Marketing is more than colouring in … I swear.
It all begins with an idea.
That old chestnut.
“So what do you do for a living?”
“I work in marketing”
“Ahhh so you spend your days colouring in and making Tik Toks”
If I received $1 every time I have heard that in the last 10 years, I would as wealthy as Kim K post sex tape believe me. But Marketing is genuinely so much more than that - I can assure you my Student Loan can in fact confirm this.
Marketing is critical for any business, whether you are small town, big goals (sort of like us), or already hitting the big time, believe me, you need marketing.
Now immediately, I know what you are thinking, ah yes marketing, the absolute expense sucker of any business, but hear me out, marketing doesnt have to be a HUGE expense, if you have a clear goal, a clear vision, clear tactics and a sprinkle of creative flare, you can curate a targeted and relatively budget friendly marketing plan. Just yesterday, I was browsing the gram (as one does on a Saturday afternoon in Central Otago) and I stumbled across a small UK based business run by a couple similar age to Paul and I and they looked at the expense of marketing built into products, now a great example of this would be a car sale, the marketing is built into the car, so for every used car say, you allocate $200 to marketing. Anyway, I digress, but what they were selling was the idea of removing that “marketing fee” if you like by considering user generated content, so they were having their customers facilitate their marketing, and let me tell you why this is so incredibly clever, because not only are they marketing the product for them, they have to purchase the product FIRST! Genius I tell you, solid gold genius!
How does this relate you ask, in a blog post effectively selling my very high end marketing skills to your business, well, it highlights that marketing is more than just colouring in, and colouring in on a very good budget. Marketing can come in any shape and size, you can go big on the budget and opt for a multi channel approach or it can rely on user generated content and not cost you a dime.
However, no matter what direction you might choose, you should choose 84Group - and here is why.
We are knowledgeable - well my degree and Paul’s camera collection say so anyway
We are here to listen to your business requirements, now, in 6 months, in 6 years!
We are creative, one size definitely does not fit all, this coming from a female with arms like an albatross.
We are 84Group, so we will always use our whole ass on your business.
WTF is SEO.
It all begins with an idea.
I’ll give you a hint, it starts with search.
Search. Engine. Optimisation. Also more commonly referred to as SEO. And why you ask is SEO of any importance, isn’t that what Google, Bing and all those other engines are built for?
Search is your key starting point, without search, you don’t exist, no really you don’t. SEO is the process used to optimise a websites technical configuration, content relevance and link popularity so your business and brand can become easily finable, more relevant and popular towards user queries and as a consequence, search engines rank them better. Yes - so Google can find you!
Search engines are there to help people find what they are looking for online - why do you think “places to eat dinner in Queenstown” is one of the most searched queries to date. Whatever you are researching, search engines provide a common starting point when you are looking for information and for you, it’s a valuable opportunity to direct relevant traffic to your newly refreshed 84Group certified website.
So where do I start and what the actual am I doing? If search engine optimisation is the practice of orienteering your website to rank higher on a search engine results page (SERP) so that you receive more traffic. And we all know what more traffic means - more awareness and ideally more traffic means RESULTS! In an ideal world you rank first on the page of Google (or Bing, let’s not forget those Bing users) results for search terms that resonate with your target audience. Plot summary - SEO is as much about understanding the ants and needs of your audiences as it is about the technical nature of how to configure your website.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Lets wrap this up and give you the basics that will see you ace your SEO.
Keyword research AKA the foundation of any good SEO strategy. Knowing how to use these keywords effectively is like liquid gold! Select your primary and secondary keyword lists - primary should be your main content focus, with secondary being your supporting words.
Write your own compelling and quality content. If you want users to go to your website, like a moth to a flame, the you need quality content that is original, detailed and evergreen. This highlights your unique perspective and expertise and enables them to build a relationship with you and your brand. What’s more, Google loves unique content, they can sniff it out like Paul can sniff out banana bread on a Sunday night. Don’t just create content that is relevant then and there, consider evergreen content that will bring your audience long term benefit!
Format your content for Search Engine Gods. Three words for you, targeted featured snippets. These appear at the top of the search page on Google. They are designed to answer your query in a quick and concise manner - you don’t even need to leave the page. They are highly visible and also attract organic traffic - winner winner!
Page Titles and Meta Description they are the GOAT! They might be the first thing your audience will see, making them make or break for your brand. These words hold the power, like women in every aspect of life - so make sure they are impactful!
Short and Descriptive URLS. Clean and concise URLS can help search engines understand your page and gives you a more user friendly shall we say appearance in the SERPs. An effective URL will use keywords, be readable and of course CONCISE!
Remove any content that loads slowly. Noone likes to live in a slow paced environment, so what makes your website any different? If your page is loading slowly, users are highly unlikely to stick around - thus increasing your bounce rate.
LINKING. Internal and external links are highly effective. Internal links - direct users to other pages within your website. External links go to another website. Just remember, validate those external links or all that external credibility goes running out the door!
Site Audits. Do these on the regular. These ensure your site remains as function and user-firiendly as possible.
Last but not least COMPETITORS. Always check out what they are doing in the market, chances are they are producing similar types of content that you are. by analysing your competitors you can learn about more effective and fresh content ideas!
Give 84Group a bell. Chances are, we can help. Chances are higher, we can absolutely smash it for you and your brand.