A new Clutch report revealed some not-so-astounding statistics about the way business owners view their online marketing strategy. First off, the vast majority of those surveyed recognize that digital is the way to go when it comes to sharing brand messaging and connecting with consumers. Smart.

Second, and this shouldn’t come as a revelation, the main objective for companies who spend on digital marketing efforts is “to increase sales and revenue.” Duh.

Other results of the survey, published on Adotas:

• Businesses are relying on social media, their own website and email marketing to reach customers.(This makes sense. You need to find your prospective customers where they are and surely most are hanging out on the web and checking their inboxes.)
• Small companies believe digital marketing is the best way to get their name out there while larger businesses think their online digital footprint is the quickest route to distinguish themselves from the competition!

OK, I’m not going to disparage the survey but this seems short-sighted for small and mid-sized companies. Competition for SMBs is exponential. Getting your name out there is not enough… you need to connect with customers and give them a reason to learn more about you.

Further, while digital marketing is, indeed, the best way to stand out in a crowd, the key to boosting leads and sales isn’t having the best message. It’s capturing the attention of the crowd and compelling them to take action.

• And, 83% of companies surveyed believe their digital marketing is working.

This is where I start questioning the numbers. For me, the real question is: how do you know what you don’t know?

• Do you think your digital marketing strategy is working because your web company tells you the numbers are up?

• Are you certain your current digital marketing company is doing everything possible to maximize your spend?
• And, even if you said “yes” to the first two questions: would you like to be driving more leads and closing more deals? Yes, again? Read on.

You owe it to yourself and your balance sheet to check out your web company’s competition. At Harmonia Media, transparency is the key to our success. We tell you what you need and we get the job done. (Our job is to get you more paying customers.)

If you think it’s possible that you don’t know what you don’t know about digital marketing strategy, contact Harmonia Media for a free consultation.

 

I don’t do the math. At all. In fact, I was just telling someone last night that I never got past algebra in high school and coasted through college by taking meteorology and geology to satisfy the math/science requirement.

For the record though, I took Honors English, French 5 and Spanish 3 in my senior year of high school and went on to minor in English and French in college — so there.

#dont-hate-me-because-i-cant-count

I bring this up because I’ve been reading a lot about metrics lately. And that word reminds me of a whole different kind of crazy math that I never understood, as well. Remember metrics? It was the “new math” and we all had to figure out how to convert miles to kilos or litres to quarts.

What’s the difference between Celsius and Fahrenheit? (psttt… here you go… https://www.rapidtables.com/convert/temperature/how-celsius-to-fahrenheit.html)

Oy, I don’t know. My head is spinning thinking about it.

Today, metrics is a concept worth paying attention to because unlike “new math,” website analytics and metrics are going to only become more important as digital marketing evolves.

Yeah, tracking metrics is difficult to understand. There are plenty of ways to analyze the numbers and report metrics — the most valuable, of course, being ROI (return on investment.)

I’m not a metrics expert (though I have plenty on my Harmonia team) but I do know that if you are tracking the right things, tweaking as you go, you will drive more traffic which will result in more leads and sales.

Seems far more worthwhile than knowing how many centimetres are in a meter.

We were forced as kids to believe we were going to need metrics to survive. Turns out, that’s not true.

But believe me when I say that you can’t do business on the Internet (which means you can’t do business) if you don’t keep your eye on the numbers.

My advice? Don’t give up on metrics just because may feel overwhelmed or confused. Just as you hope people will come to your business looking for your expertise, Harmonia Media is here for you when it comes to digital marketing. We would love the chance to review your website metrics and your analytics. We’ll provide honest feedback and work with you to boost your ROI.

Look at it this way: you don’t have to know how to go about analyzing your website. You need to partner with a company that isn’t going to take your money and run for the hills. You need to choose a digital marketing agency that will explain as it goes (if you want to know!) and doesn’t believe in the set-it-and-forget-it approach to metrics.

Learn more about Harmoniamedia.com.

I like to think about website metrics the way I think about the dentist. I don’t really want to go and probably won’t love the process while it’s happening. But when it’s over I’m going to be really happy to get the “all clear – no cavities” sign from the doctor.

Give us a call at (855) 535-4848 and let’s talk. Harmonia Media is different. We would love the chance to show you why.

It’s a coffee pot.

OK, truth. I had a latte (mochaccino, thank you very much) and it was delish! I truly enjoyed the frothy head. I didn’t even need sweetener. And it got me thinking. I deserve more than just a K cup in the morning, don’t I?

So I got actively involved in the conversation. And, by involved, I loaded my plate with both Oreos and warm chocolate chip cookies and relished my creamy cup. And by actively, I kept nodding and thinking to myself “who knew there were so many options and opinions about this stuff?” (Hey, I sat there. Give me that.)

Lucy swears by the Nespresso; she says it saves her lots of cash and time. She gets her fancy drink and doesn’t have to stop at the coffee shop on the way to work.

Janis loves cappuccino and she has a machine, but she doesn’t have the time to really use it. It comes out of the cupboard on weekends.

Jeannette has the Capresso. It’s kind of the like the Nespresso (no, really?) but it has a special milk frother. She can’t live without it and thinks it’s worth getting up in the morning for it.

I think I stopped listening to the conversation at that point. My head was spinning, the cookies were gone and my cup was empty.

My takeaway, however, is that choices abound and there seems to be no shortage of people who love to talk about their bougie coffee pots.

Look, I do love a satisfying cup of joe. But I don’t like spending a lot of money on it. I’m not a Starbucks girl. Nespresso and Capresso “capsules” seem super expensive for my budget. In fact, dare I say it, a $1 cup of coffee at McDs has been known to hit my sweet spot.

Don’t get me wrong. I love me some George Clooney. But even he couldn’t make me cash out on an expensive coffee pot.

My bottom line is that my criteria for a great cup of java are all mine. I need to drink beverages that taste good to me. And that is subjective. There are rules, yes. I need a cup filled with liquid that has coffee flavour (and pumpkin spice, too, if you have it. thanks) some creamer and one packet of the pink stuff. (And cookies. Lots of cookies)

Perhaps at this very moment, you are cringing at my choice of sweetener or that I use the fake stuff at all. Maybe you like a black cup of joe — straight from the bean. And it’s OK if you winced about my drive-through option because YOU don’t have to go there. You can choose the cup of coffee that suits you.

I’m grateful to my friends for opening my eyes to all my options. Google helped me take it from there to help me make a decision. (Wait for it…)

There’s a World Wide Web’s worth of time and space where you can find out about your options about absolutely anything you want or need.

In fact, it’s the same with digital marketing. I may not know that much about coffee, but I do know some things about online marketing.

• I know to attract customers and grow your business, you NEED a digital marketing strategy.
• I know that one size doesn’t fit all and that there are so many pieces to what we call “digital marketing” puzzle — design, SEO, content, social media, linking, email nurturing, PPC…
• I know that you can find web companies that are willing to charge top dollar and provide little to no help.
• And I know there are companies that are very happy to sell you far more than you actually need.

The point is, smart companies have options. Just as we all can choose our morning brew, a company looking to drive web leads has an array of digital marketing companies to help them drive online business. It’s critically important to have a digital marketing strategy but equally as important to have one that suits your company’s particular needs — personality and budget.

If you are less than completely satisfied with your web traffic, there are myriad reasons why your current marketing strategy may need an overhaul. It could be a quick fix or maybe your current company is dropping the ball. We can’t know until we take a look.

Change is good. We would love the chance to see how we can help you grow your business.  Harmonia Media is different than other digital marketing companies. Give us a chance to explain why during a consultation about your business goals.

Contact Harmonia Media for a free phone consultation. Find out if we are your cup of tea. (Sorry, I had to do it!)

1. S. I did wind up buying a milk frother. Now I can enjoy my pumpkin K-cup with a creamy head. Best of both worlds in my opinion. There are always options. You just have to look for them.

In business, everything has a price tag. Do you give away what you sell? Or do you understand its value and hope others can be convinced of the same?

We both know the answer.

If you select a company promising the world for a song you’ll be lucky if you end up with a song at the end of the deal. A company willing to chisel down their prices to meet an unrealistically low budget is telling you what their efforts will be worth. Believe them.

Who needs a song? You need web traffic and sales leads.

That being said, you need to find a digital marketing agency that will begin at the beginning, get a full understanding of your needs, conduct an assessment of your current assets and their efficacy and work with you to design a program to meet your needs.

Is the budget important? Of course, it is. Part of finding the right fit when it comes to a digital marketing partner is connecting on price. It’s about what you get for what you pay for.

However, focusing singularly on price can be your downfall. In fact, here is your warning: don’t be surprised about the lack of results when you select a company based on low price.

When you pay next to nothing…what do you think you’ll get?

Our suggestion is fairly simple. Find a company that focuses on your needs, not some predetermined list of web tasks. Maybe you need a new website, maybe you don’t. Perhaps your site looks great, but the content isn’t good enough to attract attention. It’s even possible that the site looks and reads great but your back end is strangling efforts to get found on the web. Now we need to discuss SEO strategies.

Digital marketing is complex and the work is never done. That’s why you need to choose a company that is committed to you for the long run…fully willing and capable of adapting to trends and best practices.

And, by the way, if the team is smart and forward-thinking and pretty cool… can’t hurt, right?

Take the time to talk with Harmonia Media and find out what it’s like to work with a team that provides top quality digital marketing services — the ones you need to drive web traffic and leads/customers.

Everyone in business today knows that marketing — without a strong digital component — is, well, a sure way not to succeed in business.

Your customers are online and your competition is online; you must be online. But “online” isn’t actually enough; you must do more than put your best foot forward to claim your share of the online customer audience. Further, you want to create and grow a community you can rely on to buy and brag about your company.

Digital marketing is far more than a handful of clicks and words. It’s a science where the equation is never concrete. Varying topics and desired reach are always changing; what’s hot today may not be hot tomorrow.

The one thing you can be sure of when it comes to digital marketing is that you need to partner with a team that won’t overpromise and underdeliver. Find a company that seeks to understand your mission and goals and is realistic about reaching them.

So, the truth is, If you are still reading this article, you may be looking for a new digital marketing agency. It’s likely because your current one isn’t doing their job well. Perhaps they sold you a strategy that sounded great but they haven’t delivered.

Worse, the efforts they did put in came back to bite you! They charge you a boatload of money for a world of promises Not only are you not getting web traffic and sales leads but their mistakes are costing you big time. We hear all too often about companies in hot water with Google because of duplicate content, bad link strategy and poor SEO work.

The very best way to select a digital marketing agency is to begin the way every good business relationship starts: talk. Be realistic and ask questions. LISTEN not only to the answers but try to get a handle on the type of people who will be managing your account. Don’t focus on what you want to hear (and don’t seed the conversation with your own answers.) Find out what the company think and what they believe they can do to grow your business.

Additionally, pay attention to “voice.”

• If your company takes a very corporate approach to a message, you need a marketing agency that can talk that talk. The key is that you want them to be an appropriate liaison to your customers. If you are looking for straight, no-nonsense messaging, it’s important to make sure your chosen agency can represent you the way you want to be seen in the marketplace.

• On the other hand, if you are looking for a softer, friendlier approach, it doesn’t make sense to necessarily hire the aforementioned firm. Find some marketing partners who can carry your message across to your prospects. A more conversational style might be more appropriate for your brand.

Harmonia Media is different from the competition. We pride ourselves on learning about you and your company. We figure out what you need and focus on what we know will drive traffic. Other companies may sell secret sauces and shiny bells and whistles.

At the end of the day, do you need a song with bells?

At Harmonia Media, we offer no sauce. We offer substance and service. Great service. You’ll get a true partnership based on strategies focused on your company’s goals. And, as your company grows, we will evolve your online campaign.

Contact Harmonia Media today and let’s talk.

Doing business on the Internet means you are opening your doors to a world of potential customers. That’s a whole lot of people with opinions coming at you.

Make someone happy and they will likely tell a few friends. That’s great news because the vast majority of consumers seek out referrals before making online purchases.

Make someone unhappy — even if it’s just that they perceive or exaggerate a problem — and they are quite likely to not only repeat their story but also to post a negative review on Yelp or another popular review site. If this happens, your company will be forced to manage the fallout for a long time to come.

HOW you manage a negative review or comment may mean the difference between diffusing a difficult situation and starting an avalanche of brand damage.

By monitoring what people write about your company online, you can act quickly when there is a problem brewing and also see what people are saying — good and bad. There’s positivity to be found in all reviews. There may be serious room for improvement and you may uncover opportunities for growth.

It goes without saying that reputation is important for any business. The “tell two friends” marketing strategy works — that’s why social media is so popular. It provides exponential outreach. Good news travels fast. Bad news travels even faster — we all know that.

So, online, it’s important to be proactive about Online Reputation Management (ORM). An effective strategy is critically important to maintaining an excellent reputation. Don’t be overwhelmed. Harmonia Media will help manage your online reputation while you focus on what you do best: run your business.

Let’s define “online reputation.” Just like a person’s reputation, online reputation is a combination of how people feel and think about your business from their own first impressions to positive opinions, negative comments, etc. they read online.

You need to keep constant watch (good places to start include your own social media platforms, Yelp, Google and other review websites along with Google Search and Wikipedia) and respond quickly and appropriately to any concerns as well as praise).

(As an aside – why should you respond when you get a good review? It shows customers you are listening. Offering them gratitude and putting a human side on the company boosts brand confidence and loyalty.)

So what constitutes an appropriate response to a negative online comment? For starters, determine if a response is necessary. Usually, it is — even if it’s only a comment thanking someone for their feedback and suggesting you are sorry about the negative experience. This is the appropriate thing to do if the comment is about something factual that occurred and not simply an opinion. For example, if someone took the time to write that they are upset at delayed shipping, you can’t undo the delay. You can, however, mention your excellent shipping record and apologize for the situation. Take the conversation offline and offer to reimburse shipping or provide a discount on their next purchase.

When you do need to respond (someone has written something downright false), never respond to anger or a rant with the same. Don’t get into a back and forth that accelerates the negativity.

There’s a right way and a wrong way to handle Online Reputation Management. However, make no mistake about it: failing to stay on top of what people are saying about you online is a recipe for disaster. You always want to be proactive and have the ability to react to a challenge instead of chasing your tail and having to try to undo the damage.

Your best bet is to partner with a company that can stay ahead of the game for you. At Harmonia Media, we would love the opportunity to discuss how we can keep your brand safe online while spotlighting why customers should be doing business with you! Give us a call and let’s talk. We offer free consultations.

Backlinks are important; you need them. However, getting them doesn’t have to destroy your budget. With a few low-cost ideas, you can step up your link-building and drive more traffic to your website.

Here are some great ideas for increasing your Google “juice” through backlinks.

Team Work Makes the Dream Work – You’ve heard this before but perhaps it’s time to look at the word “team” in a different way. You don’t think about non-employees as being part of your team, but it’s time you start doing just that. Everyone has something they can bring to the table.

There are plenty of experts out there who are looking for a soapbox. Offer them yours! Reach out to influencers in your industry or experts who can write on a topic that pertains to what you do or sell and ask them to pen a few words for your blog. Then, link to their site from the copy and ask them to promote it on their blog, as well.

As Edgy Labs puts it: “Anyone you collaborate with is likely to share the content with their followers and on their websites or blogs. The result? Links building left, right and centre!”

Content is King – This is always true, especially when you are trying to woo Google. Hire a writer (we invite you to talk to Harmonia Media’s content expert Bari Siegel) to write an article or series of articles where your experts are the sources. Toss in a few quotes from industry experts who may very well share the content on their social platforms. Your company will be featured along with the words of wisdom of those who have a following.

You can also write an article based on an interview with your CEO or head technologist or designer or anyone who has something worth sharing with your would-be customers. (This may not help with backlinking but it will add valuable content to your blog. And, to this end, you can also interview consultants with websites to grab some of those backlinks.)

Seriously, though, if you could use some more traffic to your site and/or want to up your content quality, check out Harmonia Media. We are a concierge boutique digital marketing company that caters to your wants and needs while applying industry best practices that WORK.

I read recently that the best way not to impress someone is to use an email address that sends the wrong message. Sure, an obvious way of achieving that is to put yourself out there as “sexylipsxoxo” or “buymystuff.” Using AOL or Hotmail can send very clear messages, as well, namely: “I’m not tech-savvy” and “Staying up-to-date isn’t my thing.”

However, experts say that the first rule of creating an email address that gets attention — in a good way! — is to use Gmail. For professional purposes, if you don’t have a company email address, you should definitely be using Gmail service.

Now, here is the good news. For the first time since 2011 (that’s decades in technology years!) Google is rolling out a brand new Gmail. And, as one online reviewer put it, it’s “much more than a fresh coat of paint.”

Some, but not all, users are able to access the new service already. To find out if you are one of the lucky ones, go into your Gmail box and click on the Settings gear on the top right. If you are already able to upgrade, there will be a button to click on that dropdown tab. If you don’t yet have a notification to upgrade, keep checking back. You’ll get it soon.

There are plenty of great things to know about the new Gmail. For one, the new design is clean with a lot of white space. Many who had been complaining the Gmail inbox was getting overwhelmed by “stuff” will be happy about the new look. There is still access to all the usual goodies in the Google Inbox app and most of the items we all use most — compose, for example — are in the same place.

One particular addition that really is catching users’ attention is that the new Gmail version allows you to see attachments throughout a thread. Also, the new version is faster!

On the security front, the new email includes two-factor authentication phishing detection. That’s pretty cool.

The one possible negative, for some who are already using Gmail, maybe that anything new takes some getting used to. When you get used to doing anything on a regular basis especially technology, it comes as second nature. The new Gmail will take a little bit of practice but at, first glance, certainly seems to be worth it.

One last note… did you know that smart business owners use email for more than simple communication?

Email nurturing campaigns allow companies to reach out and touch cold leads. Plus, an email newsletter can help you stay in touch with all your customers and prospects. Email is a great digital marketing tool.

Contact Harmonia Media today for a free consultation and learn more about how we can put the new Gmail to work for you.

According to Smart Insights, 49 per cent of companies are engaged in digital marketing with no defined strategy. So, while you are paying money for digital marketing efforts, you may just be tossing money out of the window. How can you measure success without clear goals and objectives?

Digital efforts are quite different than traditional marketing channels. Diverse customer profiles and behaviour, competitors, propositions and myriad options for marketing communications all make it difficult to succeed when you your strategy is based on “chance.”

• Do you have a clear vision of what you aim to achieve?
• Who is your audience and are you communicating with your customers where they are hanging out online?
• Do you have sufficient resources to meet your goals?

The truth is, most companies fail to even have an online value proposition.

Don’t leave your potential web success to chance. Determine your goals and develop a sound digital marketing strategy for meeting them. We can help.

Contact Harmonia Media today for a free consultation about your web presence. We’ll set up a strategy that will be driving the kind of leads you should be getting.

 

It’s not unusual for small- to mid-sized businesses to wonder if they really need to hire a digital marketing company.

It’s a funny question, actually, for those of us in the digital marketing space.

I, for one, would never think about whether or not I had to hire a mechanic to fix my car. I don’t have the first clue how to complete a car repair. Similarly, while I’m a halfway decent baker, I wouldn’t dream of offering to create a fabulous wedding cake for a friend. And, when I’m sick, as much as I may fancy myself a fictitious doctor, I rely on the pros for diagnosis and treatment.

Digital marketing — the business of being found on Google and getting would-be customers to visit your website and take action — is both an art and a science. To be successful, at the risk of sounding cliche, hope is not a good strategy.

Knowledge of search engine optimization, creating community through social media and, of course, Google’s Holy Grail of Requests, making sure you have the highest possible quality content, is critically important to a company’s digital marketing success.

It’s very easy to spend money on marketing. There are plenty of companies willing to take your money. But can they deliver any better than I could fix your car?

Small Business Trends did a study recently concluding 98 per cent of small businesses know being found on Google is very important to their bottom line. The same survey revealed that a whopping 45 per cent of small business owners have no idea was SEO means.

There is only one solution to this conundrum. Unless you, yourself, are a digital marketing whiz, you need to reach out to someone who is. It’s imperative to find a company with the experience and dedication to take the time to get to know you and your company. Understanding your audience is an important part of creating a plan of action to grow your web traffic and leads.

No digital marketing strategy is perfect. Any company that tries to sell you that bill of goods is not the one for you. Digital marketing is a fluid business. The rules change and new ideas, like in any business, fuel optimized ways of getting the job done.

We invite you to have a conversation with Harmonia Media. We focus on you, your mission, your clients and your story. We customize solutions that meet your needs (and make Google happy). Contact us today for a free consultation about your digital marketing strategy.