The first step with any marketing plan or strategy is determining who your target audience is. If marketing is a house, think of your target audience as the foundation. Knowing who you’re targeting is the key to reaching, connecting with, and convincing them to buy your products or services. While it’s tempting to go full-steam ahead into marketing campaigns, it will benefit your company in the long run to stop, think about, and identify your target audience first.

Who Am I Targeting?

Whether you’ve been in business for decades or are just starting out, you should always be asking yourself “who am I targeting?” Even general products with broad appeal can be targeted to different groups in different ways. In short – specifics sell. The more clearly you can identify who you’re targeting, the more effective and focused your marketing can and will be. The key to a strong marketing campaign is understanding your audience and what they’re motivated by.

How Are My Current Customers Using My Services/Products?

People who use your product or service for the same thing may have different reasons for using it, or they may use it in different ways. If you can segment your customer base by how they use your product/service, you can gain a lot of insight into your target audience. If your current customers love your company for a specific reason, then potential customers who are similarly motivated will be likely to respond to a campaign geared toward that same issue.

What Am I Trying To Sell?

This may seem obvious, but before you can identify your target audience, you have to first know what you’re selling (especially if you’re a new company or are changing what you provide). Different products and services appeal to different audiences, so even small tweaks to what you’re selling can have a big effect on how your marketing works. “What am I selling?” should be one of the first – if not the first – question you ask during the marketing process.

Is My Audience Narrow? Or Non-Existent?

The narrower you make your target audience, the easier it is to create specific, highly targeted messaging. However, if you’ve narrowed it too much and can only target a few people with that messaging, then you may need to expand your targeting.

Conclusion

It’s easy to assume you know who your audience is and what they’re looking for, but it greatly benefits you to take the time to really think about what you’re selling, who you want to sell to, and how you can best sell it. It may not be the most exciting part of marketing, but it’s the key to laying a good foundation for any good marketing campaign.

Additional information from MarketingLand

Video marketing is a concept that is only growing as consumption of news and educational information in video format is in higher demand. It’s a great tool to integrate into your campaign strategy and reach your audience. Check out these informative statistics about why video marketing works!

Why Are Businesses Using Video Marketing?

Video marketing is no longer a cutting-edge extravagance for large corporations. It’s time to evaluate how your brand will benefit from creating effective video content and positioning that content for strongest returns.

– According to Cisco, internet video traffic will grow four times by 2021. More importantly, industry analysts agree that the decision-makers you need to reach respond dramatically to video marketing content.
– 59% of executives would prefer watching a video compared to reading text.

As your business evolves, so does your story. That is something you should actively share with the public. By bringing in viewers and keeping followers connected, you can potentially create new leads and customers.
Video marketing is a great way to refresh your marketing strategy and develop messages in ways that text can’t. Different target audiences resonate with multiple channels of communication online, but it is safe to know that most social media and online platforms utilize video marketing to share their message now more than ever.

Does It Work?

There are some compelling reasons to consider developing quality video content to get the best value from your online marketing budget.

– 64% of users are more likely to buy a product online after watching a video about it.
– According to a report published by Forrester, including video in an email leads to a whopping 200-300% increase in click-through rate.
– Your videos can help your SEO by ranking your business for keywords that you hadn’t been able to use before and 60% of marketers claim that video marketing has drastically increased their conversion rates.

Creating a video marketing campaign helps your business’s voice to be heard among a sea of other online voices. Finding a way to stand out can be difficult if you are only utilizing text and images, but video marketing is a useful strategy to get creative while reaching your target audience. Video marketing helps you grow brand awareness, reach new audiences, and influence purchasing decisions in an interesting, compelling way. With a number of targeting options available, it’s a cost-effective solution to help ensure your message reaches your desired audience.

Today people can – and do – prepare for every aspect of any experience, big or small. Whether they’re taking a vacation across the globe or dining at a neighborhood café, people have a low tolerance for surprises. Here are some tips to understand how you can provide value in these moments.

Spark excitement about an upcoming experience

In the early stages of planning, many want a look at what their experience could entail. And that sneak peek sparks excitement. This behavior often plays out in search. For example, there has been over 55% growth in mobile searches for “menus” over the past two years. Anticipation then builds as people research and discover more about an upcoming experience. Search marketing is a great tool to help capture searchers as they’re researching for a trip, a new store or restaurant, or experiences like museums, concerts, etc.

Build confidence before heading to a new destination

People feel a need to prepare for every detail of their experience – from exploring maps to confirming business hours. Consider this: mobile searches for “wait times” have grown 120% over the past two years. Researching these smaller details ahead of time alleviates stress and gives people confidence heading into an experience. Including information on your website to help searchers find the answers to their questions can help them feel more comfortable.

Make the most of a budget

Nobody likes to be surprised by an unexpected expense. People want to account for every penny up front. In the past two years, mobile searches for “do you tip in _” have grown over 70%. But it’s not just about saving money. People want to make sure they get the biggest bang for their buck. If you’re able to add pricing information to your website, it can help searchers while they’re in the research and budgeting phase. This may not be possible for all companies and industries, but if possible, can be a great tool.

What it means for you

Whether it’s to get excited, build confidence, or work within a budget, people are turning to the Internet to help shape and validate the decisions they make. Capturing those consumers when they’re searching online, and providing assistance can help people understand all the features and amenities you offer.

Additional information provided by Think With Google

Online marketing is necessary. Word of mouth isn’t dead, but it’s morphed into “word of mouse and keyboard.” There are common trends between bad online marketing habits and lack of ROI. Below are the most common offenders.

Bad Habit #1: “I’ll Do It Myself to Save Money”

Many local business owners believe running their own online marketing campaigns can help them save money. But, the reality is that online marketing is extremely complex and time-consuming. Because you are an expert in running your business, you likely don’t have the time to teach yourself how to run your campaigns while keeping up with the ever-changing best practices that go into managing your online marketing. Working with an online marketing company can save you time, resources, and a lot of headaches in the long run by providing expert campaign management and reporting so you don’t have to worry about the minutiae of your campaigns. When you work with an online marketing company, you can spend more time focusing on your business while your campaign experts focus on getting you more business online.

Bad Habit #2: “It Won’t Work”

The “it won’t work” mentality can cost you ROI in the long run. Why? Well, every campaign, just like every business, runs completely different. There are no two campaigns that will run exactly the same, because somewhere along the way, something is different: goals, products/services offered or focused on, offers, conversion rates, reviews, social media presence, brand recognition, etc., thus rendering it impossible to know if something works or doesn’t work until you try. Every new marketing tactic out there has a different lifecycle to understand if it’s actually working or not. The most important thing to keep in mind before starting is: what does “work” mean to you? Make sure you know exactly what the expectations are for the online marketing tactic you want to try. Is the goal to drive awareness about your business? Is it to capture people searching for what you do? Is it to drive traffic to your site? Once you understand the expectations, then set goals and timelines so you can measure performance.

Bad Habit #3: “I’ll Just Try it for a Month”

Many local business owners don’t give online marketing strategies the proper time they need to start working. It’s important not to start a campaign with the mindset of “let’s throw $1,000 for one month and see what it does.” If you are serious about testing out a new online marketing tactic, then go all in. For example, if you are going to try SEO, you need to run it for at least 12 months. SEO is a long-term strategy that takes a while to start taking shape, but the ROI payoff is worth every penny invested. Talk with your online marketing partner about a realistic timeline for new online marketing strategies because they do vary, and you want to make sure you’re giving each strategy a chance to work for you. In order to get more ROI, it’s important to make informed decisions about online marketing and your campaigns. You don’t have to know everything about online marketing, but you do have to make sure you understand what your goals are, know what your timeline and expectations are for the life of the campaign, and define how you are going to measure your results.

Within the next month, Google Chrome will release its 68th version/update. For the first time, Chrome will clearly mark sites that do not have SSL certificates as “Not Secure” in the address bar. We first addressed this change last September, and now have an official timeline for when these changes will roll out. Secure connections (SSLs) are widely considered a necessary measure to decrease the risk of users being vulnerable to content injection. Data is kept secure from third parties, and users can be more confident that they are communicating with the correct website. Previously, a small exclamation point in a circle was included on those sites. With the new update, the actual words “Not Secure” will appear next to the web address. This example from Google shows the difference that will be seen once Chrome updates.

Additionally, Google has also announced that an even more obvious alert will be rolled out “eventually.”

Waiting until the last minute to update your site is a recipe for disaster, especially since this change will be happening soon. For this reason, we strongly recommend adding an SSL certificate to your website, if you do not currently have one. For more information and to discuss next steps, please contact us at 309-693-2345 or reaching out to your Central States Marketing Project Managers.

Despite an onslaught of new media platforms and devices, established forms of media – such as radio and TV – remain resilient, according to new study from Kantar Media. Nearly every consumer surveyed for the research firm’s Dimension 2018 report, across the U.S. and four other global markets, continues to access television through a TV set and 88% listen to radio “offline” or through a traditional broadcast receiver. Around 80% continue to look at print versions of newspapers and magazines. The new numbers “speak to the power of these established platforms,” Kantar says in the 125-page report. “This isn’t to say that the overall trend toward online services has been massively exaggerated or even that it is slowing, but it is worth remembering that we are currently living in a mixed media economy,” the report notes. Consumers who feel that advertisers are doing a better job of communicating with them now than in the past declined slightly year-over-year, “highlighting that there is still work to be done to improve the standing of online advertising (in particular) with the end user,” the report reveals. Other conclusions from the study: Consumers and industry leaders agree that improvements are needed to ensure relevancy in messaging; and that there is a balance between privacy and creative appropriateness. Advertisers and their agencies need help navigating the huge quantity of data available to them from multiple sources. And common standards are needed across all platforms to allow for full use to be made of all data, and for industry learnings to be maximized. Kantar surveyed 5,000 “connected consumers” aged 18+ across Brazil, China, France, the UK and the U.S., with 1,000 surveys conducted in each country. Connected consumers are defined as those who use two out of a PC/laptop, a tablet or a smartphone to connect to the internet.

Originally posted on InsideRadio.com

You may have heard about a new Google feature called Local Services Ads. This new feature has rolled out in a limited number of large metropolitan areas, with plans to roll out to more cities sometime in the future. There is currently no estimated timeframe for when this service will be available to everyone.
But what are Local Services Ads? Local Services Ads are specific to home services industries: plumbing, HVAC, electricians, locksmiths, garage door services, etc.
A Local Services ad helps you attract customers to your business. Your ad highlights the most valuable information for customers to choose your business: services offered, service area, hours, and reviews. Local Services ads puts trustworthy local professionals in front of people who are looking to find and schedule quickly.

Attract new customers

The Local Services unit will show at the very top of Google’s search results, whenever someone searches for a local provider like you.

Build trust online

Appearing in the Local Services unit is a badge of trust — only providers who have met Google’s qualifying criteria will be featured in the unit.
People will see honest reviews, helping you build a great online reputation.
Your business receives a polished profile page, so that people can see exactly which services you offer, and the hours you operate. It’s the perfect place to source new leads and bookings.

Connect with more customers

Be seen at the top of the Search page, with a badge of trust. Advertising with the Google guarantee is a powerful way to attract new customers.

Central States Media (CSM) recently received 2 awards from the Public Relations Association of Central Illinois for their work with the Peoria Park District, Peoria Zoo, and Bremer Jewelry. CSM and Bremer Jewelry received the Bang for Your Buck Award for their Holiday 2017 social media campaign. This robust campaign promoted products and gifts available for purchase in store and online. The goal was to engage customers through video content and encourage them to visit the Bremer website or store and make their holiday purchase there. CSM, Peoria Park District, and Peoria Zoo received the People’s Choice Award for the “Hello, My Name Is” campaign. This objective of this campaign was to draw attention to the arrival of the zoo’s newest baby giraffe. One of the goals involved in the campaign was to involve the Peoria community by creating a ‘naming’ campaign and involving them in the voting process. The Public Relations Association of Central Illinois (PRA) is an organization of public relations, marketing and communication professionals from corporate organizations, small businesses and not-for-profit agencies.

Peoria, IL, May 10, 2018 – Central States Media (CSM) recently received a total of 7 national awards for its work with a number of partners, through the Healthcare Advertising Awards.
“We are extremely appreciative of our partners for their collaboration with Central States Media and the opportunity to work with them in realizing their marketing strategies,” stated Ann Johnston, President, Central States Media. “We’d like to personally thank the teams at Illinois CancerCare, Gibson Area Hospital & Health Services, Missouri Baptist Cancer Center and OSF HealthCare for their continued support.”
Healthcare Marketing Report, the leading national publication covering all aspects of healthcare marketing announced the winners of their 35th Annual Healthcare Advertising Awards on May 1, 2018. The Healthcare Advertising Awards is the oldest, largest and most widely respected healthcare advertising awards competition. This year, over 4,000 entries were received, making the awards the largest national healthcare advertising awards competition. A national panel of judges reviewed all entries based on creativity, quality, message effectiveness, consumer appeal, graphic design and overall impact.

There’s a lot you can learn from online reviews, and they can be a valuable tool for improving your customer service. Handle them incorrectly, however, and you could be left with a PR nightmare. There’s no need to be intimidated: review response can be expertly handled if you understand a few key points.

It’s important to understand that today’s consumers are savvy. They don’t want templated responses but instead prefer to feel like they are communicating with an actual person who really hears what they’re saying, and cares about it. Personalization is the key to creating a meaningful exchange that promotes goodwill and understanding.

How can you accomplish a personal discourse? Here are six things to keep in mind when it comes to responding to reviews.

Know Your Customers

It’s important to have a basic understanding of the types of people leaving reviews and the comments your company receives. One way to do this is to keep a log of your past reviews for reference. Notice repeat reviewers, and look for patterns in your reviews. Is there a particular complaint or department that’s popping up repeatedly from different customers? Make sure that one gets your full attention.

Categorize & Prioritize

Look at it as a kind of triage: categorize your reviews by sentiment, urgency, and so on. Remember that your reviewers are your customers, and what they’re saying is important to them or they wouldn’t have taken the time to write a review. Handle the most urgent issues first, but respond to all of your reviews within a pre-determined timeframe.

Have a Plan in Place

Use the categorization to create an action plan that uses reviews to improve your business. Who should you notify? If the review is positive, does someone need to be commended? If it’s negative, you’ll likely need to let more people know, especially if it contains sensitive information or refers to specific employees. Sometimes the review will originate from an ex-employee, and you should have a plan for that possibility as well.

Know the Frame of Reference

Make sure you have a list of ongoing replies and an FAQ document of some sort from your company before writing a reply. Before writing a reply, check out the reviewer, learning as much as you can about the person in order to understand his or her point of view. See if you can view their social profiles. Have we talked before? Have they used our product or services? Knowing a little bit more about the customer can help you evaluate whether your reply needs to be public or private.

Offer a Personal Response

Here’s the crux of the matter: people want a personal connection with a human being. That’s why auto-response and templated responses do not work when it comes to reviews. Write a response that feels genuine, thanking them for taking the time to write the review and addressing any concerns they have in a supportive manner.

Make Sure Your Response is Appropriate

Think about this: the response you give is not simply going to the reviewer but to the entire online community. People who are interested in your business, people who are already your customers, and even your competition could potentially read your response. That’s one reason to always remain cordial, even in the face of criticism. Another thing to consider? When the review is positive, craft your response to include your business name, location, and any applicable promotions. When it’s negative, avoid including that information, or any other words that could land a bad review in a search result for your business. Sometimes, a customer needs a heartfelt apology. Other times, a friendly emoji will suffice.

Online reviews are an integral part of the decision-making process for most products and services, and your company’s reputation depends on how you handle those reviews.