Igniting Business Blog

In the growing age of the Internet and always being present online, it seems like everyone is talking about the advances in inbound and content marketing, drawing people in towards your business. Inbound marketing certainly helps businesses garner success, but strategic outbound marketing never really stopped being viable. Outbound marketing is what people think of as "traditional marketing" of going out to seek attention from your customers. These include email newsletters, trade show features, online banner ads, press releases, direct mail, and more never really stopped being viable. In fact, thanks to the advances made in technology, outbound marketing is better than it's ever been before.

In the 21st century your online reputation is absolutely crucial to how your business performs in the real world. What is your online reputation? Your reputation online is governed by a few different factors. Ratings, reviews, and rankings on various social media outlets and information sites like Yelp, Yellowpages, and Google, along with your own online marketing messaging culminate into your online reputation. Having the ability to manage these various mediums in ways to drive business, increase engagement, and ultimately boost sales is called online reputation management. Working with a professional, knowledgeable service provider to strategize and plan for your online reputation is essential for reaching your peak in online advertising.

The digital landscape is in a constant state of evolution, just like your brand. Understanding customer needs and finding ways to meet those needs is a good first step in reaching your target market, but nowadays, a small business must do more to stay relevant. Your website and social media pages can be powerful platforms for acquiring and keeping customers, but you'll need to make sure that you're attracting the right visitors. Consider investing in online advertising to even better reach, target, and corner your market's audience if you're seeing any of these struggles when running your business.

For small businesses and bootstrap entrepreneurs, marketing effectively on a budget can be a difficult task. Instead of trying to mimic large companies who have even larger budgets and a whole staff of people dedicated to maximizing ROI, small companies should develop a distinctive marketing plan that strategically sets them apart from their competition and promote their business in an effective way. Here are the three concepts small businesses must hone when developing marketing strategies that really work.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a core element in developing an effective website marketing strategy. According to PEW Research, "Roughly eight-in-ten Americans are online shoppers." Additionally, studies indicate "65% of Americans indicate that when they need to make purchases they typically compare the price they can get in stores with the price they can get online." This means your audience is already online, searching for options within your industry. When audience members search for goods and services online, a strong SEO strategy helps bring your website to the top of search results.

If you have a small business or you're just starting to branch out and build your brand online, consider using social media platforms to promote your company. Users want to be on social media, so it's a great avenue for your business to reach them where they already are. Managing your social media at all times of the day can be demanding though, so consider connecting your new social media platforms to a social media management application/tool to help with scheduling and organization.

What's your real goal behind the metrics your company monitors and evaluates? Even if your first response to this is "making money," that's a valuable goal to reiterate. In today’s article, we’ll discuss how metrics may not always align with a core goal of “making money”.

Small businesses can get great mileage from promotional products, a creative way to market your company branding in the new year. Start 2019 with a fresh stock of new promotional products to leave a lasting impression on current and potential clients and customers. In today's digital printing world, you can brand almost anything. You can do more than print on pens; everyone already has plenty of those! The key is branding smart and being different. Here are five unique promotional items to help leverage your company brand.

In today's market, it is common knowledge that every business needs a website. Whether you're an international corporation or a local retail store, you need to have a presence on the Internet in order to reach out to your customers and potential customers. Just having a website isn't enough, though. That website needs to be accessible, user-friendly, and optimized for both search engines and your users.  Consider these key tips to make your website even better.

In an era where 94 percent say an online review has convinced them to avoid a business, reputation management online is more important than ever. Here are four areas to focus on when it comes to managing your brand's reputation on the web.