How To Restore A Business Reputation

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Reputation Management|How To Restore A Business ReputationNo business, no matter how large, small or seemingly impenetrable, is free from the benefits or disadvantages of having a good or bad reputation. It can take only one small social media scandal for your profits to dip. Just look how the reason release of the Samsung Galaxy Fold was handled. Sending out test units to online reviewers, many content creators found that the foldable screen could easily break when pulling off a seeming screen protector. This was not told to said creators ahead of time, and so they quite understandably fell into that trap.

From then on, the narrative regarding said phones was that they were a shoddy product, they didn’t work, and that folding phones were a gimmick. Samsung are now on the back foot, are redesigning elements of those models, and will need to re-release them. The business reputation has been somewhat tarnished, and stock value dipped. Even for a company as massive as Samsung, negative perceptions and narrative can stop their expected yearly results dead in their tracks.

But how do you restore a business reputation? Sure, we know it can be difficult to achieve. But is it possible? We would say yes. We’d also like to explore why:

Control The Narrative

It can sometimes be that the narrative gets out of hand when we are the new target among annoyed consumers. This can, unfortunately, lead to things getting blown out of proportion. Any attempt to publicly deflect that narrative, outside of clear statements as we’ll explain below, can seem like an aggressive and overly-defensive stance. This is where it can be important to take a more subtle approach to shift the narrative back in your favor.

Public relations firms continually strive to restore consumer faith in businesses. It happens all the time. Rewarding loyal customers with extra promotions, offering customers that might have left or cancelled their service with ideal return offers, and taking excess pride in the practices your company has gotten write can often let the passage of time heal the issues that were caused in the first place. This can be freeing for every firm.

On top of that, subtle, yet informative marketing could be used to restore your company’s name in the public consciousness. Services such as Fat Joe, which operate as professional SEO firms, can help you wrap your business name within informative content through their excellent blogger outreach. Not only this, but their ability to raise the rankings of search results can help your firm avoid dying out due to a lack of attention, perhaps during a time when a truly aggressive marketing strategy might need to take a breather.

Understand Goodwill Is Valuable

Goodwill is an evasive word and concept. We can’t gift goodwill back to our shareholders. We can’t use it to pay the electric bill, or pay our staff wages. But without goodwill, the glue that ties a business to its audience washes away. It’s very important to consider this as a vital resource. Connect with your customers, listen to them, interact with them, and treat them as more than just people to bat away with a simple defensive statement.

If you can be clear, concise and direct regarding your strategy, honest about what happened and how things were caused, and why this will never happen again, you can get on top of the issue immediately. Some might even respect you more. You can be certain that your goodwill shall not fade as a result. And that’s extremely important to consider and manage.

Fix The Issues

We are living in the age of social media, where slights and issues aren’t swept under the rug. While we are used to political scandals often being forgotten about as the next one comes along, business injuries aren’t as fortunate to enjoy something like that. And that’s a good thing.

Jumping immediately to fix the issues should there be a legitimate concern is essential to helping you restore your name. Otherwise, this can be a black cloud that hangs over you, particularly if you fail to address it. Restoring a business reputation often means just that, restoration. For example, it could be that your product is defunct. Offering a full refund to any proven purchase can help you overcome the damage. However, taking another step forward and offering up to 50% off another purchase at your store can help people see this as less than a waste of time. It can also help you avoid a very costly class action lawsuit by offering the appropriate reparations immediately.

You gain nothing by ignoring the issues, but potentially plenty of goodwill by fixing them.

Rebrand

Sometimes, a negative business reputation can be so bad, you need to rebrand your operations. This might sound like a dark tactic, but it is often used in many industries. Even after fixing the issues and remaining forward-facing about the troubles you face, sometimes it’s not enough.

Starting again with a new business name, a new logo and aesthetic can be important. Of course, you cannot expect to hide your business past – but you might be able to redefine it. Consider how Dominoes once operated in the late 2000s. After many widespread reports that their US Pizza chains were terrible, and that the recipe tasted awful, they embarked on a major rebrand campaign. Of course, they weren’t shy about it and didn’t change their name, but after revolutionizing every recipe on their menu, for all intents and purposes they were a new firm with a new outlook.

You might be able to practice the same idea. Both front-facing marketing promotions such as these or hidden rebrands to help your firm gain some room to breathe, a rebrand might be just the thing you and your business needs to start again with a strong pace.

With this advice, we hope you’re much better able to shake off or restore a bad business reputation. This can be hard to do, but with enough dedication and a cohesive mindset, you can pull it off. Good luck!

Why SEO Needs to be at the Heart of Your Corporate Strategy

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |SEO|Why SEO Needs to be at the Heart of Your Corporate StrategyBy now, you’ve heard of SEO. Any business that has made a serious effort at launching their own website will either know what SEO is or, hopefully, have hired someone who understands (ask your web designer).

But is SEO just another corporate buzzword, or is it really as important as everyone makes out? The answer is an emphatic yes – SEO is very important to any business.

Web Searches are the Most Common Driver of Internet Traffic

Most internet traffic today is generated by search engines. Without them, we would be completely lost online. Imagine a world where you can only access websites if you know their exact URL. The world of marketing would be very different for one thing; you would have to publicise your web address to consumers.

You can’t afford to be missing out on the traffic that search engines can bring to your site. SEO will bring your website towards the top of those results pages. The vast majority of traffic goes to the first few websites on that list and the top three results will take around 90% of the traffic. SEO is how you climb the ladder.

Build Trust and Credibility

Google’s algorithms have become vastly more sophisticated than they once were and they are now adept at sorting out legitimate content, like this article, from a page that is created purely to artificially boost SEO. There was a time where you could literally just spam a link on otherwise blank web pages and send your SEO through the roof.

Fortunately, search engine providers are all now able to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate content. This means that a website’s SEO score gives us a proxy for measuring trust. Also, when other trustworthy websites link to your website, you will gain a nice SEO boost.

Local SEO Drives Footfall

Working with an seo agency that also handles local SEO can give your brick and mortar business a significant boost in footfall. SEO isn’t just about reaching out into the cold vast expanse of the internet; it can also benefit your business offline as well.

When consumers want to find a particular product or type of business, the vast majority of them will begin by searching for what they need on their smartphone. If your business is one of the names that they see and you are near to them, they are more likely to pay you a visit.

It’s Constantly Changing

You need someone to monitor and regularly update your SEO if you are to be effective. The landscape is constantly changing as Google’s algorithms evolve. See the adpocalypse for an example of how an update by Google can have far-reaching consequences. If you let your SEO practices slip behind then your website and your business will both suffer.

SEO is far too important to be an afterthought when you are devising a corporate strategy. Without SEO, your website will be all but invisible to most internet users. That should be reason enough to convince you it is worth investing in.

The Ridiculously Simple Ways You Can Get People To Read More Of Your Content

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Content creation is an effective yet epic task. It takes up hours of your time and is a massive drain on your marketing resources. Because of this, you want to make sure that it’s useful. But how?

It turns out that creating compelling content that people actually want to read is more complicated than many company owners imagine. If you’re like most professionals, you’re focused on what you know – the nuts and bolts of your business. Your bread and butter, if you will. Content marketing is usually little more than an afterthought.

Get it wrong, and you can waste a tremendous amount of time and money. Get it right, and you can dominate.

The trick to successfully getting people to read more of your content is understanding how people consume material on the web. Most of the people on your site probably aren’t reading every single word that you type. Typically, they’re scanning pages, looking for information they need, and then moving on. Bearing this in mind, therefore, is essential when creating content. Your content needs to have pertinent details highlighted or under particular headings so that people can visually scan your document and pick out the information they need.

That’s just one example. There are many more. Take a look at these ridiculously simple ways to get people reading more of your content and get them closer to conversion.

Start By Using Bullet Points

Using bullet points is a compelling way of engaging your users while at the same time giving them a break from a block of text.

  • Bullet points look different from regular prose
  • Bullet points break up the text
  • Bullet points provide white space
  • Bullet points succinctly collect information
  • Bullet points help readers to memorize your content
  • Bullet points organize all of the most critical information in your post

Enrich Your Text

StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article | The Ridiculously Simple Ways You Can Get People To Read More Of Your Content | Content Creation | Entrepreneurship
Photo courtesy of Diggity Marketing

The art of lead magnet creation involves doing much more than writing, say, 1,500 words. It’s also about including a catchy title, moving images, calls-to-action, landing pages, branded document designs and much much more. Creating a visually compelling document is an ideal way to encourage people to investigate more of what you have to say. People want to read articles that tell them about the pictures they’re looking at, for example.

Place Helpful Links Whenever Possible

StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article | The Ridiculously Simple Ways You Can Get People To Read More Of Your Content | StrategyDriven | Content Creation | Entrepreneurship

If you’re writing a blog about a particular food ingredient, it helps to insert a couple of links to recipes that use it. Likewise, if you’re writing an article about personal finance, it might be helpful to give users a link to an investment calculator so they can see how much their portfolio will be worth in ten years.

Placing helpful links is helpful to users and helpful to you too. People will want to come back.

Double Check Your Formatting

Once you’ve written your article using the advice above, double check it to see whether the format actually communicates your core message. Put yourself in the shoes of your reader and ask whether they can glean the information they need.

Whatever You Do, Don’t Leave These Things Out Of Your Digital Marketing Plan!

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Digital Marketing|Whatever You Do, Don’t Leave These Things Out Of Your Digital Marketing Plan! If your goal is to get your brand noticed online, then you will absolutely need an effective digital marketing plan. Of course, with marketing being part art, and part science, there is a substantial margin for error when it comes to writing and executing such a plan. In fact, it’s all too easy to leave out certain aspects that could have a significant effect on your success. Luckily, some of the most important ones have been highlighted below. Read on for more.

An end goal

One thing that it is crucial that you don’t leave out of your digital marketing strategy is an end goal for every campaign that you run. After all, a campaign without a specific purpose is unlikely to be as focused or as productive as it could be, and as they aren’t cheap to run its good to get this sorted out beforehand.

Analytics are a crucial element of goal monitoring.

In fact, by taking a less nebulous approach to the end result of your digital marketing campaign, you can much better track and measure the effect they are having. Of course, to do this effectively you, or the people you partner with will need to be adept at using analytics to measure the success of each campaign, and, as is becoming increasingly popular the success of altering even a single variable.

Mobile optimization

Another aspect of digital marketing strategy that you cannot leave out if you want success is the optimization of your website and apps for mobile use.

This reason for this is because over 75% of internet use is now on a mobile platform. What that means is if you don’t optimize for mobile you aren’t providing the best user experience for your up to ¾ of your customers! Something likely to reduce engagement as well as trust and positive regard for your brand.

SEO provision

You may not be an expert in it yourself, but if you are involved in running a business, it’s likely that you already know that SEO and its paid counterpart PPC are crucial things to include in your digital marketing strategy.

In fact, SEM, the term for both paid and unpaid search engine marketing, is so important because if you get it right, it will be your company that gets pulled up in the searches first.
In fact, in terms of SEO or organic rankings, it is vital that this happens because a large percentage of lead conversions happen when a click-through occurs from the first page of search results.

What that means is that if you can get your business’s link to appear on the first page of Google via the SEO method, you will have a much better chance or not only building your brand but getting good quality, convertible leads as well.

Of course, just like any other task that needs to be completed in your business, the best person for the job of SEO will be a specialist. To that end, finding an SEO agency to help you is usually a much better choice than going with someone with limited trading and experience. After all, reading a few posts on the internet won’t be enough to ensure your digital marketing strategy is effective as possible.

Engaging content

Lastly, the true cornerstone of your digital marketing strategy needs to be the content that you create. The reason being that content which offers real value to your potential customer is the currency you will use not only to convince them to listen to your message but to transcend the speaker-listener dynamic that is so prevalent in traditional forms of marketing.

In fact, by creating engaging content, you aren’t just offering an item of value to potential customers, but an opportunity to be involved in a conversation and a community as well. Both things that are greatly valued by people and can help boost your brand’s image.

Of course, by offering your potential customers this chance you can then use it to strengthen your brand’s loyalty, as well as perpetuate a genuine engagement that will keep your company name and digital marketing output relevant in their eyes. Something that, in turn, will ensure a maximum rate of success for your digital marketing strategy.

Summary

Don’t forget to have an end goal to your digital marketing strategy, and to use analytics to check that what you are doing is facilitating this. Additionally, you need to include provision for SEO and mobile optimization. Lastly, engaging content can help you not just spread your message but involve potential customers in a community around your brand as well. Something that when used in conjunction with the other tactics mentioned in this post can make your digital marketing strategy as effective as possible.

How to Improve Your Digital Marketing Strategy Overnight

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Digital Marketing|How to Improve Your Digital Marketing Strategy OvernightFor many small and medium sized business owners, internet marketing is like shooting in the dark. The good news is that there are plenty of online tools that will allow you to see clearer, so you can make the most out of your targeting and reach the right people. For this, you will need to collect and make sense of data and simplify processes. Below you will find a few tips on how to get started.

Learn to Collect Data

It is important that you monitor your market. Customer behaviors change faster than you would think, and this means that you will have to be proactive instead of reactive. You should conduct market research regularly, but in particular when you are looking to launch a new product or service, so you know what to expect, and what your target market wants. This will take the guesswork out of your marketing strategy.

Interpret Business Intelligence

It is important that you interpret your business intelligence and make sense of charts and data. If you are not qualified at data analytics, you might want to get in touch with a Business intelligence consulting company that will help you understand the trends and the business opportunities, so you can create a competitive advantage and grow your business through marketing.

Know Your Customers

It is crucial that you get to know your customers as much as you can. Make sure that you identify your ideal clients and those you would rather not work with. This will allow you to make the most out of your targeting and stop shooting in the dark, beating up the dead horse or dealing with tire kickers in your business. After all, you will need to maximize your marketing investment returns.

Test and Tweak

The key to scaling up your marketing campaigns is testing every single campaign and tweaking them on the go. You cannot expect people to buy from you the first time they come across your message, but you will be able to communicate a consistent brand message. If you already know what your audience reacts to, you can adjust your brand messages. When setting up a paid campaign, you can create an AB testing split, so you can identify the winning version and lose the one that is not performing.

Automate

There are some digital marketing tasks and processes that you should start automating, so you can save time and scale up your campaigns faster. From scheduling your social media posts to making sure that you are always staying in touch with your customers and let them know about the special offers available to them, there are several ways you can make your life easier and improve your digital marketing strategy.

If you would like to make the most out of your return on digital marketing investment, you will have to first understand your market and your customers. Use a business intelligence software that will allow you to make sense of big data and turn it into knowledge.