Posts Categorized: Industry News

 Ah, it’s good to be back. Today, we’re going to be talking about something I’m pretty passionate about in the world of marketing: branding. Specifically, brand voices. My introduction to the world of branding was everything it should be thanks to my branding professor in college. He was exciting, inspiring, and funny. He was passionate about branding and had an extremely successful career in it. To make it short, let’s just say I never missed one of his classes. Wherever you are, Professor Diego, I hope you are doing well. Let’s get back on topic and take a look at what makes your brand voice so important.

Why Is Your Brand Voice Important?

Well, I’m glad you asked. Your brand voice is the lifeblood of your overarching brand. You may want your brand to be confident, simple, and straightforward, but without the proper brand voice, nobody will know! Take a look at Apple and the iPhone. Every year we get a new iPhone and they sell millions of them, even with minimal changes year after year. There are phones out there way more capable than even the best iPhone. So why does Apple continue to have so much success? Their brand voice. Apple’s brand voice is confident, intimate, and it communicates quality. We don’t buy the iPhone because we know all the technical specs. If we really cared about that, most of us would probably look elsewhere. We buy iPhones because of the way their brand voice makes us feel. 

Now, let’s take a look at how to determine your brand voice.

First steps

Your brand voice should be different from your competition. (I mean…duh)  At the very least, it’s an identifying characteristic. At the very best, people are choosing your products or services over your competition simply because of the way you communicate. Wow, who knew marketing was that simple? So how do we act on this? First, take a birds-eye view of your content and compare it directly to your competitors. What’s different about your web page? Your social media? Your core values? Literally anything that you could differentiate from your competitors.

Take note of everything different about your content. Once you’ve done that, you’re one step closer to having a unique brand voice. Here are some examples of content you should be analyzing:

• Core values 
• Website 
• Promotional videos 
• Promotional graphics
• Print ads
• Business cards 
• Newsletters

Once you’ve completed a thorough analysis of your branded content, we can move on.

Narrow it down

Now let’s take a look at these unique characteristics you’ve taken note of. Without disclosing too much about our ultra top secret branding processes, I’m going to guide you through the process of choosing the best words to describe your brand. First, make a list of words that describe you. I’m talking like 20-30 words. Select your 15 favorite words from that list and continue narrowing it down until you have 3-5 words. To quote the late great Billy Mays, “but wait there’s more.” When you have your 3-5 favorite adjectives, I want you to hop onto google and find strong synonyms. Don’t be excited, be passionate. Don’t be original, be authentic. See what I’m saying?  The key to the branding process is to do it differently and make sure people know about it. When you set a foundation of strong adjectives it trickles up and makes everything you do with those words stronger. Call it “trickle up marketing.” I really need to trademark that…

Still stuck? Let’s phone a friend.

In the world of marketing, surveys are always your friend. Nothing compares to a good ol’ fashion focus group. Surveys and focus groups are a fantastic way to obtain valuable information about what customers think about your brand, your voice, and more. Other benefits include:

• Honest answers
• Learning consumer mindsets on competitors 
• Large reach

After you have narrowed down the list, you have an idea of what your brand voice is. Feel free to expand on each of these words with synonymous adjectives to give your team a better idea of what you’re going for. 

For the visual learners… 

Now we have to come up with some guidelines for the copywriters that will be responsible for communicating your message to consumers. To do that, we’ll need to create a brand voice chart. A brand voice chart outlines the dos and don’ts of communicating with your brand voice. You can easily create a brand voice chart in google drive or word, whichever you prefer. Here’s an example of a brand voice chart. It really just compares what you are to what you aren’t. Simple as that. It’s important to have a brand voice chart available to every member of your team. It’s equally important to have consistency with your brand voice. Consider printing out copies of the chart and handing them out to your team members.

Now that you’ve got your brand voice chart ready to go, make sure you go over some examples of work that really hit the mark of your brand voice. If your content creators have a vague idea of how and what to communicate, you lose individuality and, therefore, money. So there you have it. You’ve gone through the process of identifying your brand voice. But maybe you’re not a fan of what you’ve come up with. Not a problem, we’ve got a fix for that!

Starting from Scratch

Now, let’s run through a hypothetical situation. Say you went through the process we just went over and then decided you want to change your brand voice entirely. How would you start from scratch? First, you need to take a look at a handful of external factors that are critical to developing your brand voice from scratch. Start off by taking a close look at your target market. Who are the major players and how does their brand voice help them attract clients? What kind of voice is there an opportunity for? Make sure you have a good idea of how to communicate to your target audience what problem you solve in the industry.

Take a deep dive into researching demographics and psychographics to fully understand the people you’re targeting.  After that, it’s time to come up with a voice that works well for your industry. If you’re an energy drink company, you need to be exciting. Red Bull, Monster, and Rockstar are all heavily involved in extreme sports and have powerful and exciting brand voices. This shows that marketing with extreme sports can be successful. At the same time, while the major players within the industry focus on extreme sports, you could be supporting an entirely different industry. This takes us to my next point.

Avoid copying your competitors. 

Like I stated at the beginning, individuality is key to stealing customers from your competitors, If you copy what they do, what reason do they have to switch? Make sure your brand voice is easily identifiable, attractive, and consistent. 

Look for outside inspiration.

Take a look around and gather examples of branding that resonates with you. It’s okay to take inspiration from other companies, in fact, we encourage it with our branding process. We encourage our clients to make lists of logos, songs, packaging, movie characters and more that they feel represent their brand and what they stand for. If you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for anything. Word to Alexander Hamilton.

And there you have it. Follow these simple steps and you’ll have a strong idea of your current brand voice and how to change it! Looking for more help? Get in touch with our team at LMH Agency. Cheers!

Let’s get started…

Here at LMH, we consider ourselves to be experts when it comes to the written content on social media (we hope you agree). What better way to explain the steps of writing your own blog, than on ours! Writing a blog post is like learning how to ride a bike for the first time. You can watch tutorials (or read articles about how to write an awesome blog post) but nothing prepares you quite like getting on the bike and pedaling. You get the analogy. 

Blogs are a great way to drive more traffic to your business. They also give your business a platform to show your stuff and gain credibility. You know that blog posts are key to growing your business, but you don’t know how. In this post, I will show you how to create content that your readers actually want. Let’s get started. 

First Steps

The first step to creating a great blog is research. Be prepared to spend a couple of hours researching, and then a couple more. Put your thinking cap on and let the ideas come to you when you least expect them to (yes, thinking counts as research). Writing an outline with your research is a great way to save some time down the road because your blog will turn out organized and easy to follow. Using keywords and refining the search term based on date allows you to find relevant articles quickly. Writing on topics that interest you is a plus, but bloggers should strive to take any topic and make it interesting. While I talk about research, I think it’s important to emphasize credibility. Don’t forget to check your facts! Wikipedia was never a reputable source in high school, and it most certainly isn’t now. 

It is also important to know your audience, and what they want from your blog. Most readers decide in the first 2-3  seconds whether they will stay on the page, so first impressions are everything. Different industries have certain keywords and questions that members are asking. Will you answer those questions? There are many free resources available to gain insight into your audiences, such as Quora or Twitter’s advanced search engines.

Show-Stopping Headlines

Creating a show-stopping headline should be a high priority. Your headline determines the amount of traffic that visits your page, therefore it should be top-tier. Interesting headlines are the “clickbait” of journalism, just make sure they still make sense with your article. Instead of “How to ride a bike”, you could write, “How to conquer the scariest thing on two wheels”. Which one would you pick?  Point made. Here are a couple of examples of our favorite headlines to date:

• “Cows lose their jobs as milk prices drop”
• “Safety meeting ends in accident”
• “City unsure why the sewer smells”
• “Murderer says detective ruined his reputation”

Although these headlines are comical, they do their job. Readers are drawn to the articles that pique their interest. Sometimes, an outlandish headline is exactly what you need to get eyes on your blog. 

Don’t Forget the Word Count

Now you’ve made it to the third step, writing your post! A successful blog should be long enough to get your point across, but not an essay. In my case, a blog post should be long enough to avoid an angry message from my boss (nervous laughter). Feel free to “brain dump” or let your brain flow with ideas from your head onto your paper. 2,000 terrible words are better than no words. Then, you can go back and delete the nonsense, leaving a myriad of perfect sentences. Looking back, I often find sentences that can combine to make perfect pairings and sound awesome together. Not everyone views your perfect sentences on a computer though. In the twenty-first century, it is important to remember that most content is consumed through cell phones. Knowing this information, you might want to bold important ideas so you make sure they are seen. This brings us to our next point. 

Enhance Your Post

A blog with only words is a boring blog. In order to WOW your readers, there are many elements that can be added to your post. Use images to add visual understanding and clarity. This will also allow the reader to picture steps in their head, thus increasing the chances of them remembering your post. You can add graphs, photographs, drawings, and even videos. Different fonts, colors, underlines, and elements such as arrows make your blog interactive. 

Your blog should be a call to action, with defined steps on how to get to an end goal. Explain complex topics clearly and make sure your message is clearly conveyed. This is not the time to leave things to the imagination. After researching your topic, you should cover a lot of ground with your new knowledge! Creating subheadings to break up your page makes the information more manageable for your reader. Most people will only skim for specific information, and that ok, as long as they can find it quickly.

Sprinkle In Some Humor

On top of artistic elements, add humor to your blog. After writing, you can go back and add *quirky* bursts of comedy to your blog. Subtle, yet appreciated is the way to go when it comes to blog humor. You can even make running jokes throughout the piece. I could have made another bike joke to wrap up this paragraph, but I chose to save my readers from the pain of reading another one of my analogies. 

You’ve written your blog, now what? 

Congratulations on your work of art, or literature in this case. Before posting for the world to see, make sure you proofread your work. Typos decrease credibility and just look plain stupid. It also helps to read your post aloud to check how it all flows together. Having a team of editors review your work is a great way to receive feedback. Sometimes, moms and colleagues make the best editor in chief. Don’t be afraid to change things at the last minute if you want to. Blogging is not about perfection, but about creating (WOW that was deep). 

Still need help? Get in touch with our professionals at LMH Agency! 

Happy Blogging.

Let’s dive in…

Ok so picture this. You’re going downtown to meet up with a friend for lunch. While you’re waiting outside for them you notice them walking down the street. They have on some fly-as-hell brand new Nikes that you have never seen before. You give them props on their kicks and head inside.

Here’s the question: In this imaginary scenario, how did you know they were Nikes? You’ve never seen them before, so it’s not the design that you recognized. Just because they look good doesn’t automatically attribute them to being made by any particular manufacturer. So how did you know? It’s the logo. 

It doesn’t matter what item it is, if you see it with a swish you automatically associate it with Nike and all that they have built their brand identity to be. That is the power of a logo that people love. But how does one create a logo that is recognizable and beloved? That is what we’re going to be discussing today, and that is what I hope you can learn by the end of this blog. 

Creating a new logo can be a daunting task but the process isn’t as bad as it seems. The logo creation process can be broken into two basic stages: research and design, or more simply put planning and execution. 

Planning

The planning stage of this process is where you gather up all of the useful information you might need in designing your logo. The first step in planning is to do a full inventory of what you’re looking for in your logo. This step is essentially a journey in asking questions to understand what the goal of your logo is. Examples of these questions include:

-Why do you want or need a new logo?

-What do you want people to think of when they think of your company?

-Which brands do you look to as being similar to yours?

-Which brands do you want to avoid being associated with?

-How will you measure the success of your new logo?/ What is the goal of your logo?

-Who is your target audience and what do they respond to?  

The key here is to actually write out your answers. This is important for two reasons. One, it allows you to easily compile your research when you’re done. But two, it also gives you insight into your brand that you had never fully thought through before, and it can be a kind of self-discovery experience about your brand. Once you have completed your inventory of questions you will want to summarize them into a strategy that gives an overview of your business and brand. You can then move to the next step of researching which is an investigation.

The investigation is where you dive into the basics of design to educate yourself on the different ways that font colors and shapes can affect people. For example, the color red is associated with passion, danger, joy, and love. The passion and danger is exhibited in logo’s like Red Bull and Supreme while brands like Nintendo and Lego play off of the joyful aspect of Red. Red isn’t the only color with associated emotions though, all colors have them and the same is true for fonts and shapes. The investigation step is where you explore what colors, fonts, and shapes resonate with your brand identity. Once you have an understanding of what design can do to the human psyche and emotion you can begin to compile brand inspiration. This step is the gathering process.

In the gathering process, you simply search for brands and logos that interest or resonate with you and begin to compile them. It is important to put thought into this part but don’t overthink it. The gathering is similar to a Pinterest board. Go in knowing what you’re looking for but don’t overthink the selection process. The whole point here is to simply amass a collection of logos that resemble your goals. Once you have gathered these logos, you need to do some analysis on what stood out about the individual logos and see where you find similarities.  If for example, you resonated with both the Airbnb logo and the Adidas logo that could be a sign that triangular logos are your thing. Whatever it is, the overarching qualities from your compiled logos are probably attributes that you either purposefully or subconsciously chose because they fit into your brand’s identity.

After you have finished all three of these steps all you have to do is put all of your research into one central folder and you will have guidelines for the design of your logo. This is the second part of creating your logo: the execution. 

Execution 

When you’re designing your logo there are some tenets of all great logos that are important to remember. All great logos are simple, unique, and versatile. 

Simple is huge. Often people looking to design logos want to say so much about their company and their brand that they overcomplicate something that should be simple and legible. Less is more with logos, so when you’re designing your logo always ask yourself, “can this be simpler?” By keeping your logo simple it is more recognizable at first glance. Busy logos are hard to read and most of the time your consumer base only has a glance to see, recognize, and associate your logo with your brand and ultimately your company. 

The next tenet is uniqueness. While it is nearly impossible not to have an influence on your logo making it one of a kind is hugely important. If your logo can be easily conflated with another it doesn’t matter how great your design is. The whole point of your logo is to be a symbol of your company, if it reminds people of another company you won’t have any financial gain from your logo design.

The third and final tenet is versatility. This is the easiest tenet to forget when designing your logo. Versatility essentially means that your logo looks good no matter how you apply it. A good logo can be on a 1×1 inch design in the corner of an advertisement or on a giant billboard. Think about the ABC logo, it can be displayed on a light background with its usual dark circle light lettering, but it could also be displayed on a dark background with a light circle and dark lettering. If your logo only works in certain circumstances it is a limited logo. 

These are the three biggest principles of logos that will help you in killing your logo design. 

With all the knowledge you have the green light to start designing your logo. Some useful tools to start this process are a sketchpad and pencil or in the digital space, there are tons of helpful resources. One tool LMH loves to use is the Canva Logo Maker. It’s free and is useful in getting you started with your logo. Vectr and Adobe illustrator are alternatives though Illustrator isn’t cheap. It is important here to treat your logo like a paper. Your first logo will likely not be “the one.” It is more like a rough draft to be edited so keep an open mind. 

Revisions

Once you have completed your logo design ask yourself “how could it be better?” “Is it timeless?” and “how is this logo best used?” Take the answers to these questions and go back and tinker. Run a comb through the entire design until it is a logo that you absolutely love. Once you love your logo, it is time to set up guidelines for using it.

A misused logo is a useless logo so know your logo’s strengths and weaknesses. If your logo doesn’t have thick bold and dark lines, it probably should not over photography. Ask yourself “How is my logo best used?” and write it down. Once you have these guidelines you are ready to implement your logo. 

Creating a logo people love is not an easy task. However, it doesn’t have to be something that you put off or neglect because “it’s too difficult”. Creating your logo is a process and it can be a fun and rewarding process. Here are a few parting tips to get you through the process. 

Be persistent. It can be hard at times to get a logo that you feel exactly personifies your company. If you’re struggling, don’t give up you will hit a breakthrough. Bring in others. A team of creatives is ultimately more creative than the best of designers, so be sure to include others and ask for outside opinions. Have fun. Ultimately, you are creating a logo that people will associate with your brand forever, and there is a lot of pressure in that. Don’t let that pressure get to you, have fun, and enjoy the process. 

Get in touch with us here at LMH. Our team of expert designers has years of experience and knows how to set you apart with a logo that fits!

The holidays are just around the corner and it’s time to momentarily adjust your social media game. Let’s talk about how you can add a little thanksgiving, Christmas, or whateverfloatsyourboat spirit to your profile. 

Tip #1 Headers

It’s a good idea to update your profile picture and profile header to reflect whatever holiday you want to show spirit for. Think of it as a full-fledged campaign without the ad spend 😉 For Thanksgiving, consider adding a turkey running across the bottom of your headers. For Christmas, maybe add a Santa hat to your logo. Most people enjoy getting into the holiday spirit. Use that positive association with your brand to attract new clients and reinforce your relationship with existing clients. You can create custom designs on Canva with ease. 

Tip #2 Scheduling 

Don’t make someone on your staff be responsible for posting on the day of a holiday. Schedule your holiday posts a few weeks in advance to make sure you don’t miss a beat and everyone gets to enjoy their holiday. We use services like Buffer and HeyOrca to schedule our posts. These services make posting social media content easier before with their easy-to-use design. Download their phone apps to make the process of scheduling social media posts a breeze!

Tip #3 Share Your Spirit

Does your business have an annual Christmas party? If so, consider sharing photos from the party with your social media followers to give them an inside look and make them feel more like part of the family! Toy drives and company outings are other great things to promote on your social media pages. The idea is to show your clients that your company is a family, not just a business trying to take your money ;).

Tip #4 There’s nothing more original than original

Ask your clients to submit original content to be posted on your page. For example, if I were Starbucks, I’d be asking customers to submit photos of our holiday cup in the snow or with Santa. This is a good opportunity to show your followers what your product or service looks like out in the real world instead of in a professional studio setting. Make sure the photos are high quality before you post and give photo credit in your caption. Forgetting to give photo credit goes against proper social media etiquette. 

Tip #5 Stay active on engagements

Engaging on social media is essential to growing your social media pages. Engaging with hashtags like “#wishlist” is a good way to get your product or service into the minds of consumers during a time when people are spending more money. Be sure to pay attention to the latest trends and keep an eye out for popular hashtags. Growing your page takes work, use the holiday season to your advantage, and spread good vibes, you’d be surprised how far a funny or kind comment will go. Block of at least an hour to interact with people on social media. Experienced social media managers will know which locations, hashtags, and users to seek out when doing engagements. 

Tip #6 Promote or host a charity event 

Let’s dive into tip #5 some more. Consider hosting a charity event where customers or employees can make a difference in the community. There are families across the country that can’t afford the luxuries of holidays. A toy or food drive is a great way to make a positive impact in your community. Toy drives don’t require lots of money. You can set a couple of larger boxes outside your office and let people donate what they can afford. Before the holiday season ends, find a donation location in your city that will make sure the toys fall into good hands. 

Tip #7 Run a poll

Polls are a great way to figure out what your audience wants! On Instagram, you can run polls on top of a photo. It’s a great way to spice up your content and obtain valuable insight into your followers. To run a poll, tap on the sticker icon and then select the poll sticker icon.

Tip #8 Don’t forget to post the day of

Make sure you’re scheduling a post the day of! Gift cards and cash are common holiday gifts, make sure you’re getting your brand out there as people are receiving these gifts!

Tip #9 The Power of the Discount Code

Discount codes are a great way to convert on-the-edge buyers into customers. Run a promotion that saves your customer a little money and watch the orders flow in! 

Tip #10 Don’t Forget Stories!

On a recent quarterly earnings call, Mark Zuckerberg stated that stories were the future of social media. It’s important to utilize all of the tools made available to you on social media. If you can do something on social media that people will see, you need to be taking advantage of that to promote your business. 

Tip #11 Create Festive Filters

 Filters are another great way to get your brand out there. Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat all allow 3rd party filters. Here is an example of a Starbucks geofilter: Geofilters are a great way to target customers in your area or any specific area of your choosing. 

Tip #12 Reach for action not likes 

The goal is to turn followers into customers. Try creating a single piece of content that encourages customers to take action and engage with your brand. It should be eye-catching but also needs to fit into the overall theme of your social media page.

Tip #13 Create Urgency 

Create limited-time offerings to snag the business of those customers that missed out on the discount code. Limited 2 for 1 offers are a great way to grab attention while the limited timeframe will encourage customers to take action immediately.

Tip #14 Hand Over The Keys 

If you really want to try something new, consider handing over the keys to your social media page to a well-known influencer that fits with your core values. Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook have the features necessary to create a seamless transition into a social media event with a host. Follow these steps for a successful social media takeover event: 

1. Find an influencer that fits your brand and interests your followers/customers.
2. Announce that they will be taking over your social media for a certain amount of time.
3. Set guidelines for the influencer to follow while in control of your page. 
4. Have the influencer post stories and photos about their life and how your product or service affects them. 
5. After the takeover event, add the story posts to your highlights for free evergreen content!

For example: If Patagonia wanted to do a social media takeover event, they could hire an influencer in the rock climbing community to post throughout the day while using Patagonia products. 

This provides Patagonia with credibility while also giving your potential customers an idea of what your product looks like in the real world. 

Why do a social media takeover?

• Takeovers create urgency in the mind of your customers. 
• Takeovers increase brand awareness.
• One in three social media users defers to social media making a purchasing decision.
• Forty percent of consumers purchase something after seeing an influencer use it.
• Social media takeovers get your products in front of an audience of your choosing.

Always make sure you’ve got branded images, clever captions, and a call to action ready to go. Just like any other time of year, you should be trying to stand out from the crowd. 

Now is a good time to get creative and come up with content that drives action. People tend to be in a good mood during the holidays, use this to your advantage and promote a little holiday spirit on your social media page. If this blog has been helpful, check out our other blogs here. If you want to take your social media game to the next level, get in touch with our team here at LMH and see why we have over 90% client retention since the creation of our firm. It’s been a pleasure, happy holidays!

“Ads are the Cave Art of the Twentieth Century.” – Marshall Mcluhan. 

Does anyone remember the days when we used yellow pages, encyclopedias, and books to search for information? With instant access to all the info we need, why would we do it the traditional way? Studies show that Google processes more than 40,000 searches per second, which averages to around 3.5 billion searches a day. 

So here’s the real question, what is stopping you from using Google Ads for your business when your product/service is most likely being searched through the web? 

Now before we completely sell you on this incredible and absolutely necessary marketing initiative, it’s important to understand Google Ads, why it’s vital that you promote your business through search engines.

What are Google Ads? Should I Google it? 

Let’s start with the simple question running through your head right now: What exactly are Google Ads? 

Google Ads is a paid advertising platform that uses a pay-per-click (PPC) in which you pay for each click or impression your ad receives. The more traffic you receive, the more $$ you’ll pay as an advertiser. The good news is these leads are well-qualified, good-fit customers who were served your ad most likely during the exact moment they were searching for information on your product or service.  These ads are both desktop and mobile-friendly and can be displayed through the Google Search Network or through the Google Display Network. (we’ll talk about the two later.) The benefit of using Google Ads is simple. Google’s advanced technology allows you to serve ads to your ideal customer at the time they’re wanting to know more info… so you can avoid being that annoying person behind the ad that no one wanted to see come across their phone (We’ve all been there.)

Let’s Break It Down.

Bear with us…there’s more. To really understand the importance of using Google Ads for your business, you must understand all aspects of the platform and how to measure success with certain metrics.

So we already know that Google Ads displays your ad to your potential audience or customers who are interested in your product at the time. But what you might not have known, is that Advertisers actually bid on certain keywords or search terms, and the winners are placed at the top of search result pages. 

“ Wait, so you’re telling me I have to compete with other ads to get ideal traffic.” – You when you read the paragraph above. 

It should be no surprise that with business comes competition. But with the right tools, you can become a competitive player in your field. Now let’s open the toolbox: 

AdRank and Quality Score.

AdRank, in a nutshell, is the determination of the order of competing ads on a Search Engine Results Page. (SERP) The ad with the highest rank gets the top position, the second ad gets the second-highest position, so on and so forth. It’s basically a popularity contest. The popular kids get noticed more, while the less popular kind of fly under the radar. (Damn, this one hit home.) To learn more about how to improve your AdRank, read this article.

Your Quality Score is one of the factors that determines your AdRank. This score is based on … you guessed it… the quality of your ad and how relevant it is to your target audience. Google measures this by how many people click on your ad. This is called a click-through rate or CTR. Essentially, the more relevant your ad is, the better it will perform. Although, having a high CTR does not necessarily mean that your ad is performing well on the back end. It’s also the user experience of the landing page your ad directs your audience to. For example, You can go on a date with someone because they’re good-looking, but if their personality is horrible you’ll most likely have an underwhelming experience. 

Focusing on your Quality Score involves making sure your ad copy and CTA is exactly what the prospect expected. 

Location

When creating your Ad, it’s important to use a location that is geographically strategic to ensure you’re reaching the correct audience. For example, If my product is golf clubs, I will most likely pick a radius around a popular golf course. For better results, it’s vital that you don’t serve ads in locations not relevant to your product. Google actually hates this, and your AdRank will absolutely suffer. 

Keywords 

Let’s pretend we’re still on this horrible date with the person who had a bad personality. Maybe it was their choice of words? If they had used the correct keywords, maybe you wouldn’t have left abruptly leaving them the bill due to a horrible match.

Keyword research is extremely vital to ensure that you’re matching your content with the searcher’s intent as much as possible. Google is basically the Bumble of ad platforms, meaning they will match your ad with your prospects’ search queries based on certain keywords you had selected for your ad. 

If you’re still selling golf clubs, you probably don’t want to use the keywords “dog treats” when selecting a set of phrases. (We know this is a reach, but you get the point.)

Match Types

So how do I find the perfect match? Using match types when creating your ad gives you some room to pick either the most ideal candidate possible or the person who may not have all the qualities you need, but are still a good choice. 

Match types tell Google whether you are looking for an exact match or anyone who has searched your keyword that’s a semi-related match. You can learn about the different match types here. 

Ad Extensions

Looking for more bang for your buck? Ad Extensions are free and give prospects more reason to interact with your ad.  These extensions include extra site links, a call button, maps, offers and promotions, and pricing. These give your prospects more reason to click on your ad compared to your competitors, who may not be utilizing extensions. 

Now that we’ve emptied the toolbox, let’s move on to what you SHOULDN’T do. 

Do not search your own ad…I repeat…

Of course, you’re going to want to see your beautiful ad, but doing so can actually hurt you.

Google ads use artificial intelligence that studies the behavior of the prospect and serves Ad at the most ideal time. So, what someone may see 1 minute, will not be what someone else would see 5 minutes later. Remember that advertisers are bidding against each other using the same keywords, so different ads may pop up in different rankings at any given time. 

This is why it’s essential to look at reports on a monthly basis, allowing data to aggregate so you can look at trends, versus making decisions on small factors of your campaign. 

Another reason you shouldn’t search your own ad is if you do happen to come across yours,  the likelihood of you clicking on it is slim, and if you don’t, you’re telling Google that your ad isn’t relevant, which will impact your Quality Score. If you have a low Quality Score, it gets more expensive for you to run ads since your Cost Per Click will increase. 

And lastly, if you repeatedly search your own ads without clicking, you’re eventually going to be ghosted by your own ad. Google will block your IP address in response to you desperately trying to find a way to look at your ad. Let Google do its magic and consult with your marketing experts at LMH, who can provide a report on how your campaign performs. 

The Final Chapter

Whew… now that we’ve completed a few chapters of information, you should feel more comfortable about Google Ads and how it can benefit your business. It’s important to remember that we live in a world where you have to pay to play. However, if you play your cards right, you’ll be able to increase your business and make yourself a key competitor in your industry. 

How well do you really know your audience? If your answer to the first sentence of this paragraph is “not well” then you’ve come to the right place! When it comes to targeting customers or creating the perfect post, knowing your social following is a crucial step in engaging the right people. Understanding your niche and targeting those people will allow you to dominate your social media platforms. 

In today’s scenario, we’re going to talk about marketing cake. That’s because we just had lunch and now we want some dessert. But you can apply these philosophies to your business, so long as you follow the steps.

1. Find your niche social media audience.

What makes your business unique? List all of the things that interest you and find links between them. Do you own a bakery? Do you primarily sell wedding or birthday cakes? Targeting a specific category in your industry will allow you to be the “expert” in your field. A bakery that is known for really awesome birthday cakes will gain more internet traffic than just a regular bakery. Superman sprinkle birthday cakes? Now we’re talking!

2. Locate your optimal customers.

Using platforms such as Google Analytics will allow you to find which customers would personally connect with your business. Then you can target them. Factors such as location, age, and income level should determine who you go after. For a superhero cake business, it would be beneficial to find mothers with young children, or even better, mothers with young boys who like superheroes! Searching through hashtags is also a great way to connect with customers and find inspiration. 

3. Keep in constant contact with your social audience.

Engaging your followers will allow you to understand how they think, what they like, and what they want to see. Post pics of your finished cakes! Make frosting taste test videos! Stories with polls or questions will allow your audience to speak directly to you (check out The LMH Guide to Engaging with Customers on Social Media for more on that). Posting videos or graphics will ensure that you don’t fall through the cracks of a cluttered Instagram feed. Your followers will tell you what they like if you give them the chance. As you post more content, learning about your followers will be a *cakewalk*! 

4. Stay unique!

Stay true to your brand and good things will happen. The followers that benefit your business will stay with you, so don’t get crazy and follow the status quo! Create a feed with the best cakes in your town and the people will love you for it. Your prospective followers want to gain value from accounts that they follow. When you offer them extravagant birthday cakes, they become invested in your brand and will turn to you for their next purchase. 

Don’t blow out the candles just yet! 

Just because your product or service can be consumed by anyone does not mean you don’t have to shape your audience. The most important thing to remember about knowing your social media audience is that you create it. Once you find your audience, focus on catering towards them. Having a strong group of followers who stay engaged in the life of your account is a million times better than having hundreds of followers who don’t know who you are or what you stand for. 

Follow these steps and you’ll be well on your way to baking up plenty of social media masterpieces. Happy baking!