On this blog, we usually talk about digital marketing strategies — SEO, web design, PPC  campaigns, great content, email nurturing and more.

Today, we are going to focus on the place where brick and mortar meets digital; the latest technology, location-based marketing, is a great way to reach prospective customers who are doing business with your competition.

Location-based marketing is an amazing technology and it’s the reason you sometimes see ads online or receive notifications of sales for items you just happen to be interested in! Imagine that? Each time you think someone might be peeking at your search history, the truth is, in a way, they are.

Location-based marketing is a strategy that sends prospects information, on their phones, about restaurants and stores when they are nearby. Consider that when you walk into a mall, Google knows this and sends you ads and messages for stores in the mall that use geo-targeting.

Once we, as marketers, design the campaign based on geography — the town, a store, a street, etc. — and then reach out to prospects (who have agreed to receive these types of messages) with ads and notices of your business. In other words, we figure out who you want to sell to, literally “find” those people when they enter a targeted location and tell them about your company. Pretty cool, huh?

There are actually three types of location-based marketing strategies: geo-targeting, geo-fencing and geo-conquesting.

For the purpose of this discussion, let’s pretend I own a vitamin shop in a small town.

• With geo-targeting, we find prospects based on places they have visited before. So, I will target local gyms where I know people are working out and, therefore, likely interested in health products. I’ll send them information about my weight loss supplements or protein shakes, as well as any sales on vitamins I believe they might think will boost their nutrition.
• Geo-fencing refers to an area around a particular location. We can “draw” a fence around a business or point of interest — the mall, as an example — and send real-time content and ads to someone’s phone when they enter the location. The drawback to this strategy is that we would be casting a wide net. If I “fence” the mall, I will be sending information to people who work out and those who don’t, as well as people who are at the mall going to GNC to buy vitamins and those who never take vitamins and supplements.
• Geo-conquesting is where attracting competitors’ customers comes into play. We “fence” the competitor’s store, a GNC, for example, and every time someone walks into that store, we’ll send them information about a big sale at my vitamin store in an effort to get their attention and perhaps lure them away from my competition.

The best part about location-based marketing, in addition to the fact that we see results very fast, is that we can track campaigns to measure how well they are working and tweak the “fence” or audience as needed.

At Harmonia Media, our clients have enjoyed tremendous success with location-based marketing! We can do the same for you. Contact us today to discuss how we can drive quality leads to your door (and/or website!) fast.

This is a conversation I feel like I have many times every week. I keep repeating it to every prospect and every client because, in my opinion, it’s the crux of any business growth strategy. It’s certainly what drives Harmonia Media’s growth strategy.

Here are my can’t-miss, three-step, deal flow-driving strategy:

1. Figure out what your customer needs, by uncovering their pain point. What keeps them up at night? What do they need to seek out in the world to make “it” better — whatever “it” is.
2. Once you’ve figured out No. 1, you are ready to attack. This point assumes you’ve been doing your research in the right market — as in you are researching people who are thirsty and you sell beverages and not you are researching people who are thirsty and you sell tires. Try as you might, that won’t work out well.So you know what your customer needs and why they need it. And you sell it. Now you have to connect with them. But how?
3. Digital Marketing— in all the right places. You need to talk about what you do wherever they hang out. And, your prospects are hanging out where absolutely everyone is hanging out: online! Now, where they are exactly is up for discussion. But knowing where they could be is much better than A. having no clue and B. Talking about what you sell with people who don’t need it. (Don’t post information about your dog food in a cat lover’s chat group.)So, those are the basics of my plan. And, it works.
   • Know your audience. 
   • Know your product. 
   • Connect the two online. 
   • Simple, right?

Eh, not so much. Digital marketing is a very intricate puzzle of content and search engine optimization and design and advertising and email outreach and….. The list goes on and on.

At Harmonia Media, we know one size doesn’t fit all. The difference between your company and ours is this: we sell something every company needs — access to potential new customers.

Could your company use some more sales? Let’s talk. Harmonia Media customizes every digital marketing strategy based on the client’s needs – no more,  no less. You get what you pay for and what you pay for is extraordinarily affordable considering our track record of driving sales and company growth for clients.

Harmonia Media is different and we’ll prove it. Let’s start with a free phone consultation. Contact us now to schedule a call. Your customers are looking for you….

 

Everyone on your team has a role to play.

• The sales team develops new business.
• The account management team nurtures your customers.
• Customer service answers any questions troubleshoots and solves problems (hopefully!)
• Marketing makes sure current customers and prospects know what you are selling and makes sure they remember you when they need your products and services.
• And, management is the umbrella that keeps everything dry and warm and everyone comfortable enough to do their jobs.

In addition to their core responsibilities, all of the people on your team have three jobs: get people to trust you, want to do business with you and refer you to prospective customers.

Of course, as I mentioned, sharing your brand and attracting new business is marketing’s key role, but it’s truly everyone’s job to represent the business in a way that encourages buyers to buy!

This is important because every interaction that anyone has with your company builds trust. Without trust in the marketplace, you won’t have any customers. The sales team can’t sell to people who don’t trust your brand, You certainly won’t have any referrals. In fact, you’ll probably get creamed on social media and will be closing your doors before you know it.

This is where digital marketing comes in! Rest assured, digital marketing is not the same as traditional marketing. Your marketing team is hopefully a group of branding experts. They have many tools they use to “get the word out.”

But digital marketing takes it to the next step — to a place where ALL your potential customers hang out: online.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again if you aren’t doing everything possible to connect with your customers and prospects online — where they spend so much of their free time — then you aren’t truly doing what’s necessary to drive new business.

Check out the facts:

24 hours a week – That’s the amount of time Americans spend, on average, on the Internet, according to USC Annenberg.

Always online! – In fact, the amount of time spent online is steadily rising each year. In 2000, the figure was 9.4 hours a week. Today, it’s 23.6 hours per week. So, think about it, one full day out of each week is spent online!

Socializing online – According to a report from Global Web Index, the general world population spends an average of 142 minutes a week on social networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, etc. That’s two hours and 22 minutes of your life each week that you are communicating with others online.

The good news is that all this online time is great for digital marketing strategies. When you focus on where your customers and prospects are hanging out, you can compel them to read your content and follow the trail back to your website. At the moment, if you can get them to a friend, link, and otherwise connect with you on social media, you can have a direct line to them daily!

There is a caveat, however. Be aware that there is a lot of noise on the Internet. You are not the only company vying for customers’ attention. You need to be savvy and stand out from the crowd. That takes the right now of digital marketing strategy and it requires experts in the field to make the most of every marketing dollar in your budget.

We can help. We are Harmonia Media and we’ve been helping growing companies, like yours, grab their slice of the online audience with great content, superior SEO and awesome overall digital strategy that works. Give us a call at (855) 535-4848 and we’ll tell you more! Or, fill out our convenient online contact form and we will connect with you.

“When Matthew O’Grady, founder and CEO of Harmonia Media, started out in business, he hired a web company and invested not only dollars but his trust. He bought into the company’s promises and he trusted them to do what they said they would do. In fact, he was new in the game and believed they would do whatever it took to drive traffic.

Hindsight is 20/20; they said they would provide him with a remarkable website and an online marketing strategy that would build his business. It sounded great and he believed the hype.

Unfortunately, he got very little in return, other than frustration, for his time and effort.

And, ROI? Negligible.

That’s when Matt vowed to learn the digital marketing business himself. He already knew what not to do. So, 10 years ago, he rolled up his sleeves and got to work. He learned the basics and perfected a client-centric online marketing strategy he is proud to call “The Harmonia Difference.” He built Harmonia Media on a foundation of trust and teamwork.”

That’s just a piece of Matt O’Grady’s story.

When his clients find out that Harmonia Media was founded on the principles of fairness, honesty, integrity and a commitment to customer service — in addition, of course, digital marketing expertise — they want to know more.

This is because the very best digital marketing strategies begin with the story. It’s everything. Humans want to hear stories. And, at Harmonia Media, we love to tell them!

We invite you to allow Harmonia Media to tell your company’s story. Contact us and we’ll tell you exactly how we will do it.

 

Dr Seuss, the beloved children’s writer, introduced the world to Green Eggs & Ham, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and, of course, the incorrigible Cat in the Hat.

Countless children (of all ages!) can recite the poetry they listened to and learned to read themselves thanks to some clever tricks Theodor Seuss Geisel shared with all of us in his 60-some books

On the occasion of his birthday, the world celebrated Dr Seuss Day on March 2. In the world of digital marketing, it’s a good time to reflect on writing that sells. Indeed, Dr Seuss’ rhyming and sing songwriting style captivated so many. It was very much a marketing ploy that kept people buying books.

First, Dr Seuss followed one of the most oft-repeated pieces of advice (Thank you, Strunk & White). He omitted needless words. In fact, he often set himself to a limit of only 50 words per book. He decided if he couldn’t get the message out clearly in 50 words, children wouldn’t be entertained.

Some pretty good advice.

Seuss used easy-to-remember simple words along with rhyme, repetition and alliteration. He created new words, too. One need not go further than The Lorax: Once-ler, snergelly, truffula and Bar-ba-loots. The genius writer did what all great writers do. He used words to paint a picture, even when the picture he was describing was one he invented himself!

So, what can we learn from Dr Seuss as it relates to communication? Plenty.

1. To be effective at marketing, you need to tap into the customer’s memory.

Seuss knew that rhyming does that in spades. For example, Nationwide is on your______. Do you even do business with Nationwide? But you do know what they sell, right? How about this one: “Takes a licking and keeps on______.”  The best part of waking up is ______ in your cup.”

2. Repetition is key. 

Time to make the donuts. Time to make the donuts.

We aren’t just talking about words here. Concepts draw a bigger picture, too. When it comes to branding, being repetitive, though not obnoxious, solidifies understanding of the entire story.  Add in a bit of alliteration (repeating the first consonant sound) goes a long way to creating lasting memories.

3. Bring your copy to life with exciting words!

Marketing copy can’t be boring or no one will read it. This isn’t a school. No one HAS to read your content and they can bounce from your website quicker than the Cat in the Hat can cause mischief.

The truth is, when Dr Seuss began writing his books, kids were reading Dick and Jane in school. Sure, those school books offered simple words and repetition. But they didn’t spark the attention and interest of young readers. When Dr Seuss introduced the Cat in the Hat, children were mesmerized. Reading became fun!

This is the bottom line when it comes to digital marketing copy. Have a message. Say it with flair. Then, say it again and again. Make your brand memorable so people will talk about it. Then they’ll tell two friends and they’ll tell two friends, and so on and so on…

Harmonia Media is different from the other digital marketing firms out there. We Care. (See what I did there?) I did it again, with not a moment to spare!

OK, OK. I’m done. However, we have plenty to talk about when it comes to your marketing strategy. Give Harmonia Media a call for a free consultation and website checkup. If you dare….