Best Practices for Email Marketing

Marketing emails are a great way to reach out to potential customers and promote your products or services. To ensure that your marketing emails are effective, there are a few best practices that you should follow.

First, make sure that your subject line is clear, concise, and attention-grabbing. Your subject line is the first thing that people will see, and it needs to grab their attention and make them want to open your email.

Next, keep your email content focused and to the point. Avoid including too much information or going off on tangents, as this can make your email difficult to read and understand. Instead, focus on one key message or call to action and make it the central focus of your email.

Additionally, make sure to personalize your emails whenever possible. This can be as simple as including the recipient’s name in the subject line or body of the email, or it can be more complex, such as tailoring the content of the email based on the recipient’s interests or previous interactions with your business. Personalization can help to increase the engagement and effectiveness of your marketing emails.

Finally, always include a clear call to action in your marketing emails. This could be a button or link that encourages the recipient to visit your website, make a purchase, or take some other desired action. Make sure that your call to action is easy to find and understand, and consider using action-oriented language to encourage the recipient to take the desired action.

Overall, the best practices for marketing emails include having a clear and attention-grabbing subject line, keeping the email content focused and to the point, personalizing the email whenever possible, and including a clear call to action. By following these guidelines, you can help to ensure that your marketing emails are effective and help to promote your business.

Holiday Marketing Tips

What should your small business do for the holiday season when it comes to promotions and sales?

We’ve put together a ‘to do’ list of Holiday Marketing Tips for small business owners. Start now to get ahead of the holiday rush and make the most impact with your marketing planning.

4 Holiday Marketing Tips

Put aside the important dates including:
~Black Friday November 25th, 2022
~Small Business Saturday November 26th, 2022
~Cyber Monday November 28th, 2022
~Giving Tuesday November 29th, 2022
~Hanukkah December 18, 2022
~Christmas December 25, 2022
~Kwanzaa December 26, 2022
~New Years Day January 1, 2023
Look ahead to the ‘Fun’ dates.
My favorite resource is National Calendar Days.
Here you’ll find national days to support your marketing efforts such as:
~National Play Outside Day November 5, 2022
~National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day November 15, 2022
~National Personal Space Day November 30, 2022
~National Salesperson Day December 9, 2022
~National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day December 17, 2022
~National No Interruptions Day December 30, 2022
Use Holiday Hashtags in the 1K-50K post range.
Here’s a sample list: #shoppingsprees #Friendsgivingdinner #BeThankfulforwhatyouhave #Thanksgivingturkey #thanksgivingmemes #FamilyTimeFun #ChristmasMoodon #ChristmasTreedecor2022 #AllIWantForxmas #TisTheSeasontogive #ChristmasCountdown2022 #NewYearsResolutions2023 #NewYearNewMemories #holidaycheers #thanksgivingturkey
Holiday times spell out amazing photo ops! Think about how to incorporate user generated photos or video for future social media marketing.For example, if you’re an interior designer, ask your audience to share a photo of their Thanksgiving table decor with you.If you own a furniture store, request photos of a family sitting on the furniture during a gathering. What about a retail store? Ask your customers to share their holiday tradition photos lighting Hanukkah candles or cooking a special recipe for Thanksgiving. And don’t forget about those gift opening photo ops. Ask your customers to share pix of your family opening their gifts. You can use these photos (with appropriate permissions) in a post about family and the holiday season. Tie it into your product or service, if possible.

The Bottom Line

Create your email campaigns, social media posts, and marketing strategies now. If your small business gets crazy busy during the holiday season, design your ideal plans before the holiday bustle kicks in.
For more holiday marketing ideas, follow High Key Impact, LLC on Instagram @highkeyimpact or Facebook @highkeyimpact.

#1 Social Media Marketing Tip

What is the #1 social media marketing tip for small businesses?

Many small business owners post on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and other social media channels. Typically, using a do-it-yourself approach or outsourcing to a digital marketing agency, a business owner curates and creates content and posts it. Their reach and click-throughs has positive stats….at least for the time being.

What happens when a business owner gets too busy, or they have to take a break because the digital marketing agency is too expensive? Or when social media becomes less important to focus on, in their opinion?

You guessed it. Marketing stops. Social media posts come to a grinding halt. Their posts sit there for weeks, months, or even years.

So what’s a marketing consultant’s #1 social media marketing tip?

Think about this from the perspective of an interested consumer.

A potential customer/client finds your website on a Google search, they click around the site and read how you can help them with your product or service. But, when the consumer clicks the Facebook icon on your website, and opens up the app, the content is 8 months old. There’s nothing new. Even if your content was posted daily prior to coming to a screeching halt, there’s this nagging question in the consumer’s mind. ‘What happened here?’
What should a potential customer or client contemplate about your business? Did you go out of business? Why are the social posts outdated? Is there a problem with your product or service? Hmmm?

Don’t allow these questions pop into the mind of a potential buyer.

Instead, make sure you remember The #1 Social Media Marketing Tip every business owner should put into practice.

Post consistently.

By posting consistently on social media, you will avoid these doubts. Social media posts don’t have to happen every day or even 3-4 times/week. As long as your small business consistently offers content on every social media platform where you have a presence, your audience won’t question the state of your business. Additionally, you’ll have a better time converting them into a client/customer.

Frequent posts are ideal, but more importantly, if you’re in this for the long haul, consistent posts on social media is the key to making a larger impact.

If you’re looking for a digital marketing or social media consultant to help you stay within a small business size budget for marketing, contact cheryl@highkeyimpact.com.

Get your small business noticed.
We help your business make an impact.

Why you need Social Media Marketing

Since I published my first website in 2009, the digital marketing landscape has changed significantly.

Every day it seems there are shifts in the services and features provided by Google, Apple, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other platforms.

As a digital marketing consultant, a lot of my time is spent staying abreast of these changes so that YOU, my client or prospective client, can get a wide breadth of information and recommendations from me. This knowledge base is what helps me help your small business succeed on the web.

Let’s discuss 4 areas which will help you effectively promote your small business:

Google My Business-

Every small business should have a Google My Business (GMB) account. It’s free. It helps with local search. What’s important here is that you utilize all of the tools available to Google including
- weekly posts
- photos
- encouraging & responding to customer reviews
- keeping up with holiday hours and additional information
- add attributes
Yelp for Business-

Claim your business Yelp account to take advantage of the free features to help your business get noticed.
- add photos
- update information about your business
- respond to reviews
Facebook-

Practically every type of business should have a Facebook account. Besides maintaining a Facebook page which acts as a mini-website showcasing your company with posts, photos, videos, etc., your personal Facebook account is really where the promotional aspect of Facebook in 2022 works for you.
- Join local, relevant Facebook groups and remain active on them. If anyone ever asks for a recommendation in your industry, you can join in the conversation and promote your biz (if the group rules allow).
- Post consistently. There’s no clearcut, established cadence for Facebook posts. But if you don’t post for a long timeframe, your followers will notice. Keep it consistent to about 2-3 times/week on average.
- Be real. Show your face or the face of your employees and brand. Most interactions on Facebook occur when people can relate to an emotion or a story. Higher reaching posts are those with video, images showing real faces, and a snapshot of a ‘day in the life’ at your place of business.
Instagram-

If your product or service can be showcased with photos or video images, then Instagram is the place for you. Your B2C or D2C business model will thrive on the Instagram algorithm if you post frequency (3+ days/week). Additionally, make sure you do the following:
- Participate in conversations with your audience
- Create Reel Videos 1-2 times/week
- Show your face and show up regularly.
- Use relevant hashtags to pinpoint your audience.
- Find Influencers or micro-influencers to collaborate with.

As my clients’ voice on their social media pages, I find that many small business owners are not using what’s out there. Many of the platforms are free. The bottom line is if your competitors are listed there, you should be too!

Why do you need social media marketing?

You need social media to place your business visibility throughout the ever changing digital marketing landscape. Make sure you’re up to date on the latest and greatest information out there. This will help your brand succeed. Get found in the places where your competitors are, and further, where they are not.

By partnering with a social media marketing consultant, you will set your small business up for continued success.

Contact Cheryl@highkeyimpact.com for a free marketing analysis today.

*High Key Impact has been recognized as one of Top Digital Marketing Agencies In Pennsylvania by DesignRush

Website Essentials for Small Businesses in 2022

Creating a website is daunting. It can also be very humbling. Website Essentials for Small Businesses means a lot of different things to a lot of different people.

From the home page to the links, forms and sub-pages, figuring out what you want on your website is an all-encompassing exercise.

Your developer is supposed to be the ‘expert’ who knows what to do and what you need. Then you have a website designer; this is who is focused on the aesthetics and storytelling.

All of the website planning can take forever (or hopefully no more than 3 months for your sake).
Finally the website is complete.

Now what? It takes a lot of time to get to this point but you are certainly not finished.

Here are some steps I’ve outlined for you as checkpoints along the way of website development. Following that, I’ve compiled a to-do list of what needs to happen once the website is completed.

Don’t forget to communicate with your website builder, designer or developer about the follow items throughout the website build process.

7 Steps to Take when Building a Website

Step One: Keyword Research
What are the keywords and keyword phrases associated with your business? In other words, what do people type in to Google for your business name to pop up in search? There are several options available to do a thorough keyword analysis. Tools such as Ahrefs keyword explorer has a price tag, however their 7 day trial is well worth checking out. Google Adwords Keyword Planner is the prime resource for finding out exactly what your customers are keying in to find your website. Once you create a list of keywords and phrases, share it with your website developer to incorporate the words into your website’s content. A big boost to your website’s SEO is having keywords throughout your content.

Step Two: User Experience
How simple is it to understand and navigate the website. Does it load quickly Will customers or website visitors understand how to contact you, purchase product or set up a meeting? Hubspot’s article on the User Experience outlines these 10 tips to simple make the UX better.

Step Three: Prominent Call to Action
Are there simple clear, cut CTA (Call to Action) buttons throughout your home page and contact pages for clients/customers to easily contact you? Is it a one or two step process–fill out a webform then submit, hit a call button on mobile or click an email button to write an email to the business? Checking your CTA on the backend is also a big key to a successful lead generation flow. Who gets the forms, phone calls or emails? Discuss this as a team prior to setting up your CTA’s on the website.
Use this article for some stellar CTA ideas.

Step Four: Attention Grabbing Graphics, Images and Video
When engaging with your website, do the graphics, images and video shout out to the User? Your branding, logo and color scheme could make a vast difference in how a user interacts with your website. If your colors are subtle, use a contrasting color to make buttons and frames pop. An explainer video on the home page or about page is ideal to showcase your brand and what your business is all about. You can find stock images on these websites.

Step Five: Backlinks and Internal Links
It’s one of Google’s best friends for finding your website. Backlinks from other websites and Internal links within your website are golden when it comes to the Google Algorithm. Furthermore, Don’t ignore them. Embrace the links. Find out more about a linking strategy here.

Step Six: Mobile Friendly Site
Mobile Friendly websites have been another top Google search algorithm key for the past 3 years. Talk to your website developer about Responsive versus Adaptive web design and what would make the most sense for your business. Read more from Google about the UX and What makes a good Mobile website.

Step Seven: ADA and GDPR Compliance
GDPR incorporates strong rules on data protection in the EU, giving people more control over their personal data. The GDPR not only applies to organizations located within the EU but also applies to those located outside of the EU if they offer goods or services to, or monitor the behavior of, EU data subjects. It applies to all companies processing and holding the personal data of data subjects residing in the European Union, regardless of the company’s location. To learn how to become GDPR compliant, click here.

ADA compliance involves your website and the accessibility for those with disabilities to be able to use your website. There are many updated versions of the ADA for websites, but several points remain clear. For example, the ADA states: “Basic accessibility features in computer operating systems enable some people with low vision to see computer displays by simply adjusting color schemes, contrast settings, and font sizes. Operating systems enable people with limited manual dexterity to move the mouse pointer using key strokes instead of a standard mouse.” Read more here.

Checklist after the website is completed:

Spell checks and link checks
Submit your Sitemap to Google for Indexing
Create and link a Google Analytics account to your website
Register your site with Google Search Console
Add Keywords, Meta-Descriptions and Alt-Attributes for SEO purposes
Test webforms, Site Speed, ADA Compliance and GDPR Compliance

Do you have more feedback for Website Essentials for Small Businesses in 2022? Contact cheryl@highkeyimpact.com or go to highkeyimpact.com

What to post on social media

Running out of ideas what to post on social media?

Is your small business too busy to think about content marketing?

High Key Impact Digital Marketing Consulting has you covered with this list of 36 ideas inspiring you what to post on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, & Twitter.

Here’s the list.

Client Testimonials using video or photos. Have your clients share their story of how they used your products or services and benefited from them.
Quote of the Day. What inspires you to get through the day or what business quote is your daily mantra? Share it on your social channels.
Customer Story. How did your customer find you and benefit from your product or service. Share their story from your business perspective. (with their permission of course)
Team Member Profile. What is the history behind this employee’s tenure at the business and what are their hobbies and likes/dislikes? You can have a lot of fun with this if it’s brand appropriate.
Team Member Quote. What is his/her favorite quote or saying?
Insider Info. What is it like behind the scenes working at your company? Take us for a video tour in the warehouse or office.
Tip of the Day. From your product or service perspective.
Something Funny. Lighten up your followers with a joke, funny story, or funny Gif.
Client Post with a Tag. If your customer posts about your business, ask them to tag your brand so you can share it as a post and/or story.
Blog Post. Write a blog on your website to showcase more in depth information you can share in a social post.
Article. Industry news articles related to your product or service are helpful sales tools when used correctly in posts.
Statistic. Industry statistics increase your credibility and show expertise in a subject area. Share your industry stats which are in your favor.
Before/After Photos. Take before/after using your product or service OR show photos of the team as babies and how they look now. Make it a game for your followers to match up baby photos with team members.
Screenshot to Share. Take a screenshot of a funny post from Twitter and share it to your Facebook feed when you are looking for ideas of what to post on social media.
Team Family Photos. Which of your employees wants to share their family photos on your small business social media feed? It’s very personal and your customers will love to see the people behind the scenes and their family members.
FAQ Answer. What question gets asked the most of your customer service department? Answer the question in a social media post.
Winning An Award. Did you win a Best of 2022 award in your town? Share the accolades!
Infographic. Use Canva.com to create infographics which relay information about your industry or brand.
Time Saving Tip. How will one save time by using your product or service?
Money Saving Tip. How will one save money by using your product or service?
Fill in the Blank Request. Ask your customers what if scenarios. For example, If you have a branding business, what are their favorite corporate brands they aspire to. OR Ask them to finish a sentence. “My favorite experience with XYZ Brand is __________________.”
Pet Photo Request. Everyone loves to see photos of animals. Asking your followers to share their pet photos is probably one of the highest viewed posts you’ll have!
Town/City Sights to See. Share your local hot spots from a new perspective. What makes your town important or famous?
National Day/Holiday. Use the national day calendar to find out what is relevant to your business. For example, a bakery can celebrate National Pie Day. See more here. And celebrate holidays with posts which resonate with your customers.
Video Diary of our Business. Capture a ‘day in the life’ of working at ABC company or a video of how your product is made or manufactured.
History of Business. Tell the story about how your business was started and what is your mission.
Industry News Article. What’s new in your industry that your followers want to hear about?
Discounts or Sales. Offer a percentage off sales, or a flash sale for a couple of hours. Referral discounts are another way to motivate followers to share your brand with others.
Contest or Giveaway. Try to get to a certain number of followers with a contest or use an app to track a contest or giveaway. Read more from Hubspot about how to do a contest correctly.
Social Media Takeover. Allow your Intern, Sales Rep, or Mother take over your social media for several days up to a week.
Team up with a Neighborhood or Partner Business. Show your support of other area businesses by teaming up and promoting each other’s brand.
‘How To’ Product Video. Also called an ‘explainer video.’ Show your customers/clients how it’s done with your product or service.
‘Caption This’ Request. Show a photo and ask your followers to caption it or describe it with a phrase, saying, or using hashtags.
Community Service. What are you doing to support the community. Share your community service or donation support to a local organization. Your followers love hearing how you help others.
Use Polls. Facebook offers a tool to take a poll and find out if your followers like A or B the most. Ask about ice cream flavors OR a Yes or No question related to your business.
Ask a Question. Want to find out what your customers think about a particular topic related to your business? Ask them to respond in the comments under your post.

Get more ideas and inspiration for your small business social media posts from Cheryl Friedenberg at High Key Impact, a digital marketing consulting firm in Blue Bell, Montgomery County, PA.

What’s Your Password?

“What’s your Password?”

Here’s how to keep track of passwords on all of your digital marketing and social media accounts.

Keeping track of all of your small business digital passwords can be time consuming and confusing.

It’s great to know that we have so many ways to access our accounts online. Password authentication technology such as a digital key, fingerprint technology and faces, CAPTCHAS , biometrics, and 2-Factor Authentication) are ideal tools to use.

Yet, one of the biggest stumbling blocks I have when onboarding new clients is obtaining correct login information, access to social media accounts, and website information. Small businesses usually have one employee with the ‘key’ to opening all of their social media accounts. What if this employee leaves the company? User names and passwords leave with them.

Individual business owners with the login credentials sometimes do not remember which email address initially was used to sign up for Facebook or Twitter. This makes recovering passwords an obstacle to digital marketing success. First, we need to access to all user accounts before I can do my job effectively.

It would be ideal to walk into a new client’s business where I’m immediately blasting social media posts and increasing website visitors right away. I’m not saying this does not happen. However, this is the exception and not the rule.

My observation: Most small business owners do not have login information beyond their own social media accounts. Additionally, they have difficulty tracking the information down in a timely fashion. They are, in essence, ‘locked out’.

There are easy ways to fix this problem.

Here’s how to avoid getting ‘locked out’ of your social media and online accounts:

Write user names and passwords down in a central location and keep them under lock and key. Keep a password diary and lock it in a small safe, or use an app or software with password lists.
Require 2-3 employees have access to all accounts with 2-factor authentication. Include the business owner or partners in this grouping. If one of the 3 employees changes a login user name or password, the ‘key’ or ‘access’ club gets notified.
When an employee with this type of access is leaving the company, do a final password check. Have them sign you in to your accounts with correct login credentials prior to their last day. This will allow you to ‘check’ the login information and will give you the impetus to change ALL passwords immediately.
By changing passwords on a quarterly basis, all accounts are reset and new passwords are fresh on everyone’s minds.When changing to new passwords, take the advice from a recent 2021 list and avoid all of these passwords!

By focusing on your password and account access within your small business from the start, your social media consultant will thank you!

Thank you,

Cheryl Friedenberg
Marketing Consultant
High Key Impact LLC
cheryl@highkeyimpact.com
@highkeyimpact

Holiday Marketing during Covid 2020

What holiday promotional opportunities are awaiting B2C and B2B business owners and marketing managers?

Covid-19 has brought a change into the typical holiday season marketing. Holiday Marketing during Covid 2020 is going to be tricky. The same-old may not work for your small business. Find out what adjustments you should make with your small business plans here.

From October through January, every small business owner should be anticipating what’s to come. Obviously holiday sales are on the horizon for retailers, however, many newcomer ecommerce shops and those planning virtual events offer more avenues to spread their holiday cheer.

Read the Facebook Holiday Marketing Guide here. With insight and inspiration, find out how to get your business page more visitors for this upcoming Holiday season.

Get Started Now!

Don’t forget about email marketing when Holiday Marketing during Covid 2020. Update your email marketing list to send out digital holiday messages to customers & clients, reps and vendors/suppliers. Schedule your drip campaign messages accordingly.

This is also the time to dive into your holiday ordering and shipping processes. Anticipate volume increasing and hire more staff accordingly. Investigate your sales numbers from previous seasons to give you a sense of expectations.

Many supply chains are running low during the pandemic. They key here is to plan, plan, plan, and be ready to change course if your suppliers don’t have inventory.

Do you also need to deliver holiday baskets or gifts to loyal customers? Add this into your frenzied upcoming schedule. Schedule shipments way in advance so they arrive on time.

November 26th-Thanksgiving

The obvious turkey and ‘give thanks’ posts are very common. Shake it up a bit and add unique flair. Since Thanksgiving will not be celebrated with extended family members in the colder climates (unless they snagged some outdoor heaters), think about how to reach those nuclear families with your brand and service offerings. Ramp up to Thanksgiving and Black Friday with these email marketing suggestions from Constant Contact.

November 27th-Black Friday

Get Ready, Set and Go! This is the big day. But it’s just been given a tailspin from Coronavirus. What’s a small business owner to do besides encourage mask-wearing and social distancing?

Crazy enough, think outside of what big box retailers are doing. How about creating your own Black Friday on a different date. That way you aren’t in direct competition with the big box retailers.
See more suggestions about how to gain momentum for Black Friday shopping blitzes in this Bloomsberg article.

November 28th, 30th, and December 1st
-Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday and #GivingTuesday

American Express created small Business Saturday to help the local retailers who were getting overlooked on Black Friday. This year, the resources for Shop Small® include a workshop on October 20th for business owners, resources for black-owned businesses, a shop small® map of participating businesses and more. Click here.

Cyber Monday is November 30th. Most consumers have adjusted over the past several months to buying almost everything and anything (raise your hand if you bought a Peloton!) online. Cyber Monday celebrates that. Perhaps stockpiling toilet paper can take a back seat while you gear up your small business to an online Ecommerce presence, ready to take on Cyber Monday. Need more ideas for Cyber Monday? Read this !

On Giving Tuesday, because of Covid-19, most donors plan to maintain or increase the amount they give to charities. This is terrific news for non-profits. But it also brings the bad news of less volunteering during the pandemic. Small businesses can join in on Giving Tuesday by highlighting all of the community support they have given to local non-profits over the past year. Consumers love businesses that give back and help others.

Thursday, December 10-Friday, December 18

Hanukkah

Try to get on “Top 10 lists of what to buy for Hanukkah” to sell your product or service. You can do this by signing up for HARO, Help a Reporter Out, and answer queries related to your product/service.
Post a menorah with lit candles to commemorate Hanukkah with your customers who celebrate. Encourage your customers to share their Hanukkah celebrations with your brand.

Create a ‘Hanukkah or Holiday Gift Guide’ for your customers. Suggest gift ideas, cross promote other businesses within the guide and read this article for more creative ideas.

December 25th Christmas

Christmas this year is unlike any other. Making the shopping experience as safe as possible for consumers with options like curbsite, contactless pickup, and less face-to-face interaction, will be the key to driving sales for small businesses.
Business2Community, in a recent article about Holiday marketing in 2020, came up with some clever ideas and adjustments because of Covid-19:

For example:

An entrepreneur in the hospitality industry could offer an “experience in a box” for customers who can’t travel right now.
A clothing retailer could focus more on casually chic clothing people can wear in or out of the home, rather than on high heels and festive dresses.
A sporting goods retailer could highlight solo sports like skiing and swimming in newsletter campaigns, to encourage socially distancing folks to get out into nature.”

January 1st-New Year

For many health-related businesses, this is the perfect opportunity for potential customers to hear your message of fitness, wellness and good nutrition.
Give prospects an idea of what their new year’s resolutions may look like. For example, post the following on social media “This new year, 2020, I resolve to …..” (fill in the blank with how they may use your product or service).

The best gift you may give to your customers is holiday cheer, so no matter what you decide to do for your holiday promotional messages, thank your supporters and uplift them with your holiday spirit. This year is especially challenging to everyone, mentally and financially. Stay positive and upbeat with your messaging. Add humor to your social media posts and emails. Create new opportunities to your product/service offerings. And don’t forget to spread joy!

Do you have any more unique marketing suggestions for the 2020 holiday season? Email us at info@highkeyimpact.com.

Cheryl Friedenberg, President
High Key Impact, LLC
Digital Marketing Consulting for Small Business Owners
www.highkeyimpact.com
cheryl@highkeyimpact.com

Small Business Marketing Tips 2020

Do you feel like your small businesses has had the most challenging year ever?

We’ve pivoted and adapted our business models, we’ve initiated safety protocols, we’ve tip toed around the political divisiveness, we’ve worked hard to get every single customer, and we’ve given blood, sweat, and tears to keep them loyal to us.

Whew. That’s a lot!

Now it’s time to take a breather and re-group.

Fall is here, the leaves are changing, and the holiday season is around the corner, a lot sooner than we think. Your small business digital marketing plans are ready for a refresh.

As a marketing consultant, I am constantly learning about the newest innovations in Social Media, SEO, Email, and websites. And by sharing these tips with you, my hope is that your business reach will expand.
I’ve outlined some simple ways for you to amplify your marketing to the next level.

Try these tips:

Add a website chat bot with Facebook messenger.

Facebook messenger offers many automations for your business page so why not tie those automations and personalized conversations to your website.

To do this, Facebook has made the process fairly simple.

Go to your Facebook business page and click on Settings.

Then go to Messaging.

Scroll down to where it says: “Add Messenger to your website” and click Get Started to get the code for your website developer.

And voila. Start chatting with website visitors via Facebook Messenger.

Go to HighKeyImpact.com and look for my FB messenger Chatbot in the bottom right hand corner.

Animate Social Media Images

Moving images and video are known to have better reach than flat post images. Here’s a little insider secret to know if you don’t use Canva.com yet to create images.

For beginner and amateur graphic designers, their platform helps you look like a real graphic designer.

Canva went several steps further in this Summer and POW—they created the ability to animate social media images and elements— way beyond my basic beginner graphic design ability.

Now Canva offers animated image options to create images AND text to move, pop, hop, and jump around. Well, not exactly jump.

Try Canva with text and photo animations.

Their platform’s animation features are mind-blowing to amateur graphic designers like me. You’ll feel the same way!

For example….

Manage your company’s online listings

There are several listings’ management platforms where you can pay a monthly fee to get listed on Yellow Pages, Yelp and similar website listings.

If you devote about 1 hour/month to your listings management, it’s a simple DIY project.

First, find the relevant websites where your competitors are listed. Or go to these websites.

Look for your business and if it’s not listed, sign up for a free listing. If it’s there, take ownership of the listing and optimize it with the current information about your business.

Listings are everywhere including:

Foursquare
Mapquest
Opentable
Google
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn
Bing
Waze
Yahoo
Uber
Yellow pages
Amazon Alexa for Business
Touch Local
AOL
All in One Search
192.com
2 find local
Ab local
EZ local

And more!

Online listings are also considered backlinks to your website URL. And that is where some key strategic search engine optimization (SEO) comes into play. Google likes websites with many incoming backlinks and the search engine will reward it with a higher search ranking.

4. Start an authenticity campaign

Talk about the why of your business. Why did you start doing what you do? What does it mean to you? How does it make you feel? Where do you see it going in the near future? What are your grand plans?

Get rid of the stock photos and start using your own images and video.
Ask customers to take photos or video of them with your product.
Get permission to use their photos in your marketing materials or digital marketing.

When the image of your business uses ‘real people’, you will be amazed at the engagements and interaction from new prospective customers and existing customers.

Being authentic and showcasing your business in it’s true light gives prospective customers a sneak peek into what it’s like to purchase from you.

The more true you are to your brand, the more likely people will follow, like, comment and buy from you.

With these 4 marketing tips (Small Business Marketing Tips 2020), we hope to see you elevate your small business digital marketing reach. If you need a hand, reach out to us at cheryl@highkeyimpact.com.

Digital Marketing and Re-Opening Your Business

Is your location re-opened partially or moving towards a ‘yellow’ phase (like where I live in Southeastern PA) after stay at home Covid-19 orders? What digital marketing messages are you planning to send out upon re-opening your small business? What does your social media and online marketing look like prior to re-opening? Which social media platforms are you planning to use?

Like many other small business owners, there is no playbook for what’s happening right now. But there is guidance in the form of what’s needed in order to reopen. Is it going to be business as usual or is your small business continuing to pivot your service and product offerings?

Before inviting your customers back, here are my recommended digital marketing ‘to-do’s’.

Google My Business (GMB)

Adjust your status if you changed it to temporarily closed. Take a look at the info you’re providing to customers. Are you hours updated correctly? Are you offerings front and center for visitors to see? If you haven’t posted to GMB in awhile, start now! Let everyone know what your plans are for re-opening and how you will handle safety precautions. Add photos of new offerings and what curbside pick up may look like.
Website

If a visitor arrives at your website, is there a clear call to action with current business information? For example, If you’re a restaurant providing a take-out only format, is the menu front and center on your website?
Make sure your basic information, product/service offering changes and updated business hours are easy to locate.
Also, your customers want to know how you’re handling covid19. Create a sub-page or a pop-up box on your website to explain your mask protocols and how many people at-a-time are allowed in your office or shop. Talk about employee health and temperature checks.
This is the opportunity to give customers no reason to fear walking into your shop or office.
Social Media Posts

Get back to regular posting on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, and start ramping up your posts with valuable customer information prior to re-opening. Communicate specifics about your safety plans and what your business will look like to it’s customers/clients. Talk about what has changed and what’s staying the same.
For example, did you place a plexiglass shield at the cash register? Are you only accepting credit cards now? Are your employees practicing social distancing from one another?
By being as forthcoming and transparent as possible as your followers will appreciate your honesty and integrity. Use photos and videos to show what’s new and different.
Emails and Text (SMS or MMS) Messages

Send messages now. Get your customers prepared for what your new normal will look like. Be pro-active and provide a list of FAQ’s in your email. Encourage calls, emails and pre-orders. Send photos of your new product offerings. Return to your regularly scheduled marketing messages/emails. Showcase photos of your employees returning to work. Optimism and calmness are ideal themes to communicate. It gives your audience hope and a good feeling about your business.

Small Businesses will certainly look different for quite a while. By creating a sense of community and building trust in your customers/clients and social media followers, they will continue to support your small business. Maintain your social media and online digital presence throughout this transitional period.

We’d love to hear more about your plans for Digital Marketing and Re-Opening Your Business.

Contact Cheryl@highkeyimpact.com

About Cheryl Friedenberg:
Cheryl Friedenberg is a Marketing Consultant for small-medium size businesses.

Her 30+ years of experience includes business-to-business sales, sales management, start-ups, websites, digital analytics, organic and paid social media marketing, search engine optimization, email marketing and publicity.

As a community volunteer, Cheryl is passionate about helping others and maintains a community service project website for teens nationwide, www.themitzvahbowl.com.

High Key Impact