Digital Marketing Archives - Page 3 of 3 - Waterhouse Digital Agency

Google AdWords has been around for almost 20 years and has changed a lot since it first launched. It provides a great platform for businesses to get in front of their target customers and start driving traffic almost instantly. However, creating and running a profitable campaign is becoming increasingly difficult due to more competition and rising click costs. In this article, we delve into different areas that can be improved upon to help you get more from your Google Search Ads.

Campaign Settings

Always the first go-to when optimising a campaign is the campaign settings. Here’s what we’d recommend:

Check networks: All search campaigns should be set to target the Google Search Network only. Be sure to uncheck the two boxes that say include Search Partners and Display.

Leaving these unchecked will make sure your ads will only show in the Google Search Results and nowhere else. You can test expanding them potentially later down the line but from our experience, performance often drops.

Check locations: In locations, click on location options and set the targeting to “People in or regularly in your targeted locations” if it isn’t already. This is against Google’s recommendation but by ticking another option, you’re opening your ads up to clicks from users who are outside of your target locations.

Check bidding strategy: This should be set to manual to start with and when you’ve built up some account data it’s worth testing enhanced CPC and/or some of the automated bid strategies available.

Check ad rotation: We always start with “rotate indefinitely” so that you can more effectively and quickly test different ads against each other.

Ad Extensions

If you’ve not got any ad extensions set up then implementing them could significantly improve your ad click-through rates. As a starting point, creating call extensions, site link extensions and callout extensions should suffice.

Ad Group Structure

Always keep it simple when it comes to your ad group structure. We’ve seen too many campaigns that have complex ad group structures with several keywords in them that shouldn’t be there. The more keywords in an ad group the more you’re diluting your messaging and targeting. A handful of keywords is usually sufficient for most ad groups with all of the terms being very closely related.

Ad Copy

Your ad copy not only needs to entice a click but it needs to stand out from the website’s competing against you for a specific keyword. It should at least include the target keyword, benefits and a CTA, but above all, it needs to tap into your customers’ emotions. Always make use of your available ad space, headline 1, 2 and description line 1 and 2 for expanded text ads. As a minimum, each ad group should have at least 3 ads – including both expanded text ads and responsive search ads. Continually keep an eye on ad performance and split test, split test, split test!

Negative Keywords / Match Types

As a starter, all keywords in your account should be phrase match, modified broad or exact.

Phrase match keywords allow your ads to show only when someone’s search includes the exact phrase of your keyword, or close variations of the exact phrase of your keyword, with additional words before or after. They are displayed as below in your account:

“Keyword”

Your ad could show for search terms that include this keyword. For example, if your keyword is “red shoes” then your ad could show for any of the following and more:

Buy red shoes
Where to buy red shoes
Red shoes in size 6

Modified broad keywords include a plus sign (+) in front of one or more words in a broad match keyword. The words that are preceded by a (+) sign must appear in the user’s keyword phrase exactly or as a close variation.

For example, +red +shoes could trigger your ad for:

Ladies shoes in size 6 red
Where can i get shoes that are red?
Why is there red on my shoes?

It’s important to pay extra attention to negative targeting when it comes to modified broad as your ads can show for a much wider variety of searches.

An Exact Match keyword in Google AdWords will only enter an auction in which the search query perfectly matches or is a close variant of your keyword. They are displayed in your account as the following:

[red shoes]

For this keyword, your ads would only trigger for red shoes or red shoe.

Broad match keywords will waste money on completely irrelevant clicks most of the time so if you have any enabled double-check their performance and pause them if they’re costing too much without converting. They can be identified easily as they use none of the symbols above.

Finally, negative keywords are also just as important as your target keywords. Check your search term report at least once per month, possibly more frequently, depending on how many clicks you get per day. Any search queries that you show up for that aren’t relevant, or those that you’ve spent a lot of money on without conversion can then be added to your negative keywords list. With Google now beginning to limit search query data, adding negatives in the future will likely prove trickier.

Devices

Device performance should be monitored at least once monthly. A simple check against mobile, tablet and desktop for your campaigns and ad groups should be carried out. Following this, you can adjust bid settings per device to compensate. For example, if mobile is converting at 1% and desktop is converting at 2%, it might be a good idea to reduce mobile device bids by 50%.

Time/Day

Time of day and/or day of the week is another dimension that can be optimised to improve your Google Ads performance. With enough data, there will likely be a clear pattern develop as to which days of the week and what times of day result in higher conversion rates. As with devices, bid adjustments can then be made, increasing or decreasing bids depending on the specific situation.

Location

Location performance can be filtered by countries, larger regions and cities/towns. Your filter settings will depend on your location targeting. If you’re targeting just the UK for example then filtering by cities/towns is probably best. Once filtered, you are then easily able to sort the cost of each by highest to lowest to determine any locations that are performing poorly. These can then either be excluded or bids reduced. Alternatively, those that are performing above standard can have their bids increased to improve performance.

Scripts

AdWords scripts are particularly useful for large accounts as they can be used to automate basic management tasks such as bid updates, pausing under-performing keywords, checking ads for spelling/grammar errors etc. There are lots of free scripts readily available online that you can start implementing immediately. Here’s a few to get started with: https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2016/04/18/adwords-scripts

Change History

AdWords campaign performance will naturally go up and down, but if there’s a significant improvement or downturn in performance you’ll want to understand why. You can use the AdWords Change History tool to identify specific changes made. These are all date and time stamped so will help narrow down what has affected the campaign.

Need More Advice?

If you require additional advice on how best to optimise your Google AdWords account and campaigns to get more business then give us a call today on 01332 372728, complete our enquiry form or email enquire@wda-marketing.com.

A chatbot is an automated tool or service that can conduct real-time conversations on Social Media, text or through your website, instead of having a customer service agent on standby. Chatbots are often programmed with a specific set of rules and responses or powered by artificial intelligence.

How do chatbots work?

Chatbots work using a feedback-orientated approach, providing 24/7 support to your customers and prospects. With the use of artificial intelligence, chatbots are able to respond to a range of simple to complex queries based on previously collected data, without the need for human input.

If you’re looking to design a chatbot, make sure you think of the specific needs of your customers so you are able to craft an experience suited to them. In most cases, chatbots are able to provide a much better user experience due to their flexibility, allowing customers to pick up where they left off, at a time that is convenient to them. What’s great about chatbots is the fact they are constantly learning. The more people use them, the more data they are able to collect, the more diverse they become, allowing them to solve customers’ problems in a more effective and efficient way.

Why are chatbots used?

Chatbots are more important now than ever before. Due to how fast-paced everyone’s lives have become, people have become increasingly impatient, demanding answers to their questions almost instantly. Chatbots offer a quick, consistent response to users, maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction. But what are chatbots used for?

Consumers use chatbots to:

Conduct research
Purchase a product/pay for a service
Interact with a business

Businesses use chatbots to:

Increase engagement with customers
Develop customer loyalty
Grow customer base by generating leads
Drive revenue to the business

In most cases, the chatbot has taken over as the customers’ first line of contact, relieving huge amounts of pressure and stress off of customer service agents. After the bot has conducted initial research, gathered sufficient information off of the customer, and vetted the enquiry, they can be programmed to pass the query on to a team member to solve the query or complete the purchase.

In 2019, a survey was conducted, which showed us that 89% of customers want to use instant messaging to communicate with businesses, and 66% of shoppers prefer to use instant messaging over any other communication channel. With messaging apps like Facebook Messenger, which has over 1.3 billion active users a month, this comes as no surprise. Chatbots are built into apps like these to make life easier for the customer and the business.

Why should you implement chatbots for your business?

Being discoverable on popular messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger allows you to put yourself right in front of your prospects and customers, broadening the awareness of your brand and simplifying how customers are able to access the information they need, whilst researching or finding out more about your product or service.

By implementing chatbots to answer your customers queries, you can ensure your customers are getting quick and consistent responses. This massively improves customer satisfaction, which as we all know, is one of the most important factors in the success of a business, so it is imperative to get it right.

Continuing on the excellent standard of customer service, chatbots can also send reminders to your customers if required; some companies even allow customers the option to book appointments through their bots.

Whilst chatbots are extremely beneficial to your customers, they can also be beneficial to your business in other ways. As mentioned earlier, the number one benefit to your business is cutting down the need for customer service representatives, or at least relieving pressure from them by making chatbots your customers first port of call. Alongside this, chatbots are able to provide you with valuable insights from your customers, whilst protecting their identities and remaining GDPR compliant.

Would you like to find out more about chatbots and how we could implement them to improve your customer experience and grow your business? Get in touch today by calling 01332 372728 or by emailing enquire@marketing.dev-wda.com.

Marketing trends are changing and evolving each day. It is our responsibility as a marketing agency, to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to these latest advancements to ensure we continue to drive profitable business for our clients.

You may recall that we published an article on the 6 business marketing trends to exploit in 2019. You can read this here. These trends are still relevant now as many businesses and agencies still aren’t capitalising on them. However, throughout 2019 and early into 2020 several new tactics and channels have shown exceptional growth and simply must be taken advantage of now.

10. Podcasts

The rise in smart speakers such as the Amazon Echo and Google Home has again meant that voice searches have soared throughout last year – fuelling the ever-increasing popularity of podcasts around the world.

In the UK alone, there are 7.1 million regular listeners to podcasts – that’s 1 in 8 people. A staggering 24% increase year on year, and we are expecting this number to rise considerably throughout 2020. Due to this explosion, we are predicting a large rise in podcast advertising this year and a surge in the number of new podcast launches. Research shows that podcasts generate around four times better brand recall than scroll, pop-up and static ads and that podcast advertising spend is set to effectively double to $1.6bn by 2022.

9. TikTok

Global Social phenomenon TikTok is currently smashing it with Generation Z, who make up the majority of its audience base. As one of the fastest growing social media platforms in the world, TikTok allows users to quickly and easily produce and share short videos with music, filters and effects. If your target customer falls within the Gen Z’ers age bracket then TikTok could be the perfect platform to engage with them.

Videos can be found by hashtag, and the platform recently updated its user interface to include a ‘discover’ feature similar to Instagram’s ‘explore’ page. This hosts a wide variety of topics – we will certainly be keeping an eye on as we believe this feature will attract a wider audience to the app. TikTok’s new self-serve ad platform is currently in development, but some businesses have access to this in beta so watch this space.

8. AI

Artificial Intelligence (AI) marketing is a data-driven approach that has taken the digital world by storm and will continue to do so throughout 2020 and beyond. AI marketing relies on concepts like machine learning to anticipate the audiences next move, enabling brands to produce highly personalised consumer experiences and improve the customer journey.

Through the use of AI, you can gain a deeper understanding of what your customers are thinking, saying, and feeling about your brand, all in real-time. This allows you to build out detailed consumer profiles, which in turn gives you the intelligence to deliver the right message to the right person at the right time – and to quickly modify that message to maximise effectiveness.

7. Augmented Reality

Unlike Virtual Reality (VR) which effectively shuts out the physical world and allows a fully immersive experience, Augmented Reality (AR) adds digital elements to a live view often by using the camera on a smartphone (a good example being the fun filters built into social apps such as Snapchat and Instagram).

The opportunities for marketers are endless. For now, the novelty and entertainment factor alone means that brands can use AR to attract and engage their audiences in new and exciting ways creating differentiation and stand-out from the competition. Equally exciting are the possibilities AR presents to e-commerce brands, by allowing the user to virtually try out and compare products and access all the information they need to help them make a purchase decision. For example, Vans have recently integrated AR into their website. When customising your own Vans trainers, you can now virtually try them on before committing to purchasing, using your iPhone or Android camera.

Whilst AR is not yet a mainstream, its presence is accelerating fast. The global AR market is currently worth around $27bn. Statistica predicts this will grow to $209bn by 2022. To put this in perspective, the global smartphone market is worth around $431bn.

6. Programmatic Advertising

If you want to target your audience on a granular level and use ad budget smarter, programmatic advertising could be the way forward for your automotive brand.

Programmatic advertising is an automated process of buying and selling ad space online. With the use of cookies and AI, you can target users based on their geographical area, demographics, interests and how they’ve previously interacted with your website (retargeting). Programmatic uses machine learning to understand the goals you set over time and the performance of your campaigns to automatically optimise them for optimal performance.

5. Conversational Marketing

Conversational marketing is a feedback-orientated approach used to increase engagement with your brand, develop customer loyalty and grow your customer base, thus driving revenue for your business. Real-time messaging should be designed specifically around the needs of your customers, allowing them to pick up where they left off, at a time that suits them.

Chatbots are a great way of being able to provide 24/7 support to your customers and prospects, providing answers to frequently asked questions based on the data you collect. Living in a world where life is fast-paced and people need to know answers now, the implementation of chatbots and conversational marketing is an absolute must for all brands.

4. Social Messaging

Using Social messaging effectively for networking and generating leads is still greatly underutilised. WhatsApp, for example, has 1.5 billion users worldwide. Through WhatsApp Business you can connect with your audience in a simple, reliable way – engaging and building frictionless conversational experiences that not only enhance customer experience and loyalty but also generates new business.

Instagram has also hit the ground running this year by revealing they have started developing and testing DM’s for the desktop version of their platform. This feature will be a welcome tool for businesses. Last year, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, said future plans include users from Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram being able to message each other regardless of which platform they are using.

3. Social Media Stories

As marketing trends go, stories are actually nothing new, in fact, Instagram released its story function back in 2016, and today over 500 million people use the feature daily. Whilst initially certain parts of the user demographic may have felt a little reluctant to roll their sleeves up, get creative and put their content up in lights at the top of the feed, stories are now very commonplace, in fact some users now only really engage with them, over ‘regular’ page content.

We’ve put stories at number 3 as it’s amazing how underutilised they are by businesses within their social campaigns. Stories provide a fast and effective way for brands to deliver authentic ‘here and now’ content from wherever they are in the world – and are great for live coverage of events and shows, for example. Stories are also super easy to customise with filters, stickers and interactive elements that will keep your audience engaged for longer. Even better, when your following is greater than 10,000 on Instagram, you can add a CTA to your stories, urging your followers to find out more, subscribe or make a purchase with a simple swipe up.

2. Influencer Marketing & User Generated Content

The social media influencer market is set to be worth more than $10 billion by 2020, and it’s not difficult to see why, as influencer marketing is like word of mouth on steroids. We all follow influencers as we want to see their content, and because influencers build up very loyal, trustworthy fanbases, their reach and ability to engage their audience has great value as a platform for advertisers.

Yes, we all now know that occasionally our favourite social star is marketing to us, but we still consume the content, and if the marketed brands have got their targeting right, there’s still a good chance you will take notice and potentially want to find out more. If nothing else, the brand awareness, positioning and alignment with the personal brand the influencer represents has got huge value in itself.

Whilst working with an influencer can boost the overall credibility of your brand, improve customer retention and grow your bottom line; you don’t need to spend millions to benefit. In recent years the influencer market has segmented into mega-influencers, macro-influencers, micro-influencers and nano-influencers. A lot of the influencer work we do today focuses around the micro-influencer – someone who has between 1,000 to 100,000 followers. These individuals are both affordable, and highly targeted as they typically focus on a specific niche and are generally regarded as industry experts.

User-Generated Content, on the other hand, is where we encourage your customers to share their feedback on your product or service across social media. It’s real. It invites engagement and inspires action. UGC can be leveraged through a campaign or by simply asking customers to use a specific hashtag with their thoughts and feedback which you can then share and feature on your feed.

1. SERP Position Zero

Well it sounds cool enough to make number 1, right? Position Zero (P0) is the first Google search result you see and appears above organic SEO listings. P0 is also referred to as a ‘featured snippet’, and it directly answers a searchers’ question – without them needing to click to see the result.

Gaining position zero is a tough task but it’s not impossible. Crafting a compelling piece of content that directly answers a question (or a long-tail query you want to feature for) is the starting point. Content pieces like ‘how to’ guides, definitions, top 10 lists and FAQs are often found in this most sought after position. The new summit of the constantly changing Google mountain.

The P0 result is used for voice search results which as we know, is growing increasingly popular. If you gain P0 on Google, you will occupy more SERP territory, increasing brand awareness, trust and clicks.

Want To Stay On Trend?

Do you want to implement any of these key marketing trends this year? Our dedicated team of marketing specialists are here to help.

Make 2020 a more successful year for your business by utilising some of these marketing trends. If you’d like to find out what we can do to help your business, get in touch today by calling 01332 372728 or by emailing anna@marketing.dev-wda.com.

2018 is history. Whether it was a good year or a poor one for your business, 2019 is a new year. The perfect time to assess your business marketing to ensure you are doing everything in your power to grow your business. So where should your business be focusing its marketing efforts this year? WDA’s Digital Marketing expert, Matt Tudge, has put together 6 key marketing trends for you to exploit in 2019!

Voice

Amazon Echo and the emergence of similar devices have made voice search more relevant than ever. We believe that the use of voice search is only going to grow each year and will become even more pronounced in 2019. However, the critical question to ask is… “How do you optimise your website and marketing to tailor to voice search?” Creating blog articles that directly answer your prospects questions or having an in-depth FAQs page on your website are two of the best ways to do so. If you’d like to capitalise on the popularity of voice search in 2019 and get found for longer search queries then our content marketing team is here to help.

Instagram

Although Instagram is a favourite among millennials, it shouldn’t be overlooked. The numbers speak for themselves as the Social platform continues to see an incredible acceleration in its user statistics – an estimated 1 billion people are now using it. One of the more recent features of Instagram, IGTV, launched last year. This allows you to upload longer form videos – providing an excellent opportunity to engage your followers and encourage them to take action.

Video

This directly follows on from the above. The majority of content that is now being consumed on a daily basis is video. If your business still hasn’t got to grips with video marketing then 2019 must be the year you do so! Videos keep us interested and engaged. They hold our ever-shortening attention spans for a longer period and present the perfect way to advertise to or educate your customers and prospects. If you need help with creating engaging, professional video content that your customers will love, WDA is fully equipped to help you do so.

Snapchat

Even more so than Instagram, many business owners see Snapchat as a platform that is only for millennials. While the majority of Snapchats users do fit that category, if your business targets a younger audience then it is a brilliant place to reach them and interact with them. Creating regular Snapchat stories, using custom Geofilters and implementing paid advertising are all marketing tools you can utilise with the “hip” Social platform.

Chatbots

Chatbots had a surge in popularity last year with many being a feature on websites and Facebook pages. They are particularly useful for customer-facing businesses. In the “digital” era we are now living in, people have become more impatient and they want an answer straight away. Chatbots facilitate this with a personal approach – giving your prospects or customers a chat feature that they can use to enquire or ask questions. We expect to see a further increase in chatbot popularity this year.

Loyalty Rewards

Loyalty rewards have been around for a long time now and they play an important part in customer retention. They show no sign of slowing down in 2019, however, many existing schemes are too complex and confusing. A loyalty reward program should be simple and make your customers feel appreciated.

Make 2019 a more successful year for your business by exploiting some of these top business marketing trends. If you’d like to find out how we can help, get in touch with us today by calling 01332 372728 or by emailing anna@wda-automotive.com.

Digital Marketing can be a minefield of confusion for both small businesses and larger ones. As a rule, business owners are unsure about where to begin or how to improve their digital presence.

We know what we want to say to our audience but we are unsure about how to reach them. The first thing you need to do before any marketing campaign is to identify your audience. We have to put ourselves in their shoes. Who is buying your product or in need of your service? We can’t even begin to communicate with them if we don’t know who they are.

Knowing your audience will ensure that you are not only creating great content, but you’re creating the right content which will increase conversions. So, who are they? A great way of identifying them is to build something we call a ‘business avatar’. This is essentially a fictional persona of your business’ ideal customer.

Example: If you run a sports equipment store, you may find that your business avatar is male, aged 18-35 and interested in health and fitness as well as sport. Knowing this will enable you to use the correct tone of voice, create relevant tailored content and reach the audience most likely to convert!

If your audiences aren’t quite this cut and dry, there are many ways in which you can identify their interests and browsing habits. Google Analytics has lots of tools which you can use to narrow down your existing audiences behaviours and stats. If these are the people that are already browsing your site, they’re a pretty good starter for ten on identifying your ideal customer base! You can even check out where it is they’re coming from… direct search, email or social media? (You can take a look at our blog on Facebook advertising here)

Your next step is to identify the problems they may have that your company/organisation may be able to solve. Using the fitness example again; maybe your sports equipment store offers advice from professionals from various fields. Your unique selling point is offering reliable advice upon equipment purchase. This would also translate into an equal authority in your content – your audience will be interested in fitness, health and wellbeing. So any blogs, articles and advice will allow them to trust your brand and make a purchase.

If you would like any further help and advice, get in touch with us today! Did you know that we offer various digital marketing packages to suit your needs? Just email our digital marketing manager at susie@marketing.dev-wda.com.

’Tis the season of planning and refining your 2016 marketing strategy. It’s also the season of giving not receiving, so we thought we’d compile a list of top tips to give you businesses small to large an easier life, help drive sales and make 2016 a more profitable year – and we’re sure you’ll raise a glass to that!

The list comprises a mix of things clients often ask about, and common mistakes or opportunities we notice even some big established brands making. Some of these tips are just about getting the basics right; and some you can either action, or commit to achieving right away. All are designed to improve the return on your marketing investments in 2016.

1. Give your agency a budget. It’s the only way to ensure you get the optimum return on your marketing investment. If you don’t there’s a good chance you’ll receive a great proposal for a fantastic solution…that’s way out of your price range. A budget will also help you monitor investment and success and avoid over-spending. WDA can give you some basic strategies and formulas to help you set yours if you’d find that helpful.

2. Put yourself in your customers shoes. Take the time to stop and understand what your customers really think of you and your product or service – and market accordingly. Understand why customers really choose you – or not. Don’t assume you know and don’t be afraid to ask!

3. Find out what your competition are doing. What are they saying, how are they communicating and how do people who buy your products or service perceive them?

4. Plan out a promotional calendar – in advance. Make sure that most of your marketing activities in 2016 are planned and proactive, not disorganised and reactive.

5. Don’t focus on media alone. ‘Inbound marketing’ or ‘social media’ are not magic bullets, they are simply customer touch points. Far more potent is your message and how desired and differentiated your brand and communications are within your marketplace.

6. Build your Brand. Ensure all your communications are built around the one thing you can truly own – your brand. Stop trying to compete on features (or worse price) as these are things your competition can draw comparison against, and ultimately copy or beat.

7. Test different approaches. Einstein is widely credited with saying that “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results” Henry Ford had a kinder way of saying a similar thing: “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” Try new things in 2016. Then refine and do more of what works; and dump what doesn’t.

8. Be consistent, great brand and marketing only works when the message is repeated, building familiarity, trust and understanding. Ensuring all your communications sit on a clearly defined brand platform will also make your life easier as you won’t be reinventing the wheel with each campaign.

9. Become a voice for your industry. Write a regular blog, and offer content, articles and comments to online journals and news sites. Here’s an example: Why effective branding drives sales

10. Tell your story. People like stories and share those they love. They DON’T like or share facts. Think stories are too fluffy? Consider that 75% of buying decisions are based on emotion…

11. Call in the experts. If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional, wait until you hire an amateur. WDA see some businesses trying to do everything in-house (even we can’t!). Remember, any ‘perceived’ cost savings can be wiped out manyfold by the damage done to your brand. Know the limitations of your internal resources and employ specialist help where necessary.

12. Think Marmite – You can’t please all of the people all of the time, so stand out by standing for something – Don’t be afraid to alienate some people, those that love you will love you even more for it. When the World ZIGS, ZAG!