Marketing is what we do. From the moment we get up to the second our heads hit the pillow. It’s safe to say we are obsessed with Marketing. Check out what we share on our Marketing blog.

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Hashtag 101- How to Use #Hashtags Like a Pro

How to use Hashtags

There is a lot of confusion surrounding hashtags. They seemed to pop up out of no where and now have over run the social media space. Hashtags done properly can be immensely powerful marketing tools but when used carelessly can be extremely annoying and possibly detrimental to your online reputation. We could sit here and bore you with the history of the hashtag, and how they’ve evolved in the digital space over the years but we will leave that to PaultheTrombonist in his hilarious video History of the Hashtag # while we enlighten you on how to apply hashtags in each of your social channels like a Pro.

What the #eck is the purpose of a hashtag?

Love them or hate them, hashtags are here to stay. There are many examples out there of hashtags done well (and probably even more of hashtags gone bad) but overall they serve three main purposes:

  1. To filter and categorize information
  2. To connect with people and unite messages
  3. To add to a brand

Here at Cloud9 Marketing, we represent a lot of businesses in the tourism industry here in beautiful Whistler, B.C. We obviously want people across social media platforms who are interested in travelling and visiting places like Whistler to view our posts. Because of this, we always ensure to append #Whistler to our posts. Other common hashtags we use are #ski #snowboard #adventure (you get it).  By doing this people interested in these topics can simply click on one of the above hashtags and all of our beautiful and engaging photos and posts will appear. If you went on Twitter or Instagram right now and typed in a hashtag that interested you (like #winewednesday for example), you will see thousands of posts all displaying the hashtag and theme.

If you run a business and want to connect with potential fans and followers, hashtags are an excellent way to do so. Say you have an online dog treat business and want to get more people following you on social media and ultimately order dog treats on your website. Conducting initial research on popular hashtags used in your industry on sites such as Tagboard will give you a good idea which tags will be popular with your target market. By consistently appending these hashtags to your posts you will get more likes, comments, shares and retweets simply by people interested in and following those hashtags.

Hashtags are also great tools for branding. If you have a promotion you are running or want to communicate your slogan or brand strengths in your posts, appending them as hashtags is a great way to communicate the message to your fans and followers. Take Coca Cola for example, their recent Share a Coke campaign has penetrated the social realm and the hashtag #ShareACoke has been appended to all of their relevant posts. The more your social community notices branded hashtags the more likely they are to engage with them.

Are they for all social channels?

Hashtags were born on Twitter, and are still important additions to any post on this channel although generally only one or two can be included due to the character limitations. Instagram is also the perfect platform for hashtags and relevant and trending hashtags are sure to increase engagement of your posts. Instagram has a maximum of 30 hashtags per post but it’s recommended to insert 5-10 relevant, trending and catchy tags. Unlike Twitter and Instagram, where hashtags unite the entire community of users, Facebook hashtags generally only unite current friends and followers, or large brands who don’t have their setting set to private. For that reason, individuals don’t use hashtags as much on Facebook as brands do however if you’re going to use them, it is suggested to keep them minimal, 1-2 shows the most engagement.

Hopefully now we’ve demystified the hashtag and you are ready to put them to use in your own social media strategy. Still confused or need help with your online marketing- we are here to help! Contact Cloud9 Marketing today and find out how we can assist you.

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search engine optimization SEO digital marketing
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10 Interesting Marketing Stats Not to Ignore

Marketing has come a long way in the last few years, if you ask people in the industry many would probably agree there have been more changes in marketing in the last 5 years, then there has been in the 50 years prior. With the explosion of the internet, uptake of mobile and ability to seamlessly track and monitor advertising spend and ROI online, it’s no surprise businesses around the world are diverting their budget to digital in 2016. Here are some key Marketing Stats that are so important to the way a business markets their products and services in both the B2B and B2C space, they simply cannot be ignored.

  1. In 2016 67% more leads will be generated by companies with an active blog

Content marketing is essential for optimal SEO performance and is the best way to drive traffic to your website. Blogging about useful, informative and engaging information that is relevant to your target market will drive traffic to your website, ultimately increasing conversions for your business.

  1. The average person now spends more time online then TV and all other media combined

This should come as no surprise. Smartphones, tablets and computers have become an extension of people’s bodies and people now turn to the internet instead of traditional media like TV, print and radio to get information.

  1. Total spending on Internet advertising is predicted to grow 12.9% next year. The Internet will become the largest medium for advertising in 2016 (ahead of TV)

Internet advertising is cost effective, highly targeted and traceable. These three features along with potential reach have seen the internet surpass TV for total ad spend.

  1. Social ad spending has doubled over the past two years.

Social media advertising is easy, cheap and effective. With platforms like Instagram now offering ad functionality, total social ad spend is expected to continue with double digit growth over the coming years.

  1. By 2019 mobile advertising will represent 72% of all US digital ad spending

As smartphones become more functional, and websites more mobile-friendly consumers will increasingly use their mobile to research and purchase products and services online.

  1. Digital marketing spend is forecasted to account for 35% of total budgets in 2016.

How much has your business allocated to digital marketing this year? Companies have noticed the value of online marketing and larger portions of budget are being spent on digital marketing.

  1. The top four channels for increases in digital marketing spend last year were email marketing (61% of marketers increasing spending on this channel), social media (49%), mobile marketing (40%), and SEO/PPC (38%)

Most businesses have a combination of email marketing, social media, mobile marketing and PPC as part of their digital marketing portfolio. It is getting rarer for companies not to leverage all four of these components to varying degrees.

  1. Mobile commerce is growing fast, 87% of internet users now have a smartphone – mobiles are revolutionizing business

Around the world smart phones and mobile uptake is becoming the norm presenting an enormous opportunity for mobile advertising.

  1. 93% of shoppers buying decisions are influenced by social media

Although social media is not known as the best conversion platform it is absolutely essential for brand awareness and influencing customers to choose your company over the competition. To increase conversions, social media advertising is very effective.

  1. Marketers who have prioritized blogging are 13x more likely to enjoy a positive ROI

Content marketing is commonly agreed by marketing experts to be the most important SEO element and those who commit to prioritizing blogging are seeing results.

There is no longer a question of having an online presence or not, and a website that’s not producing fresh content, or a social media presence that’s sitting stagnant, can do more harm then good online. The question now is having the right mix of online marketing components for your business to ensure you are reaching clients with the right message at the right time.

At Cloud9 Marketing we specialize in creating customized digital marketing strategies for our clients in Whistler BC and around the world. Whether it’s social media, SEO, web design, graphic design, content marketing and blogging or branding, we deliver results-driven, customer-centric and highly engaging digital marketing services communicating unique brands to the right people at the right time.

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How Agencies Deal with Competing Clients

As a marketing agency in Whistler, BC we are commonly asked how we manage competing clients in an unbiased and equitable way. Although we represent clients from around the world, the bread and butter of our clients are local businesses here in Whistler. Due to the resort town nature of the community, the main industries that require digital marketing support are tourism and hospitality, retail and real estate. As you can imagine, because of the limited number of industries in Whistler that require marketing support, many of our clients compete, either directly or indirectly with one another. Here we hope to address the issue of representing competing clients, and how we ensure integrity and professionalism when doing so.

Individualized Strategy

As I’m sure you can appreciate, no two businesses are the same. Even a real estate agent operating in a competitive marketplace targeting the same clients has unique selling points and competitive advantages that differ from their competition. Our job as a marketing agency is to focus on these distinct competitive advantages and create an online marketing strategy that is in alignment with your business’ goals and objectives. In short, no matter how similar two businesses may be, each online marketing strategy is comprised of a different marketing mix and each business differs from its competition giving us the marketing juice needed to create a customized strategy and online presence.

Your success = Our success

As a marketing agency our business thrives on creating happy clients. This is intensified due to the size of the community, the nature of online marketing and our competitive business space. Whistler is a small tight-knit community and this makes it absolutely essential to keep clients happy. In small communities there is no anonymity; people talk and a business’s reputation is everything. Ensuring our clients are kept happy by implementing results driven digital marketing strategies is crucial to Cloud9’s success.

As a digital marketing agency our space is online. This means our work is out there on the internet for anyone to see, interpret and critique. Being exposed in this way is another reason why it is in our best interest to ensure our clients succeed. Your successful presence online is a testament to our capability as online marketers. Having clients with thriving online marketing strategies is simply good business for us.

The competitive nature of our industry is another reason we need to do everything we can for our client’s success. Since we don’t lock our clients into contracts, we need to continuously deliver on our promises or face losing clients. We are not only competing with marketing agencies in Whistler but with hundreds of thousands of agencies around the world. It is our priority to ensure our clients see the benefits in choosing us right away to keep long term clients.

Industry Experts

An advance of representing clients in the same industry is our knowledge and expertise in that industry which ultimately benefits clients. Due to the homogeneity of Whistler’s main industries we have become resident experts in the local tourism, hospitality and real estate industry. We are constantly staying on the pulse of trends, events, statistics and news allowing us to stay relevant and informative to your target market. Although the message you communicate to your audience may be different from your competition, the core industry trends and information is likely the same, and our understanding of your industry is an important asset.

Ethics and Best Practices

Finally good old fashioned ethics and best practices are flag posts that ensure we always have your best interest at heart. Delivering an honest, authentic and transparent service are values we stand by and our values drive what we do every day. Striving for your success is our number one priority. We want to make you happy, we want your business to succeed and we want to create a long-term and rewarding relationship with you – these are the things that get us out of bed in the morning!

If you’ve ever been concerned about how agencies deal with competing clients hopefully your fears have now been abated. Although we can’t speak for all digital marketing agencies, the words published above are our truth and are part of the reason why we’re a growing and thriving marketing agency in Whistler, with a base of long term loyal clients whose businesses we are strongly passionate about.

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Google’s New Search Ads: What You Need to Know

Google has just made a big change to the way it displays search ads which could have significant impact on your business. The right hand side of search results will no longer display search ads and will only display Product Listings Ads (PLAs) on highly commercial searches. Find out what this could mean for your business, and how you can utilize these changes to your advantage.

In the past a search engine result page (SERP) would show three paid advertisements above the organic listings, a handful on the right hand side and some underneath the organic results. With the new changes, up to four advertisements will be displayed above the organic search results and there will be no ads shown to the right of the results, except for PLAs in highly competitive commercial searches (such as insurance or airfares). According to Google, the click-thru-rates (CTRs) of ads on the right hand side was poor and this new change is expected to benefit advertisers in the long run, while creating a more user friendly search experience for browsers.

The biggest change this will have for advertisers is unless you are in the top four positions- it is very likely your impressions and CTRs will diminish. Competition for the top four spots will increase resulting in higher bids needed to obtain these spots. Those businesses who do manage to snag a spot in the top four ad results will likely see an increase in impressions and CTRs. Businesses who don’t have a budget to position in the top four will need to be more selective with their keywords and compete on words with a lower CPC or will face being buried underneath organic search results.

These changes will also affect organic search results as an additional ad displayed above organic results will limit the space for organic results on each page. This and the increase of ad extensions will encroach on dwindling organic search result space. Some experts believe the new changes may actually increase the CTR of organic results on the first page as the portion of web traffic that click on right hand ads (5.61%), may now click on organic results instead. Either way vying for that sought-after first page of Google will be more difficult for organic and paid results alike.

The new changes will take on the same layout as mobile searches and will affect advertisers across all languages and around the world. The changes were rolled out on February 18th 2016, and were some of the biggest changes Google has made to the SERPS in years.

So how can you use these changes to your advantage? Paid advertisers need to be selective on their key words and bid competitively. Maintaining a high quality-score through relevant ads, keywords and landing pages, using ad extensions and maintaining strong click thru rates will help secure a top spot. Those selling products can take advantage of the product listing ads to the right and top of the browser. Businesses relying on organic search results need to ensure their SEO strategy is rock solid to compete for a first page rank. As users become more sophisticated and business categories become more competitive it will take expertise and strategy to be displayed on the coveted first page of Google.

Need help with your Adwords (PPC) or SEO? Cloud9 Marketing creates and implements results driven digital marketing strategies using the latest trends and innovations in online and search engine marketing. Contact us today and see how we can help you.

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whistler social media marketing
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How A Social Media Professional Will Improve Your Brands Reputation Online

Hiring a professional to manage your brands social media has immense benefits. With over 3 billion internet users around the world a social media professional could be your ticket to having your business seen and heard online.

If you’re familiar with social media, you may wonder why it’s best to outsource this part of your business to a professional. Even business owners who are confident and fluent with social media could probably make better use their time in other areas of the business. Agree? What may appear simple on the surface, the complexities of social media become quickly apparent when you begin to target your efforts and measure your results. Social media professionals can help grow your business online and improve your brands reputation. Here are the benefits of out-sourcing your social media to professionals.

Strategy

The most important tool for creating a successful social media presence is having a rock solid strategy. A social media professional will work with you to establish goals and objectives that will create the direction of your strategy. A social media presence without a strategy is like a train without a track. You’re moving, mostly forward, but are you actually getting to where you want to go?

A social media strategy will assess and define primary and secondary target markets which will determine the most appropriate social media channels to use. Once it’s clear what channels will be used a detailed posting calendar can be scheduled. Social Media professionals will use tools such as Hootsuite or Sprout Social to plan posts in advance. This avoids wasting time daily trying to figure out content. Spontaneous posting gets some of the best engagement and is important alongside scheduled posts.

A strong social media strategy is one that evaluates objectives, market research, channel coverage, hash tag strategies, target market, social media scheduling and engagement tactics.

Engagement

Social Media is much more then posting a few comments and pictures. A successful social media presence involves constantly building, networking and growing channels. It involves sharing meaningful information that helps your target market solve their problems and it includes sharing catchy, relevant and trending images, text and videos.

Being successful online involves a two-way exchange. A small portion of the content should be broadcasts of special deals, offers and events, but a majority of the posts should be about providing useful information to your fans and followers. Creating conversations around topics with fans and followers as well as industry and key influencers maximizes engagement.

Varied Skill Set

Social Media professionals have a varied skill set and can use graphic design, copy-writing and SEM skills to enhance your image online. Having appealing photos and videos, with catchy and concise copy that is delivered at the right time is key to increasing engagement. The importance of a varied skill set is often overlooked when business owners try to manage their own social accounts, or delegate them to front-line staff. Customers know a professional social media presence when they see it.

Reporting Metrics

Analyzing social media metrics is essential for determining if the goals and objectives set out in the strategy are being met. Metrics also provide insight on what’s working well, and what’s not working enabling a shift in strategy if necessary. Important metrics that your Social Media professional will monitor include Fan/Follower Growth, Impressions, Reach, Engagement, and Demographic Information.

With over 1.19b monthly active users on Facebook, 271m monthly active users on Twitter and 396m members on LinkedIn social media is the best vehicle to connect your business with current and prospective customers. As the online marketplace becomes increasingly competitive and complex across industries, having a professional manage your social media is more important than ever.

Cloud9 Marketing in Whistler, BC has Social Media professionals who provide results-driven strategies for a diverse range of clientele.  If you are ready to get serious about social media contact Cloud9 today.

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Why Hiring a Marketing Agency Will Rock Your World

Marketing is fun in the beginning. It’s all about ideas and vision and finding incredible ways to get your product or service out to the world. This is why so many businesses undertake this momentous task themselves. What businesses fail to realize in the honeymoon stages of a marketing plan, is how much work is actually involved, and how hard it is to stay focused. Once the ink has dried and the glow of a new idea begins to fade it’s easy to abandon ship, switch direction and never achieve anything worthwhile in the end. Marketing is an essential function for any successful business and hiring a marketing agency is the best strategy to reach your goals – here’s why…

Lightning Pace of Trends and Technology

Technology and trends are moving so fast that by the time you’ve familiarized yourself with the latest SEO tactics Google’s algorithms have changed once again. As a business owner, or with an internal marketing department, it can be hard staying abreast of the latest technologies and trends. There is just too much other work to distract. Marketing Agencies live and breathe change and innovation, it’s what sets them apart from their competition. It is a blatant waste of time for business owners to stay on the bleeding edge of innovation – of course having an idea of what is happening in your industry and how technology is changing is important – but staying on the pulse of everything new and trendy is best left to professional marketers.

Agency Wide Skill Sets

Marketing Agencies are often collectives of highly skilled strategists, brand specialists, web and graphic designers, copy-writers and bloggers, and social media managers. Business owners and internal marketing departments very rarely have the same extensive skill sets as agencies. When out-sourcing to a Marketing Agency you can leverage all of the skills and experience in that particular agency. This is great for long term marketing plans as well as one off projects. Not only can Marketing Agencies cover a broad range of projects they can do so with trained expertise.

In it for the Long Haul

Persistence is the key to any marketing plan’s success. Results cannot be expected over night. Marketing Agencies have experience executing marketing plans. They know that taking small consistent steps in the direction of your goals and vision are key to long term success. Too often when businesses execute their own marketing plans they get impatient if results aren’t immediate. Marketing agencies have the skills and experience to execute marketing plans but also have the understanding to step back, re-evaluate and shift focus if necessary.

It’s Cheaper

When you look at the hourly rate of a Marketing Agency or the cost of a one off project you might gasp. Although the hourly rate may appear more than the hourly rate of an internal marketing coordinator or manager, when you look a little harder you will find out-sourcing is a lot more affordable. When hiring a staff member internally there are many fixed costs that you may fail to consider. Taxes, vacation and sick pay, CPP contributions and health benefits can be as much as the base salary. Considering recruitment, training and human resource issues the costs of an internal marketing department can escalate very quickly. When you hire a Marketing Agency you are generally not doing so on a 40 hour per week basis. An Agency may be able to do the same amount of work as an internal team in a fraction of the time.

Finally, licenses and software programs to support marketing efforts can be costly and time consuming. Marketing Agencies generally have licenses to all the required software already, and may pass on a nominal charge for you to use them. This saves businesses the stress of training staff on various software programs plus the ongoing cost to upgrade and update the programs.

Outsourcing to Marketing Agencies is becoming more common as today’s marketing environment becomes more complex. Here at Cloud9 Marketing in Whistler, BC we operate as a marketing collective with a team of freelance web designers, graphic designers, social media coordinators, photographers, strategists and bloggers. When we receive a project from a client we have a full team of experts on-hand to get the job done quickly and professionally, using the latest tactics and technology. As many business owners strive for a better work/life balance, out-sourcing is becoming an essential way to achieve this lifestyle. Let Cloud9 Marketing rock your world by turning your marketing dream into a reality.

 

 

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whistler logo design
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The Importance of Branding: Is Your Brand Hot or Not?

The key essentials to creating and maintaining a brand that will drive business and stand the test of time.

Think of your brand as a person. Let’s call him Ted. Ted has a physical appearance that can easily be defined by height, facial features, complexion and so forth. Ted also has some behavioural characteristics that anyone who has met him could attest. Ted is clever, sarcastic, punctual and maybe a bit neurotic. Then there are the more profound attributes to Ted that really make him the stand-up guy we all know and love. Ted is honest, value-driven and dependable. People admire Ted- he is true to his word and gets things done. Because Ted is the stand-up guy that he is, he has tons of friends, is invited to all the best social functions, and everything he touches turns to gold.

Can you say the same about your brand? Are the visual elements (logo, colours, packaging, website, and promotional materials) consistent, distinct and clear? Does the visual expression of your brand represent the deeper values and culture of your business? Successful brands know who they are, what their customers want and can succinctly communicate this through their logo and marketing materials.

Of course before a brand can truly be born the core values, mission and vision of the company must be defined. These big picture fundamentals are the crux of any good business and without these your brand is likely to flail around aimlessly like a helium balloon deflating erratically until it completely runs out of air. Do you know what your business stands for? Why do you exist? Who are you serving and what problems are you solving in this world?

Knowing who your customers are and appealing to them is crucial to creating a memorable and worthy brand. We’re not saying change your brand just to please potential customers. Quite the opposite actually. Know who you are at the core, be confident and convicted, and then think about who needs you most. Clearly articulating the features and benefits of your product/service is important when reaching out to potential customers. Features describe your offering, benefits address the needs of your target market and are why people buy from you.

Forbes Magazine defined the Top 7 Characteristics of Successful Brands. How many of these characteristics do you have?

  1. Audience Knowledge- Who is your target market? What do they want?
  2. Uniqueness- What is your unique selling point?
  3. Passion- Are you deeply passionate about your brand and committed to success?
  4. Consistency- Are you presenting a consistent message to your target market?
  5. Competitiveness- Are you committed to constantly striving to improve and be the best you can?
  6. Exposure- Are you accessible across multiple channels?
  7. Leadership- Do you have someone carrying your strategic vision?

So do you have an idea yet if your brand is hot or not? Does your brand reside in the hearts and minds of your customers? Successful brands have the upper hand in any business environment. They are easily recognized by their customers. Consumers are far more likely to choose a brand they recognize over one they have never heard of before. Once this type of recognition and consumer loyalty occurs it becomes easier to launch new products or services. Repeat and loyal customers become frequent and brand equity increases.

At Cloud9 Marketing we help small and large businesses create powerful brands that reflect their core essence and values. Our team of creative professionals craft vivid imagery through web and graphic design and our branding strategists work with clients to clearly define their brand and communicate it in a way that captures the attention of those you are trying to reach. Creating a strong and lasting brand is a hard task without the right tools and know-how. Let Cloud9 Marketing help you with your business’s branding- enquire today about our current branding packages available!

 

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facebook-engagement
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Unlock Your Potential- Increase Engagement On Facebook

If you haven’t noticed yet, Facebook’s organic reach has drastically declined. A post that may have reached a quarter of your fans years ago now luckily gets exposed to a small handful (if any). That’s right, the free ride is over and in order for you to be seen or heard on Facebook you will have to work really hard (or pay) for it. Besides investing in Facebook Advertising, engagement is key to your ongoing success. You can’t just slap up a few half-hearted posts and expect grand results. Like most things in life what you put in is what you get out; persistence, routine and a bit of money will be the success of your Facebook Page.

Create meaningful content

In the real world, no one wants to hear about what you had for breakfast, how you’re feeling moment to moment or your opinions and attitudes about the meaning of life. The digital world is the same. If you are constantly posting about ‘me-me-me’ people are going to simply tune out. In order to keep your fans happy and engaged create meaningful content that will benefit them! Do you offer some great products or services? Fantastic! How will it benefit your target market? How can you make it personal to each and every one of your fans? When creating meaningful content ensure you are using a beautiful or catchy image with a powerful status update or headline.

Have a call to action

What do you want people to do with your post? Do you want them to like it? Make a comment? Share it? Visit your website? Having a clear call to action is essential for making any type of progress on Facebook. When formulating a post ask yourself, “what do I want my fans to do with this information?” Perhaps you would like some basic engagement in the way of likes to increase post reach. Perhaps you want to create a conversation by asking for comments. Alternatively maybe you would like to direct your fans to your website and take advantage of an amazing deal or offer. Make this crystal clear. Not only will creating a solid call to action help you achieve your business goals but it will increase engagement and reach on your Facebook Page.

Engage with your Fans

It’s great to be in Facebook-land posting and talking away but it is all absolutely pointless unless you are listening too. When Fans engage with you, make sure the communication is a two way street! It is selfish and useless to create an amazing post with a great call to action and then abandon it like yesterday’s news. Keep the conversation going like your life depends on it! The more engagement you can get with your fans, the more meaningful your post will be and the more reach your page will get.

Stick to a schedule

Frequency and consistency are key to creating a base of loyal fans. To compete with every other business in the world on Facebook you need to stay recent and relevant in the minds of your Facebook Community. Creating a posting schedule using platforms like Hootsuite or Sprout Social can help you organize your posts in advance so you’re not wasting countless hours dreaming up posts while you could be using those valuable brain cells on much more important contributions. When scheduling your posts, ensure to switch up the content. No one wants to hear about your products and special offers day in and day out. What is appealing to your target market? Give them information that will satisfy their needs (and then slip in some information about your promotions or products too). Remember to research what is the best time of day to post for your industry. Knowing when your target market is online can make a huge impact on what type of engagement your posts get.

Pay for ads

If you spend money on Facebook advertising you shall be rewarded, and come on, compared to conventional advertising it’s pretty cheap! It can’t hurt to boost your page for a few days every month to generate new fans. One of the best features of Facebook advertising is how targeted you can be. By narrowing down your target market using geographic, demographic and behavioural characteristics you can essentially hand-pick who you want to broadcast to. Don’t forget to boost the odd post here and there too. If you have something you want heard far and wide- spend a few bucks and get that post seen!

It takes a lot of time, effort and persistence to create a successful Facebook Page with a loyal fan base. Not only is it a lot of work, but Facebook is constantly changing its algorithms to dictate how the platform operates. When operating a business, most business owners and Managers simply don’t have the time to effectively focus on their social media presence. At Cloud9 Marketing we help businesses small and large manage their online image. We understand algorithms, impressions and hashtags but most of all we understand how to get results online through social media, branding, content development, search engine optimization and more. Contact us today!

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Setting (and measuring) Social Media Goals like a Pro!

You are probably tired of hearing how important social media is for your business. If you are like many you may be wondering how the effort spent on social media actually translates to a return on investment (ROI). It is not uncommon for business owners to delegate social media efforts to front-line staff, or take a stab in the dark themselves, with no notable results. Like any business venture, setting measurable goals is essential for ensuring the hours spent posting and tweeting is time well spent. Setting SMART goals on the most important social media metrics is essential for achieving results. Don’t recall SMART goals from Business101? They are goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely. Below are 5 social media metrics with an example SMART goal for each.

Followers/ Likers

Think of Followers and Likers as your audience. These are potential customers who are interested enough in your brand to tune in to what you say and do. There are two ways to generate followers and likers, organically and through paid advertising. Organic followers are the cream of the crop as these people are genuinely interested in your brand and took their own initiative to follow what you do. Paid advertising is a great way to boost your followers/likers and social media advertising is targeted so you can ensure you are recruiting your target market through these ads.

GOAL: To increase followers/likers organically by 10% between September and December 2015.

If you currently have a following of 500 people a 10% increase would equate to an additional 50 followers. This is easy to measure and a 10% increase should be achievable for most businesses.

Reach

Reach is an important metric when posting on a Facebook Page. Reach is the number of people who saw your post. Don’t confuse reach for impressions. Impressions are the times your post was viewed keeping in mind your post could be viewed multiple times by the same person. Facebook algorithms have changed significantly over the last few years and organic reach is harder to achieve. To get the furthest reach on Facebook you need to pay for advertising. Measuring your paid reach is a good way of assessing how effective your Facebook ad campaign is.

GOAL: To reach 1500 people with Facebook ad XYZ between Sept 1st and Sept 15th 2015

As your ad runs you will be able

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Pay Per Click Advertising, Demystified

If you’ve been looking into increasing your web presence as a company you’ve probably encountered the phrase “pay per click.” Well this very vague title is exactly what we are going to explore in this blog post. What exactly is this so-called “Pay Per Click Advertising” and how does it work? Lets find out.

 

What is it?

Pay per click advertising is a form of web based adverting that helps with search engine optimization. Search engines like Google and Bing have designated spots on their search result pages, usually along the side or in the first 1-3 search result lines. These prime locations are reserved for paying clients who have pay per click advertising with key words relative to the search. Every time someone uses the ad by clicking on it, the paying client is charged, because it has proven to be a successful advertisement placement and search result combination.

 

How does it work?  

First things first, you’ll have to choose a keyword or phrase that you’d like your page to be associated. The process of determining which keywords you should apply to your business page requires a thought out approach. You’ll need to consider how generic or specific you’d like your results to be. Keep in mind what phrases your competitors might be using and always remember your target audience. Lucky you for, Cloud9 has marketing gurus available that do exactly that. We can help you determine what keywords would benefit your business, reach your target audience and achieve web presence goals. Working with a budget in pay per click advertising can work multiple ways. Sometimes it is a bidding war on the price per a click for a desired spot and search combination. Whoever is willing to pay the most per a click gets the spot. You may want to top out at a certain budget each month or after achieving a certain result. Almost all web presence goals can easily be reached by utilizing per click advertising as it increases traffic to your page, or even a sub pages of your website. Each click will take the searcher exactly where you’d like to be on your website. It’s the most ideal way for getting a searcher to find your page rather than your competitors and increase over all SEO.

 

Is it right for me?  

Sounds pretty peachy so far doesn’t it? Well the truth is, pay per click advertising is phenomenal; it is an incredible tool for your webpage. There aren’t many drawbacks for pay per click advertising unless the keywords and target audience don’t match. As mentioned before, this is a crucial step and needs some serious brainstorming. It can also be expressive and competitive to land your page in the top results section. If you’re considering using pay per a click, give us a call at Cloud9 and we can weight out the pros and cons for your company specifically and decide on the right marketing combination for your business. Pay per click isn’t for everyone or every business, but when it is fully understood and used correctly it can take your SEO to a whole new level.

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