As the founder of Born Intelligence, I have learnt a thing or two about surviving in business. And as a female entrepreneur, I know and understand that there are battles that need to be fought Fiercely on a daily basis to make ends meet.
Today more and more women opt to build their own business and break through the glass ceiling and moulds set out by previous norms. I believe the rise of female entrepreneurship is both essential and a great opportunity.
To celebrate Women’s Month in South Africa we’ve asked my dear friend and the phenomenal Candice Malan – Head of Sales at Elite Inc – to share her opinion on women in business.
This is Candice’s encouraging advice on entrepreneurship especially for women:
The Path to be a Women in Business
We often hear so many women wanting to start a business as a sign of independence, growth and liberation. And yet, not a lot of women really know where to get started with a business.
There once was a point in time in my life that I just wasn’t sure of where to get started, what sort of business model I should think of or even where to begin. I had so many ideas running through my mind and because I don’t come from a family of entrepreneurs it made it even more difficult as I had no-one to talk to.
That is where a light-bulb moment came up for me, if I cannot find what I am looking for why not be that. If it is a problem I am facing then surely other women should have the same problem.
And that is why I am proud to say today I help aspiring women entrepreneurs to succeed online. The biggest challenge a woman faces every day is time. Let’s face it, if we aren’t running around to get kids ready for school, it is running around to pack lunch boxes, then rushing to work, rushing back to pick up the kids, do homework with them, and prepare dinner, etc. I have always felt there is a constant rush to get things done and at the end of the day I feel so exhausted I don’t even have energy left to enjoy simple little things like quality time around the dinner table. Working for a boss or someone else has been the biggest challenge preventing me from “not rushing” all the time. Since I have been an entrepreneur, working from home, I get to spend more quality time with my family and still have enough me-time to be a happy woman too. I get to enjoy the simple things in life like waking up in the mornings, enjoying a cup of coffee and just hear the birds chirping. I am present at the moment because my mind isn’t busy with the next thing I tick off my checklist. I believe all women deserve the same opportunity to enjoy life, to enjoy themselves, be successful, have a great family and also have a thriving business. It gives me so much meaning to have helped other female entrepreneurs do exactly the same by working through a mentorship program and actually achieve great results.
We developed a 6 Month mentorship that helps aspiring entrepreneurs to start their very own successful online business whilst working under our guidance. We have seen huge successes from our female clients as they build their confidence with new entrepreneurial skills, they are now able to spend more time with their kids and family and at the same time feel great about the contribution they make towards their clients.
It all starts with making a decision, committing towards yourself that you are going to do it and then follow through on your decision which means taking action and putting in the hard work.
If you have ever thought of starting a business because you have more to give the world than to just do a normal job, then now is the time to take action.
For women’s month, we have a very special opportunity to book a breakthrough coaching call with me to help you on an individual basis to plan your future online business. In this personal breakthrough coaching session, I will dive deeper into your dreams and aspirations plus put you on a clear path to starting your very own business.
Click below to book your personal breakthrough coaching call with me now, there are only a few spots left!
It is the most empowering thing you can do for yourself, and in turn also set an example for those around you.
Déonne Le Roux Website Redesign & Development
Déonne Le Roux Jewellers is a family run business and is recognised as THE designer jeweller in Gauteng. They were established in 1979 and their two branches and factory employee a team of over 30 highly skilled and motivated staff. Not only do they create beautiful masterpieces, but they have also aligned with world-renowned brands like Montblanc, Tag Heuer and Breitling.
Our paths crossed with Déonne as he wanted to up his game in the jewellery world, starting with his website and Digital Marketing.
The Challenge:
The Déonne Le Roux Jewellers website was outdated, hard to navigate and not so mobile-friendly. Furthermore, some of the information was hard to find and there were inconsistencies with the overall design. Overall the website was not appealing to the eye and didn’t have the best user experience.
Déonne wanted a new and improved site design that counter all the flaws and showcase his beautiful jewellery with a similar beautiful website. He needed to reposition the company in the market and wanted to attract a fresher, younger market. The key aspects were that it should be appealing, easy to navigate and create a lasting and memorable user experience.
Above all of these visual aspects, Deonne wanted a website that was optimized for speed and performance with a high SEO rate. He also wanted a lower bounce rate with more conversions.
The Solution:
The objectives that we needed to meet was quite challenging. The Born Team collaborated and strategised various ideas to offer a solution to the challenging website redesign, keeping in mind the marketing opportunities.
Shanei, our head web designer – designed and conceptualized a complete new look and user experience of the website. The design included interactive new features, a complete redesign that introduced a playful new colour scheme coupled with beautiful visuals that tells the story of The Designer Jeweller.
The development team kicked off the project and brought the interactive design to life. Working endless hours the website was eventually finalized and the end product… well that you can judge for yourself!
The Results:
The new updated design is slick and modern, perfectly tailored for a refreshed audience. Like a breath of fresh air! The site is more user-friendly, the site speed and performance have also improved significantly and new features were brought in to easily have an overview of the products available.
The bounce rate has gone down tremendously and the conversions have improved far beyond our expectations. We are proud to confirm that the site has an optimized SEO score of 100% and the website speed is under 3 seconds on mobile. A very good Google Rating if we might add… (one of the best amongst other jeweller websites)
The Deonne Le Roux website redesign and development was an exciting project to work on. We are delighted to have achieved the results and were able to serve the Déonne le Roux brand with a fresh new look that will keep on giving results.
Thinking about getting your website redesigned and developed?
Testimonial by Déonne Le Roux
5 Ways to Stay Connected with Your Customers
Especially during a Time of Social Distancing
In the last couple of months, have you wondered how your marketing tactics can be influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic? Or if your business is even going to survive?
Nobody wants to run out of business. Ultimately, it is your job as a business leader to change with the times and keep your business afloat. You have to find ways to still be relevant to your customers, show you care and stay connected to them.
The pandemic has all of us adjusting to a new normal. Social distancing keeps people physically apart, which makes it might seem difficult to make meaningful connections with clients and customers. However, we know this doesn’t have to be the case. The big question: how do you stay connected with your customers in a social-distancing time?
1. Understand that this is the time to offer HELP, not hype…
The first thing a marketer looks at is an opportunity, and many companies have used the pandemic as an opportunity to sell. Take for example how companies promoted masks, sanitizers and other essentials. Prices hiked and all marketing materials related to only those products. At first glance, this seems like a good strategy. You make an enormous amount of sales for a short time and then what?
Rather than creating a short term hype, we believe you should create long term connections by offering actual help to your customers. Find common ground and offer help and solutions to problems they might be facing at the moment. Make your solutions known to them with an entry level offer.
Let say you have a small business that provides baby clothing. A new mom will be wary of going to public places to buy clothes, offer FREE shipping/Delivery on purchases. This will provide a solution to a problem or concern the mom or mom-to-be is facing.
2. We all love a Good Story – TELL YOURS
Our human brains are hardwired for stories. We all enjoy a good story and now we’re all sharing a similar experience. Connect to your customers by sharing your personal version of what is going on. How are you managing to work from home? How do you keep active? How are you spending your evening? Tell people what your new normal is like so that they can identify with you.
This will give viewers something that they can relate to and engage with. How you are handling a situation can be a solution or inspiration for someone else. (keep that in mind)
3. Be present. Be visible.
If you don’t show up in this time of need, how can you expect your customers too? You should be approachable, visible and easily accessible. This is the perfect time to boost your social media presence, share info about your company and post visuals about your products. Virtual consultations and easily accessible information with a strong strategy, will help keep your customer connections strong.
You can use social media campaigns to boost your social connections with customers by using the right strategy. Go beyond just posting organic content, make use of advertised posts and get your message out there. This is an exciting way to connect to a wider audience.
4. Use Emotions & GIFs
Face it, you have been flooded with emotions and GIFs these last couple of months. Feelings of fear, distress, sadness and worry is a quick summary of emotions we’ve all been feeling. Companies that are using fear and uncertainty to promote and sell their products won’t be winning long term loyalty from customers. To genuinely connect with your customers you need to show that you care and value their safety.
Marketing messaging that conveys a feeling of care, safety, trust and comfort will help customers and prospects perceive your company as genuinely caring. This will improve your long term customer loyalty as people will remember you as being there for them in their time of need. This will also help you build long standing relationships with your customers…
5. Offer Options and Answers
With this pandemic in mind, we’re all in the same storm but in a different boat. Each person, household and business are going through the same pandemic but how it affects each of them is different. Think about your customer demographics and how they might experience the pandemic different to someone else. Say for example in a household the parents have to suddenly homeschool their children whilst working from home. Or people of old age are particularly vulnerable to the virus but are still in need of basic home essentials. You can use this information to offer a solution to the problem they are facing.
While things change day by day we as business leaders need to adapt to the new normal. We may be physically separated from our loved ones, colleagues, clients and everyone else but now is the opportunity to be closer and more authentic than ever.
Something to keep in mind with your marketing strategy; if you take care of your customers in the present, they’ll be there for you in the future.
Need help to stay connected to your customers with an updated marketing strategy? We can help create a personalised and well-strategised marketing plan to keep you connected.
How to create an undeniable offer in a competitive market
3 ways to create an offer of value
Whether you are a small to medium-sized business or a big corporate company you either have products or services that you sell to your customers. Your sales are actually what keeps you in business, isn’t it?
As an entrepreneur, you understand the importance of sales and how difficult it can get. But do you know how to boost your sales?
The answer is to create an undeniable offer! Something that people just can’t say no too. In this blog, we’ll discuss 3 ways how you can build an undeniable offer.
Before we start with how to create an offer we first have to look at what exactly an offer is. Think about your business, what are you selling? Let’s say for example you have a furniture shop your products will include sofas, chairs and tables. Or you have butchery and you sell meat and poultry.
An offer is a collection of products with an added value that helps to use the core product. In simple terms, it is the added value items that you can use with your core product. These added value items are why your customers buy your products instead of your competitor’s. If you add more value to your products the more people will buy it.
Our formula to use is:
Offer = Core Product + Value add
Now we get to the good stuff! How you can create an undeniable offer by using this easy formula mentioned above.
3 Ways to Create an Offer
1 – Create other value options for your customers
This is without a doubt the easiest way to add value to your products. ‘Offer stacking’ refers to adding more products to your core product and selling that as a package deal.
Supposing you have the latest and best non-stick pan on the market. You sell one medium size pan for R100. Now you decide to create an offer stack. You offer your customers 3 different pan sizes, an easy cleaning wipe, a Free Recipe book and access to a Private Cooking Channel for only R500. Chances are that people will rather buy the stacked offer for R500. This is because they perceive the value of the bundle to be of more value than just buying one pan.
The key here is to add more value to your core product. In the example above you don’t just get a pan, you get advice on what foods you can prepare and how to clean it for more durability. Use this in your business for whatever product or service you sell.
2 – Sell your ‘core offer’ through a really good story
In the sales world, we often hear that ‘selling is not telling’. And that is so true! Selling a product or service is about asking the right questions and sharing stories that will help a prospective client self-discover their own need for your product or service. Something you should always keep in mind is that people do not buy features and benefits, they buy solutions to problems.
You sell a product or service that solves a problem right? If you do you most likely have success stories of people who have actually used your product to solve a problem that they had. Sell your product with a story.
The essence of selling a product with a good story is to pull on your customer’s heart strings and addressing their problem they might have or their desire. Showcase the feelings that the reader relates to. This is done through a sales letter or video where you showcase a true testimony of someone that had similar problems and feeling to that of your reader, and how your product was a solution.
Let’s take a gym for example. You have a high tech gym with all the latest equipment and training programs to help weight loss. One of your clients has had a gym subscription for one year and lost more than 30kg, met their toning and muscle building goals and now they are living their best life thanks to your gym. Having a testimonial story showcasing the emotional battle this person endured trying to lose weight will be something your prospect can relate too. This creates the perfect opportunity to sell a gym subscription as the reader will see that your product had a real-life effect for someone else.
3 – Increase the value of your offer that’s different from your competitors
A saying we love is that ‘Value is in the eye of the beholder’. Which basically just says that the person who will be using your product will determine what value the offer has to them.
Advertising pioneer, Claude Hopkins, showcased this with an example from the book Scientific Advertising Origins. He gave a scenario where two men offered a horse for sale. Both horses were presented equally good. One man said “ Try the horse for a week. If you’re not happy, come back for your money. The other man said, “Try the horse for a week and then come back and pay me”. Hopkins said “I naturally bought the second mans horse.”
In the scenario no extra products have been offered, no sales letter has been used but the guarantee was the thing that made the offer undeniable. The second offer was exactly the same as the first but the guarantee (offer) was different.
Naturally, people tend to buy offers that perceive to be of more value to them. In the competitive world, we’re in today your guarantee needs to be different from your competitor. For example if your competitor offers a money-back guarantee offer a Free Trial. Find that something that makes your offer unique and of higher value.
BONUS!!
Tips to use when creating an offer:
- Identify a core problem that people are struggling with and how your product/offer can provide a solution.
- Remember that your perception of ‘value’ can differ from that of your customer. Be in the mindset about what your ideal customer values.
- People want to be able to make a decision. Build an offer that they want to say yes too.
- Don’t be afraid to ask a high price – your perception of price is not your customer’s perception of value. Your customer will pay a high price if the offer is valuable to them.
Need some help creating a valuable offer? Not sure where to begin stacking your offer? We can help! Get in touch with us today and start adding more value to your customers with undeniable offers.
Our 5 tip guide on How to add value for your customers:
Adding value is an important tactic that can be used by all business to acquire and retain customers, increase brand awareness and differentiate your business in the marketplace. Not sure where to start? Here is our 5 tip guide on how to add value for your customers.
1. Always consider your customers’ perspective
Creating added value starts with the ability to see your business through the eyes of your customers. Consider what is important to your target market and how your product/service will actually benefit them. Answer the following questions: what problems do your offer solve?, How will it help overcomes obstacles or in general help improve their lives or their business?
Many businesses tend to focus only on the features of their products instead of the benefits thereof. By shifting your focus to providing content that focuses on your customers’ needs you’ll build a relationship and trust with your customer. Focus on the benefits your offer has and how it helps your customer instead of just selling a product.
Our pro tip is to create a customer avatar that will help provide insights about your current and future customers. This will help assist you to create content tailored to what they find meaningful and what they would engage with. The tailored content you share with your audience will provide added value to your customers.
2. Keep working on customer satisfaction
In the business world, there will always be an endless debate on whether the customer is always right (or not). However, something that is evident is that lack of customer satisfaction is a sure way to keep people from coming back. Just think about it; you probably had an awful customer experience somewhere in your life – did you go back to that company? Probably not… The same thing will happen in your business if your customers are not satisfied. Getting honest feedback on a regular basis will help you keep up to date on how your customers feel about your business and what areas need improvement. You can use survey tools, survey emails or even a one-on-one conversation with your customer. The results of the feedback from the surveys can help create an action plan on how to improve your experience quick and effectively. You’ll be adding value to customers as their insights and feedback seems valuable to you.
3. Create a memorable experience
Businesses with unforgettable customer experiences are more likely to benefit from word-of-mouth referrals, positive online reviews and higher retention rates. When getting started, you’ll need to consider all aspects of your business, from initial lead capture to post-purchase communication and how to properly maximize the added value for the customer throughout the process. Building a customer experience also allows you to develop relationships with your customers so you can connect on levels that go past simply getting the sale.
Most importantly, memorable customer experience models aim to deliver unexpected intangible value that cannot be packaged or sold. This includes personalized service, attend to detail and showing a sense of urgency to address concerns as they arise.
4. Don’t overlook the value of FREE
Whether it’s a free guide, a printable PDF, a branded calendar or even an ebook, free items are a great way to create added value and showcase your business’s ability to offer a ‘little something extra’ to your customers. Free items can serve as tools to help grow your business awareness and expose your target audience to various products and services you offer. Remember, although you may be offering a free offer, it has to be relevant to your market and audience. Furthermore, you should always be consistent with your business’s overall purpose.
For example, if you have a gym it would not make sense to give out discount coupons to the local doughnut shop. A free fitness training program will be the logical choice.
5. Offer Loyalty Discounts
Offering your loyal customer additional discounts or special offers on upgrade packages/products will also add value. Rewarding customer loyalty can build an even stronger bond while also only providing discounts to customers who already spend money with you. Giving your customers the opportunity to buy upgrade packages or exclusive products at a discounted rate can boost your sales extensively and your customers will be spreading the word about your business offer – bonus you get free marketing. Therefore adding value to your customers and prospects will end up adding value to your business.
These 5 tips will help you think about a few ways you can add value now and in the future for your prospects and customers. Need some more advice on how to get started? We can assist you to create a valuable offer and personalised customer experience with our lead generation expertise. Get in touch with us today.
One Internet Minute
Everything you need to know about 60 seconds in the internet world.
Just how much can you get done in a single minute – probably just a quick task or two, if you’re lucky. It’s often hard enough to get everything you need done in a 6-8 hour work shift, let alone a minute or two. One thing we often say to ourselves is, “is it that time already?” or “where did the time go?”
Just thinking about how there never seems to be enough time in a day makes it kind of hard to believe all that happens on the Internet, in just a single minute. We all know that during huge events like award shows and sports games, we often hear that there were thousands of tweets sent per minute. Surprisingly, that’s just a small percentage of the things happening on the Internet during that time.
Visual Capitalist research team, Lori Lewis and Officially Chadd compiled data about exactly what happens in one minute on the internet. In the graph below each major platform on the internet like Google Search, Facebook Logins, Online Shopping Stats and more are showcased.
Source: Officially Chadd – Lori Lewis
It’s unbelievable to think that all of this happens in only 60 seconds! However, there is significant value in these stats and using this to your advantage can expand your business tremendously.
Something that stands out is definitely brand strength. Companies like Google, Facebook, Netflix and YouTube have brand strength that we can’t begin to describe. Think about it, you know exactly what all those business present to their users, you most likely know how their branding looks, you talk about content you have seen on these platforms. These brands are driving word of mouth without even trying. And why is that? Their brand strength speaks volumes. People engage with them because they provide the user with an effortless experience and quality product/service.
Wondering how the brand plays a role? Well, companies branding are elements that are showcased throughout their visibility. And social media is the best place to promote your brands’ values to a wide audience.
Social media plays a big part in an internet minute as you can see above. With over 1.4 million logins to Facebook and more than 600 000 images scrolled on Instagram, it shows people spend a lot of time on these platforms – especially if you think that these are just the numbers of a single minute! As a business owner and entrepreneur, you need to understand the value that this can bring for you. Being visible online where potential customers are scrolling can be an opportunity for your business.
People tend to engage socially with brands and explore their offers if they connect with the brand. If you can speak to your audience about thing they appreciate and value you have a personal connection which drives sales. Your content provides knowledge to the interested audience about you and what makes you different to your competitor. It gives the ability for the viewer to build a relationship with you. Trust is what sells. Want to start building an online strategy? See the link below.
Furthermore, one of the key stats for us is the 4.1 Milion Google Search queries. All of those searches in just one minute – that’s impressive. Now think about it in one minute 4.1 million people searched for something specific, what if only a ¼ of the searches were exactly what your offering to people? Wouldn’t it be fantastic if those searches ended on your site and bought your product?
The key is to be actively visible on Google not just with a website but with ads as well. You need to be visible to everyone actively searching for what you have to offer. Google Ads are an investment to your company and we can help to make that investment profitable to you.
Some tips for you to use:
- Be meaning full and create conversations with your audiences.
- Be visible where people are searching
- Engage with the people that take the time to interact with your content
- Listen and understand what your audience wants and give them exactly that
- Don’t be afraid to spend money on paid posts and ads
- Be creative with your content
In the business world, you’re not always going to hit it out of the park however if we try to understand what is happening around us – every 60 seconds, we can get it just right! Make sure you are seen in those internet minutes…
Don’t know where to start with your online strategy? We can assist with getting your business out there effectively. Get in touch with us today for a free consultation to get your business out there – the right way.
Digital Marketing vs Traditional Marketing
Digital marketing vs traditional marketing: what’s the difference between the two and which one should you use? Selecting the right marketing type is an age-old question on every marketer’s mind. Here’s everything you need to know.
Defining digital and traditional marketing
To get a better understanding, let us start by defining these two marketing terms.
Traditional marketing
“Traditional marketing refers to any promotion, advertising or campaign that has been in use by companies for years, and that has a proven success rate. Methods of traditional marketing can include print advertisements, billboards, flyers or pamphlets, TV, newspaper, radio, direct mail, door to door and much more.
Traditional marketing refers to the conventional methods of marketing used for decades as stated above. These have all been ideal mediums for business owners to market their products or services to the masses. And for many years these were the only ways to advertise your business.
Digital Marketing
“Digital marketing is the promoting of goods and services via computers, smartphones, mobile phones (both SMS and MMS), smartphone apps, email, social media, display advertising, search engine marketing, video games and so on.
Nowadays, for your business to thrive, you need a digital marketing strategy. As noted here, in this digital economy, only the companies and entrepreneurs that are adaptable to change in their marketing strategies will succeed especially with the change of the scenery thanks to Covid-19… If you don’t maintain your change management and appear dynamic to serve your customers in a better more efficient way in order to grow with the times and you business, you might stand the chance to lose your business.
What is the main difference?
Through defining both marketing methods it is clear that the main difference between digital and traditional marketing is the medium through which an audience encounters a marketing message.
In today’s day and age, it’s not strange to hear that traditional marketing is ‘old fashioned’. However, traditional marketing still plays an important role in people’s lives with the ever-growing need to step out of the digital world.
Similarly, digital marketing is just as important as traditional – if not more so. Digital marketing uses every touchpoint of your daily use of the internet. Think about it, if you recently searched for father’s day gifts, the chances are that you’ve seen a tailored sponsored ad from let’s say Takealot or another gifting company.
Using the internet for several hours every day is part of our normal lives – well for most people. We sometimes spend more time on the internet then we watch TV. Digital marketing just uses this to its advantage by cleverly tapping into various digital channels to communicate various marketing messages.
Which type of marketing should I use?
There is no right or wrong answer, each campaign is different and has different goals. The key to a great marketing campaign is to find the perfect balance between traditional and digital and choose the channels where you can measure your ROI. In 2020, both digital and traditional marketing play an important role in any marketing strategy, especially when used together.
Although both digital and traditional are important there are some pros and cons to both. Let’s get the specifics and define the differences between digital marketing and traditional marketing and their pros and cons.
Traditional Marketing
With the rise of social media and online ads, traditional marketing is sometimes overlooked by marketers. However, traditional marketing is still very relevant today. If your marketing budget allows it you can share your campaigns in magazines, prime time TV and more.
Some traditional marketing channels include:
- Print medium like printing your brochures and catalogues to reach customers and spark an interest
- Outdoor Billboards, TV Screens, posters and vehicle wraps
- Broadcasting on radio and TV
- Print Ads in Magazines and Newspapers
- Window Displays and Signage etc.
Pros of Traditional Marketing
- Impactful and easy to understand
A visually striking billboard or TV commercial is part of most people’s daily lives. They are easy to take in and can be entertaining. - Printed marketing resources are more permanent
If you have a printed ad in a magazine or newspaper or even some printed signage it will be there until it gets recycled or thrown out. Therefore you can reuse it or it will be visible to anyone that sees it in the future. For example, if you have an ad in the latest Lifestyle Magazine, in 4 months time when you look through the magazine it will still be there. - More memorable
It’s in human nature to remember something in real life rather than on your phone. Seeing a memorable billboard ad or a beautiful and impressive window display is more likely to stay in your mind longer than an Instagram ad you’ll probably scroll past in seconds.
Cons of Traditional Marketing
- Very difficult to measure the campaigns ROI (Return on Investment)
Traditional marketing is extremely hard to measure in-depth as opposed to measuring tools for digital marketing
- Often expensive
In business, marketing is a great expense especially if you opt for traditional marketing campaigns. Many forms of traditional marketing like magazine spreads and TV ads cost a considerable amount. - No direct interaction with the consumer
Another downside is the fact that you have no direct interaction with your consumer. Unlike social media marketing, you are more or less in the dark about your audience’s reaction to your marketing efforts.
Digital marketing
However impactful traditional marketing is, we can’t overlook the fact that we are living in the internet age.
According to Statista, almost 4.57 billion people are active internet users, encompassing 59% of the global population. Furthermore, people spend an average of almost 7 hours online each day. That is a mind-boggling amount of time and opportunity to do some attention-grabbing digital marketing.
Digital Marketing channels include:
– Social media
– Websites and PPC Advertising
– Content marketing
– Affliate marketing
– Email Marketing etc.
Pros of Digital Marketing
- More options for engagement
Channels like social media make it possible to see in real time what your audience thinks of your brand and marketing efforts. If your audience interacts with your content you know you’re doing something right.
- Easy to measure your campaigns
Quite the opposite to traditional marketing, the specifics of digital marketing tracking is exceptionally in depth. This allows you to see exactly what your audience likes about your campaigns and what you can improve to get better results. - Makes targeting easy
One of our favourite aspects of digital marketing is the possibility to target specific audiences. This makes it possible to target your ads to only show to your ideal customer instead of broadcasting to everyone out there.
Cons of Digital Marketing
- Digital Ads are often deemed as annoying
Unfortunately with everyone being on the internet and constantly scrolling through social media and online content digital ads can be seen as annoying. So don’t be annoying, create striking and original ads… - Constant changes
To really get the most out of digital marketing is to keep on learning. Each channel is different and has its own structure of what works best. On top of that, each platform keeps changing to stay up to date with new user patterns. Keeping up to date to use all the various digital platforms can be difficult.
Find what works for you
In the end, both types of marketing have their advantages and disadvantages, however, the key is understanding your specific marketing needs and considering your budget. Both digital and traditional marketing can work for you as long as you know your audience. Digital marketing is much more budget-friendly and a forgiving marketing platform than traditional marketing
Born Intelligence is a marketing agency that combines both traditional and digital marketing strategies to achieve the best results for all our customers. Our marketing strategies are based on our client’s needs and goals. Need a new and improved market strategy for your next campaign? Get in contact with us today.
The importance of Lead Generation for your business
A phrase you’ve been hearing a lot about is “lead generation”. Rightfully so the most talked about topic in the marketing world is lead generation. And if you haven’t heard of it… well here is your chance to learn about it now!
You might be wondering what is lead generation? How does it help my business? How does it work? What techniques are used to generate leads? Well, luckily we’re here to explain and clarify exactly what lead generation is and why it is important for your business.
Be it that you have a small startup business or you are a massive multi-million corporation, you need customers to buy your products or services. And having customers buying what you have to offer is like playing in the big final world cup. You will only win if you have the right players in your team. Similarly, you have to have the RIGHT leads (prospective customers) to buy your products. The big question is how to get the RIGHT LEADS?
What is a lead?
Let’s begin by first defining what a lead is. By definition, a lead is anyone who expressed a desire for your product/service. A lead can come through many sources like your website, social media platforms, word of mouth or even a phone call. Using the right Digital Marketing Strategy can bring an outstanding amount of leads.
Think about it, without any leads you can’t make any sales. However, not all leads will be buying customers. You want to attract leads that will turn into buying customers without putting in too much effort.
Generating Leads
Now you might be asking, “How do I generate the RIGHT leads?” Valuable thought!
Many years ago, leads were developed by meeting people, cold calling, door to door sales and purchasing lists. And as any salesperson knows those methods had various flaws and was extremely time-consuming.
Luckily, thanks to advanced technology we now have various lead generation options. In particular online lead generation is the key method of choice.
What is online lead generation?
Online lead generation can be coined as the most important aspect of online marketing, which refers to developing an interest in your products or services by providing users with information. Basically, it is creating a desire so much that a person has to buy it.
Lead generation is however just the start of the process which ultimately leads to prospects turning into regular buyers down the line. Therefore, having a lead generation strategy is essential for you and your business.
Why is it important?
Take a step back and visualize your business. Think about your sales team and how they are selling your product or service.
- What happens when they don’t have anyone to sell your offer too?
- Do they sit around and wait for someone to pop up or do they actively keep on searching for new customers?
- Do they spread the word about your offer to almost everyone just to make the sale even though the person won’t be interested at all?
If you have said yes to any of the above questions it most likely means that you are targeting the wrong audience and wasting your money and valuable time. The solution for this is lead generation.
Lead generation is targeted to specific audiences that fit your ideal client and people already interested in your product or service. This means the RIGHT people are directed to your salespeople, which in return means more conversions that help gain more profit.
By effectively targeting the right people that already have a desire for your offer you will save time and money by not having to sell your offering to people not interested at all.
How?
Now you might be thinking “Wow this is all great. But how do I implement this and start selling to the right people? The awesome thing is there are endless ways to get started.
Search engines and social media is a top priority. You’ve heard it for years – “you need to have an online presence”. This is vital! You need to be where people are searching. When a potential client is searching for something they head to Google or Facebook. Therefore you need to have a website and social pages that distinctly grabs the attention of the prospect. Below is a bonus list of things to implement on all your online platforms.
BONUS: 4 Important tactics to use for Lead Generation
- CONTENT IS KING
Your content provides knowledge to the interested audience about you and what makes you different to your competitor. It gives the ability for the viewer to build a relationship with you. Trust is what sells. - SOCIAL MEDIA
More than 2 billion people use various social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Use this to engage with your audiences and get them to share your information with other people. - SEO
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an essential process to rank your website in top positions on search engines. The better you rank the more traffic you’ll get. More traffic = more sales - HIRING A LEAD GEN SPECIALIST
The best advice we can give is to hire a lead generation specialist. To read more on our customer service and testimonials visit our about us page.! You can find out more here to hire us as your lead gen specialist!.
Lead generation in a summary
Lead generation is a very cost-effective and result-providing solution to all types of businesses that need to get new customers. More qualified leads turn to more customers. More customers lead to more profits, which is essential to grow your business.
Now it is time to get your lead generation strategy going! Need some advice on how to get started or improve your strategy? Contact us today for a free consultation.
The Endless Debate between which platform is better: Facebook Ads or Google Ads
The number one repeated question: “Which platform is better for me, Google Ads or Facebook Ads?”. Our clients have asked this question so much it should be on our FAQ’s page. All jokes aside, the answer almost always is “it depends”.
Both platforms are excellent and yes one can be better than the other. However, it depends on your business, your audiences, your budget and what you aim to achieve.
We at Born Intelligence understand that businesses often have limiting marketing budgets and deciding where to use their ad spend can be challenging. Let alone fully understanding the different platforms can be just as challenging. Therefore we have taken it upon ourselves to clarify the differences for you and help make the decision of which platform to use.
Let’s dive into the big debate on Google Ads vs Facebook Ads.
Fundamental Difference between Google Ads and Facebook Ads
Wondering what the fundamental difference between the platform is? We will explain via a scenario. Picture this:
You want to workout from home. The first thing you do is head on to Google to search for the perfect workout plan to follow. You found it – Yeah for you! But some exercises are completely foreign to you so you head to YouTube for a video tutorial on how to do it. Now you’re working out and feeling great about yourself so you share the news on social media platforms. You scroll through Facebook and BOOM you see an ad for the latest Workout Boosters and you immediately stock up on your workout essentials.
Most people go through a similar online journey when buying products whether it is actively searching or finding it on social platforms. That is the key fundamental difference between Facebook and Google Ads.
Facebook is coined as interruptive marketing because people will scroll through the posts of their friends and family and then an ad will pop up. The person wasn’t actively searching for your product but it grabs the person’s attention and immediately creates a desire to buy your product.
Google, on the other hand, is completely different. Google Ads are based on search-driven marketing as people search specifically for something. Google search works with keywords that give all the results that relate to the keyword. Therefore if you have a specific keyword that someone has searched for your ad will pop up. People searching on Google are already in the market to purchase and actively search for a product/service provider.
Basically, Facebook Ads is interruptive marketing and Google Ads are search-based marketing.
Our top tip for you is to determine where you want to position yourself.
Before making a discussion here are a few things you have to consider:
1. Targeting
Effective targeting is the key to a successful campaign. Think about it, if you have a product, for example, a power tool kit and you advertise that to a targeted audience that includes women with babies you’ll most likely just waste your money. However, if you run an Ad campaign targeting specifically men in construction you’ll have a very high ROI.
Both platforms have various targeting aspects including locations, behaviours etc. Facebook has an information overload of user-generated data like personal interests, beliefs, ideologies, and values that can be used in selecting your campaigns targeted audience. Google, on the other hand, showcases ads based purely on keywords and behaviour.
This makes Facebook a wonderful choice for advertisers whose product or service is centred around a specific detail in someone’s life for example birthday or anniversary gifts. However, Google is still a platform that can be used with specific keywords.
2. What you are advertising
The product or service you provide to your customers should also be considered when choosing an online Ad Platform. Facebook and Google offer various ways in which your products are displayed. Facebook tends to be more interactive with videos, images and other creative formats. Facebook offers users the opportunity to interact with your business and ask questions or even share your posts. On the other hand, Google is more direct and guides you to buy exactly what you need without the noise of social media. Therefore if your ad campaign has viral potential like the ability to like, comment and share – this will only add to its reach.
3. Your industry
Ultimately, where you elect to allocate your budget may depend on the industry you’re in. With Facebook and Google, certain industries are more competitive than others and that influences the Ad costs.
Furthermore, the industry you operate in can perform better on Facebook than on Google (and vice-versa). It is important to try out both platforms to see what works best for you and which platform brings your the best ROI.
4. The goal of your campaign
The ultimate goal of advertising is to attract buyers and keep them. However, not all ads go for sales. Like members of a team or business, each campaign plays a unique role in accomplishing the ultimate goal.
As a business owner, you will be familiar with the buyer’s journey or perhaps the sales funnel. In the first stage, you make people aware of the pain, problem or desire. In the second phase, you lead them to see the solution your business offers to fulfil that desire or numb their pain or take it away in its entirety.
In the third stage, you get them to make a decision with you instead of your competition. The final stage is where the buyer takes action and invests in your offer.
For each stage in the buyer’s journey, there are different campaigns that can be used. Facebook is the best platform for the first 2 stages due to the ability to spread viral awareness that Google doesn’t match. However, Google beats Facebook hands down when it comes to drawing bottom-funnel traffic. This is closely linked to buyers ‘intent’ as they are actively searching. After all, that’s why a user navigates to a search engine in the first place. If they’re searching, they’re looking for an answer.
This illustrates why it’s important to combine the two platforms for ultimate results.
5. The numbers ($$$)
Now you’ve heard all the mobo jumbo but your main concern is the money. You want to know where your investment will give you the best results right? Well, let’s get down to business.
The old saying of you get what you pay for is so evident in Ad spend. The more you invest the more your ROI will be. However, we know not everyone can afford to spend thousands of rands and spending your ad spend on the right platform is vital.
When creating your ad campaign it might sometimes appear that you are paying less on the one platform than the other for the same campaign. However, your conversion rate and efficiency might differ. See example below:
Say you have an 8% conversation rate on Facebook and a 3% conversion rate on Google.
- You are paying R8 per click on Facebook and each conversion cost you R100
- You are paying R0.70 per click on Google and each conversion cost you R23.33
In the example above a 1000 clicks on Facebook at R8 per click will cost you R8,000 while 1000 clicks on Google at 70c will cost you R700. With a conversation rate of 8% on Facebook, you will have earned 80 conversations from those thousand clicks. On Google with a 3% conversation rate, you would have earned 30.
This means you could have spent 10 times more on Google generating R300 conversions for R7000 and spend R1000 less than it cost to convert 80 people on Facebook. Therefore a higher conversion rate doesn’t always guarantee efficiency.
A final look
From everything above it is evident that there is no clear answer to which platform is the best. Both Facebook and Google Ads have their own features which makes them great marketing tools. It is also evident that using both Facebook and Google Ads is a potent combination. When you want to decide where to spend your budget let these considerations be a guide to get you started.
Want a professional view for your business and where to spend your money effectively? Get in touch with use today for a free consultation to get your business out there – the right way.
10 Proven Ways to Get New Clients for your Business
The biggest question for all entrepreneurs is “how do I get more customers?”. If you think about it your business means nothing without paying customers. Your customers are the livelihood of your business – without them, you won’t have a business to even start with. You won’t be able to pay bills, salaries or even grow your business.
So how do you get more clients? There’s certainly no one size fits all approach as every business is different. We wish we could write a blog and say do “X, Y and Z” and you’ll have clients knocking on your door immediately. The truth is, getting new clients takes some time, energy and a lot of effort. To really steady the pipeline of new customers you have to invest time into building relationships and trust between you and your prospective clients.
We have compiled a list covering 15 proven ways to get new customers. You might be familiar with some of these at a glance, but we have included helpful advice and tools that you can use to grow your business.
1. Social Media Groups
Social media platforms like Facebook Groups are a powerful tool to utilise. Many people think that Facebook is useless as the organic reach is very small. However, almost every user of Facebook is part of various groups. Joining Groups where your ideal customer hangs out and engaging with them so you can build a lasting relationship.
Eg. If you are a supplier of baby clothes and products, you might want to join groups focused on new mothers, parenthood etc, as the people on the group will be more likely to actually buy your products. Then, rather than spamming and self-promoting be helpful when people ask questions in the group. Add value to their lives to build that steady relationship. Group members will take note of your expertise and will be in contact with you when they want more info.
2. Blog about it – to the right people
You’ve heard it multiple times – CONTENT IS KING! Writing warming content is the best way to communicate with prospects. However, this can also be a downfall if you’re not writing with your ideal client in mind. You have to write blogs that speak to your ideal customer with relevant issues they might be having and want a solution too. Let’s take the example of the baby products business, write blogs that talk about new products or recipes for a healthy baby. If you’re a jeweller write warming content on how to choose a diamond or cleaning tips for your accessories. You get the idea. This will reel them into your site and give you the opportunity to show your immense knowledge in the field.
This is like selling without actually selling. This is an opportunity to really show how well you know your industry and that you can relate to your reader. Ideally, you can add discount codes and shopping links to act as a selling tool.
3. Referrals and Testimonials
This is one of the most obvious and well-known ways to get new clients. Rightfully so as it always works! Having someone that is over the moon with your products and services and actively telling people about you is not just a pat on your back, it brings in new customers who want the same experience.
But you shouldn’t sit around and wait for happy customers to send you their happy testimonials. Jump the gun and ask your clients to give their opinion of your business. Send an email or make a phone call and ask them what they liked and use that to your advantage. Make it part of your client process and ask customers for feedback after their purchase. Not only will this bring in new clients it will also give you the opportunity to identify problem areas in your business and improve them.
4. Be Social
Social media builds trust and expands your reach to potential customers. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter are used by billions of people around the world which make social media a wonderful platform to reach your target audience. The key to your social content is not to be all about making sales. Your clients want to do business with real people and creating a mix of social content that includes behind the scenes snippets, team photos and normal life in the office, builds a special kind of trust. This trust will encourage your clients to buy from you.
The added bonus to social media is the hype and excitement it builds, especially if you include people. Let’s say for example you are a wedding photographer; you share a recent wedding shot whilst tagging the couple and talking about the experience of shooting their wedding. The couple will be excited about the photo, start sharing the posts and engaging with all the love received from other viewers. Other couples will see the post and all the interaction with it and think “I want that photographer for our wedding too!”. And boom you have another client.
5. Pump up your SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a great long-term strategy to drive targeted traffic to your company website and landing pages. You won’t see overnight results with SEO, but with a sound strategy in place, you can drive traffic over time and convert visitors into paying clients.
Decide on keywords that describe your business (get as specific as possible) and think of terms people would search to find you. Use those keywords and phrases and bump up your SEO. This is an incredible way to get a stream of clients who are actively searching for what you have to offer. They are already in the market they just have to find you (possible the easiest sale you can make).
6. Try Online Ads
In digital marketing, online ads are the new proven way to get customers. We suggest looking into Facebook and Google Ads. Both platforms can be a very effective way to reach your target audience and clients for a small amount of money. What is wonderful is that you can decide how much you are willing to spend. Facebook Ads allows you to create specific audiences to show your ad to. You get the choose from areas like location, gender, pages liked, interests etc. This way your ad is shown to a specific audience that is more likely to buy.
Similarly, Google also has targeting options to narrow who see your ad. The wonderful thing about Google Ads are that the ads only show up if someone did a search using your specified keyword. Which means people already in the buying market will see your ad and once they have shown interest in your business you can make the sale.
With online ads, you can generate leads that are in your specified target audience and you can sell your products and services to your ideal customer.
7. Host a webinar
Webinars are an incredible way to grab new clients. A webinar is a live streaming video “workshop” where you either teach or share advice about something – usually related to your business or product. You can also do a Q & A session with your attendees where you can answer real-life questions customers might have.
Webinars tend to have high conversion rates because they give you the ability to connect with your audience, answer the questions and share your knowledge on the particular subject.
8. Follow Up
Reconnecting with clients is another wonderful way to get new clients. Firstly, you can follow up with potential clients that haven’t purchased yet. Send an email or give a phone call to all prospects that have enquired about your business but haven’t purchased, ask them if they are still interested or if they have any questions before buying.
Similarly, you can follow up with past clients to see if they need any additional help or new products. Make contact to find out if they are still happy with their products and if they would be interested in additional products or services. You can even through in a little discount on a second purchase that will move them to buy again.
9. Collaborate
Collaboration and partnerships are tried and tested way of getting new customers. If you partner with another business you get to tap into their client database and can get potential new customers for you. The partnering company will have the exact same thing with your client base. In reality, it is a win-win situation for both parties.
10. Generate Leads
Generating leads consist of finding prospective clients that could benefit from your products and services, and coming up with a strategy to reach them. In a previous post, we’ve covered in detail what Lead Generation is, the benefits for your business and how to implement it. Read more about it in our Why You Need Lead Generation blog.
Now it’s your turn!
We’ve covered 10 ways to get new customers for your business fast and easy. Now the reality is most people read through this but do not take action. We want you to choose at least 3 of the above strategies and strategize how to implement them in your business right away. You’ll see the results in no time.
Let us know which strategies you’ll be implementing and how they turned out for you. We would love to hear from you.
If you want us to help you, here’s a link to a FREE consultation with one of our experts by clicking HERE.
