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Email Vs. Facebook Messenger! Which is Better?

Email Vs. Facebook Messenger! Which is Better

Facebook Messenger Stakes its Claim Against Email

When was the last time you had average open rates above 80% and the average click-through rates of nearly 30%. Unless you have been in digital marketing since the very first days in the 90s and early 2000, most of us know that you will be lucky to get a 30% open rate or a click-through rate above 10%. In fact, recent data by Smart  Insights reported that email open rates average is at 22.87% while average click-through rates are down to just 3.26%. Meanwhile Facebook Messenger the newest marketing channel boasts average open rates of 84.3% and average click-through rates of 28.3% according to Modern App which analyzed 100,000 message samples.
Facebook Messenger bots are a relatively new channel but could they just displace email as the preferred marketing channel. Email  has been around for a long time and many business owners are familiar and comfortable with it as compared to Messenger. Facebook Messenger chat bots only came into the scene in 2016 and it is estimated that there are approximately 900 million people using the platform every month. Meanwhile, email has been around for longer and has a massive 2.7 billion users, which is expected to top 2.9 billion in 2019. Facebook Messenger may never surpass that any time soon. However, the effectiveness of Facebook Messenger when it comes to metrics show that it is the most effective channel at the moment.

What are Facebook Messenger Marketing Bots?

Facebook Messenger bots are a collection of digital messages that can be very effective marketing tools. They are programmed by AI to provide automated responses and answer questions. You can get a programmer to code a bot for you or go to a mobile platform such as Mobile Monkey or Chat Fuel, where you can easily build the bot yourself. With a bot, you get to automatically respond to customer questions to improve conversions and customer service. This can save you a lot of time that you would have had to spent replying to emails or having someone on standby answering client questions.

Advantages of Facebook Messenger over Email

1. Personalization

Messages on Facebook Messenger are highly personalized and conversational, which makes it very likely that your messages are more likely to be opened. On the other hand, while email is still a great channel for marketing, it is less personalized and conversational. Moreover, users receive tons of emails a day and with providers such as Google providing filtering, your emails might be dumped in the promotions tab and never see the light of day.

2. You do not have to Deal with Email Fatigue

Long gone are the days when we used to get only personal emails in our inboxes. In the modern world, we get tons of spam in our inbox and marketing emails are more likely to be ignored than most other emails due to email fatigue.

3. Less Time Spent Building a List

Building a list takes a lot of time that may not even convert that well once you build it. Conversely, there is less friction involved in creating a Facebook Messenger leads list. Moreover, your prospects do not have to opt into email newsletters that you spent hours crafting and optimizing. All they need to do is click and subscribe as compared to email, which requires several steps such as type in email, submit and confirm, which increase the chances of users dropping off.

4. Enjoy More Options and Message Sequences

Just like with an email campaign, you can send message sequences which have as many or more options as compared to email sequences and can be just as long or short. However, the best thing about Messenger sequences is that you do not have to wait a day or two before sending the next sequence as you can send the next message anytime you feel like including immediately.

5. Instant Response

Unlike emails where you have to wait sometimes for several days for the recipient to respond, Messenger responses are instant. Moreover, you can engage in real-time conversations with the leads, which significantly improves the chances of conversions.

6. Retargeting

Facebook Messenger is more effective at retargeting given that unlike email, Facebook has a lot of data about your prospective customers. You get data about how they look, their gender, their occupation, where they went to school and even their income. On the other hand, email hardly offers any information about your prospects which makes sending emails more like shooting in the dark. With so much information on your prospects, you can write highly targeted messages and retarget to a very specific customer that is likely to convert.

7. Opt-in Features

Facebook Messenger has the same opt-in features provided by email lead generation platforms. You get boxes, buttons, slide in and pop-ups just like you would with email. You can even acquire leads when they simply leave a comment on your Facebook page which shows that they are interested in what you have to offer.

Facebook Messenger for E-Commerce

The Facebook Messenger chatbot is particularly effective for e-commerce and it should definitely be a tool in the marketing arsenal of any online business. Some of its uses are in:

1. Abandoned Cart Recovery

Messenger makes it possible to create a bot that sends a message to a client who added a product to their cart but did not check out, just like you would with email. You can set up Messenger to ask the client if they have any questions about their purchase or if they would like to check out. This can result in up to 11% conversion of abandoned carts as compared to email, which only converts abandoned carts at about 4%.

2. Live Chat

Messenger provides one of the most effective ways to interact with clients. The Messenger live chat bot makes it easy to either respond manually if you are online or let the bot reply if you are offline. Your customers can receive instant responses to any questions they may have, which gives a good customer experience that can significantly drive conversions.

3. Shipping Updates

It is easy to send messages about the shipping status of orders to customers. You can notify clients of when the package is delayed, shipped and delivered. Messenger can be a way of complementing email updates that could get lost.

4. Product Suggestions

Given that you have access to a lot of data about your potential clients, you can help first-time visitors find what they want or make a decision on what to buy if they do not know what they want. You can configure the Messenger bot to ask the client questions about their preferences and finally lead them to a suitable product. This could also give you an SEO boost as more people spend time on your site and improve engagement metrics.

The Bottom Line

Facebook Messenger is currently one of the most effective ways of doing online marketing campaigns. Its metrics have supplanted email with their high average click-through rates and open rates. It also comes with a variety of functions and apps that would benefit businesses and individual users alike. It is yet to suffer from messenger fatigue, which means that high open rates could lead to high conversion rates. For businesses that take advantage of it, there is still a first-mover advantage to be had as most marketers have yet to discover this excellent channel.

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Marketing

A Blueprint for Increasing Contact Form Conversions

Professional Image of your Home Service Business

A 2015 Formstack study found that when a form has 4 fields, it will convert at a rate of 1%. This means that when you have 10,000 people come to your page, only 100 will fill out the contact form. So the big question is how can you improve the conversion rates on your contact form? How can you increase that conversion rate even if it is only by a few percentage points so that you can get 200 or 300 visitors to convert out of 1000? Well, after some research that included reading up on case studies, statistics, and digging through data, I made an infographic on how to craft the ultimate contact form.
I am making the assumption that you know that we are discussing the contact form on the contact page on your website. There are tons of contact forms in different industries and on many websites but we do not have the time, and it is not practical to discuss them all. The data in the infographic is relevant to companies that offer some kind of service who need to increase the number of quality leads from their contact form.

1. Place Labels above Fields

When users can see what they need to enter in the respective fields, it makes it easier to fill the form. Users are more likely to make more mistakes in filling the form when the label is inside the field as it will disappear when they start typing. Moreover, they would have to delete what they have written in the field if they want to see the label again.
Another critical tip about labels is to keep them as close to the corresponding field as possible. The law of proximity applies to labels too and if you have the labels too close to previous fields, you significantly increase the probability of errors and mistakes. This has a knock on effect on your conversion rates.

2. The Phone Field Needs to be Labelled “Optional”

A lot of people do not like to give out their phone number for whatever reasons. People become even cagier on a contact form where they know they do not have to talk to you. If you need to get phone numbers, let the field be optional and clearly label it as such next to the field. Our clients at Black Storm have seen conversion rates jump from as low as 42% to 80% just by making this one small change.

3. The Fewer the Fields the Better the Conversions

People have very little patience, particularly on the Internet. if you have a large number of fields, people can feel overwhelmed and intimidated. You do not need to get information such as zip codes, phone numbers, and addresses unless you are going to call them or send them mail. The contact form is there to get you into the room with the client, not to close them. Every extra field added onto the contact form will negatively impact on the conversion rate. One of the best examples of this is Expedia, which removed one field from their contact form and got a 12 million dollar bump in profit.

4. Make the Contact Form for Mobile Responsive

Mobile overtook Desktop in 2014 as the most used device for people to access the internet. In 2015 Google made a change to its algorithm to give mobile-optimized sites a ranking boost in mobile searches. As such, a mobile-friendly contact form will not only easy to use on mobile devices but could also give you a ranking boost in the search engines.

5. Eliminate Captchas

With spam bots getting better, captchas are getting worse and more annoying. A lot of captchas are almost unreadable and most users will abandon your contact form if they cannot figure out what the captcha is. A good alternative to captchas is a honeypot which unlike a captcha, is not meant to be seen by the user. However, the bot will see it and fill it which will cause them to be rejected for filling an invisible field. Honeypots are great for conversions as they do not produce a bad user experience but are effective at fighting bots.

6. Do Not Use a Reset Button

The reset button is silly and will cause you to lose conversions. No one actually hits the reset button so that they can enter all their information again. However, some people may accidentally click on it and delete everything. It can be annoying and unless the user really wants to fill out the form they will likely not want to fill it out again and you will lose the conversion.

7. Rather than “Submit” Label the Button “Send Email”

Send email sounds so friendly and easy as compared to submit which has technical connotations that may intimidate the use.

8. Have Only One Column

Having two columns increases the complexity of your contact form and may result in mistakes and errors that may reduce conversions. Users have been known to miss fields, especially in mobile if they are in the second column because people are used to filling things in one column. Keep it simple with one column to improve conversions.

9. Have More Forms to Increase Conversions

At Black Storm, we did a study and found that 7 out of 15, which is 46% of contact form submissions were filled in on pages other than the contact page. As such, the more contact forms you have on different pages on your website the better the chance at converting clients. This is especially so for big sites with hundreds or thousands of sites where some people may never click to your contact page.

In Conclusion

What makes a great contact form is a matter of subjective opinion and what works really well for one site may not work for yours. However, Statistics never lie and our testing at Black Storm has shown time and again that the content on the page, the position of the form, the color of the form and industry play a significant role in determining the conversion rates. So what should you do? Start with the blueprint on this article and then rigorously do some AB testing to find what works best for your site. Once you have found what converts best, you can adapt it and then maybe then could you claim you have found the perfect contact form.

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Marketing

Everything You Need To Know About Geo-Targeting

Everything You Need To Know About Geo-Targeting

Geo-targeting revolves around, delivering distinct content to a particular audience based on their demographic region. You can accomplish this through organic or paid searches. Geo-targeting can be very helpful in healthcare marketing campaigns.

Geo-Fencing

Geo-fencing helps you set boundaries within a specific region. For instance, this can be employed to set a perimeter around your hospital or practice area. Whenever a patient enters the fenced area, an advert pops up. This helps you to craft content that specifically addresses the audience around the area. You can promote an event or remind your patients about your quality healthcare services.

Geo-Conquesting

Geowhat is geo-targetinggeo targeting software-conquesting is almost the same as Geo-fencing only that here you set a perimeter around your competitors. This will assist in recruiting competitor’s clients to your practice. Identify one major drawback your rival faces and tailor your content accordingly. For instance, if your competitor keeps patient waiting for long, then promote your prompt service.
For the best results, geo-fencing and geo-conquesting should complement one another. You also need to monitor your Geo-targeting results and adjust your parameters accordingly.

Search History

Using the search history of a patient can be a crucial tool. Whether you are researching businesses or places, this data is essential for healthcare marketers who can push adverts to you. If you are planning to visit Miami, then you need to know the nearest doctor in case of emergencies.

Past Locations

Likewise, location services also offer crucial data regarding patient travel history. If a healthcare marketer is furnished with all the necessary information; then he can craft an advert that addresses the needs of the target audience.
Geo-targeting uses a client-specific location to push marketing adverts/ campaigns. Using this technique, you can maximize your marketing campaigns using minimal effort. Once you understand your target audience, you can create adverts that address their needs and hence more conversions. Geo-targeting is therefore a crucial tool that healthcare marketers can use to win more patients to their facilities.

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Marketing

5 Of The Most Common Content Marketing Mistakes

5 Of The Most Common Content Marketing Mistakes

5 Most Common Content Marketing Blunders That Could Risk Your Business

Content Marketing has been a Millennial game changer for the business marketers of all sizes. It is the only tried and tested practice that promises to hit a bulk of potential customers without that cheesy salesperson pitch. It’s the easiest way to make your presence felt online by building your brand reputation.
This kind of inexpensive marketing strategy is an integral component of e-Commerce campaigns. It can increase brand credibility, improve WOM and drive sales dynamically. A powerful content on your website could be the best marketing tool to fetch you new traffic every hour.
So, how are your Content Marketing efforts paying off? Are you marketing your contents the right way?
Most of today’s businesses give their marketing efforts a red hot go by focusing on a cornucopia of poor marketing tactics and if you are making the same mistakes, it could damage your brand value.
Fret not, here are 5 most common mistakes discussed Let’s look inside.

Mistake #1. Inconsistent Posts:

No matter, what size business you are, your posting calendar should be regular to keep your readers engaged all 365 days. A lack of valuable content could unconsciously drive your customers to your competitors. Remember, there are hundreds of thousands of businesses to fill the vacuum when you take an infrequent approach to Content Marketing and annoy your audience away.
Solution: Content marketing is considered the most efficient means to generate targeted leads. So, this inbound marketing scheme should be implemented on a regular basis to better your craft. For this, plan ahead of time and publish your niche posts both online and offline at least once a week.
Extra Tip: If you have time constraints, the freelancers have got you covered. Handing the job to these experts will allow you a better grip on your piece of content without wasting time to write it. Just maintain a content calendar.

Mistake #2. Not Delivering Content What Your Readers Want:

One of the biggest blunders of Content Marketing is not speaking the readers’ language. If you are creating, publishing and promoting contents far from what concerns or interests your audience the most, they will lose interest in your product or service in no time.
Solution: It’s always important to first focus on your readers’ profile and area of understanding and try to solve their queries as your own. No one wants to read out of the syllabus. So, always know your customers, their status quo, problems, needs, expectations and then fly out contents to answer them directly. The more you research on the profiles of your target segment, the better chances you have to draw them to your site.
Extra Tip: Tailor your contents to cater to the bespoke needs of your segmented audience. Also, check and evaluate what contents are performing well and what not. You could hire a professional content writer to improve on your topic delivery.

Mistake #3. Those Stinking “Sea of Words”:

Filling up your brand’s portal with garbage is probably the worst Content Marketing mistake you could do to scare your audience away. When not formatted properly, even the most insightful and informative content could fail to catch the attention of your readers and mess with the desired goal. Commonly referred to as the “Sea of Words”, silly grammar, or spelling mistakes, long-tailed paragraphs or even poor readability of content could entirely transform your business speech.
Solution: Always take time to proofread your contents before they go online and create a disaster. A properly formatted content will be the best reflection of your products or services online. When readers find your words easy on the eye and digestible, they will easily convert to customers.
Extra Tip: Use headers and sub-headers with the correct spacing of paragraphs that are small and concise. Also, link one paragraph with the other so that your target audience finds it easy to continue reading. It’s also important to give a crisp introduction when you suddenly jump from one topic to another. A subheader can do the job better. You could compare the layout and format of your content with a few good contents on the internet. This will allow a critical look inside the hidden flaws.

Mistake #4. Lack of Promotional Campaigns:

Are you making a Silo marketing mistake? Advertising your content is the essence of any Content Marketing campaign. But if there is not enough promotion of your content, you can’t expect a good return from your marketing investment. When you expect to drive a gazillion of traffic to your site, you need to create awareness about “who you are” and “why you are here” with continuous quality and relevant contents.
Solution: No matter, you have time or not, you should always focus on publishing multiple pieces of contents on a weekly basis, if not daily. Also, limiting the content sharing to your own blog or a handful of social media sites will not yield you the desired revenue. Pay attention to using a whole slew of networks for a 360-degree promotion.
Extra Tip: A small learning curve is essential to search for extended platforms for your content promotion. Spend some extra time on a new social media to learn its viability and worth. This way you will learn to tap-hold of every high-key network that comes your way.

Mistake #5. Creating Drab and Boring Contents:

If your articles or posts lack variety in their content types, it’s probably time to experiment with your Content Marketing techniques. Relying solely on blogs, white papers, magazines or other stereotyped and conventional methods of marketing will not retain your customers for long. Guess what, all are not convenient reading long textual pieces, but rather more easily dragged towards visual impacts of a video or a graphical representation.
Solution: Stop stretching on one type of content as snagging a time-consuming reading interface can panic your visitors. Content options are many. So, change the type of material and publish content in different forms. It will keep your hookers entertained, engaged and coming back for more. You will also gain access to a wider base of consumers who will now consume your contents even better and this will automatically add to your conversion ratio.
Extra Tip: Videos, infographics are all great to turn the heads of the readers of all sizes. Always make them short and tell-tale of the most important facts and stats. Even if you are sharing a long-tailed content, make sure to embed links and buttons that can take the readers to an interesting video or graphical representation of your niche content one-click.
In essence, following the correct methods of content marketing will automatically extend your brand reach. improve WOM, increase brand trust and boost sales. Just keep the above-mentioned points in mind and always pay attention to keep your contents “skimmable” with optimum quality and versatility. Casting a wide net in terms of the audience has never been easier.

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Marketing

How to Take the Perfect Headshot (Without a Professional Photographer)

How to Take the Perfect Headshot (Without a Professional Photographer)

In the age of the internet and social media, headshots are a must-have for people in a countless number of professions. Often times, a headshot will be the first time a potential client or employer is able to see you. As everyone knows, first impressions are very important. Your headshot can tell people a lot about you, therefore, it is important to make sure you feel the finished product is a good reflection of yourself. Many people feel obligated to hire a professional photographer when really, it is not necessary. All you need is a friend with a camera (even a phone camera), some inexpensive equipment to make your photos appear professional, and these tips to help you get the most out of your photography session.

1. Where’s My Light?

When it comes to taking photos, lighting is key. You may not need a professional photographer to get great headshots, but you do need to make sure your lighting is up to par with the pros. The best way to accomplish this is to invest in two softbox lights, the same type of light photographers use in their studios. These can be found relatively inexpensively on sites like Amazon. While it will take some trial and error to find the best placement for optimal lighting, a good general rule is to set one light on each side of the camera, slightly in front of, and above you (outside of the picture of course). One should be focusing on you, while the other light is focused on the backdrop.

2. Location, Location, Location

Choosing a good background or backdrop for your headshot is very important in achieving a professional-looking photo. A solid color is generally best, and there are plenty of affordable options available online. Try to avoid any backdrops that appear too dated. Nothing is worse than finding your pictures look more like senior class photos than headshots. Your background should not be busy or cluttered; A few objects sitting behind you are fine but keep it to a minimum. You want people focused on you, not the excessive amounts inanimate objects looming behind you. Be mindful as well of the overall tone you’d like to get across in your photo. While a run-down brick wall in an alley is a popular headshot background for performers, if you’re a cardiologist, choosing a run-down alley as the location for your next photo shoot may not be the most fitting choice.

3. Dress for Success

Headshots are a great opportunity to make a great first impression on potential clients or employers. Make sure you dress professionally in your photos and choose something you feel good about yourself in. Headshots focus only on your face, shoulders, and upper chest, so if you can’t find slacks, a skirt, or shoes to complete the ensemble, that’s perfectly okay. Take your backdrop into consideration when choosing an outfit (or, if you already have an outfit that you know you want to wear, vice versa). A good rule of thumb is to have the background of your headshot, and the clothes you are wearing be contrasting colors. Avoid choosing an outfit that will clash with your background. Alternatively, you should also make sure your clothes and the background are not the same color; People are unlikely to want to work with you if they suspect you are a disembodied head.

4. The Windows to Your Soul

Your eyes will be the first thing anyone who looks at your photo will see. It is important to choose a photo where your eyes look fully open, making you appear alert. The best way to accomplish this is to invest in your self-care in the days leading up to your photo shoot. Make sure to eat healthily and get plenty of rest beforehand so you do not end up with large bags under your eyes for your headshots.

5. Strike a Pose

Posing for a headshot can feel rather uncomfortable, especially the first time. The angles that read well in photos are quite different from the ones we use on a daily basis. Here are some tips to make sure your photos will be Tyra Banks-approved:

  • To avoid a double-chin, move your head forward and down.
  • Smile naturally; A forced smile is never appealing. It may help to make light conversation with the photographer between photos.
  • Finally, remember the Golden Rule from those Wal-Mart photography sessions and school picture days: Angle one shoulder forward and slightly down. Now slightly tilt your head in the opposite direction of the shoulder in front.

If you feel more awkward than you ever have before, rest assure you will look fabulous in your headshots.

6. The Right One

When it comes to photos, we are our own worse critics; Regardless of what others day, we will often feel perfectly good photos of ourselves are less than flattering. But every so often, there is a photo taken that we feel immortalizes us perfectly- we all know the feeling. To make sure you get that incomparable shot that you plan to have etched on your gravestone, make sure to take many (and by “many”, I mean two-hundred or so). While keeping your every-important angles in mind, try to slightly change your position for each photo so you will finish with a wide variety of options.

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Marketing

Why Your Medical Practice Should Have A Blog

Why Your Medical Practice Should Have A Blog

Have bloggers approached you requesting to write blogs for your practice? Well, those people know what they are doing. Blogging is a powerful marketing weapon that will help you connect or interact with your patients. Having a regularly updated blog not only provides information to your patients but ultimately gives them more reasons for visiting your website or medical practice

Reasons Why Blogging Can Help You Grow Your Medical Practice

Blogging Increases Brand Awareness

If you want your waiting room to be full of patients, then you need to allow people to know about your service. Most people nowadays use the internet to access information about the service or products they require. Having a medical practice blog puts you on the digital map where people can easily find you.

A Medical Practice Blog Boosts Your Web Presence

Do you have Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram accounts for your practice? If yes, blogging can help to boost user engagement in such platforms. They help to bring more attention to your pages. It is crucial for your practice to have an online strategy, and medical practice blogs are no doubt part of that.

Medical Blogs Helps to Attract Younger Generations

Millennials normally communicate online. This where they go to search and share information. Having a medical practice blog will help you to engage this young generation. The young generations are likely to be introduced to your practice via social media platforms.

Personalizes Your Practice

Blogging sets your practice above your competitors. They help you to showcase your philosophies and treatment options around your specialization. Besides being informative, your medical practice blog can give your patients of what to expect when they visit your facility. It gives you a chance to share what you perceive is
crucial to your specialization or field. Blogging provides a free and simple way of connecting with potential or existing patients.

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Marketing

Proven Ways of Keeping Patients Happy

Proven Ways of Keeping Patients Happy

Regardless of the industry, clients want to feel appreciated. In the healthcare sector, your patients are those clients. That said, patients want to feel more special than clients in other industries. That is because here we are dealing with something unique to them; their health. It is always good to remember when dealing with
patients- both offline and online, the level of customer service determines whether or not you are going to retain them.

Here are 5 Ways of Improving Your Patient Experience

Make sure that Your Patients can easily reach you

Whether it is emails, social media messages, answering phone calls, it is crucial to appoint someone to respond to patient’s queries promptly. Aim to respond to all questions raised by the end of the business day. The truth is that patients want prompt answers to their queries because such responses are important to
their health. The same applies to social media texts, emails and voicemails. Patients will always choose you as their healthcare provider if they can easily reach you. Let patients know when they expect to hear from you responding to their e-mail and voicemails.

Focus on the Patient’s Interests

It is crucial to know the type of procedures or areas of treatment your client is interested in. For instance, if the patients want to know how to deal with fine lines, then ensure that your practice offers laser therapy treatment. If patients know that you provide services that interest them, then they will flock your office regularly. This will make your patients happy and feel special at the same time.

Make the Patient Feel Appreciated and Comfortable

Take your correspondence a notch higher by getting the patient feel special and comfortable. Don’t just provide information, act! Show your patient how much you care about their condition. Patients want to feel that doctors are equally concerned about their health as they are. Let them understand that you appreciate how they have chosen your facility to take care of their health. After all, patients are the key drivers of your practice.

Recognize Milestones

Tracking each milestone is a simple way of making your patients feel appreciated. Reminding patients about their birthdays can work magic. When a new month starts, you can send special offers to patients whose birthdays fall within that month. You can also maintain a record bearing the ages of your patients, and start sending them health tips when they attain certain milestones (like 40,60, and 80 respectively).

Don’t Overwhelm

While it is crucial to keep communication to your patients flowing, but don’t try to overburden with unnecessary information. It essential that you know your patient’s wants and needs to avoid over-sharing information with them. Make sure that you don’t post on your social network pages every hour. Think about how you perceive that company that clogs up your Facebook page or your inbox. Your patients are bound
to feel likewise if you do that.
There are several ways of improving your patient experience and retaining them for a long time. Like in any other industry, customer service is critical in the healthcare sector. A health practitioner must ensure that the patient feels appreciated and special. Patients can easily become dissatisfied if you don’t show concern
to them. Such clients can wreak havoc in your facility. Some factors that lead to patient dissatisfaction include waiting time in consultation rooms, tests, and promptness for responding to calls.

How to deal with Patient’s Dissatisfaction

According to a recent survey conducted on several clinics around the United States, here are simple tips that can help prevent patient’s dissatisfaction:

Set Expectations

Almost 80% of the respondents said that they would have no problem if they knew about the wait time in advance. Although clients don’t like waiting, setting such expectations in advance helps. Give a fair estimate to avoid problems.

Apologize

Apologizing for keeping patients waiting for long shows that you respect their patience and time. 85% of the clients interviewed said a simple apology would alleviate their dissatisfaction

Provide Options

If you know that you are going to keep patients waiting for long, why not give them alternatives to solve their inconveniences. They will trust you more for respecting their time and may come back to you again.
This article has provided crucial information that will help healthcare providers to improve service offerings to their patients.

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Marketing

Is digital marketing as effective as traditional marketing?

Is digital marketing as effective as traditional marketing

Before we answer this important question let’s first define our 2 terms digital marketing and traditional marketing. 

What Is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing is referring to marketing campaigns that utilize only digital platforms e.g. search engine optimization (SEO) also known as search marketing, pay per click (PPC) which is referring to google ads and other search engines like bing and yahoo, social media marketing (SMM) this can be done on all social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn, and email marketing. 

What Is Traditional Marketing?

Traditional marketing is referring to marketing campaigns that can be physical and digital e.g. TV commercials, radio commercials, billboards, newspaper, phone books, and direct mail. 

Current Stats

In the year 2018, we noticed that $129 billion was spent on digital marketing while only $109 billion was spent on traditional methods. That is a $20 billion dollar increase! 

The behavior of the Historic Consumer

In the past, people would primarily rely on word of mouth to get referrals and as time went on people began utilizing newspapers to advertise their services which would require consumers to keep sections of the newspaper that they found interest in so later they could call when the time was right. The next phase society went through was phone books so when you needed service you didn’t call your neighbor, you instead would search through that giant phone book and find some businesses and make your calls till you found the right one. Consumers would keep business cards or a Rolodex or even keep refrigerator magnets so they could easily access a business’s phone number when they needed it.

The behavior of the Modern Consumer

In this modern age, your customer is busy and has access to technology to make their lives more convenient and efficient. When your customer needs a service they want their research to be fast so they will either reach for their phone or jump on the computer. Then they will choose a search engine such as Google, Siri, Yelp, Bing, etc. By being ranked in the top results of this search rather than the bottom it will increase your chances of receiving this prime lead.

Traditional Marketing In The Past Vs The Modern Age

  • Newspaper: In the past, people relied on newspapers as their primary source for news and updates and when they read an ad that was intriguing they would clip it and save it. However in the modern age even newspapers have gone to be digitalized while hardcopy newspapers still exist, very few people still read them and the few who do when they come across an ad they find intriguing they just make a mental note to research online when they are ready.
  • Radio: Radio has mostly stayed the same throughout the years however the consumers haven’t. Radio has changed in the fact of ad volume while in the past ads on the radio were few and now they are predominantly all you hear. In the past when consumers heard an ad on the radio they would be challenged to memorize the call to action such as the phone number or address to be able to act upon the offer. However, in the modern age, people strive very hard to not have to listen to ads either by switching the stations or by subscribing to a premium ad-free music streaming platform. Nevertheless, when they do hear an ad in this modern age they now just like newspapers just make a mental note to research online when the time is right.
  • Phonebook: Phonebooks were revolutionary when first introduced because now all of those chicken scratched notes and magnets and clutter now became clean and organized. Again in the modern age, the consumers adapted to online directories and no longer wanted to store a 10 lb book in their home. They also became tired of spending so much extra time flipping between 1,000s of pages and having to read such small print.
  • Direct Mail: Direct mail is debatably the most effective form of traditional marketing. In the past mailing was the only long-distance communication people had and every letter received was of great importance. As time went on few businesses started using mail as an advertising method and received decent results. Once again in the modern age, that too became digitalized and people were now able to communicate through email. Consumers are also flooded with junk mail that’s gets tossed without ever being opened and to make direct mail effective in the modern age you must include items in the package other than just paper to catch their attention to open it. This has made direct mailing extremely expensive in order to remain effective.
  • TV Commercials: TV is debatably the most expensive and is only effective for certain industries with specific demographics and psychographics. When a consumer watches a commercial they will mostly make another mental note to follow up with the offer online. The TV is not right for every business and the few businesses that it is right for must spend the big bucks to run a campaign.
  • Billboard: Billboards make it very hard to be effective because consumers have very little time to even notice the billboard and to read and interpret it. Billboards while being very expensive and the industry being very shady are hardly effective for most businesses. The type of businesses that benefits mostly are the local ones utilizing the billboards to direct a consumer to its location.

Digital Marketing In The Modern Age

  • Business Directories: These became the online versions of the phonebooks and each offered a way to somehow provide a prequalifying element for the businesses listed. Mostly verified reviews or some variation of qualifying business licenses or insurance. Still, many people check these sources to determine the credibility of a business.
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO): As the internet became more popular people started utilizing search engines like Google, MSN and Yahoo to search the internet and now in this modern age search engines have evolved to provide very specific and accurate results for consumers searches. The process to be ranked high on these search engines has become more complex than ever before while also becoming more rewarding than ever before. The modern day consumer utilizes search engines to find the answer to all of their problems and needs. They even search on google about medical problems to be able to diagnose themselves based on their online research… you know you’re guilty.
  • Pay Per Click (PPC): This is a great way to generate more leads and acts a great supplement to SEO. It tends to be a larger investment than SEO however it can provide results immediately. PPC also always you to target your consumer at a greater level.
  • Social Media Marketing (SMM): If you want to create an audience of customers then Social Media is the answer. Social media allows you to target very specific demographics and psychographics it’s kinda creepy. This is debatably the best push marketing method out there!
  • Email Marketing: Email Marketing is not dead however it has evolved. Email marketing is still used by all of the big companies and it isn’t going to go away for the next foreseeable future. 

Summary

Consumers are slowly adapting to new lifestyles and the way we market to them needs to adapt as well. Digital marketing is the new wave of marketing and it is not going anywhere for a very long time. The cost per acquisition for traditional marketing is often 5x the cost for digital marketing and it takes longer to generate. If you are resistant to digital marketing because it is new and you feel that it is complex to understand then you will be left behind by not jumping into it. If you don’t understand it enough to maximize it fully then you desperately need to partner with a professional agency like BlackStorm Design + Marketing. BlackStorm Design + Marketing can design your brand and aggressively market that brand at a fraction of the cost you would spend with traditional marketing while experiencing greater results. Submit your business info and schedule your free consultation if you are interested in growing your business.
So is digital marketing better than traditional marketing? YES!

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Marketing

The Simple Explanation of Marketing with Zoo Analogy

The Simple Explanation of Marketing with Zoo Analogy

Here’s the simplest way to define marketing

If you’re on the verge of completing a Zoo and you’ve set a date for the opening ceremony, you write something on a billboard that says “Zoo Coming Soon” that’s advertising.
If you get a monkey to jump around the entire city, go to special places like parks, malls, train stations, etc wearing a t-shirt “Zoo coming soon” that’s promotion.
If the Monkey steals some banana at the mall and gets arrested by the police, and the video goes viral on YouTube or Instagram, that’s publicity.
If you get the Monkey to make people in the mall excited and to laugh, that’s public relations.
If the people troop into the Zoo’s opening ceremony, and you get them to see the monkey that stole the banana now wearing a police uniform and take them around to see other animals and they get to participate in other fun games and activities within the Zoo, spend a lot of money, that’s sales
If you planned the entire lineup of events from the very beginning, that’s marketing.

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Marketing

Free Marketing Materials Included with #SmallThanks from Google

Free Marketing Materials Included with #SmallThanks from Google

Small and local businesses will have a lot to love regarding Google’s newest initiative, the #SmallThanks program.

What is Small Thanks?

#SmallThanks, developed by tech company Google, is a platform that gives businesses free marketing materials as a way for them to reach more customers on listings, review sites, and social media.
Some of these free materials include stickers, posters, social media images, window clings, and others. Most of the content will depend on the reviews businesses get within the Google platform.
How can you avail of the Small Thanks initiative? Easy. All you have to do is to pull up your business on Google’s listings within the MyGoogle Business platform and wait for the marketing material to be auto-generated based on the positive reviews of your customers.
In today’s online society, there’s no better marketing material than a positive review from a happy customer. People will often choose businesses that have great reviews on Google for what they need. Turning these positive reviews into a sort of “giving love back” can enhance your audience’s perception of your local business and lead to more sales and visits.
Google VP in Marketing Lisa Gevelber says that the #SmallThanks initiative is all about turning those “thank you” notes into something local companies can use to impact future customer decisions regarding their products, goods or services.

How To Get Started On #SmallThanks

Local businesses can get their #SmallThanks on by logging in their Google MyBusiness, then choosing from among the positive reviews within the platform. They can personalize the material further by enhancing it with a selection of layouts, styles, and colors according to the brand’s look or personality.
You can put up “Find Us On Google” stickers on your displays, registers, and other prominent places to encourage visitors to post great reviews. The #SmallThanks hashtag may also be used to spread the word on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook or Instagram for audiences to connect and engage with your business.
Did you know that more than 70 percent of people will check up on a business’ rating on the internet before making a buying decision? Reviews do matter, and small businesses can now harness their efforts and hard work via the Google #SmallThanks program.
Small Thanks by Google can help you make more marketing material sourced from positive reviews online, which can fuel your reach and allow you to gain more customers.

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