Rachel Rozen

The Vantage Buzz – February 2023

/in /by

Hi,

We’re still in the thick of Winter, but with Spring right around the corner, how are you preparing your business for the season change? Learn how seasonal marketing can benefit your business.

Your monthly ad-Vantage reading below:

Business:

Modern marketing is all about building trust with data ethics. HERE are 3 ways you can do that. Also, find out what the World’s top 50 most visited websites are.

E-commerce:

According to Reuters’ State of Marketing 2023 report, 53% of marketers expect TikTok to deliver the biggest growth in 2023. Why consider TikTok for B2B?

After the pandemic pushed consumers to shop more online, e-commerce sales have continued to grow in recent years, with 2022 e-commerce sales exceeding $1trillion for the first time in history! Read more HERE.

And General Intrigue:

On the lighter side of marketing “news”… Have you been pronouncing these brand names incorrectly your entire life?

Rachel Rozen

The Vantage Buzz – January 2023

/in /by

Hi,

We hope 2023 has been good to you so far! HERE are some marketing trends to look out for this year. As consumers simplify their choices, we’re ready for the challenges that come along with pivots to ad-supported streaming, alternative measurement currencies and new social platforms.

Your monthly ad-Vantage reading below:

Business:

What is a marketing automation platform? What capabilities do MAPs provide for B2B marketers? Also, as markets tighten, HERE are some strategies to help B2B marketing, sales and customer success teams.

E-commerce:

The global e-commerce market is not expected to slow down anytime soon and the “North America region is expected to hold the largest e-commerce market share.” Read MORE. And, do you need an overview of all of the known, confirmed, rumoured, and absolute myth-level Google ranking factors in an easy-to-read, highly condensed way?

And General Intrigue:

Research shows that millennials and Gen Zers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. HERE are online review stats that every marketer should know.

Vantage-Search-Marketing-Home-Page
Stephen Claridge

The Vantage Buzz – June 2020

/in /by

Hi,

Happy June. We hope you’ve benefited from some of the crazy online volume we’ve seen due to most people being at home during the ongoing pandemic. A lot of places are looking at new phases to try and return to a “new normal,” but online shopping and traffic in general may continue to grow rapidly as more and more businesses adopt remote policies for both their employees and customers.

Your monthly advantage reading below:

Business:

The office environment has likely changed forever. A small, but indicative survey of SaaStr users found that 77% of them would have new working arrangements, whether that be remote or a hybrid of a traditional office and remote working. Further, the article highlights how many large companies are transitioning as well, including Slack, Twitter, Square, and Shopify.

E-commerce:

May’s ecommerce results outpaced the holiday season of 2019, emphasizing just how many people turn to online shopping during COVID-19. The implication for the future is that a lot more consumers may be more willing and attracted to shopping online than before.

And General Intrigue:

Actionable ways to drive diversity and equity in your marketing organization. Thorough article on initiatives and training that can help.

Stephen Claridge

The Vantage Buzz – May 2020

/in /by

Hi,

Crazy times continue as the world responds to COVID-19 in various ways. Some places are considering or phasing into re-openings like here in Vancouver. We continue to work hard on accounts as current events continue to affect our clients in unique ways as more customers are online than ever before for many products.

If you have any concerns on how the outbreak is impacting your PPC accounts, please reach out to us.

Your monthly advantage reading below:

Business:

If B2B sales have slowed down or if things are getting overwhelming on the data side if they’ve sped up, now may be a good time to review and improve your customer data cleaning processes.

E-commerce:

Shopify’s fast checkout app, Shop Pay, has produced some impressive results. While this is an internal study by Shopify, it still demonstrates the value of creating as seamless a checkout experience as possible for your customers, especially when more and more of them are shopping online.

And General Intrigue:

7 strategies for keeping your team engaged while working remotely.

“People like to be part of something big and they shouldn’t lose that motivation or mentality just because they can’t set foot in the office or be around their coworkers. We could all use a helping hand right now even if it’s something as simple as sharing all of the cutest photos of your pets. Actually, can we go ahead and start doing that now? That’d be great, thanks.”

Stephen Claridge

The Vantage Buzz – March 2020

/in /by

Hi,

What a whirlwind March. We’re hoping you and yours are keeping safe and healthy during the ongoing pandemic. The Vantage team continues to work away on campaigns, but from the comfort of our own homes.

If you have any concerns on how the outbreak is impacting your PPC accounts, you’re more than welcome to reach out to us.

Your monthly advantage reading below:

Business:

As many shift to remote working, it’s important to remember that sometimes technology doesn’t cooperate. Having a fallback plan is essential to smoothing out unforeseen issues. Your fallback can be as simple as a replacement platform or a shift to email when your chat fails, but make sure everyone knows what to do and you’ll reduce headaches!

E-commerce:

No matter what your business does, your customers likely have questions about how COVID-19 will affect products, operations, and services. Consider adding a dedicated page on your website to answer some of these questions and ease their minds. Especially if you’re in the restaurant industry.

And General Intrigue:

Used Netflix party yet? The chrome extension allows you to watch the same show or movie with your friends in a group chat. A simple tool that can help during self-isolation.

Stephen Claridge

The Vantage Buzz – February

/in /by

Hi,

Happy February. We’re working away on new initiatives for 2020, including spring promotions which are just around the corner.

Your monthly advantage reading below:

Business:

A look at the multiple steps customers take before choosing a vendor, revealing that, on average, they will go through 13 pieces of content before making a decision. The article further breaks down where they’ll look for this content, highlighting why it’s important to have information on your website as well as being promoted elsewhere.

E-commerce:

The art of the digital coupon examined: a look at how to implement coupons effectively in the current digital landscape. Read the article to find out how and when to use a coupon online.

And General Intrigue:

Learn how direct messages are being used by some of the biggest brands. You may be able to implement some of the good applications in your own business.

Stephen Claridge

The Vantage Buzz – January 2020

/in /by

Hi,

Happy 2020! We hope the new decade is off to a good start for you and your businesses. Make sure to let us know if you have any new initiatives or promotion ideas.

Your monthly advantage reading below:

Business:

The best business books of 2019, curated by award-winning magazine Strategy + Business, may supply you with some worthy additions if you need to add to your yearly reading list.

E-commerce:

A look at commonalities for high performance e-commerce websites in 2019, based on a larger e-commerce digital report. We highly recommend taking a look here. Notably, strong social audience purchases related to high performance:

“The three strongest conversion correlations across the 4,000 datapoints were related to social transactions. This tells us that the very top performing websites were significantly better than everybody else at generating traffic from social that purchases.”

And General Intrigue:

Maybe you want this new decade to be a bit simpler than the last one. Or at least you want your product or business to be simpler. Either way, the 10 laws of simplicity have you covered.

Stephen Claridge

The Vantage Buzz – December 2019

/in /by

Hi,

Happy holidays! Hope Black Friday / Cyber Monday went well. The sales season continues, though, and we continue to busily plan and execute promotions. Let us know if you need any help planning yours.

Additionally, we’ll be closed during the holidays, December 25th, 26th, and January 1st.

Your monthly advantage reading below:

Business:

Clarification on whether Hubspot and Saleforce are competitors and the announcement of the death of the funnel and the birth of the flywheel from the CEO of HubSpot.

Ecommerce:

The new year approaches and you might be considering adding new products to your lineup. If you’re looking for a product launch method, this one sounds intriguing and fast: The 7 Day Product Launch Blitz

And General Intrigue:

New year, new ideas for ensuring humanity’s survival in the face of climate change. This one is very sci-fi movie: A 1,000 Year Space Mission to Save Humanity. 

Stephen Claridge

The Vantage Buzz – November 2019

/in /by

Hi,

It’s coming, it’s almost here, it’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday! We’re busy putting together promotions so we’ll keep this newsletter short and sweet.

Be sure to let us know if you need a last minute campaign setup as the time-frame in which we might be able to do so is quickly disappearing.

Your monthly advantage reading below:

Business:

3 options for dealing with a rising customer churn rate. Highlights how ultimately it is unsustainable, but that there are options for you to find a new course.

Ecommerce:

Why losing money on a sale is not necessarily a bad thing. Counter-intuitive, right?

And General Intrigue:

How to check and improve page loading speeds on WordPress. Ecommerce focused, but applicable to any business running on a WordPress page. Includes plugin tips as well.

The-Digital-Marketing-Portfolio
Stephen Claridge

The Digital Marketing Portfolio

/in /by

To grow an online business you need to get people likely-to-convert on your site. Simple, and you already know as much.

But how do you create a plan for this? By developing a digital marketing portfolio. Like a financial portfolio made up of different assets, your marketing portfolio will be made up of different marketing assets.

This portfolio will consist of all of the online channels you use to guide people to your brand online like social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest as well as online advertising networks like Google Ads and Bing Ads.

The importance of thinking about all of these channels as a portfolio is the flexibility it will give you to shift budget and resources between what is and isn’t working. 

Like a Financial Portfolio

You wouldn’t keep your money invested in an asset that’s falling on the financial market. Nor would you avoid putting more money in an asset that’s yielding great returns.

Further, by dipping your toes in a variety of networks you’ll maximize exposure as well as the chance you’ll find a placement or network that you can consistently and competitively win profitable traffic from. To be competitive online, you need to be where your best customers are.

Like with a balanced financial portfolio, a balanced digital marketing portfolio helps reduce the riskiness of each investment, while also allowing you to get an idea whether an investment is profitable to continue contributing to.

What’s key is having an initial investment that you’re ready to devote to the portfolio and its initial exploratory phase, as well as a consistent contribution plan, to accommodate any growth opportunities within the portfolio. 

This is the key to building wealth in a financial portfolio, and it’s the key to sustaining growth in a marketing portfolio.

Both resources for original content and the upfront costs of direct advertising need to be factored into any growth plan formula, especially in the attention economy. 

Your marketing investment is the first part of this calculation, but your growth (in traffic as well as sales) and profitability are the second and third.

Measuring your Digital Marketing Portfolio at Both the Whole & Individual

Another benefit of a digital marketing portfolio mindset is the totality of it. You can measure what goes in and what comes out at the overall and granular level. With this kind of perspective you’ll be able to facilitate both growth and profitability as you measure the portfolio as a whole as well each individual component.

To begin building your portfolio we’d suggest you include the major networks Google & Facebook/Instagram as defaults. 

These two networks reach virtually all online traffic and are generally the most sophisticated, meaning you’ll be able to find insights on audiences and placements the fastest for your investment. 

Then, if you have any historical customer analysis, look at where your customers are coming from organically, apart from the major networks, and decide if you’d like to increase your presence on those channels.

What matters is that you keep track of how your overall investment is doing. You’ll also want to track how changes to each marketing asset affect the overall portfolio. 

You must maintain this fundamental mindset when reviewing the portfolio or else you might fall into the trap of becoming over reliant on a single channel. 

Single channel strategies can be extremely profitable in the short term, but are not a long term solution for a brand that hopes to be competitive on the internet and not just on a single network.

Finding and Using Key Performance Metrics

Holistic viewpoints exist when performance indicators can be shared across assets. 

To make analysis easy for you and your team, create shared KPIs across your marketing channels.

Whether its leads, leads to sales rates, new customers, your return on ad spend or another metric, make sure that you have this data flowing from each individual channel to a single report or dashboard where you can see everything.

This dashboard illuminates the final benefit of the marketing portfolio we’ll outline: the concentration of data it frames your mind around. 

A portfolio approach tends to reduce the mental fatigue of sifting through all of your assets, a task you should not have to do every time you want to know how your marketing investment is performing.