February 2, 2024
​

This Week's Top Marketing News

9 Things To Do When SEO Is Great But Sales And Leads Are Terrible

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a great marketing tactic for generating traffic to your website. Increasing website traffic is the first step in generating revenue through your website but, what happens when all your SEO efforts are working but the leads and sales are not following?

Don’t worry, Search Engine Journal created a list of 9 things you can do to help convert that precious SEO traffic into paying customers.

• Improve Your Site’s UX - Make your website intuitive and easy to navigate by using white space to declutter, making sure your website loads quickly, and using responsive design so your website looks and functions great on all devices.
• Optimize for Conversions - Begin to track the amount of traffic that is converting and make changes to help increase this metric. Ideas include adding CTAs to blog posts, split-testing landing pages, and creating clear, concise copy.
• Optimize the First Two Actions - Leverage the value of educational content by placing clear CTAs at the beginning of high-traffic pages.
• Improve Content Quality and Relevance - Conduct a content audit and revise top-performing pages that get the most traffic. Update this content and make sure it is relevant to your target audience.
• Analyze and Utilize Data to Improve Sales - Review website analytics and use website heatmaps to identify areas of your website that need improvement to improve sales. Look for places where website visitors seem to get “stuck”.
• Boost Trust and Credibility Outside of Social Proof - Give site visitors more confidence doing business with you by publishing warranties, guarantees, professional membership associations you belong to, awards you’ve won, and links to articles where you’ve been featured in other publications.
• Focus on Local SEO - Make sure you’re visible to people searching locally for your products and services by shoring up your Google Business Profile, making sure your NAP (name, address, and phone number) are consistent across all directories, and optimizing for local keyword searches.
• Leverage A/B Testing to Maximize Conversions - Small changes to your copy or CTAs can make a huge difference in conversions. Test two versions of your landing pages with variations of page elements like the headline, image, or CTA and see which performs better.
• Enhance Social Proof to Build Credibility - Show reviews, testimonials, case studies, and influencer endorsements to give site visitors more comfort in doing business with you with proof from other consumers you’ve done business with.

Fish Food: All marketing strategies require attention to detail at all levels of the buying process. Yes, traffic is the first step to get a customer to buy from you but you must be able to convert that traffic into leads and turn those leads into customers. These 9 tips to improve your conversion rate are a great place to begin. Be sure to take this one step further and also examine your sales process so you are maximizing your close rate as well.

Gmail and Yahoo’s New Email Sender Requirements Are Here!

New rules from two email heavyweights are here. In a move to help keep user’s inboxes safe from spammers and deceitful scammers, Gmail and Yahoo are issuing new rules that email senders need to begin following.

All these changes are best practices but it is only impacting email marketers sending more than 5,000 daily emails to Google and Yahoo addresses. Even if your database is not close to these levels, you should consider the following.

1. Setting up DKIM and SPF records to verify that emails are coming from you.
2. Setting up DMARC records to align your DKIM and SPF policies and how an email that fails authentication should be handled.
3. Making it very easy for email recipients to unsubscribe.
4. Keeping spam complaints below a 0.03% threshold which equates to less than 3 spam complaints per 1000 emails.

These new rules go into effect in February of 2024 so, like now.

5 Web Design Disasters That Will Ruin Your 2024

Your website is so much more than a digital brochure. It is (usually) the first interaction a potential customer has with your brand making it a pretty darn important piece to your marketing mix. Website design has evolved a lot over the years. Advancements in technology have led the way for a rapid evolution in website design experiences. So, how do you make sure that you’re keeping up with the times with your website design and giving the people what they want?

The folks at Web Design Depot share these 5 web design disasters you need to avoid:

Disaster #1: Forgetting About Mobile - Most website analytic reports will reveal the majority of your website traffic is coming from mobile phones. Your website must be designed to look great on all devices no matter what size the screen is.

Disaster #2: Taking the Slow Lane - No one has the time or patience to wait for a slow-loading website. There are too many other options just a few clicks away that customers can go to find the information they need. Your website must load the content quickly to satisfy the limited consumer attention span.

Disaster #3: Creating a Maze Instead of a Website - Website visitors should not have to figure out how to use your website. Difficult navigation and unclear calls-to-action can limit the engagement with site visitors forcing them to leave without converting.

Disaster #4: Forgetting that Design and SEO are BFFs - There’s a delicate balance between a slick-looking website and one the search engines favor. You need both. This means you need to find the balance to appeal to both the site visitors and the search engine algorithms.

Disaster #5: Underestimating the Power of UX - Make sure your website is an experience for your site visitors. Use clear language, easy-to-understand CTAs, personalization, and engaging content to make the visitor experience as enjoyable as possible.

Fish Food: Sure, most of these disasters to avoid seem like common practice in 2024 but so many website designs being done today tend to leave one (or more) of these important elements behind. Don’t wait until your next website makeover to address these issues. Conduct a quick website audit to make sure you’re focusing on the fundamentals and address any areas that need attention.

Superbowl Round-Up

The weeks leading up to the Super Bowl are always packed with anticipation and excitement for not only the game but also the commercials. Here are some of the best Super Bowl related marketing finds we have for you this week.

AI Guacamole Recipes Are Here In Time For Super Bowl, Courtesy of Avocados From Mexico

If you are rooting for Mr. Taylor Swift in the big game next weekend, you might be eating one of the 250 million pounds of avocados that are cut, smashed, and mixed in the week leading up to football’s biggest game. Avacado’s from Mexico wants to help you create the perfect recipe or side dish for the game by adding the assistance of an AI tool for your guacamole recipes.

Named with the best punny name - GuacAImole can be used in several different ways. Users can upload a picture of ingredients they want to include in the recipe besides the traditional avocados, lime juice, red onion, cilantro, etc. For example, they might have some leftover chicken wings they want to use. The GuacAImole can create a recipe that includes chicken wings. They can also enter prompts like the level of spiciness they’re looking for or the number of people they need to serve. GuacAImole will create everything needed including the ingredient list, step-by-step instructions, and images of what their guacamole concoction will look like. Sounds like a recipe for fun.

Coors Light’s Silver Bullet Train Returns For Super Bowl With Seats For Fans

Molson Coors will run a first-half 30-second spot in this year’s Big Game featuring the Coors Light Silver Bullet Train for the first time in more than a decade. This is an attempt to piggyback off a recent surge in sales and appeal to newer Gen Z customers.

The commercial will insert 100 fans in the train cars as part of the commercial. A longer form, slowed-down version of the commercial will be available on YouTube on Super Bowl Sunday to allow fans to further explore the passengers and see some surprise guests. The 100 fans on the train are encouraged to share their ride experience on social media. Fans interested in being one of the train’s passengers can visit the Coors Light website to reserve a spot and upload their photo.

Miller Lite’s QR Code Jerseys Turn 1,000 Super Bowl Viewers Into Beer Ads

Rather than paying the hefty $7 million for a spot in this year’s Super Bowl, Miller Lite is turning to 1,000 of its fans for their unofficial Super Bowl ad campaign called “Running of the Beer Ads”. On February 1st, consumers can sign up online and receive one of the 1,000 official Miller Game Time Jersey, $100, and a Big Game ad kit.

Each participant will go on “beer runs” during Super Bowl commercial breaks wearing their Game Time Jerseys with a QR code others can scan for a chance to win a share of the $170,000 in prizes awarded. The top 5 runners who get the most scans receive free beer for a year.

Comedian Rob Riggle is helping promote the campaign. Check out the promo video here.

Budweiser Teases Super Bowl Commercial - Aims to Win Back #1 Spot

Even my buddy’s 10-week-old son knows about the woes Bud Light has faced in the past 12 months ultimately leading to massive losses in revenue and being dethroned as the #1 selling beer in America.

Some people thought they could never come back from such a marketing misfire that had so many loyal customers committed to never coming back. Good thing for Budweiser, they have a large marketing budget and a remarkably brief consumer attention span on their side.

Budweiser teased their Bud Light Super Bowl commercial which shows a quick shot of a mustached man while Magic Carpet Ride by Steppenwolf is playing in the background. Then a Bud Light drinker wearing a Peyton Manning jersey appears asking “Are you?”… and that’s it. Not much to go off here but Anheuser-Busch chief commercial officer Kyle Norrington promises humor, the introduction of a new character, and the continuation of the “Easy to Drink, Easy to Enjoy” tagline.

This will be one of three Super Bowl commercials from Anheuser-Busch. Michelob Ultra will have a spot featuring Lionel Messi and another for Budweiser that will most likely include Clydesdale horse but I’m secretly hoping they bring back the frogs.

How to Write a Great Value Proposition [7 Top Examples + Template]

When you give potential buyers no reason to choose you over the competition, you are forcing them to make their purchasing decision based on price alone.

Most businesses want to avoid this at all costs. This is where a properly structured value proposition can save the day.

A value proposition clearly states the specific value you can provide that addresses the problem a customer is trying to solve or a goal they want to achieve. It helps the customer understand why they should buy from you and not your competitors.

Now that we have your buy-in for creating an awesome value proposition, let’s give you some guidance for creating one with the help of this great article from HubSpot.

We know these marketing labels can sometimes get confusing so they break down the differences between a value proposition, mission statement, slogan, and tagline.

Here is an example they use for Nike:

The elements of a value proposition include the following:

• Headline - Shows the customer the immediate benefit they will receive doing business with you.
• Subheadline or Paragraph - Explains the headline benefit in more detail.
• Visual Element - An image or video sometimes accompanies the headline and subheadline to help paint the picture.
• Call-to-Action - This is the clear action you want the buyer to take.

Here are the steps for creating your value proposition:

• Step 1: Identify your customer’s main problem or goal.
• Step 2: Identify all the benefits your products offer.
• Step 3: Describe what makes these benefits valuable.
• Step 4: Connect this value to your buyer’s problem.
• Step 5: Differentiate yourself as the preferred provider of this value.

HubSpot includes downloadable templates to help you work through this process.

Fish Food: Your value proposition is one of the most important elements of your marketing strategy. It helps differentiate you from your competition and gives them a clear reason why they should choose you rather than simply being the least expensive. Review your current value proposition and look for ways to improve it. This one simple exercise can make big improvements to the quality of customers you interact with and ultimately lead to more sales from better customers.

​

Earn Sweet Gear by Sharing Have friends who'd love our newsletter too? Give them your unique referral link (below) and get an awesome reward when they subscribe. [RH_REFLINK GOES HERE] facebook twitter linkedin email PS: You have referred [RH_TOTREF GOES HERE] people so far Start Sharing Now