Why Small Business Owners Should Consider Getting an App | Duct Tape Marketing

As a small business owner, asking “why should I create an app?” is a lot like asking “do I really need a website?” was a few years ago. Sure, it was (and still is) possible to do much of what you need using a Facebook page, but they’re just not built to do what a website can.

While a Facebook page can, for example, show opening times, it’s not so easy to offer a detailed breakdown of lunch, dinner and a la carte menus. In that respect, Facebook pages are to websites as mobile websites/responsive sites are to mobile apps; they get the job done, just about, but you generally can’t use them to do EVERYTHING that you’d like to.

This post will cover a few of the advantages of creating your own app as opposed to using a responsive site or, even worse, not doing anything with mobile at all.

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Prioritize Context to Personalize Your Marketing | Adweek

Marketers know they need to personalize their messaging to reach and engage consumers. The problem is, they’re just not sure how to execute it successfully.

Too often, they believe they can home in on personalization by identifying data patterns but that’s just one hurdle. More importantly, they need to prioritize context. Doing so will maximize one-to-one marketing campaigns and allow brands to become closer to the consumer by understanding their everyday behaviors and genuine interests.

We’ve identified three key elements marketers should consider when utilizing context to bolster a personalized marketing campaign.

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The Secret of Creating Enticing Call to Actions (CTAs) | Getentrepreneurial.com

One of the most important things tied to high conversion rates is making an effective call-to-action (CTA) on your website. Engaging your audience and visitors in this way may be exactly what you need to boost your business and see your business flourish.

There are some tactics you should keep in mind when approaching CTA implementation to your website and we’ve summarized some of them for your better understanding of the process. Making a compelling CTA can be tricky, u don’t want to be too aggressive, yet, you don’t want your CTA to seem like something visitors would rather avoid than click on it. Here are some things to keep in mind when making an effective call-to-action on your site.

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3 Ways To Penetrate A Saturated Market | Getentrepreneurial.com

Launching a business in a saturated market can be an overwhelming experience. Depending on the industry you are in, you may have competitors that have high brand equity and those who have existed in the business for several decades. Establishing credibility and trustworthiness in a market overrun by such competitors is no easy task. But it can be done. Here are a few ways a startup entrepreneur can take on competitors with high reputation in a saturated market.

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The Biggest Marketing Challenges for Small Businesses | Duct Tape Marketing

I’ve written about marketing for small business for years and spend enough time with business owners that some might consider me an expert on the topic. In order to ensure I stay on top of trends and provide you with the most current information and tips, I continue to conduct my own research and get as much current data as possible to provide for you. I recently reached out to my friends at Alignable to get a pulse on what the biggest marketing challenges for small businesses are today and today I’d like to share a few of these insights.

More than 75% of the respondents of this survey had 1-5 employees and serve a mix of local, regional, and national customers. 22% of those polled focused solely on B2B, 19% on B2C, and 53% targeting both.

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5 Myths About Your Clients and Social Media That You Should Forget Right Now | Duct Tape Marketing

When it comes to social media marketing, any small business can utilize their online presence for lead generation. But, if social media marketing is so easy to leverage, then why do 65% of companies state, according to Hubspot, that lead generation and traffic is one of their top marketing concerns? It’s because many businesses aren’t using social media to its full potential. They are blinded by the many myths floating around regarding their clients and social media.

These misconceptions are hindering your marketing effectiveness and should be forgotten immediately.

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When to Spend on PR and When to do It Yourself (or Not at All) | Entrepreneur

You’ve just started your business, your website is finished, your SEO is lined up, your products are ready to ship, and you’ve got a hungry team eager to seize the moment. All you need to do now is get the word out about that amazing product. Right?

Maybe, but maybe not.

When speaking to budding entrepreneurs, I sometimes find myself giving advice that you wouldn’t expect from a PR professional. I tell them that, for a lot of brands, hiring a PR pro isn’t worth the cost. Don’t get me wrong, a great PR team is one of best brand-building tools a business can employ. But if your brand isn’t positioned to benefit from a well-executed PR strategy, you could end up wasting your time and money.

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Why Do People Fail at Marketing Their Business? | Getentrepreneurial.com

The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself. Peter Drucker

People fail at marketing for a variety of reasons. This list is not meant to be all-inclusive but here are the most common reasons I encounter:

Never been trained in marketing

Don’t understand the psychology of marketing

Are not consistent in their marketing message

Don’t ask for help because they don’t know who to trust

Don’t want to do it for themselves

Don’t know what works and do not want to spend the money

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Millennials as a Target Customer | Lydia Mehit

downloadMillennials have been the target of more scrutiny than any other generation. Why?  Because as a generation, they are larger than the Baby Boomer generation that clocked in at 77 million.  Baby Boomers were a significant force in terms of purchasing power, political direction and now retirement as they have moved through their lives.  Millennials, sometimes called Echo Boomers, are expected to have an equal or greater influence on society.

Representing 25% of the population, and 80 million strong, Millennials are generally agreed to have been born between 1980 – 2000.  You will also hear them referred to as Generation Y.   The youngest Millennials are 17 years of age while the oldest will be 37 in 2017.  What has this intense scrutiny revealed about these consumers?

Continue reading “Millennials as a Target Customer | Lydia Mehit”