This month, we’re celebrating a special milestone: Eminent SEO’s 15th Anniversary!
As I reflect on the journey so far, I’m reminded of how much has changed in the digital marketing world over the past decade and a half. From the early days of SEO to the rise of AI-powered search engines, it’s been a wild ride of learning, adapting, and growing.
As a business owner and marketer, I’ve learned a few key lessons along the way:
Adaptability: Whether it’s Google algorithm updates or the integration of AI, being able to pivot quickly is key to staying ahead.
Client Relationships Matter: No matter how advanced digital marketing becomes, the foundation of success is still built on strong relationships and understanding our clients’ unique needs.
Invest in People: Having a passionate and dedicated team makes all the difference. I couldn’t be more grateful for the people who have been part of our journey.
Thank you for your continued support, and here’s to another 15 years of innovation, collaboration, and success!
We’re always looking toward the future of digital marketing, and right now, AI and eCommerce are taking center stage. Some recent developments caught my eye, particularly the new AI-powered features in Google Search that could impact eCommerce and the way we market products online. Here are a few exciting updates:
Search with Video Using Google Lens: Now you can take a photo or video, ask Google what’s on your mind, and get instant answers. This is a game-changer for eCommerce sites and visual search, especially in industries like fashion and home decor.
AI-Enhanced Shopping with Google Lens: Shoppers can now search for products with just a photo, and Lens will display product information, reviews, and pricing across retailers. Shopping ads will also appear in these results, giving brands new opportunities to connect with consumers.
AI-Powered Ads in AIOs: Ads are now seamlessly integrated into AI Overviews, making it easier for marketers to target customers through AI-driven search results.
At Eminent SEO, we’re keeping a close eye on how these AI innovations will shape the future of search, especially for our eCommerce clients. The potential to boost engagement and increase conversions with these AI tools is huge!
New on the Blog:
New on the Blog: Elevate Your Marketing Strategy
We’ve also added some new blog posts to help guide your marketing efforts:
How to Map Out a Buyer’s Journey
Learn how to map out the buyer’s journey and enhance your marketing strategy with actionable steps from awareness to post-purchase.
How to Write a Mission Statement to Improve Your Marketing
In this post, we cover everything from the difference between a mission and a vision statement to specific tips for creating a mission statement that resonates with your audience.
As we look forward to the next chapter, we’re excited about the opportunities AI and new technologies bring to the digital marketing space. We’ll continue to evolve our strategies to ensure our clients stay ahead of the curve. Stay tuned for new services, more insights, and exciting projects!
Thank you again for being a part of our journey. Here’s to continued growth and success!
Warmly, Jenny Weatherall CEO & Founder, Eminent SEO
Eminent SEO provides strategic SEO campaigns with measurable results along with expert website design, development, pay per click, content and social media and organic website marketing. 800.871.4130.
Fifteen years ago, Chris and I embarked on a journey that would forever change the course of our careers and, hopefully, the futures of our clients. In 2009, we founded Eminent SEO with one clear mission:
To bring a higher standard of quality and ethics to digital marketing.
We envisioned a world where high-quality work, thoughtful strategy, and ethical marketing could elevate brands, create lasting impact, and deliver real, measurable results.
But the journey didn’t start there. Chris and I first crossed paths in 2005 at another agency, where we had the opportunity to work on some of the biggest websites in the world. During those formative years, we saw firsthand the value of strong digital strategies, but we also noticed gaps—gaps in quality, in client communication, and in the overall integrity of the work being done. That’s when we decided it was time to do things differently. And so, Eminent SEO was born.
Our journey has been full of challenges, growth, and learning, and through it all, we’ve stayed true to our commitment to delivering high-quality work, long-term results, and genuine partnerships.
5 Lessons We’ve Learned as Business Owners
Running a successful business for over 15 years has been a journey of constant learning, adaptation, and growth. Along the way, we’ve encountered countless challenges, but each one has taught us something valuable. From building strong relationships to staying flexible in an ever-changing industry, here are five key lessons that have shaped how we approach business and have guided Eminent SEO to where we are today.
1. Adaptability is Key
The digital marketing industry never stands still, and neither can we. From Google algorithm updates to the rise of AI and automation, we’ve seen countless shifts that required us to pivot quickly. Our success has come from always being ready to adjust when necessary—whether that means testing new tools, refining our strategies, or even overhauling an entire campaign to better meet the needs of our clients.
But it’s not just about keeping up with trends—it’s about staying ahead. We’re constantly learning, experimenting, and adapting to ensure that our clients stay competitive in an ever-changing landscape. The businesses that fail to adapt often get left behind, but those who are willing to evolve, like our clients, thrive in the long run.
2. Invest in Relationships, Not Just Transactions
We’ve learned that building long-term, trusting relationships with clients is more valuable than one-off projects. Over the years, we’ve seen the biggest growth with clients who view us as strategic partners rather than just service providers. These relationships allow us to collaborate more deeply, tailor strategies more effectively, and drive better results over time.
Some of our longest-standing clients started with small projects but, through mutual trust and consistent results, those partnerships grew into multi-year collaborations. By focusing on the relationship—not just the task—we’ve helped these clients achieve long-term growth and built a sense of loyalty that has kept us working together for years.
3. Surround Yourself with the Right Team
You can’t build something great alone. From day one, Chris and I understood that to achieve our vision, we needed to surround ourselves with talented, passionate people who share our values and commitment to quality. Over the years, we’ve built a team that isn’t just skilled but aligned with our core mission.
Each team member brings unique skills and perspectives, allowing us to tackle a variety of challenges, from complex SEO projects to innovative website designs. We’ve learned that hiring for culture fit is just as important as hiring for technical skill because a unified team works better together, especially when delivering high-stakes projects.
4. Balance the Big Picture with the Details
As business owners, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day tasks—especially when juggling multiple client projects, team management, and the ongoing evolution of digital marketing. But one of the biggest lessons we’ve learned is the importance of keeping the bigger picture in focus.
Our vision for the future, long-term goals, and staying in tune with industry trends have been the driving forces behind our steady growth. It’s the balance between ensuring that each detail is perfect and making sure it aligns with our larger vision that has allowed us to consistently deliver high-quality work without losing sight of where we’re headed.
5. Commitment to Quality Will Always Pay Off
We’ve never chased shortcuts or trendy tactics. Instead, we’ve focused on doing things the right way from the start, even when it takes more time or effort. This commitment to quality has been one of the key reasons for our success, and we’ve seen firsthand how it leads to long-term growth, loyal clients, and lasting success.
Over the years, we’ve seen businesses come and go—many of them failed because they focused on short-term wins rather than building a sustainable foundation. Our clients, on the other hand, have succeeded because they, like us, understood that investing in quality work is what creates the real ROI. Whether it’s through technical SEO, beautifully designed websites, or well-crafted content, we’ve seen time and again that quality always wins in the end.
5 Lessons We’ve Learned as SEOs
In the world of SEO, one thing is constant: change. Over the years, we’ve seen search engines evolve, algorithms shift, and new technologies emerge. Through it all, our focus has remained the same—delivering high-quality, user-centered content and strategies that stand the test of time. Here are five key lessons we’ve learned as SEO experts, lessons that have helped us navigate an ever-changing landscape and deliver lasting results for our clients.
1. Market to Users First, Google Second
The key to effective SEO has always been about putting the user experience at the forefront. While many have tried to outsmart search engines by focusing purely on keywords and algorithms, we’ve always focused on delivering value to the audience. Google’s ultimate goal is to rank the content that best answers a searcher’s query, so when we design our SEO strategies, we focus on creating the kind of content that users actually want and need. When you prioritize users, the rankings follow.
2. Quality Always Wins
Over the years, we’ve watched countless algorithm changes come and go, but the one constant is this: quality always wins. Whether it’s the content on your site or the user experience you provide, SEO success is rooted in delivering high-quality, relevant content that meets the needs of your audience. We’ve seen businesses chase quick wins, but those that focus on building a strong foundation of valuable content and ethical SEO are the ones that last.
3. Google’s Algorithms Change, But the Fundamentals Don’t
SEO is often seen as a fast-paced, unpredictable world where algorithms can change on a whim, but the fundamentals of good SEO have always remained the same. Google’s algorithms may get more sophisticated, but they continue to reward websites that offer relevance, authority, and trustworthiness. By focusing on building these pillars, we’ve helped clients weather the ups and downs of algorithm updates, ensuring that their websites remain resilient.
4. SEO is a Marathon, Not a Sprint
Many businesses expect SEO to deliver immediate results, but the truth is, it’s a long-term strategy. We’ve seen the companies that chase quick wins eventually lose out because they’re not thinking about sustainability. Real SEO success comes from consistent effort—ongoing content creation, technical optimization, and backlink building—over months and years. The clients who have trusted the process and stayed committed to long-term growth are the ones who are winning today.
5. Technical SEO is Non-Negotiable
While content is critical, we’ve learned that technical SEO is just as important for success. Proper site structure, fast loading speeds, mobile optimization, and accurate indexing are the foundation of every successful SEO strategy. Without addressing these technical aspects, even the best content can struggle to perform. By prioritizing the technical health of our clients’ websites, we ensure they’re not just visible but also competitive.
5 Lessons We’ve Learned About Longevity in Business
Building a business that thrives for over 15 years takes more than just talent—it requires adaptability, resilience, and a commitment to long-term thinking. We’ve seen companies come and go, and through it all, we’ve stayed focused on growth that lasts. Here are five key lessons we’ve learned about what it takes to build a business that stands the test of time.
1. Think Long-Term
One of the biggest lessons we’ve learned is that longevity requires patience. Many businesses focus on achieving quick wins, but we’ve always known that true success comes from thinking long-term. Whether it’s a marketing strategy, client relationships, or company growth, we make decisions based on sustained impact, not just immediate results. The businesses that chase short-term gains are often the first to fall, but those that invest in long-term growth, like our clients, are the ones still thriving today.
2. Stay Ahead of the Curve
The digital marketing industry is always evolving, and staying stagnant is not an option if you want your business to last. We’ve made it a priority to stay ahead of the curve—whether it’s adopting new technologies, understanding emerging trends, or refining our approach to SEO. Being proactive rather than reactive has allowed us to future-proof our business and keep our clients ahead of their competition.
3. Resilience is Essential
Running a business isn’t easy, and we’ve had our share of challenges over the years—economic downturns, algorithm updates, client shifts. But resilience is what has kept us moving forward. Every obstacle is an opportunity to adapt, learn, and grow. Staying resilient in the face of uncertainty has allowed us to keep pushing, even when times are tough, and to come out stronger on the other side.
4. Continual Improvement is the Key to Longevity
Complacency is the enemy of growth. We’ve learned that to stay relevant and successful, we have to be committed to continual improvement. Whether it’s enhancing our processes, refining our services, or investing in our team, we believe that ongoing evolution is essential to long-term success. That’s why we’re always looking for ways to be better—to deliver more for our clients and to stay at the forefront of our industry.
5. The Clients Who Invest in Their Future Succeed
We’ve seen a clear pattern over the years: the clients who invest in long-term strategies are the ones who achieve the most sustained success. Those who understand the value of building a strong foundation—whether it’s in their SEO, content, or marketing approach—are the ones who continue to grow, year after year. By helping our clients see the bigger picture and commit to their future, we’ve built lasting partnerships that continue to thrive.
Looking Ahead: The Future of Eminent SEO
As we reflect on the past 15 years, one thing is clear: we’re just getting started!
The digital marketing landscape continues to evolve, and we’re more excited than ever about the future. Emerging technologies, like AI and automation, are changing how businesses engage with their customers, and we plan to continue leading the way in helping our clients navigate this new frontier.
Our vision for the future is simple: keep building, keep innovating, and keep delivering results that matter. We’re committed to staying ahead of the curve, continuing to invest in our team and tools, and helping businesses—both big and small—achieve sustainable growth.
The next chapter for Eminent SEO will be one of innovation, collaboration, and expansion. We plan to deepen our expertise in key industries, explore new opportunities for growth, and continue creating strategies that not only work today but also stand the test of time.
At the end of the day, our mission remains the same as it was 15 years ago: helping businesses thrive online with integrity, quality, and long-term results.
Thank you for being part of our journey, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for Eminent SEO and the incredible clients we serve.
CEO, Business Consultant, Researcher and Marketing Strategist
Jenny Weatherall is the co-owner and CEO of Eminent SEO, a design and marketing agency founded in 2009. She has worked in the industry since 2005, when she fell in love with digital marketing… and her now husband and partner, Chris. Together they have 6 children and 3 granddaughters.
Jenny has a passion for learning and sharing what she learns. She has researched, written and published hundreds of articles on a wide variety of topics, including: SEO, design, marketing, ethics, business management, sustainability, inclusion, behavioral health, wellness and work-life balance.
A strong mission statement serves as the foundation for your brand. It tells the world who you are, what you do, and why you do it. Whether you’re a business looking to sharpen your messaging or you’re developing a mission statement for your marketing strategy, having a clear and concise mission is essential to success.
In this post, we’ll cover everything from the difference between a mission and a vision statement to specific tips for creating a mission statement that resonates with your audience.
Difference Between Vision and Mission
Before diving into writing your mission statement, it’s essential to understand the difference between a vision statement and a mission statement. Although often used interchangeably, they serve different purposes.
Mission Statement: Describes what your company does, who you do it for, and how you accomplish it. It focuses on the present, outlining your company’s purpose and core goals.
Vision Statement: Defines your long-term aspirations and what success looks like for your organization. It focuses on the future and serves as a guiding star for your business’s growth and impact.
For example, if your mission is to “provide affordable, high-quality digital marketing solutions to small businesses,” your vision might be “to become the go-to digital marketing agency for small businesses worldwide.”
Key takeaway:
Your mission is your company’s current purpose, while your vision is the aspirational future you’re working toward.
Vision and Mission Statement Examples
Here are some well-known examples of vision and mission statements to inspire you:
Nike
Mission: “To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.”
Vision: “To remain the most authentic, connected, and distinctive brand.”
Tesla
Mission: “To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.”
Vision: “To create the most compelling car company of the 21st century by driving the world’s transition to electric vehicles.”
Patagonia
Mission: “We’re in business to save our home planet.”
Vision: “A world where all companies prioritize environmental sustainability.”
As you can see, the mission statement explains what the company does right now, while the vision statement outlines the long-term impact the company wants to make.
Patagonia Brand Mission
How to Write a Mission Statement
Writing a mission statement doesn’t need to be overly complicated, but it does require thought and intention. A strong mission statement should clearly articulate your brand’s purpose, who you serve, and how you achieve your goals.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you craft the perfect mission statement:
1. Identify Your Purpose
Start by asking yourself: Why does your business exist? This should be a broad but clear answer. What is the core reason your company was founded, and what problem are you solving? Your mission should reflect this purpose.
2. Define Your Audience
Next, consider who your business serves. Who are your customers, and how do they benefit from your products or services? The more specific you are, the better your mission statement will resonate with the right audience.
3. Highlight What You Do
Now focus on what your business does. What products or services do you offer? What’s unique about your offerings? Be clear about what your company provides that makes it stand out from the competition.
4. Emphasize Your Values
What core values drive your business? Whether it’s innovation, customer-centricity, or sustainability, make sure your mission statement reflects your company’s key principles. These values should shine through in everything you do.
5. Keep It Concise
A good mission statement is short and to the point—ideally no more than 1-2 sentences. Avoid jargon and make sure it’s easy for anyone to understand.
6. Make It Action-Oriented
Use active language to describe what your company is doing to fulfill its mission. Verbs like empower, create, inspire, and deliver make your mission statement feel dynamic and purposeful.
Example Formula for a Mission Statement:
“We [what you do] for [your target audience] by [how you do it] because [your purpose].”
Example:
We create sustainable fashion for eco-conscious consumers by using ethically sourced materials because we believe in reducing our environmental impact.
How Your Mission Statement Impacts Your Marketing Strategy
Your mission statement isn’t just a statement of purpose; it’s a powerful marketing tool. When done right, it influences all aspects of your marketing efforts—from your brand identity to the content you create and how you engage with your audience.
1. Aligning Your Brand Voice and Messaging
Your mission statement acts as a North Star, guiding your brand voice and messaging across all marketing channels. Whether it’s your website, social media, or email campaigns, your message needs to align with the values and goals outlined in your mission. This consistency builds trust with your audience and ensures that your brand remains cohesive.
For example, if your mission statement emphasizes sustainability, your marketing materials should reflect that with eco-friendly messaging, green product highlights, and educational content on environmental topics.
2. Building Customer Loyalty Through Values-Based Marketing
Modern consumers don’t just buy products—they buy into the values behind the brand. Your mission statement gives you the foundation for values-based marketing, where you promote the beliefs and ideals that drive your company. This can be a powerful way to build long-term customer loyalty, especially if your values align with those of your target audience.
For instance, brands like Patagonia have successfully used their mission to foster a deep emotional connection with their customers by emphasizing environmental sustainability. You can use your mission to create similar connections with your audience, enhancing your overall marketing efforts.
How to Leverage Your Mission Statement in Content Marketing
Your mission statement should serve as the driving force behind your content marketing strategy. It’s not just about what you sell but about why your brand exists and how you can serve your audience.
1. Creating Content That Reflects Your Mission
If your mission is to educate and empower your customers, your content should do just that. Your blog posts, videos, and social media updates should all align with the core values and goals laid out in your mission statement. This creates a consistent narrative that resonates with your audience and builds trust over time.
For example, a company with a mission to simplify personal finance for young adults might create educational blog posts, explainer videos, and downloadable guides that break down complex financial topics in a way that’s easy to understand. Every piece of content reinforces their mission of empowerment through education.
2. Storytelling Through Your Mission
Your mission is a story—it’s about your brand’s journey, why you exist, and what you’re striving to achieve. Use your mission to tell stories in your content marketing. Whether it’s customer testimonials, case studies, or behind-the-scenes content, storytelling humanizes your brand and brings your mission to life.
Great stories also make your mission more relatable and memorable, which can set your content apart from competitors.
Using Your Mission Statement to Define Your Target Audience
A well-crafted mission statement isn’t just about your business; it’s about the customers you’re trying to serve. Understanding your audience’s needs, wants, and values is critical for writing a mission that resonates—and it’s also a powerful tool for shaping your marketing strategies.
1. Aligning Your Mission with Your Audience’s Values
Your mission statement can help you narrow down and focus on the audience that best aligns with your business. It defines not only what you offer but who benefits from it. Once you’ve identified your target audience through the mission statement, your marketing strategies can be designed to engage that specific group.
For example, if your mission focuses on making sustainable fashion accessible to all, you’ll want to tailor your marketing to an audience that values sustainability. You can use this insight to develop campaigns, choose the right platforms, and craft messages that resonate with eco-conscious consumers.
2. Developing Buyer Personas Based on Your Mission
Once your mission is clear, you can build detailed buyer personas that represent your ideal customers. This allows you to target your marketing more effectively. Buyer personas should include demographic information, pain points, motivations, and how your brand addresses their specific needs.
Using your mission statement to develop these personas ensures that every marketing decision—whether it’s a social media ad or a blog post—speaks directly to the audience most aligned with your brand’s goals and values.
Integrating Your Mission Into Your Marketing Campaigns
Your mission statement shouldn’t be a static piece of text that’s buried on your About Us page—it should be an integral part of your marketing campaigns. Here’s how you can bring your mission to life through targeted campaigns:
1. Mission-Driven Social Media Campaigns
Use your mission statement to guide your social media content. Share stories that reflect your core values, create campaigns around important causes, and use your platforms to engage with your audience in a meaningful way. When your followers see that your brand stands for something they care about, they’re more likely to engage, share, and even become loyal customers.
2. Product Launches Aligned with Your Mission
If your mission is centered on innovation or problem-solving, every product you launch should be seen through that lens. For example, a company whose mission is to make technology more accessible to underprivileged communities can tie new product launches to that goal by offering special discounts or even donating products to underserved areas.
Promote these efforts in your marketing materials—this strengthens your brand’s connection with its mission and reinforces it to your audience.
Tips for Using Your Mission Statement in Email Marketing
Email marketing offers a direct channel to communicate with your audience, and integrating your mission into your emails can increase engagement.
1. Reinforce Your Mission in Welcome Emails
Your welcome email is the first impression you make on new subscribers. Including your mission statement in these emails is a great way to introduce your brand’s values from the start. Let your audience know why your company exists and how you can help them.
2. Mission-Driven Calls to Action (CTAs)
Every email should have a clear CTA, and when tied to your mission, it can be even more impactful. For example, if your mission is focused on helping small businesses grow, include a CTA that drives readers to an educational resource or a free consultation. The more your CTA aligns with your mission, the more trust you build.
Creating a Mission-Driven Marketing Funnel
A marketing funnel is the process that leads potential customers from awareness to conversion. Integrating your mission statement into each stage of the funnel can enhance your relationship with prospects and build loyalty over time.
1. Awareness Stage: Mission-Focused Content
In the awareness stage, focus on educating your audience about your mission and what sets your company apart. Use blog posts, social media, and videos to share your brand’s story and values.
2. Consideration Stage: Mission-Driven Offers
At this stage, potential customers are comparing their options. Reinforce your mission by offering lead magnets that align with your values, such as a free resource or consultation tied to your brand’s purpose.
3. Conversion Stage: Mission-Based Decision
When a prospect is ready to make a decision, they should already feel connected to your mission. Ensure your messaging at this stage reflects how your product or service will help them achieve their goals in line with your mission.
Putting Your Mission Statement to Work: Driving Marketing Success
Your mission statement is more than just a guiding principle—it’s a key element of your marketing strategy. By clearly defining your purpose, aligning it with your target audience, and integrating it into your content, campaigns, and communications, you can build a brand that stands out and resonates with your customers.
At Eminent SEO, we don’t just help you create a mission statement. We help you turn that mission into a comprehensive marketing strategy that drives results. If you’re ready to develop a mission-driven marketing plan that works, contact us today and let’s get started.
CEO, Business Consultant, Researcher and Marketing Strategist
Jenny Weatherall is the co-owner and CEO of Eminent SEO, a design and marketing agency founded in 2009. She has worked in the industry since 2005, when she fell in love with digital marketing… and her now husband and partner, Chris. Together they have 6 children and 3 granddaughters.
Jenny has a passion for learning and sharing what she learns. She has researched, written and published hundreds of articles on a wide variety of topics, including: SEO, design, marketing, ethics, business management, sustainability, inclusion, behavioral health, wellness and work-life balance.
In today’s competitive digital markets, businesses need to learn to evolve and adapt or risk facing extinction. Agility is not just a buzzword in today’s business ecosystem – it’s an absolute necessity.
In short, your willingness to become more agile can mean the success or failure of your marketing efforts.
So, what is agility in the business world? Agility involves quick evolution to dynamic trends, rapid responses to the needs of audiences, and the efficient use of business resources.
Why Your Team Needs to Be Agile
As today’s market continues to change, it’s important for us to evolve and adapt to these circumstances. By leveraging agile marketing strategies, your team can revamp strategies using real-time data and feedback.
Staying agile means you’ll make sure your marketing techniques stay effective and change with the times. In fact, you’ll find that enterprises that use agile marketing techniques are generally more successful in meeting changing demands. Plus, businesses that embrace agility are also empowered to try out new theories and ideas, as well as benefit from take-home lessons learned from experimenting.
You might be familiar with the saying “evolve or die” – while not quite life or death for you, it definitely is for your business.
Businesses that are not willing to change or embrace agile practices will be left behind, and to avoid falling into obscurity, it is critical to actively implement and refine plans to stay agile.
So, how do you do it?
Understanding The Concept Behind Agile Marketing
Agile marketing originates from the theory of agile software development, which places a pretty strict emphasis on collaboration, flexibility, and rapid iteration.
While businesses have historically created long-term, rigid business planning strategies, agile methods seek to pivot towards short-term cycles or sprints. If you focus on working through a shorter period of time, you can look at the results of their work and adjust accordingly.
By breaking down strategy into sprints, your business can try out new ideas and implement an iterative approach to marketing strategies. More short-term planning frees up flexibility for businesses to create marketing strategies that align with changing customer preferences and market circumstances.
Businesses that have more long-term, bureaucratic marketing strategies cannot be adaptive to their consumers’ needs, thereby threatening their long-term goals.
Placing The Emphasis on Data
Data is an important tool used by digital marketing agencies to provide key insights into customer behaviors and other critical market circumstances. By leveraging data to assess progress and responses to digital marketing strategies at each sprint, you can tailor your techniques accordingly.
With continuous data monitoring abilities, you can get insights into customer feedback, conversion rates, and engagement rates, allowing them to quickly understand what is working and the strategies that need to go.
With real-time data at their fingertips, marketers can easily adjust to their audiences and optimize the success of their digital marketing campaigns.
Strength in Iteration
Just like muscle gets stronger with each physical repetition, marketing campaigns are fortified through action and feedback. This repetition gives businesses the power to test out new ideas and strategies, as they do not have to wait until the end of the year or even the quarter to evaluate results and outcomes.
Because agile marketing encourages many reviews and check-ins, you can immediately address problems that come up and double down on solutions that are working.
As repetition allows you to continuously refine and adapt your digital marketing strategies, you can transform their business strategy one step at a time without dislodging business operations and suddenly upending existing processes.
This adaptation of digital marketing strategy allows you to implement new strategies that are in line with changing trends of the market over time, avoiding the challenges of volatility.
How Agility Is Key to Business Growth
Agility is not just a strategy that can help create profits and business success; it’s a technique that must be embraced to continue to exist in today’s competitive digital landscape.
Setting up arbitrary deadlines or looking over employees’ shoulders to ensure individual tasks are done is a strategy of the past. Agility involves focusing on outcomes, with leaders focusing on interpreting data that is directly linked to overall business objectives.
Businesses that adopt agile marketing strategies have a particular competitive edge. This is because they are always ready to take on new opportunities that arise and quickly respond to challenges, taking them to the top of the totem pole.
By actively monitoring the markets and consumer behaviors to understand where particular financial opportunities can be taken advantage of, you can use real-time insight to act quickly and seize the moment.
Matching Business Objectives with Marketing Strategies
Traditional marketing is commonly defined as a misalignment between business objectives and marketing strategies. Through agile marketing efforts, marketing efforts can be closely matched up with your overall business goals. By ensuring that marketing strategies involve business objectives and vice versa, you can work to understand your role in the market and boost the success of your marketing efforts.
Whether you’re looking to implement short or long-term goals, marketing efforts can mirror these objectives. Initiatives may include greater amounts of sales, a boost in brand awareness, or greater customer retention.
Agile marketing efforts allow for transparency between departments, strengthening communication and understanding across your organization.
Putting Out Fires Before They Start
Marketing challenges are unfortunately bound to arise for any business in the realm of digital marketing. Whether sales suddenly plummet, a new competitor is introduced into the market, or a PR crisis arises, agile marketing strategies give businesses the tools they need to solve critical issues and bounce back quickly.
By being ready to adapt to upcoming challenges, agile marketing teams can turn difficult challenges into critical opportunities for business growth.
Capitalizing on New Opportunities
If you’re anticipating opportunities that may arise, your agile marketing team can take advantage of these emerging ventures.
Whether a new platform is on the rise, consumers suddenly shift their behavior, or a certain topic is trending on social media, your team can work to quickly tailor marketing strategies to these new changes. You’ll stay far ahead of competitors and push growth to new heights.
Advantages of an Agile Digital Marketing Agency
Eminent SEO is proud to be a leading partner in digital marketing. We work closely with businesses like yours to help you gain a competitive advantage through agile marketing practices.
By working with an agile digital marketing agency like Eminent SEO, your business can reap the following benefits:
Efficiency – By testing and improving your marketing campaigns continuously, agile agencies can ensure that your resource usage is optimized, ultimately driving up your ROI.
Innovation – Innovation and agility go hand in hand. Businesses with employees who think on their feet are more prone to transparency and creative solutions that can be leveraged to address marketing challenges and seize opportunities in the financial markets.
Flexibility– An agile marketing agency can help your business get rid of rigid and bureaucratic habits, turning it into a flexible agency that can quickly respond to challenges that may arise. An agency can also help you adapt to market behaviors and emerging trends.
Adopting agile methods can be difficult, and it’s an ongoing process. That’s why it’s generally encouraged to work with an experienced agile digital marketing agency.
Eminent SEO can help you understand the newest learnings and techniques in agile theory, helping your business implement a tailored plan to meet your business objectives. Learn more about how.
Keeping Ahead of The Curve
Flexibility is one of the key advantages of working with an agile digital marketing agency. As trends are constantly changing, it is critical to stay flexible as a business.
An agile agency can rapidly tailor existing techniques to keep on top of the trend curve, making sure that your marketing techniques stay both effective and relevant.
Agile agencies stand out from their rigid competitors by having the ability to quickly adapt to emerging technologies and trends.
Using Resources Wisely
Agile marketing offers the advantage of efficiency, helping you spend your marketing dollars wisely. By carrying out continuous testing, data analysis, and optimizing marketing campaigns accordingly, you can use resources effectively.
Optimizing your resource utilization yields better ROI, as resources are put towards the techniques and strategies that proved to be most effective.
Efficient use of resources is also beneficial to executives and other investors, as it avoids unnecessary wasting of critical capital. Agile strategies ensure that marketing budgets are optimized to minimize waste and fund existing proven successful initiatives.
An agile digital marketing firm can support your business by efficiently crafting and updating your marketing budgets.
Driving Innovation and Creativity
Agile marketing opens a world of creativity and innovation.
As teams are encouraged to try out new approaches and ideas, agile marketing allows for new, groundbreaking initiatives to be created and flourish. A culture of creativity not only helps boost marketing success but also encourages ongoing engagement and employee satisfaction.
As an agile agency that is always looking to engage with audiences in creative, innovative ways, Eminent can help grow businesses at an unprecedented and unexpected rate.
Our agile digital marketing agency can continue to understand emerging trends in the market and encourage businesses and their teams to develop and implement new ideas to address these emerging opportunities and challenges.
Agile Marketing Examples
Now more than ever, businesses are embracing agile strategies, which allow them to adapt to the times and optimize their business success.
Case in point: many businesses transformed to an agile framework during the COVID-19 pandemic, as such conditions changed markets dramatically, moving efforts into the digital ecosystem.
Such adaptation not only allowed businesses to continue but also strengthened existing customer relationships.
Case Study: Starbucks
Starbucks is well known for being on top of marketing trends and solutions and adapting its business strategies accordingly. After taking note of increasing consumer preferences for mobile payments and online orders, they developed an application to centralize and customize the order experience and rewards program. The company’s mobile order and pay feature allows customers to redeem rewards and receive personalized offers.
To understand the success of the mobile pay and order feature, Starbucks uses multiple KPIs to measure and analyze operational efficiency. Starbucks marketing teams consider key metrics such as order accuracy rate, order processing time, queue length reduction, customer satisfaction score, and customer adoption rate. By having these critical metrics at their fingertips, the marketing team can adapt their strategies accordingly to optimize service.
Customer loyalty and engagement with the Starbucks brand are high due to the agile marketing efforts that have been implemented over the years. As Starbucks offers a feedback mechanism for customers to give ratings and comments about their orders in the application, they can quickly address any patient concerns and refine their services accordingly.
The company’s app continues to use designs and features that reflect current trends and innovations in mobile technology. This helps to garner support for the business model and reach a wide variety of customers.
Case Study: Nike
Nike is world-renowned not only for their excellent sneakers and sports apparel but also for their strong branding and messaging.
Nike, like most other businesses and enterprises, faced serious challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic because the ability to purchase shoes in stores was effectively removed during lockdown. After understanding that most transactions and social interactions were moving to the online sphere, they moved quickly to dominate the digital experience.
Nike moved rapidly to place its focus on digital channels, building out more robust e-commerce capabilities and reaching out to customers through innovative digital content. By quickly responding to the sudden online reality that the pandemic brought on, Nike was able to keep their sales consistently high and expand their branding and messaging during a volatile period.
Evolve or Die: Agility Is Integral to Survival
The phrase “evolve or die” summarizes how crucial it is for businesses to adapt and use an agile marketing strategy.
Businesses that are willing to change and evolve are the ones that continue to have strong business outcomes. Across industries, the companies that are hesitant to change and adapt typically become obscure and fade out. By embracing agile measures, businesses are declaring a commitment to a creative and innovative mindset.
Successfully Implement Agile Marketing Strategies to Drive Business Growth
Working with an agile digital marketing firm positions your business in a strategic place among online competitors.
Partnering with an agile firm like Eminent SEO means you can refine your business goals and objectives, ensuring your marketing efforts are aligned optimally with your overall business vision. You can leverage real-time data and feedback to create adaptive and innovative solutions, encouraging employee engagement and enthusiasm.
CEO, Business Consultant, Researcher and Marketing Strategist
Jenny Weatherall is the co-owner and CEO of Eminent SEO, a design and marketing agency founded in 2009. She has worked in the industry since 2005, when she fell in love with digital marketing… and her now husband and partner, Chris. Together they have 6 children and 3 granddaughters.
Jenny has a passion for learning and sharing what she learns. She has researched, written and published hundreds of articles on a wide variety of topics, including: SEO, design, marketing, ethics, business management, sustainability, inclusion, behavioral health, wellness and work-life balance.
With nearly two decades of experience in the ever-evolving field of SEO and digital marketing, I’ve seen firsthand how integral a well-defined brand tone and voice is to the success of any marketing campaign.
In today’s crowded digital marketplace, standing out is more challenging than ever. It’s not just about what you say, but how you say it. This is where defining your brand tone and voice becomes crucial. It’s the secret sauce that connects your brand with your audience on a deeper level, builds trust, and drives engagement.
But what exactly are brand tone and voice, and why are they so important?
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Social Media Evolution: Learn about the shift towards micro-influencers and authentic engagement strategies that foster genuine connections with your community.
Inclusivity & Diversity: Understand the importance of building inclusive and diverse marketing strategies to cultivate stronger, more loyal customer relationships.
Data Privacy Prioritization: Explore the significance of transparent data privacy practices in maintaining trust and credibility with your audience.
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SEO Update: Google completed the June 2024 spam update, targeting policy-violating websites. As search quality improves, search rankings may fluctuate. Read More ->
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Thank you for being a part of our digital journey. Let’s innovate, inspire, and elevate together.
Until next time, Jenny Weatherall
CEO, Eminent SEO
From Our Blog
A Guide to Defining Your Brand Tone for Improved Marketing Campaigns
Defining your brand tone and voice is crucial. It’s the secret sauce that connects your brand with your audience on a deeper level, builds trust, and drives engagement.
Incredible MidJourney Prompts That Will Blow Your Mind
Hesitant to dip your toes into the waters of AI art and image generation because you lack coding skills or artistic knowledge? Turns out all you really need is an imagination and a keyboard.
How Google Measures Search Quality – Interview With Elizabeth Tucker
Elizabeth Tucker, Director, Product Management at Google Search was a guest on Google’s Search Off the Record podcast where Lizzi Sassman and John Mueller of Google asked her about search quality, how Google measures it, and so much more.
Definition: Manipulation techniques that violate search engines Terms of Service. Generally search engine spam techniques are designed to achieve higher rankings for a web page and could be grounds for a penalization, de-indexing or banning. Spam also refers to other marketing techniques, such as unwarranted sales email or irrelevant comments on a blog that contain a link or even gibberish.
Your brand is so much more than your logo and company name. Your brand is your visual identification with the world. It’s your opportunity to emotionally connect with your audience. Your brand represents your personality and vision. Therefore, before you can even begin designing a logo you must first develop your brand strategy.
To Learn more about our Brand Strategy services, click below.
Eminent SEO provides strategic SEO campaigns with measurable results along with expert website design, development, pay per click, content and social media and organic website marketing. 800.871.4130.
With nearly two decades of experience in the ever-evolving field of SEO and digital marketing, I’ve seen firsthand how integral a well-defined brand tone and voice is to the success of any marketing campaign.
In today’s crowded digital marketplace, standing out is more challenging than ever. It’s not just about what you say, but how you say it. This is where defining your brand tone and voice becomes crucial. It’s the secret sauce that connects your brand with your audience on a deeper level, builds trust, and drives engagement.
But what exactly are brand tone and voice, and why are they so important?
To start, let's break down the concepts. Your brand voice is the unique personality that your brand takes on in its communications. It's consistent across all channels and remains unchanged regardless of the context or audience. Think of it as the 'who' behind your communication—the persona that speaks through your marketing materials.
On the other hand, your brand tone can vary depending on the situation and the medium. It's the emotional inflection applied to your voice. For example, the tone may be more formal in a business proposal but casual and friendly on social media.
The Importance of Defining Your Brand Tone and Voice
Defining these elements is not just a creative exercise; it's a strategic imperative.
Here’s why:
Consistency in Communication
A defined brand tone and voice ensure that your messaging is consistent across all touchpoints, from your website copy to social media posts. This consistency helps in building a recognizable and reliable brand.
Building Trust and Recognition
When your audience recognizes your brand's voice and tone, it fosters a sense of familiarity and trust. They know what to expect from you, which enhances brand loyalty.
Enhancing Customer Engagement
A well-defined tone and voice can make your content more relatable and engaging. It helps in striking the right chord with your audience, making your messages more impactful.
In this post, we take a deeper look into how you can define your brand tone and voice, and explore the profound impact this has on your marketing campaigns. We'll also look at real-world examples and provide practical tips to maintain consistency.
Ready?
Steps to Define Your Brand Tone and Voice
Before embarking on the path of defining your brand's tone and voice, it's imperative to ground yourself in the essence of your company's mission and vision. Just as a compass guides a traveler through uncharted territories, your mission statement serves as the guiding beacon for shaping a brand voice that resonates authentically with your audience.
To cultivate a brand voice that truly speaks to your audience, consider these foundational steps:
Start with Your Company's Mission
Your brand's mission serves as the compass guiding your communication, shaping the essence of your brand voice. By anchoring your messaging in the core values and purpose outlined in your mission statement, you establish a clear foundation for crafting a resonant and authentic brand voice.
Use Your Company's Mission
When defining your brand voice, your company's mission or value statement acts as the North Star, illuminating the path towards creating a voice that aligns seamlessly with your brand's identity. Let's delve into a hypothetical scenario to illustrate this concept:
For instance, imagine a company "InnovateX" with the following mission:
"Empowering innovation through technology while fostering inclusivity and sustainability."
In crafting their brand voice, InnovateX would channel these values into their communication to resonate with their audience effectively.
Here's how they might approach it:
Inclusivity: Their brand voice would embrace diversity and empathy, ensuring every message is inclusive and welcoming.
Sustainability: Sustainability would permeate their content, advocating for environmentally conscious practices and solutions.
Innovation: A tone of creativity and forward-thinking would infuse their messaging, reflecting their commitment to cutting-edge technology.
By embodying these values in their brand voice, InnovateX creates a cohesive and compelling narrative that not only reflects their mission but also resonates with their audience on a deeper level.
As you embark on defining your own brand voice, consider how your company's mission can shape the tone, style, and messaging of your communication strategy. Let your core values guide the way, infusing every interaction with authenticity and purpose. If you'd like further guidance on refining your brand voice in alignment with your mission, feel free to share your thoughts, and let's tailor our strategies to elevate your brand communication journey.
Draw Inspiration from Buyer Personas
Drawing inspiration from your buyer personas is a pivotal step in shaping a brand voice that resonates deeply with your target audience. By immersing yourself in the needs, preferences, and communication styles of your ideal customers, you can tailor your messaging to establish meaningful connections and drive engagement.
Incorporating Insights from Buyer Personas
When refining your brand voice, consider the following approach to infuse insights from your buyer personas into your communication strategy:
Understanding Your Audience:
Develop detailed buyer personas based on demographic data, behavior patterns, and psychographic information.
Identify common pain points, aspirations, and communication preferences of your target audience segments.
Crafting Messages that Resonate:
Tailor your brand voice to address the specific needs and challenges of each buyer persona.
Use language, tone, and messaging styles that align with the preferences of different audience segments.
Creating Personalized Experiences:
Segment your communication strategies to deliver personalized experiences that speak directly to the interests of each buyer persona.
Leverage insights from buyer personas to craft compelling narratives that resonate deeply with your audience.
By integrating insights from your buyer personas into your brand voice, you can create a communication strategy that not only speaks to your audience but also establishes a sense of connection and understanding. This personalized approach enhances engagement, drives conversions, and fosters long-term loyalty among your customers.
Analyze Best-Performing Content
Analyzing your best-performing content unveils valuable insights that can shape and refine your brand voice effectively. By dissecting the patterns and elements that resonate with your audience, you gain a deeper understanding of what engages them most, facilitating strategic adjustments to enhance your brand communication.
Unveiling Insights from Best-Performing Content
When delving into the analysis of your top-performing content, consider the following steps to guide your brand voice refinement:
Identifying Engaging Elements:
Look for common themes, topics, or storytelling techniques that have garnered high levels of engagement.
Pay attention to language styles, visuals, and calls-to-action that have proven to be effective in capturing your audience's interest.
Evaluating Audience Response:
Analyze metrics such as click-through rates, social shares, and comments to gauge audience response to different aspects of your content.
Identify trends in audience behavior and sentiment to tailor your brand voice to better resonate with their preferences.
Refining Your Communication Strategy:
Use insights from your best-performing content to inform future messaging strategies and content creation.
Experiment with incorporating successful elements into new campaigns while staying true to your brand's unique voice and identity.
By leveraging the data and insights gleaned from your top-performing content, you can fine-tune your brand voice to speak directly to your audience's interests and preferences. This iterative process of analysis and refinement ensures that your brand communication remains dynamic, engaging, and aligned with the evolving needs of your target audience.
Create Do's and Don'ts
Establishing clear guidelines for your brand voice through a list of do's and don'ts is essential for maintaining consistency, authenticity, and resonance with your target audience. By outlining these guidelines, you ensure that every communication reflects your brand's mission and values, fostering a cohesive and impactful brand voice.
Defining Do's and Don'ts for Your Brand Voice
When creating a set of guidelines for your brand voice, consider the following approach to articulate do's and don'ts that align with your brand's mission and resonate with your audience:
Do's:
Consistency: Maintain a consistent tone and style across all communication channels to reinforce brand identity.
Authenticity: Speak in a genuine and honest manner that reflects your brand's values and resonates with your audience.
Clarity: Ensure your messaging is clear, concise, and easy to understand to effectively communicate with your audience.
Empathy: Show empathy towards your audience's needs and concerns, demonstrating understanding and care in your messaging.
Innovation: Embrace creativity and innovation in your brand voice to differentiate yourself and captivate your audience.
Don'ts:
Avoid Jargon: Steer clear of industry-specific jargon or complex language that may alienate or confuse your audience.
Over-Promotion: Refrain from overly promotional content and focus on providing value and building relationships with your audience.
Contradicting Values: Ensure your messaging aligns with your brand's core values and avoid conflicting messages that may dilute your brand identity.
Insensitive Language: Be mindful of the impact of your words and avoid language that may be perceived as insensitive or offensive.
Lack of Authenticity: Strive to be authentic and transparent in your communication, avoiding superficial or inauthentic messaging.
By establishing clear do's and don'ts for your brand voice, you create guardrails that guide your communication strategy, ensuring that every message resonates authentically with your audience while staying true to your brand's mission and values. If you need assistance in defining specific guidelines tailored to your brand or further insights on refining your brand voice strategy, feel free to share, and let's continue shaping your brand communication journey together.
Leverage Third-Party Expertise
In the pursuit of refining your brand voice strategy to align seamlessly with your mission and objectives, leveraging third-party expertise can offer valuable insights and guidance. Collaborating with a specialized agency can provide a fresh perspective, strategic recommendations, and professional support to fine-tune your brand voice for optimal impact and resonance.
Unlocking the Power of Third-Party Expertise
When considering the involvement of a third-party agency to enhance your brand voice strategy, here's how you can harness their expertise effectively:
Identifying Strategic Partners:
Research and identify reputable agencies that specialize in brand strategy, communication, and voice development.
Look for partners with a proven track record of success in aligning brand messaging with mission and values.
Collaborative Strategy Sessions:
Engage in collaborative workshops or consultations with the agency to articulate your brand's mission, values, and communication goals.
Work together to define key characteristics, tone, and messaging styles that resonate with your target audience.
Feedback and Iteration:
Seek feedback from the agency on your existing brand voice strategy, content, and messaging to identify areas for improvement.
Implement iterative changes based on the agency's insights and recommendations to strengthen your brand voice.
Measuring Success:
Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) in collaboration with the agency to measure the effectiveness of your refined brand voice strategy.
Monitor metrics such as audience engagement, brand perception, and conversion rates to gauge the impact of the updated brand voice.
By enlisting the support of a third-party agency, you can benefit from their expertise, strategic guidance, and industry knowledge to elevate your brand voice strategy. This collaborative approach ensures that your brand messaging remains aligned with your mission and resonates authentically with your audience, driving meaningful connections and fostering brand loyalty.
Develop a Comprehensive Communications Document
Developing a centralized communications document is pivotal in maintaining consistency across all brand touchpoints, reinforcing your brand voice, and ensuring coherence in your messaging. By creating a structured guide that encapsulates your brand's tone, style, and key messaging principles, you establish a framework for cohesive communication that resonates with your audience.
Creating a Comprehensive Communications Document
When crafting a comprehensive communications document to uphold your brand voice and messaging coherence, consider the following steps to streamline your communication strategy:
Brand Voice Guidelines:
Define your brand voice attributes, including tone, personality traits, and language preferences.
Provide examples and explanations to illustrate how these attributes manifest in different types of content.
Messaging Strategy:
Outline key brand messages, value propositions, and positioning statements to guide consistent storytelling.
Include guidelines on tailoring messages for specific audience segments or communication channels.
Style and Formatting Standards:
Establish standards for visual elements, typography, color schemes, and design components that reflect your brand identity.
Ensure consistency in formatting across various communication materials, including digital and print assets.
Channel-Specific Recommendations:
Tailor communication guidelines for different platforms, such as social media, email, website content, and advertising.
Provide best practices for adapting your brand voice to suit the nuances of each channel while maintaining overall coherence.
Revision and Approval Processes:
Define workflows for content creation, review, and approval to maintain quality control and adherence to brand guidelines.
Include mechanisms for feedback, iteration, and continuous improvement of communication strategies.
When you consolidate these elements into a centralized communications document, you equip your team with a comprehensive guide that fosters alignment, clarity, and consistency in all brand communications. This document serves as a beacon for reinforcing your brand voice, enhancing message coherence, and building a strong foundation for impactful storytelling across diverse touchpoints.
By anchoring your brand voice in the core values and mission of your company, you pave the way for authentic, impactful communication that fosters lasting connections with your audience. Should you require further guidance on refining your brand voice or exploring additional strategies, feel free to share your specific requirements, and let's elevate your brand communication together.
Well-known Brand Case Studies and Examples
Let's look at some brands that have successfully defined their tone and voice:
Mailchimp
Mailchimp, the email marketing platform, has crafted a brand voice that exudes friendliness, approachability, and a touch of quirkiness. This distinct tone is maintained consistently across all customer touchpoints, from their engaging website content to the witty emails they send out. Even in error messages or technical communications, Mailchimp manages to infuse a sense of personality and warmth. This dedication to maintaining a unified voice has not only resonated with users but has also played a pivotal role in establishing Mailchimp as a strong, recognizable brand in the competitive digital marketing landscape.
Nike
Nike, the athletic apparel giant, embodies a brand voice that is deeply rooted in inspiration and motivation. Their messaging reflects the core value of encouraging individuals to push beyond their limits and strive for greatness. While Nike's tone can vary depending on the context, from being empowering and aspirational in their ads to being straightforward and informative in their product descriptions, it always remains aligned with the brand's overarching personality. This consistency in voice not only amplifies Nike's brand identity but also fosters a powerful connection with athletes and enthusiasts worldwide, driving them to achieve their full potential.
Old Spice
Old Spice is a great example of a brand that successfully reinvented its tone and voice to reach a new audience. Traditionally seen as an old-fashioned brand, Old Spice launched a campaign in 2010 featuring humorous and over-the-top commercials with actor Isaiah Mustafa. The brand adopted a confident, witty, and slightly absurd tone that resonated with a younger audience. This change in brand voice resulted in a significant increase in sales and social media engagement.
Innocent Drinks
Innocent Drinks has built a strong brand identity through a friendly, playful, and conversational tone. Their product labels, social media posts, and website content all reflect this consistent voice. For instance, their smoothie bottles often have quirky messages and fun facts, making the brand feel approachable and human. This consistent tone has helped Innocent Drinks build a loyal customer base who feels a personal connection to the brand.
Wendy's
Wendy's is known for its bold and sassy tone on social media, especially on Twitter. The brand's voice is unapologetically confident and witty, often engaging in humorous banter with competitors and customers alike. This distinct tone has not only garnered a massive following but also created numerous viral moments, showcasing the power of a unique and memorable brand voice.
Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson's brand voice is rugged, rebellious, and empowering, mirroring the values and lifestyle of its target audience—motorcycle enthusiasts. Their marketing campaigns, from print ads to social media posts, consistently evoke a sense of freedom and adventure. This strong, consistent voice has been instrumental in building a passionate and loyal community around the brand.
Slack
Slack, the team collaboration tool, uses a straightforward, clear, and friendly tone in all its communications. Whether it's onboarding tutorials, customer support interactions, or marketing materials, Slack ensures that its voice is helpful and approachable. This consistency helps users feel comfortable and supported while using the platform, enhancing overall user experience and satisfaction.
Apple
Apple's brand voice is distinctive for its simplicity, elegance, and forward-thinking attitude. The company's marketing materials focus on minimalistic design and clear, concise messaging that emphasizes innovation and user experience. Apple's consistent tone across all channels—from product launches to customer service—reinforces its brand identity as a leader in technological innovation.
Dollar Shave Club
Dollar Shave Club disrupted the shaving industry with a humorous and irreverent tone. Their famous launch video, which went viral, introduced their brand voice with lines like "Our blades are f***ing great." This bold and cheeky tone continued across their website, emails, and social media, appealing to a younger audience tired of traditional, serious grooming advertisements.
Maintaining a consistent brand voice and tone is essential for building a strong, recognizable brand identity. Consistency ensures that your audience knows what to expect from your communications, fostering trust and loyalty.
Here are some practical tips to help you achieve and maintain consistency in your brand messaging:
Regular Training for Your Team
Ensure that everyone involved in content creation understands and applies the brand voice and tone guidelines. Regular training sessions can help keep everyone aligned and up-to-date with any changes.
Workshops and Seminars: Organize workshops and seminars to educate your team about the importance of brand voice and tone.
Onboarding Materials: Include detailed guidelines in onboarding materials for new hires to ensure they start off on the right foot.
Ongoing Education: Provide continuous learning opportunities through webinars, e-learning modules, and refresher courses.
Periodic Reviews and Updates
As your brand evolves, so should your tone and voice. Periodically review and update your guidelines to reflect any changes in your brand strategy or market positioning.
Quarterly Reviews: Schedule regular reviews to assess if the current tone and voice still align with your brand's values and goals.
Feedback Loops: Gather feedback from your team and audience to identify areas for improvement.
Documentation Updates: Ensure that any changes are promptly documented and communicated to all relevant team members.
Use of Tools and Templates
Utilize tools like style guides and content templates to help maintain consistency across different types of content and platforms.
Style Guides: Develop comprehensive style guides that outline your brand's voice, tone, and writing guidelines. Include examples and scenarios to illustrate proper application.
Content Templates: Create templates for various content types (blogs, social media posts, emails) to ensure uniformity in structure and style.
Content Management Systems (CMS): Use a CMS with built-in style and tone checkers to automatically ensure compliance with your guidelines.
Centralized Content Repository
Maintain a centralized repository where all brand guidelines, templates, and example content are stored and easily accessible to your team.
Digital Asset Library: Host a digital library on your company’s server or better yet a shared drive or online asset management tool, like Dropbox, where all resources can be found.
Version Control: Implement version control to track changes and updates to guidelines and templates.
Consistent Branding Across All Channels
Consistency should extend beyond written content to every touchpoint where your brand interacts with the audience.
Visual Elements: Ensure visual elements like logos, colors, and fonts are used consistently across all platforms.
Customer Interactions: Train customer service representatives to embody the brand’s voice and tone in their interactions with customers.
Cross-Channel Alignment: Align messaging across different channels (website, social media, email) so that your audience has a seamless experience.
Your Brand Voice is the Heartbeat of Your Identity
In the dynamic realm of digital marketing, defining your brand tone and voice is akin to composing a symphony—a harmonious blend of consistency, trust-building notes, and resonant connections with your audience. As the marketing landscape evolves and expands, dedicating time to refine and solidify your brand voice isn't just a strategic move; it's an investment that yields dividends for years to come.
We love helping other businesses define their brand and can help with everything from logo design to content marketing. With decades of experience we have helped hundreds of businesses develop and bring their brands to the marketplace.
Are you looking for help developing your brand identity?
CEO, Business Consultant, Researcher and Marketing Strategist
Jenny Weatherall is the co-owner and CEO of Eminent SEO, a design and marketing agency founded in 2009. She has worked in the industry since 2005, when she fell in love with digital marketing… and her now husband and partner, Chris. Together they have 6 children and 3 granddaughters.
Jenny has a passion for learning and sharing what she learns. She has researched, written and published hundreds of articles on a wide variety of topics, including: SEO, design, marketing, ethics, business management, sustainability, inclusion, behavioral health, wellness and work-life balance.
In today’s fast-moving digital marketplaces, consumers are inundated with marketing messages from every possible direction. The prevalence of in-stream, in-feed, dynamic advertising can make the idea of an “old school” e-mail marketing campaign seem almost quaint. The reality is that email marketing is far from obsolete. In fact, those who fail to realize the persistent importance of email (and its subsequent value as a marketing tool) do so at their own risk!
Wait, Isn’t Email Old-School?
Our argument against email’s obsolescence is not some hot take we’re clinging to as online marketing professionals – it’s actually a matter of looking at the numbers. A decentralized global tech institution that sees over 300 billion messages sent every single day cannot, by definition, be obsolete. In fact, total email usage worldwide has increased year over year since the tool’s inception a few decades back.
Important: there are now over 4 billion email users in the world… and many of them want to buy the product or service you’re trying to market.
So, How Do You Capture Their Interest? (Hint: You Have to Know Your Audience)
The fact that email remains perennially relevant doesn’t mean it’s easy to master its use as a marketing tool, however. Quite to the contrary, folks who rely on their email can be exceptionally wary of any incoming messages that come off as “spammy.” When you’re trying to sell something via email, the line between communication and spam can sometimes be a fine one. Finding success with modern email marketing campaigns is all about walking that line artfully.
Even if you’re offering a great deal on an item someone legitimately wants – or even needs – a lot of people reflexively delete every sales pitch that comes to their inbox. Frankly, we think it’s understandable. We all need some method to deal with the sheer volume of unsolicited messages we would otherwise need to spend hours sifting through every time we log on.
That means your sales email’s first – and biggest – obstacle is the fact that it is a sales email at all.
This isn’t hyperbole; email metrics from Litmus Analytics suggest that over half of all marketing emails are deleted within seconds. As such, your email runs a very real risk of being deleted upon receipt or neglected in a junk folder forever… unless, of course, it is able to connect with its recipients in those few moments before that choice to “move selected to trash” is carried out.
Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all answer for just how to make this magic connection. It is, at various times, best achieved through humor, insight, surprise, nostalgia, industry knowledge, or even just the incredible, once-in-a-generation value you’re offering. Understanding which approach to take is a matter of knowing your audience and their values, as well as your own strengths as a marketer and how to leverage them effectively.
Why You Should Be Building Your Email List Now
Despite the evolving digital landscape, email marketing remains a cornerstone for effective audience engagement. Its independence, enduring value, and appeal across generations, coupled with the strategic benefit of owning your communication channel, underscore why email marketing is not only surviving but thriving in today’s competitive environment.
Here are just a few of the reasons you should be working on building your email list:
Decline of Other Marketing Channels
In recent years, we’ve witnessed a noticeable downturn in the efficacy of various marketing channels. Traditional mediums like television and print, alongside digital platforms such as social media and search engine ads, have all experienced a decline in engagement rates. This trend starkly contrasts with the enduring performance of email marketing, which has proven to be both efficient and reliable over time. ‘
The Independence of Email
One of the most significant advantages of email marketing is its autonomy from the control of large tech entities known for manipulating visibility and engagement to serve their interests. Email stands as a direct conduit between businesses and their audience, untainted by the manipulative practices that often afflict platforms once they achieve monopoly status.
Email’s Enduring Value
The resilience of email marketing is further evidenced by consistent open and click-through rates, underscoring its capacity to deliver ongoing value. This steadfast performance indicates not just the channel’s ability to reach audiences effectively but also its role in providing consumers with pertinent content and offers.
The Misconception About Young People and Email
There’s a prevailing belief that email’s relevance is waning among younger demographics, supposedly signaling its eventual obsolescence. Yet, this notion has been repeatedly disproven. As individuals mature, the utility of email becomes increasingly clear—from receiving crucial notifications to enjoying exclusive promotions—demonstrating its lasting appeal across age groups.
Ownership and Control
A critical aspect of leveraging email marketing is the emphasis on ownership and control of your subscriber list. Unlike third-party platforms where access and engagement can be suddenly restricted or monetized, maintaining your own email list ensures direct and uninterrupted communication with your audience. This strategic asset empowers businesses to cultivate and deepen relationships with their subscribers without external interference.
Personalized Email Marketing: Back to the Basics of Customer Engagement
One of the best ways to give your emails a fighting chance to make that all-important initial connection is through personalized email marketing. According to research firm Epsilon, an incredible 80% of consumers are more likely to engage commercially with a company that offers “personalized experiences.” An even more significant 90% expressed that they find the concept of personalization generally appealing.
There are a variety of ways to create a marketing email that is more personalized. For example, you may be aware of automated systems that can pull your customers’ names, hometowns, or other information from your database to give your marketing emails a glossier and more personalized touch. While this doesn’t require spending working hours to create connections in a meaningful way, reading an email that addresses them by name can have a subtle psychological influence on the customer. This is in hopes that it will make them feel more comfortable with, or connected to, your brand.
Because it’s relatively cheap and easy to implement, this type of dynamic content in email marketing does have the potential to be cost-effective in some applications. However, it’s important to know that you won’t be alone; marketers are employing this strategy every day. That’s why it’s crucial to think of creative and punchy ways to pull your data into your emails instead of just pulling your customer’s name into the top of the message.
For example, consider using a database to grab each customer’s most recent purchase, and then send an email with a subject line promising “EXCLUSIVE Discounts for (insert product name here) Owners Only!” Maybe throw in the dollar sign eyes emoji and you’ve got a winner. It doesn’t have to be quite that vibe, but you get the idea.
At the other end of the spectrum from these superficial, automated touches would be the business owner who follows up personally with each customer and potential customer through individual emails. This is typically only feasible for boutique operations with the most exclusive clientele – which is to say, the fewest customers. For example, a talent agent representing a few people in a niche field might well be able to send personal weekly emails to each of their clients, but even the smallest small-town grocery store that sees 50 customers in a day will struggle to manage it. This is especially true if they understandably don’t have the funds to hire additional full-time staff just to write emails about every shopper in town.
So, What’s The Sweet Spot?
The sweet spot, as you might have guessed, lies somewhere in between total automation and laborious hyper-personalization. Making regular time in your work week for facilitating personal, one-on-one customer interactions through email (or social media) is a great habit to get into. But, you can reserve this time for special cases, keeping tabs on challenging situations, following up on memorable projects, and reaching out to previous customers who may have new needs due to growth or change.
While one-on-one communication with customers should remain what you strive for throughout all phases of your business venture, it’s important to take care not to get consumed by the social aspects of personalized customer engagement. This can become a time and energy sink. For instance, engagement on Instagram is great for building a brand, but if your followers aren’t converting to increased revenue, can you really say that Insta is a key part of your marketing strategy or a cost-effective use of your time?
Sweet Spot #1: Email Segmentation
One great way to find the happy medium needed to effectively personalize an email marketing campaign is by using a process known as email list segmentation. With an email segmentation strategy, you don’t write a single generic email blast to your whole list, but you also don’t write an invasive- feeling, overly-personal email to every individual customer. Instead, you write a few different emails for distribution to different segments of your customer base or email marketing list.
Email segmentation can be an extremely powerful tool for a few reasons:
You get to define the segments. Write different marketing emails by age group, geographic region, product lines, previous customers vs. potential customers, value shoppers vs. big spenders, and more.
You can choose how many or how few segments to use, and easily scale your strategy as your capabilities and your business grow.
Send marketing emails to different segments at different times to better leverage emerging trends, current events, and customer behavior patterns.
Tailor messages and branding elements to different segments of your audience to better reflect their interests and values.
Set up special segments for new customers and send emails introducing them to your brand, welcoming them to your customer community, and offering exclusive values that encourage a second purchase (and long-term brand loyalty).
Send timely and highly targeted emails to niche portions of your customer base, such as a critical update for a specific product that doesn’t impact the rest of your customers.
Market effectively to customers in different languages.
One thing to keep in mind when setting up an email list segmentation strategy, as well as when implementing dynamic email content, is that your strategy will only be as powerful as your data and how you use it.
Read: Do not rush into a strategy just because you read that you “need to do email segmentation.” To put it more explicitly, if you cannot clearly state why you are creating a certain segment and how you are going to market to that segment, a segmented email is going to be no more valuable than a generic email blast.
(It’s worth noting that while you’re thinking up clever ways to use your data to create better marketing emails, be sure you’re also being respectful of customer privacy. Be sure to follow best practices for storing sensitive data like email lists and customer details.)
Sweet Spot #2: Interactive Email Elements
Another fun way to increase the feeling of personalization without actually personalizing emails is to include interactive elements – or links to them – in your marketing emails. The ubiquitous “spin the wheel to reveal your exclusive discount” game that a lot of online retailers include in their marketing is a prime example. Something more formal-feeling, like a mortgage calculator, is another possibility.
Yet another interactive element involves chatbots. The emergence of natural language AI and algorithmically powered customer service bots is now taking the idea of interactive email to an entirely new level. Your customers can potentially carry on an entire email conversation with a computer program that works on your behalf. While this sort of new technology is exciting and opens up a world of possibilities in marketing and customer service, you should use it sparingly and thoughtfully. You definitely would not want the AIs available today taking the lead on writing all of your marketing emails, for example.
Sweet Spot #3: Email Marketing in Your Pocket and the Importance of Mobile-Friendly Emails
Another crucial consideration for modern email marketing campaigns is the ubiquitous nature of mobile devices. According to email marketing case studies by SuperOffice, more than 80% of all emails that get opened are now accessed on cell phones and tablets.
Here are some of the fundamentals to keep in mind when trying to write marketing emails that pack a punch on mobile devices:
Clear and Compelling Subject – The subject line is where your marketing email lives or dies, on mobile or otherwise, so make it pop. If you’re too wordy, the best part of your message could get cut off on most customers’ displays, so it’s ideal to compel recipients to open the email in as few words as possible.
Responsive Formatting – Make sure your email template is responsive and portable, which means it looks good and works well on any device with any screen orientation or resolution. Customers who encounter a less-than-optimal viewing experience are likely to give up on your email before they ever read it.
Concise, Scannable Content – Keep your copy short, punchy, and easy for recipients to absorb with a quick scan-and-scroll. People on their phones may have limited or divided attention, so get straight to the point with short paragraphs and world-class bulleted lists (like this one!)
Single Column Layout – Let’s leave the slick multi-column marketing emails on the 1998 floppy disk they came from. If you need a multiple-column layout to effectively present complex information, save it for your website and simply include a link.
Clickable CTAs – The call to action at the bottom of your email should be prominent and include a link that takes the reader directly to the product in question or the additional information they need. Consider using a larger font or even a graphic button (but keep the design simple for smaller displays).
Contrasting Colors – Make sure your email’s color palette is easy on the eyes of users who are on the go and in inconsistent lighting. There is often no harm in letting the recipient’s default email view settings take the lead when it comes to what the bulk of your marketing copy will look like.
Optimized Images – Sometimes, it might even be better to use no images. If you need to include brand graphics or product photos in a marketing email, make sure they’re small enough to load quickly, even for users with sketchy connections. Email can indeed be used as an effective visual format and even a file transfer protocol or meeting scheduler. Just remember that, at its core, email remains a tool for text communication.
(Many people have their email configured not to load images at all for security or data conservation reasons, which turns all your high-resolution photographs into ugly glitches in your email layout anyway.)
Let your words be worth a thousand pictures, and create a compelling narrative that puts the reader in the driver’s seat as they take the next step by clicking your CTA.
Elevate Your Email Marketing with Expert Solutions
In the intricate dance of digital marketing, personalizing and tailoring your email campaigns is crucial, but it's just one piece of the larger puzzle. Navigating the competitive and ever-evolving digital marketing landscape can feel like a daunting, full-time commitment on its own.
This is where our expert services come into play. Our comprehensive digital marketing and SEO offerings include specialized email marketing solutions designed to integrate seamlessly into a broader, multi-channel marketing strategy. We're committed to demonstrating how businesses of all sizes, even those just starting, can harness the power of email marketing to their advantage.
Should you seek assistance in refining your email list segmentation, crafting dynamic and engaging email content, or incorporating interactive elements that drive immediate results and steady revenue growth—or if crafting compelling marketing emails seems overwhelming—reach out to us.
By connecting with our team of experienced online marketing experts, you'll have the opportunity to discuss your project goals and strategize your digital marketing efforts effectively. Remember, successful marketing transcends mere sales targets; it's about fostering enduring customer relationships that cultivate brand loyalty and encourage repeat business, ultimately transforming your venture into a thriving, long-term success.
CEO, Business Consultant, Researcher and Marketing Strategist
Jenny Weatherall is the co-owner and CEO of Eminent SEO, a design and marketing agency founded in 2009. She has worked in the industry since 2005, when she fell in love with digital marketing… and her now husband and partner, Chris. Together they have 6 children and 3 granddaughters.
Jenny has a passion for learning and sharing what she learns. She has researched, written and published hundreds of articles on a wide variety of topics, including: SEO, design, marketing, ethics, business management, sustainability, inclusion, behavioral health, wellness and work-life balance.
Welcome to the latest edition of the Eminent SEO Newsletter! In this issue, I’ll be sharing valuable insights on marketing strategies that can help your business thrive in today’s competitive digital landscape.
Good to Know in SEO
Google’s April 2023 Reviews Update: What You Need to Know
Last month Google confirmed that the Reviews Update is now fully rolled out. It took roughly 13 days to roll out completely, lasting from April 12th through the 25th.
More Than Just Product Reviews
Just a heads-up, this update goes way beyond product reviews.
It now evaluates reviews of any topic you can think of, including:
Services and businesses
Destinations
Media (like games and movies)
Google has even changed the name of its “product reviews system” to “reviews system” and updated the language in its guidance documentation to apply to all types of reviews.
Why Should You Care?
If your website features general review content, it’s time to check your rankings to see if you were affected by this update. Did your Google organic traffic go up, down, or stay the same?
In the long run, you’ll want to put more effort into creating detailed and unique review content that sets you apart from the competition
For more insights on this update, check out this article about it on Search Engine Land over here.
A Look Back at Previous Reviews Updates
This latest update marks the seventh release of what was once known as the Product Reviews Update, now simply called the Reviews Update. It was released on April 12 at around 12 pm ET. Here’s a quick recap of the earlier updates:
First update: April 8, 2021
Second update: December 1, 2021
Third update: March 23, 2022
Fourth update: July 27, 2022
Fifth update: September 20, 2022
Sixth update: February 21, 2023
eCom Updates
Google has recently made some significant changes to its Search Console, particularly for eCommerce businesses.
Google Shopping Integration
Google has added shopping features to the Search Console, allowing you to list your products for free. This is an excellent opportunity for businesses to showcase their products directly on Google search results and drive more traffic to their online stores.
Learn how to start showing your products for free on the Shopping tab with Search Console here.
Social Media Tips
Get ready to elevate your social media game with these handy tips and tricks that’ll help you engage more effectively with your audience!Pay to Play on Meta
As I’ve been emphasizing for a long time, social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram have become pay-to-play arenas. To increase your visibility, consider running paid ads.
Boost Organic Visibility with Engagement
For better organic reach and engagement, encourage your staff, friends, and even yourself to actively engage with and share your content. This will help increase its visibility on social media platforms.
Leverage LinkedIn Personal Pages
While LinkedIn business pages tend to have low visibility, personal pages usually see much better engagement. Utilize your personal page to share valuable content and connect with your target audience.
Video Content Reigns Supreme!
Video continues to be the most engaging form of content on social media. Invest in creating compelling video content to captivate your audience and drive engagement.
Conclusion
And, there you have it, dear readers!
As the online landscape continues to evolve, staying informed and adapting your strategies is crucial for long-term success. By embracing these insights and keeping up with the latest trends, you’ll be well-equipped to navigate the ever-changing digital marketing waters and achieve remarkable results for your business.
Until next time, happy marketing and stay tuned for more updates, tips, and insights in the upcoming editions of the Eminent SEO Newsletter!
Until Next Time,
Jenny Weatherall CEO,
Eminent SEO
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I cannot believe we’re already well into 2023. Is it just me or has this year flown by?
2023 is set to be an exciting year for marketers as strategies evolve with new technology and customer behavior. To remain competitive, it’s important to stay ahead of the latest trends and best practices moving forward.
Here are this years top 10 marketing trends to consider when developing and evolving your strategy:
1. The Rise of Video Marketing
The rise of video marketing is quickly changing the way businesses reach their customers. Videos, such as TikToks and Instagram reels, are highly engaging and can capture a viewer’s attention for longer than static posts. Meanwhile, live streaming allows potential customers to interact with influencers promoting the product as they watch in real time. This type of marketing also allows for more personalized interactions between brands and customers that can be tracked for success metrics.
Additionally, videos can be used to give viewers an inside look at how a product or service works, giving potential customers a better idea of what they’re investing in and fostering engagement with them on an emotional level. As the technology continues to advance, so too will the opportunities available to marketers using video marketing strategies.
2. Increased Use of Artificial Intelligence and Chatbots
Artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to revolutionize the way businesses operate in the coming years. From marketing to healthcare and finance, AI algorithms allow companies to automate mundane tasks, freeing up time for employees and allowing them to focus on larger goals. Additionally, chatbots provide customers with faster response times and improved customer service experiences, as well as reducing staffing costs for businesses.
AI technology can be used in multiple ways by marketers, such as data models and machine learning, to better understand target audiences and optimize spending. This can result in smarter and more targeted advertisements; an accurate prediction of trends; a better understanding of buyer behavior; increased customer retention rates; greater self-service capabilities; and higher ROI through effective targeting strategies.
3. More Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is one of the most effective strategies businesses can use to reach their target audience. Word-of-mouth advertising has already worked for a long time and partnering with influencers allows brands to tap into the power of this strategy in a digital world. By forming lasting relationships between brands and consumers, companies can benefit from higher engagement, brand awareness, ROI, trust, and authority.
The quality of an influencer’s content will influence how successful the campaign is since it can help generate more engagement with potential customers. Digital marketing techniques such as influencer marketing are powerful tools that businesses should consider investing in, as they can lead to greater success in terms of customer acquisition and retention.
4. A Shift Towards Experiential Marketing
Interactive content is quickly becoming the go-to strategy for modern marketers. If you’ve been online in the past decade, chances are you’ve already come across some form of this dynamic, two-way experience without even realizing it! This type of content demands attention and encourages active engagement from target audiences with features such as: interactive infographics, quizzes, games, calculators, contests, assessments, interactive maps and videos.
Studies have shown that 81% of marketers believe interactive content is more effective than static posts when it comes to grabbing potential buyer’s attention. This low-cost, high-impact marketing strategy can also benefit a business by enhancing audience engagement and improving customer learning as well as driving more leads and conversions. Additionally, businesses can use interactive content to increase brand loyalty among customers and make their customer experience more streamlined.
5. Greater Use of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality
As technology continues to evolve, we can expect to see a greater use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) in marketing by 2023. As the accessibility and affordability of these technologies increases, businesses are finding innovative ways to integrate them into their campaigns in order to offer customers an immersive experience. VR and AR bring brands closer to audiences through interactive content that provides an accessible way for consumers to engage with products and services.
For example, retail companies can give users a virtual tour of their store or allow them to visualize how items look inside their home before making a purchase. Brands can create an even more meaningful connection to potential customers by launching interactive ads within a game setting. It’s a great way to stand out from competitors and build stronger relationships with customers in the digital age — plus, it’s a lot of fun!
6. User-generated Content (UGC)
This year we will likely see an increased focus on user-generated content (UGC). This form of marketing enables customers and followers to create content that promotes products and services. Content from real users often has more authenticity and credibility than traditional marketing messages, as it comes directly from people who have already used the product or service.
User-generated content is any kind of content created by customers or followers, including images, videos, reviews, comments and posts. Businesses can use UGC on their website and social media accounts to promote their products and services. For example, UGC can be used to create inspiring visuals for marketing campaigns, highlight customer experiences through testimonials and reviews, or respond to questions or queries from potential customers. UGC is a great way to engage audiences with fresh content that reflects your values and showcases why they should purchase from you!
7. New Targeting Solutions
With the phasing out of third-party cookies due to privacy concerns, brands should look into alternative solutions for continuing personalized campaigns tailored to customers’ needs. This year, businesses should explore new targeting solutions to ensure their campaigns have the same level of personalization and relevancy as they did in the past. A variety of platforms including social media, search engine marketing, email marketing and digital ads can all be used to deliver customized content to customers.
Additionally, brands should consider leveraging contextual targeting such as geo-location and device type to reach more tailored audiences. With advanced data mining techniques such as machine learning, marketers will be able to collect user insights accurately, even without cookies. Companies that make use of these tools will be well-positioned to succeed in a rapidly changing digital environment and continue providing their customers with personalized experiences.
8. Agile Marketing
Agile marketing is a modern approach to marketing that emphasizes flexibility and responding quickly to customer needs. It requires marketers to be proactive and stay ahead of changes in the industry, while also being able to adapt their strategies as needed.
Agile marketing tactics focus on offering a personalized customer experience, delivering tailored messages according to user data and insights gathered through analytics platforms such as Google Analytics. This strategy often involves predictive analysis tools and machine learning in order to anticipate what customers want before they even ask for it. With an agile approach, businesses can remain one step ahead of the competition by being responsive to customer requests and addressing changes in the market quickly.
9. Email Automation
Automation is key in the modern marketing landscape, especially when it comes to email campaigns. Automated emails can be used to send welcome messages to new customers, re-engage lapsed customers, or remind customers of upcoming promotions and discounts. Automations can also be used to send personalized product recommendations based on previous purchases or interests. Additionally, businesses can set up automated triggers when a customer takes an action – such as signing up for a mailing list or making a purchase – to execute important tasks with ease.
By leveraging customer data, businesses can create personalized emails tailored to each customers’ needs and preferences. This ensures that your messages are relevant and timely which boosts engagement rates and helps convert leads into paying customers. Leveraging automation for email campaigns also allows businesses to save money on manual labor while driving better results!
10. More of a Focus on Mobile Optimization
Optimizing for mobile is more critical now than ever before. Back in September 2020 Google announced mobile first indexing for the whole web. In 2023, websites that have not optimized their content for mobile devices are likely to be overlooked by Google and other search engines due to the shift to a mobile-first indexing algorithm. This could result in decreased traffic, fewer leads, and reduced revenue for businesses. Mobile optimization is now essential for businesses looking to succeed in an increasingly digitized world. Proper optimization can help increase website visibility, access more customers, and boost business growth.
Mobile optimization involves making sure website elements are easy to navigate with a finger swipe or tap, load quickly, and look great regardless of the device used. Businesses should also ensure their website is optimized for the most current OS updates, as older versions may not support all features. Additionally, businesses should pay attention to the small details such as font size and color – small tweaks can make a big difference when it comes to engaging customers on mobile devices.
Remain Competitive with Modern Marketing Strategies
As a marketer or business owner (or both!), you have to stay ahead of the game if you expect to be competitive.
From understanding the importance of mobile optimization, to leveraging new AI technologies, to adjusting campaigns in response to consumer behavior – implementing our top 10 marketing trends and strategies for 2023 will help you remain competitive in an ever-changing digital landscape.
And, like one of my favorite business authors Tom Peters always says: Evolve or die.
CEO, Business Consultant, Researcher and Marketing Strategist
Jenny Weatherall is the co-owner and CEO of Eminent SEO, a design and marketing agency founded in 2009. She has worked in the industry since 2005, when she fell in love with digital marketing… and her now husband and partner, Chris. Together they have 6 children and 3 granddaughters.
Jenny has a passion for learning and sharing what she learns. She has researched, written and published hundreds of articles on a wide variety of topics, including: SEO, design, marketing, ethics, business management, sustainability, inclusion, behavioral health, wellness and work-life balance.
Volume 124: Will the Metaverse Redefine Marketing?
The beautiful thing about technology is that it continues to evolve as new resources emerge. New updates and changes mean new conveniences and new ethical dilemmas as well. When technology evolves, we must learn how to adapt and adjust as we make new rules for the changing environment. While the printing press was the most phenomenal advancement in technology at one time, now the pinnacle of progress is in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotic process automation (RPA).
The metaverse is one such new development in the internet’s evolution. We’ve seen iterations of it in science fiction, from books like “Feed” and more recently “Ready Player One.” When print first emerged, marketing evolved in its earliest form, and now with the metaverse, we’re faced with new questions about changes in the scope and influence of marketing. All of this leaves us asking ourselves if the metaverse will redefine marketing.
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