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How Local Influencers Can Help Your Restaurant Reach New Customers

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As a restaurant owner, you know that word-of-mouth is one of the best ways to attract new customers. And what better way to get people talking about your business than by enlisting the help of local influencers?

Influencers are social media users with a large following who can help spread the word about your restaurant to their followers. But how do you go about finding and working with local influencers? In this blog post, we’ll give you some tips on how to get started.

Why local influencers are essential for small businesses

Local influencers can be incredibly powerful when it comes to helping local restaurants thrive. This is because they understand the local market and have relationships with local customers that a business might need help to access. These local connections give local influencers the unique ability to promote products or services within the local area, allowing restaurants to reach out to more customers and potentially increase their customer base in a relatively short period of time. Ultimately, local influencers can accelerate the growth of small businesses and make them more successful by connecting them with the local customers they need to succeed.

How to find the right local influencer for your business

Finding the right local influencer for your business can be daunting. First, it’s important to consider what kind of reach you’re aiming for and which particular audience you hope to target. It’s also important to research potential influencers, focusing on the type and quality of content they produce, as this will serve as a strong indicator of how successful you may be with working with them. Once you have narrowed down your choices, reaching out and getting in touch is best—establishing a personal connection can often lead to deeper collaborations. Local influencers have proven an invaluable resource for many small businesses looking to grow their reach, so don’t underestimate the power of networking!

What kind of content to create with your local influencer

Working with a local influencer effectively allows restaurants to grow their reach and further engage with new and existing customers. When brainstorming content to create with a local influencer, it’s important to think about creative ways that bring awareness of your business to their followers and highlight why you’re the ideal choice for customers in the area. For example, a powerful post could be having the influencer tell their story:

  • How they use your product or service in their life.
  • What motivated them to work with you.
  • What makes your product or service so much better than others?

Or make it interactive by showing how delighted they are when introducing a giveaway exclusive to their followers. Whatever you decide on, remember that it should authentically represent who you are as a business!

How to measure the success of your campaign

Measuring the success of your campaign is essential to understanding where improvements may be needed or how well things are going. With local influencers helping your restaurant grow, it’s important to track their success so you can evaluate the value they bring. Engagement metrics such as likes, comments, and shares are among the most measurable ways to gauge this type of campaign’s effectiveness. Additionally, monitor website analytics and any customer feedback related to the influencer you’re working with. This insight gives you more details on how people engage with your brand and can help you understand what content performs best for future campaigns.

If you’re a restaurant owner, it’s time to start harnessing the power of local influencers. These everyday people can help promote your products or services to their friends and followers, giving your business the boost it needs to grow. But how do you find the right local influencer for your business? And what kind of content should you create with them? At Absolute Marketing Solutions, we have the answers to all of your questions. We’ll work with you to develop a customized plan that fits your budget and meets your marketing goals. So contact us today, and let’s get started on growing your small business into a big success!

Why Businesses Fail to Measure Marketing Results – and How to Overcome These Challenges

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There’s a lot of talk in the business world about the importance of measuring marketing results. But when it comes down to it, many businesses simply don’t do it (or do it incorrectly). Why is that? In this post, we’ll explore some of the reasons why businesses fail to measure actual marketing results and offer some tips on how to overcome these challenges.

Not Knowing What to Measure

Many small business owners do not know what to measure with a seemingly endless number of marketing metrics to sort through. As a result, ‘analysis paralysis is a common predicament for many businesses. In these cases, nothing ends up measured because no one can agree on what should be measured.

Many small business owners recognize that they do not have the knowledge or the time to perform their marketing. In these cases, owners rely on others to select the appropriate metrics. Unfortunately, third parties often choose metrics for reasons other than the interest of business owners. In some cases, the same challenges presented in this article apply to marketers and business owners. The need to report something to business owners while facing some of these same challenges can lead marketers to conclude that it is better to track anything than to track nothing. Since business owners do not know what metrics to track, they believe the metrics reported are the ‘appropriate’ ones.

As a hypothetical example, Freddie and Dan’s Chicago Pizza is a trendy pizzeria in South Tampa. Freddie and Dan have enough challenges running a busy pizzeria they do not have the time to perform their marketing. They also recognize that their expertise lies in making a hot deep dish and not dishing deep on social media. Freddie and Dan decide to hire Dan’s cousin Sammy “Social” Smith to manage their social media. After all, Sammy spends most of his day on Tik Tok and Instagram, so he must be an expert. After a month of working with Sammy, Freddie and Dan received a report that shows the number of followers and engagement they have received across their social channels. Happy that ‘marketing’ is being done, Freddie and Dan reshift their focus back on making pizzas.

Not Knowing How to Measure

Data collection is one of the biggest challenges businesses face when measuring marketing results. To accurately track and measure results, businesses need to have a system for collecting data. This can be a challenge, especially for small businesses that don’t have the resources or manpower to dedicate to data collection. Another challenge is ensuring that the collected data is accurate and reliable. This can be a problem if businesses rely on manual data entry or don’t have a consistent system for tracking results.

Returning to our example, Sammy has a lot of experience as a social media creator. He knows how to create content that captures attention. Sammy is very familiar with the reports the different social media platforms provide and forwards these to Freddie and Dan every month. Sammy has read blogs about other marketing metrics, such as cost per acquisition (CPA) and lifetime value of a customer (CLV), but he does not know how to measure them.

Using the wrong Measurements

Another challenge businesses face is measuring the right things. Focusing on measurements that will give you insights into your marketing performance is essential. Otherwise, you’re just spinning your wheels and wasting time and money.

After a few months of flat or declining sales, Freddie and Dan realize they may have a marketing problem. They meet with Sammy, who shows them how their social media metrics have only increased since he has managed their marketing. At this point, Freddie realizes that the social media metrics they have been monitoring do not necessarily align with their business goals. Sammy explains that there are other marketing measurements, but he doesn’t know how to track them. Freddie and Dan decide to hire a marketing agency to oversee marketing, with Sammy reporting to them.

Not Having the Resources to Measure

Many metrics are difficult or expensive to collect and therefore are outside the capabilities of many small businesses to measure. In these cases, companies often track other metrics that may not provide an accurate or meaningful depiction of marketing results.

Let’s check in on our pizza shop. Freddie, Dan, and Sammy met with the new marketing agency, Absolute Marketing Solutions. The team at Absolute Marketing Solutions held a workshop to establish marketing targets. As part of the workshop, Absolute Marketing Solutions President, Alfred Goldberg, works with Freddie and Dan to uncover their business objectives and develop a marketing strategy to help them achieve them.

For example, one common business goal amongst small business owners is to increase sales. Therefore, a business objective might be to increase the number of customers within a particular target segment. One of the strategies to accomplish this objective was introducing a new Vegan Deep Dish pizza to attract more vegan and vegetarian customers. A corresponding marketing objective might be to increase brand recall amongst vegans and vegetarians in the Tampa Bay market. A business could measure the effectiveness of a brand-building marketing campaign by surveying the target demographic at the start of a branding effort and then again after the campaign.

After reviewing the plan, Freddie and Dan believed that, like many small business owners, they did not have the budget for such an effort. Because of these concerns, Absolute Marketing Solutions shared with them how digital tools such as survey monkey and social media made it cheaper and easier to do market and brand research than ever before.

Not using the Measurements

Finally, businesses need to be able to use the data they collect to make decisions. This can be difficult if you don’t have the right tools or are unsure how to interpret the data. Without being able to take action on your marketing measurements, they’re essentially useless.

Revisiting Freddie and Dan, we discover that despite demonstrating that the current marketing tactics were not producing a noticeable change in brand recall amongst Tampa’s Vegans, Sammy continued to pursue the same tactics. Absolute Marketing Solutions worked with Sammy to show him how he could adjust his content and targeting to better reach the target audience with the right message at the right time. The agency also showed Freddie and Dan some other marketing tactics that could promote their Vegan Deep Dish. Freddie, Dan, and Sammy agreed that all marketing meetings would conclude with an explicit declaration of what changes would be made based on the current information provided by the tracked metrics.

Fortunately, there are ways to overcome these challenges. By developing a clear plan for measuring marketing results and using the right tools, you can set your business up for success. Then, with a little effort, you can ensure that your marketing measurement efforts are paying off.

What do you think? Do you have any other tips for measuring marketing results?

Reaching for Education

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Continuing our values series, our second value in the acronym REACH-IT is education. Many marketing firms define the term “education” differently. Some may value a certification or degree over one’s experience. Although we recognize the importance of attending a university, we do not stop there when looking to build our team. In fact, we believe that one’s education is never complete. As marketing and technology continuously change, we must develop our minds to recognize the challenges created by the ever-changing marketplace. For this reason, and many more, we have made education one of our core values.  

Since there are many outstanding universities located near Absolute Marketing Solutions, we have been fortunate to recruit alumni from the University of South Florida, the University of Tampa, and Florida State University. Just like any university, we value the importance of education. However, a degree only gives you a basic understanding of what to expect when working professionally. Moreover, a degree proves one’s passion, dedication, and ambition. In many cases, we look for candidates who exhibit these traits and are open to expanding their knowledge.   

These characteristics are easily found in those who show enthusiasm for the industry or subject. At Absolute Marketing Solutions, we do not limit our employees to one specific department. Instead, we encourage them to learn all aspects of the business. As a result, our employees will often collaborate and teach each other how to perform tasks outside their expertise.  

We also take the opportunity to educate our employees about the latest marketing trends and techniques. These lessons may be demonstrated through games, meetings, videos, or workshops. These activities act as educational tools for employees to enhance their skills, communicate with coworkers, and participate in hypothetical situations. In addition, we have found that having our employees engage with each other helps them recognize opportunities to further their development and spark new interests.  

To ensure that the information resonates with our employees, we often use the vocabulary and methods conversationally throughout the office. For example, business acronyms such as RACE, SOSTAC, and SWOT have become part of our company’s culture and language. We have found that the willingness to use this vocabulary directly correlates to the performance of our employees.  

We also value education within our client relationships. For example, we find value in sharing the process and results of our projects with our clients. We do this by presenting our research, metrics, and strategies to help them interpret our solution. Nevertheless, we always welcome questions and comments that can improve our work in the future. These interactions are also a practical educational experience for our employees.  

Since marketing platforms change so rapidly, it’s also common for clients to get confused about our work. It doesn’t help that most of the information they are reading is from a handful of different sources. However, we see their questions as a sign of trust. By answering these questions, we can demonstrate our expertise, help our clients better appreciate the work, and add security to our client relationships.  

As a constantly growing marketing firm in a continually evolving industry, we understand the importance of education. At Absolute Marketing Solutions, we are responsible for giving our employees proper training. Regardless, that training is only effective for those willing to dedicate their time to learning. Therefore, we encourage all those interested in pursuing a career in business to continue educating themselves beyond a textbook. 

If you are looking for a team to partner with on your next marketing project, please contact one of our team members at Absolute Marketing Solutions.   

Reaching for Results

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When initially meeting with a client, we always begin by asking them to define their business objectives. Then, understanding their objectives, we help them craft their strategy, guide their selection of marketing and promotional tactics, and capture the appropriate metrics. We do this because our clients count on us to deliver actual measurable business results. Our focus on achieving these results led to the first of our company values, “results-oriented.” Results-oriented is a term we use to describe our agency’s focus on outcomes rather than processes and activities.

Although most marketers would agree with this approach, some fail to maintain being results-oriented. Unfortunately, this mistake is not unusual

because the day-to-day activities we engage in occupy so much attention, making it easy to shift focus away from client objectives. However, the more you focus on business objectives, the more likely you will successfully achieve them.

A common goal amongst clients is to increase sales of a particular product or service to a specific audience. For example, a local restaurant may wish to increase the number of delivery orders to college students. To help our client achieve this objective, we will likely use several different marketing tactics. These tactics have metrics that help us make decisions. We call these tactical metrics. For example, social media has well-known metrics such as likes, follows, and engagement. These metrics let our social media team know how effectively they reach a particular audience and how receptive that audience is to their message. However, these metrics do little to tell us how effective their efforts are in increasing the number of delivery orders to college students.

Many firms focus solely on these tactics and exclusively use them when reporting to clients. Although some clients may be interested in seeing this data, we believe it is more important that clients know that we are making progress toward their goals. Instead of hiding this data, we demonstrate how these tactical metrics may drive objectives. Building on our previous example, we can use tactical metrics such as reach and engagement to show how well we promote their delivery option.

Our values create our company culture. When looking for new hires, we look for this trait by asking open-ended questions that could demonstrate how a candidate is results-oriented. Additionally, we have developed a style of “company dialogue” that helps our team members reorient back to client objectives when discussing campaigns, projects, and strategies. In this way, we ensure that Absolute Marketing Solutions will always be results-oriented.

If you are looking to partner with an agency that will be focused on achieving your business objectives, look no further than Absolute Marketing Solutions.

REACH-IT with Absolute Marketing Solutions:

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How do we ensure that every team member knows our core values?

We have seen many organizations whose team members struggled to recall their company’s core values, let alone live up to them. For this reason, we have created the acronym REACH-IT to represent the seven core values that inspire us to achieve our objectives.

Results

At Absolute Marketing Solutions, we focus on our clients’ goals and objectives. We measure our success on whether or not we have achieved or exceeded our client’s goals. To do this, we concentrate on the results of our activities and not just the actions themselves.

Education

Our employees must exhibit soft and hard skills when working at Absolute Marketing Solutions. As a soft skill, we expect that our employees have a passion for expanding their knowledge and teaching others. As a hard skill, we expect our employees to have a mastery over the technical aspects of their job.

Accountability

A critical value for all employees of Absolute Marketing Solutions to exhibit is accountability. We find that when a mistake happens, no matter how slight, it is essential for those involved to take responsibility. When we hold ourselves accountable to our clients and our teammates, we can recognize opportunities for improvement and grow as professionals.

Creativity

Creativity is essential to each department in a company. As marketers, we must collaborate to construct original ideas for our clients. We do this by removing creativity constraints and instead focus on the question “What if?”

Humor

Although we take our work very seriously, we also understand that enjoying each other’s company is essential in unifying our team. So whether celebrating a national holiday, grabbing a quick bite to eat, or attempting a new Tik Tok trend, our office is always willing to combine hard work and a good time.

Initiative

Since we typically work on multiple projects simultaneously, our employees must work in a quickly changing environment. Therefore, our employees need to recognize those moments when any decision is better than no decision and are empowered to act independently when necessary to move a project or campaign forward.

Teamwork

At Absolute Marketing Solutions, we all strive to achieve a shared mission. For this reason, our employees must embrace teamwork. Only by working together and understanding and respecting each other’s work can we recognize opportunities to assist.

Since our core values define who we are, we reinforce them with constant reminders. In fact, most employees first encounter our values in their first interview. Then, as we use our values in our internal communications, new hires quickly realize how serious we are about these values.

If you have any questions regarding our company culture or core values, please contact one of our team members at Absolute Marketing Solutions.

National Homeless Persons’ Remembrance Day

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As of February 2021, the number of homeless in downtown Tampa hit a high of 1,650 people. Although the city has been working to provide shelter, food, and hygienic products to the homeless, many still struggle to survive. However, Hyde Park United Methodist Church has made efforts to support homeless initiatives through its non-profit organization, the Portico. On National Homeless Persons’ Remembrance Day, we honor the work that our client, the Portico, has done to recognize those who face homelessness in our community and those who have died without a home.

The Portico Cafe:

The Portico Cafe is a social enterprise that helps bridge people battling homelessness, addiction, and incarceration with employment opportunities. Many of the cafe’s employees have taken his opportunity as a second chance to rehabilitate their lives and reconnect with community members. In addition, the cafe offers many different breakfast and lunch options for customers to order. These funds directly support the Portico’s events and initiatives. For more information about the cafe and its employees’ stories, please visit their newly renovated website here. 

Portico Housing Solutions:

The Portico Housing Solutions provides safe housing for those transitioning into a new life. In exchange for accommodation, tenants are encouraged to give back to the community, attend church services, and develop a savings account that can be upheld after completing the program. The Portico Housing Solutions also offers mentoring and spiritual support for its residents provided by Hyde Park Methodist Church. Their goal is to support and transform the lives of the homeless. 

Love INC:

Located on the third floor of the Portico, Love INC is a group of volunteers that provide the homeless with necessities such as food, water, and clothing. They differentiate themselves from other organizations by also bringing love, wisdom, and religion to individuals in need. Their mission is to mobilize local churches to transform lives and communities in the Name of Christ.

Homeless Memorial:

Outside the Portico campus is a homeless memorial that honors those who have died on the streets of Tampa. The wall is edited each year with the names and ages of each person who has passed. The Portico works hard to recognize the strength and lives of the homeless as they have documented over 115 names to date.

Homeless Jesus:

Timothy P. Schmalz, a Canadian sculptor, best known for his religious art pieces, created the well-known Homeless Jesus Sculpture outside the entrance of the Portico campus. This prominent figure depicts a distressed Jesus sleeping on a park bench. Many people in passing have stopped to take a second glance at the realistic statue once they have recognized the sleeping man’s face. These actions have fulfilled the artist’s intentions of acknowledging those who are homeless and acknowledging that Jesus is with everyone.

To help the Portico’s many efforts in preventing homelessness around the Tampa area, please visit https://theportico.org/ to learn more about how you can get more involved.

If you are interested in working with Absolute Marketing Solutions for your marketing needs, contact one of our team members today.

How to Stay Productive In and Out of the Office:

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It seems like ever since the pandemic, workers have been struggling to shift their focus back into the office. But just as we adjusted to sleeping in, dressing down, and meeting on Zoom, we must readapt to traditional business standards to achieve company goals. To avoid a lack of productivity in the workplace, we recommend following these few simple steps at home and work to increase mental stimulation.

Plan Ahead:
Although it may seem obvious to any business professional, it is necessary to create a well-organized planner that tracks future events, meetings, and assignments. Building this calendar will help you stay on top of tasks and approximate proper time management. We also suggest you highlight any deadlines to ensure that they are complete. As well as creating checkpoints leading up to the official deadline to keep yourself accountable for these tasks.

Avoid Distractions:
In a recent Forbes article, studies have found that those who work from home are much less productive than those in a professional environment due to the lack of company culture, many distractions, and untrustful technology systems. Therefore, those who work in an office should take advantage of the opportunity by separating work and home life. By maximizing your work time at the office, you may feel more determined to complete tasks before the day is complete, ultimately creating more time to relax at home. In addition, you should also turn off unnecessary notifications when working to avoid any distractions. Some people may even need to hide their devices to remain focused.

Make Healthy Choices:
It may be efficient to order from a local fast-food chain while on your lunch break, but the outcomes of consuming unhealthy food can be detrimental to your mind and body. It is essential to fuel your body with natural food that gives you energy, boosts your immune system, and decreases stress. Try bringing snacks that are not prepackaged, like fruits, vegetables, or nuts. These foods lead to higher antioxidant levels that reduce “brain fog.”

Move Your Body:
These days, many companies provide amenities to their employees to promote healthy living. For example, a company may pay for a gym membership or have a fitness center in its office. These recent changes have found that employees are less likely to miss work, lowering the employee turnover rate. In addition, studies have shown a direct relationship between working out and brain function in which working out can increase memory, focus, and creativity. If your office doesn’t have a gym, try taking a brisk walk around the block to stimulate endorphins.

Socialize with Others:
One of the benefits of working in an office is having a team of professionals around you. These relationships can increase awareness of your company’s different departments and projects. It is essential to understand all aspects of a company to ensure employees work cohesively. We recommend communicating with your coworkers to collaborate on ideas or ask for advice. These interactions can also decrease stress and increase one’s mood.

Although there are many more ways to increase productivity in the office, these are just a few examples that the Absolute Marketing Solutions team has found to be successful. It is important to remember that every individual is different and may have additional methods that increase their work ethic.

If you have any questions about company culture, please contact the Absolute Marketing Solutions team.

The Next Big Thing – TikTok

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TikTok has been named “the world’s leading social media site” with over 600 million monthly active followers. This new platform enables users to create and share short videos, paired with visual and sound effects, ranging from 15 seconds to three minutes long. Even if you are not one to use other forms of social media, TikTok is unique as it features many different genres, including but not limited to dance, comedy, collaboration, and education. Often, users create these videos in hopes of going viral or spreading their content quickly to a large audience. As a result, we have seen many businesses hop on this trend as a new form of digital marketing. However, although TikTok may seem simple, we have found that companies struggle with projecting their message within a few seconds. Therefore, we recommend experimenting with TikTok’s different features before posting to the platform.  

Why should you use TikTok to promote your small business?  

 As previously mentioned, TikTok has millions of users, and the platform is projected to double within the next few years! Due to this growth, businesses can potentially increase their reach when using this platform. Similar to other forms of social media, TikTok allows you to target your business’s ideal age, location, and interest. We have seen companies who use social media marketing to target younger users because they are the dominant consumers. On TikTok, about 60% of users are those ranging from 16 to 23. If this age group synchronizes with your target audience, we recommend creating your TikTok account now! 

What type of content is most successful?  

TikTok has various videos that users can produce; however, the most popular ones engage other users. For example, a viral video challenge, like the difficult dance to the song Renegade, creates a competitive stage for consumers to communicate. Individuals can also collaborate with other users by merging two videos. This collaboration can introduce followers to new accounts, ideally increasing your awareness and overall following.  

On the other hand, life hack videos are popular on TikTok because they quickly fix common problems. Such videos can range from helpful cleaning tips to effective weightless remedies for users to try. Either way, TikTok provides a platform for people to visualize the result of these hacks. In addition, many TikTok users have found success in simply talking to their followers. In the end, people are nosey, and therefore, it is common for users to find interest in people gossiping about their job, relationships, or hobbies.  

How can you create content for your small business?  

When debuting your TikTok account, we recommend trying any of the mentioned trends to engage your audience. As a small business, you can customize these challenges to relate to your products. For example, could your good or service become a resourceful hack for users? If so, create a video showing exactly how to use your product! You can also try making your own challenge for followers to try. If successful, you could have millions of followers tagging your business with each video attempt.  

What else can help my content’s popularity? 

Just like any other form of social media, hashtags will benefit your account by categorizing your posts with related topics. However, be cautious of hashtags like #digitalmarketing, which has 478.3 million posts, because you do not want your video to get lost among those other millions of posts. In addition, TikTok creates weekly trending hashtags relating to its sponsors. For example, Chewy, a pet product retailer, partnered with TikTok to create #chewychattypets. Not only does this hashtag encourages users to create pet-related videos, but it also optimizes these posts. If these trending hashtags connect to parts of your business, use them!  

We also recommend finding the ideal posting time for your business. For example, our research found that Tuesdays at 9 a.m. and Thursdays at noon work well with our audience demographics; however, like other social platforms, this is custom to each industry.  

TikTok is a fun and exciting new platform to use in digital marketing. But whether you decide to follow trends or create your own, try not to take yourself too seriously!  

We encourage you to look at some of the TikToks we created for Premier Nails Source, Eddie and Sam’s New York Pizza, and Absolute Marketing Solutions for inspiration.

If you are interested in inquiring about social media management, please contact the Absolute Marketing Solutions team.  

Start Preparing Now for Next Year’s Cyber Monday:

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The weekend following Thanksgiving can easily be named one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year. Just this year, Cyber Monday brought over $11 million in sales from over 80 million people. As a small business owner, this opportunity is not one to miss as it can help you reach your short- and long-term sales goals. We suggest that businesses start preparing now for next year’s chaos to ensure that Cyber Monday is a success.

Thankfully, Cyber Monday has made it easier for customers to purchase their holiday gift list with a simple click of a button. Unlike Black Friday, customers no longer need to map out shopping routes, wait in never-ending lines, or fight their way to the cash register. This significant change in retailing has urged more consumers to order online. To prepare for a large number of shoppers visiting your online store, we suggest updating the speed of your website. You can measure this through Google’s Paid Speed Insights. Note that your website should ideally load in less than three seconds. If your website does not load within that time range, there is a high chance that users may move on to your competitor’s site.

You can additionally use your website to promote offers running exclusively on Cyber Monday. This campaign can create a sense of urgency for customers who may be browsing your website before November 29. As an example, try revealing weekly deals on hot products leading up to Cyber Monday. If your website utilizes cookies, you can track whether a customer has viewed these offers, and therefore, tailer their future visit around this information.

Since there will be a large number of online traffic, it may be helpful to have a customer service team available to answer questions and assist customers with any problems. An effective customer service team can be easy to reach on multiple platforms, such as phone, email, social media, or online chatbot.

As explained in our previous blog, Direct Marketing Solutions, direct marketing can also be an effective tactic to use when communicating with your customers. If your business has established a mailing list, we recommend utilizing the subscriber’s information to send specific details about Cyber Monday. By directly contacting customers, there is an immediate sense of loyalty felt between the recipient and business. You could use this relationship to offer brand advocates a pre-access code to Cyber Monday deals or a product sample with a specific purchase. If successful, this promotional style will translate to word-of-mouth marketing through their advocation for your business.

Although loyal customers are always beneficial to a business, it is important to reach new customers too. To do this, we recommend using social media to inform and engage prospects about your Cyber Monday offers. At Absolute Marketing Solutions, we like to use Instagram and Facebook ads to reach a larger audience. These platforms allow you to track analytics relating to your advertisement and can be easily managed. To differentiate your Cyber Monday advertisements from others, use hashtags like #cybermonday, #shopsmall, or #cybersales.

Although many other promotional tactics can be used to market a business during Cyber Monday, we have selected these specific methods to ensure success in sales.

If you have any questions regarding promotional or marketing tactics, please contact one of our experts at Absolute Marketing Solutions.

Brands Aren’t Made in Factories, nor Photoshop 

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For the past few years, Forbes has named Apple, Google, and Microsoft the top leading brands in the world. Like most people, I am sure you were picturing their logos as you simultaneously read this statistic. If this is the case, you have successfully exhibited brand recognition with these multibillion-dollar companies.

Although the mentioned companies have many financial resources to help build a positive brand image, it is not to say that a small business cannot do the same. Based on our experience, we have found that small businesses either do not understand the importance of a brand or believe that their product represents the brand itself. However, building a brand around your product is essential in conveying a business’s message. To understand this dilemma better, we have provided some common questions received from clients about branding. 

“Is it too late to create a brand?” 

Branding impacts all aspects of a business, regardless of the age of your business. If you have been in business for a few years, there is a high chance that you have created an accidental brand. An accidental brand occurs when a company unconsciously designs a brand based on the established characteristics of the business. For example, your company may be known for its convenience, authenticity, quality, or customer service. You can use these qualities to your advantage by delivering a consistent brand promise that conveys your company’s mission. If successful, your business can achieve positive brand equity. 

“What does a brand need besides a logo?” 

While a logo helps gain brand recognition, there are many more aspects that can help create a brand. In fact, a brand’s identity is what truly helps a brand gain its presence. These characteristics can include a company’s color palette, font, tagline, tone, or perceived value. Nevertheless, we have noticed that most small businesses don’t pay attention to these details when establishing their brand identity. When branding for a client, the Absolute Marketing Solutions team does extensive research on the meanings of colors, fonts, and shapes before producing multiple examples to present to our clients. Depending on their feedback, we may have to restart the entire process. This method seems tedious now, but it is understood that a logo can be a company’s most valuable intangible asset. 

“I need social media marketing, not branding…”

Branding is part of everything you do in a business; therefore, your brand should influence your company’s culture and content. For instance, our Social Media Manager works hard to mimic our client’s brand when creating content for social media. These details include the caption, emojis, filter, and pictures she chooses to post. In many cases, we have found that consistency provokes interest and following on social media. Without an established brand, customers may get confused about what your company is trying to deliver. 

“Isn’t promotion the same thing as branding?” 

In short, the answer is no! Promotion is a form of marking communication in which the publicization of a product, organization, or venture increases sales or public awareness. The most successful form of promotion pushes branded products towards consumers. One of our clients, Eddie and Sam’s NY Pizza, has a popular style of pizza that is crafted with authentic New York water. This factor is an advantage for Eddie and Sam’s that pulls customers in to taste their product. When we recently created coupons for them, many consumers were already aware of the brand, and therefore, utilized this form of promotion. In the end, this promotion would not have been as successful if Eddie and Sam’s had not established the proper branding before the campaign.

As you can see, a business’s brand takes time to establish and should be professionally crafted. As a small business, a recognizable and preferred brand is essential when building awareness, esteem, and loyalty.

If you have any questions about branding or logo design, please contact one of our experts at Absolute Marketing Solutions.