A Complete SEO Pricing Guide – How Much Does SEO Cost?

SEO Pricing Guide

Consumer behavior has dramatically changed over the years. The new buying patterns and the different customer approaches towards products and services are the primary game players to this twist. Digital marketing is an approach that many companies are investing in, SEO being the primary goal.

In this millennial era, customers search for any form of query or help from the internet. There are no specific brand names involved. Just a concern, and probably a location. Here’s an example – ‘coffee shop near me. Well, with a good SEO ranking, your business will pop up as their first answer. And that will land you a new customer.

Even though it’s not as simple as it sounds, you’re required to integrate proper SEO elements into your company’s website for good SEO ranking. The best way to do so is by working with a pro. However, the main question is – how much will SEO cost you?

How Much Does SEO Cost?

Many businesses expect an actual figure to integrate it into the company accounts easily. A figure, probably, that will make it easier for you to fit it into your annual or monthly budget neatly. However, that’s not the case.

The fact is, SEO can differ in several ways depending on the SEO services that you want or need. The pricing of SEO packages is affected by several factors, such as;

  • Amount of content needed
  • Business expectations
  • The projections for your business’s growth
  • The chain of services required.

It’s easier to get a good idea of the expected prices with such stats. You can then get quotes for SEO pricing from marketing agencies. It’ll save you from being overcharged.

This article will address all matters related to SEO pricing for any business. Take notes. Avoid being taken advantage of.

How to Determine SEO Pricing

To receive an accurate approximation of your SEO pricing, you will be required to present some information about your business to an agency or a marketer. This information will help the SEO marketer to determine several issues. That includes the amount of work needed, the estimated duration for the project completion, and the type of content required.

SEO pricing points differ since businesses present different information altogether. It further clarifies how pricing isn’t a simple touch-and-go affair. Some of the critical information to be provided include;

  • Your search presence’s current state
  • The leads to a close sales rate
  • Your deadlines for visible results
  • The average revenue per sale
  • Campaign goals
  • The current allocation of your marketing budget.

Should You Directly Receive an SEO Pricing Quote?

Drawing from the information to be presented by a business, marketers shouldn’t provide an instant quote without detailed information from the business owners. This essential information from their clients can only give an estimated cost. Providing an accurate cost for an SEO package requires an in-depth understanding of the task ahead and a client’s goals.

How are Most Businesses Charged for SEO Services?

Different payment structures are used for SEO pricing. In a survey done by Sparktoro, some of the findings discovered are;

  • 64.89% of the SEO marketers charged an hourly rate
  • 87.23% were billing a monthly retainer fee
  • 64.89% opted for a fixed project-based package
  • 58.51% opted for a variable project-based package
  • 14.89% considered giving clients performance-based packages.

The survey further disclosed that the median monthly cost of SEO was USD 2500 – USD 5000. 31% of the clients paid more than the range to a limit of USD 50,000. 18% were lucky enough to spend below USD 1000. According to the stats of the survey, you can pay as low as USD 25 per hour – USD 20,000 per month, depending on your SEO needs.

What Would Be a Reasonable Price for SEO Packages?

The majority of SEO experts in the US charge a monthly retainer fee of USD 2500 – USD 5000. Typically, a lower cost means that you’ll get poor-quality SEO services.

For example, you should look out for companies that offer cheap monthly rates. Pro SEO specialists get an annual average salary of USD 50 000. If the calculations from your pay don’t seem to be sustaining that salary, then there’s a big problem. Either the company relies on shady methods, or you’ll see little to zero results.

The SEO pricing might also be affected by the provider you go for. SEO specialists with more than two years of experience are likely to charge double per month or 40% more for the hourly rate. Ideally, SEO companies charge double what consultants and freelancers charge.

Should You Go for Monthly SEO Services?

SEO services are meant to be a long-term inclusion if you want to continue excelling in digital marketing. That should be your primary consideration as you’re looking into getting the best SEO pricing. Regardless of your current business goals and expectations, SEO services are not meant to be a one-off solution then you move on.

Your business needs will change with time, and so will your wants. You might be looking into expanding your territories or introducing something different altogether. In that case, going for a monthly SEO package is a better approach.

With one, you can clarify your expectations and timeline to make the costs flexible enough. Moreover, you’d be in a better position to bill the costs in your expenses, unlike how instant charges for fast results might dig deeper in your accounts.

SEO is not a one-time project. There’ll be a need for constant analysis, updates, upgrades, improvements, and adjustments to deliver your desired results. A monthly package offers content marketing and link building, leading to an excellent overall command in SEO rankings.

These factors are what push most business owners to pay monthly retainer fees to enjoy quality SEO services.

What’s the Cost of Local SEO?

You might wonder what it might cost you if you want local SEO. Local SEO means that you are marketing your products or services to the local customer base. Thus, you’re dealing with a smaller and concentrated audience which also reduces the competition.

The average local SEO cost will be relatively lower compared to the global packages. You’d probably get a figure about 20% less of what you would be charged for global SEO.

What are the Different Types of Local SEO?

The amount you’ll pay for local SEO will depend on your selection of pricing models and your SEO needs. The three local SEO categories are;

Automated Local SEOThis is the cheapest available option for local SEO. It ensures you submit your business information to directories. It involves ensuring that all your contact information (phone numbers, email links, and addresses) are correct on all sites such as Yellow Pages and Yelp.

It doesn’t boost your search ranking since the steps taken are necessary for Google’s geographical verification. However, it helps gain visibility if you are centrally placed and looking for local customers.

The package will cover your business accounts update on location-based sites and incorporate any necessary information and link that customers usually search for.

1. Small Scale Local SEO

The package introduces campaigns that create highly targeted advertisements running for a particular timeframe in a given area. They are mostly social media campaigns and pay-per-click ads that are localized to get to a specific audience.

These services are ideal for small businesses with a limited area, serving targeted customers within a specific mileage range. It’s suitable for companies that want to keep their costs low but enjoy reaching out to a relevant audience.

Small-scale local SEO involves understanding content optimization to match the local search intent and looking for clever ways to target audiences that meet the description.

2. Comprehensive Local SEO

This is the most expensive but effective local SEO service. It involves campaigns that offer in-depth options that cover all SEO aspects. Some of the tasks include;

  • Paid search management
  • Reporting
  • Social Media
  • Citation optimization
  • Content management
  • Google my business management
  • Link building
  • Management of online reviews.

Such services give you a clear picture of what you are spending your marketing money on. Comprehensive SEO also focuses on analysis reporting to the track metrics, e.g., online traffic growth, visibility, and conversion rates. Comprehensive SEO also offers other critical performance metrics such as rankings, analytics, competition, backlinks, paid search, website health, and reviews.

Are There Other SEO Pricing Factors?

Other than the differences in company rates, other factors that impact SEO pricing packages. These factors include;

1. Industry

The type of industry affects the level of competition. Lawyers, finance companies, car mechanics, medical offices, and locksmiths have the most expensive keyword on Google. On the other hand, real estate, software companies, marketing services, and home maintenance and improvement businesses have competitive keywords. This affects the cost per click (CPC).

The SEO pricing might also be affected by the number of searches for a specific industry. For instance, an industry with many searches should see a business spend more on SEO services to beat the competition and outrank fellow companies.

2. Geographic Location

The location of the targeted audience will affect the cost of SEO packages. For example, a search on nightclubs and restaurants in New York will rank different from a search of snow tire services in the same region. The latter, however, will receive more competition if the search is from Alaska.

3. Type of Services Needed

The SEO pricing often covers the kind of optimization that you’re looking forward to. Whether it’s organic search optimization, producing lots of content, or building up your review profile. A simple illustration is if you want to update your business accounts and optimize site tags, then you will get a one-off package.

Nonetheless, you will have to pay a monthly retainer if you look for something more consistent. The more the SEO services, the more the costs will be.

4. Current Visibility and Brand Awareness

Your current visibility will affect SEO pricing. If your brand is recognized locally or globally, there isn’t much to trigger more sales through expert campaigns. However, if you are a startup or a small business without much awareness, you will pay more since more work will be needed to get you on your feet.

How Do You Determine Your Budget for SEO Services?

Another common concern by many business owners is how much they should set aside for SEO services. The proper way to determine how much you should budget for SEO services is by comparing your business and your competitors.

What should you be doing differently? Is it the addition of content? Do you require more brand awareness? Do you have enough visibility? Get detailed information from SEO marketers to know where you stand against your competitors. It’ll give you a better view of what you need to add to improve.

Those stats will give you a clear list of the SEO needs, and it’ll be easier to know how much it will cost you. With a set timeframe for expected results and precise needs & wants, budgeting will be simple moving forward.

How Can You Find Out Your Competitor’s SEO Performance?

You can find out how your competitors are performing in a few steps. This information is vital to you since it’ll be your reference spot if you want to outrank them. All you have to do is do keyword research and go through the results to see where you are compared to other businesses.

Exploring your competitors’ data and stats like their domain authority is also an option. The general information will also lead you to decide how much to spend on SEO services.

Do Costs for SEO Services Differ for Small Businesses?

Although it will cost relatively lower to get SEO services for a smaller business, there’s no actual price for everyone. It will mainly depend on the needs of the company. If a small business is working on a local audience base, the cost will be lower than one that wants to go global.

Moreover, the current brand awareness and the kind of visibility & ranking of the business will contribute to the overall outcome. The ideal cost to start is a USD 500 monthly SEO package to get you to a good position in the market.

How Should You Work With a Tight Budget?

Many small business owners view SEO as a risk or a one-time attempt to escalate their sales. However, perceiving SEO as a long-term investment changes the overall view of budgeting. With a monthly retainer, you can gradually improve your SEO ranking and progressively get command over your competitors.

You have to improve in the areas you need much help in as you also add some content along the way. The USD 500 spent for about six months will have dramatic changes in the long run.

Should You Increase Your SEO Expenditure?

As your business begins to blossom, you should consider doing something more and different from your competitors. New ideas and techniques come along as SEO is progressive, and capitalizing on them is crucial. They might cost you a bit extra, but you will enjoy the benefits.

What’s the ROI of SEO?

A return on investment is not guaranteed in SEO services. Things change over time, and particular tricks might not be as effective in the later dates of your subscription. However, most companies report positive results from SEO, and that is a security to hold onto.

However, the return rates will depend on the services you got and your industry. These are the significant factors to consider when tracking the impact on SEO.

What to Focus on This Year? – 7 Digital Marketing Trends you don’t want to Miss

Digital marketing has several moving parts, and with every new phase, trends continue to evolve at an astonishing pace. It’s no longer a mere element of marketing. Marketers now employ automation to save time, increase engagement, and become more creative in every aspect possible.

Everyone is looking for ways to learn more and find a gaining edge by understanding digital marketing patterns and strategies over the years. However, 2020 was an unpredictable year. The global pandemic reshaped several elements of the marketing landscape and led marketers towards a new shift.

With the lockdown as a contributing factor, people spent more time on social media and adapted to video conferencing. Since brands had to devise new methods to connect and meet their customers’ needs, eCommerce sales began to have the upper hand.

Now, even with 2020’s chaos behind us, marketers are still scrambling to keep up. The resultant effects of last year’s global pandemic on the global economy have brought about several peculiar changes in digital marketing trends this year.

We know what worked in 2018 and could almost predict 2019, but the events of 2020 raise the curiosities of what to focus on in 2021. No one can say with 100% certainty how the future of marketing will be. We can only focus on research, statistics, and trend in data to identify the opportunities and predict the possibilities that might be available in the coming years.

Here are some valuable insights and key trends you should consider:

1. Increase Live Streaming

One of the results of the lockdown in 2020 was a lot of canceled events. Most people couldn’t socialize and attend in-person events with their family and friends as usual. The only option was to live-stream videos of online workshops or from their favorite celebrities.

During the lockdown period, Facebook recorded a 50% surge in live viewings. On Instagram, the spike was 70%. The number of times people spent watching live videos is three times the number of times they watched pre-recorded videos. Also, TikTok users went off the roof.

There’s a strong possibility 2021 may continue on these paths, and the live video industry is expected to continue to have increasing value. An excellent move is to apply this trend to your brand and use live video as a way to reach your consumers and tell them about your new products.

Compared to the pre-recorded videos, live videos have a way to grab your audience’s attention and make the video more engaging. They feel the fear of missing out like they are a part of it. Instead of just watching passively, your live videos become some exciting news they want to watch.

2.Influencer marketing

Influencers are trusted in specific fields and often have a large, active, loyal audience following them online. These people don’t necessarily have to be celebrities, but they have gained a reputation in their field and become go-to persons or consultants that provide answers to people’s needs.

Employing influencer marketing and using human-driven content creates trust between their audience and your brand. For instance, a basketballer wearing your sneaker in the pictures they post or in their live streams creates an “in-the-moment” connection that makes the viewers crave your product, such that they want to make purchases while they watch.

The influencer you engage needs to have thoughts and values relevant to our brand and your goal. Watch how they interact with their followers, and go for those with growing audiences on new platforms.

3. Goodwill services from brands

No consumer likes to deal with brands they consider ‘shady.’ Once they sense some insincerity or realize that there’s something to can’t fully trust, they back out of such deals. The need for transparency cannot be overemphasized.

Several people and businesses around the world are still trying to survive the turbulences of 2020. While brands search for means to continue flourishing, it’s important to get involved in some good contributions to recovering from the pandemic.

Even more than last year, there will be a more significant emphasis on campaigns that focus on ‘existence to serve’ rather than profit. To keep your brand as one of the trusted sources in 2021, you need to find creative ways to fit into customers’ lives and understand how to get involved in their conversations on social media.

When customers can pick from two comparable products, they would have to decide on the one they want to spend their money on. Goodwill services from your brand can open a platform where you can engage them, understand how to personalize your marketing to meet their needs, and win their hearts.

4. Enhance customer experience

Even before now, customer service has always been a priority year after year. Now in these unpredictable times and shifts in market trends, convincing people to patronize you may no longer be enough. However, maintaining a positive business culture and offering excellent services will keep people coming back for more.

Regardless of how impatient the customers seem, they still expect a seamless and memorable experience from the point of interest to after the sales. They want proof and reassurance before they buy.

From personalized messaging and throughout the customer journey until delivery, coordinate your sales, customer services, and digital marketing team to deliver quality through the process. Every aspect of your marketing strategy depends on you providing a great customer experience.

Due to the growth of online content, consumers are no longer passive parties. They don’t need you to tell them about your products since they hold the power to learn about the products directly.

While doing their research, the consumers want to see more than the product information. Since their buying decision relies strongly on what others say about their experience, several factors improve customer experiences. Some include offering efficiency, friendly and knowledgeable service, and convenience. Other factors to enhance your overall customer experience include up-to-date technology, easy mobile experience, personalization, brand image, and design.

5. User-Generated Content and Easy-to-consume content

Content has always been vital, but in 2020 the demand for more easy-to-consume content increased. People started to rely on easy-to-consume content like podcasts to get on the go or subscribe to newsletters directly into their inboxes.

Advertising your product or services via convenient and readily available content creates a ground for continued success in 2021. Newsletters or podcasts provide a more intimate way for customers to stay in touch and have a deeper connection with your brand.

User-generated content is another powerful tool for user experience and SEO on your website. It doesn’t have to be complicated or intensive. The UGC can be a simple comment on a blog article, a review of a product on your e-commerce site, or a Q&A section for people to ask questions and get answers.

Excelling in 2021 requires more social proof that the UGC can provide. When it comes to connective content, the user-generated content offers some benefits, including:

  • Building and strengthening communication
  • Generating tons of additional content and source of more discussions
  • Creating ground for face-to-face meetings between customers and brands.
  • Source of relatable and uplifting content

Asides from being an effective social tool to forging relationships with your consumers, these are some ways the UGC improves your content:

  • Google favors updated content. Every comment, review, or question added to your content at any time is regarded as an update to Google.
  • Longer content improves search engine rankings. The UGC creates room for more content to the already present one and boots the SEO.
  • With content like product description, it’s pretty difficult for your content to stand out from the others and avoid hurting your SEO. The comments and reviews enhance the uniqueness of your content and increase your search engine ranking.

The point is to ensure you implement any user-generated content to your advantage. You can also adjust your site settings to limit or filter out certain words, spam, or link posting. It can also be done manually, but moderating the massive amount of reviews and comments can be challenging.

6. Increase in voice and visual search

Most people are moving towards voice-activated tools. Spending so much time at home resulted in people having more conversations with digital assistants like Alexa, Siri, or Cortana even than their family members. Perhaps the popularity of voice search in homes and on our phones presents opportunities for changing how we use keywords.

Considering that we phrase our speech differently when using Alexa for information from typing a search into Google, we need to review our keywords when writing content. The keywords need to be based on questions people may ask when using Alexa or Siri to increase our visibility.

As the prevalence of voice search shows no sign of slowing down, our expectations for 2021 digital marketing trends is that more households will fully adapt to using voice search. However, visual search is also another method brands can employ to rise and maintain the top position.

Tools like Google Lens and Pinterest Lens enable search engine users to upload images and get information about the objects in the picture. This way, when consumers don’t need to type a complete description of the product they want. They can turn their cameras in a search bar, and the search engine presents them with similar products and links to where they can buy.

Marketers now need to prioritize visual search by introducing more high-quality images with descriptive keywords to their online inventory. Gradually, visuals are already becoming an important factor in the SEO game. By including image alt-text, descriptive filenames for images, and sitemaps for pictures and advertising on platforms like Pinterest, brands can benefit from boosted search results.

7.Emphasis on inclusivity and sustainability

It’s not surprising that most consumers believe that companies should prioritize improving the environment and participating in public movements. Even as everyone is trying to put the coronavirus’s worries behind us, some brands are already making shifts towards a more sustainable future and getting involved in some endemic issues.

It could be the packaging, the materials they use for their product, issues that are lingering within the various elements of society. Still, consumers are constantly looking out for brands that are conscious of the environment.

Although hunting for a greener planet has been the target for several people, the recent pandemic has contributed to reminding more people of the world’s fragility. One of the main focuses in 2020 includes the Black Lives Matter Movement that highlighted some prevalent issues in several social elements.

Studies show that driving your brand to follow cultural shifts influences purchase behaviors, and many shoppers are shifting away from retailers that don’t offer enough diversity. With consumers making these moves, brands that don’t reflect their views on diversity and identity or appear non-inclusive may see some impacts in 2021. On the other hand, brands who are not holding back and getting involved in inclusive cases will reap some benefits and have deeper connections with their audience.

If you intend to keep being the choice to the masses, your brand needs to make a purpose-driven contribution towards sustainability and inclusivity in 2021.

What to Focus on in 2021

Digital marketing consistently changes, and that’s normal! While digital marketing trends come and go, some basics can be developed into tactics and ideas for a massive game-changer for the foreseeable future.

However, the effects of 2020’s event have resulted in difficulties in predicting the marketing trends. People are spending more time online for entertainment, work, and other reasons. Over the next few months, we are likely to see this continue. Brands now have to reconsider their digital marketing strategies and create better ways to connect with their customers.

Understanding the digital marketing trends helps determine the right marketing strategies to focus on and get the most bang for your bucks. If you are ready to set up your site for more traffic and leads, get started with SEO vendor today. Set up a quick consultation and get all sorts of strategy testing for ON-PAGE and OFF-PAGE SEO.

Top Recommendations on How Digital Trends Will Evolve This Year

Digital Trends Will Evolve This Year

The previous year was not a normal year at the office (pun intended). Even though no calendar year is a stroll in the park, 2020 still managed to fit medical, social, and economic crisis on a global scale in twelve months. It forced every industry to do some inflection, and it was no different for marketers. It made both short and long-term planning difficult – almost impossible. Nobody knows when we can return to normal or what normal would look like then. That does not help the situation either.

However, there is a silver lining. We had a front-row seat to 2020 in the law, education, and healthcare industries. Armed with this information, we can make educated guesses about the new digital marketing trends. They are not all entirely new, but the landscape is changing, and you need to keep up with the times.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is an ever-changing landscape, and 2021 will be no different. There are minor glitches in the matrix, as expected. However, we’ll focus on five trends projected to be the real deal.

  • User Experience (UX) – The user’s experience has become more important than ever to get a good SEO score. Organizations can now use tools like Core Web Vitals to quantify user’s experience. User experience is a significant factor in customer satisfaction. Google recognizes this, and they are moving in that direction too. Speed, site organization, and device-friendliness are trends that will be worth the investment in the current clime.
  • Semantic Search – According to Alexa Blog, “Semantic search refers to the ability of search engines to consider the intent and contextual meaning of search phrases when serving content to users on the web.” Google, arguably the biggest search engine in the world, has a lot riding on this. You cannot always trust people to search in grammatically correct and coherent language – more searches are done in natural, conversational question formats. That is why natural, topic-optimized content has to give way for simple keyword optimization. You can monitor your semantic search ratings with tools like Moz and SEMRush.
  • Search Intent – Understanding intent and optimizing to meet it has proven to be a sure way to generate traffic to your website organically. There are fundamentally four intents to cater for – informational, transactional, commercial, and local. Some websites have even reported up to a 677% increase in organic traffic after search intent optimization. Search engine results pages (SERPs) can help you identify the user’s intent.
  • Zero-Click Search Results – These are search results that do not require users to click any buttons before finding answers. About 50% of search results as of 2019 fall in this category. They include featured snippets, videos, graphs, and lists. However, because Google provides most of these results, it translates to fewer clicks to third-party websites. To have a bite of the apple, we advise that you create well-optimized videos to YouTube and update your profile on Google My Business to include your locations and events.
  • Google My Business – More Google searches are getting focused on local businesses than ever before. Services, business hours, reviews and ratings, are big components of searches now. More than one billion people and five million apps use Google maps every month. To make your business rank high on local searches, you should try to provide as much information as possible.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising

PPC advertising continues to go strong in 2021, even though there will be some changes in methods. Below are three ways that PPCs are more likely to shift this year.

  • Privacy Concerns and Limited Data Availability – More users are concerned about how much of their data gets shared, especially in this era of internet frauds and data breaches. Google and others are becoming more stringent with the data they share. However, it remains a worthwhile investment as long as you can assure data privacy.
  • PPC Automation and AI Domination – PPC campaigns are judged by their efficiency – minimizing costs while maximizing profits. Machine learning and artificial intelligence are the trendsetting technology in PPC automation and efficiency as they allow marketers to focus on marketing. Some of the PPC parameters that you can improve to increase efficiency are – dynamically generated ad copies, bids, PPC reporting, and error checking.
  • Responsive Search Ads (RSA) – This also kinda falls under automation since it takes off some responsibility of creating ads from you. RSA from Google refines your headlines, ad copy, and call to action (CTA) bases on prevalent search trends. The data supports RSA as an upward trend too. Now, you need a proven copywriter to provide the nuggets that Google or Microsoft’s RSA needs to improve your conversion.

Conversion Rate Optimization

With the new automation processes promising to improve your website visits, how do you get them to commit? Commitment could mean making a purchase, filling a form, etc. These are some trends worth investing in 2021.

  • Mobile Optimization – The odds that someone visits your website on mobile are higher than on any other platform. This is because about three billion people have smartphones worldwide and spend more time on their smartphones now more than ever. Taking advantage of this information is to make your site more mobile-friendly and make processes less redundant and more straightforward.
  • Personalization – People have reported that they are more likely to buy stuff if the experience feels personal – less robotic. You can achieve this by finding ways to cater to users based on their access locations. A tool like Optimizely deserves a shout. This, coupled with a similar advertisement structure, can increase efficiency since you only talk to your potential customers.
  • Transparency – Privacy concerns are similar to what PPCs will face. Finding a safe ground between conversion techniques and respecting privacy will be a balancing act that can make you company. Investing in security systems to prevent breaches will save you a lot of hassle. Also will full disclosure in clear terms and keeping track of apps that have access to user data
  • Data and Design – There is a general sense of agreement between users, web designers, and copywriters on guiding user experience. Data designed to collect data on user behavior to create better user experiences? Yes, please!

Social Media Marketing

Social media remains a fast-paced revolving glass door that we must master because that is where everybody is. Below, you will find four trends that will be relevant for the fiscal year.

  • Increased Adoption – Post-COVID, more people spend more time on social media, which is almost inevitable as they have more idle time. The data shows that more people have downloaded the Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram apps. More people are seeing and engaging with your social media content now more than ever. Nobody can say how far into 2021 this trend will continue after ‘normalcy’ returns. However, we feel confident enough to add this to our list.
  • Be Socially Aware – Whether you agree with it or not, cancel culture exists. It is like public shaming, but because everybody is online now, it is digital – digital shaming. Examples of brands (MyPillow, Goya) that have taken a ton of backlash and subsequent dip due to poor association and lack of awareness should be cautionary tales for you. To avoid this bad press, keep your review team as diverse as possible to cater to as many groups as possible. Also, maintain oversight on your automated processes, so you do not show up at the wrong place at the wrong time.
  • Social Media Accountability – Not dissimilar to cancel culture, more of what you post will be checked for political and factual correctness. Even the biggest social media platforms are under more pressure than ever to control misleading and incendiary content on their platforms, even though it is a losing battle. What you can do is avoid getting caught on the wrong side of the law.

Paid Social Ad Campaigns

The expert analysts at Statista predict spending on social media advertisement will remain on the up in 2021. Company eagerness to commit to social media ads can be explained by the presence of sub-communities within social media spaces. Also, while retail is down 10%, e-commerce is up by 18%. It just makes sense to follow the trend.

  • Facebook Ads – Statista predicts that ads will generate up to $94 billion in revenue in the next year alone. If these figures are to go by, there is a sizeable cake to be shared among businesses that go this route. However, not all products sold in this current economy. Put your best foot forward, advertise your most in-demand products, and show how helpful you can be.
  • Instagram Ads – There are about one billion unique Instagram users every month. The data also shows that these people spend – about $20 billion. A good number of businesses already leverage this media-sharing platform. It is not too late to join them if you have not already.
  • LinkedIn Ads – Unlike the Facebook and Instagram ads, LinkedIn ads don’t have the same far-reaching effects. However, it is a specialist at what it does – B2B marketing. Businesses and professionals connect on LinkedIn. Advertisement is more expensive on LinkedIn, but the risks match the reward if done correctly. LinkedIn Campaign Manager can help you with a laser-focused approach at your target market than on anywhere else.

Video Marketing

Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, Zoom. These platforms did well in 2020 because they presented solutions to video content creation and sharing. YouTube is still the second largest search engine in the world. As more people watch videos, it makes sense for you to go with the flow.

  • More Videos appear on Search Engine Results Page (SERP) – Google will prioritize videos when they think it is needed, which is often. As more people search “how to” questions, Google will respond accordingly with content from its resources, hence, YouTube. You can optimize your content to make it to the SERPs using SEO best practices like thumbnails, descriptions, and transcriptions.
  • Pandemic Era Video Platforms – TikTok and Zoom were relative unknowns before the pandemic hit in 2020. Since then, they have experienced meteoric rises and have far-reaching influences. When used correctly, you can reach a broad audience with your content on these platforms. About 32.5% of TikTok users are teenagers, while 37% have household earnings of over $100,000. It is still not clear how you can use Zoom for marketing. However, you can always make videos that you can share on other platforms.

Email Marketing

In the face of innovation and embracing new trends, some old-timers continue to wax strong. Email marketing is the old-timer in question here. Data shows that more people are opening and acting on emails. Businesses also have an incentive to stick to email marketing because it is cheap compared to other options, and they remain the best lead generation method. Personalized emails are a safe bet to improve responsiveness. You can also find ways to re-engage users that visited you in the past.

  • Automated Email – Automation is not an option but a necessity for businesses with large customer bases. Personalized emails look like you care and take your time to reach out. People do not need to know that it was automated.
  • Omnichannel Marketing – This is an advanced form of multichannel marketing that improves conversion and retention rates for B2B ad campaigns. Some of these facets of omnichannel marketing include reaching out to people that have searched for you online, engaged with your social media content, etc. They are aimed at nurturing B2B leads as they are usually time-intensive and long-term.

Next year will be a year to test new strategies and double down on the ones that still work. However, success for digital marketers will be in how we treat people. COVID-19 has affected everybody one way or the other. Some empathy and human touch in your approach can make all the difference.

Even when we return to “normalcy,” a vast majority still plan to continue engaging with brands and shopping online. Your online presence (video, SEO, email, paid ads, etc.) will determine your success in the post-COVID-19 era. The most important thing in Digital Marketing is to find what works for you and your business. It is by no means not a one size fits all business.

Have a great year ahead!

Follow-Up Emails that Intrigue Prospects

Email marketing is a form of marketing that many companies have settled for, and it seems to be more convenient as well. It all starts by sending a single email to your prospect, hoping to get a response from them, or you might be having a hot opportunity that’s turning cold. The main reason that pushes prospects away is that you might have reached to the wrong people, or you might not have built up enough intrigue during your first contact.

It would be best if you did not give up at this stage because there is still a lot that you can do to get back on track. You have the alternatives of sending emails and follow-up emails, which will give you another chance of landing a sale. Research done by velocity shows that sending five messages to a prospect before personal contact has a 36% conversion rate compared to the group that receives a list of follow-up emails.

How to Get the Right Timing and Frequency

If you’re wondering how often you should send follow-up emails, then consider the instructions from close.com. Pay attention to the first point that you should send only five follow-up emails for all cold emails. On the other hand, you might have some interactions with the prospect in the form of questions and responses. For the latter scenario, keep sending the follow-up emails until you have a clear response, whether it is a close of sale or a simple ‘no.’

You can use the following sequence to send your follow-up emails after making your initial contact.

Day 2 – Day 3 – Day 7 – Day 14 – Day 28 – Day 42 – After every month

Note that day 2 is when you are supposed to send your first follow-up email.

Tips on Writing Follow-Up Emails

It is improper for us to go all us and give you information when you should be sending follow-up emails and fail to provide you with tips on how you should be writing them. Follow-up emails come in handy in several situations, and learning how to write them, and write them excellently, for that matter, is essential. Below are the tips on how to write useful follow-up emails;

  1. Make them Short – Do not push away prospects by sending them a long follow-up email. Many people are not interested in reading long sentences neither are they attracted to wordy emails. Keep your follow-up emails short and precise, from about three to eight sentences depending on the number of words per sentence.
  2. Personalize Them – For a prospect to get the push of ending up reading what you’ve sent, there has to be a form of personalization. Slide in a name or if you had interacted earlier, let the response be the center of the follow-up email for personalization.
  3. A Single Question is Enough – Try as much as possible not to scare away prospects with a series of questions in a single follow-up email. Ask one question to make it comfortable for the candidate.
  4. Let it be Simple – When asking the only question, make sure it’s easy for the prospect to answer it as soon as they read the email. Avoid complicated queries that will push away the possibility.
  5. Be Specific – The right move is to use particular questions with a direct answer and nothing someone should think about. Make the questions have responses such as ‘yes or no,’ ‘2 pm’, ‘true or false,’ etc.
  6. Include a Post-Script – You can slide in some extra information after the email in the form of a link. Just point it out as PS or FYI and follow it up with an embedded URL.

The Proper Circumstances to Send Follow-Up Emails

To ensure that your follow-up emails are useful and that they impact the prospect, you should learn when it is proper for you to send them. The right circumstances to send follow-up emails to include;

Cold Call

You ought to send this follow-up email within one day of the initial cold call. Some of the tips on how to write cold call follow-up emails include;

  • Appreciating the prospect for reading the email and for their feedback
  • Stating your success with another company and assuring them of your ability to deliver
  • Issue further details and showing interest with a request to follow up after a specific time
  • Following up on the matter and posing a question.

Lead Magnet

They are to be sent upon an online automatic trigger by the prospect, e.g., white paper request and sign up for e-newsletter. Tips include;

  • Appreciation for the action taken by the prospect
  • Displaying your strength from experience with other customers
  • Congratulating them for the step made
  • Dropping a link for study purposes and allowing them to set a meeting
  • Following up on everything and giving more materials.

External Trigger

These are emails sent to prospects you identified from external sources such as regulation change or industry news. Tips include;

  • Dropping a congratulatory note
  • Stating where you can come in to help out
  • Requesting for a response before further communication
  • Checking up on the prospect
  • Laying your track record and throwing in a question.

Web Enquiry Contact

It’s to follow up on prospects who took the step to fill out your website’s contact form within a day. Tips include;

  • Welcoming them and appreciating their effort to visit your website
  • Providing materials for the study
  • Ask for their thoughts and requesting for a reply.

Outbound Call

These follow-up emails are meant to be sent after you have left a phone message to the prospect. Tips include;

  • Letting them know that you tried to reach out
  • Asking for them to get back to you when they can
  • Explaining what you mentioned in the phone message.

Inbound Call

You have to immediately send this follow-up email after being on a call with the prospect. A phone call might be better in some situations rather than an email. Tips include;

  • Appreciating their efforts in contacting you
  • Providing materials for the exact point in the conversation
  • Requesting for another call later on for further explanations.

Networking Event

It is meant for a follow-up if the previous email send, post-networking or post-tradeshow event, wasn’t convincing enough, although the prospect showed interest. Tips include;

  • Acknowledging the first interaction and confirming if they read the previous email
  • Asking for their opinion
  • Requesting for a conversation.

Face-to-Face Meeting

The follow-up email to be sent within a day after a skype call or face-to-face meetup. Tips include;

  • Appreciating their efforts and time to avail themselves
  • Posing a question and expressing interest to communicate further.

Proposal or Quote

These follow-up emails are for the prospects you requested for a quote or proposal but ended up not ordering from you. Tips include;

  • Appreciating their efforts in communicating to you
  • Stating a reminder of what you talked about
  • Asking if they have any further questions.

Double-Take

The primary purpose of these follow-up emails is to keep pushing despite no response from a couple of earlier emails. Tips include;

  • Recapping on the last time you communicated
  • Asking for their availability to plan for a meeting
  • Letting them know what you’ve been up to.

Lead-Gone-Cold

It is a follow up on an impressive lead that went cold. Tips include;

  • Reflecting on your last conversation
  • Giving an achievement similar to the prospect’s lead
  • Requesting for their availability and willingness to learn more about the lead.

Email Templates Proven to Get Responses

Email Templates Proven to Get Responses

The success of any marketing campaign includes the process of converting your leads into prospects and your prospects into loyal customers. One effective way of following-up with your prospects after the initial encounter is through the use of emails. However, sending emails is not without its challenges. The truth is, you don’t want your emails to be like any other email, adding to the bunch of mails in your prospective client’s inbox with no hope of commanding attention. So, how do you avoid this?

Not to worry!

You will find out how you can deal with any sales challenges that involve follow-up of prospects. After reading this article, you will have gained the necessary knowledge to increase your prospects’ response rate. Sound enticing, right? Sure it is. But that’s not all; the knowledge gained from this article may help you increase your sales and revenue exponentially.

Who, When, and How to Send Follow-up Emails?

One significant fact you should know as a salesperson is that your customers will buy only when they feel they are ready to do so. Every salesperson love to have customers who will patronize them easily without spending much effort to convince them to buy. You have to bear in mind that you can’t have such hot leads every day. Moreover, the percentage of hot leads you will have is small compared to your cool and warm leads. Cool or warm leads often result in more sales than hot leads.

Two Critical Rules That Will Guide You in Following-up With Leads

  • There is a reward for your patience. Consistency and patience should not be overlooked when following-up with leads.
  • There is a need for you to have an effective follow-up and data management system. Having a good sales CRM helps to prevent embarrassing situations such as email duplication and spamming.

The first highlighted point is quite convenient to implement, but many companies have struggled with implementing the second point. Executing an effective follow-up system may be difficult for some sales reps when generating sales and leads through marketing.

Close More Deals With Teamwork

To close more deals with teamwork, you will need to have a well-structured system. Ensure that both sales and marketing warm up your leads. To do this, ensure that you keep these helpful thoughts in mind.

  • Do endeavor to send valuable and relevant information to your prospective clients frequently, regularly, and relentlessly.
  • You have to communicate effectively with your clients. It may not be practical to communicate with your prospects individually if your prospects are many.
  • Log and track. You do need a logged system that can help you to schedule and execute follow-ups. Calendar reminders and spreadsheets may not suffice if you have a business expansion plan.
  • Get your materials ready. Your team should be equipped with engaging and vital information to craft out messages for follow-up purposes. A follow-up email with poor content is of no value.

Timing is Critical For Follow-up Emails

Remembering your prospects every day is great but do your prospects remember you as well? Remember, you compete with other rival companies providing juicy deals. And not to forget that your prospects as humans may have a fallible memory. You must remind your prospective clients about your service or product regularly. Let your reminder be well-planned and well-thought-out.

The KYC initiative is the golden commandment to follow in the area of sales. It is also the first rule to adopt when you design your strategy for follow-up. The second touch, or follow-up as it is called, should be more warmly and engaging than the first. It should remind your prospect of what was previously discussed and what can be done to move forward. Let there be a 2-day interval before doing this.

Are you aware of a procurement or budgeting window? Do you know the purchase circle that guides prospective clients? Or maybe you have classified information that your prospect is ending a deal with your competitor? You have to ensure that you plot and carefully arrange these events. Many sales agents have been able to close deals years or months after they made the initial presentation. Do you know why? Perseverance and right timing are the keys.

How Can You Design a Response Rate That Will Boost Your Follow-up Process?

Before you write an email, you have to design a follow-up process meant to be bullet-proof. You may also decide to improve an existing email to make it more engaging.

Are you ready for that? Good, we will begin by discussing four vital steps to boost your follow-up process. We will also highlight errors you should avoid if you want to enhance your follow-up process.

How Does the Follow-up Process Fit into Your Sales Plan?

Marketing Wizdom’s executive. Robert Clay said that the number of leads closed after the first meeting is not more than two percent of the total number of times sales agents interface with their prospects. So bear in mind that your first pitch’s end goal is to help you water the ground as you discover more about the buying process. You have to find out other parties involved and their mode of decision making. Getting a straight “no” doesn’t mean the game is over. How you follow-up afterward is dependent on your present position with the prospect.

You have to follow a particular pattern at each stage of your sales pipeline, and you can break this down into these steps:

  • Acquire Lead

When you first begin a relationship with your potential client, you have to respond on time since they may be motivated to act quickly at that time. You should endeavor to follow up with the prospect if there is no confirmation on the next step.

  • Prioritize Your Lead

The message you will send as a follow-up is dependent on what you know about the prospect and the actions they may take. You may consider leading with a strong action call if your prospect has visited your feature and pricing pages many times.

  • Start Discussions

Several factors may determine how you begin to relate with prospects. If your client is a senior decision-maker, you may have to give more insights than prospects who play more technical or strategic roles. Your follow-up message should match the personality or position of your prospect.

  • Progress With Each Opportunity You Get

You should schedule a pitch or presentation after the first conversation, after which you can then organize a second meeting or call to continue discussions, Understand timelines and clarify objections. Try to lead your prospect by progressing from one stage to another through effective follow-up.

Feel free to ask your prospects what their next step is. You may even ask them to give you their preferred follow-up schedule or pattern. Although the discussion may not always go as you envisage, you should try to end your call with a well-defined next line of action. A conference call or meeting is a good avenue to do this because it allows you to compare schedules instantly.

Try to summarize your previous meeting because it gives you an excellent reason to send an email after ending the call. The highpoint of doing this is that it makes your clients have you in mind before the next call.

Now that you understand the connection between follow-up and your sales pipeline, let us now discuss “timing,” which is a critical element in lead conversion. Are you ready? Let us begin.

When is the Right Time to Send Follow-up Messages?

Timing is essential when you send follow-up emails. You should know your wait time, a particular time of the day, and the most suitable days of the week to send your follow-up emails. Doing this will help to improve your response rate.

How to Use Follow-up Emails to Generate More Sales

  • Email Few Days After the First Pitch

It is recommended that you send a follow-up email a day or two after your first presentation. You can use the avenue to review their reservations or objections.  You can end by thanking your prospective client(s) for their time and do not fail to include an action call for future steps.

  • Review With Decision-makers

If other stakeholders are involved in the process of buying, the sales cycle may be extended. Endeavor to send an email with a four to five days interval after your presentation. So they can have ample time to discuss with other team members.

  • Develop a Follow-up Pattern for Unresponsive Leads

When there are no responses to your emails, it is best to have a follow-up pattern. You can offer your prospects extra resources and find out from them if they are still keen on your services or product. You can also find out from them what they feel is the best approach to move forward.

  • The Point of Break-up

If you do not respond after several follow-up emails, then the final thing is to call it a wrap. You can choose to inform your prospects that you are closing their file, or you may use this last avenue to stir them to act.

The perfect time and day for you to send follow-up emails to your prospects vary with the industry. Your own CRM is the best place for you to look. Find out the emails that have the highest response rate. Moreover, carry out an analysis of the time and day you send the emails. By so doing, you can better time your follow-up process.

Five Mistakes You Should Avoid When Sending Follow-up Emails

These are the five common follow-up mistakes made by salespeople.

  • Following-up Late

It is believed that follow-ups should be done at least five minutes after an inquiry is sent. However, this timing may be unrealistic because you may not be on-site when the email was sent. It is critical to follow up quickly because waiting for too long may reduce your chance of getting a response. Ensure that you have the right arrangement that will enable you to respond quickly.

  • Lack of Focus on the Company

Most sales reps put their energy entirely into convincing only one person. What if you were interfacing with a large organization that has multiple decision-makers? Endeavor to get enough information on the buying process in your target company to accommodate other decision-makers. Communicating with all the necessary decision-makers will give you more advantage of winning the prospect.

  • Lack of Follow-up Frequency

A study conducted by Velocify reported that about 93% of all converted leads are gotten after five to six attempts. Ensure that you follow up frequently enough after starting a relationship with your client.

  • The Use of the Wrong Channels

About 90% of prospects will prefer to communicate with you via email. However, some prospects may prefer to communicate via phone call or any other convenient means of communication. It is good to ask your prospective client the communication channel they prefer.

  • Lack of Adequate Data Accumulation and Analysis

Without measuring the performance of your sales, you may not be able to rate your success. Using a CRM to collate and access your response rate after sending each email is very important.

How to Optimize the Response Rates of Your Follow-up Emails

Here are viable ways you can enhance your follow-up emails’ response rate.

  • Start With a Value

Once you have a new trend, you may be tempted to go straight to the pitch. Try to present the value to your client upfront before the pitch. You need your prospects to trust you, so try to guide or advise them first.

  • Avoid Automated Emails

Automation is great for streaming some processes. However, using automation for follow-up may not be advisable because you need it to be personalized.

  • Keep Your Prospect Coming Back

The complexity of what you are offering will determine the number of meetings or calls you will have with your prospect. Endeavor to keep an open conversation and lead your prospects to the next action line.

  • Show a Great Personality

Most people love to do business with individuals they respect. Try to be yourself always during the sales process and follow-ups. Senior decision-makers will respect you for holding up to what you believe.

You have to learn and adapt. Do not bore your prospects with a wall of texts, as that can be a turn-off. So you have to be precise. You can add a link to information that is too large for you to send. With these tips, you can enhance your sales and increase your revenue.

 

Reference: https://www.pipedrive.com/en/blog/sales-follow-up-email-templates

15 Tips For Effective Warm Calling

15 Tips For Effective Warm Calling

We are in 2021, the age of modern technology and artificial intelligence. Compared to 2018, the marketing industry is currently at an all-time high. And these marketing methodologies and sales tactics are advancing at an exponential rate.

And it’s high time people changed their approach towards calling a prospect. This applies to both sales and marketing departments. The average salesperson hates calling prospects, and the prospects despise receiving those calls too. In the end, no one likes them. But, there’s a way around this dilemma.

Inbound Leads vs. Outbound Leads

You must understand the difference between Inbound leads and Outbound leads. Not to worry, we’ll be breaking it down in the simplest way.

Inbound leads are when a prospect begins contact with you or your organization through SEO, referral links, engaging content on your page, or a referral. You simply generate leads through Inbound Prospecting.

On the contrary, Outbound leads are when a marketer or sales representative commences the first interaction by sending a message to a potential customer. Few outbound leads strategies to include ending emails, radio ads, phone calls, and many more. Outbound leads marketing employs the traditional means of advertising and marketing.

Moving on, you must let the marketing team run the inbound leads. Calling potential customers who seek elementary information or simply want to be educated is unnecessary. Most of these leads don’t appreciate the call. Instead, let your marketing team handle this aspect. Why? Like a plant, leads like this need to be watered and carefully nurtured till they’re mature enough.

In contrast, your inbound leads may be running dry. You may not have enough inbound leads. So what do you do? How do you generate new inbound leads?

One answer: Warm Calling.

Warm Calling

In situations where you do not have enough inbound leads, you can employ Warm Calling. So, what exactly is warm calling?

Warm Calling is all about connecting with a prospect or their company, particularly with whom a marketer in your organization has had the previous contact. Before a warm call, you must have established that the firm you wish to connect with has had prior contact with your sales representative and company in general.

Furthermore, it’s essential to note that the prospect has demonstrated an interest in your company’s services or products. And based on your understanding, that the prospect seamlessly fits into the profile you seek.

You can connect with a prospect who is yet to convert on your website. All you have to do is call the right way. During a warm call, you don’t necessarily have to sell the product to the prospect. Remember, you are speaking to a decision-maker. You have just 15 seconds to impress and catch the buyer’s attention. If you do this successfully, you can convert the call into an appointment or a business meeting.

Warm Calling vs. Hot Calling vs. Cold Calling

Okay, let’s clear the air; it’s not about temperature. This trio is not to be mistaken for one another; it could get you in a hot mess.

We have established that warm calling is about connecting with a prospect who is yet to convert to your website. You are simply building a relationship with the prospect by ensuring they buy what you have to offer.

On the other hand, Hot calling doesn’t require you to build a relationship with the prospect. There’s a mutual understanding between you and the prospect, and you know the prospect is willing to buy.

Therefore, the conversation switches from the relationship-building rudimental to budget evaluation, timing, and primary needs necessary to close the deal.

Now, let’s talk about Cold calling- and no, it is still not about temperature. Cold calling is a marketing strategy used to reach out to people about your product or service. It is calling somebody, a group, or a firm with whom you have had no contact regarding your organization’s services. A firm, through research, simply locate people or groups and deem them fit.

Key Differences 

  • Warm Calling; implies building a relationship with a prospect that is yet to convert on your website.
  • Hot Calling; a relationship has been previously established. There’s an agreement, and you’re proving your services.
  • Cold Calling; implies reaching out to a firm you have had zero contact with in the past.

Warm calling is more effective and efficient.

Essential Warm Calling Tips

If you don’t have enough inbound leads, Warm calling can help you generate new leads and keep your pipeline full. It’s impossible to have high-value prospects talking to you every day. But with the following tips, you’ll have the ability to utilize warm calling most efficiently and effectively. Let’s discuss some of these tips:

1. Discover Good Fit Companies

You must determine and locate the best customers that fit the profile your organization seeks. They must share similar ideologies and principles with you. This way, it will be easier to sell your product or services, and you’ll also record higher retention rates.

Conduct an extensive study on your best customers. Study their behavior; this way, you can easily spot your next prospect from a mile away. Conduct an assessment of your customer base; take a look at their history. Then, mark out principal similarities between the best of your clients. This way, you instinctively know the type of prospect you need.

Note: While it is crucial to analyze your customer base and determine the top dogs, it’s inadvisable to rely on these successful customers entirely. The giants in your customer base don’t come around often. Instead, focus on your organization’s nitty-gritty- the clients that patronize frequently.

2. Research the Company

Conduct extensive research on the company. You must adequately prepare for the call. This is the only way you can understand the prospect’s needs and desires, and in turn, add value. You could use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Medium to gather essential information about the company.

You don’t have to go over the board; you just have to know the basics. Some of the basics include the company’s name, number of employees, company’s location, the number of years the company has been in the industry, and its value proposition.

3. Research Primary Executives in the Company 

Trust me; this will work wonders. Investigate principal executives in your prospect’s company. Find out if you’re in any way connected to the company’s senior staff members.

Dig in a little deeper into their background, educational setting, lifestyle, and more. This will help you connect deeper with your prospect. It makes the conversation friendly and less tense. You can examine your prospect’s LinkedIn profile to know a bit more about them.

4. Let Your Opening Be Impeccable.

Your opening must be exceptionally flawless and remarkably perfect. It’s a one-time shot. You have just 15seconds to arrest your prospect’s attention and show value.

You have to nail it. For example, you can say, ‘Hi Paul, this is steve from Airbnb.’ Then you pause and wait for a response.

Note; Your prospect might have no clue about who you are, your location, or what products/services your company offers. Therefore, it is vital you sound confident and commanding. People are more likely to pay attention to callers who are confident and assertive than nervous marketers.

5. Be Human 

The fastest way you can connect with a prospect is when you are at ease. A sales rep has three secret weapons; tone, sense of humor, and a fake smile. If you can combine these three, you’re good to go.

Your tone matters a lot, so try to be at ease by adopting a friendly tone. A sense of humor is what gets the conversation going. Try to throw in some jokes but don’t overdo it. By doing this, the prospect connects with you above a superficial level. Prospects are always busy, but they can spare you some minutes by being a little less formal.

Ah, finally, the fake smile- the biggest weapon in your arsenal. When warm calling, smile as much as you can. Trust me, they can hear it, and it goes a long way.

6. Prepare Your Talking Points Ahead of Time.

It’s only right you prepare ahead of time. You do not want to call a prospect and not have a clear idea of what you wish to achieve. A key element in warm calling is Referencing. It keeps the conversation going.

Referencing opens up doors for other conversations. You can reference non-generic information by asking a question. This opens doors to a more professional conversation. Plus, the prospect develops a level of trust for you. For example, you could say;

‘About a week ago, I read a post on your blog about the need to eliminate malaria in African countries. The title was quite intriguing, so was the third and fourth paragraph. I found myself reading it more than once. I remember reading that you tested strategy XY on a few African countries already. I thought I’d put a call through to ask how it went.’

You have undoubtedly arrested your prospect’s attention. Not in a thousand years do they expect a sales rep to come on strong like that. You have successfully captured their attention, complemented their effort, and, most importantly, engaged your prospect in a conversation.

You must relate with the executive beyond a superficial level. Better still, on a topic that they are familiar with. If you successfully integrate this opening line in your call, congratulations; you have revolutionized the game.

7. Ask Open-Ended Questions.

Don’t do all the talking; the conversation becomes one-sided and boring. Despite knowing that the prospect fits your firm’s profile, you must ask questions.

Try not to stick to polar questions. Assess their needs, wants, and interests. By asking open-ended questions, you can engage the prospect in a conversation. Additionally, this gives you a better understanding of what the prospect is all about. Therefore, you’ll be able to help them better.

8. Watch Out for Triggers.  

No, it’s not about a gun. Triggers are your prospect’s reaction to events and questions. When asking open-ended questions, notice what triggers joy and sadness in your prospect.

What gives them a hard time? Capitalize on this and explain how your product/service can eliminate the pain.

9. Keep the Call Brief 

Irrespective of how pure your intentions are, you must understand that prospects are busy people. Keep it short and precise under 5minutes.

Understand that a warm call is an interruption; the prospect didn’t plan to have a call with you. Intellectually assess the conversation to know if the prospect is interested. Once 5minutes is up, ask, ‘Do you have more time to spare, or should I send an email?’ 

Remember, it is an opening call, don’t stress about knowing every information there is. Proceed to include the appropriate executives in the mail.

10. Leave a Voicemail

Remember, a warm call is an interruption, plus your prospect doesn’t know you. There’s a good chance your buyer won’t pick up. Notwithstanding, don’t be discouraged or deterred. Don’t even attempt to abandon this prospect and move to the next one.

Instead, leave a voicemail. You can leave a voicemail if your prospect doesn’t call back; voicemails are quite valuable.

Don’t forget to offer to share more information.

11. Follow up With an Email

Emails are essential; it enhances your visibility. If your prospect picks up the phone and you both engage in a good conversation, you must send an email. The buyer is more likely to open your email because they are familiar with your name.

Adopt this same routine if you sent a voicemail. Alternatively, if you neither spoke to the buyer nor sent a voicemail, you can still send an email. Picture it as a different communication channel.

In your email, thank them for their time and provide supplementary solutions for their company.

12. Call Again

Do this without crossing the harassment line. If you feel you have a good chance of connecting with your buyer through phone calls, put a call through.

You can call four times in 12days. Remember to switch your opening line periodically. Also, call early in the morning, around 7 pm-8 pm, before they get ingrained in the day’s activity.

13. Plan Your Next Step

As a sales rep, you must be tactically sound. Carefully plan your steps. With each call, drive your sales design and marketing purpose further.

14. Have Your Colleague Call You

Practice makes perfect. Have your work partner call you. Practice some of your moves and monitor their reactions. Call them back and ask for feedback. This way, you can build yourself for the task ahead.

15. Track All Calls 

Tracking all calls and leads is essential. It is crucial for your organization. You should investigate and evaluate your prospect’s feedback. It helps in the long run.

Reference: https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/warm-calling-tips

How to Deal With Cheap Customers?

How to Deal With Cheap Customers

People into businesses know that whether you are selling a product or service, there will always be customers who will love what you’re offering and still say your price is high.

With the time uncertainties and shifting demographics on the market affecting the current economic climate, it’s understandable that most people are looking to save more money.

Just like some individuals are open to spending more for a product or service of their taste, some disregard certain factors and believe the only way to achieve value is to pay less.

Here, we define ‘cheap customers’ as those that feel more buying pain than others. Not that they are poor, they are just afraid to spend money and can even feel it’s okay to sacrifice value and quality at the expense of saving money.

As a business person, seeing them as ‘cheap’ is not the best way to go about this. You only need to find the best strategies towards reframing and readdress the issue instead of sacrificing the customer.

Imagine presenting your sales pitch, your customer is smiling, everything is going great, and you’re ready to lock down this deal. Just as you hand over the contract before you close the sales, they start showing reluctance to part with their money. What do you about customers like this? Do you drop your price or walk away?

Types of Customers based on Paying Habits:

According to Neuroscientists, people have the habit of spending until it hurts.

When it comes to spending habits, there are three types of customers;

  • Tightwads
  • Conservative spenders
  • Spendthrifts.

Tightwads are the people who prefer to spend less than they ideally should, and they make up 24% of the average customer base. With 15% of the average customer base, the spendthrifts are opposite; they prefer to overspend. And somewhere in between are the conservative spenders with 61% of the average customer base.

Tightwad customers feel more buying pain and find it harder to part with their money. Not that they always have to chase the least priced things, they just cannot see the values of products or services at full prices. Addressing the issues around cheap customers the typical way might affect your other customers.

How to differentiate between cheap and frugal customers?

At least once, many of us have come across those bargain hunters that are always ready to carve us the lowest possible price they can get. As exhausting as it seems, you need not let yourself be bullied by the price reduction tactics they always apply. Chances are they are cheap customers, and they want something at your expense.

There are frugal customers, and there are cheap ones. By accessing your transaction situation, you can quickly tell their differences and avoid getting sucked in price wars.

The similarity between the cheap and frugal people is that both of them love to save money. However, the cheap customers do not mind doing so at the expense of others.

For anyone in a sales role to deliver value in a business, it helps to be cautious with how you proceed with customers whose focus is on saving money. The first step is by identifying the differences between cheap and frugal customers

How to Identify Cheap Customers?

  • Their only focus is spending less
  • These people are often afraid to spend money
  • The price is most times the bottom line
  • They are ready to sacrifice value, time, and quality to cash in on every possible short-term saving regardless of the cost.

How to Identify Frugal Customers?

  • They prioritize spending to focus on the things they care about
  • These customers have a bigger picture in mind and utilize patience as a strategy to cash in
  • Value is the bottom line of frugal customers
  • They focus on maximizing total value and consider time as an essential factor in transactions.

One look at the differences and characters of cheap and frugal customers, you realize that working with thrifty customers is advantageous to you and your business. You get to save more money and time. However, all hope is not lost for cheap customers. There are ways to deal with these people and minimize their buying pain without losing your customers.

How to ease the buying pain of Cheap Customers

It’s not that offering discounts or occasional deals are necessarily bad, but when customers consistently want what you are offering for cheaper than your asking price, leading your business to a thriving stage becomes difficult.

If you have more cheap customers than you wish or have current customers you fear may employ this tactic down the road, there are a few things to keep in mind when trying to ease their buying pain.

Expand the product offerings

In transactions, time and money are dear to all customers, especially the conservative spenders. Tightwads care little about the service and product compared to the money they pay. Since their focus is mainly on the price point and length of time, you can rationalize their prices as key to convince them. This way, you break up a huge-looking price into smaller bits that seem more affordable without lowering the price.

When the customer says your product or service is too expensive, you can respond by adjusting your offerings to a lower-value version of your product.

Instead of offering $1000 per year for a continually used service or product, you break the pricing up into segments. Proposing $84 a month or even $2.75 per day may feel like a more favorable deal to this customer type. In the end, you get them to pay the same value, only that they’re paying less in the short run.

Saying “the product worth a little more than two bucks a day” is easier to stomach for customers than placing the value at $1000 per year. With this, the customer stops thinking you’re going to budge, and you don’t have to go low in negotiations.

Let the customer win on something other than the price

You would prefer that your customer’s conversation doesn’t become a bargaining war, so let them see the win on other things other than the price. The first step is to agree instead of defending. You can say, “you are right. The product is quite expensive”, then redirect your sales terms towards how your offerings are profitable to them instead of focusing on the price.

You can even slip in little attractions like, “how about we give you a free tutorial on how to get the most out of our product.” With this, the customer will feel accomplished as he has won. Then you change the conversation into something you can negotiate on. By demonstrating your value and showing your product’s effectiveness and efficiency, you can feel free to stand on your ground on pricing.

Offer bundle products

Generally, customers dislike buying multiple things in bits when they can complete the purchase at once. There’s an opportunity here for you as a seller. When customers intend to buy a car, they prefer to opt for packages that feature the vehicles’ entire accessories instead of buying them in units.

Only a few people can endure having to buy the vehicle separately from the digital navigation, leather seats, or upgraded sound system. Most buyers would what all these small related products together and force specific decisions for this transaction as an upgraded vehicle.

Combined packages with unique discount opportunities, like a digital camera with an additional tripod stand, can ease the customer’s buying pain to one transaction and profit you as a seller. This way, you make your customers happy with good deals.

Make small changes to your transaction language

For conservative spenders, it’s the minor changes that matter most times. A small change here and there in the language can affect your customer’s reaction and be all you need to make the difference. Research shows that regardless of how small the figure is, using “small” or “only” right before the product can psychologically influence a tightwad customer’s receptiveness to make purchases.

For instance, instead of writing “$5 fee” as the shipping charge for the product, you are offering, writing “a small $5 fee” can make the difference. All that matters here is the customer’s perception. It would be best to change your language by adding simple words that remind the cheap customers that these charges are small and win them.

Marketing in terms of utility over pleasure

Even when you are selling a luxury product, focus more on practically offering the product. While selling a luxury bed, focus on how it can keep back pain in control.

Customers who are unwilling to path with their money would care less about the relaxation or luxury, but you can buy their attention when your sales emphasize the utility. Also, it’s not that hedonic terms don’t influence the sales positively to some other categories or buyers. However, when dealing with tightwad ones, using a utilitarian way serves as a plan B selling strategy and changes your selling tone.

Agree before you defend

Going lower than your price will not pay your business. One last technique you can use to land the deal and defend your price is to agree with the client before protecting the product’s value or service.

Using responses like “most of our customers say we’re quite expensive before they buy,” “true, the price is high, but our services are exceptional,” or “you deserve only the best” can go a long way to helping your deal.

After replies like this, you can tell them what your business has that the competitors lack and what makes your business a better choice before defending the price. This helps them justify your price.

Also, people feel less bothered about spending money when they see that others are doing it. Letting them know that they are not the only ones who think the price is high, but they are the only ones not buying, pushes the tightwad customers to commit to your deal.

Give relative compliment when you get the opportunity to tell them how better their business will be if they opt for your product or service. Let them see how much of a problem the few extra bucks they’re paying you to solve for them.

Sometimes they’re not the right customers for you, and that’s okay

Customers are labeled “cheap” based on their spending habits. Sometimes not pushing such people to purchase your product is another way of handing them. Although there is an emphasis on putting the customers first to grow your business, you also need to know the bottom line you would not go beyond and be prepared to walk away from the deal.

Our customer-loving self is a bit affected by saying this, but in the end, not everyone will be interested in your services or products. You can only put enough effort into dealing with some customers before realizing they do not fit appropriately in your branding positioning. There’s no wrong in positioning your business to favor certain customers over others directly.

It might seem strange to avoid any customer, but the truth is that always walking from these deals does both you and the customer a favor. By staying away from customers that aren’t interested in your product or service, you get time to focus on the other ones that genuinely love your offerings and avoid the additional drag cheap customers can cause.

When you have made several trials, and these people don’t still want to pay your correct worth, it’s not always a reflection of your business. Maybe they do not require your product or service at that time. Don’t be scared! Don’t go berserk! It’s nothing personal. You just need to be ready to get rid of them politely.

In businesses, not everyone is compatible with each other, and it’s wise to detach the weak link with some cheap customers. Define your services and your ideal customers, and clearly outline the ones that aren’t suitable for your business. In the long run, it would profit everyone.

You can get several rejections, but what you can do is ask for referrals before ending your conversation and let them know how to contact you in the future. This helps your business keep finding new customers to make up for the lost ones.

Reference: https://www.helpscout.com/blog/cheap-customers/

Effective Ways to Boost your Sales on a Limited Budget

Effective Ways to Boost your Sales on a Limited Budget

The two things that every business has in common no matter what service or product they may be selling is 1) They need to make (more) money and 2) They need to reduce expenses. This is true for every business no matter what they sell, who the customer may be, what part of the world they are located in, or any other factor that can be imagined. Every business struggles with the balance of revenue that can be generated, while managing costs included in their product or service based on the cost of goods, labor, rent, shipping, and any number of other charges and fees involved in getting that product or service to their customer.

While many of these factors are outside of the control of any business owner, there is still one thing that an entrepreneur can ALWAYS control to their advantage, and that is MORE SALES!! There are always things that can be done to more visible to customers, be more targeted in ads, be more persuasive in sales pitches. And with technology allowing for more user-friendly digital marketing platforms and practices, a digital amateur can easily dive in and start seeing results in online sales and marketing tactics.

Here we have compiled our list of top things (digital and non-digital) any business owner can do to increase sales without breaking the bank.

Leverage the Relationships with you Current Customers

Hands down the number one thing any business can do TODAY to foster future sales is to take good care of your current customers. They are valuable, they are trusted, they are loyal, and they likely feel the same way about you and your company. Think about it from their perspective – they have shopped around, have researched you and your competitors, they asked questions, made a purchase, and assuming they liked it, you never heard from them again.

Typically, when a customer is unhappy you will hear about it, unfortunately, it doesn’t always apply the other way around. But that is ok because that is essentially your job. Reach out and ask them for feedback. What do they like best about the product, and how often do they use it? Is there something that could be done to make it better? This can be done with a follow-up email, a simple survey, or even a phone call. If you can get this feedback from a current customer, it could be invaluable when pitching your product or service to a new customer. If there is a way to broaden your range of services or utility of your current product, you become even more essential to their lives or careers. That increased value shows them you are there for the long haul and people like to feel like they have made a good decision by supporting a company that truly cares about them.

Here are some helpful stats to make the point:

  • 80% of future sales will likely come from 20% of your existing customers.
  • Repeat customers typically will spend an average of 30% more than a new customer.
  • Existing customers are 50% more likely to try out your new products.
  • Studies show that 65% of sales will come via existing customers.
  • The likelihood of selling to a new client has a conversion rate of 5-25%, while conversions from existing customers are 60-70%.

Run Great Promotions Often

Everyone loves a deal, and people are always looking to save money. Consider why loyalty rewards programs are practically ubiquitous these days for what seems like practically every company you shop with everywhere. The business wants to keep the customer returning to spend money with them, and a customer likes being valued to the point of earning freebies for their spending loyalty. Jump in on this and start capturing those extra dollars now, it will add up quickly.

These can be setup up monthly, quarterly, or whenever makes the most sense for your customers, your product or services, and your business. Maybe you run a winter-themed clothing store, you probably don’t need to incentivize people to spend with you when it’s cold out, as the demand for your products will automatically drive them to seek you out. But maybe a few months prior and as the seasons start to change makes more sense to get in front of them as they start thinking about those purchase decisions.

Whatever the rhythm is that works for you, you must keep it consistent so that you begin to train your customers. They will start to look forward to them, and the more a customer is excited in anticipation of your promotion or sale, the better it is for you. Think of the Black Friday example – people lined up for days outside of stores in hopes of saving money. If you can get a customer excited for your next sale or promotion, you can almost guarantee they are going to share that info with their friends and family, raving about the great deals they have discovered from that great business across town. This leads to our next example of the power of the referral, often referred to as the most valuable word of mouth praise a business can ever receive.

Initiate a Referral System

Smart business owners don’t wait for good reviews, they proactively ask for them and incentivize them. Establish a customer referral program and offer existing customers free products, free upgrades, or additional ongoing services for referring new customers or leaving positive reviews online. Word of mouth is still the most trusted form of marketing for any business, and the number of online review sites paired with social media makes this approach easier than ever.

One of the most immediate ways to increase sales for your business is by increasing the number of positive reviews you have on Google. Consumers trust what other customers say and often use those reviews as a key factor when choosing a business. Positive reviews will also help you increase your business’ star rating that is seen next to your search result on Google, which is always a good thing for increasing customers and sales. The best part about setting this up is not difficult, or expensive, but the results can be extraordinary.

Making it Easier to Spend More Money with you

This is an interesting tactic because it can actually be applied in a few different ways. From a technology point of view, having an easy-to-use website, with one-click purchasing, etc. can all be used to make the process of the shopping experience and the transaction smoother. But, for this example, we are going to focus on the concept of increased spending capture or bulk buying. Said another way this is the tactic of creating packages, bundles, bulk deals, discounts on large orders, and more. Think of the shopping experience of buying at Costco, where everything comes in bulk packages, and often more than one shopper typically needs, but the cost of purchasing in such bulk justifies the extra items because of those savings. Consider using this tactic for your own company, creating scenarios for customers to utilize your products or services as a more comprehensive buying experience where they know they can save on bulk purchases or multiple items purchased together.

Obviously, some companies will have an easier time figuring out ways to combine services into a package or multiple products into a bundle, but it’s a worthy exercise, nonetheless. If it is not so obvious to put together similar services or products together, look at ways of putting different things together that allow your customer to get a great deal while checking multiple things off of their to-do list. Your customers will appreciate the convenience and savings of the entire experience.

Or opt for the tactic of offering discounts for high volume orders or purchases. We have all seen these – “Buy 4 get the 5th one free” or “Get 10% off when you spend $100 or more”. When you think about it, we actually see these everywhere, and it’s because these offers work. If your customer is going to spend money on something somewhere, they might as well save a few dollars by spending that money with you right? Every customer is looking for a better deal and will likely choose to spend with a business that provides them good quality AND good value. Sometimes this tactic can be considered a loss leader, where a business offers a small discount to get the customer in the door for purchase, anticipating they will spend more during that visit, and return again to purchase again and again. In the end, this is worth it and the stats at the beginning of this article only help to validate that.

Make Sure you have a Targeted Digital Approach

Up until now we have focused on utilizing non-digital tactics to target and attract more customers to look at your business and consider purchasing or working with you. But a well-rounded marketing approach will certainly include effective digital tactics a well. This can be a slippery slope, however, as there is a fairly low bar for entry for most digital options for marketing these days, but to really energize your footprint and drive sales, the costs of services can really add up very quickly. Here are our suggestions for things to consider to ensure a dynamic online presence.

Social Media

With more than 2 billion users on Facebook, it is safe to say that social media is a valuable tool for any business to get acquainted with, if not already. The great thing about social media as well is that there is seemingly no end in sight in terms of existing or newly added platforms. While this can feel like an overwhelming and daunting feeling, the main thing to remember is that any business can take advantage of this multitude of options to be present in front of their target customers.

The first step is really to identify the right platform for your product or service, as the easiest example is to say the average user of LinkedIn is far different from the average user of Snapchat as they are vastly different platforms. There are countless resources that can help you to make this decision, but our focus will be once you have decided on one or multiple platforms, and some tactics and strategies to get you started.

Make Sure Your Social Media Profiles are Dynamic and Complete

Consider any profile you set up for your business a mini version of your company website, as that is essentially what it is. Consider that for many people the first time they will come across your business could very well be on social media and you want to make sure you make a good first impression. Each profile should clearly convey who you are, what you do, and what values you stand for. Since you might not be on their radar for long, make sure you immediately resonate and connect with your ideal customer.

Go to Where Your Customers Are

Social media platforms are treasure troves of information on customer behavior, which means getting the attention of your target buyer can be set up to go after them like a laser beam. Once you have worked to define this, you can easily use sales or promotions to communicate with your ideal customers, in real-time, and on their turf. Frame your message correctly, or in other words – not too sales-oriented – and you can end up with a very effective social media strategy that brings in new customers, provides great customer reviews, and spreads your message faster, farther and cheaper, than you could ever do with just traditional marketing.

Create Great Content

Lastly, we want to touch on content marketing, a creative and fun way of engaging your audience that has proven extremely effective in both the traditional and now digital space. Think of content like blogs, newsletters, videos, infographics, and so much more. It is basically anything that a consumer can read, watch or look at. What makes good content is when it is so good the reader just has to share it, and what makes great content, is when it is easy to share. This is basically the dynamic value inclusion that digital content provides. Start by writing a blog, host it on your website, then share it on your social channels, and include a teaser in your monthly emails. The more you ensure your content is relevant to your customer, the more valuable it will be considered and the more you will establish yourself as an expert in your field.

Final Thoughts

Wrapping up right where we started, reiterating the need that all businesses have for more sales. But the final takeaway is that this doesn’t have to be an expensive process. With some creativity and attention to the fundamentals, anyone can start utilizing the free tools around them to start making an impact on their customer and their bottom line. Whether you are on a limited budget or just trying to be more effective in your approach, use these low-cost sales and marketing tactics to improve existing customer relationships, rev up your promotions, create a dynamic digital footprint and realize increased sales.

Reference: https://diymarketers.com/how-to-increase-sales-on-a-tight-budget/

Future of SEO: AI-Generated Content vs. Authenticity of Human Content

Future of SEO

SEO agencies’ common strategies are to optimize genuine human-made content for end-users or focus on technical shortcuts and generated content for Google optimization. Right from time, Google’s guidelines also have always prioritized human inputs where accurate, reliable, and relevant content is everything.

Now that artificial intelligence and machine learning technology have become one of the hottest topics of discussion in different industries, there are bound to be some digital marketing space impacts.

Machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence contribute tremendously to improving content relevance for the searchers. It’s increasing on the internet that there’s almost no way to differentiate between the generated content and the human content.

Even though intelligent technologies introduce a revolutionary change in the fundamental strategies, it shouldn’t be difficult since the digital marketing space already has a history of adapting effectively to new technology changes.

From simple optimization of websites to the complex and nonstop evolving process of creating and enhancing the contents to meet its target users on various platforms, the last decade has recorded some Search Engine Optimization changes.

These evolutions have imposed changes on content marketing, social media marketing, user experience, and mobile optimization. Simultaneously, some other basic tools like the keywords, link building, and meta tags optimizations remain unchanged.

While considering that a move towards prioritizing AI-generated contents over human content could mean gathering reliable information in no time, you also need to know that actualities depend on Google and its strategy.

Before adopting these new technologies to your strategy as some sort of advantage to stay on top of the game, there are predictions on how the automatically generated content can influence the future of search engine optimization.

Google’s Actions against Manipulation and Spamming

Right from time, Google’s focus has mainly been on the users. However, since many consistently try several means to manipulate their algorithm for their benefits, Google has launched several updates.

At first, Google searches were based on the page rank algorithm, where a website’s quality depends on the quality of websites that directs to it. This then means that the site’s rank is based on the credibility given to them by the other website, making it difficult to manipulate the algorithm.

Regardless, some SEO specialists found ways to counter the system and increase their ranking by spamming websites, especially the comment sections with backlinks. This technique could have worked, only that it spreads links all over the internet.

The relevance and page ranking depend on the query’s main keywords compared with the words present on the page. Easy enough, several website managers tried to fill their pages with keywords and rank higher. Google found out about this practice and introduced an update to the algorithm in 2003. This way, websites that have pages stuffed up with keywords were penalized.

There is also another update – Google Panda to target those domains that relied on duplicate content, irrelevant links, and link farming, which put a lot of pressure on the SEO profession.

Their moves towards removing the shortcuts with these two updates indicate that Google prefers content to be unique, authentic, and credible. With a background like this, it’s safe to say that Google continues to prioritize the relationship of trust, credibility, and reliability with the user and the content creators, which defines the human aspect of the internet.

Google Prioritizing Human Values and Inputs

After Google lost their initial algorithm due to the marketer’s moving ranks with false signals, they found a way to upgrade their technology and improve search results. Only the highest-quality content gets a top ranking.

Even though Google will continue to value human content’s authenticity, they have also invested a lot in progressing the machine’s efficiency and how it benefits the algorithms.

The introduction of the Hummingbird algorithm update redefined the overall context of search queries by understanding the intention of the users instead of displaying only pages that included the word they typed. Using information such as the domain, idea, or location of the query analyses the concepts and interprets longer and more complex queries.

In 2015, the RankBrain’s update went further into implementing deep learning to understand better and predict new queries in the search engine. For instance, “boot” is footwear in America, and in the UK, it means the trunk of a car.

The algorithm teaches itself to deliver precise results to the user’s queries and use details from the user’s engagement, such as click rate and read time, to know the relevance of these results.

Without relying on backlinks or semantic content, the algorithm uses information from the content’s engagement value to expose Google to the user’s satisfaction level and precise value of the content.

How AI-Based Content Affect the Authenticity of Human Content

From the several kinds of artificial intelligence, search engines require the aspects of AI machine learning that finds and displays SERPs. This kind of intelligence enables the technology to teach themselves, adapt, generate and respond to data without explicit programming.

With this, you only need to give a few keywords, and the AI uses the information they find from online data and create unique content. Search engine administrators may not be ready to face this, but the machine learning targets towards giving them less direct control over results.

Recently, AI has been used to generate data. One of the interesting ones is the GPT-3 (an AI language model developed by OpenAI) that Guardian in 2020 allowed to write an essay on its purpose as artificial intelligence.

Although the algorithms still lack relevance, structure, global semantic understanding, and some results are not yet as convincing as expected, there are anticipations that these technologies will soon evolve to the point where users and google would find the content indistinguishable.

Knowing the efficiency of this learning machine and the predicted impacts on content creation, the AI will soon generate their own responses to searches without requiring extensive developer input.

After investing in developing updates that fight against spamming robots, we likely see Google admitting to content automation’s growing power and applying changes to its human content policy. Since some AI-generated articles seem more readable with lesser jargon of bloggers and journalists, this may just be enough reason for Google to change its perspective.

The Future of SEO

Artificial intelligence has come as a huge factor in search engine optimization. As machine learning and word vector programming improve, there are bound to be consequences for your content. The impact right now may not yet be so relevant, but it introduces a path to reconsidering your content creation strategy to stay on top of your game.

With the changing environment of voice searching, smart device, and user’s demand for relevant content from quick queries, SEO specialists have to adapt to the machines and AI updates. However, up-to-date, the authenticity of human content still provides the value and result that an average user might require.

As the number of SEO specialists continuously increases, machine learning will eventually accelerate the market’s battle. It presents ways to save time, increase your productivity, and give a step above your competitors.

As good as this sounds, artificial intelligence is still in an evolving process, and it’s interesting for only redundant types of contents like match summaries and essays. The technology is not yet a perfect replacement for in-depth and valuable articles.

With this, you have to balance the time saving of automation and the authenticity of human content. In the end, the future of SEO may adapt to a marketing approach where human cause and the intentions behind it may be all that’s left.

What lies ahead for SEO?

Will the future of SEO AI-generated content bring an end to the need for human content and its authenticity? Should content creators roll over in defeat and cede their works to the robots? Not quite.

Optimization strategies may change, but by creating long content that is efficiently optimized to focus on voice and visual searches, the system will remain valuable. Human-created content will most likely keep its value long past the generation of AI-based technology.

How SEOs Can Adapt Better with AI Technology

Artificial intelligence keeps improving and adapting better with search engines. Now SEO strategies need to follow the process and adjust as well. Voice and visual searches in long-quality content keep the hopes of optimization currently, but there certain demands of this changing medium.

1. Optimizing your site for voice search

Now that there are smartphones and assistants such as Siri, Alexa, Ask Google, and others, the convenience, and popularity of voice searches are changing the way we think about SEO. Studies show that a continuously increasing number of users are adapting to voice searches, which makes optimizing your website for the voice search essential.

Queries made via voice search tend to be conversational and concise, more like conversing with an acquaintance. Having a phrase or a sentence as a response to questions instead of typing seems like a better choice to most searchers. Optimizing your site for voice search will require your content to be unique, valuable, and have a more natural language such that it’s easy to find and understand.

2. Optimizing visual content

The adaption of AI enables the search engines to predict, label, and connect visual content based on the AI platform’s historical data. This means the search engines are getting better at knowing what images, audio clips, and videos are about.

Contents creators should consider the importance of SEO in their work. There are already aspects of SEO in visual content creation, but using factors like descriptions, video length, and keyword tags help to have video rank in search and gain traffic on visual content sites like YouTube and others.

As the AI gets better, photos and video analysis will improve such that visual contents will be compared based on their relevance, quality, and value to website visitors. Content creators now have to adjust specific visuals to suit this development.

3. Quality is a priority

Quality content is already one of the essential factors in effective SEO. With better AI-powered search engines, the need for quality content is now more important than ever since the AI finds and bypasses weak content with poor readability and a high bounce rate.

Optimizing experts have to consider putting more effort into creating content and backlinks that are more relevant and valuable to users. As the AI gets smarter, SEO would depend more on quality and increased standards for website content, email targeting, social media, and digital marketing campaigns.

Only websites with authentic, consistent, and relevant content will rank high. They need to have engagement features and vital personalization that keeps the consumers interested.

The necessities of an Improved AI in several ways improve the SEO strategies that marketers can implement. Considering everything from the creation and structuring of the content, chatbots, and email correspondence, just to mention a few, the AI and machine learning techniques represent a future where AI is prevalent in SEO.

Reference: https://medium.com/blankpage/how-ai-generated-content-will-impact-the-future-of-seo-aa8a3bad9879

Google Rankings to the Top – Give Readers What They Need

Google Rankings

A website owner will make much money and smile at the bank when their page appears on the first page of Google search result (SERP1).

There are two ways involved in getting this result:

Organically: this requires employing SEO techniques, your site goes up in rankings. It can be expensive when you pay someone to help you achieve this, and it can take a long time before a visible effect.

Paid Placement: outbidding every other advertiser in the world for a set of keywords to rank higher on SERP1. Note: this can be too costly.

I prefer to do it organically.

Does that make sense?

Competition generally directly relates to how much money people can earn on the market; thus, competition is beneficial. It is an indicator that you can make money from the niche.

However, too much of it can be bad; you might be contending against whales since there’s a lot of money in the market.

Niching down decreases the level of competition in a market.

It takes a lot of money, some time, and a unique approach to hit SERP1 when a lot of money is needed to bid for a set of keywords.

In several intensely competitive markets, We ranked many sites and appeared at SERP1. Niches like sports betting, sports, gaming, and DFS.

Sometimes, we create a website for product and rank to SERP1 through SERP3. An influx of people would shrink in, but our game plan is to counter and knock them out. In their own SEO game, We’d crushed their vendor, so they purchase the site and hire us to consult them.

We offer better content in a niche that gives our readers value, not black hat SEO techniques.

Do you want people’s loyalty? Give them what they crave (offer them value).

From experience, we’ve learned that there are bullshit pages on SERP1, and people are tired of it all.

Google seems to be actively creating algorithms to eliminate SERP1 garbage, but the ‘SEO world’ works hard to find ways to rank total crap sites.

These are the three best things you can do to enhance the chances to get a SERP1 page:

Don’t overwhelm people with Bullshits to fill a page. Create useful content on your choice of niche. Please pay attention to the pages: offer valuable information to people which they can use.

Ensure your readers can easily share your posts on social media (Twitter, Facebook, and IG).

Employ the use of a keyword tool to discover the keywords/phrases you may not have known of in your niche.

Keys to Web Positioning (2021) | All you Need to Know

SEO is a factor that any business, no matter how small, should consider. Having a presence on the Internet is essential to gain visibility, reputation, and increase sales. But what is online positioning, and how can we apply it to our business?

What is Google Ranking?

Google ranking or web positioning is a set of SEO techniques, strategies, and disciplines focused on optimizing your business’s visibility in search engines. More straightforwardly: SEO is a process focused on placing a web page in search engines’ top positions. When a user does a specific search related to the type of business that the web hosts.

Although there are several search engines, there is no doubt that Google is the king of them all. That is why SEO strategies tend to focus on changes in Google’s algorithms to conquer it.

Statistics show that 90% of people who search on Google only choose the first results on the search engine’s first page. Therefore, SEO pursues to generate organic traffic and ensure that web pages gain visibility.

There are two types of positioning that need to be discussed. They are as follows:

SEO positioning

This type of ranking is known as organic. This means that you do not have to pay to get it, but it is achieved naturally. With a well-thought-out SEO strategy, you can place your business in the top positions of Google without having to pay anything, neither to it nor to other search engines. It will be your content and the optimizations that will take you to the top.

SEM positioning

It is the flip side of the coin. Its acronym in English translates as Search Engine Marketing and consists of an online positioning strategy using paid ads. An advertising campaign is created in which the user does a search, and your result will come out before the rest. You will pay for each click.

Which one should we choose? Much will depend on the results you want to obtain. There is no doubt that SEO positioning, organic, is slower but more secure; let’s say it would be like stepping on solid ground. The most advisable thing is that an SEO agency helps you build a strategy that gives good results.

What are the Most Relevant Factors for Google Ranking?

Understanding how to position yourself in Google requires knowing what factors directly and decisively influence it. As we mentioned, a well thought out and created strategy is necessary to achieve success. What should this strategy include?

Optimization of the web structure

Optimizing our website is extremely important as reducing page load, and increasing speed has increased sales by at least 1%. On the other hand, just half a second more difference in loading can reduce sales considerably.

Having a well-optimized site has different advantages, such as:

Usability

It makes it much easier for users to view and use. This is a critical point for first-time users to do so again. A complicated and non-intuitive page can repel even the most potential customers.

Faster loading

It will cause an excellent user experience, and therefore, you will be able to obtain and retain customers. A user who has to waste time waiting for a page to load and does not have much will quickly search for another that does it faster.

Improve online positioning. Google considers any detail, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem, and its optimization is one of them. Therefore, a point in favor that influences the search results is precisely structuring the content. The contents play an important role, as we will comment a little below. When optimizing a website, it must be of quality and well structured so that users will not look the other way.

Clean source code. If the source code is clean, it will work much better and faster.

Design and user experience

This factor is decisive, talking about getting new clients, building loyalty, and increasing sales. Your website’s design must be simple, but at the same time attractive, that will impress users due to its colors and shapes, above all because of its ease of use.

You take it into account. Each of the colors in the chromatic range you can apply on your website has a different meaning and can convey something different. For example, blue for confidence, yellow for creativity, etc. Although Google does not take into account, it is just a detail that can be important when it comes to getting your page to be seen.

One factor concerning the design that Google does take into account, and a lot, is usability. It should be intuitive so that even a young child can use it. On the other hand, you must stop quickly and all the other points discussed in the optimization section.

Web content and blog articles

Content is the king of SEO. A business without a blog and useful web content won’t get very far on Google. If you wonder how to position yourself in the search engines with the content, you have to include in them:

Keywords

Please choose the right ones; various tools show you the quality of these and the competition that uses them, and how it is working. At this stage, you must know that if you choose generic words, they will have a lot of competition, and therefore, it will be tough for them to position, much less quickly. One of the best techniques is the keywords’ long-tail technique, keywords made up of two or three words.

Natural writing

Keywords shouldn’t stop us from talking about wild wiggling. Even when we want our content to rank, we can’t blatantly include them, as Google would notice and penalize us. It is not about repeating a keyword many times but about finding a balanced density that the search engine values ​​favorably. Every time the Google bot is more human and values ​​the language in this language. In addition to the main keyword, you can include some secondary ones that activate SEO but do not allow you to lose naturalness.

Optimized images

Images usually include an ALT TEXT or alternative text to optimize to help in SEO positioning. Google does not usually identify pictures, hence the importance of adding a text that contains the keyword and understands what visual content it has. Of course, do not put the same keyword in all images. It could be considered over-optimization and penalize us. Use secondary or synonyms that indicate what your article is about, and the picture included.

Use SEO tools. Like for example, the WordPress Yoast. Especially at the beginning of starting in this world of online positioning. If you do not have the help of an SEO agency, Yoast can help you acquire basic SEO and its operation notions.

The meta description is another aspect to consider. The meta description will be what the user sees in the search engine as a summary of your content, so it is essential to hooks and contains the main keyword.

There are other aspects to include in our content, but they deserve a separate mention. For this reason, we will talk to you about their function below.

Internal linking

Internal links refer to words that redirect our website to a different page than the one we are currently on. These are important for several reasons:

They help users navigate your site. It will improve the user experience because it will be much easier to get from one content to another that interests us.

They consolidate the hierarchy of our site. Our website has several categories that are divided into subcategories. By linking internally, we can make large classes redirect small ones and thus make the content of our website known.

Our site gains authority. This is known as link juice, which is the flow of positioning capacity that Google relates to links. When a website with a lot of authority, or a large page, redirects to a smaller one, Google will give power and importance.

Does this mean that it can be linked anywhere and in any way? Well, the correct way to use the internal links is the following:

Think of usability. The purpose of these links is to improve site navigation, consolidate the structure and improve the user experience.

For Google to detect our internal links and mark them as good, they must have a good structure. Thus the search engine will see different pages of your website.

External linking

The external links may be a concept that not all businesses understand. Why refer to pages that deal with topics similar to yours without becoming a competitor? Isn’t it throwing stones on your roof? The questions have their logic, and we understand that they can go through your head. Still, external links are a handy tool in the SEO world and have proven to yield excellent results.

The difference is that the internal ones are important for maintaining our web site’s structure and link juice. In contrast, the external ones give authority and relevance to our content.

Linking to authoritative sites can make our content more relevant and gain SEO rankings. The advantage is that we can know who links to our site, and when we link to a site, they can know it too. As a general rule, the answer is a backlink. Where and how should we link?

Well, it’s not a good idea to link randomly, but to look for relevant and useful quality content. Not all the first results that appear on Google are always the best. Look for those with academic references, those that speak of proven studies, etc.

Another issue to be mindful of is that these links open in a new window so that your page does not lose traffic and remains open. Do not put anchor text (the word hyperlink) like here or this; it is not considered quality since dubious reputation use pages.

It is vital to keep the balance because an excess of external links reduces our content quality and will decrease our ranking.

These are all the steps to follow to achieve organic SEO positioning. It can always be a good idea to have an SEO agency’s experience and professionalism for an effective strategy.

Every year Google makes small changes to its algorithms, so it is essential to keep our content, whether from the blog or the web, well-optimized. The advantages of web positioning are these:

Increase brand visibility. Isn’t that what any business pursues? The motto ‘if you are not on the Internet, you do not exist’ is becoming more and more famous.

Attract traffic. Useful content will convert this traffic into leads, which later become potential customers.

Create sales opportunities.

It positions the brand as an authority in the market.

You will triumph over the competition with patience and perseverance.

You will educate with your content.

A better conversion rate, even if you invest in advertising.

Do not hesitate; betting on SEO positioning even if it requires an investment in hiring professionals. It will bring you multiple benefits and increase your business’s sales. If you don’t know where to start, don’t hesitate to contact us because, at SEO Vendor, we have the qualified professionals you need.

 

Reference: https://medium.com/practical-pragmatics/improve-your-google-ranking-by-giving-the-people-what-they-want-f18945a0dac9