Anyone can produce content.

But content without a purpose is not effective. You need to consider the goals of your content marketing strategy. Ask yourself what you want your audience to do when they consume your content.

Whatever that answer is, your content needs to be engaging if you want to accomplish those goals. What is engaging content?

Well, it all depends on whom you ask and how it’s measured. For me, engaging content is all about getting results, such as:

• increase in traffic
• clicks
• opt-ins
• conversions
• sales
• comments
• likes
• mentions

Any of these metrics can be used to measure engagement.

Here’s something else to keep in mind. If your content doesn’t engage your readers, they simply won’t consume and retain the information. This will end up being a big waste of your time, money, and resources.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying it’s easy to come up with great content.

If you’re currently putting out posts, images, and videos that are average at best, it’ll take some more effort on your part if you want to see some results.

But it’s worth it. If you put in the extra effort to focus on improving your content marketing strategy, it will ultimately help your business make more money.

Not sure where to start? That’s what I’m here for.

I’ve come up with this resource of the top 9 tips for producing content that engages your audience.  [click to continue…]

Your new ecommerce site has finally launched. Congratulations!

Now you have the ability to sell to a huge potential audience. Whether you have a completely new business or an existing brand that just launched an ecommerce site, getting your first few sales can be intimidating.

Existing businesses that expanded to the Internet, using it as an additional sales platform, will have an easier time with this.

That’s because they already have current customers familiar with the brand. For the most part, they’ll just need to let those customers know they’re selling online, and sales should follow.

With that in mind, this guide is designed mostly for those startups that just launched an ecommerce site.

Or maybe you’ve had a website for a while, but you’re just now adding an ecommerce feature to it.

Regardless of your situation, this guide will help anyone looking to increase conversions in their ecommerce stores, ultimately generating more sales.

Once you get that first sale out of the way, others will continue. Here are some tips to get you started in the right direction.  [click to continue…]

It’s crucial for businesses to have an active social media presence to survive in 2018.

No social media marketing strategy is complete without Instagram. It’s become a top platform for brands, advertisers, and consumers alike.

This platform has 800 million monthly active users. And 500 million Instagram profiles are active on a daily basis.

Here’s something else that may surprise you: 70% of Instagram hashtags are branded.

What does that tell you? If you’re not active on Instagram, your competitors definitely are.

Those of you who already have an account set up are on the right track. But just having an Instagram profile doesn’t necessarily translate to sales.

If you want to drive sales and make real money from Instagram, you need to come up with a viable strategy. This guide will steer you in the right direction.  [click to continue…]

It doesn’t matter what type of business you have or how long you’ve run it. Your customers are the lifelines of your brand.

Whether you sell products, offer services, or a combination of the two, customer service needs to be one of your top priorities.

You could have the best product in the world, but if you don’t treat your customers well, it’s going to hurt your bottom line. On the flip side, you could have a product that’s average, or even subpar, and be extremely profitable if you provide excellent customer service.

How is that possible? Well, the numbers don’t lie.

According to research, 80% of consumers say they’re willing to pay more money to businesses offering better customer service.

But that’s not all. Failing to provide good customer service can result in the loss of your customers.

What exactly causes a business to lose customers? Research shows that only 14% of customers stop supporting a business because they are not satisfied with their products or services. And 9% leave because of the price.

But look at the top reason why customers leave a business. Nearly seven out of 10 customers will leave because they don’t feel valued.

In short, customer service is more important than what you’re selling.

Now that we’ve established why improving your customer service is important, it’s time to take steps in that direction. But how can you improve your customer service if you don’t know what your customers want?

It’s simple. Just ask them.

Getting feedback from your customers is a crucial component of your customer support strategy.

It shows them you care about their opinions. Furthermore, the results can help you better your business and ultimately make more money.

If you want to provide excellent customer service, I’ve narrowed down the top 8 ways to get feedback from your customers.  [click to continue…]

So you’re ready to launch a new product.

Congratulations.

Regardless of your business type or industry, it’s important for brands, both new and old, to be innovative to stay relevant. I know how much hard work you’ve put into this new release, so I want to commend you on that.

Whether you’re releasing a new product or an extension of an existing product line, you’ve got to make sure your marketing efforts lead to sales.

Think about all the blood, sweat, and tears you put into this creation. Okay, maybe not blood, but you get what I mean.

This goes all the way back to your early brainstorming sessions as well as your research and development phases. You may have even had some failed attempts.

Oh yeah, and what about all the money you invested in this new product? Can’t forget about that.

If you can’t get consumers to buy your product, you won’t get an adequate return on that investment.

But those of you who are able to effectively promote your new product will enjoy the high sales. I’ll give you some tips and advice that will help you out.  [click to continue…]