ that allow users to communicate with a bot telephonically.
• E-Commerce – Online platforms that make it possible to make selling and purchasing possible online and instrumental in business planning.
• Gamification – Is an application that contains various typical elements of gameplay. Some examples would be rules, competition with other users, scoring points etc…) Overall it’s an online marketing strategy or technique that encourages engagement with a particular product/service.
• Geo-Targeting – An advertising technique that is often utilized to target more local clients/customers by the delivery of varied content or advertising to a site user based on geographical location.
• Lead Scoring – A method of ranking prospective buyers by the perceived value that each lead would offer according to the probability of purchase. The score would be used to decide which leads would engage in the order of priority.
• Live stream – The transmittal and/or reception of live video coverage of a particular event that can be experienced by way of the internet.
• Marketing Automation – Is a form of technology that provides businesses the ability to increase efficiency and improve engagement with customers/clients so that they may increase revenue at a more rapid rate.
• Mobile Marketing – An interactive, multichannel way of promoting products/services by way of mobile devices and networks.
• Net Promoter Score (NPS) -An index that would measure the level of willingness that clients/customers have to provide a recommendation of a business’ products/services to other people. It’s also used to gauge client/customer satisfaction with a company as well, the client or customer’s level of loyalty to the company.
• Podcast – A digital audio file that is created and made available online. Subscribers may download these digital files to a mobile device or computer to listen to at their convenience.
• User Experience (UX) – Encompasses an end-user’s interaction with any company or organization pertaining to the company’s products/services.
• User Interface (UI) – This term encompasses anything that is created and/or designed into a device that provides information from the internet and would allow a user to interact. Examples would be items such as keyboards, a mouse, screens that would display images, programs, apps.
• Unique Selling Proposition or Unique Selling Point (USP) – This is an aspect of the presentation that would show a difference in a product from that of its competitors. Some examples may be, lower pricing, finest quality or even one of a kind product. An important part of business planning.

Paid Marketing and SEO Terms –
• Click Through Rate (CTR) – The percentage of persons who click on an ad after viewing it.
• Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) – A systematic process that allows the increased percentage of visitors to a website and is willing to answer the desired call to action (form completion, purchase etc..)
• Domain Authority – As one of the many search engine ranking systems, this is a measure of the power of a domain name. Factors are size, popularity, and age.
• Inbound Link – A hyperlink, (backlink) is a link located on a third-party site that will direct a visitor to another site for further information.
• Landing Page – Is the portion of a website that is accessed or where a visor will “land” after clicking a link on another page. This type of page is a page that stands alone and is generally created for advertising and marketing purposes.
• On-Page Optimization – In SEO, On-page optimization would refer to the factors that have any effect on a website or page within a website listing in search results that are natural. Some examples would be keyword placement, HTML tags, keyword density, and meta tags.
• Organic Traffic – Is traffic that is generated using any search engine i.e. Google, Yahoo or Bing and has not been referred to a website by another site.
• Page Views – When a user has visited a specific page on any website.
• Pay-Per-Click (PPC) – When a company that has placed an ad on a site will pay an amount of money to the site hosting the site whenever a user will click on the ad that’s been placed.
• Responsive Design – The goal for the use of this particular website design is to have the ability to detect the size of the visitor’s monitor screen so that the design will automatically change to accommodate the visitor’s screen.
• Title Tags – Found displayed in the top bar of internet browsers, these tags are HTML title elements. These elements are vital to SEO and the user experience. They are briefly used to accurately describe topics and themes regarding online documents.
• Slug – Is an advertiser’s signature on printed advertising or a ‘name’ of an advertisement.
• Schema Markup – Is a code that would be included on a site to assist search engines in returning more informative results to inquiring users.
• Unique Visitor – With regard to web analytics; this term refers to a person who would visit a website at least one time inside of a specific period of reporting. A unique visitor is identified by their IP address and is counted only one time during a reporting period.

Email Related Terms –
• A/B Testing (Split Testing or Bucket Testing) – Compares two versions of an application (app) or webpage so that a determination can be made as to which one is better in performance.
• Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) – Considered one of the “toughest anti-spam laws in the world” by the ABA. This legislation requires any individual, company or organization that would send any kind of commercial e-mail, to acquire express written consent from all Canadian citizens.
• Clicks To Open Rate (CTOR) – Comparison of the number of persons that opened an email to the number of people who actually clicked. This will only measure the performance of the actual content of the mail.
• Dedicated Internet Protocol (Dedicated IP) – A unique IP address that only specific business hosting accounts are eligible to acquire and use.
• Email Service Provider (ESP) – Is a company that provides free or paid email services.
• Hard Bounce – An email that was sent and returned because the email address isn’t in existence or because the sender’s email address was blocked by the recipient.
• Email List Segmentation – This is a method of email marketing whereas email lists are split and used by businesses and marketing persons to send email communications that are relevant to specific people on a marketing list.
• Multivariate Testing – Is a method of hypothetical testing multiple modified variables that will determine what combination provides the best performing variations.
• Open Rate – Measures how many people who are part of a particular email list actually open or view an email during a company’s email campaign.
• Open Length – Is the length of time that a recipient of an email spends with the email opened to the time they close the email.
• Pre-Header (Johnson Box) – Is a very short summary that would follow the subject line that an individual will view while the email is in the inbox.
• Spam Trigger – All email programs have spam filters. Spam triggers are words that these filters immediately pick up and send the email to a spam folder.
• Sender Score – Is a number between 0 and 100 that determines your ‘sender reputation’. This score also provides information pertaining to how ESPs view your IP address.
• Soft Bounce – If a mailbox is full or the email recipient’s mailbox is set for filtering, an email that someone sends to a recipient may be returned to the sender prior to opening.
• Subject Line – A line of text that provides an introduction to the recipient and serves as a way for the recipient to know the intention of the sender prior to opening it.

Content Marketing Terms –
• ‘Above the Fold’ – Describes a part of the website that would be found directly below the web page’s call to action area. This is considered an important aspect of web design.
• Affiliate Marketing – Is an arrangement made between two or more companies whereas one will promote the product/services and/or content of another company for an agreed upon commission payment.
• Branded Content – The practice of creating and marketing content that is either produced directly by an advertiser or is funded by the advertiser.
• Case Study – Is an analysis that provides a story analyzing and describing the results of a client’s/customer’s experience with a company or organization.
• Curated Content – This is a process whereas large amounts of content are sorted through and the more superior posts are posted in an organized and meaningful fashion.
• Content Management Systems (CMS) – This system with its two components will allow anyone to modify, add or remove content regardless of their knowledge or expertise, without a need to have a webmaster intervene in the process.
• Dynamic Content – A term describing the aspects of a website, email body or ad that will change based upon the particular interests of previous behaviors of viewers.
• Ebook – A printed book that has been converted to electronic form so that it may be read on any device or computer.
• Editorial Calendar – Is a planning document that will provide a solid view of what’s happening with content, schedules posting dates, content deadlines etc.
• Native Advertising – Is content within an online publication that imitates the editorial content and look of the publisher, however, it is paid advertising and it is created for the purpose of promotion of the advertiser’s products or services.
• Microsite – Is a web page or a small group of pages that provide a separate entity for a specific brand. These sites generally have their own domain, some are subdomains and are capable of assisting brands like telling stories, highlight marketing campaigns target personas or even provide inspiration for call-to-action.
• Viral Content – A piece of content that spreads rapidly from user to user creating high numbers of open rates etc.
• White Paper – A carefully researched document that may argue one or several positions or may be used to help an audience solve a problem.

Although these terms apply mainly to the marketing area of a business, the activities they describe are instrumental in the business planning process. Marketing is woven throughout the many areas of a business and SMB’s should incorporate, plan and budget for marketing as they develop their business plans.

At Cogent Analytics, we never stop looking for ways to improve your business and neither should you. So, check out some of our other posts for helpful business information:

Are You Getting the Right Message Across?

According to a 2017 Business Insider Report – “Most small businesses focus on increasing revenue (72%), but they also see great values in establishing new customer relationships (60%), and marketing and advertising (46%).”

It is difficult at best to imagine the number of devices and content verticals your clients/ customers are exposed to continuously. Within a day or even a few hours of a given day, they may be presented with an ad by on television, the radio, a smartphone app, a digital billboard, or even their work or home desktop computer.

Today’s digital environment is where clients/customer are always on, plugged in and exposed to the constant barrage of advertising through various channels and platforms. It is essential to ensure that the brand message you’re presenting is clear, concise and consistent.
What follows are some tips for ensuring that your marketing content is, in fact, conveying the message you want to present.

Start with the Basics –
Think about the basics of your business.
• How well does your website present itself on mobile devices?
• How easy is the navigation process of your website across all of the platforms you’re using?
• What sort of response are you receiving?
• Do you or your social media manager remain abreast of communications from client/customers in your social media venues?

If you wish to remain relevant, you must ensure a consistent experience for your audience across all means of media, especially social media platforms. This could require some simple tweaking or a complete change. You should consider working with specific departments within your company or third party vendors but definitely include your thought leaders in your decision making processes.

business visual

When it comes to content creation for marketing purposes, you may opt to outsource or make it the responsibility of a current staff member that has the talent and vision for this aspect of your business. That said, be certain that you keep a good checks and balances system in place. Appoint another person to provide proofing, editing and peer reviews for finding inconsistencies and/or errors. You also want to be sure that your content creator has a true understanding of your vision.

Consistency Matters When You’re Marketing Your Brand. Why?
Often, smaller brands cannot afford to deal with the competition that comes with larger corporate brands. SMBs would benefit by getting their message across with simple, useful content. This avenue is far more likely to:
• Get consumer attention.
• Avoid consumer confusion.
• Provide clear and consistent communications pertaining only to your brand.
Doing so will assist your audience in recalling what your services/products are and how they will best serve the consumer and/or their business.
• It gives you the opportunity to teach your clients/customers something valuable.
• This provides you the opportunity to remain relevant to both your target audience’s needs and your business.

Any effort to show your potential clients/customers various sides of your business may actually work against what you would like to accomplish.
They simply don’t have the time or patience to get to know you, before deciding to either consider your products or services; or actually make the decision to do business with you on any level.

Small businesses, due to the basic digital clutter and noise alone, often struggle to get in front of new consumers. Keeping it simple and memorable is likely the best way to begin while changing up your strategy.

Create a Purposeful Message –
Creating a message that presents the correct tone and voice for your company is critical:
• Whatever your business the focus should remain on building confidence with your potential client/customer.
• Use some visuals
• Once you’ve had the opportunity to work through the finer points you would like to present, be sure that the essence of your message is included in every created post.

If you find that wordsmithing isn’t something you’re comfortable with, by all means, consider someone on your staff that is known for this talent or consider hiring a professional copywriter. Getting the right message is a priority.Test Your Message, Make Changes as Required-

Once you’ve created your content you’ll then be prepared to test it. Today there are a myriad of analytics services and tools that can be utilized to monitor the value and performance of your content. You will have the ability to see how well your content resonates with your audience after you’ve taken the time to:
• Publish a blog article
• Provide amplification to a created Facebook post
• Send a Tweet
• Or post to any or all of the other platforms you’ve selected

Begin the process of monitoring your content as soon as possible. Going forward, continue to keep it simple, but definitely try new themes and marketing strategies that you feel may appeal to your audience. You will begin to see what seems to be most appealing to most potential clients/customers and will have the ability to build not only your audience but your brand identity.

You will also have the opportunity to communicate with your potential clients/customers while others may have the ability to glean valuable information from your answers about your products and services.

Content management is crucial in today’s world, no doubt about it. It is the road to increasing website traffic, increasing your email contacts, sales, retaining clients/customers, referrals and much more.

It’s not an easy process per se, but once you’re aware of what your clients/customers enjoy most, you’ll gain their attention and respect. It’s then that you’ll have the ability to follow their lead to your success.

At Cogent Analytics, we never stop looking for ways to improve your business and neither should you. So, check out some of our other posts for helpful business information:

Experiential Marketing – Don’t Just Explore It, DO IT!

Many small business owners, whether they are just opening their doors or they’ve been in business for awhile, often find themselves lost in the digital noise, face in their hands, repeated sighs, trying to visualize something, anything, to get their businesses the attention and profits they need and deserve.

While researching these issues, the one thing that we’ve concluded is that the BOGO on Veteran’s Day or the President’s Day sale just isn’t going to cut it in 2018. We would like to offer something that appears to be trending in leaps and bounds. Now, it’s not a new concept by any stretch of the imagination. Large corporations with huge budgets have been on top of this for several years now. Small business owners simply didn’t believe they had the budgets. Not so!

We’re happy to inform business owners and your thought leaders that there are infinite ways to implement what is known as Experiential Marketing aka Event Marketing. This form of marketing can be an amazing, positive community experience that won’t only bring in clients and profit, but will create brand ambassadors and word-of-mouth beyond belief, not to mention the ability to enhance your digital marketing opportunities both through your respective marketing persons and departments and your attendees!

Experiential Marketing – is a marketing strategy that engages and therefore connects consumers with brands, live and in-person, up close and personal! As opposed to viewing potential clients/customers as those who will passively receive television/radio/online/newspaper ads, those who choose Live Marketing engage consumers through personal interaction. They bring their experiential marketing efforts live. This strategy will allow potential clients/customers to develop brand connections. These live events assist in the creation of brand loyalty, by engaging all of the senses with those who attend. These marketing strategies are also known as:

  • Participation Marketing
  • Special Event Marketing
  • Engagement Marketing Events
  • On-Ground Marketing Events (to name a few)

Take a Look at These Statistics:

  • According to a study conducted by Bizzabo; in 2017 91% over over-performing businesses have begun to emphasize experiential marketing (live events). Those same companies intend to increase their marketing budgets by at least $4500.00 in 2018 and beyond.
  • The results of a 2017 Event Marketing Institute study, conducted annually with both marketers who arrange their events and those who attend these events have provided the following results:
    • Of all consumers who have attended live events, 65% stated that by attending live events they were provided a better understanding of products and services as opposed to simply viewing TV ads or experiencing other advertising methods.
    • Of all attendees surveyed, 80% said that by attending live demonstrations, receiving free samples, etc., this strategy assisted significantly in their purchasing decisions.
    • An unbelievable 70% of live event attendees become regular clients/customer after attending the event.
    • An astounding 98% of attendees surveyed feel that they are much more inclined to purchase from the business or brand who held the event (becoming brand loyal).
    • 33% of those who attend these events will take pictures and video of the event they are attending.
    • 34% of event consumers will post information regarding their experience with the event they have attended and will place it on their favorite social media venues.

What About Marketers Who Hold These Events?:

  • According to Bizzabo; an amazing 80% of companies who use live event marketing in the U.S., say that these events have proven to be vital to the success of their companies/businesses and…
  • Of all of the marketers surveyed, 95% agree that by holding live events with their brands, they are providing their attendees a chance to step outside of their digital world and form increasingly valuable in-person relationships and connections.
  • According to Statista, 79% of those who market their business with live event marketing are experiencing increased sales.

These are some extremely impressive statistics, and 2018 will be the year for small businesses to step outside of their websites and brick and mortar establishments to use these methods that are likely to increase your sales dramatically, provide you community appearances, and likely make important differences in your local communities. This marketing strategy is in no way confined to video gaming companies or huge corporations with giant marketing budgets. It’s for you! The small business owner and even the entrepreneur wanting to get their businesses off of the ground will benefit from this method of marketing. This marketing style works for all types of businesses from the local non-profit to the Fortune 500 companies and beyond.

If you’re uncertain about how to compliment your marketing efforts, consider experiential marketing as a goal for your business in 2018! Holding one of these events could significantly change the trajectory of the public view and profitability of your business and brand regardless of its size.

At Cogent Analytics, we never stop looking for ways to improve your business and neither should you. So, check out some of our other posts for helpful business information:

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