Category: Blog

As technology has continued to evolve, businesses have had to adapt along with it in order to stay relevant to customers, especially businesses that work in retail. Catching the attention of a consumer has become considerably more difficult for brick-and-mortar stores, because now they must compete with other physical stores as well as online stores. In order for a business to continue to grow, it must maintain its current clientele and bring in new potential customers. For many stores with only a physical location, these two goals have become more and more difficult to reach.

If you are a retail business planning the next step for your company, we recommend investing in an e-commerce website. Adding an e-commerce website to a business revolutionizes both marketing and connecting with customers. Here are three ways your retail business can benefit from an e-commerce website.

Connect and Build a Consumer Base

During the checkout process at a physical store, many customers do not want to stop and give contact information to the clerk. Even more often, the clerk does not have time to stop with every client. This does not even include potential customers who leave the store without buying anything. When transactions are completed online, a business can capture certain points of contact such as an email address, phone number and physical address, which can be used in future marketing methods. 

The shopping life of a consumer has changed drastically within the past ten years. Gone are the days of advertising by hanging a sale sign in the window. Now, consumers are bombarded with advertisements on phones, televisions, magazines and billboards, so it is important to utilize emails and texts sent to customers. Keep in mind the number of advertisements and marketing consumers receive on a day-to-day basis. An email once a week and a text during a big sale is a great example of a good marketing strategy that leaves the customer connected and excited, without feeling overwhelmed or pressured. 

Bring Your Business to You

By utilizing e-commerce marketing tools and building a consumer base, a retail business can expand its clientele to the outside of the physical area of the store. Shoppers from all over the country can become customers. Having more customers also means more consumers wearing and showing off a retailer’s product, which is free advertising for a company.

Establish a Well-Recognizable Brand

Expanding a company to an online platform allows the brand to develop further. A website can be customized to a specific color scheme and font. Consumers visiting a website with a consistent theme will associate the brand with those colors. Consistent brand colors, a logo and more will establish a brand identity. By shipping products, retailers can display their company’s logo and colors on the box and packing materials.

These are just a few ways having an e-commerce website can help your retail business. E-commerce is the next step for any business looking to develop their clientele, grow their reach to customers and establish their company’s brand identity.

Southern View Media is a digital marketing agency that was created to help local businesses understand the complex digital world and make educated decisions regarding their marketing. We are a balance of talent, intuition, business sense, media solutions and metrics to be a creative problem-solving machine that is fueled by client needs and driven by results and we are ready to provide businesses with marketing and advertising services at any level. From standing out to breaking into a market we help people find you, trust you and share you. Contact us to find out how we can help with your business’s digital presence. For a free consultation to formulate a strategic and affordable plan, call us today at 251-517-9425, email us or fill out the contact form here

Are you trying to market your small business but feel it is nearly impossible because larger firms have an advantage? The good news is that you can now generate marketing strategies at the same rate as a larger business, and still gain the necessary tools to promote your business without breaking the bank. Save time from searching and learn five ways to market your small business today. 

1. Produce Compelling Content

Like any start-up business, building a website alone is never enough. Many entrepreneurs quickly realize the need for engagement. So how do you create compelling content? It’s simple. You give clients something they can value. By creating blogs and integrating SEO practice to your website, your clients can easily locate more information on topics that matter with a few clicks away. The uploaded content should correlate with the theme of your business so that you better define your niche and create a space where back and forth commentary is invited. 

2. Get Your Social Media On 

Nothing says marketing more than social media. There are many ways to reach audiences by simply sharing content and any updates across all social platforms. Remember to always aim to remain consistent with uploads so that your followers acknowledge your presence as an overall brand. Keep new, upcoming product releases interesting by showing sneak peeks to keep the momentum going. Also, use alluring images and infographics for even more eye-catching content. 

3. Email Market Your Way to Sales 

Every morning we wake up and check our emails. It has pretty much become human nature at this point. Which is why email marketing is one of the easiest ways to ease your way into potentially creating a sale. Consider adding a newsletter feature to  your webpage so interested or existing customers can get the latest updates. Use opt-in features and give an overview of what you will send out. This strategy is basic but effective if done the right way as it can help build trusting relationships between you and the client as well as add long-term assets towards your business. 

4. In-List on Business Directories

In-listing your business on business directories sites such as TripAdvisor or Yelp, is a perfect tool to request, especially if you are in the hospitality industry. Not only get noticed but also become more susceptible for a booking compared to a business that is not listed on a business directory. 

5. Run Facebook Ads

Running Facebook Ads is a budget friendly way to get started on driving traffic towards your target audience. Many small business owners use it as an opportunity to gain awareness on new campaigns and target nearby users using geographic settings. 

Contact us to find out how we can help with your business’s digital presence. For a free consultation to formulate a strategic and affordable plan, call us today at 251-583-2605 or visit www.southernviewmedia.com. We are a Google Partner Agency and will be happy to answer your questions.

What may seem like a race to the finish line for reaching higher traffic with the help of search engine optimization, may also be the answer your business has been looking for. We are referring to the benefits of investing in SEO and why you should consider this clever marketing strategy. We know how much your business means to you and what it is worth, so invest in making it worthwhile

Your Brand and Rank Will Stand Out.

Competition within brand markets is at an all-time high in today’s digital world. Which brand will give the consumer the experience they are looking for to make them want to come back? Surprisingly, it won’t just work with the customer remembering logos and graphics, it begins with how easily they can type what they want to find. Type in a few keywords and they’ve found gold (a.k.a your website). SEO will be your best friend as it will rely on algorithms to help get your brand to a higher rank. And, if you’re worried about standing out against big boxed brands, the local SEO market works to display local searches so your small or midsize business won’t go unnoticed.  

Helps Analyze Performance

If you’re investing in SEO, shouldn’t you receive feedback to know if it’s working? Luckily, it is all included. With Google Analytics, everything is tracked and recorded for your reference. From knowing how many clicks you received on your website to how much time someone spends on it. These features are great resources to evaluate how well your business is doing or how it can improve. For example, if you find a pattern with repetitive bounce rates, you might consider adding more simple headlines/titles or making the website easily accessible with an emphasis on white space design. Any form of unimpressive old or new content can easily hinder clients to exit out and choose another site. 

The Payoff is Worth It 

You heard it here first. The payoff is worth the while when purchasing SEO at a low cost. This form of revenue can easily grow throughout time because it drives traffic and most importantly, it brings in new and long-term customers who will become your main focus as your target audience. The type of user experience your audience will receive through organic traffic will prevail amongst other forms of self-promotion and ads that otherwise can cause your business to spiral into a hole of aggressive selling. After all, what you give is what you will ultimately attract. 

Contact us to find out how we can help with your business’s digital presence. For a free consultation to formulate a strategic and affordable plan, call us today at 251-583-2605 or visit www.southernviewmedia.com. We are a Google Trusted Agency and will be happy to answer your questions.

Choosing a method of advertising can quickly become an overwhelming decision. In the current world of ever-changing technology, there is a constant stream of media content that is difficult for consumers to sort through. How can businesses differentiate themselves in the market and attract new customers? We believe one of the best ways to catch the eyes of potential clients is through video marketing. If you’re looking to take the next step to grow your business, read below to understand how video marketing can help you.

Easy to Process

While video marketing may be more work for the company to create, it makes up for it with how easy it is for consumers to find and process. A video can portray information in less time than reading and researching websites. Consumers also prefer video because it is more entertaining and easier to understand.

Search Engine Optimization

The more clicks, views and screen time a business website earns, the higher Google, Bing and other search engines will rank the website on their results page. For example, there are many coffee shops in New York City. If a tourist searches “coffee shops near me” the websites that appear on the search engine results are websites who have regular, heavy traffic from customers. Websites with low traffic, no reviews and no videos are filtered out and ranked lower in search results. Adding videos to websites and social media increases the number of visitors to a website and engagement on your social posts.

Connection

Everyone knows that first impressions can be difficult to master. In the technology-heavy world we all live in today, it is hard for businesses to connect with their consumers and keep them coming back. While the written word is powerful, it can be time-consuming for a customer to process. Video marketing portrays more of a business than just words and creates a connection between the customer and the company. A customer can see the employees and hear the description of a business directly from a manager or supervisor and put a face with the name. Videos are also easier to share on social media platforms, so the first impressions through video can expand tenfold and expand the customer base.

Brand Identity

Brand identity is a unique brand image that is portrayed through the use of logos, brand colors, packaging, website, typography, etc. When a customer enters the store or website, what are they interpreting? Video marketing establishes the brand identity by inculcating all attributes of the brand in a video. By combining all parts of a company’s brand into the video, customers are able to view and understand who a company is as a whole. 

Marketing has evolved over the past twenty years. The world of newspaper ads and television spots has morphed into Instagram advertising and Facebook videos. Identifying target audiences and navigating how to best reach them in a digital setting can seem intimidating and daunting. Let us help you identify your marketing goals and expand your consumer base without the stress.

Southern View Media is a full-service digital marketing agency that was created to help local businesses understand the complex digital world and make educated decisions regarding their marketing. We are a balance of talent, intuition, business sense, media solutions and metrics to be a creative problem-solving machine. We emphasize our clients’ needs and are driven by results. We are ready to provide businesses with marketing and advertising services at any level!

Contact us to find out how we can help with your business’s digital presence. For a free consultation to formulate a strategic and affordable plan, call us today at 251-517-9425!

In the digital marketplace, your website is the front door to your business. Similar to brick-and-mortar stores with a fresh slab of paint, new and updated websites can help attract potential customers browsing online. Websites are a great investment, and even more so when they are utilized correctly. Read below for expert-approved reasons on how a new or updated website will benefit your business!

Increases Your Audience

Unlike a brick-and-mortar store, customers don’t have to be walking the street to find your business. A new website makes it easier for customers to search, browse and support your business, whether down the road or a few states over. In conclusion: a new website is especially beneficial if you wish to expand your audience.

Stays Up to Date With Trends

How many times have you looked at a website and instantly knew that it was outdated or just confusing? Whether it was the selected font style or color scheme or layout, you instinctively recognize that the site had not been updated in a while. Your customers will also notice if your website needs to be updated! However, if your website aligns with current visual trends and easy navigation, then customers are much more likely to trust you as a source and more likely to spend time on your website!

Refreshes Branding

GREAT (not good) web design not only attracts customers but also establishes your business’s brand. A clear and decisive brand is greatly effective at communicating your business’s identity, which further increases your credibility. With so many voices clamoring to be heard online, make sure that yours stands out with a refreshing and vibrant website that fully conveys your brand.

Promotes Your Services

A new website is great at promoting your services and products if designed correctly. During a 5-minute coffee break, no one wants to read long blocks of texts. Instead, a website with visually-appealing images and videos is much more likely to make an impact! Images and videos are better at conveying your message and in much less time.

A Lasting Investment

A new website is an advertisement that will never expire. Instead of relying on, and paying more, for temporary television or newspaper ads, a website is a permanent advertisement! Websites are also easier to adjust as news or policies change, instead of having to completely revamp an advertisement per campaign.

In summary: a website serves many purposes, including revitalizing your brand and promoting your services. Ultimately, you have less than 15 seconds to grab a potential customer’s attention on your website. That is only a quarter of a minute. Make your website work for you by reaching out to the digital ninja team at Southern View Media!

Southern View Media is a full-service digital marketing agency that was created to help local businesses understand the complex digital world and make educated decisions regarding their marketing. We are a balance of talent, intuition, business sense, media solutions and metrics to be a creative problem-solving machine. We emphasize our clients’ needs and are driven by results. We are ready to provide businesses with marketing and advertising services at any level!

Contact us to find out how we can help with your business’s digital presence. For a free consultation to formulate a strategic and affordable plan, call us today at 251-517-9425!

Communication has always been one of the most important components of a business. Now that technology has become a part of everyday life, companies have to use creativity to integrate it into their business to strategically stay ahead. Email marketing is a new way to grow businesses by connecting and expanding their audience. Below are examples of how your business could benefit by implementing email marketing into your strategy.

Connect with the Audience

Gaining and expanding a customer base is the primary focus of all businesses. Emails establish a connection and keep consumers abreast of current events within a company or industry. This communication builds trust and familiarity, which encourages repeat business with previous customers. It is important to find the right frequency of emails, so your customers are hearing from you enough to establish a connection, but not so much to become a nuisance, which can lead to customers opting out of receiving emails.

Increase Credibility

The more consistent, high-quality information that is distributed to an audience, the more a business is associated as a reliable source of information. This process establishes companies as industry leaders and they often have an increase in traffic via word-of-mouth recommendations and email sharing. This increase of credibility makes it easier for product or service because of the trust of consumers.

Cost-Efficient

Without emails, physical communication becomes more of a hassle. Not only is email marketing great for communication, but it also saves money! Money that was originally directed to flyers, envelopes, postage, etc., can all be saved when the information is switched to online communication. Emails are able to be used for a variety of purposes. They can be used to promote events and fundraisers, or maybe even to create newsletters to keep customers informed. The money saved from cutting mailing materials can now be directed to assist other departments to grow.

Expand Your Audience and Brand

Switching to emails is like tipping the first domino. Once your business connects with its consumers and establishes itself as a field leader, the audience naturally expands and grows. Emails are easily shared among family and friends. Including an opt-in box in emails allows readers to easily subscribe to ensure they do not miss the next email. To drive people from the email to a website, include a clickable link to a blog or specific page. Emails are a great connector between business creatives and consumers. This is why emails help to grow a brands’ presence. The regularity of emails develops a voice and style that becomes easily recognizable for consumers. Haven’t decided what you want your brand to be? Create a brand guide to layout guidelines for colors, writing voice and images. By following this guide over time, brand identity will form and be associated with the business.

In a world of constant advertising and marketing, it is imperative for companies to set themselves apart to attract the eye of customers. Utilizing email as a part of a marketing strategy should be the next big step in growing any business.

Southern View Media is a digital marketing agency that was created to help local businesses understand the complex digital world and make educated decisions regarding their marketing. We are a balance of talent, intuition, business sense, media solutions and metrics to be a creative problem-solving machine that is fueled by client needs and driven by results and we are ready to provide businesses with marketing and advertising services at any level. From standing out to breaking into a market we help people find you, trust you and share you. Contact us to find out how we can help with your business’s digital presence. For a free consultation to formulate a strategic and affordable plan, call us today at 251-517-9425, email us or fill out the contact form here!

It can be hard to differentiate your business in a culture where anything is available at the fingertips. How do you set yourself apart and bring customers to you? How do you keep customers coming back? Here are a few ways online reviews can help you break into your target audience.

How to Get Customer Reviews

Sometimes, it’s as easy as asking. Reviews can be left in many places like Facebook, Google or Yelp, meaning that a majority of people have an account where they can access reviews about businesses. Because there are so many platforms, it’s important to ensure your business is steadily growing reviews. For example, many restaurants have a reward system for customers where if they leave a good review, they receive a free dessert or drink. This method can work for any business. If you see a customer who is satisfied, simply ask if they would consider leaving a review. This grows the quantity of reviews and again builds trust with potential consumers.

Help Customers Find You

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is crucial if you want your website to appear on major search engines like Google and Yahoo. Reviews are a great way to boost your ranking and get you on the first page of results.

Build Confidence with the Community

Reviews help legitimize and show potential customers what sets you apart from the competitors in the field. A steady stream of great reviews shows the public that a business can continuously provide an excellent experience.

Feedback on the Business

Reviews are a way to have a fresh set of eyes to give your business positive and negative feedback. While it is great to have a large number of reviews, if a majority are negative, this will keep potential customers from your business. This is an opportunity to improve the negative aspects of the business and push your business forward. It is also a great way to capitalize on the positive reviews and continue to exercise behavior that brings customers back.

Create a Conversation

Not all reviews are positive, but each of them do need a response. As a business owner, it is important to show consumers that their opinion is heard and valued. A negative review may come from miscommunication or misunderstanding and answering the review can resolve the situation and build trust with readers. Read about how to handle a negative review here.

Celebrate Success

Okay you’ve done the work and gotten amazing reviews, now what? Do not be afraid to share your success! Many businesses use their reviews as advertisements on social media or billboards. The greatest spokespeople for future customers are past customers. Your customers want to celebrate your success with you!

Customer reviews are still fairly new to the online world, but they are quickly becoming the best way to check how a business is doing, create a conversation with customers and boost business. Reach out to one of our social media managers to see how your business can utilize and flourish from online customer reviews.

Southern View Media is a digital marketing agency that was created to help local businesses understand the complex digital world and make educated decisions regarding their marketing. We are a balance of talent, intuition, business sense, media solutions and metrics to be a creative problem-solving machine that is fueled by client needs and driven by results, and we are ready to provide businesses with marketing and advertising services at any level. From standing out to breaking into a market we help people find you, trust you, and share you. Contact us to find out how we can help with your business’s digital presence. For a free consultation to formulate a strategic and affordable plan, call us today at 251-517-9425, email us or fill out the contact form here!

In this day and age, it’s imperative to keep up with the ever-changing digital evolution. From social media to Search Engine Optimization, your business needs to stay on your client’s radar. One clever way to ensure your business is drawing in new people as well as bringing in returning clients is a blog. Blogs work for you by targeting potential clients, boosting website traffic, establishing yourself as an industry expert and developing a community.

Targeting Potential Clients

A blog is a great way to create and promote content that educates and entices the general public about your work field. By bringing in consumers who are interested in your blog posts, you are bringing in potential clients. For example, if a contractor has a blog post about the benefits of having stainless steel appliances, a consumer looking to redo their kitchen can find that blog post and choose that contractor to complete their renovation. If the same contractor has posts like Designing with Hardwood Floors or Most Popular Backyard Trends, then the client may read these posts as well and decide to go ahead and redo the flooring or backyard too. As more blog posts are added to a website, more information and resources are available for consumers to explore.

Boosting Website Traffic

The more quality blog posts a business is promoting, the more interested readers are. Once a new reader is on a blog page, they are likely to quickly browse through the website to get a quick gage of what the business does. This is a great way to cultivate new businesses or partnerships. Website traffic is also needed to boost a website in search engine results. Major engines like Google and Bing will not promote a website if it is not generating traffic. These search engine results are becoming more relevant as clients turn to the internet for information.

Be Seen As An Industry Expert

Businesses gain credibility by creating content and educating the public. Over time, with reliable content, businesses are seen as leaders in their field and develop trust with their readers and clients. These posts do not always have to be lengthy. They can also be opinion pieces or contain facts about the industry or the history of your business. Blogs can be as work related or personal as you want! Most consumers do not spend more than five minutes reading a blog, so quick and easy to read information is imperative.

Develop a Community

A successful business continues to bring back customers. Any business needs to have a balance between the “business” side of work and the relationship between clients and the employee. Blogs are a way to keep in contact with the business’s community and develop relationships with new, potential, and returning customers, for free! Who doesn’t love free business growth? Blogs can also be shared on social media or by your consumers, which is another way that blogs help grow and develop a business.

Southern View Media offers complete digital display marketing strategies that will generate new leads, build awareness and increase sales for businesses in the Mobile and Baldwin County, Alabama, area. Our team will create a custom proposal showing the estimates of viewable impressions in your chosen geographic area. We can also provide the estimated traffic our digital display campaign can create for your website. To match our professional research, analysis and strategy, Southern View Media will also design and produce impactful, creative digital display ads in a variety of sizes to convey the message you want to send to desktop and mobile users. We’ll monitor and adjust your campaign for optimal budgeting on a daily basis. You’ll then receive full reporting on how the campaign is performing month to month, providing a clearer target market profile of your audience. Start reaching more clients quickly and easily through digital display advertising with Southern View Media. Call us at 251-517-9425 or visit our website.

Bad reviews on Google are bound to happen every now and then to any business. They’re not fun and no one wants to hear that a customer had a bad experience with their company, but it is unavoidable. Although bad reviews are inevitable there are definitely things that can make the situation better. In some instances, you may be able to fix the issue quickly, and in others you may find yourself on the brink of a far more serious problem. Today, we will be going through five different ways you can approach the situation and how you can get the review removed from Google if it is warranted.

1. Don’t Rush

   Oftentimes, people will take the wrong course of action without thinking about the consequences because they don’t want other customers to see the negative review. But in these matters you can’t afford to do the wrong thing. When you see a negative review on any platform, don’t panic. Read the review thoroughly and try to put yourself in the customer’s shoes as best as possible.

2. Assess the Situation

   Make sure you have the full story before replying to the review or any other course of action. It’s important to know what led to the negative review and what caused the customer to leave it. For this step you may need to talk to your employees and see who was in contact with this customer, or ask for the customer’s contact information and reach out to them directly.

3. Respond Quickly

   Taking a long time to respond definitely doesn’t make your company look any better. Most people might think you are trying to avoid the issue. As soon as you assess the situation and feel that you have all of the necessary information, you should respond. Make sure you take ownership of the situation, be honest and offer to fix the issue in any way you can. Give them an alternate form of communication and get them offline to resolve the issue, do not continue a conversation back and forth online.

4. Is the Review Spam?

   On Google Reviews you can flag a review so they will know to remove it. If you find that the person who has left the negative review is a bot or has never done business with your company, this is the best course of action to take. In order to speed up the process you can call Google and follow up on the flagged review.

5. Rectify the Issue

   No matter what, try your best to get the issue sorted out. When customers leave negative reviews, they most often don’t leave them lightly. Take ownership if the issue was in fact a mistake on your company’s part, apologize for the unsatisfactory experience and whatever you do, don’t leave it unattended or unanswered.

   Southern View Media offers complete digital display marketing strategies that will generate new leads, build awareness and increase sales for businesses in the Mobile and Baldwin County, Alabama, area. Our team will create a custom proposal showing the estimates of viewable impressions in your chosen geographic area. We can also provide the estimated traffic our digital display campaign can create for your website. To match our professional research, analysis and strategy, Southern View Media will also design and produce impactful, creative digital display ads in a variety of sizes to convey the message you want to send to desktop and mobile users. We’ll monitor and adjust your campaign for optimal budgeting on a daily basis. You’ll then receive full reporting on how the campaign is performing month to month, providing a clearer target market profile of your audience. Start reaching more clients quickly and easily through digital display advertising with Southern View Media. Call us at 251-517-9425 or visit our website.

Tools are what help you get things done. Whether your office is closed for the day, or your job is primarily remote, these free online resources below make it easier than ever to work from home!

Asana 

Asana is a great app for looking at projects on a bigger scale. Divide your projects into smaller task lists, specify deadlines and communicate in real-time on the app itself. Add your entire team to your project to get a full-scale view so everyone is in-the-know. You have access to create reports and process insights, as well as balance privacy and transparency. This means if you have a client, you can include them on that specific project and are able to run reports to show the progress of their project. 

Basecamp

On Basecamp, divide all of your work into projects and assign them to team members. It is a great virtual toolkit with checklists that make it easy to watch projects move towards completion. There are also message channels so your team or client can talk in real-time. Keep your projects organized by utilizing folders and tabs that are easy to create and find. To-do lists keep you on track and are helpful letting your team know what is due, who is supposed to complete it and the deadline. Basecamp also has an app, so you are able to access all its content even on the go!

Google Drive and Google Hangouts

The services that Google offers never seem to end. Google Drive gives you 15GB of free space and is compatible with numerous file types. You are able to share, store and create documents as well as backup your computer files. Google Hangouts is a free messaging, voice and video chat service. With this tool you are able to hold conferences, meetings and share your screen all in real time. If your team already works with Google, then these two services are perfect for working remotely. Both of these apps are also available on your phone making being organized easier than ever!

Slack

Slack is a great resource that combines the services you and your team already use in the office! The app sorts your different topics of conversation into channels, so it is simple for your team to access information anywhere at any time. With their latest biggest redesign, it is even easier to use and is made for mass remote working. With this tool, you won’t slack on communication!

Zoom

Similar to Google Hangout, Zoom is another great free video conferencing service. It also offers other services like personal video chat conference rooms, a cloud system and personalized apps. So whether you are hosting a meeting or joining, Zoom offers the solution for your company.

Milanote

Milanote is an online visual board that helps your projects stay organized. Their easy-to-use tools include notes and task lists, uploading and sharing photos and videos, saving text, images and videos from the web and more! You can also upload notes and photos on the go from your phone, so they are ready to use when you log back in on your computer. You can arrange your visual boards any way you like with their drag and drop tool. Whether you want to have your own personal board or a shared board with your team, you can do both with Milanote! Creative professionals from Facebook, Nike, Google, Apple, Adobe and more use this tool to keep their big projects organized and on track.

Working from home can either benefit your productivity or decrease it. Don’t let a crisis or day at home slow you down! Utilize these six tools and their services, and you and your team will be sure to not fall behind. Now, see what you can get done!