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Get To Know Your Customers Day

Get To Know Your Customers Day

by | 16 Jan 2020 | Digital Marketing

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Life is busy for business owners and one day rolls into the next; so it’s important that we step back and take stock once in a while. We need to re-assess priorities and ensure our ship is continuing to sail in the right direction. It is crucial for business owners to be consistently and constantly aware of changing customer attitudes and appetites – so you’re able to adapt, pivot and continue to meet your clients wants and needs.

The purpose of Get To Know Your Customers Day is about doing just this – allowing us to promote business growth and customer understanding.

What is Get To Know Your Customers Day?

Get To Know Your Customers Day is a national day aimed at encouraging businesses to halt their usual work and touch base with their existing (and potential!) customers in order to address any issues, untapped opportunities and/or concerns.

This can feed into business operations, marketing and business growth.

When is Get To Know Your Customers Day?

Get To Know Your Customers Day doesn’t happen just once a year – but instead, every quarter! Usually held on the third Thursday of each quarter, it’s regular enough for businesses to keep on top of rapidly changing markets and attitudes.

Why it’s Important to Get To Know Your Customers

Customers are people, and their wants and needs change over time with changing circumstances, attitudes and appetites for products and services. Building up a trusting relationship with your existing customers fosters brand loyalty that can ultimately increase their value to you.

They’re also the audience you want to hear from to find out what they want, like or dislike – giving you distinct competitive advantage.

How Knowing Your Customers Can Impact your Marketing

The way in which you communicate to existing and potential customers is key to attracting them to start or continue on a relationship with your business. One of the things that can be gained from getting to know your customers is to find out how they would best like to be communicated with, and to identify the channels they use and prefer for communications.

You can also identify which marketing strategies are really impacting your target audience, and therefore focus on these moving forward. This allows you to tailor your marketing to best reach your audience where they are.

Knowing Your Customers Will Benefit Your Business

Really knowing your customers will affect every area of your business! Assure those that you’re interacting with that you want their honest, open feedback on EVERYTHING. Consolidate all the information you receive and work out how the results can best be applied to your business operations and strategy as a result.

Pivoting a business’ direction based on changing markets and client requirements is key to business growth and success, and is something that every business should be reviewing at regular intervals.

Woya Digital is a digital marketing agency made up of experts in our various fields. We believe in making business growth through digital marketing affordable for all businesses through our pay monthly marketing packages, with no upfront investment. Find out more about how we can support your business growth through digital marketing.

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Small Business Social Media Marketing Strategy

Small Business Social Media Marketing Strategy

by | 23 Dec 2019 | Digital Marketing, Social media

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Social media platforms provide a fantastic opportunity for small business growth, however a considered plan is required to really optimise what they have to offer. We’ve put together this blog as a “Where to start” for business owners with their small business social media marketing strategy.

When it comes to social media marketing, the following quote perfectly sums it up: Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat – Sun Tzu

1. Establish Your Goals

You should know your business goals. Whether you manage your social media marketing yourself or have a marketing partner to manage it for you, you need to establish  realistic goals that you wish to achieve through your social media marketing.

A business generally has one or more of these 6 objectives behind their social media strategy:

  • Drive website traffic
  • Create brand awareness
  • Build audience trust
  • Provide customer support
  • Attract leads
  • Increase sales

Once you know why you are doing what you are doing, you can do it better. Each post you publish will be as a result of one or more of your established goals.

2. Create Audience Persona(s)

Many business owners underestimate the value of audience persons. You should not start a social media marketing campaign without understanding who your targeted audience is.

An ‘audience persona’ or ‘buyer persona’ describes the attributes of your target audience in as much detail as possible.

Understanding the habits and behaviours of your prospects helps you find and create personalised content especially for them. Depending on the nature of your business, you may have to create more than one audience persona.

3. Select the Right Social Media Platforms

As of 2019, 7 social media platforms dominate. Each has hundreds of millions of active users, and its own unique strengths. For example, Facebook has more subscribers than YouTube; however it can’t beat YouTube when it comes to video content marketing.

You shouldn’t limit your business to just one platform, having said this, you don’t need to be active on every social media platform. Use your business goals and audience personas to identify which social media platforms your target audience are on, and also what your capacity is for consistent content creation and distribution.

4. Identify and Study Your Competitors

Studying your competitors will help you identify market trends, establish what is and isn’t working for their audience, and which platforms your competitors are on.

Take out time to thoroughly analyse what your competition is doing. Do not go out to copy what they are doing, but to do it better, and learn from what they are doing.

5. Set Up Your Social Media Accounts

You will need data from all first three steps to implement this step efficiently. While setting up a business profile on a social media platform is not difficult, there are ways to optimise how you do this. It’s worth doing a bit of research.

This step will include having logos properly sized and header images created, and completing text boxes with company information overviews. Much of the information should already be on your website – don’t feel you need to re-invent the wheel!

6. Plan and Schedule Social Media Marketing Content

Planning and scheduling are two different parts of content marketing.

In planning, you have to determine the content that is relevant to your business and attractive for your target audience. In scheduling, you have to plan which content to publish, and when. You also need to establish how many posts you are going to post each day, to each platform. This again will be determined by your capacity to create relevant content.

Consistency is an essential element of social media posting.

7. See What Works and What Doesn’t

Marketing is a continuous process, and you are guaranteed of constant changes and development. An important part of each social media marketing campaign includes gathering and analysing data and using it to improve upon the next one.

8. Run Social Media Advertisements

After you have succeeded in creating the initial presence of your business on social media channels, include paid advertisements. Organic social media reach has plummeted over the past few years,  so an element of paid advertising is critical

Every platform offers paid promotion, and it should be a part of your social media marketing strategy. However, make sure you first fully understand your market and audience to get maximum return on investment.

There is more to each point highlighted above when structuring your small business social media marketing strategy, however you need to start with understanding the basics, and then work into the detail from here.

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Local Citations to put your Business on the (Google) Map

Local Citations to put your Business on the (Google) Map

by | 16 Dec 2019 | Digital Marketing, SEO

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Businesses (especially smaller ones) have to do whatever they can to get their name heard, and with the internet providing everyone the opportunity to carve out their own little space online, it can often be difficult to stand out from the crowd.

When targeting customers or potential customers in a specific geographic area, local citations can be key to a business ranking highly on Google maps. A small focus on SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) can boost your profile on Google and help you feature higher than your competitors.

What are Local Citations

A ‘local citation’ isn’t a Google term, but instead refers to a really basic form of marketing on the internet. It is simply an instance of your business’ NAP (that is: business Name, Address and Phone number) appearing online – be that on your website or on others. This may be in business directories, press articles, advertiser sites or reviews of your firm.

How Do Local Citations Benefit a Local Business

Aside from it being a small ad boost, every time someone sees your information; a local citation helps reiterate to Google (and therefore Google Maps) that you are a leading business in your area and that you are a genuine business. Google’s algorithms are well developed to identify spam and disingenuous entries and so good, organic reach through local citations is an easy way for it to understand proper local businesses.

What are the Elements of a Local Citation

The three main elements of a local citation are your NAP: business Name, Address and Phone number. The key is to keep them entirely consistent throughout all citations online – any differentiator will break the link between the citation and it relating directly to your business. It may be worth considering therefore if you have a ‘Ltd’ in your name or a space/unusual capitalisation/sub-brands, that you instead revert to one shorter name for your public-facing communications to avoid any confusion.

Other elements that may be included in citations (but aren’t imperative) include e-mail addresses and links to social media profiles. Where you can, keep the names of such profiles consistent and ensure you refer to yourself in the same way across all of your marketing.

Why Local Citations Matter

Local citations are the best way for Google’s automated algorithms to understand who you are and where you are; and that you’re genuine! The internet is full of bots and false entries, and citations are genuine reviews to show you’re not one of them. Citations alone are responsible for about 10% of Google’s decision in who to rank where on Maps, and with 76% of visitors accessing local results and then visiting one of the businesses featured within 24hrs, it’s a no-brainer that it’s an area of your online presence worth investing in!

Search marketing, SEO or search engine optimisation helps websites to rank well in Google and other search engines. At Woya Digital we are specialists in small business growth through digital marketing, including Local SEO services. We make SEO services affordable for small businesses through our pay monthly marketing packages, with no upfront investment. Find out more about how we can support your business growth!

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5 Tips to Boost Your Instagram Visibility

5 Tips to Boost Your Instagram Visibility

by | 12 Oct 2019 | Digital Marketing, Social media

Reading Time: 3 minutes

When it comes to marketing any business, social media should be an important part of your strategy. It’s not only a cost effective solution, it has the potential to support you in reaching a massive audience in a small amount of time.

Get your strategy right and you should be able to achieve a strong return on investment, boost your brand visibility online and increase sales.

Instagram is used by about 60% of the top brands in the world. The platforms visual nature allows you to plug into marketing opportunities that have real value in today’s competitive world.

Building a balanced strategy to grow your business takes a lot of planning and work. Part of this means understanding the right way to construct posts and other content like Instagram Stories.

The good news is, like any other social media platform, there are several key ways to boost your Instagram visibility.

Here are our top 5 tips:

1. Optimise Your Name Field

Your Instagram name field is actually separate from your Instagram handle.

This means you can optimise the name field with relevant keywords that highlight what your business does. Instagram users search keywords on the platform, so using keywords in your name field means you have more chance of showing up in searches.

2. Optimise your Bio

You have limited words to ensure your Instagram bio hits the mark. It pays to put some thought into this and optimise the content. Again, it’s all about showing up in potential searches so use hashtags and relevant keywords.

Don’t be afraid to experiment by changing your bio every so often and measuring how this improves engagement.

3. Add Location Tags

If you want to attract the right people to your posts and Instagram stories, don’t forget location tagging.

This doesn’t just have to be where your business is based. It might be where your target audience or customers are hanging out, for example, at a special event such as a festival or exhibition.

4. Use Hashtags

Hashtags are essential to boost your Instagram visibility and the stats prove it. Putting just one hashtag in your post has the potential to increase engagement by 12.6% compared to a post without one.

You can add 30 hashtags on one Instagram post and 10 to an Instagram Story. Make use of different relevant hashtags for different posts and research your hashtags to ensure you are making use of the most effective and relevant ones.

It is also a good idea to create your own branded hashtag. You can do this by combining an important keyword and your business name.

5. Follow and Engage 

You do not exist in a vacuum on social media and it’s important to engage with and follow other brands and individuals that complement your own to boost your Instagram visibility.

Instagram can predict what type of profiles you might like and show them in the ‘suggest’ and ‘because you follow’ sections. This allows you to be more focused in how you engage on social media and improves the relationships you make when building your following.

Digital marketing is a challenge for any business but understanding what works and what can improve your reach will make a big difference.

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5 Top Small Business Website Tips

5 Top Small Business Website Tips

by | 7 Sep 2019 | Digital Marketing, SEO, Webdesign

Reading Time: 3 minutes

If you are a small business or start-up, one of the most powerful tools in your marketing armoury is your business website. This mainstay of your online presence is the destination of all your digital marketing engagement and without it, you can’t hope to make more sales, get more clients or convince customers you’re the company to do business with.

The key to a successful website is not only the graphics and slick design (though these are important, of course). It’s the UX. This stands for User Experience and has become increasingly important as our digital technology has developed. What it means is actually giving your customer all the opportunity possible to engage effectively and easily with your business at all times.

Most people will be accessing your website on their mobile phones rather than a traditional desktop. If you do not have a mobile-friendly website that shows up clearly on a smartphone, you’re likely to lose out because people will become frustrated and search elsewhere.

With this in mind, here are our 5 top tips for improving your small business website so that it works most effectively for your customers, and for your business:

1. Click to Call Phone Number

Potential customers may want to call you directly. The last thing they want is to have to remember your number in order to key it into their mobile.

Your phone number must be clearly displayed on your website and must be a click to call link that automatically dials your business. This is quite a simple point, however you won’t believe how many business websites we come across that do not have this functionality!

2. Boost Your Mobile Business Website Speed

Many things can slow down your website. The truth is that Google and other search engines are likely to penalise your rankings if your website is taking too long to materialise in front of customers. If you’re not sure how fast your website is, you can use Google’s website speed tester to check things out.

We’re far more impatient when it comes to download speeds nowadays. If we don’t get a response in a few seconds, we’re likely to click away. Our advice is don’t risk losing customers because of slow mobile download speeds, find out what the problem is and fix it asap.

3. Link to Social Media Platforms

Want your visitors to share your content on their social media platforms or follow your social media accounts?

It’s amazing the number of businesses that don’t have sharing tools and their social media links highlighted on their website. And those that do, often hide these away at the bottom of pages. Make them front and centre to ensure more engagement!

4. Invest in a Business Website Chatbot

There are lots of benefits to using chatbots, AI software that can do the heavy lifting when it comes to the standard questions people often ask about your business. Not only does it give customers answers they are looking for immediately, it greatly improves UX (It doesn’t have to be expensive either!)

5. Claim your Google Business Profile

Google offers a range of different services aimed predominantly at local small businesses. Claiming your business profile means that your location and business information appears on searches. Having accurate profile information, and by adding products and services, you can get additional promotion and visibility online.

Making the most of your website is vitally important if you are a small business. These simple tips will improve the user experience, help promote better engagement, and boost your business growth.

If you would like to find out what else you can do to supercharge you small business website, why not take advantage of our Instant FREE SEO Site Audit and we’ll send you a report to highlight all the things that can be improved on your website!

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8 Awesome Benefits of a Website Chatbot

8 Awesome Benefits of a Website Chatbot

by | 8 May 2019 | Chatbots AI, Digital Marketing

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Technology continues to develop at an astonishing pace, helping businesses progress, develop and thrive. One area of focus currently attracting a lot of attention is the use of artificial intelligence or AI. AI is having a massive impact on business by not only cutting down on admin workload, but also allowing companies of all sizes to achieve a level of customer service to rival larger organisations. Cue the website chatbot!

So What is Website Chatbot …

… we hear you ask. A chatbot is an AI software programme that basically simulates having a conversation with another human being. The chances are, if you have gone onto a website and used their live talk or chat service to find information, you have engaged with a chatbot. It is usually a pop up window of speech bubble on the bottom right hand corner of a website screen that will ask you if you would like to engage.

The AI software which currently being developed is becoming so advanced that it can be difficult to know whether you are talking to a real person or an actual robot!

How Website Chatbots Work

Chatbots, or at least the software which makes them work, have actually been around for a long time. It’s only in recent years, however, that they have reached their current level of sophistication.

Let’s say you go onto a retail website and want to find a particular product. Usually, you would click into a search panel and type in what you need or select it from a group of menus. If there is a chatbot on the website you can ask questions and get immediate answers, refine your decision on what you want to buy and get more information.

The website chatbot will be programmed to understand your intent and respond appropriately with relevant answers. The more sophisticated the software, the more likely you are to get the answers you are looking for.

Perhaps there are some complexities and issues regarding your product or service that you know you are always going to have to answers questions on. Your website is open 24/7 but you and your office isn’t. If you have chatbot software loaded to answer the main queries, it not only reduces the amount of time you will need to spend answering emails and telephone calls, but also reduce the cost in time (and potentially staff)  to your business. At the same time, your customers get instant answers and responses – we all like happy customers!

Many consumers now accept chatbots as a standard part of the online world. They don’t mind (or know) if they are talking to a computer as long as they get the answers they are looking for, and get them immediately. A recent survey by Drift showed that:

  • 64% respondents saw a 24/7 service as an important reason for chatbots
  • 75% expected to get an instant response

While baby boomers might be a little reticent about chatbots, younger generations such as millennials are far more welcoming. According to the research, 40% of us don’t care if we are talking to a bot or a real person. For customers it’s all about getting service on demand and any queries answered quickly and effectively.

The Real Benefits of Website Chatbots

So, if you are going to invest in a website chatbot, you want to know what the real benefits are for your business. From improved customer service to lower costs and better lead generation, there’s certainly a lot to take advantage of:

1. Improved Customer Service

The modern customer is more discerning and demanding. If they have a question to be answered, they want it answered now.

Chatbots allow you to provide immediate engagement and give immediate answers to questions. That not only saves time for your customers and keeps them satisfied, it also streamlines your business while improving the potential for a conversion.

2. Your Business is Always Available

Catching customers at just the right time when they are looking and ready to buy, hire your services or need support is key. Chatbots basically ensure that your business is open 24/7, 365 days a year and available to answer the most important queries, take a quote request, or encourage a sale.

3. Customer Satisfaction

With effect website chatbot software setup you should expect increased customer satisfaction and engagement. There’s nothing worse from a customer point of view than to have to wait for a response or not get accurate information when they want it. If you can remedy these frustrations, your customers are likely to stay loyal and engage more often. It definitely gives you an advantage over your competitor who is not immediately customer responsive!

4. Chatbot Personality

The sophistication of chatbots means that they can be tailored to reflect your business personality and create an emotional connection with present and future customers. Responses can be tailored so that individuals feel they are talking to a real person and this will help your business create a stronger rapport. Not only that, chatbot software can expand, learn (yes really!) and develop over time.

5. Customers Prefer Chat

It’s easier and faster to use a chat or messaging service to get answers than sending an email or picking up the phone. Consumers are now becoming used to seeing chatbot software on websites or on social media and have no reservations about using them. As the survey above highlighted, 75% of customers expected to get an instant response

6. Business Perception

Consumers love to do business with companies that are constantly looking at new and innovative ways to keep them happy. While your competitors are still using a search box or menu to guide consumers to their desired solution, you’ll certainly be identified as modern, cutting edge and more effective business if you provide a chatbot.

7. Better Lead Generation

If you are responding immediately to your customer’s needs, it stands to reason that you are going to generate a lot more leads than if they have to wait for your support team to get back to them. Buying decisions are often time sensitive so an immediate response to any queries can only stand in your favour!

8. Cost Saving

As all business owners know – time is money! Spending less time answering calls and emails will free you up to focus on other important tasks. There is also the potential to spend less on employing customer care staff to answer queries and deal with calls. In addition you won’t have the need for out of hours staff to be on hand 24/7.

Redefining how you support customers who visit your website by introducing a chatbot can make a huge difference to the operation of your business.  According to Gartner, by 2020 25% of customer support facilities will use at least some form of virtual helper or chatbot – we suggest you don’t wait any longer!

Woya is a digital marketing agency providing amazing online marketing packages across the UK. We can assist companies of all sizes, anywhere, promote themselves online. Our fixed price packages are straightforward and yield results! We can add chatbot functionality to your business website for as little as £100/month!

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