September 23, 2022

How contractors can use full funnel audience strategy to increase leads by 4X

The Marketing Funnel. Is this just another buzzword on the digital block? Rest assured, it’s nothing of the sort. A marketing funnel is an invaluable tool that will enable you to see lead conversions or buying customers not as a stroke of good fortune, but as the result of a structured process. It helps you understand the customer journey – from being aware of needs and problems to being ready to buy a relevant product or service, and respond with appropriate measures along every step of the way. It also helps you maximize the chances of the generated leads moving forward rather than slipping away. This blog will help you understand the stages of a Marketing Funnel and ways to use it to land up to 4X leads.

The Marketing Funnel: An Overview

Think of it as a series of stages, designed to do more than just get you customers. It’s a business model that will enable your business to gain maximum value from your customers in terms of purchases, loyalty, feedback, goodwill and even recommendations. Here’s what the funnel looks like:

Awareness
Consideration
Conversion
Loyalty
Advocacy

The Marketing Funnel: Stages to sustainable success

Every step of the buying cycle plays a crucial role in your business journey towards the ultimate goal – a contented customer who keeps coming back to you. Here’s a step-wise breakdown of the stages of a marketing funnel and how you can optimize your business performance at each stage.

Stage 1: Awareness

Marketing theorists will call this the first step of the marketing funnel. Consumer psychologists on the other hand, will consider this your point of entry into the customer’s mind and life. This is the stage where customers looking for solutions – that come in the purview of your business, will need to be ‘introduced’ to your business.

Ways to create awareness:

Create posts on social media that highlight your unique expertise with respect to the needs of the customers you’re looking to target
Invest in paid ads that allow you to inform/enlighten your targeted customers about how you can help them with your products or services.
Create a landing page that provides relevant information to visiting customers

Stage 2: Consideration

The customer is now aware of your business. But there’s still a long way to go before awareness turns into action. Customers will seek out and compare multiple businesses before they zero down on the best option for their unique needs or problems. Your task now is to further build on your customers’ interest and give them reasons to choose you over competing businesses.

Ways to get a customer to consider you:

Use higher-intent keywords that resonate with customers who show an intent to buy
Post detailed information on how your expertise helps customers solves their unique needs, via blogs or articles
Develop an email marketing campaign to capture and nurture leads
Give customers a more in-depth understanding of your business by sharing comparisons between your business and the competition
Run surveys to know more about how your customers think and also let them know that their preferences and opinions matter. Ask questions relating to what they’re looking for, how they got to know about you, what they’re hoping to see on your website, what concerns they have and so on.

Stage 3: Conversion

You got your customers to notice you. Next, you got them interested in knowing more about your business; you even went ahead to establish trust with your intent to know more about them and serve them better. Here on, you need to get your customers to stop reading, looking around and considering and instead, start clicking, ordering and buying. This is where you convert them from visiting customers to buying customers.

Ways to convert your prospects:

Create campaigns targeting sign-ups and account creations
Provide trials or demos for customers to experience your product or service
Share positive customer reviews and testimonials to clear away any trace of uncertainty in the customer’s mind
If you find customers reaching the stage where you expect them to convert and they don’t, send emails to gently prod them about the reason or reasons for them to delay a buy
Simplify navigation across your landing page and reduce loading times
Include a Call To Action at strategic places on the website
Use exit pop-ups to retain customers

Stage 4: Loyalty

For a successful, forward-thinking business, matters don’t end with a customer coming your way in the conversion stage. In fact, this is an opportunity for your business to create a sustaining relationship with the customer that prevents them from ‘converting’ at other businesses in the long run. In other words, this is the stage where you endeavor to shape the loyal customer, a customer who will continue to make their purchases from you.

Ways to build and maintain customer loyalty:

Build an efficient CRM platform to track and respond to customers’ queries, issues and suggestions
Make your customers feel valued with regular incentives, discounts and rewards
Create upselling / cross-selling campaigns that upgrade your customers to higher value or performance across your range of products or services

Stage 5: Advocacy

If there’s anything more delightful than a customer who repeatedly buys from you, it’s a customer who speaks well about you to their friends, family and colleagues and nudges them to buy or order from your business. This is the stage where you evolve loyal customers into willing advocates of your business. This is the ultimate reward or pay-off of all the effort, expense and patience that you’ve put into the marketing funnel.

Ways to create happy business advocates:

Upload and update positive customer reviews on your website and review platforms to instill confidence in your existing customers
Invite your customers to share their positive experiences with your business
Give incentives to existing customers to make referrals or recommendations

Rely on SocioSquares to create a winning Marketing Funnel for your business

The marketing funnel is not a magic spell that will help your business gain lead conversions overnight. It is a strategic and accountable tool that will guide your business to its ultimate goal – acquiring and retaining customers in a cycle that’s scalable and sustainable. Done right, a marketing funnel will enable your business to capture leads at every stage of the funnel and take them forward towards purchase. We trust this detailed article will help you create and reap the benefits of your own marketing funnel. If you’d like to know more or would like an expert in this domain to create one for you, reach out to SocioSquares.

We’re a digital marketing agency with over 11 years of experience in helping small businesses and start-ups generate higher leads with the right digital marketing strategies. If you’re a business in the domain of dentistry, home improvement, oil and propane delivery, speech and occupational therapy, coffee e-commerce, pet healthcare or any other, call us and we’ll help you develop a marketing funnel that will enable you to land up to 4X leads in a shorter timeframe and at a lower cost to your business.

google update & Digital marketing agency

September 14, 2022

Decoding Google’s new content update for your business or brand

For a while now, content that’s been getting out there in the digital universe has been created with a ‘business-and-ranking first’ approach. All that is set to change with Google’s new content update which has been created to reward content that puts ‘people first’. Needless to say, businesses and brands that have aced the game when it comes to creating Google algorithm-focused content will need to rethink and realign their content creation strategies. With this new update, Google will ensure that customers get their rightful access to content that’s not just original but relevant and helpful to their diverse and yet distinctive needs. Here’s a blog that shares 5 insightful things you need to keep in mind, in order to keep your content aligned with Google’s latest rollout in the world of digital content.

August 12, 2022

The importance of Local SEO for businesses

SEO is a commonly followed practice that enables businesses to increase the visibility of their websites and consequently, their rankings across search engine platforms. While general SEO tactics will help a business get customer views, it is broad-based and leads to views from a far wider geographic area – often beyond the servicing reach of the business. This translates into plenty of clicks but very few conversions or opportunities of real business. What a business needs is for its SEO to focus on a specific target area that’s within a conveniently reachable radius of the business, for the generated leads to convert into maximum in-person visits and transactions. This is where local SEO plays a key part in the growth story of local businesses. Here’s a blog that will help you understand the basics of local SEO and techniques to optimize it in order to achieve improved rankings for your business on platforms that matter.

August 3, 2022

Everything you need to know about Off-page SEO and how it works for your brand

Brands that focus on SEO as a channel can overtake and outperform even the biggest companies in organic search, provided they have more than great content ideas. However, it is important to understand and acknowledge that to own organic search results, one also needs an ironclad off-page SEO strategy. This is because you need to show Google that your content is valuable, sought after and worthy of being ranked high in searches. An Off-page SEO strategy will help you amplify your On-page SEO and therefore, optimize the online footprint of your brands. Here’s a blog that will not only give you an overview of Off-page SEO but will also help you understand the most potent ways to optimize your Off-page SEO.

July 8, 2022

“Marketing For Your Future” with Gaurav Mendiratta from SocioSquares

Cindy: Hello, and welcome to another episode of marketing for your future. I’m your host Cindy Ashraf from the daily ad brief coming to you from New York City. And on the other side of the country, from the San Francisco Bay area, we have Gaurav Mendiratta, and he is from sociosquares.

Hello, Gaurav.

Rav: Hi, Cindy, thank you so much for having me.

Cindy: Oh, my goodness, we are so thrilled to have you on the show today. Tell us a little bit about your business.

June 17, 2022

Case Study: Why should local businesses in the US opt for Google Guaranteed ads in their PPC campaign?

From browsing through scores of reviews to asking friends and colleagues for recommendations. Customers do everything possible to get an assurance of quality before they decide to transact with a local business. Imagine a tool that can not only help customers eliminate all this trouble but also make it easier for businesses to win the trust of their customers. This is where the Google Guaranteed Ad comes in. Read this blog to understand the basics of a Google Guaranteed Ad and why you need to consider making it a part of your digital marketing campaign.

What is a Google Guarantee?

How do customers make a choice that doesn’t result in an unpleasant product or service experience? If only, there was an assurance that every customer could rely on; an assurance that would give customers the courage and the confidence to go ahead and choose a business that serves their needs. Oh, but there is.

Google Guarantee is a badge that’s selectively awarded to those businesses that meet Google’s exacting parameters of excellence. Businesses carrying this badge imply they have been verified by Google on factors including background, insurance, liability and more. This badge also means Google will reimburse the amount paid if the customer is not satisfied by the service provided by the business bearing its badge.

What is a Google Guaranteed Ad?

A Google Guaranteed Ad will have the name and details of a business as in a regular local service ad, but with one difference. It will also have a green color badge with a white checkmark, a ‘Google Guaranteed’ tag and your average star-rating alongside it. A Google Guaranteed Ad will do in an instant what no ordinary ad can hope to achieve. It will tell the customer the business bearing this badge is verified by Google and can be expected to deliver a service or product experience of high quality standards.

The benefits of running Google Guaranteed Ads

1) Be seen at the top of the page:

It’s a fact, over 75% of people surfing the net don’t scroll past the first page of search results. Your regular local service ad may get you a spot somewhere on the first page but a Google Guaranteed Ad gives your business the privilege of being seen right at the top of the local stack. You become visible as soon as the page opens and this maximizes your chances of both clicks and leads.

2) Earn trust in an instant:

As per one study, trust is a deciding factor in making purchase decisions for 81% of customers. A Google Guaranteed Ad will help you win the trust of this audience, because the badge you carry tells them your business is screened and verified as a reputable and trustworthy business.

3) Give your business a superior edge:

The average star rating and prominent green checkmark on your ad will enable your business to stand out distinctly amidst your competition. In fact, your green check marked ads will convey a message loud and clear – businesses that are not Google verified are not as trustworthy, competent and reliable as you and therefore, not worth clicking on.

4) Assurance even in audio searches and calls:

When a customer uses voice search options such as Google Assistant or Google Home to find your business, they will hear an affirmation that your business is Google Guaranteed. The same applies when customers try reaching your business via calls. Think of the leap in conversions that’ll follow with this small change in the way you enable the world to locate or contact you.

5) Let customers know you’ll go the extra mile:

Taking the efforts to comply with Google’s stringent verification protocols speaks volumes about your business. For instance, it tells them that your business is genuine and dependable and you are open to doing everything necessary to guarantee your customers’ satisfaction.

6) Get qualified leads:

Your Google Guaranteed Local Service Ads will only be visible to customers in your service area. Furthermore, with a Google Guaranteed Ad, you only need to pay if a customer calls you or messages you directly through the ad. This ensures you invest only on leads that are solid for your business.

How to qualify for a Google Guarantee

It follows logically that if a Google Guaranteed Ad spells assurance, then a Google Guarantee Badge entails scrutiny. The screening procedures deployed by Google to award its much-desired ‘green checkmark’ badge include checks that cover a business’s license, insurance and background.

As you would have learnt by now, adding Google Guaranteed Ads in your PPC campaign will not only help you win trust easier but also land better quality leads in the long run. If you’d like to explore the power of Google Guaranteed Ads for your business, you could look us up. We’re SocioSquares – a digital marketing agency with over 11 years of experience in helping small to medium-sized clients achieve faster growth with the right digital strategies. Whether you’re looking for a PPC campaign for roofers, an expert in roofing PPC or even just a company that specializes in digital marketing for roofers, give us a call. We’d love to know more about your business and then work out a plan that perfectly matches your growth aspirations.

SEO optimization for google shopping feed - case study

June 9, 2022

CASE STUDY: HOW MAXIMUS COLLECTIBLES USED GOOGLE SHOPPING FEED OPTIMIZATION TO INCREASE CLICKS, IMPRESSIONS AND SALES

Ecommerce SEO is slightly different from normal Organic SEO. Ecommerce SEO optimizes websites with a large variety of products with identical features and ensures that visitors find the optimized website whenever they search with an intent to buy.

Maximus Collectibles is an Ecommerce shop that sells online Pokémon cards. Eddie Yakubvitch, who is the owner of this online store, desired to increase sales through organic SEO.

What we set out to test

To increase the sales & drive traffic, SocioSquares decided to implement Google Shopping Feed Optimization Ecommerce SEO strategy and tactics which contributed to increasing the quantum of sales generated by Maximus Collectibles’ online store.

Why does Shopping Feed Optimization matter?

Shopping feeds matter because they provide a shortcut for shoppers to access your product pages from search engines, when a query is relevant to your business.

The digital experts at SocioSquares devised and followed a step-by-step strategy that resulted in optimization of Maximus Collectible’s shopping feed and a corresponding increase in its number of quality leads. You could follow this tried-and-proven process too, if you want your business to benefit the same way as Maximus Collectibles.

How we started to experiment

1) Open a Google My Merchant Account

One of the first things we did was to open a Google Merchant Account for Maximus Collectibles. The reason, a GMA is an invaluable tool for marketing both physical as well as digital products and services. Here’s how you can open a free account. Go to Google Merchant Store and open a free merchant account for your online store in 2 simple steps.

2) Create a Product or Shopping Feed

Did you know that 90% of all product searches are done by people who’re looking to buy? Our next step was to create a product or shopping feed to enable Maximus Collectibles to leverage eager customers looking for its products online.

One of the most important things we kept in mind when optimizing our client’s product shopping feed was to showcase the product adequately, and give customers a good reason to buy it.

After creating our client’s Shopping Feed Account, we added the following product details to optimize the shopping feed.

Product Title

Product Description

Product Specifications

Product Image

Stock Status

SC: Showing optimized product feed of the Maximus collectible

3) Use Precise Keywords

Keywords are like call-out signs. If your call-out isn’t right, you’ll pull in customers you don’t really want. By choosing the right keywords, we ensured the right eyeballs for Maximus Collectibles’ online store.The result, leads that scored on both quality and quantity.

4) Optimize Your Website for Ecommerce

We followed all the necessary SEO protocols to ensure the website of Maximus Collectibles was optimized for better performance and leads. Here’s a brief overview of the details involved in the optimization process.

Add the right keywords to the product Titles & Descriptions
Add image alt tags & proper image file names
Use keyword-specific URLs

Google Shopping feed: Results

SC: Impression & Clicks in April 2022 for Maximus Collectibles

When you adopt the right strategy and process, the results begin to show. Within a few days of website optimization, Maximus Collectibles got 179 clicks & 66.69 k impressions & 0.3% CTR (for the month of April) through its Google Shopping Feed, with quality leads being generated along the way. Making Google Shopping Feed Optimization a part of our strategy contributed to a high lead conversion rate.

SC: Clicks in April 2022 on important product pages

The following statistics show the leads and clicks generated even after we stopped working on that campaign.

SC : 226 clicks generated in May 2022

Connect with us, to optimize your Ecommerce store with Google Shopping Feeds.

Want to experience growth in leads without wasting your time, efforts and money? Want to see your business grow to the scale that you have in mind, without unwanted pain and stress? All you need to do is talk to us, and like Maximus Collectibles, we’ll make sure you become our next success case study.

June 6, 2022

Top 3 mistakes business owners make when it comes to Mindset!

Rav: For small business owners and entrepreneurs, mindset could mean various things. Some of us might have heard of growth mindset and fixed mindset from the book, Growth Mindset by Professor Carol Dweck. But here we are talking about something else. For business owners, sometimes mindset means accountability. And sometimes, it might just be staying positive, taking a break to do that. So today, we are going to talk about the top three Mistakes Business Owners Make when it comes to mindset.

Hello, business owners. I’m your host, Rav Mediratta from Sociosquares, and landing leads is where my business leads. If this is the first time you have landed on one of these videos, this is where I interview successful business owners, business coaches, and other experts and they share proven practices for business success. Depending on where you might be watching this, don’t forget to hit like follow or subscribe. Now let’s get into it. Today we are going to talk about the top three Mistakes Business Owners Make when it comes to mindset. And I have an expert on this subject. Buddy McMahon. Buddy is an expert entrepreneur who’s built and sold a large plumbing business in the field of architecture and has been an action coach for the past few years. Buddy, welcome. And thank you so much for doing this.

Buddy: Thank you, Rav. I’m happy to be here. Thanks for having me.

June 4, 2022

Top 3 Mistakes business owners make with company videos!

Rav: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the official podcast of BNI success link. Today we are going to talk about the top three Mistakes Business Owners Make when creating company videos.

Hello again, everyone, I’m your host, Rav Mendiratta from Sociosquares, and landing leads is where my business leads. Today we are going to talk about the top three Mistakes Business Owners Make when creating company videos. And, of course, I have an expert in the video space with me, Stu Sweetow. Stu, thank you so much for doing this.

Stu: Well, thank you, Rav.

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