Benefits of Email Marketing

Benefits of Email Marketing

Small businesses have lots of options when it comes to marketing strategies. However, those options are not all created equal. Some may be more expensive or time-consuming than others, and some may have higher ROI. The type of business you own will largely determine the different marketing strategies you employ, but there is one that is effective across industries:

Email marketing.

There are many benefits of email marketing as a marketing strategy. And did you know that email marketing is one of the most well-received forms of marketing with consistent ROI?

Many people spend a considerable amount of their day looking at emails, especially on smartphones. A recent survey from Statista found that almost 50% of smartphone users prefer to receive communications from businesses via email.  And those communications are usually successful in converting to sales. Another survey found that 50% of people buy from marketing emails at least once a month. This leads to an impressive average ROI for email marketing, earning approximately $36 for every $1 spent.

Numbers, however, aren’t the only incentive to work email marketing into your marketing strategy. Read on for the top 7 benefits of email marketing that you can take advantage of for your business.

Personalized Marketing

Email marketing is easy to personalize, which can make it more effective at converting leads and earning sales. Personalization options for email marketing are endless, but there are two common strategies.

The first involves simply including the recipient’s name in the subject line or body copy of the email. It seems simple, but this strategy is incredibly effective in increasing email open rates. Emails with personalized subject lines have a 26% higher open rate than generic subject lines. Most email marketing platforms include easy-to-use codes to include the recipient’s name, so it’s easier than ever to personalize your email marketing strategy.

Segmentation is the second personalization strategy for email marketing. Segmentation is when you divide your email list into categories and send different communications to each category. For example, you could have one email go out to first-time customers, and a different one sent to repeat customers. If your business markets multiple products or services, you can also utilize CRM software to tag your email list based on the services your contacts are interested in. Then you can opt to only send emails about certain services to those contacts. This ensures that your messages are relevant and interesting, instead of being viewed as spam.

Measurable Results

Another one of the benefits of email marketing is how easy it is to see measurable results. Email platforms often have built-in statistics that detail bounce rates, open rates, click-through rates, and more. You can see how quickly a contact opened an email after it was sent, or how many recipients clicked on a link in the email. This data is invaluable for future email marketing initiatives. Use the data to determine what works and what doesn’t, and you can refine future emails using those strategies.

Increased Site Traffic

Improved SEO is another benefit of email marketing. Including links to your website in your email communications encourages recipients to go to your website to check out your products and services. Backlinks to your website via email will improve your website’s SEO ranking overall. Emails with links to your website also can generate more traffic by word-of-mouth. Recipients can forward an interesting email to their other contacts, which could lead to more customers checking out your site who may not have otherwise.

Increased Sales

60% of consumers in a survey reported that they have made a purchase because of a marketing email they received. This statistic is particularly noteworthy for small businesses with an e-commerce site. Emails detailing promotions, sales, or product highlights can generate interest and encourage customers to purchase to take advantage of a deal. You can even develop email-only promotions or deliver your contacts a special coupon code to further entice them.

Cost-Effective

With a high ROI, email marketing is more cost-effective than other forms of marketing. Sending printed mailers, producing radio or television ads, or hiring more marketing personnel are all costly marketing strategies that may be difficult for small businesses. Email is an easy way to reach thousands or hundreds of thousands of people in minutes, at little cost to you. Many CRMs make it easy to send emails directly from their software to your contacts, so you can manage your customers and your emails all in one place for one price.

Timesaving

As a small business owner, you know that time is invaluable. In addition to being cost-effective, another benefit of email marketing is how much time it will save you compared to other forms of marketing. Traditional marketing campaigns, like television, radio, or print, can take weeks or months to produce and implement. Email marketing is easier and faster to put together, which means that your emails can be more timely or topical depending on what is going on in your business and the world at large. Emails don’t have to be fancy, either! A simple text-based email can be composed quickly and sent out even within a single day.

Improves Recognition

Finally, another benefit of email marketing is it can help improve your brand recognition. Email communications, like other written brand communications, will often be composed in your brand voice, or showcase your brand colors, style, or logos. Showing off your brand’s personality in your emails and providing your email list with something of value may even generate excitement for your weekly or monthly newsletters. You can research your audience and even do surveys to determine what kind of content they’d like to see in their inboxes. Then, when you deliver, it will improve your brand recognition and brand image overall.

Develop Killer Email Marketing with Killerspots

When done right, the benefits of email marketing are vast and rewarding. The first step to drafting a killer email campaign, however, is with killer written content. If you need help crafting emails for your small business, Killerspots’ team of talented writers can help create emails that engage and convert. Get in touch with us today to speak with our writing and marketing teams.

6 Steps for the Best Small Business Web Design

Small Business Web Design

Is your small business online? You may already be aware of the importance of social media for your business, but is your website optimized for maximum lead conversion? And do you know the best small business web design and user experience (UX) strategies to make your site beautiful and user-friendly?

In 2022, design is king for your website. In fact, a survey found that 50% of consumers believe that website design is important to a company’s brand. But user interface (UI) or UX is also incredibly important. UX/UI involves how users interact with your website, and how easy or difficult it is to navigate. In the same survey referenced above, 42% of users reported that they would leave a website because of poor functionality.

So, for the best possible client experience, you want your small business website to be responsive, elegant, and easy to navigate. But how do you go about this? Where do you start with small business web design?

Designing a small business website is a time-intensive endeavor, and there are many factors that affect web design or UX choices. However, there are some general rules of thumb to keep in mind. Keep reading for our top small business web design strategies to improve your small business website.

Step One: Set Up Your Site

You may already have a website for your small business, but if you don’t, you’ll need to start from the ground up. First, choose a Content Management System, or CMS, to develop your site. There are many CMS on the market to choose from, but the easiest are platforms that have a simple front-end design experience. Font-end design experiences, included in CMS like WordPress and Squarespace, allow you to visually design your website without needing extensive coding knowledge.

After you’ve chosen your CMS, you will need to choose a host and domain for your site. A web host is where your website files are stored, and many hosting platforms will cater to a particular CMS. For example, Bluehost markets itself as a WordPress hosting site. WordPress itself also offers hosting services with WP engine.

A domain is the web address that a user types in to find your website. Domain names should be simple, short, and relate to your business. If possible, use a keyword in your domain name that would be searched to find your business. For example, if your name is Hannah and you own a shoe store, you could register the domain “hannahshoes.com”. Robert with a consulting firm could register a domain like “robertsconsulting.com”.

Step Two: Choose Your Site’s Purpose

Next, you need to know the purpose of your small business website. Will you be selling products online? Or is your site geared toward generating leads for a service you provide? Do you own a restaurant and your patrons are looking for your menu? Or are you a content creator, and you want to display your work for future clients? The purpose of your website will largely determine the layout and types of pages, as well as the overall branding and design. We’ll go more into detail in the section about pages.

Step Three: Decide on Design and Layout

Now that you have your CMS, domain, hosting, and the purpose of your small business website, it’s time to start designing. You can design your website using a template or create your own from scratch. Either way, first you will need to choose the overall look and feel of your website. What colors and typefaces are you using? Are you using images as design elements, or sticking to a more text-based design? Whatever you choose, keep it simple and stick to a defined color palette, typeface, and header style on every page. The more consistent your design, the more visually appealing your site is to your visitors.

Next, choose a layout for your information. How is your content organized? Most users will expect these common elements, so make sure you include them in your layout:

  • A header with a navigation bar.
  • Your logo or business name.
  • Contact information that is easily accessible.
  • Footer navigation.
  • Social media links.

Many websites now have a one-page, scrolling design, where the tabbed pages in your navigation bar transition from one to the next simply by scrolling. This layout is popular due to the increased prevalence of mobile internet traffic, where scrolling rather than clicking is the preferred method of consuming content. Choose the design that’s best for your small business website and your customer experience.

Step Four: Choose Your Pages and Create Content

With a design and layout in mind, it’s time to create your pages and fill them with content. Depending on the kind of small business you’re operating, you will want to emphasize different pages further up in your hierarchy. Restaurants will want their menu page front and center, while companies that provide services will need to list and describe those services first. Your pages will vary, but make sure you at very least include the following:

  • About Page
  • Services Page or Pages
  • Contact Page
  • Privacy Policy Page (A Legal Requirement)
  • Terms and Conditions Page (Also Required)

Next, you’ll need to fill your pages with content. Make sure to have enough information on each page, but not too much to prevent visual clutter. Present information in an easy-to-read format, such as lists or bullet points, with clearly defined headers so visitors can find what they’re looking for more easily. Most web users skim read to find what they want to know, so utilizing headers is a great way to make sure your important content isn’t lost in excess fluff.

Step Five: Optimize for SEO

Once you create your content and organize your site layout, you will need to optimize your small business website for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Ensure that your small business website follows SEO best practices, including organic use of keywords, appropriate alt text for images, and updating meta descriptions within your search engine optimization tools. These SEO strategies will ensure your site ranks positively within search engines, increasing the chances of your target audience finding your website. You can check out this guide for some SEO best practices you can use to increase your small business website’s search engine rank.

Step Six: Optimize for Mobile Devices

To build off of the last point, SEO and mobile optimization go hand in hand, as Google has recently switched to mobile-first indexing. Users also respond more positively to sites that are optimized for mobile. So, making sure your website is fully optimized for all devices is key to gaining and retaining lead conversions.

Approximately 55% of all web traffic comes from mobile devices, and 93% of users surveyed report that they would leave a website if it wasn’t optimized for their device. Utilize the responsive design settings in your CMS to design for desktop, tablet, and mobile devices, so your small business website works smoothly and looks sleek across all devices. Images and text elements should be resized to fit the screen, and navigation menus should be compressed into a hamburger menu, so the navigation is mobile-friendly.

Get a Killer Small Business Web Design from Killerspots

Are you not sure where to start designing your small business website? Killerspots’ web design team creates beautiful, responsive websites for our clients, no matter what industry they’re in. Learn more about our web design services and get in touch with us to get started today.

Why Voiceovers Work: 4 Powerful Reasons to Add VO to Commercials and Videos

Voiceovers in Commercials

The power of video, audio, and voiceovers are unmistakable in advertising. With commercials, explainer videos, and social media shorts, audiovisual content is everywhere. And it’s effective, too. According to Hubspot, 92% of marketers say video is an important part of their marketing strategy. 81% of the same survey respondents report video has a direct, positive impact on sales, and 94% agree videos help increase user understanding of their product or service. Those are some powerful statistics!

This means video content is king for advertising, but what about the audio to go along with the video? Audio is an equally powerful tool, and many content creators turn to voiceovers to enhance their video content. A professional voiceover adds several important qualities to your videos that can increase engagement and ROI. Keep reading to learn more about the top 4 reasons why you should invest in voiceovers for your videos and television commercials. 

1. Target the Audience

Adding an effective voiceover to your video content starts with choosing the right voiceover artist for the job. The specific actor and their line delivery can capture the intended audience instantly and make them pay attention. The voice actor’s gender, age, accent, vocal quality, and tone are factors that contribute to targeting your audience.

Let’s say, for example, that your company sells infant car seats. A voiceover delivered by a young woman will grab the attention of your target audience: mothers of young children, or people who know mothers of young children. Conversely, if your company sells car accessories, an energetic male voiceover will target your ideal audience of young to middle-aged men. If you’re advertising walking canes, your voiceover actor should sound like a senior citizen.

Accents and regional dialects are also important to consider with voiceovers. Depending on where your target audience is located, you’ll want a voiceover that matches the regional dialect, accent, or language. Choosing the correct voice lets the audience know you understand them and their needs. It tells them your company is local and you’re one of them. All these qualities are important to building trust with your audience. If they don’t trust you or your product, then they’ll tune out or buy elsewhere.

2. Provide the Correct Tone or Mood

A professional voiceover actor will also provide the correct tone and mood for your video. They are specifically trained to deliver lines with a particular quality or energy. Your product or service will come alive, and your audience will grasp the message more easily thanks to the voiceover actor’s performance.

Think about the overall mood of your video project. Are you producing an explainer video? An energetic, upbeat, and instructive voiceover will inspire your viewers and teach them something. Or perhaps you’re creating an ad for a child’s toy. You’d want a bubbly, youthful voiceover to go with it. A professional actor will be able to determine the right tone to use for the recording, and your audience will respond to it.

Tone also contributes to how trustworthy the narrator sounds, and how trustworthy your product or service is overall. An authoritative, confident voiceover convinces your audience that you are an authority on your product or service. It inspires them to keep watching and to heed your call to action.

3. Play to Emotions

Like tone and mood, the right voiceover can also play to the emotions of your viewers. Sound and audio have a powerful effect on the mood of the listener. Vocals are particularly effective in producing emotional responses in our brains. Have you ever been moved to tears by a talented public speaker? Or inspired to achieve a goal? A trained voiceover artist delivering your script with a particular emotional weight can influence your audience in several different ways.

Perhaps your video is an advertisement seeking donations for a nonprofit. An impassioned voiceover pleading with the audience to act will easily tug on the heartstrings and convince them to donate. Or maybe you’re selling an online course to help entrepreneurs succeed. An energetic voiceover with a can-do attitude will inspire your audience to sign up, as the voiceover will have made them believe in themselves. Professional voice talent knows what lines to emphasize and how to deliver them for maximum emotional impact.

4. Hold Audience Interest

Finally, voiceovers lend incredible power to your videos because they hold the audience’s attention. A simple video with only background music and text may be easy to scroll past. Professional voice actors are skilled at grabbing attention in the first few seconds of their delivery. Combined with visuals, a warm, inviting voiceover will convince the audience to stay and watch the entire video, because they want to know what the narrator has to say. It keeps the audience engaged, and in a world of declining attention spans, this is incredibly important for your product or service.

The right voice talent will know how to deliver your script to keep the audience hanging on their every word. Combine that delivery with onscreen text, and you have a winning recipe for retention and engagement.

Killerspots Professional Voice Overs

So, you’ve decided  you need to add a voiceover to your next television commercial or video project. If you’re not confident in your own voice acting abilities, you don’t have to worry. Killerspots works with hundreds of professional voice actors from all over the world, and we can help you find the perfect voiceover for your project. Old or young, male or female, character voice or straight narration, our library of voiceover artists is unmatched in the industry. Take a listen for yourself to our top talent then contact us with your script idea and we can get to work! Together we’ll create engaging, creative videos with the perfect voiceover for your product.

What Is a Sound Logo? How Sonic Branding Can Help Your Business + 5 Top Examples

Sound Logo Netflix

If you own a small business, you already know branding is incredibly important. Branding is the process of creating a perception of a product, service, or company. More importantly, branding is what makes your business distinct in the minds of your consumers. A total brand image should tell your customers what your company does, what your values are, and how they should think about your company.

Branding is accomplished primarily through visual means. Logos, website design, and even the style of writing used in all written and web communications are what most people think of when they consider branding. However, branding can also be accomplished via audio. Most audio branding is accomplished by jingles or radio advertising. But there is another aspect of audio branding that many companies miss:

The sound logo or audio logo.

What is a Sound Logo?

Sound logos are part of an overall marketing strategy called sonic branding. Sonic branding uses sound instead of or combined with visuals to evoke a particular message for a brand. A sound logo is a short sound clip, no more than a few seconds long, that can accompany a visual cue or stand in the place of a visual logo. This strengthens the recognition between the visual and the product/company because the human brain is especially in tune with audio cues. In fact, the brain has a faster reaction time to auditory stimuli than it does to visual stimuli. So, a sound logo is a powerful tool companies can use to cement their brand image into their customers’ minds.

Audio logos are also especially powerful because humans are hard-wired to have emotional responses to sound. Music or other audio cues are processed in the emotional center of the brain. This emotional hub also is responsible for memory recall. For example, a listener can hear a piece of music that makes them feel happy or sad, and they immediately recall memories associated with those emotions.

The right sound logo can evoke powerful emotions in customers that a company can use to its advantage. An expert sound designer can craft an audio logo that triggers the right emotions so that your product or service is viewed favorably by your audience.

But how is this done? Well, consider the following five examples of audio logos. These top companies use these sound logos as part of their overall sonic branding strategy, to great success.

Top 5 Famous Examples

1. Netflix

The Netflix sound logo is one of the most recognizable sound logos of the streaming age. It’s also one of the shortest. At just two notes, the “ta-dum” sound that plays when the app loads on your device is a great example of the emotional power of sound. What do you feel when you load up Netflix and this sound plays? Are you excited about binge-watching? I know I am.

2. Intel

The Intel audio logo is one of the most well-known technology audio logos in history. And on its surface, it may sound simple. A five-note mnemonic, the logo lasts about three seconds. But it’s actually a multi-layered sound comprised of many instruments playing the catchy sequence of notes. You can probably hum it without playing the video above, it’s that pervasive.

3. THX

THX is focused on high-quality sound, so what better way to set audience expectations than with an exciting, engaging, and loud sound logo? A full orchestral suite glissando, the logo starts soft and transitions to a mind-bogglingly loud climax. The THX logo was a staple of many cinematic experiences of the 80s, 90s, and 2000s. When you hear this logo, you know exciting things are going to happen.

4. T-Mobile

T-Mobile’s melody is instantly recognizable and iconic. The bright and catchy 5-note trill is an earworm that most people can hum by heart even if they aren’t a T-Mobile customer. Combined with the bright pink T-Mobile logo, the mood and brand image they convey are clear and target modern audiences.

5. Apple

Sound logos aren’t just used in advertising. Audio cues of all kinds are pervasive across Apple’s product lineup. The most recognizable are the Mac startup noises as outlined in the video above. Apple does sound design very well, bringing forth a nostalgic and trustworthy image as a power player of a tech company. You can even hear examples of their expert sound design in the actions you take every day on your iPhone. From the swoosh when you send an email, to the ding-ding of a text message. These sounds are unique to Apple and instantly bring forth their brand image when heard.

How Can My Business Use an Audio Logo?

Now that you’ve listened to these examples and you know the value of an audio logo, you may be wondering how you can create one. If you aren’t an experienced sound designer or if you don’t have a strong brand image in mind, it can be difficult to know where to start.

Killerspots’ sound design and graphic design team can work together hand in hand to help you create a sound logo that will plant your business on the map. First, we can sit down with you and go over your existing visual logo to talk about its message. What colors are you using for your business? What message and mood are you trying to convey? Is your brand punchy or is it warmer and welcoming? How do you want your customers to feel when they see your visual logo and hear your audio cue?

The answers to these questions will guide our branding experts through the design and development process of your audio logo. Once we have a clear idea of your message, then the magic can happen.

And it really is magic. Check out our audio logo and one we made for master entrepreneur and CEO, Storm Bennett:

We Can Hear Your Sound Logo Now

Combined with an overall brand strategy, utilizing an audio logo for your business can set you apart from your competitors. Partner it with a killer jingle or radio campaign, and you have the perfect recipe for a brand that sticks and eventually, a loyal customer base. Get in touch with Killerspots today to find out how we can create an audio logo for your brand that will become synonymous with your business image.

Accessible Web Design – 7 Tips to Get Started

Asian young blind woman with headphone using computer with refreshable braille display or braille terminal a technology device for persons with visual disabilities.

We live in an increasingly connected world; the internet has shaped every aspect of our lives, and is so pervasive it’s almost impossible to avoid doing anything online. Social media and web design are the easiest ways for a brand to connect with a wide audience. However, the web can be a difficult place to navigate for consumers with disabilities. Hearing or visually impaired users may find there are large swathes of content online that are inaccessible or difficult for them to use. Making sure your website is accessible is one of the most important ways you can avoid alienating potential customers. 

“Accessibility” is an umbrella term that is used to describe aspects which influence a person’s ability to function within an environment. In web design, this translates to how easily your site can be navigated by someone of differing ability.

It may be a legal requirement for your business’ website to be accessible. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), businesses that fall under two different distinctions (Title I and Title III) must have accessible websites. 

Title I businesses are defined as businesses that have 15 or more employees and operate 20 or more weeks per year. Title III businesses are categorized as “public accommodations” such as banks, public transport, or hotels. 

The ADA does not have specific guidelines for web accessibility, but there are many ways you can ensure your website is accessible to all users. These 7 tips below will get you started:

1. Add Alt Text to Images

Images on your website help to visually break up text and add meaning to your content, but what about users who are visually impaired? Any important images or graphics used on your website should have alt text embedded into the code, so people who use screen reading software can have a meaningful description of the image. This is especially important for infographics; make sure your alt text includes not only a description of the visuals of the infographic, but a transcription of any words contained in the infographic, as well. 

If an image used is purely decorative, you can leave the alt text empty. This will allow a screen reader to ignore the image entirely.

2. Add Captions or Provide Transcripts with Video or Audio 

Any video or audio that appears on your site should contain text captions. Many online platforms offer the ability to generate captions automatically, but adding captions to your produced videos is the best way to display an accurate script for your audio. This ensures users with hearing impairments (or even people who prefer to watch video without sound) are able to understand your video content. If you cannot add captions or your content is audio-only, you can provide a transcript of the audio the user can download to understand the meaning of your content. 

3. Use Proper Headings for Organization

Screen readers can pick up on headings and subheadings to better organize website text. Marking sections with <h1>, <h2>, <h3>, etc is a simple way to ensure visually impaired users will be able to hear your content as intended. Don’t skip around in numerical order, however. Going from <h1> to <h3> might look nice visually, but it can confuse someone using a screen reader and make them think there is content missing. Keeping content in a logical sequence makes it easier for screen readers to follow; skipping numbered heading formats may be disorienting or confusing. 

4. Simplify Navigation

Organize your menu options to be the same on every page. This makes your site predictable and easier to navigate. Some users are not able to use a mouse due to movement difficulties. Including the ability to navigate your website by keyboard could make navigation easier for them. Users should be able to follow internal and external links with ease, and be able to go forwards and backwards through content without getting stuck. Test your web page by trying to navigate without using your mouse to check that navigation is intuitive and simple.

5. Be Mindful of Color

Using color to distinguish parts of your text may give your website a polished look, but solely using color can run you into trouble for accessibility. Approximately 8% of men and .4% of women around the world have some form of color blindness; red-green color blindness is the most common deficiency. Add other design elements, such as patterns or different fonts to better visually distinguish different parts of your content. You can also utilize borders or whitespace to separate out sections. And be sure to use enough contrast between the background of your page or image and your text; there are many tools available, like this color analyzer, that will test contrast levels to make sure they are within accessibility guidelines. 

6. Use Readable Font

Set your default font size to something reasonably large. Users can use their browser’s settings to increase or decrease as needed. However, your design should ensure that enlarging fonts won’t interfere with readability or functionality. Choose a typeface that is simple with distinct letters and wide enough space between letters. Users with dyslexia will have an easier time tracking text that is spaced further apart. Use plenty of space between paragraphs, as well. 

Avoid using images of text instead of text for headers or other text assets. Screen readers won’t be able to read them without a well-written caption, and it makes editing content more difficult.

A simple “click here!” might be catchy clickbait for some links, but it can be confusing to screen reading software. Make your links descriptive with phrasing such as “check out our about page to learn more” or “contact us here”. A little bit of description goes a long way, as screen readers typically don’t read links within the context of the rest of the page. If you’re using an image as a link, include a description of the destination page as the image’s alt text. 

What More Can I Do?

Many content management systems, such as WordPress, have accessibility settings built-in to themes and templates. This can help get you started, along with the previous tips above. In addition, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has created a system of guidelines to better help developers with accessibility. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, or WCAG, are a detailed list of actions you can take within your web design to make your website fully accessible to users with disabilities. There is even a quick reference guide with examples you can use to get a better idea of the types of accommodations that can take your website to the next level of accessibility.

Of course, if you need assistance, you can always contact us for help! We can be there with you every step of the way while you build a website that is sure to wow and be accessible to everyone. 

A Guide to Proper SEO Management

SEO management

How often have you visited a website that you found on the second page of Google’s search results? More to the point, how often have you clicked on a page that didn’t even make the top five results? The answer to both these questions is that you probably rarely do. That’s because 32.5% of all Google users just visit the first page offered. Why? Because Google is good at getting it right when it comes to giving their users what they’re looking for. This is where proper SEO management comes in.

To get your website to appear at the top of the search results, you need to use search engine optimization (SEO) to drive users your way.

In this article, we’ll discuss SEO task management and how it can get your site up there in the top spot in the rankings.

What Is SEO Management?

When Google and other search engines such as Bing come to rank your website against other sites, there is a lot that they need to look at. With over 1.7 billion websites out there on the world wide web, working out the order to display them for any given search is no mean feat.

The likes of Google use powerful algorithms that use a number of factors to decide on the order that they are presented. This is where SEO comes in.

SEO is the practice of making your website and content search engine friendly. SEO takes these ranking factors and ensures that your website is performing its best in these areas.

There are several key areas involved in SEO. These include:

  • On-page SEO – This relates directly to the content on your site
  • Off-page SEO – This relates to the measures you take outside of your site to drive traffic
  • Local SEO – These are practices used for driving business websites within your local area
  • Technical SEO – These are the technical aspects of your website and how they can be tweaked to improve your ranking

Let’s take a look at each of these areas in more depth.

On-Page SEO – Content is Everything

The number one reason that people visit your site is because of what is displayed there. Whether your site is there to inform your visitors, or whether you’ve got a product to sell, content is everything.

The effort that you put into creating great content will ultimately lead you to get more visitors. Search engines understand that they need to send their users to the best content possible, so they look for certain factors within the content.

Use Keywords Naturally

Relevance is essential. This is why you need to use relevant keywords within your content. These should be naturally placed and not stuffed. If your content is too keyword heavy, it can make it difficult for visitors to read.

Google knows this, and if you’re stuffing keywords in, then you are very likely to get penalized in the rankings.

Don’t be tempted to try and create your content in a way that the search engines alone will be able to read it. Forcing extra keywords will ultimately cost you in terms of visitors.

Write Longer Informative Content

When Google sends someone to a website, it believes that that site will provide the most relevant information on the specific search topic. This can often mean that users get sent to a site that has lots of content.

Longer articles are able to cover more ground, and if you can create posts on your site that exceed 1,000 words, this will help drive traffic.

What is Off-Page SEO?

Off-page SEO refers to the work that you carry out to drive traffic to your website through external means. This includes link building.

Build Backlinks

You should include internal backlinks in your content. This means that your content should link back to other relevant areas of your website.

Make sure that the links that you use a high-quality. They need to add value and make it easy for your visitors to navigate around your site.

In addition to these internal links, you should also include external links to websites with content that will complement the content you have created. Again, make sure the links are relevant, high-quality, and add value.

When you create content for your site, you’ll want other sites to link back to you. This will tell Google that you’re an authority on the subject. Ideally, these links will come from reputable websites.

Build a relationship with bloggers and influencers. are many sites that will either feature your website or will allow you to create a guest post in which you can include quality backlinks to your site.

Write Meta Descriptions

A meta description is information about your content that shows in the search engine results. Every page should have its own meta description as this will enhance the user experience and let them know that their clicking on the right link for their search query.

Because this is the first thing that many people will see, it needs to be well-written.

Encourage Social Sharing

Although there is no proven link between search rankings and sharing on social media, you should make sure you’re leveraging social sharing on your website.

Sharing all of your content across a range of social media will help to build the reputation of your site and drive traffic.

Include some social sharing buttons on your site and do what you can to get your visitors to share your content.

What is Technical SEO?

It may sound daunting to refer to something as technical SEO, but it shouldn’t be anything to be scared of. Many of the improvements that you can make are quite simple.

Speed Up Your Website

Google understands that when people make searches, that they want their results quickly. For this reason, they always ensure their search results are returned almost instantly. Not bad considering how many sites they’re ranking.

Google also knows that users want to head to a site that works, and that is fast. For this reason, Google will favor sites that load quickly. If your website takes longer than three seconds to load, then you’re at risk of losing your visitors to another site.

For this reason, page load speed is an essential element of SEO and something you need to give serious consideration to.

Use Google’s Page Speed Insights to give you an idea of the speed of your site. By carrying out a full scan on your site, you’ll be able to see where you need to make improvements.

Once you’ve run a speed test, make the necessary changes to your website to help speed it up. This may mean using lazy-load plugins, deleting unused plugins, and compressing images on the site.

Manage Your Local SEO

If you have a business and are reliant on local trade, then you need to optimize your site for local SEO. Local SEO is a surefire way to get your website ranking above everything else on the search engine results page.

Sign up to Google My Business. This free listing service will allow you to claim your business listing and take control of it. From there, you’ll be able to get yourself on the map,

To get the most out of this service, be sure and fill in all of the details. Include photos of your business, your products, and your employees. The more you can include, the better.

Make sure that your name, address, and phone number match across all of your listings and that they match your website. Discrepancies in important information could go against you, and you may end up being penalized in the rankings.

Keeping Up-To-Date With SEO

SEO is an ever-changing field. With changes in technology and shifts in search habits, there will always be tweaks to the way that Google’s algorithms work.

For example, voice search is on the rise. This means that websites should be optimizing their content for smart speakers and artificial intelligence searches.

Keep yourself up-to-date with the shifting trends and make sure that you follow the latest guidelines to optimize your site.

Hire a Professional SEO Management Company

Managing the SEO management of your website is a full-time job. You’ll need to continually tweak and optimize your content to make sure that you’re continually competitive in the search results.

Hiring a professional SEO management company to take care of your SEO needs will mean that your site will always perform to the best of its ability.

Killer Spots provide SEO services that will save you the hard work. Let us take care of your managed SEO needs.

Get in touch today to find out how we can help you improve your search engine ranking.

The Benefit of Strong Logo Design for Your Brand

Logo design

A killer logo is critical to the success of your brand and organization. After all, you want your brand to be clear, recognizable, and persuasive so you can attract clients and build your business. Pulling together the right design elements into a logo can elevate your brand — and your sales.

Curious to learn more? Keep reading to understand why you need to prioritize logo design when building your brand!

Strong Logo Design Makes a Strong First Impression

First impressions are everything, right? And you want to make the best one possible when you’re establishing a brand. That’s where a dynamic logo can set you apart from the crowd.

With a logo, you need a design that plays into your consumers’ expectations for your brand. Think about what kind of tone you want to communicate. What colors, shapes, and icons can come together into a fresh and appealing logo?

By having a strong logo, you’ll make the right impression on potential customers. People have busy schedules and a lot of interests competing for their attention, so you need to hook them right away. They’ll be more likely to check out what you have to offer within your brand if they are wowed from the start.

How do you make that first impression? You hire experienced designers who can listen to your expectations and craft the perfect business logo design.

Hiring the right design team is a big piece of the branding puzzle since you need designers who can capture your brand with well-chosen design elements and a little originality. Work with your graphic designer to help them understand the mission of your organization so that you can make that strong first impression.

The Right Shapes Can Work Wonders

Recent studies suggest that the shape of a logo impacts the way a customer understands an organization. What does that mean? It means that when it comes to graphic design for logos, you’ll need to choose your shapes wisely.

Think about how you want your audience to perceive your brand. Do you want them to see you as friendly and service-oriented, or efficient and commanding? Do the research to know who your target audience is, and find ways to incorporate the visual qualities best suited to that audience.

It’s also important to determine what visual qualities work best. These will depend on your goals. An experienced graphic designer can choose the right tools for the job, and then walk you through the design theory behind their choices.

When it comes to shapes, curves and rounded lines tend to create a sense of warmth and approachability. So if your brand serves people in a very direct way, curves can be a wise choice within your brand identity.

Sharper lines and edges suggest professionalism as well as brand strength. A simple, more sever design might communicate that your brand is forward-thinking and cutting edge. Keep the corners sharp and the details minimal.

If you and your designer do opt for text, talk it over with them. Make sure you’re clear on the visual difference between serif and sans-serif fonts. They project very different images, so know which one serves your brand identity better!

You’ll Communicate Your Brand Clearly

Your brand logo needs to communicate your product or service clearly. If it doesn’t, you risk losing potential customers to your competitors.

If you’re real estate agent, for instance, it makes sense that your logo would communicate a sense of orderliness and structure — or maybe even an image of a house. With logo design, the goal is for someone who hasn’t seen your mission statement or anything else to be able to have some sense of what your brand represents.

A good rule of thumb is to show your logo design to other people for feedback. These can be friends, family, coworkers, or strangers. A good designer will be open to feedback and work with you to make sure that you’re satisfied.

Logos Make You Instantly Recognizable

You want a logo that people will recognize in any context. This is a challenging goal to achieve, but it is possible through excellent design work. And excellent design work means that even a simple shape or abstraction can speak volumes about who you are and what you do.

In today’s competitive world, consumers have grown distrustful of advertising that says too much. Advertisements that make false claims or seems too good to be true actually can damage a brand. This means that heavy-handed, text-heavy logos are falling out of favor.

Clean and comfortable logos are the better way to go. Brands like Nike have stayed relevant in part because of their memorable designs. Everyone knows the Swoosh, and there’s nothing aggressive about it.

Paying for a logo design might seem like a big upfront investment, but it’s one that pays off in the long run. And don’t think you can design something on your own if you don’t have a design background. It’s better to hire the right designer so that your logo looks professional and not amateurish!

When you’re developing your brand logo design, aim to create something that people will recognize whether it’s on a poster, website, or article of clothing. Brand recognition is huge, and you don’t want your brand to get lost in the shuffle.

Logos Help With Social Media Marketing

It’s important to leverage social media to showcase your brand, too. The days of relying on print materials are gone, so upping your digital game is crucial to your brand’s success. Set up social media accounts and use your brand as your profile picture whenever possible.

So much of social media is visual, so logos offer an easy way to engage new clients. With the average person spending over 5 hours on their phones each day, people are encountering so much visual content — and at a rapid speed. Make sure that your brand logo is active on a number of social media platforms as part of your marketing strategy.

Assign your savviest employee to handle the responsibilities, and make sure to document the metrics so you can see how your audience responds to your logo. If you notice that your logo is not translating into an audience or new sales, look into making some revisions.

You’ll Build Visual Consistency

From a branding standpoint, nothing is worse than an inconsistent public image. If the text and colors on print materials differ from those on Instagram, you’ll confuse your audience. And if the text is serif in one place and sans-serif in another, you won’t be building brand consistency.

With a logo, you create a clean symbol that you can include in any branding materials, whether digital or print. Think of it as a stamp or seal. Everything else you write or design should complement and enhance your logo.

And make sure that your logo works well in black and white. While most digital platforms will allow you to use color, be prepared for other formats — like print media — where you may be limited to grayscale. Design a logo that has enough contrast and clarity to translate to black and white formats effectively.

Ultimately, consistency is the key. Since part of your goal is to draw in new customers, keeping your logo uniform and clear is an essential step to creating a strong brand. Your brand will be more memorable and easier to recognize in a crowded field of competitors.

You’ll Build Brand Loyalty

You want your customers to come back, right? If customers have a good experience with your product or service, they’re more likely to do that. That’s why you want them to make a strong visual association with your brand — and a logo can help you do that!

Aim for a design that is timeless and not gimmicky. Designs that are based on trends will feel stale quickly. Things like drop-shadows, gradients, and handwritten text might seem like fun design choices at the moment, but you might be sick of these trends a year from now.

If your design has staying power, your clients may be more interested in sticking around, too. A logo that changes frequently could suggest that your brand is unreliable.

The Bottom Line

Good logo design has the capacity to elevate your organization’s visibility and sales. With some research and collaboration, you can build a brand that people will know and want to come back to. Make sure logo design is the next thing you pursue to strengthen your brand.

When you’re ready to craft the perfect logo, contact us and we can work with you to realize your vision!

Why You Need an Integrated Marketing Strategy for Your Car Dealership

integrated marketing strategy

74% of marketers say it’s important to have a cohesive omnichannel experience for customers. In fact, 73% of shoppers use more than one channel during their shopping journey. Let’s say a prospective client finds your car dealership on a search engine like Google. While they’re searching, they find other car dealerships on Google, in an email, on social media, and in YouTube video. Chances are, they’re more likely to remember the brands they see over and over again. A successful digital marketing strategy requires more than one tactic. With an integrated marketing strategy, you can attract more leads and boost your business.

Keep reading to discover the top benefits of developing an integrated marketing approach.

1. Build Brand Visibility and Trust

If people don’t know who you are, what reason do they have to choose your dealership over someone else’s? It can take five to seven impressions before you can develop even a little brand awareness. However, your brand has to appear consistent each time.

Otherwise, potential buyers might think you’re someone else.

An integrated marketing strategy will unite all of your efforts under the same umbrella. The more often customers see your brand, the more brand awareness you’ll develop. As you appear in front of more people, more often, they’ll begin recognizing your brand.

It’s important to make sure your brand appears the same across every marketing channel. Make sure your colors, fonts, imagery, tone, and voice are consistent. You should also use the same logo to boost brand recognition.

As brand visibility and recognition develop, you can also begin developing a relationship with customers. They’ll recognize your brand based on the message and values you communicate. Building this rapport will make it easier for customers to trust your business.

Without that trust, potential car buyers will turn toward another dealership instead.

2. Eliminate Confusion

Seeing a completely redesigned brand on each marketing channel could confuse your audience. For example, potential car buyers might see your brand on social media but fail to connect it with your website.

A well-thought-out digital marketing strategy can help you avoid causing confusion.

Creating a uniform message and brand image will help people connect your brand on every platform. However, you’ll need to make sure your overall message is uniform as well. Your newspaper ad, Facebook page, and email marketing might all convey different messages that fail to connect.

As a result, customers might fail to connect your brand across every marketing platform. Instead of engaging with your message, you’ll scare them off.

An integrated marketing strategy will unite your tactics within one cohesive campaign. By deciding on a clear message, you can focus customers on a single goal (buying a car). Then, your customers won’t feel confused about who you are or what you offer.

Focus your brand on a single vision. For example, your dealership might want to “provide customers with their absolute dream car.” You might make offering customers with energy-efficient options your goal instead.

Choose a message. Make sure it’s clear and concise. Then, communicate that message across your campaigns.

3. Remain Top-of-Mind

A cohesive message will also help you remain top-of-mind with potential buyers.

When you create a united brand, you’ll begin building brand awareness and recognition. The next time a prospective car buyer thinks about purchasing a new vehicle, they’ll remember your brand instead of someone else’s.

Posting your digital marketing content across different channels will give them the reminder they need.

For example, let’s say someone visited your website to read a blog post. After subscribing to receive your emails, they received a reminder about an upcoming sale weeks later. These strategic digital marketing strategies will help you remain top-of-mind when prospects are in the market for a new car.

4. Become a Thought Leader

Becoming a thought leader can help you gain a competitive edge. People want to buy from the best in the business. By creating high-quality, informative content, you can show prospective buyers you’re a knowledgeable resource in the industry.

Becoming a thought leader by posting regular blogs and digital marketing content is another way to boost your brand. At the same time, you’re creating content you need to remain top-of-mind with customers.

A search engine optimization (SEO) strategy is an effective way to become a thought leader. SEO involves researching what your customers are searching for. Then, you use your keyword research to make compelling, informative content.

Make sure your content is informative and well-researched.

As you rank higher on search engines like Google, you’ll position yourself ahead of competitors. This top-of-page position will make you appear credible and authoritative.

People are more likely to trust a brand with that top ranking. With an integrated marketing strategy, you can unite your SEO efforts, email marketing, website, and social media to boost your brand, ranking, and credibility.

5. Increase Media Coverage

One of the most effective ways to step out of the crowd is to use data-driven PR. People want stories they can connect with. Connecting with PR resources, including publications and reporters, can help you stand out from competitors.

Then, your brand will appear in more publications.

In order to improve your public relations, you need a strong, cohesive brand first. Your integrated marketing strategy will ensure your branding and SEO help you catch the attention of these publications.

6. Keep Your Message Consistent

In order to develop a multi-faceted marketing plan, you need to keep your message consistent. After all, you can’t plan where customers will see your first. You can develop a plan for each of your marketing channels, then unite them to achieve the same goals.

An integrated marketing plan will keep your message consistent. A cohesive message will make it easier for people to become familiar with your brand.

7. Improve Your ROI

All of your digital marketing content takes time and money to develop. That includes images, graphics, blog posts, videos, and more. In order to make the most of these assets, you can create a digital marketing strategy to ensure they achieve the same goals.

By making the most of your content under an integrated strategy, you can save money and boost your ROI.

Speed Up Sales: 7 Reasons You Need an Integrated Marketing Strategy

Attract more people to your dealership and speed up sales. Now that you’re equipped with these reasons to develop an integrated marketing strategy, get to it! By developing a strong digital marketing strategy, you can boost your brand and sell more cars!

Ready to get started? Get a quote from our team today!

How to Create an Editorial Content Calendar for Your Dealership

editorial content

According to a 2018 report by StatusLabs, 90% of searchers haven’t made up their mind when they search on Google. That means you have an opportunity to turn those searches into viable leads. With search engine optimization (SEO), you can gain a higher ranking. Before you boost your ranking, however, you’re going to need a lot of content. Get started by creating an organized, well-thought-out editorial content calendar!

With an editorial content calendar guiding you, you can remain on schedule and on track for success.

Here’s everything you need to know about creating an editorial calendar. With these tips, you can stay on track with your marketing initiatives throughout the year. Get started with these tips.

Why You Need a Content Calendar

In order to rank above the competition, you need unique, high-quality content. Google’s SEO algorithm prioritizes content that’s relevant to user intent. By learning what your customers need, you can create content that appeals to their interests.

Then, you can create an editorial content calendar to remain organized.

A content calendar can also help you recognize opportunities to connect with your audience. For example, let’s say you’ve created a blog post that’s full of interesting data. You can turn that blog post into:

  • A video
  • An infographic
  • A still image or gif

One piece of content can become four different opportunities for you to connect with prospects. Then, you need to determine where you’re sharing that content.

For example, let’s say you post an article on your blog Monday. Then, you can send a weekly email that features your new blog post on Wednesday. Finally, you can post a gif to social media on Friday to attract more people to your blog.

Strategize

Creating an editorial content calendar allows you to develop a strategy for your content. Learning how to create an editorial calendar will help you remain organized with:

  • The content you’re creating
  • The topics you’re covering
  • Where you’re sharing your content
  • What form your content will appear in

Organizing your content using an editorial calendar will help you increase productivity and efficiency. In addition to saving time, you can also use your calendar to create content based on your marketing objectives.

Is your goal to generate more leads from your content this year? Your content calendar can help you test different types of content throughout the week. Then, you can use data to determine which topics and forms of content helped achieve your goal.

Researching blog posts and keywords will also benefit your SEO strategy. By focusing on SEO, you can attract more people to your site. Then, you can use compelling call-to-action language to convert them into customers.

You can create content to support other active campaigns, too. For example, you might have new products you’re releasing. Maybe you’re making a big change to your brand.

Planning your content ahead of time will help you make sure everything is aligned. That way, one tactic can support the other to benefit your entire strategy.

How to Create an Editorial Calendar

As many as 63% of businesses don’t have an actual content strategy. Making the effort to create an editorial content calendar will help you focus on content creation. By posting content regularly, you can increase your chances of reaching new customers.

Here are five tips to help you learn how to create an editorial calendar for your business.

1. Know Your Goals

First, determine your goals and objectives. For example, you might want to focus your marketing efforts on:

  • Driving more traffic to your website
  • Boosting brand awareness, recognition, and reach
  • Strengthening your SEO strategy
  • Building brand loyalty with customers to increase retention
  • Gaining more leads and conversions
  • Attracting new customers to increase sales

Once you determine your goals, you can determine what type of content will help you achieve those goals.

For example, let’s say you want to boost brand awareness. You can create company culture videos or vlogs to keep people informed about your business. Video content is a great way to help people connect with your brand.

If you want to generate more leads and conversions, try posting a product demo or tutorial instead!

2. Research Topics

Next, start making a rough list of ideas for content. Make sure your ideas align with your business goals.

For example, if you want to generate leads, create ebooks for site visitors to download. You can have them complete a form on your website that requires their email. The informative ebook can become an incentive for them to provide their contact information.

If you want to improve your SEO, create content that targets specific keywords.

For more sales, create content that focuses on the benefits of your products or services, such as case studies or webinars.

3. Know Your Audience

In order to create content that attracts customers, you need to understand your target audience. What type of content are they interested in? Which headlines catch their attention?

Feel free to see what your competitors are doing. Which pieces of content generate the most shares?

You can use Google Keyword Planner or Google Trends as a place to start.

Once you know what your target audience likes, you can start creating your own content.

4. Start Writing

Start brainstorming ideas and writing content. Make sure to optimize your content using specific keywords. Then, start writing.

Once you have a few pieces of content, start organizing your editorial content calendar. Try to post at least one piece of content a week to start. Then, determine how you can split that first piece of content into new forms.

Recycling your content will help you discover new ways to connect with your audience.

For example, you can convert a few blog posts into a larger ebook. Then, you can make that ebook a downloadable piece of content to generate leads.

5. Monitor and Optimize

Once you start using your editorial calendar, take a look at the progress. Use Google Analytics to determine which pieces of content are attracting the most visitors and leads.

Monitoring your content will help you recognize new opportunities.

Which topics do people enjoy reading? Which forms of content do they share? Make a note of where you succeed.

Then, use that data to improve your overall content marketing strategy.

Stay On Track: How to Create an Editorial Content Calendar for Your Dealership

Ready to get organized and on track? By learning how to create an editorial content calendar, you can attract more people to your dealership with ease!

Need help getting started? Contact us today to discuss your business goals!

How to Develop an Audio Marketing Strategy in 2020

audio marketing

With so many different mediums out there, it is hard to identify and plan the right marketing strategy for your business. What you have to remember about marketing strategies is that the ultimate goal is to connect with your target audience. 

While audio marketing was briefly eclipsed by visual media, the number of individuals engaging with audio media like podcasts and the radio is actually on the rise!

Many businesses have been out of the audio marketing game for a while now, which is why we are going to show you how to develop a successful audio marketing strategy in 2020!

Why You Should Choose Audio Marketing

Audio Marketing is a great tool to connect to your target audience! In recent years, it is shown that audio content has the highest retention rate. 

The nature of audio allows listeners to engage at any time, unlike visual or written content. Millions of people are now listening to the radio on their way to work, streaming music or books in the background at work, or listening to a podcast while they work out at the gym. 

Due to the fact that most audio content can be enjoyed while a person is doing another specific activity, many listeners tune in to their favorite audio media for a dedicated amount of time. 

Think about it, you can’t read a book on your drive to work, but you can listen to one. You can’t dedicate time to watch an hour-long TV episode if you are on a run outdoors, but you can definitely tune into a podcast! 

People in all age ranges, genders, socioeconomic status and backgrounds are listening to audio media! This is a market that still is under-saturated and any business can weave their audio marketing content seamlessly into it. Now is your chance to try it out!

Identify Your Target Audience

The most important aspect of any marketing strategy is to identify your target audience. Many businesses make the mistake of not being specific enough in regards to this!

A business that sells active wear might say, “We want to target women that go to the gym.” This leaves out a ton of factors like location, age, and socioeconomic status. All of these factors play a huge role in how you can effectively advertise to your specific audience!

Your target audience is going to affect the type of audio content you put out, and where you are hosting your audio content!

If you are advertising a product towards the elderly, it may not make sense to host your audio content on Spotify or YouTube, because the likelihood of it reaching your audience is slim. In contrast, if you want to market a product to teenagers, you might not want to use the radio to market to them because individuals that don’t drive usually do not listen to the radio. 

Take time to identify your target audience and then do background research on where your target audience is consuming their audio content!

Different Types of Audio Content

Once you select your target audience, you will be able to choose the type of audio marketing you want to create and where you want to host your content!

There are a few different types of audio marketing you can try out:

  • Podcasts
  • Audio Commercials
  • Audio books
  • Voice Search

Most people are familiar with audio commercials already, however, this type of marketing strategy can cost a lot of money if you want your commercial to air on a big radio station during the prime listening time! 

However, you can try creating a podcast about the product or service you are trying to market by creating your own material and hosting your content for free! 

Whatever type of medium you choose, there are several things to keep in mind to make sure your target audience is hooked to the content your producing and driven to check out more information about your business. 

1) Build the Sound of Your Brand

We can still recall radio jingles or funny commercials years later! Companies that are successful at marketing take time to build the sound of their brand so that when their content is consumed, the listener knows exactly who that content belongs to! 

Take time to choose the voice behind your audio marketing plan and create a hook that draws your listener in every time. 

2) Provide a Service or Offer Help

The second thing to keep in mind when creating your audio marketing strategy is that your audio content needs to address a need! If your commercial is just explaining a product without explaining how it can help improve the lives of your listeners, you can guarantee that no one is actually listening. 

The purpose of the product or service you are trying to promote needs to be crystal clear. Following up on this, the listener needs to know where they can go to learn more about the product or service if they want! 

3) Captivate Your Audience

The last thing you need to remember is to dazzle your audience through your audio marketing strategy! There are millions upon millions of pieces of content that an individual can choose to listen to. 

What makes your content different? Is it hilarious to listen to? Is it the most informative? Is it shocking? Does it build upon itself? 

Choose an angle and stick to it! The growing number of podcast and podcast listeners show us that people are truly interested in all sorts of things! Make what you have to say engaging and you will surely be able to connect to your target audience. 

Don’t Wait, Start Your Audio Marketing Strategy Today!

Now you can see that audio marketing is more relevant than ever before in our society. While some strategies like radio commercials do still cost a pretty penny, there are lots of other affordable avenues to try to make sure your company’s voice is heard!

Narrowing down your target audience and choosing a platform to market your business are the first steps to success. To really drive this strategy home, remember to create a sound brand, share your purpose, and enthrall your audience! 

Have more questions on the best audio marketing strategy for 2020 and how to get started? Feel free to contact us! We’re here to help you succeed. 

Why Is Audio Such an Intimate and Effective Advertising Medium?

effective advertising

Effective advertising in the digital age often is a matter of tell-don’t-show, in a manner of speaking. Sure, you still have to use concrete language and tap into the target audience’s emotions. More and more, however, that can be done through the sense of hearing rather than sight or touch.

We’re talking about audio advertising and the compelling power it has to reach educated, diverse markets. In the following article, we’re going to explore the reasons audio is so intimate and effective for this market. First, however, let’s look at whether the audio hype is myth or reality. 

Is Audio Effectively Better for Advertisers? 

Anecdotally, audio seems like a viable platform for advertisers to get their messages in front of the right people. One look at the plethora of podcasts, streaming platforms, and radio listeners will tell you that. What do the numbers say, though? 

Well, 40% of surveyed consumers use voice to purchase something every month. Furthermore, over half of podcast listeners have annual household incomes of $75,000. Most listen to around seven podcasts per week as well.

We know from this data that the use of voice-related applications is on the rise from both user-activated and consumer standpoints and that the people listening are on-the-rise with more money to spend than the average person. Ever wondered why it’s that way? Here are some reasons.

1. Listener Behaviors Are Well Established

Podcast sponsorship is a pretty safe bet for getting into the audio advertising market. That’s because podcasts easily can list their subscribers. In fact, it behooves them to have that kind of transparency.

Also, given the niche focus of most podcasts, you know automatically what type of behaviors and preferences these users have established. You really don’t have to do as much legwork to figure out everything.

2. Listeners Subscribe Based on Their Trust of a Personality

Something else podcast marketing has going for it many other forms of advertising do not is a built-in endorsement. See, listeners choose a host or team to listen to because they’ve already been engaged. Engagement is built on trust.

The relationship with podcast marketing differs from even radio advertising, which wears the stigma of corporate sponsorships and one-size-fits-all. Podcasts are built around interests, and influencers in this arena understand that when they welcome an advertiser aboard, they’re indirectly adopting acceptance of the brand they’re pitching.

You, as an advertiser, benefit from the intimacy that influencer has established. That can be a win for everyone involved with the right offer.

3. They Are More Forgiving of Audio Interruptions

The standard video commercial doesn’t play to a captive audience. They get up, check the chicken in the oven, use the restroom, or catch up on chores until their program-of-choice is back.

Audio advertising usually plays to a captive audience driving to and from work or handling something work-related at their desks. They are far more forgiving of these interruptions because a) audio advertising usually is shorter (20 seconds to a minute per break), and b) it’s generally tailored to whatever piece of content they’re listening to.

In other words, they find the advertising shorter, more relevant, and easier to digest. As a result, they’re going to be willing to listen instead of redirecting their attention somewhere else. 

4. They Continue to Adopt Audio in a Variety of Forms

The captive audience thing is so important when you think about those primary ways your audience consumes audio content or audio stories. Whether it’s through podcasting, listening to a streaming service like Pandora or Amazon Music, or playing a radio app, the audience is mentally ready to engage.

5. Listeners Also Appreciate the Conservative Size of Audio Files

Data usage is a growing concern for consumers trying to control costs. Downloading audio files goes quick and smoothly over a Wi-Fi network, allowing your audience to listen whenever and wherever they choose.

Ways to Use Audio to Your Advantage

Now that you know why this form of advertising and content consumption is so intimate and effective for your target audience, you need to shift your focus to how you can use this knowledge and formatting to your advantage. Here are some quick suggestions. 

Content First

Start by being a consumer first. Listen to the programs and platforms you’d like to capitalize on. Note how long each advertising spot is, when it appears, and what type of information it covers.

From there, invest in high-quality equipment for shooting and editing. Use layers to enhance the sound quality and noise cancellation to buffer out any remaining distractions. Last but not least, test multiple ads across several programs and platforms to learn what works.

Add Color and Background

Beyond the content itself, listen deeper for maximum effect. By that, we mean to note any use of background music and sounds. Find ways you can incorporate those effects into your own advertising.

Make sure you have permission or the legal right to use whatever you choose for adding to the end-listener experience. This especially is important for longer-form advertising like audio stories (see Reid Hoffman’s Masters of Scale podcast for examples of this technique done right). Lastly, choose the right voice-over person for your ad. 

Partner with the Right Creator

Tailor an offer to the specific audience. That means partnering with a content creator in your niche. Someone who can deliver the right target market for your product or service. 

Change It Up

Use different content creators and change up your messaging and offers. There’s no better way to get a feel for what works and what doesn’t then trying to best your best effort. 

Review Your Results

Pay close attention to the analytics. Using promo codes on special offers that are tailored to that audience is the best way to see if you’re getting an adequate return on investment. 

Audio Is Effective Advertising Because Listeners Choose You

We recommend audio as one of the most effective advertising methods because it’s one of the only venues where the listeners choose you. By that, we mean they’re more likely to stay engaged with your content than other forms of advertising. 

Good luck as you build your audio advertising campaign. If you need professional assistance in any or all of the above-mentioned areas, contact the Killer Spots Agency today.

How to Create a Hilarious on Hold Message Script That Your Callers Will Love

on hold message script

There aren’t many things people hate more than being put on hold when they call your company. They expect to talk to a person and to be treated like one, and instead, they’re ignored and have to spend time waiting for someone to answer. It’s annoying, and it can cost you business. Yet, there are simple ways to keep people on the line if they’re on hold, and the best one is to write an on hold message script.

This is a script that your customers will hear when they waiting to talk to an actual person. It’s what place when someone is on hold, and it costs almost nothing to write one up and record.

And the best part is that you don’t need to write your on hold message script to be so formal. The point of an on hold message is to keep them on the line, not to bore them to death! So, you might as well try to have some fun with it and make your customers laugh while they wait.

And to learn how to write a comedic message script, just keep reading below!

A Person Will Need to Read Your On Hold Message Script

The first step is to realize that writing a script isn’t like writing an article or any other kind of copy. Most kinds of writing are meant to be silently read by a single person. Yet, writing scripts is different because it’s meant to be read out loud by a specific person.

Instead of writing to inform people or to entertain them, you need to write your script as a way to create a conversation. You need to imagine what someone would say to another person and then put it on the page. Don’t be afraid if it feels like you’re talking to yourself — that just means you’re writing well.

It’s Not Just the Writing That Matters — Voice Matters Too

While you need to adapt your writing style for screenwriting, you also need to realize there are additional production steps to recording an on hold message. You need to find someone who has the right voice for the job, and who can read your script well.

A person can have a perfect voice for the job, but they may not be able to pronounce words well or emphasize the right things. When it comes to comedy, coming off as monotone can kill the joke. It doesn’t matter how well you write your script if it isn’t delivered well.

Forget About the Business, Have Fun With It

After finding the right person to read your script, it’s time to start writing it out! As a business person, you’re probably used to writing articles and reports about revenue and strategy. Yet, writing comedy is the exact opposite of these writing styles.

Comedy writing is about having fun with words and being unafraid to say the things that are on everyone’s minds. It’s about getting people to have fun while staying informative and telling a story. And everyone can do it, but not everyone can do it well.

To write a comedy script well, you need to be open with yourself and your audience. Write about your flaws as a company, and present them in a humorous light. The easiest way to start is to write about forcing people to stay on hold and joke about it.

Never Laugh at Your Own Jokes, Write It With Coworkers

Most writers get into the business because they want to work in seclusion. They’re attracted to the myth of being alone with nothing but a keyboard and a computer, scribbling their thoughts. Yet, comedy writing isn’t like traditional writing.

When it comes to writing comedy, you need to have people around you. There should be people around you that you can bounce ideas off of. Otherwise, you’ll just be telling yourself jokes and slowly go insane as you force yourself to laugh at your own jokes.

It won’t make for good comedy writing at all, and you won’t produce a usable script.

Don’t Be Afraid to Be Unprofessional — It’s Comedy

Many professionals aren’t used to stepping outside of their comfort zones and being exactly what they’re not: unprofessional. Yet, to write comedy, that’s exactly what you must be. You can’t be afraid to take off the stuffy suit and let yourself relax, writing whatever comes to mind.

And if you write something that doesn’t impress your coworkers or earn accolades, that’s fine. It’s called the writing process, and it’s why most writers prefer their seclusion. All writers are embarrassed by their first drafts.

Just because you’re writing comedy doesn’t mean you won’t feel embarrassed by what you write. The goal of writing comedy is to overcome that embarrassment, and for you to help your fellow writers know they have nothing to be afraid of. The best comedy writing comes about when the writers are all the best of friends.

Make Sure The Script Stays On-Brand

It doesn’t matter if you’re writing marketing copy or if you’re writing a comedy script; everything must stay on brand. Writing is about capturing your inner voice and sharing it with an audience. The same applies when you’re writing for a company, and its brand is its voice.

If you stray away from the company brand, your audience will notice and your on hold message will backfire. People will feel tricked as they wait to talk to an actual person, and by the time they reach someone real, they’ll be furious.

But, if you stay on brand, people will feel safe and understood. They’ll feel confident that they know what the company is all about, and that will make them easier to work with.

Make Your Company More Personable With a Comedy Script

A comedic on hold message script isn’t just some novelty you can invest in because you feel like it. It’s a way to distinguish your company and establish your brand, and it can help make your customers more eager to do business with you. It’s icing on the cake of your company; without it, it’s not really a cake at all.

Yet, it takes a certain kind of person to write comedy well, and for that, we’re here. Reach out to us, and we’ll prepare a comedic on hold message that will do more than resonate with your audience. It’ll make them laugh, and that’s what it’s all about.

Voice Over Tips: How to Hire the Right Voice Over Artist for Your Campaign

voice over tips

Got a good script and a clear idea of your radio ads? That’s good and all but you won’t get anywhere without a voice artist.

However, hiring the right voice over talent isn’t a quick and easy process. They play an essential role in a successful radio campaign.

But don’t fret. We’ve got a few voice over tips you should follow when looking for the right talent. Read on below and fine-tune your hiring process:

1. Know Your Target Audience

Before and during the hiring process, make sure you keep your target audience in mind. Voice over work for a political campaign, for example, is vastly different compared to the work intended for an explainer video or an Instagram ad. 

Identifying your audience can narrow down the type of voice, accent, and style you need. You can immediately cut out the applicants that don’t fit the bill. 

For example, a good radio campaign needs a strong, clear voice. You might also want to stick with a flat tone instead of something emotional, riddled with too many high and low pitches. 

2. Check Voice Samples

Even when you have a good idea of what you want, don’t hesitate to listen to a few samples.  You might hear voice quality you weren’t necessarily looking for but it might click with your campaign needs. 

Once you got a list of potential candidates, listen to as many samples as possible. Get their full portfolio and take time to listen.

You might like a voice actor during the interview only to discover they struggle pronouncing certain words or names. One of the voice actors you weren’t too keen on may have a sample showcasing their full potential, turning them into top candidates for the job. 

Remember that the bigger the portfolio, the more experience and training a voice actor has. Let’s dive deeper into the importance of experience.

3. Experience Matters

Did you know Tara Strong is 46 years old, as of the time of writing? Despite her age, she plays a myriad of young characters. She voiced characters like Bubbles in Powerpuff Girls, Timmy in Rugrats, Batgirl in the Batman Animated Series, and Twilight Sparkle in My Little Pony. 

This doesn’t mean you have to hunt down older voice actors. Age isn’t a measurement of work experience. It’s often the case but you shouldn’t disregard young voice actors immediately.

You might find voice actors below the age of 25 already brimming with experience. Not all of their work might be official. There are many fan-dubbing projects for anime shows and foreign television shows that have no official English versions.

4. Try Different Emotions

Launching a radio campaign doesn’t always require a flat, monotone voice. Think about it this way: you’ll need to convey different emotions if you’re running a radio ad for products compared to a political ad. 

For the prior, you need an energetic voice. The latter demands more authority and certainty. Don’t hesitate to run tests with your applicants and see how they perform with different campaigns or scripts.

Keep in mind that with voice over work, the audience can’t see the speaker. They have to elicit emotions solely through their voice work and the eloquence of the script.

Have the voice actors read the same line in different ways.  Let them try to elicit excitement in one take and a tone of dread or authority in another.

5. Different Mediums, Different Talents

Gone are the days when the term “radio” simply meant broadcasting on a radio station. Nowadays, the term can also refer to podcasts or streaming projects. Make sure you know the kind of medium you’re hiring voice talent for.

Don’t always assume that you can use one kind of voice talent for different mediums. Different mediums demand different kinds of talents.

Going for a traditional radio broadcast ad? You might do better with someone who can speak quickly but clearly. Traditional radio ads cost a lot and they charge you per second, after all.

Looking to make an ad for a podcast commercial? These give you more leeway so you might want someone with more energy and better annunciation. You can also get playful with different accents and intonation variations too. 

6. Long-Term Considerations

One of the most crucial voice over tips when hunting for talent is to have long-term considerations. Look at the long game instead of hiring solely for a one-and-done project.

If you were around in the 1980s to the early 2000s, movie trailers always had a voice-over narration. More often than not, the voice work was by the same talent, providing consistency. When people heard that voice, they knew it was for a movie trailer.

Emulate this practice and consider the long-term reliability of your voice talents.

This builds trust and comfort. You need both if you want your radio ad campaign to become a success. Set expectations early by planning and hiring voice talent you know you can rely on for multiple projects.

7. Get a Few Recommendations

Sure, you’re bound to get a few cold applications. That said, you’ll need to conduct a few auditions to sort out the talents and narrow down the ones you like. You can simplify this process by getting a few recommendations.

Why are recommendations often good hires? 

They come from people who already worked with them. There’s already a sense of trust and reliability. You also get the guarantee that they have some training and experience, otherwise, no one would recommend them to you. 

It’s always a good idea to take the recommended talents and give them a try. Audition them like everybody else. They might end up easier to work with, even as early as the hiring phase.

Follow These Voice Over Tips When Hiring!

Hiring the right talent isn’t too monumental a task with these voice over tips. Don’t rush the process and go over things like their portfolio, different samples, and style to find the talent you need.

But getting the most out of your campaign doesn’t end here. Why not read our other guides to get one step ahead of the competition? You can start with our post about the reach of radio right here.

9 Reasons Why You Need a Catchy Jingle for Your Business

catchy jingle

When you hear the word “jingle,” a number of promotions, radiospots, and Superbowl commercials probably come to mind. That’s because our memories can’t help but cling onto those catchy tunes. Studies show that in order to process music, we use the same parts of the brain associated with memory and emotion. 

On the fence about creating a catchy jingle for your business?

Here are nine reasons you need to change that tune with a good jingle! With these nine benefits of a business jingle, you can stay in everyone’s minds for a long time with killer brand recognition. 

1. Attention-Grabbing

When we hear a catchy tune, we can’t help but listen. Whether we’re in the car or watching tv, songs attract our attention. A well-written, catchy jingle will grab a consumer’s attention and keep it for the length of the ad. 

Without a jingle, however, people might tune out your advertisement. 

Once your jingle catches everyone’s attention, it will keep them interested. That way, you can convey the benefits of your product or service within the rest of the ad. By sparking interest, jingles can help you make the most of your company’s advertising budget.

Otherwise, you’re missing an opportunity. Adverts or commercials without jingles don’t always manage to stand out from the crowd. In some cases, you’ll fall to grab everyone’s attention.

As a result, people will miss hearing the main message of your ad!

2. Lasting Impressions

Once you grab your audience’s attention with a catchy ad, you want to stick in their minds. That way, they’ll think about your business even after the ad ends. 

Music is a very powerful advertising tool. Without us realizing it, music embeds itself within our subconscious. Even months after hearing a catchy jingle once, we’ll still remember the song. 

Print ads and pay-per-click ads come and go. Sometimes, we forget them in a manner of seconds. By advertising using jingles, however, you can ensure consumers remember your ad much longer. 

An ad that leaves a lasting impression is far more valuable than an ad that gets a single glance. 

If you create a unique, catchy tune, you can stay in people’s minds for a really long time. 

3. Brand Representation

How do you want people to view your business? For example, a dog-walking service would want to represent themselves as fun-loving and trustworthy.

The music you use within your marketing videos and advertising campaigns will represent your brand. That means the music is also representing your business, which can develop into a long-lasting reputation.

By creating a quality, catchy jingle, you can make sure you’re properly representing your brand.

Your jingle will tell customers about your personality. As a result, consumers will begin to get a better idea about your business. A strong, unique brand personality can also help you stand out from competitors.

When developing your jingle, keep your brand in mind.

4. Music & Mood

Putting people in the right mood can spur them to make a change or start shopping. It can also help spark interest in your business. 

If you want customers to feel excited about your product or service, you need the right music. 

Music impacts us in different ways. Hearing the same commercial jingle a second time can cause us to fall into the same mood. 

By adding a jingle to your next ad, you can get customers hyped up about your business. 

5. Brand Association

A catchy jingle can also help people retain information. What people hear from your ad will stick in their memory. The mood and emotions people feel after hearing your ad will become a part of your brand, too. 

Creating a well-thought-out jingle will give consumers an easy, fun way to remember who you are and what you do. 

Using music will help you create an emotional connection with your customers. 

They’ll associate those emotions with your company every time they see your brand. Then, you can depend on the emotions they associate with your company to get repeat business. 

6. A One-Time Cost

While a catchy jingle can help you attract loyal customers, you only have to pay for the jingle once. Many companies refrain from developing jingles because they’re expensive. However, they don’t come with royalties or recurring fees.

That means you can use them as many times as you want for a higher return on your investment!

7. Audio is Effective

Why waste money on marketing and advertising strategies that haven’t worked for you before? Instead, you can learn how to write a jingle that represents your brand and helps you stand out. Adding a jingle to a video that seems plain can give your content the boost it needs.

Instead of wasting money on strategies that aren’t working, you can use audio to make sure your brand is memorable. 

Discover the importance of jingles in your advertising. 

8. Cut Through Noise

Our world is highly saturated. Everywhere we turn, online and in-person, we’re bombarded by visual ads. By now, we know when companies are advertising at us.

A catchy jingle can cut through the noise.

Instead of struggling to stand apart from the competition, a well-written jingle can do it for you. Now that it’s more difficult to grab someone’s attention among the numerous ads we see each day, you need a strategy that will help you compete. 

9. Nostalgic Emotions

According to this study, different types of music can also produce different emotional reactions. 66% of survey participants also said music is more memorable when it’s used within marketing. 

A well-written jingle can manipulate our emotions.

By drawing on familiar experiences and memories, nostalgia helps us look back on better moments. Nostalgia is a powerful marketing tool that can entice people based on previous emotions. 

By transporting your audience to a better time, you can use a catchy jingle to boost sales!

Jingle All the Way: Why Your Business Needs a Catchy Jingle

One catchy jingle could help you attract a stream of new and recurring customers. With these nine benefits in mind, you can start singing a new tune when it comes to adding jingles to your ads. 

Explore our Jingle Production services today to start giving your ads extra power that rivals your competition!

9 Benefits of Video Marketing to Grow Your Online Presence

benefits of video marketing

If you haven’t been using video marketing, then you seriously need to reconsider your marketing strategies because you’re missing out big time. Interesting videos make interesting stories, and stories are excellent for marketing because they elicit emotion.

Some of the most significant reasons why video marketing is essential for your business is the fact that it’s memorable and measurable. This makes video marketing one of the most powerful ways of reaching customers, whether prospective or existing. 

So what are the benefits of video marketing, and why should you implement it in your marketing strategies? Once you are done with the marketing basics, you need to delve deeper and capture more attention. Let’s look at the benefits of video marketing for your business. 

1. Videos Result In Great ROI

To get you started off with some excitement, video marketing provides fantastic ROI, and this is one of the things you’re in business for. Even though video production may not be the easiest or cheapest of tasks, with a plethora of online video editing tools on the internet, it will pay big time.

Additionally, most customers are not worried so much about the video quality, like the content quality. Provide clear and relevant messages that explain what your products or services are all about. Of course, this is not to say that they should be low quality, even smartphones nowadays produce incredible videos, so you’ll have no excuse. 

2. Videos Build Trust

Essentially, trust is the foundation of conversions and sales. In a highly competitive business world, persuading clients to do business with you and not your competitors is not an easy feat. Building trust and strong relationships with customers gets easier with videos.

Videos ignite emotional responses, regardless of how short they are. In fact, you don’t need to keep selling because once you provide useful and interesting information, customers will come to you. Effective and interesting videos present your business in a conversational form and give customers the confidence to purchase products online. 

3. Videos Appeal to Mobile Users

An overwhelming 78% of consumers watch videos on mobile devices because people nowadays want to do things on the go. The number of mobile users increases by the year, and this only means that your video audience will keep expanding. Mobile users are more likely to feel a personal connection with a brand than desktop or TV viewers, so it’s imperative that you take advantage of the market. 

4. Videos Boost Conversions and Sales

Adding the most important video to your landing page alone could increase your conversion rates by 80%. One of the many benefits of video marketing is that videos have the ability to lead directly to sales. Vision is the most dominant sense that human beings possess, so it’s only natural that videos have such a huge impact on them. 

5. It’s Easy to Explain Everything Through Video

It’s so much easier to show people how your products work compared to writing about it. Explainer videos trend every day, and so do tutorial videos. Most consumers are watching explainer videos to learn what products are all about and how to use them. 

An explainer video on your homepage would be super effective in driving conversions and sales. If you have a difficult concept, then video is the best way to explain it in a way your target audience understands. Besides, interesting videos, such as animated videos, are fun to watch, and people like to share such videos. 

6. Videos Engage Everyone

One of the most significant benefits of video marketing is the ease of video consumption. Consumers get bored very easily, and reading long product descriptions is not pleasant at all. The modern customer is too busy for that anyway, and videos are easier to work with because all they have to do is watch, regardless of where they are.

Even if they’re lazy, as long as your videos have clear audio, they will certainly watch them. 

7. Videos Encourage Shares

Most people tend to share videos than they do content, and shares lead to a larger audience. If you want to expand your target audience and get the message out there, delve into video marketing and watch your customer share! This is simply one of the best ways to go viral. 

8. Videos Are Excellent for All Search Engines

All search engines, especially Google, value high valuable content, and interesting videos will have a tremendous impact on your SEO. With prolonged exposure, you will build trust, which will signal to search engines that you have valuable content.

You are more likely to rank high on search engines if you have a video on your website, and given the fact that Google owns YouTube, videos certainly affect search engine ranks. 

9. Social Networks Thrive Through Videos

It’s already clear that people love videos, and you should give provide just that, but where? Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are some of the best places to post your important videos. Most consumers would share company videos as long as they were entertaining, regardless of whether they are actually interested in the products. 

Bonus Tip: Ads Do Wonders in Videos

Video ads have the highest click-through rate among all digital formats. This says a lot about marketing videos and all the benefits they come with. If you do everything right and create awesome videos, you can be sure that people will remember, regardless of whether they watch the whole ad or not. That’s how awesome videos are for business. 

The Benefits of Video Marketing: Summing it Up

From financial motives to practical reasons, you can well see the benefits of video marketing. All these points make quite a strong case for videos and showing you that they work. If you want to jump into the modern marketing wagon, video marketing is the way to go. 

If you’d like more awesome marketing tips, check out our website or give us a call and we’ll be glad to help. 

The Best Documentaries of 2019 Revealed

2019 was another great year for documentaries.

Streaming services like Netflix and Hulu have really taken the art of the documentary seriously when other platforms are still catching on. We need to cherish our documentarians because they’re telling the true story of our society and the reasons for our actions. 

As we look back on the events and characters of our recent past with some of the films that came out this year, so too will future generations about things that are happening now. They might not be blockbusters, but they serve a crucial purpose.

Today, we’re going to talk about the best documentaries of 2019 and why they were so impactful. Some are tragic and confusing character studies, while others take an in-depth look into the funny, terrifying, and absurd bits of the way we live.

If you’re an aspiring documentarian, these films are must-watches because they exhibit unmatched research, dedication, and overall quality. Use these to find inspiration for your next film project.

Meeting Gorbachev

Werner Herzog is a master of documentaries and narrative film, consistently delving into the depths of human experience no matter the medium. Meeting Gorbachev ditches Herzog’s dour and self-serious personality for a more jovial back and forth conversation with the former Soviet leader, nearing the end of his life.

It’s strange and exciting to see Herzog take on the role of a superfan interviewer, but the conversation does flow both ways. If you’re a fan of remarkable people talking about their remarkable accomplishments, this is the doc for you.

Fyre & Fyre Fraud

The rival Fyre Festival documentaries, Fyre (Netflix) and Fyre Fraud (Hulu), examined the eponymous music festival, which was doomed before it began. The cringe factor is at a 10, but you’ll end up feeling sympathy for some of the support characters that just wanted to be a part of something meaningful.

The villains are Billy MacFarland and former pop-rap superstar Ja Rule. Fyre is more of an examination of what went wrong and why, while Fyre Fraud actually gets MacFarland in for an interview to explain how it all went down…and down, and down. Both are highly entertaining.

Rolling Thunder Revue

Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue was a concert tour in the mid-70s when Dylan had become a mega-star in the recording world. The tour was an effort to reach fans in smaller towns to get back to his folk singer roots.

Scorsese’s film is a pseudo-documentary, blending in real interviews with the people that were there. That including Dylan himself, as well as fictionalized representations of characters that may or may not have been around. 

Whether you’re a fan of Dylan’s or not, the film is an entertaining trip through a time and place in American popular music and the mythical figure at the center of it. How things have changed. 

Conversations With A Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes

Our fascination with the grotesque is on display in Conversations With A Killer. The 4-part Netflix docuseries takes a look at one of the most heinous criminals of the last century, Ted Bundy. Bundy was convicted of 30 sex crimes and executed 30 years ago.

The series focuses in on several conversations with Bundy while he was on death row. That’s mixed in with some background on the killer and interviews with people that came across him.

It’s a fascinating look into the mind of one of America’s most famous serial killers, but you don’t leave feeling any sympathy for him. You will feel some frustration with a legal system that saw Bundy walk twice before being caught on what was pretty weak evidence.

Apollo 11

Todd Douglas Miller’s Apollo 11 might be the space film of the year. It features never before seen NASA-released footage of the moon-landing expedition. No effects, no interviews or voice-overs, just the incredible restored footage.

What you come away with is a sense of wonder of how this feat was accomplished 50 years ago and an appreciation of all those involved. In troubling times, it feels good to look back on something so unifying in American history books.

The names of the three men involved are almost religious in nature now, but the film does a great job of depicting them as mere men that are in a position to do something incredible. Buzz Aldrin even cracks a great joke about locking himself and Neil Armstrong out of the capsule.

While this film will put a lot of conspiracy theorists’ notions to bed, others will make note of the knack for filmmaking that the original documentarians had. When restored, it does look eerily similar to a certain Kubrick film.

American Factory

From the title, Steven Bognar and Julia Reichart’s American Factory would appear to be a grandiose take on the American recession. What it’s really about is how the loss of American factories has become such a simple and politicized talking point.

The film delves deep into an Ohio automotive plant. As a result of the 2008 recession, it shuts down only to be revived a few years later by a Chinese company. We then see the complications of a re-hired American workforce alongside a Chinese-American workforce.

It’s less about the socio-economic and cultural divisions between the two groups or the rise of China and the fall of America. But instead, it’s motive is to give a sense of how much of the world is run by power, big business, and profit.

The Best Documentaries of 2019 Revealed

These were some of the best documentaries of 2019, but there were so many more that it would be impossible to talk about them all. Finding inspiration in other people’s work is how all great documentarians get started. Don’t shy away from it.

Watch these films and figure out how you can take bits and pieces from each one to create your own unique style. To get help audio, video, and greenscreen production for your documentary, check out what we offer at Killer Spots Agency.

The 9 Most Recognizable Commercial Jingles

Do you feel like your market is having trouble remembering your company’s name? 

Have sales numbers been lagging as of late? 

Are you concerned that your current marketing strategy just isn’t as effective as you’d hoped? 

Maybe the solution isn’t to invest in social media influencers or spend hours writing blog posts that might not even get read. Instead, why not consider writing a catchy jingle for your company?

Jingles appeal to everyone, help people to remember your information, and they don’t have to get updated to get with the times. 

Just think about some of the catchy commercial songs you remember from decades ago!

Read on for a list of the most popular commercial jingles ever, and get some serious inspiration for how to come up with an awesome jingle of your own. 

1. Kars 4 Kids

Interested in donating your car? 

If so, then you already know to call Kars 4 Kids, a nonprofit who helps to fund childhood education using cash from selling used vehicles — even those in rough shape. 

The jingle is incredibly catchy, and it also includes the organization’s phone number and a brief description of the services they offer.

Effective jingles do exactly that — and it helps that the commercial also features children playing the instruments for the jingle themselves. 

2. The Oscar Meyer Song

No list of catchy jingles would be complete without a mention of what is arguably the most famous jingle of all time: 

The Oscar Meyer song.  

The celebrated jingle was written in just an hour in 1962, and spurred many contests, imitations, and of course, sales for the company. 

One of the biggest reasons for its success? 

It was written by experienced jingle composer Richard Trentlage, who also created jingles for V8 and McDonald’s. 

3. Empire Today Carpet

If you need your carpet cleaned, chances are you already know exactly who you’re going to call: 

Empire Today. 

The familiar “800-588” scale jingle gets stuck in your head almost immediately, and the bouncing animations of grey-haired men cleaning the carpet help it to stick around.

Jingles that include contact information are especially beneficial to smaller, niche businesses.

4. Huggies Diapers

With children everywhere desperate to prove to their parents that they’re “big kids now,” it’s no wonder that the Huggies pull-ups diaper’s jingle took off the way it did. 

Plus, combine a catchy tune with adorable videos of babies waddling around, and you’ve got a recipe for instant success. The jingle is still used today, and has helped make Huggies one of the most popular diaper and baby brands of all time. 

5. The Kit Kat Jingle

If you’re in need of a “break,” the Kit Kat’s commercial jingles urge you to find someone who will break you off a piece of their candy. 

The jingle has been a popular hit since 1986, and usually features images of someone snapping off a delicious chunk of a Kit Kat bar. Chances are good that you won’t be able to resist getting a piece of candy after hearing the song.

6. Meow Mix

It’s tough to imagine how a company could make the sounds of cats meowing not only into a jingle, but also into a good jingle. 

The creativity of the “Meow Mix” jingle is what sets it apart from the competition and makes consumers remember it so well. We’re sure that the cute images of cats and kittens certainly don’t hurt, either. 

Interestingly, the company decided to retire the beloved jingle in 1996, but once they realized how much customers missed it, they decided to bring it back to the airwaves in 2012 — much to the satisfaction of cats who “want chicken” everywhere. 

7. Doublemint Gum

Are you ready to double your pleasure and double your fun? 

If so, then you already know that it’s time to reach for a piece of Doublemint gum. This iconic and lively jingle helped to make Wrigley’s an incredible success, and people certainly still sing the jingle today. 

8. Folger’s Coffee

What’s the best part of waking up? 

For coffee lovers everywhere, the famous Folger’s jingle reminded us that it’s “Folgers in your cup.” 

Coupled with a close-up shot of the Folger’s coffee tin and a nice cup of morning joe, this is certainly one of the most well-recognized commercial jingles ever. It’s still used today and has had no problem standing the test of time. 

9. McDonald’s 

Are you “lovin’ it?” 

Thanks to one of the most popular jingles from fast-food giant McDonald’s, the answer is probably “yes.”

Sure, other fast-food chains (think Subway’s “Five Dollar Footlong” jingle) have created some pretty catchy tunes over the years. However, nothing quite comes close to the familiar five-note intro to McDonald’s, “I’m Lovin’ It” jingle. 

The best part of the jingle? 

For many, it’s the little-known fact that Pusha T wrote it.

Ready for Commercial Jingles of Your Own?

While this list of popular commercial jingles has no doubt been a fun trip down memory lane (and has gotten at least one jingle stuck in your head) we hope it’s done more than just that. 

You should stop to consider just how much of a long-term impact jingles can have on a brand, and how they can set you apart from your competitors. 

Are you interested in developing a jingle for your company to run on the radio or online? 

If so, then we want to help you make it happen. 

Reach out to us to learn more about our jingle-writing process, and get ready to have everyone signing your company’s tune. 

Your Guide to a User Friendly Website

user friendly website

People are busy, always on-the-go while looking for the next big thing. Consumers expect companies to keep up with their needs. Otherwise, their digital experience won’t fit in with their life in the real world. 

So how do you give customers what they want?

With a user-friendly website, you can make your customers’ lives a lot easier. UX design could also boost your business.

According to research, a well-designed user interface could increase conversions by 200%. Meanwhile, a better user experience design could increase conversions up to 400%.

By now, you’re probably wondering what user-friendly web design entails. Keep reading to discover what makes a good website through user-friendly design. 

1. Start Responsive

Most people keep up with the world from their smartphones. 

According to research, 61% of site users will choose a competitor’s mobile-friendly site over one that’s not. Meanwhile, 45% are less likely to visit a site a second time if they had a poor user experience. 

To develop a user-friendly website, you first need to keep your mobile users in mind. 

Make it easier for people to use your website from their smaller screens. This can include creating a mobile-friendly or responsive site. 

To optimize for mobile users, keep navigation, font sizes, and buttons in mind. Photos and videos should all scale for smaller screen widths.

Otherwise, your mobile users will end up pinching and zooming out, trying to see your content. 

2. Simplify the Nav

People can’t explore your website if the navigation is difficult to use. 

For a user-friendly website, simplicity is key. Make sure the navigation is easy to use and understand. Try not to complicate the nav with multiple tiers, either. 

Instead, minimize the number of sub navigations you use. Make sure each page is named appropriately and clearly. That way, your site visitors can get around without struggling.

3. Show Your Logo

How will site visitors recognize your website is yours?

Branding is also an important component of user-friendly web design. People expect to see your logo in the top left corner. They should also have the ability to click on the logo to return to the homepage.

For additional branding, keep your color scheme and imagery in mind. 

Keeping branding consistent throughout the design will help avoid confusion. If people switch from one page to the next and encounter a completely different design, they might think they’re on a different website.

Branding helps improve user experience by creating a seamless path from one page to the next. 

4. Speed It Up

30% of consumers expect a website to load in one second or less. 

If it takes forever for your pages to load, people might leave. After all, they’re busy. When one website takes too long to load, they’re likely to leave and take their business elsewhere.

Use this tool to test your website speed. The site will also give you recommendations so you improve your site speed. For example, you might consider using Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP).

AMPs follow a set of standards meant to improve the mobile web experience. 

AMP helps speed up your pages by optimizing your content. This feature is best for websites that don’t require additional javascript or sophisticated functionality.

If your website is a little more complicated, you can create a Progressive Web App. These pages create an app-like experience for mobile users. The web page will look and feel like a mobile app without directing users to the app store. 

Both of these page types are designed to improve user experience by speeding up that experience.  

5. Set Up Search

Make it easy for your visitors to find what they’re looking for. 

Set up search functionality on your site. Most user-friendly websites display the search bar in the top right, above the navigation. 

Adding search functionality will streamline the user experience. Instead of wasting time searching through pages one by one, your visitors can immediately find what they need.

Great websites that simplify the user experience also show site visitors your company is ready to help.

6. Clarify CTAs

Your CTA, or call-to-action, clarifies what you want people to do on that page. For example, you might want visitors to fill out a form or call your company.

Placing visible CTAs on the page will help you direct your visitors to take action. When you make the CTA clear (and easy to find), visitors won’t have to wonder about what you want them to do.

Use an eye-catching color for your CTA button. 

Meanwhile, make sure the button also resizes for mobile devices.

7. Clear Up the Content

Seeing a lengthy paragraph will make your visitors tired before they start reading. 

Instead of giant blocks of text, break it up. Try to condense each paragraph to a few sentences, or shorten your sentences. You can also use headings, subheadings, and bullets to break up the text. 

Reorganizing your text will improve readability.

Since people are always in a rush, making the text easier to skim and digest will keep your site visitors from leaving. 

8. Balance It Out

Once you improve the text for your user-friendly website, consider your imagery.

It’s important to create the right balance of high-quality images and text. Otherwise, you could risk overstimulating your visitors.

Stay careful not to overcrowd the page. Many companies are moving toward minimalistic design. This design uses more white space, allowing the content to breathe.

9. Make It Easy to Share

Use social media to your advantage. Make it easy for visitors to share your site content. 

To do this, add social sharing buttons to your content. Making it easier for visitors to share your content will invite new customers to your site. 

10. Add Accessibility

Accessibility for disabled, blind, or elderly users is important as well.

Consider following these guidelines to improve your web design for these visitors. That way, your site is easy to use for anyone who visits your site.

Website Goals: 10 Tips for a User-Friendly Website

Give the people what they want! With these tips for a user-friendly website, you can improve the user experience for anyone who visits your site. The better the user experience, the more likely visitors will become paying customers.

Contact us today for your user-friendly website!

Why Your Business Needs an Inbound Marketing Strategy

Seo

Let’s bring it in! Inbound marketing (also known as content marketing) allows you to increase traffic to your company’s website. Once you attract visitors, you can engage and delight them with your content.

When done right, an inbound marketing strategy allows you to turn website visitors into paying customers.

Better yet, you can encourage those customers to come back for more through brand loyalty. 

In fact, inbound marketing through content costs 62% less than outbound marketing and produces three times as many leads.

Still on the fence? Keep reading to learn the six benefits of developing your inbound marketing strategy.

1. Inbound is More Effective Than Outbound

Outbound marketing strategies such as flyers and billboards aren’t going anywhere. While they can help you increase brand awareness, these tactics aren’t always effective.

Think about it. Flyers go out to anyone within a certain location. That means you’re not targeting your ideal customer. 

Then, you have to hope the message sinks in. Even with a strong call-to-action (CTA), there’s no guarantee people take action. If they do, how do you know that lead came from that flyer?

Sometimes, outbound marketing strategies come off as interruptive and annoying.

Think about the last time you watched Hulu or a show on TV. The commercials distract from the show you’re watching, just to make a sale. 

Since you can’t always match an outbound campaign to the right audience, some of the ads end up irrelevant to the people who see them. 

An inbound marketing strategy, on the other hand, allows you to choose a more effective route.

Instead of interrupting someone’s experience, inbound marketing strives to help make the consumer’s life easier. By creating content your audience wants and needs, you’re showing customers you’re an informative resource. This also creates a more authentic experience for your customers. 

The precise targeting also ensures companies avoid wasting their marketing budget. 

Instead, you can find your ideal customer and show them your expertise through your inbound marketing strategy.  

2. Target Throughout the Buyer’s Journey

The buyer’s journey moves from awareness to consideration to decision. Before your website visitors becoming paying customers, they go through all three steps of this journey. 

With an inbound marketing strategy, you can guide people along their buyer’s journey. 

With a billboard, you only have one chance (and a few seconds) to make an impact. With inbound marketing, you can target potential customers along every stage of their journey. 

For example, let’s say someone visits your website. Maybe they put an item in their cart, then leave. With remarketing, you can show them digital ads of that same product.

Then, you can remind them to return to your website to complete their purchase.

In this example, the prospect starts with awareness—they know about your product. They consider buying your product, but instead abandon their cart. With remarketing, you can spark awareness again, then help the consumer to the decision-making step.

If you don’t have an e-commerce site, the useful content on your website can also guide site visitors along the buyer’s journey. Blog posts and case studies can answer questions, inform consumers, and direct them toward the decision to call your company.

Either way, you’re directing a site visitor straight towards a sale. 

3. Continuously Build Your Audience

With inbound marketing, the goal is to attract prospects and convert them into leads. Once they’re interested, you want to close the sale and turn a lead into a customer. Finally, you want to delight customers so they help promote your product. 

Inbound marketing uses a number of tactics to help you build this audience. 

During the “Attract” stage, you can use blogging, search engine optimization (SEO), social media, and advertising. 

Then, you can use a form or chatbot on your landing page to convert visitors.

Email marketing and CRM integration can Close the deal. Then, surveys and referral programs can Delight customers into becoming promoters. 

4. Personalization Pays Off

34% of consumers are more likely to make an unplanned purchase if a brand personalizes content.

With an inbound marketing strategy, you can split your audience into buyer personas. These personas make it easier for you to personalize content per their interests.

Traditional marketing uses a “one message fits all” approach. With inbound marketing, you can focus on customers at a more personal level. This makes it easier for you to build trust with your prospects and turn them into customers.

5. Save Time and Money

Don’t waste time with leads that don’t have any interest in your business.

With an inbound marketing strategy, you can focus on the people already searching for your product or service online. These are people who want to buy already.

Inbound marketing allows you to attract these prospects to your website.

Instead of wasting time pushing a product or service they don’t need, you can attract people who already want what you offer. This makes it easier for you to attract qualified leads using content that aligns with your audience’s needs.

Inbound marketing also uses automation. You can automate tasks to save yourself time and money. These tasks include email marketing, social media posts, monitoring, and reporting. 

When you save time and money marketing, you can spend more time and money on what matters: your business. As a result, you’re able to increase your ROI and compete with bigger companies in the industry. 

6. Measure the Success

You can’t accurately measure a flyer or billboard’s success to boost brand awareness.

With inbound marketing tactics, however, all the data you need is a click away. You can generate reports and measure the success of your campaigns. Then, you can make informed decisions for improving campaigns in the future.

With inbound marketing, you can also set goals and milestones. If you’re falling short, you have the data in hand to show you want needs improving. 

Bring It In: 6 Reasons You Need an Inbound Marketing Strategy

It’s time to bring in new business. With an inbound marketing strategy, you can attract, convert, and delight your customers. Then, you can optimize your campaigns for continuous success. 

Stand out from the competition. Contact us today to grow your company using an inbound marketing strategy!

Marketing Basics for Business

marketing

Marketing for a business in today’s world is, without a doubt, more demanding than ever before. The days of merely listing a company name and number in the phone book are over. Nowadays, it is almost expected of companies to market themselves everywhere. Whether that be by word of mouth, on television, social media, advertising out in public, or all over the Internet. To create a thriving business and client-base, it’s important to make sure your business is well marketed. Below are a handful of tips to start promoting and marketing your business.

Establishing Identity

A crucial element to stand out in a marketplace among your competition is finding a unique identity. A common way for people to recognize a company is by the company’s logo and color scheme. 

Deciding exactly what your company stands for is the first step. Making your company’s core beliefs and mission as clear as possible is necessary. You need to show why consumers should choose you over competitors. Allowing your brand to develop a personality can help consumers easily relate to you and remember your company.

Knowing Your Audience

You should be creating different content for your audience. This should be based on whether they are old or new customers, or if they’re not sure. Taking the time to get to know and understand the demographics, interests, and niche of the market that you are trying to appeal to is crucial for success. You want to make sure that the content that is being created is targeted toward the appropriate audience. Remaining relevant and valuable to your audience is important to remember.

Website Creation and Maintenance

In today’s world, it is very important for a successful company to have a website. Think about it. People nowadays go straight to Google to learn about things that they want to know more about. Whether it’s to find new restaurants in the area, a place that sells a specific type of light bulb, or even to find a place for your child to go to daycare, the Internet is the fastest way to find the answers that people need. With a website, people can look up information anytime, anywhere, and not have to wait until regular business hours. Having a presence online makes it much more likely for customers to trust you. Making sure that the website has a modern, easy-to-navigate, and mobile-friendly layout will promote more frequent visits. This allows the opportunity for new customers to jump on board.

The website should be navigable enough to allow anyone that visits the website to be able to find any information that they might be looking for. This may include details about the business, products and/or services being sold, and even contact information. Providing this information in a clean and organized manner allows users to obtain a sense of how professional and credible your business might be. This allows customers to decide whether or not they’d like to learn more.

Social Media

Getting into the swing of social media and how to use it appropriately as a business or professional can be tricky. One mistake that businesses often make when starting on this journey is diving in too quickly, all at once. Starting with one simple Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram profile to let consumers know that you exist is a great start. Getting your name out there on your social media platform of choice is a great way to introduce your business to so many potential new client opportunities. Hiring a social media manager may end up being a great option. This would ensure that posts are scheduled to be shared regularly (perhaps weekly, if possible). 

Social Media Content

What kind of content is necessary to share on social media? Every business takes a bit of a different route. One of the more popular options is using social media as a platform for customer service. Through the use of Twitter, customers can directly reach out to you. They can ask any questions or concerns that they might have, and feel like they’re speaking to an actual person. Not just some automated machine or bot. Social media may also be used for promotional purposes. Even so, it is very important to not overdo this side of things. The last thing you want is for people to feel overwhelmed with ads and promos that seem like spam. Having a nice balance of the content shared on a business social media page is very important for this marketing strategy to be successful.

These marketing tips are an easy way to build a client base (or grow your current one), engage customers, make your business more readily accessible, and to stay relevant. Although these are not the only options that are available to market your business, they are a great place to start!

Have any questions? Contact us today!