On April 18th, our very own Jay Vics was featured in SEO Buddy’s series called “My SEOJourney”. In it, he shares some of his successes and failures with using SEO after having been in business for the past decade.
SEO Buddy asked Jay if he has learned anything particularly helpful in his SEO Journey?
Here’s a snippet of what he said:
“During my SEO journey, I’ve learned some really important lessons. One, traffic isn’t hard to get. You can always buy more traffic. But from a pure SEO perspective, focus on the quality instead of the quantity. Traffic numbers are a vanity metric if the traffic isn’t targeted. Know your ideal customer avatar and find those people. Also, find a tool that can help guide you to make impactful decisions on your site.”
Jay also divulged one of the biggest takeaways he has learned from his career in Digital Marketing, “people don’t buy products and services, they buy transformations. They buy the “after state”. This means that people don’t buy a bottle of water, they buy the quenching of their thirst and hydration that will give them the energy to make it through their day.”
Jay has always highly praised AppSumo and their lifetime deals, and in this interview for “My SEO Journey”, he went into some details about his favorite SEO products of theirs.
“Squirrly is great because it allows us to optimize sites based on the AI recommendations of the platform. Anyone can utilize the tools and suggestions to achieve higher search rankings, but you still need to know how to create good content. Squirrly also helps with that using their live assistant feature.”
Another favorite SEO product of Jay’s is Tru Ranker, which “is really good for monitoring where your site is for particular keywords, what your competitors are ranking for, and uncovering opportunities to create content based on some low hanging fruit.”
Learn more about Jay’s other favorite SEO product from AppSumo here.
What’s the next step in JVI Mobile’s SEO journey?
For this question, Jay gets candid about how SEO is really difficult to master, and how there is still so much room left to grow in JVI’s SEO journey.
Then, Jay realizes, “if I look at where we were 10 years ago, we will see massive strides in our search results. It is a long-term goal. You really can’t just keyword stuff a blog post and expect #1 rankings overnight. It’s like watching your stock portfolio. It goes up, it goes down in the short term. But over the long term is where you’ll see the improvement. Zoom out a bit.”
For more than a decade, UpCity’s mission has been—and continues to be—to help businesses find B2B service providers they can trust. The UpCity Recommendability Rating was developed to determine a service provider’s credibility and recommendability, giving UpCity the confidence to recommend them to the more than 2 million businesses that visit their site.
Each year, UpCity analyzes, and scores more than 70,000 service providers based on their UpCity Recommendability Rating and acknowledges the top national and local providers with an UpCity Excellence Award. The results are in, and we won!
“The team at JVI Mobile Marketing treats each client project as if it were their own. They’re everything the UpCity Local Excellence Award values–they’re dedicated, ambitious, and extremely knowledgeable. Congrats to the whole team!”
– Jack Thornburg, VP of Organic Growth, UpCity
This recognition has been driven in large part by our 4.7-star review rating on UpCity. Here are a few of our favorite pieces of feedback we’ve received from our incredible customers:
“I have worked with Jay for several years now. He took the time to understand my business and structure a marketing plan specific to my company's needs. It was not a cookie-cutter approach but a comprehensive look at how he could assist me in growing my business.”
– Robert Mason, March 2021
“He spoke at a webinar for our local chamber of commerce about sales discovery and it was fantastic! It was very informative and he definitely is very knowledgeable! I have learned some things to take with me for my business endeavors!”
– Angela Campbell, March 2021
We believe in leveling the playing field as much as we can because small businesses need digital marketingservices and are the backbone of our economy. Thank you to all our clients throughout the years for helping us achieve this award.
Here, we’ll get into a little more detail about Jay’s “serial entrepreneur” part of his impressive resume as we explore all the different services he’s created or put his own twist on to help business owners nationwide.
1. HowTo.Agency
If you’ve known us for a little while, you’re probably already familiar with this one; If not, JVI Mobile Marketing created HowTo.Agency because one day, Jay had an epiphany: some people who desperately need and/or want marketing help can't always afford to hire someone to do it for them… or sometimes they just would rather do it themselves!
HowTo.Agency is the perfect resource for business owners who want to take their marketing efforts into their own hands. We offer a wealth of resources, including tips, tutorials, and more. Our goal is to provide business owners with the tools they need to succeed — at no cost.
2. Local5Stars
If you're a business owner, then you know how important online reviews are. They can make or break your business.
With our reputation managementsoftware, you'll be able to collect online reviews from customers faster and easier than ever before. Plus, our software will help you track your online reputation and optimize your marketing strategy accordingly.
So if you're looking for a tool to help improve your business's online reputation, then look no further than Local5Stars.
3. The LENS Method
The LENS method, developed by JVI Mobile Marketing, is an effective social media strategy that can help you get the most out of your social media platforms. By following the LENS method, you can ensure that you are using social media to its full potential. These are the types of posts you should be putting out on your socials:
L- Listening
These are the types of posts where you’re asking your followers to engage with your content! If your post is intriguing enough, people will even do it on their own without you having to use the words “comment below”.
E- Educating
Give your followers fun facts or tips related to your product or industry! The more they can learn from you, the more they will trust you.
N- Networking
This is a “goodwill” post in which you talk about and tag other people or brands that are in your same industry. If you’re at a physical location, you can mention other stores or events nearby.
S- Selling
This is the one you’re probably already good at! It’s exactly what it sounds like – posting about your product or service with the intention of persuading someone to buy it.
By following the LENS method, you can maximize your social media efforts and achieve your business goals. Try it today!
4. Subscribestage.com
Subscribestage.com is a website built by JVI Mobile Marketing that gives people tons of information about all the different ways to get customers to and through the subscribe stage.
The subscribe stage of the customer value journey is when a potential customer opts in to receive something of value from you. This could be a newsletter, a free e-book, or access to exclusive content — to name a few.
There are tons of different subscribe stage strategies out there, and it can be tough to know which to pursue. That's where subscribestage.com comes in. We've gathered an extensive amount of information on all the various options, so you can make an informed decision about what will work best for you.
5. ManyChat Chatbots
ManyChat is a chatbot software as a service (SaaS) that can automate marketing campaigns on Facebook and Instagram and can be used in a variety of marketing campaigns.
These chatbots allow for real-time communication with your customers, which will help to maintain a personal touch with your audience in a way not previously possible without hiring in-house staff or using expensive outsourced software development services.
This is one of JVI Mobile’s favorite secret weapons, allowing them to help many companies become more efficient in reaching their audiences through automated marketing campaigns on social media.
When you go to Manychat's website just enter the email address associated with your Facebook Page, hit "Sign In", and then follow the steps to configure ManyChat.
6. AdvertisingGreensboro.com
Advertising Greensboro is a website created by JVI Mobile Marketing, meant to act as a directory for local businesses in the Greensboro, North Carolina area. The website includes a comprehensive list of businesses in the area, complete with contact information and links to the businesses' websites. Advertising Greensboro is a great resource for anyone looking for local businesses in Greensboro!
In addition to being a directory for local businesses, Advertising Greensboro is also home to Meet the Experts, a podcast hosted by Jay Vics of JVI Mobile Marketing. Meet the Experts interviews experts and owners of Greensboro businesses, providing listeners with valuable insights into the inner workings of these businesses. If you're looking for information on Greensboro businesses, Advertising Greensboro is the place to go!
7. Meet The Experts
As we just mentioned above, Jay Vics, Founder of JVI Mobile Marketing and HowTo.Agency, interviews experts and business owners about their businesses on Meet the Experts. This podcast is all about helping listeners learn from those who have succeeded in their fields while giving business owners a free "commercial" essentially all about them and their business!
Since this is a podcast, it comes at absolutely no cost to the interviewees. Also, Meet the Experts is a great way to learn new information while supporting small businesses.
Hear more about it from Jay himself!
8. Double Your Sales Discovery Session
This is a complimentary 90-minute session with Jay Vics, owner of JVI Mobile Marketing, where he will help you figure out how your business can get more customers and sales.
Most businesses want to double their sales but don't know where to start. This “gifted to you” session with Jay presents you with the perfect opportunity to get started. During this session, he will help you identify what's stopping your business from reaching its full potential and give you the tools you need to start making more sales. Don't miss out on this chance to take your business to the next level!
9. HowTo.Strategize – Digital Foundations Bootcamp
Are you ready to take your business to the next level?
If you've been through a Double Your Sales discovery session (mentioned above), then you're ready for the digital foundations bootcamp. Jay Vics of JVI Mobile Marketing leads this approximately 4-hour session that will start you on a path to predictability and profitability in your business or non-profit.
We will figure out your ideal client, your customer value journey, and your growth scorecard (which helps us figure out if it's working) to uncover any bottlenecks and opportunities in your current marketing strategy.
By the end of this bootcamp, you will have a solid foundation on which to build your digital marketing strategy. Register now and let's get started!
November through to January is one of the most exciting times for anyone who does digital marketing. It's the time when budgets are drawn up and the new marketing strategy is solidified.
As a small business owner, you don't have a team of marketers working on your behalf to formulate a winning digital marketing strategy to ensure your marketing efforts are a success. Because of this, it can be intimidating to plan your marketing strategies for this year.
But don't worry, because we've spent our time looking at all the data that matters to identify key digital marketing trends for 2022.
We've identified the best digital marketing trends that are working right now to generate leads and grow your business today, and through 2022.
What Are the Trends of the Future?
Fortunately for business owners, digital marketing has never been more important and there is no shortage of strategies to choose from. This year alone we've seen content marketing become increasingly popular as well as social mediaadvertising adopt a new strategy called paid-social media advertising which enables brands not only to advertise their products but also connect with audiences on different platforms like Facebook or Instagram without paying extra fees by using an algorithm so they can target potential customers based off interests relevant just what he/she might need at any given moment!
In 2021, content marketing was one of the leading forms of marketing used by businesses. Brands with a blog generated over 67% more leads than ones without a blog, and the revenue for content marketing will exceed $300 billion in 2022.
Social media marketing has also skyrocketed, with 54% of social media users using these platforms to research products. Marketing professionals have prioritized social media in 2021 because of its high time investment. The average user spends just under 3 hours per day consuming these networks; Which makes it clear that this platform will be important for brands looking to promote themselves online going forward.
Digital marketing is especially useful for small business owners. It’s cost-effective, has an extensive reach, and is instrumental for building brand awareness and trust.
But we know it can be overwhelming to develop your digital marketing strategy as a small business owner – especially if you don’t have much experience with digital marketing.
So with that in mind, we've put together a list of key trends that you need to know about in 2022. We’re sure it will keep your business profiting all year long!
Here are some of the key digital marketing trends you need to follow in 2022:
Influencer Marketing
In 2021, influencer marketing is worth over $13 billion. We live in a time where consumers trust sales influencers' recommendations over traditional celebrities, with 49% of consumers using influencer recommendations to influence purchasing decisions this year. For teens and younger demographics, this number is even higher; Over 70% of teenagers rely on influencer recommendations for purchases.
Social commerce is more powerful than ever before thanks to the power of influencers. Social commerce allows you to use influencers and micro-influencers to sell products directly to new customers on social media networks.
Influencer marketing is a significant trend in digital marketing strategy that will continue to boom in 2022. The rise of micro and nano-influencers means that small businesses can capitalize on this exciting marketing; There is a high return on investment on influencer marketing expenditure. For each $1 invested, businesses can make up to $6.50 ROI on influencer marketing.
Conversational Marketing is “IN”
Conversational marketing refers to the use of chatbots and live chats for marketing purposes. Able to provide users with instant access to customer support, conversational marketing makes your business accessible to customers 24/7.
Conversational marketing is a powerful marketing automation tool that leading brands utilize. This aids with data collection, qualify leads and provide premier customer experience services.
The best part about conversational marketing is it’s fully automated. It literally works for you in your sleep and can be set up fairly easily.
Facebook, WordPress & Wix all offer chatbot artificial intelligence tools that small businesses can use today.
The Power of Short-Form Video
Short-form video is skyrocketing in popularity. The growth of social media channels such as TikTok and Instagram Reels has caused short-form videos to become a booming digital marketing trend. It's important to incorporate short-form video into your digital marketing strategy.
Short, snappy, and to-the-point, short-form video marketing allows you to share key marketing messages in 15 seconds. These marketing messages are memorable, engaging, and resonate with consumers. Expenditure on short-form video is predicted to rise in 2022, and many leading marketers are investing more into it this new year.
Brand Challenges & User-Generated Content
The rise in short-form video marketing gave rise to other digital marketing trends such as brand challenges and user-generated content. Both of these offer prime marketing automation opportunities and allow you to produce interactive content with existing customers.
Interactive content is key to boosting engagement with your digital marketing efforts. Many marketers incorporate brand challenges into their marketing strategy in order to boost the amount of user-generated content created by existing customers.
User-generated content is content that is created by consumers and is key for building brand trust and awareness. Consumers are more likely to trust the content that is created by other consumers, and it requires minimal marketing efforts on your behalf.
Blogs and Website Content Are Still In
Blog and website content is still popular and will continue to be popular through 2022. You can utilize AI tools like Answer the Public to find what your consumers are searching for and develop a content strategy around it.
As of 2021, over 70% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing. Effective content marketing will help you rank higher on Google's search results, which means more targeted traffic for your business!
Your Email Copy
With an average return on investment of $36 for every $1 spent it's important to include email marketing in your digital marketing strategy.
But your email marketing results are only as good as your email copy. Create engaging email copy to compel your subscribers to click on your email offers and purchase you’re promoting. Once you have a customer email list, you can literally create sales on demand. So make sure you keep your list engaged with content that matters to them.
Wrapping up…
Digital marketing isn’t the future of marketing, it’s right now — and it's more important than ever for small businesses to capitalize on it now.
By implementing any of the digital marketing trends we mentioned above, you can take full advantage of powerful marketing strategies that will vastly improve your ROI digital reach with your audience.
Need help marketing or even creating your content? Book a time to chat with Jay of JVI Mobile Marketinghere.
By now, I think it’s safe to say that we’re all sick of talking about the pandemic. Most of us would gladly go back to a simpler time where there were no masks requirements, where businesses and restaurants were open for business as usual — and you could go about marketing your small business as usual.
But we still are living in crazy times. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in changes to advertising, marketing, and promotional campaigns for small businesses around the globe.
From brick-and-mortar, mom-and-pops to international brands, companies have needed to re-evaluate their approach to marketing to adapt to the ‘new normal.
Not to mention the minefield of policies that small businesses now face in the arena of paid promotion; The FTC, CFPB, and FDA have all honed in on unfair and deceptive business practices to protect vulnerable consumers, monitor bold marketing campaigns, and terminate COVID-19 scams from online platforms.
Impact of COVID-19 on Small Business Marketing
Adapting to Change
Small businesses should be up to the challenge: thinking about innovative marketing strategies and practices that don’t alienate their customers by appearing tone-deaf.
Further, ensuring operations are seamless and campaign planning is flawless in a new commercial world of uncertainty and promoting products and services that meet your customer’s new needs & desires in a post-pandemic world.
More crucially so, with the States condemned to a rollercoaster of opens and closes, advertising spending has decreased dramatically in 2021 as physical stores shut their doors and deliveries come to a halt.
So what does marketing look like for a small business nowadays?
Social Media: More Important than ever
Your budget for marketing your small business should directly reflect the shift in the way customers shop and find you online. As restrictions were put in place across the US – public and print advertising came to a near-instantaneous halt.
In the meantime, in-home media usage went up, including:
TV viewership
Streaming services
Social platforms
And per a study by GWI, 45 percent of global consumers are devoting more time to social media, and video streaming has increased by 25 percent. Why is this data crucial to the survival of small businesses?
It’s critical that a small business now seeks to optimize its marketing practices to better reflect this rise in the online presence of its customers, digital transactions, and entertainment choices. If you know your demographic has been using Facebook more during the pandemic, you know how your Q3 & 4 2021 marketing roadmap should look. Further, the number of consumers using online food delivery services and essential goods delivery solutions has risen dramatically. Customers are online, now more than ever – because it’s essential.
Being Human has never mattered more
Consumer demand for empathy on behalf of businesses and brands is at an all-time high during the COVID-19 pandemic. The small businesses that will continue to thrive in 2021 will be those that try their best to promote in a human manner and communicate with customers on an emotional level, understanding their pain points.
Yes, if you’re like many, you may be growing tired of hearing about COVID-19, but that doesn’t mean your small business should ignore it. In a survey conducted by Kantar, 77% of consumers said they now want to see online content from businesses to show ‘how you’re helping people get used to the new everyday life.’ But how can we achieve this with our small business marketing?
Seek to build long-term trust.
Educate customers about your own struggles as a small business.
Engage with your audience through more personal means than simple ads.
Entertain your audience when they need it most!
Email at the forefront
If emails don’t currently form a part of your small business marketing strategy, now is the time to change that. If you’ve established a keen database of current/past/potential future customers, email marketing is an incredibly cost-effective, powerful tool to market your business during the pandemic. No leaving the house, no physical locations – just old-fashioned digital. Plus, email marketing historically provides some of the most asymmetrical positive returns in the business world. It’s too cheap and too effective.
As we said, we can’t ignore COVID-19. While updates are important, they shouldn’t be the only focus of your emails (especially if it’s sent to customers you want to sell to!)
Here are some COVID-19-friendly email campaigns to add to your mix in 2021.
Newsletters – Want a laid-back, friendly way of keeping your customers in the loop about your business? Newsletters are the way forward. Think: promotions, deals, one-time offers, discounts – and virtual/physical event dates to grow your business. On top of that, you can tick the ‘human’ box by doing a few simple things; Feature local news stories, share social media updates, and get customers involved in quizzes and prize surveys.
Offer help to your customers – Depending on the nature of your business, you might be able to offer your help to the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Do you have connections in the business space that can help your customer? Are you running a fundraising campaign for local equipment/vaccine centers? If you can provide any support to your audience, you’ll want to set up email campaigns to reflect these plans.
Business as usual emails – Strike the balance between being COVID-friendly and Business-friendly emails! Remember: you’re running an operation here, and it’s probably your livelihood. Just exercise caution with the language you use in marketing your small business: people want empathy this year and sympathy for their current circumstances (and they still want you to sell to them!)
What’s stayed the same?
Yes, COVID-19 has caused a seismic shift in small businesses marketing. But there remain some consistencies to approach. Don’t just start over from scratch after this article!
Your Customers Still Like Your Ads
Earlier, we mentioned a study on sentiment done by Kantar. Per the same brand’s other COVID-19 Barometer survey, 8% of consumers believe that brands should stop advertising during the pandemic. As we said, it’s a minefield out there, and some businesses are concerned about offending their customers or community. But this data gives you the green light to go wild.
This will also resonate well with the market because people want normalcy back. They want the ‘old way of life back pre-COVID-19, and that means ads. It means billboards, great TV ads, and physical shopping.
Data is still King
Data hasn’t changed. If your business isn’t paying attention to data to drive decisions and establish marketing strategies, you’re missing out on a great deal of money and growth.
You can collect data in their CRMs to create better visions of your customer and create powerful marketing campaigns using social media content and ads. Using what information you generate with those campaigns, come back stronger with an even more resonant message.
The customer is still at the heart
How many emails have you received from small businesses, companies, or brands that start with ‘During these difficult times’ or something similar? It’s getting old. Business customers are blind to empty words like this and are finding it harder and harder to connect.
You still need to put the customer first. The pandemic is no longer a shock or something to transition into: it’s reality. Deliver helpful, meaningful, and engaging content. Solve the customer’s issues by talking to them and finding out how you can help.
Ultimately, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed a majority of small businesses as having little-to-no marketing strategies. If you’re one of them, that’s great – you won’t have to start fresh. If you find yourself shouting at the wind with no success, it’s time to build a pandemic-friendly marketing strategy that resonates with an audience that’s gotten to grips with a new world. Finally, there’s never been a greater opportunity for small businesses to engage with customers at such an intimate level.
Do you need help marketing your small business? Fill out this form so we can reach out to you!
