In the realm of digital marketing, the quest for quality leads is perpetual. As marketers, we are all too familiar with the frustration of sifting through a sea of leads, only to discover that many of them are nothing but spam or prank submissions. Not only do these junk leads waste valuable time and resources, but they also detract from the efficiency of our campaigns and hinder our ability to focus on genuine prospects.
At our digital marketing agency, we encountered this challenge firsthand. Despite implementing various lead generation strategies and meticulously designing registration forms, we found ourselves inundated with spammy and irrelevant leads. Recognizing the need for a solution, we turned to artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline our lead qualification process and separate the wheat from the chaff.
AI proved to be a game-changer in our quest to combat spam leads. By leveraging innate sophisticated algorithms and machine learning techniques in tools like ChatGPT, we developed a system that could analyze the data submitted by leads and discern patterns indicative of spam behavior. But we didn’t stop there. Instead of simply filtering out spam leads, we decided to take a more creative approach.
We tapped into the power of AI to craft personalized email responses that would resonate with the humor present in the data submitted by spam leads. Instead of sending generic rejection emails, our AI-generated responses were witty, engaging, and tailored to the specific quirks and idiosyncrasies of each lead.
Challenge One: Are You A Robot?
In our ongoing battle against spammy leads, we recently encountered an intriguing submission from someone identifying themselves as “Rachel Kors” from the company “bxnx.” However, upon closer inspection, it became apparent that the response to questions about their company’s industry and website was rather cryptic, with strings of seemingly random characters. Suspecting foul play or perhaps just a case of mistaken form fields, we decided to put our trusty ChatGPT AI to work and craft a clever response that would hopefully elicit a more coherent reply.
The Lead
The prompt
“You’re currently running a Facebook campaign for digital marketing services and have been receiving registrations that appear to be either spam or bot-generated. Craft a brief email message to humorously address the unusual registrations while also gauging the credibility and genuine interest of the recipients in obtaining helpful information. You’ll want to playfully acknowledge the limited or dubious information they provided in the contact form, while also ensuring you’re engaging with potential leads.”
The Result
Challenge Two: Are You Angelina Jolie?
In our quest to combat spammy leads, we recently encountered an intriguing submission from someone identifying themselves as “Salbador López Figueroa Lopez” from the company “Angelina Jolie.” While their email and phone number seemed legitimate, further investigation revealed a curious response to the inquiry about their industry and website. In both cases, they simply repeated their own name, leaving us scratching our heads. It was clear that we were dealing with a potential spammer or someone with a particularly unique approach to form submissions. Instead of dismissing the lead outright, we decided to have a little fun and put our ChatGPT AI to the test.
The Lead
The Prompt
“You’re currently running a Facebook campaign for digital marketing services and have been receiving registrations with questionable credibility. To address this, draft a light-hearted email inquiring about the authenticity of the registrations while subtly joking about the company name entered in the contact form, such as ‘Angelina Jolie.’ The goal is to playfully engage with the registrants while also assessing their genuine interest in your services to determine if they could be potential leads.”
The Result
The results were nothing short of remarkable. Not only did our clever email responses catch the attention of spam leads, but they also elicited responses from some of them. In many cases, what started as a prank submission turned into a genuine conversation, allowing us to identify hidden gems among the spam.
But perhaps the most significant impact of leveraging AI in this way was the time and resources it saved our team. With AI handling the task of crafting engaging email responses, our marketers were free to focus their energy on nurturing genuine prospects and driving meaningful interactions.
In essence, AI empowered us to automate the tedious process of weeding out spam leads while simultaneously injecting a dose of creativity and personality into our communication efforts. By harnessing the power of AI, we not only improved the efficiency of our lead qualification process but also transformed an otherwise mundane task into an opportunity for engagement and connection. As the digital marketing landscape continues to evolve, it’s clear that AI will play an increasingly vital role in helping marketers navigate the complexities of lead generation and conversion.
In the digital world, websites often face a choice: to migrate or not. Whether driven by a desire for a fresh look, enhanced functionality, or better performance, website migrations can offer a world of opportunities. Yet, beneath the allure of transformation lies a perilous journey fraught with potential pitfalls, especially when it comes to preserving the delicate equilibrium of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). In this article, we delve into the treacherous terrain of website migrations, uncovering the missteps that can send SEO rankings plummeting and the strategies needed to steer clear of disaster.
Understand the Maze Of Your Website Architecture
During a migration, the canvas is blank, presenting a golden opportunity for a fresh start. It’s an ideal moment to reassess the overarching SEO landscape and unearth potential enhancements in foundational elements such as information architecture, taxonomy, and navigation.
A streamlined and user-friendly information architecture trumps an outdated or intricate one any day. Yet, any navigational structure that effectively channels organic traffic is an invaluable asset. However, any alterations should be implemented gradually and vigilantly, with vigilant monitoring throughout.
A sudden overhaul can send shockwaves through the system. Transformations to core navigation and browsing routes may disrupt user behavior and the equitable distribution of link authority, ushering in:
A reshuffling of PageRank.
A decline in long-tail traffic.
Fluctuations in keyword rankings and organic traffic.
The stakes are notably high for large, well-established websites that enjoy a substantial slice of the organic market share within their niches.
As an illustrative example, some years ago, a classifieds website opted to streamline and simplify its category tree during a platform migration, not realizing that this structure was a primary driver of organic traffic. The outcome was sobering: they suffered a staggering 40% loss in SEO market share, a setback from which they are still working to recover.
Don’t Forget 301 Redirects
Forget what you may but never omit 301 redirects. These redirects serve as the digital signposts guiding both users and search engines to the new location of your web pages. Without them, you risk losing valuable organic traffic and damaging your hard-earned search engine rankings. Essentially, 301 redirects ensure a seamless transition for your audience, preserving the equity your old pages had accrued in terms of SEO. They tell search engines that the page has moved permanently, transferring its authority and ranking signals to the new URL. In essence, 301 redirects are the guardians of your online presence during a website migration, helping you maintain visibility, user experience, and SEO performance.
Dedicate time and resources to meticulously plan your 301 redirection strategy. This is a critical step in safeguarding your link equity and ensuring a seamless transition for both users and search engines. To achieve this, you should:
Thoroughly update all internal links to match the new URL structure.
Eliminate any unnecessary redirect chains in the process.
By executing these actions, you’ll effectively preserve your website’s SEO value while providing a hassle-free experience for your audience and search engine crawlers.
Overlooking the Importance of a Migration Strategy
Similar to embarking on any significant endeavor, transitioning to a new platform demands a meticulously devised execution strategy. It’s crucial for SEO professionals to be part of the process from the outset, ensuring sufficient time and prospects to:
Collaborate with product and engineering teams.
Define technical and content prerequisites.
Extend continuous support, aiding in both pre- and post-migration quality assurance.
A comprehensive migration plan should encompass a meticulous checklist that covers vital aspects of technical SEO, content management, page speed enhancements, performance optimization, analytics benchmarking, and more.
Understanding Content Pruning
Content pruning is not merely about decluttering your website; it’s a strategic process that can significantly impact your website’s SEO during and after migration.
Content pruning, in essence, is the process of strategically removing or consolidating web pages and content on your site. It might involve deleting outdated or irrelevant pages, merging similar pages, or restructuring content to enhance user navigation and search engine visibility.
Why Content Pruning Matters During Migration
Streamlined User Experience
Improved SEO Performance
Faster Page Load Times
Easier Indexation
Conducting regular content inventory reviews is advisable. This practice helps prevent the accumulation of abandoned and neglected pages that are no longer supported or actively maintained.
Mobile Indexing First
With Google’s predominant focus on mobile-first indexing, the importance of ensuring your website is not just mobile-friendly, but also optimized for mobile search results, cannot be overstated.
As you plan your website migration, prioritize mobile optimization to safeguard your organic search rankings. Google’s mobile-first indexing means that it predominantly uses the mobile version of your site for ranking and indexing. Therefore, any missteps in ensuring a seamless transition for mobile users can lead to a significant drop in your search engine visibility. To avoid this, it’s crucial to thoroughly test the mobile version of your new site before and after migration to ensure it offers an excellent user experience and maintains the integrity of your SEO efforts. Pay attention to factors like responsive design, page load speed on mobile devices, and structured data markup to ensure your site not only complies with Google’s mobile-first indexing but also ranks well and provides a positive mobile user experience. In the era of mobile supremacy, optimizing for mobile indexing is no longer an option; it’s a necessity for maintaining your website’s organic search performance.
Sluggish Website
As search engines become more discerning about user experience, a sluggish website can be detrimental to your search rankings. To ensure that your migration doesn’t slow you down, start by decluttering JavaScript and minimizing its use. Bloated JavaScript files can bog down page loading times, frustrating users and pushing your website down the search engine results. A thorough review and optimization of your JavaScript code during migration can significantly boost your site’s loading speed, contributing to a seamless transition that doesn’t disrupt your SEO efforts.
Another pivotal element to address is image optimization. Images are often the heaviest elements on a webpage, and their improper handling can lead to extended loading times. During migration, it’s essential to review and compress images appropriately, striking a balance between visual quality and file size. Leveraging modern image formats, employing lazy loading techniques, and optimizing image alt tags can all contribute to faster loading times. Remember that Google places a premium on user experience, and a lightning-fast website will not only appease users but also earn you favor in the eyes of search engines, potentially boosting your organic search rankings during and after the migration process. In the competitive digital landscape, speed matters, and incorporating these optimizations into your migration strategy can make all the difference in maintaining SEO performance and user satisfaction.
The real estate industry is constantly evolving, and staying on top of the latest marketing trends is essential for success. 2022 was a highly successful year for pretty much everyone involved in the real estate industry, especially here at SM Digital Partners, where we helped our real estate developer partners close over $50 million dollars in luxury real estate transactions.
The fantastic response and growth of the real estate industry brought forth new concepts and marketing trends, as well as ideas for real estate digital marketing. Initially, the adoption rate of digital marketing was very slow, which now they are the latest and most popular trends in helping to sell real estate.
Being able to drive your marketing message to an audience that wants to see your message creates a much more targeted and engaged audience that will hopefully lead to a real estate sale!
Marketing reporting is the process of gathering and analyzing marketing data to create an informative report. Typically a document, or it could be a digital dashboard, a marketing report combines data from multiple marketing channels, like Google Pay per Click, Facebook, TikTok, your local newspaper or print journal, ideally in real-time, and shows the overall performance results of your marketing strategy, whether it’s local, regional, national or global.
Why is it important?
The goal of a digital marketing report is to inform future marketing decisions, strategies, and performance. Well built, real-time and accurate digital marketing reports identify meaningful, actionable insights and allow you to take action accordingly.
Got it. But, what’s the purpose?
The purpose of your marketing report is to understand whether the marketing strategies you currently use are going in the right direction and how to further improve them. The scope of the report can vary depending on the subject matter and the number of platforms you are collecting your data from.
Okay. So Why Again Should I Use A Digital Marketing Report?
Encourages Better Marketing Decisions –
For example, you’ll be able to tell whether your Google Ad spend is profitable, or you’re spending too much on your social media strategy and need to change course or stop it all together.
Establishes Benchmarks for Performance –
You’ll see what channels are working well – and which aren’t – so you’ll know what your target benchmark is when you look to new digital marketing channels or campaigns.
Keeps your Marketing Budget On Budget
A well structured report will tell you how much you’ve spent each day, week month and quarter and should keep you from overspending.
In Sum – What We’ve Learned
Many clients come to us after realizing their reports are either not correct, not real time, or simply non-existent. But the facts are clear. In order to responsibly manage your marketing budgets, you must have access to marketing reports that give you accurate, insightful and immediate data so that you can grow your business optimally and intelligently.
Many businesses have experienced huge returns by investing in email marketing campaigns. Recently, marketers have seen the rise of other digital marketing channels like social media marketing and content marketing.
But companies should still invest in their email marketing platforms. 80% of American consumers have email and check it at least once a day. Businesses that invest in email marketing enjoy an average ROI of 4,200%. So they earn $42 for every dollar invested in email marketing services.
This is a huge potential market that you can’t afford to miss out on. Keep reading to learn more about email marketing platforms and their benefits.
What Are Email Marketing Platforms?
An email marketing platform is a type of software that helps users effectively send out emails to a mailing list. Businesses have hundreds of email subscribers. So it would be inefficient to manually send out emails one subscriber at a time.
Email marketing software allows you to send out hundreds of emails at the touch of a button. Email marketing platforms also help you to track the open and read rates of each email. These platforms also have tools that enable you to segment your mailing lists and track leads throughout their buying journey.
Key Benefits of Email Marketing Platforms
There are multiple reasons for investing in the right email marketing platform. Below are the benefits of using an email marketing platform.
1. Increase Sales
The main reason why businesses invest in any kind of marketing is to increase revenue. Well, email marketing provides the highest ROI out of all the marketing tools out there. Marketers that use targeted sales emails have reported sales increases of up to 760%.
Why does email marketing work so well? First, most people prefer communicating with brands via email. So, it is easier to get their attention and win their trust that way. Also, by clicking on the subscribe button and staying on your email list, subscribers show that they trust you.
Subscribers would be more willing to buy from an email from you than a random company advertising on social media. You can also use email to sell to buyers that have abandoned their carts. Email can help silence the objections they had when they decided not to buy.
2. Communicate With Your Audience and Add Value
Another benefit of email marketing platforms is that they allow you to communicate regularly with your audience. Your email subscribers have a need or pain point that you speak to, otherwise, they wouldn’t have subscribed to you.
For instance, someone that has subscribed to a fitness company’s mailing list is looking for ways to get fit and healthy. They’ll enjoy receiving emails from you that are full of valuable tips on how they can live a fit lifestyle. If they get all the information they need from your email, they won’t feel the need to search social media pages or Google for the information you are providing them with.
When you do decide to sell a product, they will be eager to buy from you because of the trust you have built with them through previous emails. Yes, you can communicate with your audience through your website or social media platforms. But you won’t be able to write long messages or speak as freely as you can via email.
3. Keep Full Rights Over Your Content and Mailing List
Email marketing platforms give you full ownership over your mailing list as well as any content you post on your emails. Many modern marketing platforms belong to big digital firms like Meta and Google. So, any marketing content you post on social media is owned by the social media platform.
Anything you post on their platforms has to adhere to their content rules or your post may be taken down. The platform also owns your account as well as your list of followers so they can decide to shut down your account.
Hundreds of social media influencers have lost all their content and followers overnight after a social media platform decided to shut down their accounts. The influencers started scrambling for ways to reconnect with their audience and send them messages.
The lesson learned from these experiences is that every business owner must have their own mailing list that they fully control. This is possible when you invest in email marketing services.
4. Create Targeted Content
One of the main benefits of email marketing tools is that they help you to personalize the emails sent out to your subscribers. For instance, you can add a personalized greeting to each email whereby you salute each subscriber by their first name. Or you can send emails referencing current events in the different locations that your subscribers come from.
Personalized marketing campaigns get much higher returns than generic campaigns. Statistics show that emails that include the name of the recipient in the subject line get opened more frequently than those that don’t.
Successful email marketing occurs when the right information is sent out to the right audience at the right time. Email marketing software allows you to send the right information to subscribers that are at different stages of your marketing funnel.
New subscribers may get informational welcome emails whereas repeat customers may get instructional emails about how to use their purchased products or services.
5. Increase Traffic to Your Site
Email marketing platforms are a great tool to increase traffic to your site. There are over a billion websites on the internet, each competing for the attention of your audience. Unless you promote your site content you will never get any traffic and your site won’t feature on the first pages of search engines.
Email marketing platforms can help increase the visibility of your site by sending an email to your list whenever you release or update content. When subscribers click on your site link on the promotion emails your site statistics and SEO ratings will improve.
Take Advantage of the Benefits of Using Email Marketing Platforms
Email is still one of the best ways to communicate with your target audience. Email marketing platforms have one of the best ROIs in the industry. They also allow you to own your content and mailing list, so you never have to worry about losing the subscribers you have worked so hard to get.
For more information about email marketing tools or to get help with your digital marketing, contact us today for assistance.
Local maps marketing is a critical component of any successful local marketing strategy. Maps and navigation tools are used by almost anyone looking for a specific destination or address. What’s more, online maps are ubiquitous tools in virtually every mobile device. People use local maps to find businesses, buy products or use services, find specific attractions and explore a geographical area.
In other words, we are constantly connected to our maps and navigation tools, making it a very important marketing tool for every business. Let’s delve deeper into the details of local online marketing and see how you can implement it into your campaigns.
Also, if you truly want to understand Local Marketing in depth we have prepared this useful information on Local SEO.
Google consistently ranks local businesses higher in its SERPs. Whenever you search for something, Google will firstly display local results. This is obviously very important for anyone looking for a plumber in Florida, for instance, and Google knows it. In order to be visible in the search results, businesses have to work on their local maps SEO. Here’s how to do it:
Keeping your NAP consistent – your Name, Address, and Phone number, abbreviated as NAP, is one of the most important factors in your Google Maps optimization strategy. It’s the first thing the search engine and your customers come across when searching for a local service. Accuracy is very important: try to pay attention to your NAP across all platforms – your website, Google My Business, and Google Maps. According to Google, mismatched NAP details have been one of the major causes for low rankings.
Collecting reviews – every business should focus on collecting reviews on multiple platforms. Each platform has different restrictions and requirements, so pay attention to your profile settings and information. Rest assured, Google will pick up most reviews and your local visibility will grow.
Creating local content – local rankings are influenced by locally specific content, so try to create include geo-tagged photos, locally relevant videos and blog posts for your Posts on Google and Google My Business profiles. Similarly, include your locally specific content in your social media profiles. Make sure all your online profiles are optimized for local search and are relevant for a specific geographic location.
How to Get Listed on Google Maps?
Getting listed on Google Maps is the first thing you need to do for your local advertising strategy. The whole process is simple and you can get it done in just under an hour. Here are the steps you’ll need to follow:
Start Google My Business – go to www.google.com/business to get started. Here, hit the Start button and log in with your Google account. If you don’t have one, hit the Create account button.
Add and claim your business – after you sign in, you are taken to the main Google My Business page where you can edit your Google Local Map listing and claim your business (if it already exists in the directory) or add it. Check if your business is already in the directory by searching for it in the search box. If you find it, check if the information is accurate and claim it. If you don’t find it, you’ll have to manually add it in a separate form.
Filling out your information – pay close attention to this step; include your NAP as it appears on your other online profiles (website and social media platforms). For instance, if you use “blvd” instead of “boulevard”, use the same version everywhere. Next, choose a category that best describes your business.
Verifying your business – as soon as you’re done, Google will send a postcard with a verification PIN to your email inbox.
Confirming your business – confirm the email from Google and include any additional details in your profile, like photos, opening hours and your logo. This will encourage people to leave reviews and rate your business.
Check and update your information – review the information you provided and make sure every detail is accurate. You are good to go!
How to rank in Google Maps?
How to Rank On Google Maps
Getting in the top positions, also known as the 3-pack, on Google Maps can immensely boost your traffic and visibility. Let’s see how you can rank higher in Google Maps and blow your competition out of the water:
Make sure you pick the right categories – sometimes, the categories listed may not be right for your business. Try to match your main keyword with your primary category. Search for your main keyword together with a major city on Google and copy the most common ones. Also, make sure to use the secondary category feature in order to increase your reach.
Build local citations and get reviews – use SEO services from your Agency to help you get citations back to your business. Directories, review platforms, associations, and other aggregators are your best friends when it comes to citations.
Get local social signals – social media is becoming increasingly important for ranking on Google local search. Make sure you use the major social media platforms to your advantage and get shares, likes, and comments from local people and businesses. This will make you an instantly recognizable player in the community
Create press releases – having a press release focused on your business shows you are a professional and an authority in your industry. There are multiple press release services online and they are quite affordable. Ideally, you should launch a press release whenever you implement new features or launch special offers.
How to mark your Business on Google Maps?
How to Mark your Business on Google Maps
Pinpointing your exact address on Google Maps will help your customers find your store more easily. Here’s how to do it:
Sign into your Google My Business profile
Open the location you want to mark
Hit the Address button and check if it’s correct
On the map, you’ll see a red pin; drag it to the precise location of your business;
Once you are sure of the location, click Apply
Note: your location may be reviewed by Google. Wait for 2 to 3 days to see the changes in Google Maps.
