November 10, 2022

Is Email Marketing Dead?: Email Marketing in 2022 & Beyond

As marketers, we’re always trying to keep up with the latest trends and be aware of what the marketing world is talking about. But one question that’s circulated over the years (and is still a hot debate) stood out to us:

Is email marketing dead?

More small businesses are reevaluating their marketing strategy and making tough decisions based on a channel’s impact, return on investment, and relevance to their strategy. Email marketing, in particular, is the tactic that often gets pushed to the side or forgotten, as business owners are more likely to invest in SEO or web design, which have a seemingly “instant” impact (spoiler alert — they don’t).

We put our heads together to talk through the pros and cons of email marketing to help equip you with the best data possible. Every marketing strategy is different and it’s likely that email marketing might not be a good fit for your brand, or that your email marketing execution will be unique. That’s perfectly fine — we’re here to simply share our thoughts!

The Challenges Of Email Marketing

Cluttered Inboxes

How many times have you opened your inbox and recoiled in horror at the number of unread emails? One of the biggest challenges with email marketing is competition. The sheer number of emails sent, often sporadically and without rhyme or reason, can deter email recipients from actually checking their inbox, since there are just so many emails to wade through.

Low Chance of Touchpoint

When you send an email, there is no guarantee that the recipient ever opens it. In fact, most probably won’t! That can be off putting to some marketers, who want to know they are making an impact on their desired targets. For some, the risk of an email being unopened is too large, so they opt for display, SEO or SEM instead.

Active Engagement Can Be Hard To Measure

Even an opened email is no guarantee. A recipient still needs to actually read the content, let alone take the desired action, like call or buy a product. Some marketers instead prefer more passive marketing mediums, like Youtube ads or broadcast TV, which require little action on the viewer’s part.

The Benefits of Email Marketing

While there are definitely challenges with email marketing, it is worth remembering that these can be overcome with the right strategy. Targeting the right people, writing good email copy, and incorporating a compelling call to action all will improve the odds that you see success with email marketing.

However, it is also worth remembering that email marketing offers a ton of benefits, benefits that other mediums do not.

Email Marketing Is Automated

One of the key benefits of email marketing is that it’s a completely automated outreach strategy, if done correctly. The number of touchpoints your brand can establish with customers and potential customers with email marketing is many times what you could do with manual outreach from sales. Other mediums, like social media and pay-per-click advertising, can be automated, but the potential reach is just typically so much higher with email marketing, at least for the typical small business.

Email Marketing Is Conversational

The biggest brands in the world pay top dollar to perfect their brand message when reaching out to potential clients. A natural, low-pressure, and informative brand message can help entice your clients to learn more and can often lead to gleaning bits of insight from your clients. Remember, the whole point of marketing isn’t just to advertise; you also should be encouraging real and authentic two-way exchanges of information with your clients and potential client. Email marketing is a great medium to do just that.

Email Marketing Is Cost Effective

They are better ways to reach more people than email marketing, but none are as cost-effective as email marketing. Pay-per-click advertising, paid social media campaigns, and broadcast advertising can reach more people, but these mediums do come with a hefty price tag. Email marketing typically requires no ad spend budget, fewer hours of maintenance, and less manual setup versus other marketing channels, making it a lower-cost medium. But that’s not all! Because email marketing allows you to reach specific people at specific times and is used to nurture existing clients to purchase again, it also drives more sales than other low-cost mediums. Email marketing punches above its weight!

Email Marketing Is Tailored

Marketers are always thinking through how to create marketing funnels, or paths to draw their potential clients from awareness to consideration to purchase. There are ways this can be done with web design, SEO or social media, but none have the versatility that email marketing does. If done correctly, marketers can use their email marketing campaigns to “build their own adventures” for potential clients and clients, depending on user quality or actions. Maybe a different follow up email should be sent to those who didn’t open the previous email. Maybe you are putting leads down an automated email campaign and realize that there really need to be two campaigns, depending on the industry of the lead. Never fear; with the right CRM and email strategy, you can segment your campaigns to be tailored to each unique lead.

Email Marketing Strategies

When we view email marketing holistically, acknowledging its weaknesses and noting its strengths, we see that there are a few rules to keep in mind when using email marketing.

Don’t Rely on Email Marketing To Grow Your Business; Use It To Grow Clients

Email marketing, at least for small businesses, doesn’t tend to be a great vehicle for net-new growth. Few people will open emails from a sender they don’t recognize, so using email marketing to reach new clients doesn’t pan out for a lot of small businesses. However, that doesn’t mean that we don’t encourage email marketing to existing clients or leads. The medium is a great way to continually nurture existing clients or leads and sporadic email communication, such as through a product recall campaign or an existing client recall campaign, can keep you top of mind with your existing clients. Remember, an existing client is 60% likelier to convert, so this approach tends to work well!

Use In Tandem With Other Channels

Email marketing has its benefits, but it needs to be used in tandem with other marketing methods. As mentioned previously, email marketing works well as a remarketing tool. We recommend using other channels, like SEO, paid search, and paid social to reach new clients. There are multiple ways of doing this, but we recommend an approach where each individual piece of the campaign complements the other tactics. For instance, use paid social media to redirect to a contact page, where users can request a piece of content by filling in their name and email address. Now that you have email addresses, utilize a well-planned and informational email marketing campaign to educate and inform your lead about your brand!

Follow Best Practices, As Always

Email marketing isn’t a cheat code. You won’t see results if you don’t follow industry best practices for best results. Make sure…

Your email bodies are short and digestible
Your emails have concise and enticing subject lines
Your emails come from a trusted email address
Your emails don’t make pushy sales plays, but mainly offer informational content and news.
You comply with all relevant privacy and can spam regulations.

Consider Your Main Objective And Plan Accordingly

We will always recommend using email marketing as a part of your overall strategy, but it might not be the crux of your marketing strategy at any given point. If you’re a new business with hardly any customers, you need to focus on the essentials. Local SEO, branding, and logo design are much more important than email marketing at this stage. If you’re a company with a broader customer base, but an old, less-responsive website, we’d recommend putting more effort into a website redesign or a brand new site before email marketing. Now, if you’re a brand with a large customer base, but most of these customers haven’t purchased lately, then email marketing might be the perfect way to reengage them!

Need to revamp your email marketing strategy? Get in touch with the JSL Marketing Team for a free consultation!

October 20, 2022

What’s Your Marketing Personality? The Different Types of Marketing Strategies

Like everything else in the world, there are many different types of marketing personalities. If you’ve been on the internet long enough, you probably know which Spice Girl you are, your Hogwarts House, or what your favorite wine says about you.

Similar to your Meyer’s Briggs personality type or Enneagram number, there are distinctive marketing philosophies or personalities. Yes, knowing if you’re more Sporty Spice or Posh Spice is strictly for entertainment, but knowing your marketing personality can help determine your brand’s marketing strategy.

The following ‘marketing personality types’ are just tongue-in-cheek, generalized descriptions. These are meant to be fun but useful ways to understand the different marketing approaches. We recommend you read, laugh, and learn a little about yourself and your brand!

Marketing Strategy 1: The Measurer Brand

Measurer Brands are data-driven — always looking at the numbers. If they were a Hogwarts house, they’d be Ravenclaws. If they had a favorite class, it’d be Stats. If they were a book, they’d be two books (catch our drift?). Measurers like to test out ads and specials, prioritize their ideal customer profile, and keep data libraries with info on past initiatives and efforts. Strategy isn’t a scary word for a brand that enjoys data; it’s a challenge. (And honestly, probably a fun challenge at that.)

Best Marketing Channels

SEO, Paid Advertising, Email Marketing, Market Research

Areas For Improvement

Videography, Photography, Web Design, Logo Design

Pros

Measurers know how to get stuff done. A brand with savvy data skills, a talented team, and a proven paradigm for determining success always knows its targets and whether or not it hits them. Measurer Brands usually enter campaigns with a S.M.A.R.T goal, data on past performance, and a timeline for each campaign stage, leading to flawless execution.

Cons

Brands that prioritize measurement tend to be great at collecting data but sometimes require help with marketing’s emotional side. Measurer Brands can falter with elements that can’t be quantified immediately, like logos, web design, or written content.

Recommendations

Measurer Brands don’t take many risks, so we challenge you to work on humanizing your brand’s perception. Design elements like photos, videos, and colors are usually hard for measurement-heavy brands to quantify, but they’re extremely important for successful marketing. Measurers can improve their current marketing strategy by adding a creative touch to their Left-Brain tendencies.

Marketing Strategy 2: The Creative Brand

Creative marketing brands are the gifted art students of the marketing world. If creative marketing brands were personified, they’d probably also look like gifted art students. (We’re thinking intricate tattoos, wide-rim glasses, and leatherbound books of Russian poetry. And coffee. Lots of coffee) Creative Brands may be erudite, but they’re also gifted. In our experience, Creatives tend to have amazing advertisements, stunning logos, and web content that could win a Pulitzer.

Best Marketing Channels

Videography, Photography, Content Marketing, Web Design

Areas For Improvement

Technical SEO, Reputation Management, Paid Advertising, Market Research

Pros

Creative Brands always leave a mark. You can’t help but be impressed by their marketing materials and always walk away WOWed. In a world where consumers see over 4,000 ads daily, Creatives can cut through the advertising clutter and grab potential customers’ attention.

They also approach strategy differently. Whereas other brands might be more stiff or conservative with their marketing, Creatives are more likely to take risks and try new things. This doesn’t just apply to creative ways of producing marketing mediums and content; they often have brand-new ideas to meet customers efficiently.

Cons

Creative Brands sometimes fall victim to their own brilliance — the ability to make changes and try new things can be a double-edged sword. Without a steady leader guiding them, Creatives can falter and vacillate between ideas. An idea doesn’t immediately bear fruit? Time to pivot to the next cool suggestion. Someone float an interesting observation? Time to scrap the current strategy and start fresh. Creative Brands are usually the most likely to upend their logo, strategy, product, and content at the drop of a hat. While pivoting is important, consumers can get confused if a brands messaging is inconsistent and impatient. Ad confusion is real, people!

Recommendations

Creative Brands should hold themselves and their tactics accountable by measuring their marketing efforts as much as possible. A Creative’s strategy usually rests on innate creativity (or even just a vibe), so we recommend utilizing data to guide more decisions. This can help correct any disorganization.

Creative Brands should also depend on creative measures less. These brands love the creativity, teamwork, and innovation of new websites, stunning videography, and redesigned logos since that’s where they excel. The more technical aspects of digital marketing, like Local Reputation Management, off-page SEO, Google Ad match types, and market research, tend to bore them to tears. However, marketers achieve the best results when technical expertise and creative brilliance intersect. Creatives: find some techies and data geeks to augment your artists and bohemians — your marketing strategy will benefit from it.

Marketing Strategy 3: The Volume Brand

Volume Brands understand that new business is the lifeblood of any company, so they prioritize bringing in new customers. Where other brands struggle to invest in lead generation or are wary of spending on outreach, Volume Brands understand that marketing isn’t a cost but an investment. Volumes understand that Pay-Per-Click ads, paid social campaigns, and email marketing are all important when trying to reach potential and current customers. They are willing to invest accordingly for the best results.

Best Marketing Channels

Paid Social, Pay-Per-Click Advertising, and Email Marketing

Areas For Improvement

Market Research, Branding

Pros

Volume Brands can expand quickly and confidently. Their outreach strategies drive results, and their sales team never runs out of leads. Other brands may struggle to gain new business, but Volumes always have the right mix of outreach channels and are constantly adding new clients.

Cons

Volume is great, but it does have its downsides. Volume Brands often rely on paid channels like paid social and Pay-Per-Click ads to drive business and can overspend in the process. This often goes hand in hand with another problem; Volume Brands typically rely on a high quantity of lower-quality leads and customers to grow, which can be a time-suck. If a volume brand sends 100 leads from a web form to their sales team and only 20 meet specifications, the sales team likely will need to waste time triaging leads. Usually, Volume Brands have enough leads in the pipeline to grow, but time and money should be spent on things other than separating the good leads from the bad.

The Volume Brand model also doesn’t fit all industries. If you’re a Business-To-Business company, a high quantity of low-quality leads is probably not the right model for your needs. If you’re trying to reach accounting firm owners, you want a niche audience — an influx of leads wanting to learn about accounting or apply for accounting jobs doesn’t help you at all. Many companies encounter this issue when using quantity over quality to overcome marketing challenges. It might work for some, but the more niche the audience, the more targeted the marketing needs to be.

Recommendations

Tighten the nets slightly. Volume Brands are starting from a good place because they have great lead generation and an extensive pipeline. That allows them to be more judicious with their marketing and narrowly define what is and isn’t their ideal customer. Market research is typically not a core competency for Volume Brands, but the more these brands understand who converts and renews, the more efficiently they can spend their precious time and budget.

Marketing Strategy 4: The Cool Cat Brand

Cool Cat Brands can inspire consumers. Their marketing is super-polished and impressive, like the Creative Brand, but their main calling card is an immensely favorable brand impression. The good name of the Cool Cat Brand is earned in multiple ways. Maybe it was the industry awards or amazing customer reviews. Maybe it’s just a great brand story with incredible recognition and loyalty to boot. Regardless of how it happened, Cool Cats have their customers’ attention and won’t lose it anytime soon.

Best Marketing Channels

Logo Design, Reputation Management, Brand Collateral

Areas For Improvement

Paid Advertising, Marketing Strategy, Market Research, SEO

Pros

Reputation matters, and The Cool Cat Brand always has a sterling reputation. This usually translates into a loyal consumer base and long-term contracts, critical elements for any brand. Where other businesses might struggle to retain customers, The Cool Cat Brand easily gets the buy-in of their loyal customers. This great reputation also aids their outreach. These brands typically are not as focused on gaining new business as other brands, but Cool Cat Brands tend to always make a favorable impression when they do attempt to gain new customers.

Cons

Cool Cat Brands can get complacent. Because consumers love their brand and story, Cool Cats typically have less incentive to change or measure changes in their marketing environment. These brands are especially vulnerable to sudden situational changes, whether from new competitors, economic downturns, or PR disasters. In many ways, Cool Cat Brands are always resting on their laurels and expecting their great name and brand reputation to carry them. If this ever fails, these brands can be caught flat-footed.

Recommendations

Cool Cat Brands have a great customer base but should consider diversifying. We would recommend these brands commit to improving their data measurement and lead generation. While these are not immediately profitable activities for Cool Cats, both tactics let the brand grow. Plus, their great logo, story, and value proposition mean they tend to convert new business easily, if paired with sound research and strategy.

Up Your Marketing Strategy With JSL Marketing & Web Design

So, you’re probably wondering which marketing strategies are the best choice overall.

To be honest, none of them and all of them! Successful brands can take elements of each marketing personality and weave them into their own marketing strategy. The Measurement Brand’s analysis, the Creative Brand’s innovation, the Volume Brand’s muscle, and the Cool Cat Brand’s connections are not mutually exclusive!

The first step is identifying where your brand excels and where it can improve — that’s where JSL Marketing & Web Design comes in! We’ve helped brands all over Dallas and the state of Texas grow, and we want to help refine your business’s marketing strategy.

We’ll help determine what you’re doing well and where you might need help. Whether it’s researching and developing your overall strategy or implementing the technical elements of digital marketing, we’re here for you!

We offer a multitude of marketing services that are customized to fit your needs, including

Email Marketing

Brand Research

Photography & Videography

Social Media Management

Content Marketing

SEO & Web Design

Logo Design

& More

Fill out the form below to get started. Let’s find a marketing strategy that works for you!

September 22, 2022

Responding To A PR Crisis With Style

If you’ve ever responded to a PR crisis, you know just how vital your response can be. Countless brands that have responded to public relations crises either shot to fame or were epic failures. A severe PR disaster can have a massive impact on your brand if not tackled immediately.

However, you’re likely not a multimillion-dollar corporation with a dedicated public relations department or a boutique branding firm on speed dial. If you’re a small business owner, your public relations mess-ups might not make the front page of Forbes or Fortune, but they are still watershed moments in your brand’s history. And you don’t need to be on Wall Street to prepare for a public relations disaster.

While it might be time-consuming and cumbersome to prepare for a PR disaster, it is well worth the effort.

Failing to prepare can have enormous consequences for your brand. Take the example of Bridgestone and its Firestone tire controversy.

Firestone tires, made by Bridgestone, would separate from their threads at high speed, causing multiple accidents and some deaths in the late ’90s. Some personal injury attorneys knew about the tires, and eventually, Bridgestone’s internal research team and individual dealerships became aware of their tires’ severe risk. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration then began its investigation and confirmed that Firestone tires were, in fact, the cause of many accidents.

Firestone eventually recalled millions of tires while caught in a media firestorm, but the damage was already done. Bridgestone lost nearly 50% of its market value, faced a congressional investigation and several lawsuits, and closed one manufacturing plant permanently.

Despite Bridgestone’s manufacturing and technical problems with their tires, other, clumsier public relations decisions worsened the company’s crisis. The main lesson from the Bridgestone case, one that small business owners need to take to heart, is that any public relations problem handled poorly will worsen.

Bridgestone had a product problem to rectify, but its failure to handle public relations impacted every aspect of the brand’s business — and not in a good way.

The branding and marketing experts at JSL Marketing & Web Design compiled some essentials for your crisis response plan. Bad press will happen, so be prepared to tackle it.

Read on to learn how you (yes, you!) can handle a PR crisis.

Public Relations Tip 1: Gather Your Facts

The first rule of public relations is to research extensively. When a PR crisis happens, rushing and making a statement can be tempting, but we encourage you to ensure you have all of your facts in a row. You don’t want to make a statement without having all the necessary information. You could inadvertently make your PR crisis bigger than it needs to be if you speak about something that turned out untrue. Rumors will fly at the beginning of a PR crisis. Wait until you have verified all relevant info before speaking.

You will need to balance this with a quick response. If you take too long to research, a false media narrative or public perception could form, which is hard to shake. We recommend making an initial statement that apologizes and assures the public you’re working on researching and rectifying the issue.

This statement usually promotes your brand well to the public, doesn’t commit to any specific course of action while you research, and buys time to learn more. This sort of communique doesn’t need to be very long. An earnest paragraph should be sufficient.

Public Relations Tip 2: Appoint a Team

Appointing a team is most effective if done prior. Your PR response team is like your IT specialist; ideally, they should foresee problems, not react to them. Having a team ready for any public relations nightmare is always the best step.

Now, if you’re a small business owner, you probably don’t have a PR department — and that’s ok. However, you and your team can develop your plan for responding to a PR crisis. Ask yourself and your team the questions below before a crisis ever happens. Then once the real thing arrives, you can dust off your crisis response plan and spring to action!

Who will comment on any public relations controversies?
Where or to whom do you redirect questions from the media or the public?
What’s the first thing we do when a PR crisis arrives?
Will we relay communication from another internal communicator to the public?

Public Relations Tip 3: Hone Your Message

When a public relations crisis breaks, it can be natural to want to defend yourself. Your employees and other teams will probably want that to be your company’s first response. However, that can be a mistake. Inconsistent messaging and unclear delivery responsibilities often muddy the waters and worsen things.

For instance, if your front desk employees tell your customers one thing about the situation, your customers might be taken off guard when your message is different. To cut this off, ensure that your team understands your message and who will be responsible for delivering it.

Public Relations Tip 4: Prepare for Questions

You cannot possibly be prepared for every possible question, but you should be ready for the general crisis questions. Questions around blame, immediate impact, your plan to fix the situation, and the overall message are much more common than questions about the long-term consequences, small details, and technicalities.

Public Relations Tip 5: Own it

One of Bridgestone’s worst mistakes in its public relations crisis was to prevaricate over taking responsibility. At various points in the Firestone controversy, Bridgestone implied that customer tire inflation methods, Ford Motor Company, and the Ford Explorer were the cause of the accidents, not their defective tires.

Had they taken immediate action in 1996 when their tires became suspicious, Bridgestone might have gotten away with a small recall and some amended production processes. Instead, they delayed and attempted to put the blame on someone else. Their attempt to evade their responsibility came back to bite them.

When the truth came out, it resulted in massive lawsuits, bad publicity, and poor relationships with partners for Bridgestone. They caused far more damage themselves than the crisis did in the first place. If you’re ever in a situation like this, take responsibility early and often.

Even simply validating the public’s concerns can have a considerable impact.

Public Relations Tip 6: Audit Your Customer-Facing Mediums

You will have questions trickle in about your public relations crisis, both from the public, the press, and internal employees. We discussed how you should brief client-facing staff on responding to questions, but don’t forget about the other touchpoints between your brand and customers.

Social media DMs, email responses, and contact forms on your website are all areas where questions and concerns from the public will appear. Be sure your team knows how to handle inquiries through these mediums.

Other, more public interactions should also be kept in mind. Social media comments and reviews on Google Maps are two great examples of public communication with your customer base. When faced with negative comments and reviews, reply graciously and validate the customer’s concern, even if they are being unfair. Remember, it’s not just for them. Other users are watching as well.

Taking responsibility and apologizing to your customers on these mediums help build your reputation with the public. (And it’s just great advice for dealing with unhappy customers!)

Keep Your Brand Protected With JSL Marketing & Web Design

If you want to work with Dallas’ top branding agency, get in touch!

September 08, 2022

5 Proven Ways To Promote A Physical Location

Promoting a physical location can be a much different beast than promoting an online service. This stands to reason, right? Getting a 5-course meal in a restaurant is quite different from DoorDashing fast food. Why shouldn’t the marketing be different if the products are different?

The way you need to consider promoting your restaurant for in-store traffic needs to be especially convincing since you’re asking your intended customer to come into a physical location. If you’re asking your target customer to leave the house instead of clicking on your website, you’ll need to really make an impression!

Many small businesses, however, fail to differentiate digital and in-store revenue streams in their marketing and promote brick-and-mortar stores like they would a website. This approach just isn’t effective, and you’ll likely be left disappointed with your results. Luckily, there are some tried-and-true tips for marketing a physical location. We’ve compiled our favorites to help you reach your physical location goals. Study, learn, and implement these tips and tricks, and you’ll have a line out the door in no time!

Read Onto Learn More About Physical Location Marketing!

Do I Need To Consider Physical Locations?

Right off the bat, let’s talk about the situations where you need to consider location-based marketing. Not all business models need to consider physical location marketing. However, you should reevaluate your marketing if you fall into any of these camps.

If Most Of Your Revenue Is Brick-And-Mortar: This is an obvious one. If most of your revenue comes from physical locations, it’s imperative that you consider this fact in your marketing. This encapsulates everything from your website to your referral programs and everything in between. If you make the majority of your money in physical stores, be sure to incorporate this fact into your marketing.
If Your Industry Requires It: Some brands can be extremely effective in relying on online advertising, especially if their industry is a conducive one to the digital world. Online jewelry is a great example of this. You can rely exclusively on digital marketing between paid advertising, online order pages, and email remarketing if you sell and ship products. That isn’t true of all industries, however. For instance, if you’re a doctor or mechanic, there’s only so much that can be done remotely or digitally. You’re going to need to focus on getting patients to a central location to capitalize. Note that we don’t mean neglect one or the other. In fact, most industries require a combination of remote ordering and in-store revenue to be successful. Look at your business model and decide where you fall.
If Your Physical Locations Are Out Of The Way: We’re not saying you should neglect to promote locations in the heart of downtown, but you can probably rely on a stream of off-the-street traffic for prime real estate locations. However, if your location is further out of the way or hard to access, you need a way to drive quality traffic to that location.
If You Need To Qualify Customers: You can do much via the digital world to determine if a customer is a good match for your services. However, this isn’t a cure-all, and there are a lot of cases where you might need to meet with patients or clients face-to-face to see if this is a good match. Vets, medical offices, and mechanics are great examples of professionals who really need some quality facetime to diagnose problems effectively.

Here are the most common situations where you can likely eschew specific-location marketing entirely, even if you see many in-store purchases.

If You Have An Extremely Recognizable Brand: Starbucks doesn’t need to remind you where their locations are. If you have an insane level of market saturation, promoting particular locations is probably best reserved for new openings or very special use cases. Everyone knows where the closest mass-coffee shop is, so you’re probably better suited to putting your dollars elsewhere.
If Impromptu Purchases Drive Your Business: If impromptu purchases are a huge part of your business, you probably have enough in-store traffic at this point. Think Walmart or a large retail store. Promotions and the correct pricing will be much more impactful than incremental traffic to your locations if your brand is, in fact, this large.
If You Have A Lot Of Well-Located Stores: Fast food stores near highways and main thoroughfares are great examples of this. Other than a billboard and a few signs, these stores probably require zero-to-none in physical location marketing.

There is an important caveat to remember when looking at our examples of business models that don’t promote individual locations as thoroughly. Note that none of these companies neglect digital advertising at large. Large companies with many physical locations, like Walmart and Starbucks, still invest heavily in their digital advertising to reach their customers and remind them that their stores exist. They’re less focused on any location unless it’s a new store. Even if you are well-established in your area, investing in quality digital marketing is always the right call to keep your customers coming in.

Our Recommendations For Location-Based Marketing

Alright, folks, it’s time to reveal our thoughts on the most effective tactics for promoting physical locations. Please note this is not to say that you should be ignoring other tactics entirely. Instead, we recommend viewing these digital and traditional marketing tactics as your foundation to build.

Physical Location Tip 1: Local SEO & Reputation Management

Local SEO is where we recommend you focus your efforts to begin. This is absolutely the building block to nail down before other marketing tactics. Here’s why.

Some 40% or so of all Google searches revolve around local searches, and the vast majority of searchers will find the solution they’re looking for in the first three search results. Optimizing your listings on sites like Google Maps, Yelp, Bing, and other map services is a surefire way to make it easier to be found online. Through high-quality images, correct information, SEO improvements, and high-quality reviews, you can rise to the top of your market’s Local SEO results and make it easier for customers to find directions to your physical locations.

Remember, people who are searching on Google for a business (i.e., restaurant near me) intend to make an appearance at that location. If you can get your listing via Local SEO near the top of Google, the likelier it is that they land on your listing and the likelier they are to visit.

Physical Location Tip 2: Refer a Friend Programs & Coupons

Your competition with online stores means that you need compelling reasons for your customers to come into your store. It will always be very easy to order on Amazon, so you must sweeten the pot for your potential customers. Refer-A-Friend Programs and coupons are two great ways to do just that. You’re letting your customers become your advertising by incentivizing your customers to promote you to their circles via Refer-A-Friend programs. The same is true of coupons with initial purchases. Both of these incentives dramatically increase the odds that you’ll see increases in the number of in-store purchases, as you’ve given the customer a reason to come to the store.

Physical Location Tip 3: Paid Advertising

Now, we know what you’re thinking. Why would paid digital advertising help promote a physical location.

Well, there are a few use cases we’d recommend you consider paid advertising for. The good news is that all three of these paid advertising options have geographic targeting options and are cost-effective ways of quickly reaching large numbers of people.

Google Ads: Promote a location page on your website via Google Ads. Again, getting to the top of Google via paid ads is a great way to get in-store traffic.
Google Maps: Use paid ad campaigns to keep your digital listing at the top of Google Maps and other map listings.
Social Ads: Paid social advertising is actually pretty effective for physical locations! Run special ad campaigns for your locations to keep customers aware of your locations.

Physical Location Tip 4: Location-Based Content

One of the best ways to promote a specific physical location is to incorporate location-based keywords into your web content. If you can rank #1 on Google for “coffee shops Main street, Johnsonville,” you’re perfectly primed to receive online web traffic for people searching for that term. These keywords also help Google understand your physical location and help you rank for location-based keywords on Google Maps. If you can rank for these search terms, your content is likely to rank well and be found by prospective customers on search engine results pages.

Contact JSL Marketing & Web Design Today

Are you ready to grow your online presence for your physical locations? You’re in the right spot! Talk to an JSL Marketing & Web Design expert today to craft a custom marketing strategy.

Depending on your unique needs, we might recommend…

Email Marketing

Brand Collateral

Web Design

Web Development

Print Marketing

Content Development

& More…

Ready To Get Started? Fill Out The Contact Form Below To Begin!

August 18, 2022

Marketing Budget Tips 101: Balling On A Budget

Maximizing your marketing dollars can mean the difference between breaking even with your ROI and hitting a 3X ROI! As marketers, we’re always looking to make the most of our marketing budgets without breaking the bank. That is often easier said than done. There are so many different platforms to advertise on and all of them come with their own costs. Even DO-It-Yourself marketing tactics, like planning and shooting your own videos or designing custom social media graphics, often requires paying an editor. As a small business owner, you know you need to spend money on marketing to make money, but you still want to be sure you’re prioritizing the right marketing mediums. Where do you start?

The marketing consultants at JSL Marketing & Web Design have got you covered! Read the rest of this blog post to learn ….

Which Marketing Mediums To Start With
How To Decide Where To Spend Money
What Client Testimonials Can Do For Your Brand
How To Get Free Word-Of-Mouth Promotion
And More!

Read On To Learn How To Maximize Your Marketing Budget

Marketing Budget Tip 1: Go Back To Basics

If budget wasn’t an issue, it’d be great to run broadcast television ads, paid ad campaigns, and billboard advertising 24/7, 365. However, most of us have marketing budgets to adhere to. It’s not that these marketing tactics aren’t useful. It just means that you have more pressing concerns to deal with and you don’t want to spend thousands upon thousands of dollars.

As a rule, we recommend starting with a functional website, a clean logo, and a properly-optimized Google listing. Most small businesses will see better results if they focus their marketing efforts on web design and local SEO before they start running paid ad campaigns. Again, there is a time for a smaller business to look at utilizing advertising in their marketing plan, but this typically comes after nailing the fundamentals.

If paid ads and broadcast ads are the slam dunk and three-pointer of the marketing world, think of web design and SEO as the dribble and bounce pass of marketing. You would never consider starting with the 3-pointer when coaching an elementary basketball team, especially if most kids couldn’t properly dribble. In the same way, focusing on shiny ad slots and pay-per-click ad campaigns if your website doesn’t load properly is a mistake. SEO and web design tend to be some of the most cost-effective ways of growing your business, so most businesses will see a better ROI by revamping their listing and website before they move on to broadcast advertising. Get the basics down pat and then expand.

Marketing Budget Tip 2: A/B Test & Prioritize High Performers

You’d be surprised how many marketers don’t actually test their ideas out in the “real world.” Eliminating underperforming content, videos, and calls to action from your marketing channels won’t reduce cost, but it can absolutely raise your return on investment, and that’s just as good, in our opinion.

Marketing Budget Tip 3: Repurpose Content

This recommendation comes with a caveat; only repurpose when it makes sense. The ad copy that you use on your website can’t just be copied and pasted onto social media, given how different social media is from the web. Still, there are occasionally use cases where you can repurpose a piece of content from one medium to another. For instance, a well-written blog piece for your website can be truncated down for email marketing in a few minutes and often with great results.

Video marketing is another great example of this. A well-designed and edited promotional video can often be repurposed on web pages, in email blasts, and on social media. If the video is 30 seconds or under, it might not even need editing from one platform to another!

Marketing Budget Tip 4: Start A Refer A Friend Program

Turning to your established customers to help promote your brand is an amazing strategy. For one, it incentivizes you to find and work with your most loyal customers, which is never a bad business strategy. After all, they’re driving the majority of your business, so a little extra time interfacing with happy clients is a good play. In that same vein, asking your clients to promote your brand is often the best form of marketing. Prospective clients are skeptical of marketing materials and often require some form of social proof to commit.

The average American sees over 2,000 ads in a day and that means that you often need to prove that you’re the real deal prior to getting a sale. Asking your clients to refer friends in exchange for a gift card or discounted rate means that your best clients are singing your praises to their friends and family. Since people are statistically likely to trust the recommendation of their friends and families, your Refer-A-Friend program is one of your most effective AND low-cost ways of gaining new business.

Marketing Budget Tip 5: Get Testimonials From Your Existing Clients:

Your current clients are an untapped goldmine of content. If you don’t have unlimited funds, turn to your clients for testimonials! If you’ve built strong and resilient relationships with your clients, they’re more than likely thrilled to share! Their testimonials will resonate with prospective clients more than if you wrote your promotional materials and the best part is that they’re doing the heavy lifting! We would recommend trying to get a video recording of the testimonial if you can. The video may require some basic video editing before promotion, but the personal touch and visualization will have a greater impact on your prospective client. Still, if you can’t get a video for social media or your website, a written review for email marketing, your website, or social media is just fine!

Marketing Budget Tip 6: Only Use Your Funds Strategically

Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. It was true when your mom told it to you as a child and it’s true now with your marketing budget. If you’re looking to grow your business, you might think that you need to be wherever your customers are. In a perfect world, yes, you’d love to have the dollars to run complementary campaigns on social media, broadcast TV, and in print media. However, if you have a set marketing budget, it often makes more sense to exclude certain mediums and focus on where you see the best results.

We encourage you to keep your industry in mind. For instance, print marketing materials can be a great marketing tactic for a medical specialist’s office looking to gain referrals from primary care practitioners. These properly branded and educational materials are great to leave at a doctor’s office to help build referral marketing streams. That approach, however, might not be conducive for a quick-service restaurant. A restaurant owner will probably be better served investing their funds into web design and SEO. There might not ever be a reason to ever use print marketing to promote a restaurant and that’s fine. If focusing marketing budgets where they’ll have the most impact is working, that’s A-Ok!

This strategic selection paradigm applies to a variety of marketing tactics., from defining your ideal customer profile to the creative design you design. Oftentimes, spending a little more on the right marketing, whether it’s creative, research, or branding, is more effective than developing haphazard marketing. Make sure you’re incorporating time to properly research and plan into every marketing campaign for the best results!

Consult With JSL For Your Marketing Budget Needs

Are you looking for a consultation on how to effectively use your marketing budget? JSL Marketing & Web Design is here for your marketing needs! Your business is unique. Make sure that you’re getting the best, customized marketing strategy to maximize your marketing budget.

We offer a variety of services to help your marketing efforts.

Market Research: Learn about the competition.
Budget Recommendations: We offer customized media recommendations to help you make the most of your hard-earned marketing dollars!
Logo Design: Maximize your brand dress!
SEO Strategy: Figure out which keywords will help you reach your audience.
Brand Messaging Advice: Develop the perfect ad copy and brand pitch for your specific audience.

Call JSL Marketing & Web Design To Learn More!

July 21, 2022

4 Great Ways To Promote A New Product Through Marketing

The marketing consultants at JSL Marketing & Web Design have got you covered! Read the rest of this blog post to learn ….

Which Marketing Mediums To Start With
How To Decide Where To Spend Money
What Client Testimonials Can Do For Your Brand
How To Get Free Word-Of-Mouth Promotion
And More!

Read On To Learn How To Maximize Your Marketing Budget

Marketing Budget Tip 1: Go Back To Basics

Marketing Budget Tip 2: A/B Test & Prioritize High Performers

Marketing Budget Tip 3: Repurpose Content

Marketing Budget Tip 4: Start A Refer A Friend Program

Marketing Budget Tip 5: Get Testimonials From Your Existing Clients:

Marketing Budget Tip 6: Only Use Your Funds Strategically

Consult With JSL For Your Marketing Budget Needs

We offer a variety of services to help your marketing efforts.

Market Research: Learn about the competition.
Budget Recommendations: We offer customized media recommendations to help you make the most of your hard-earned marketing dollars!
Logo Design: Maximize your brand dress!
SEO Strategy: Figure out which keywords will help you reach your audience.
Brand Messaging Advice: Develop the perfect ad copy and brand pitch for your specific audience.

Call JSL Marketing & Web Design To Learn More!

July 07, 2022

How To Use Data To Make Marketing Decisions

The marketing consultants at JSL Marketing & Web Design have got you covered! Read the rest of this blog post to learn ….

Which Marketing Mediums To Start With
How To Decide Where To Spend Money
What Client Testimonials Can Do For Your Brand
How To Get Free Word-Of-Mouth Promotion
And More!

Read On To Learn How To Maximize Your Marketing Budget

Marketing Budget Tip 1: Go Back To Basics

Marketing Budget Tip 2: A/B Test & Prioritize High Performers

Marketing Budget Tip 3: Repurpose Content

Marketing Budget Tip 4: Start A Refer A Friend Program

Marketing Budget Tip 5: Get Testimonials From Your Existing Clients:

Marketing Budget Tip 6: Only Use Your Funds Strategically

Consult With JSL For Your Marketing Budget Needs

We offer a variety of services to help your marketing efforts.

Market Research: Learn about the competition.
Budget Recommendations: We offer customized media recommendations to help you make the most of your hard-earned marketing dollars!
Logo Design: Maximize your brand dress!
SEO Strategy: Figure out which keywords will help you reach your audience.
Brand Messaging Advice: Develop the perfect ad copy and brand pitch for your specific audience.

Call JSL Marketing & Web Design To Learn More!

June 23, 2022

How To Use Socially-Conscious Marketing

The marketing consultants at JSL Marketing & Web Design have got you covered! Read the rest of this blog post to learn ….

Which Marketing Mediums To Start With
How To Decide Where To Spend Money
What Client Testimonials Can Do For Your Brand
How To Get Free Word-Of-Mouth Promotion
And More!

Read On To Learn How To Maximize Your Marketing Budget

Marketing Budget Tip 1: Go Back To Basics

Marketing Budget Tip 2: A/B Test & Prioritize High Performers

Marketing Budget Tip 3: Repurpose Content

Marketing Budget Tip 4: Start A Refer A Friend Program

Marketing Budget Tip 5: Get Testimonials From Your Existing Clients:

Marketing Budget Tip 6: Only Use Your Funds Strategically

Consult With JSL For Your Marketing Budget Needs

We offer a variety of services to help your marketing efforts.

Market Research: Learn about the competition.
Budget Recommendations: We offer customized media recommendations to help you make the most of your hard-earned marketing dollars!
Logo Design: Maximize your brand dress!
SEO Strategy: Figure out which keywords will help you reach your audience.
Brand Messaging Advice: Develop the perfect ad copy and brand pitch for your specific audience.

Call JSL Marketing & Web Design To Learn More!

June 09, 2022

Common B2B Marketing Strategy Errors: Advanced B2B

The marketing consultants at JSL Marketing & Web Design have got you covered! Read the rest of this blog post to learn ….

Which Marketing Mediums To Start With
How To Decide Where To Spend Money
What Client Testimonials Can Do For Your Brand
How To Get Free Word-Of-Mouth Promotion
And More!

Read On To Learn How To Maximize Your Marketing Budget

Marketing Budget Tip 1: Go Back To Basics

Marketing Budget Tip 2: A/B Test & Prioritize High Performers

Marketing Budget Tip 3: Repurpose Content

Marketing Budget Tip 4: Start A Refer A Friend Program

Marketing Budget Tip 5: Get Testimonials From Your Existing Clients:

Marketing Budget Tip 6: Only Use Your Funds Strategically

Consult With JSL For Your Marketing Budget Needs

We offer a variety of services to help your marketing efforts.

Market Research: Learn about the competition.
Budget Recommendations: We offer customized media recommendations to help you make the most of your hard-earned marketing dollars!
Logo Design: Maximize your brand dress!
SEO Strategy: Figure out which keywords will help you reach your audience.
Brand Messaging Advice: Develop the perfect ad copy and brand pitch for your specific audience.

Call JSL Marketing & Web Design To Learn More!

May 26, 2022

Business To Business Marketing 101: Intro To B2B

The marketing consultants at JSL Marketing & Web Design have got you covered! Read the rest of this blog post to learn ….

Which Marketing Mediums To Start With
How To Decide Where To Spend Money
What Client Testimonials Can Do For Your Brand
How To Get Free Word-Of-Mouth Promotion
And More!

Read On To Learn How To Maximize Your Marketing Budget

Marketing Budget Tip 1: Go Back To Basics

Marketing Budget Tip 2: A/B Test & Prioritize High Performers

Marketing Budget Tip 3: Repurpose Content

Marketing Budget Tip 4: Start A Refer A Friend Program

Marketing Budget Tip 5: Get Testimonials From Your Existing Clients:

Marketing Budget Tip 6: Only Use Your Funds Strategically

Consult With JSL For Your Marketing Budget Needs

We offer a variety of services to help your marketing efforts.

Market Research: Learn about the competition.
Budget Recommendations: We offer customized media recommendations to help you make the most of your hard-earned marketing dollars!
Logo Design: Maximize your brand dress!
SEO Strategy: Figure out which keywords will help you reach your audience.
Brand Messaging Advice: Develop the perfect ad copy and brand pitch for your specific audience.

Call JSL Marketing & Web Design To Learn More!