Marketing FAQ

If you can answer the following two questions in the affirmative, then you know your paid advertising is working:

1. Are you, at minimum, achieving the goals that you had in mind when setting up your paid advertising?

2. Are you learning something?

Let us briefly unpack these.

Are you achieving your goals?

You need to remember that you cannot evaluate the performance of your paid advertising if you don’t have goals. What’s more, goals help narrow down what data you need to focus on when evaluating your paid advertising performance. For example, if you want to achieve a 20% increase in newsletter subscriptions, you would look at (you guessed it) how many viewers who clicked on your advertisement signed up for your newsletter. While your reach, impressions, and click-through data might be interesting to know, the answer to your question about campaign performance lies in the number of newsletter sign-ups.

Note: Tracking the number of newsletter sign-ups in a situation like this generally does not come as standard data in your analytics. To do this, I would recommend creating a landing page with a specific sign-up form dedicated to your advertisement and directing your paid advertising to this landing page. Your database entries will then tell you which and how many of your subscribers signed up using the form on the landing page that is only accessible through your advertisement.

As important as it is to understand what goal you are trying to achieve with your paid advertising, you also need to benchmark your performance. Ask yourself, how is this paid advertising campaign performing against the ones we ran in the past with the same goal? While you may have achieved your goals with your campaign this time, if a previous campaign performed better, it might be worth reviewing why and looking at how you can change what you did to match or better that performance.

Are you learning something?

The great thing about paid advertising is that it offers you a glimpse into your audience's behaviour. Paid advertising is a great way to test your ideas and gather immense amounts of data that you can use for future campaigns and other activities. For example, you could run two campaigns simultaneously aimed at the same target audience but with two different images or messages (for those who don't know, this is called A/B testing). You can then evaluate the performance of both campaigns and use the best-performing artwork and marketing message in your printed material.

Learning more about your target market and their behaviour is a vitally important factor of marketing in general. So much so, that I would go out on a limb and say this; even if you achieved your paid advertising goals, you should consider your camping unsuccessful if you did not learn something that you can apply to future marketing and business activities.

This might sound counter intuitive (after all, we want people to buy our products and services, right?) but the answer to this is actually no. You shouldn't include a call-to-action in everything you share in the digital space. The truth is, nowadays you need to be weary of adding a call-to-action to your content. See, the thing about a call-to-action (CTA) is that it asks something of your audience. Whether you are asking them to submit their details, sign up for something, buy your products, go to your website, or simply like your post, you are asking them to do something for you. As is the nature of consumers, the when your audience reads your CTA they are going to want to know what’s in it for them. What’s more, the more you ask (both in terms of frequency and the level of effort they need to exert) the less likely you are to get a positive response. Think of it as that coworker who constantly asks you for a favor but never does anything for you in return. After a while, you'll try to avoid them and that’s the last thing you want from your audience - avoidance.

So, instead of constantly sharing content with the aim of getting your audience to do something for you, consider thinking about what's in it for them. This does not mean that you should never include a call-to-action in your content. There is a time and a place for it. My point is that you should use your CTAs sparingly. Opt rather to regularly share content that provides value and that your audience wants to read so that when the time comes to ask something of them, they will be more inclined to respond positively.

While it sounds like a fancy marketing term, it is what it says on the tin - marketing to people who have already been marketed to. More specifically, making sure that people who have shown an interest in your brand or product/service see a marketing message that is more specific to their needs. That email you get when you placed items in your cart and left the website before paying for your purchase (an abandoned cart email), the suggested range of summer dresses that magically appears in your Facebook timeline after you visited the Zara clothing website last week, the invitation you received from that company whose online seminar you attended to download the eBook summary of the event - all examples of remarketing.

Remarketing makes use of data such as how your customer interacted with your website, what their interests are, what they are actively searching for on search engines, which pages they like and profiles they follow on the different platforms they use, how they interact with your digital communication such as emails, forms, etc., basic demographics, and more. The depth and breadth of your data depend mostly on the way in which you collect it. Collecting data through technology is easier and more insightful than traditional methods, but you can still be effective with all kinds of data.

At the risk of getting a bit too technical for the purposes of this post, there is a distinction that can be made between marketing to people who already know your brand and marketing to people who are looking for what you are selling but have not been exposed to your brand yet. That is why we say that remarketing is about people who have already shown an interest in you OR what you do or sell. This is where the tactic of remarketing lists for search terms and audience segmentation comes in and is also more suited to paid advertising because you are making use of data that the platform you use has gathered for you. For example, Google Ads allows you to display your ads to an audience of people who have shown to search for terms (or keywords) related to your product or service, but not necessarily your brand. If your CrossFit gym is situated in Rivonia and James in Rivonia is looking for a CrossFit gym and he searched “CrossFit Rivonia” last week, your ad will be shown to him because he has shown an interest in CrossFit gyms in Rivonia. Similarly, if you set up an advert on Facebook and you target parents with newborns because your business makes newborn carriers, Facebook will show your ad to users who have shown an interest in things related to newborns (like mommy groups, baby-specific events, etc.). These ads are also not necessarily shown at the time of the search, they simply appear as the user goes about scrolling. It is also important to remember that, while this is great for exposure and brand awareness, these users are higher up in the sales funnel and might not be ready to buy just yet.

I have commented on the power of outsourcing several times in the past mostly in terms of outsourcing certain activities that you lack the necessary in-house resources or capabilities for. For example, you want to add an eBook that prospective customers can download from your website but you have neither the internal design capabilities nor the technical know-how to design the eBook, set up the page, and add the link to your website. In these instances, outsourcing can be an efficient and relatively cost-effective solution. However, when it comes to outsourcing your digital marketing, the choice is not that easy. Here's why.

As can be seen in the example above, you outsource specific activities related to an end goal that you would like to achieve. In this case, it's having something on your website that someone can download. You ask your designer to create a layout of the content in the document that you wrote and then go to your web developer with the design from your designer and tell them to load it to your website in a way that would allow visitors to download the PDF. Your designer and web developer know what the goal is and what they are working towards; they have a clear direction. Similarly, when outsourcing your digital marketing, you need to provide clear guidance as to what you want to achieve. Simply going to an agency and asking them to do your digital marketing is not going to give you the results you are hoping for. Why? Because your marketing needs to align with your other business functions and as is the nature of outsourcing, your agency does not have access to the necessary information to create that alignment, you have to do it.

Instead of simply asking an agency to do your digital marketing, discuss the goals that you have for your marketing activities and ask them what strategies and tactics they envisage would help you achieve these goals. If you are satisfied with what they are saying, decide on what strategies and tactics you would like them to focus on and then you can start talking about contracts, starts dates, and reporting. This will help you avoid getting stuck in an expensive situation where agencies are simply making sure you have a digital presence.

So, as helpful as outsourcing may be, it'll only be truly effective when both you and the agency understand what goals you are working towards and what needs to be done to achieve them.

First, what is MarTech? MarTech includes all kinds of software and technology used by marketers to optimise their marketing efforts and help better achieve their goals. Canva, Biteable, Hubspot, Email Mailing Software, CRMs, and the like, are all considered MarTech. While these platforms are incredibly useful and effective at helping you reach your marketing goals, they can only be effective if you use them effectively. Let's put it this way, simply using MarTech doesn't make you a better marketer any more than standing in the garage makes you a car. You need to ensure that you are using the technology the way it's meant to be used AND that it fits into and supports your business processes and practices.

For example, you may have signed up for top-tier email marketing software, but if you're not using the functionalities in a way that helps you achieve your goals, then you shouldn't be using that software. The same is true for design software, SEO software, social media management software and the like.

So, before you decide to sign up for a new platform or sign on for a new service, ask yourself these three questions:

1. What are you actually signing up for? In effect, what is the sacrifice you are making, and what will you be getting in return? The financial sacrifice you make is rarely just limited to the subscription fee or cost of the service. You will also need to dedicate time to getting to know the system and its features. Furthermore, is this sacrifice worth it?

2. What are you trying to achieve by doing this? Are you looking to increase leads, increase your brand awareness, increase sales, organise your content, etc? The answer to this question must tie in with your overall company goals.

3. What other options do you currently have that can achieve your answer to question 2? Does one of the platforms, channels or software you already use offer a feature you are not fully leveraging? Is there a different platform you can use without needing to make the sacrifices listed for question 1?

As a small business owner, your resources are limited, so make sure to use what you have as effectively as possible to achieve your goals.

As we know, measuring the success of your digital marketing campaigns is essential to understanding if what you are doing is working and what to do if it’s not. In other words, it helps you determine whether your marketing investments are paying off and whether you should continue with similar campaigns or try a different approach.

However, knowing where to look for the data and what data you need to look at, is where things get a bit tricky for most small business owners. There are a myriad of different paid tracking software available on the market (and even more free options) that can easily collate all your necessary data in one place. Simply reading the data, however, is not enough. You need to know what you are looking at, and to do that, you need to set up an effective measurement and tracking process.

With this in mind, here's a step-by-step guide on how to do just that.

Step 1: Define your marketing goals

Before you can measure the success of your campaigns, you need to know what you're trying to achieve. This could include increasing website traffic, generating leads, or boosting sales. Having specific, measurable goals in mind will help you determine which metrics to track and how to evaluate your campaigns' success.

Step 2: Choose the right metrics

There are many metrics you can track to measure the success of your digital marketing campaigns, but not all of them are relevant to your goals. For example, if your goal is to generate leads, tracking website traffic won't be as important as tracking the number of leads generated from your campaigns. Choose metrics that are directly related to your marketing goals.

Step 3: Use tools to track your metrics

There are many tools available to help you track your metrics, such as Google Analytics, SEMrush, and Hootsuite. Choose the tools that are best suited to your needs and make sure they are set up correctly to accurately track the metrics you've chosen.

Step 4: Analyze the data

Once you've been tracking your metrics for a while, you can start to analyze the data to see how your campaigns are performing. This involves looking at the trends over time and comparing your results to your goals. If you see that a particular campaign is underperforming, try to identify the reasons why and make changes to improve its performance.

Step 5: Make data-driven decisions

Use the insights you gain from your analysis to make informed decisions about your future marketing efforts. For example, if a particular campaign is performing well, consider scaling it up. If it's not delivering the results you want, consider making changes or trying a different approach.

Note: You can also do some testing at this stage to see what kind of marketing activities your audience responds to the best. For example, you can use the same campaign messaging but change the content format.

I was reading a post on LinkedIn about how using a call-to-value (CTV) is more preferred to a call-to-action (CTA) which sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole of internet research. The post stated that explaining the value of what the customer will get for acting is better than simply asking them to act. This does make sense, BUT simply swapping your CTA for a CTV is not that simple.

Here’s why.

It all comes down to where the customer is in the sales funnel when they read your message. While both a call-to-action and a call-to-value should persuade the reader to take action, a CTA is more applicable to someone with the information they need to know why they are performing the action. They already know what they want to do, they just need clear guidance from you as to how to do it. This means that a CTA is fantastic for a customer already at the Action stage of the sales funnel. A CTV, on the other hand, is better suited to a customer at the Desire stage of the sales funnel; i.e. they are actively looking for a solution to their problem, and you are a possible option, but they need a bit more persuasion before they make their decision.

Here’s a basic example to explain my point a bit better. In this example, we’re asking our customers to sign up for a trial version of our pretend marketing software that helps users better manage their marketing content.

Example of a CAT: “Sign up for your 14-day trial”

Example of a CTV: “See how you can maximise your marketing productivity.”

Essentially, your call-to-action tells your customer what to do, while your call-to-value tells them why they should do it. This is why you can’t simply replace a CTA with a CTV. Both are equally important to help your customer move through the sales funnel, they are just used differently.

Pay-per-click advertising (PPC) is when advertisers pay a fee whenever a user clicks on one of their ads. In essence, it is a method for purchasing visitors to a website rather than attempting to acquire them organically.

PPC advertising is essential for your business for a variety of reasons. It can help you reach a larger audience, to begin with. With PPC advertising, you can target keywords and demographics that are essential to your business. Which means that your ads will only be shown to individuals who are more likely to be interested in your products or services, hence increasing the likelihood that they will click on our ads and ultimately become customers.

PPC advertising can also help you improve website traffic and, ultimately, increase sales. You may attract more people to your website by ranking at the top of search engine results pages for relevant keywords. These visitors are more likely to convert, as they are actively looking for products or services similar to yours.

What's more, PPC advertising is a cost-effective technique to promote your business. You only pay when someone clicks on your ad, so you're not wasting money on users who aren't interested in what you have to offer. What’s more, you can also specify a budget for our PPC campaigns, allowing you to control your advertising spend and avoid overspending.

Finally, PPC advertising is also measurable. Which means you can monitor the performance of your ads in real time, allowing you to make decisions about your campaigns based on data and adjust what you are doing accordingly. This ensures that your advertising budget and your ROI is maximised.

Leveraging the expertise of your employees can be an incredibly powerful way to build your brand and establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry. After all, your employees are often your most knowledgeable and passionate advocates. By encouraging them to share their expertise on your website and social media channels, you can demonstrate your company's expertise and establish trust with your audience.

To get started, consider conducting a survey or interview with your employees to identify their areas of expertise and the topics they're most passionate about. From there, you can work with them to create content such as blog posts, videos, or social media posts that highlight their knowledge and insights. You might also consider creating a guest blogging program that allows employees to contribute content to external websites or blogs, which can help to expand your reach and build backlinks to your website.

Another way to leverage employee expertise is to encourage them to participate in industry events or speak at conferences. By sharing their insights with a wider audience, your employees can help to establish your company as a thought leader and build relationships with potential customers or partners.

Finally, make sure that you are giving your employees the support they need to create high-quality content. This might include providing them with training, editorial support, or access to tools and resources that can help them develop their skills and create great content. By investing in your employees, you can create a powerful marketing asset that will help to grow your business and establish your brand as a trusted authority in your industry.

At its core, a call to action is a directive that prompts your audience to take a specific action. It serves as an invitation, urging users to engage with your brand, make a purchase, subscribe to a newsletter, or perform any desired action.

CTAs are important for several reasons, but what makes them a vital component of your marketing strategy and campaigns is their effectiveness at steering user behaviour, facilitating audience interaction, and providing measurable outcomes. By integrating concise and compelling CTAs into your promotional materials, you can guide users towards desired actions that align with your overall business objectives. Whether it's getting them to click on a button, to make a purchase, or to subscribe to your newsletter, CTAs serve as markers that direct users towards specific actions.

What’s more, CTAs offer quantifiable outcomes, enabling you to monitor and assess metrics such as the rate at which users click on your content, engage with your content, and other conversion rates. By analysing this data, you can refine your tactics and work on increasing the effectiveness of your CTAs over time.

The primary purpose of a CTA is to motivate the reader to take an action—ideally, one that you have planned—that will take them along a predetermined customer journey that ultimately leads to a sale. CTAs are powerful tools that help you achieve several important objectives for your digital marketing activities.

One significant impact of CTAs is the increase in click-through rates. By presenting a clear and compelling CTA, you encourage the reader to click and engage with your content. A well-designed CTA captures the reader’s attention and entices them to act, whether it's exploring a product page, signing up for a webinar, or downloading a resource. Higher click-through rates indicate an active and interested audience, indicating progress along your planned customer journey.

CTAs act as guideposts along the customer journey, steering potential customers towards the next stage of the sales funnel. They provide clear instructions and direct users to take specific actions, helping them move from awareness to consideration to conversion.

In the digital space, a call to action (CTA) can take various forms, such as clickable buttons, hyperlinks, or text prompts. They still serve the same purpose as explained above; they are just used in a digitally specific way. These CTAs are placed within websites, emails, social media posts, and other digital platforms to encourage users to take specific actions. By presenting a CTA, you create a focal point that captures users' attention and directs them towards the next step in their customer journey.

CTAs act as guideposts, especially in the digital space, guiding users through the desired conversion path. Whether it's prompting users to make a purchase, subscribe to a newsletter, download a resource, or fill out a form, CTAs provide a clear directive on what action your customer should take. In offline marketing (such as billboards, TV ads, radio, etc.), CTAs are statements that encourage action separate from the source, whereas, in digital marketing, CTAs serve as interactive cues that prompt users to engage with your brand at the source and move further along the customer journey.

What your CTA says and what it visually looks like in digital marketing are crucial to capturing your customer’s attention. It should stand out, contrast with the surrounding content, and make use of compelling language to entice your customers to click on it or engage with it. You also need to pay attention to where you place the CTA. It should ideally be positioned where customers are most likely to see it without having to search or scroll too far down the page.

By serving as focal points as a result of their design and placement and by providing clear instructions, CTAs become pivotal in converting website visitors, email recipients, or social media users into engaged prospects or customers. They act as catalysts that bridge the gap between user interest (as explained below) and action, guiding users towards the next step in the customer journey and contributing to the overall success of your digital marketing efforts.

The strategic placement of your CTA is a critical factor in maximising its effectiveness. To capture your audience’s attention and encourage action, CTAs should be prominently displayed in easily visible locations. But, what does this mean practically?

One important guideline for CTA placement is to position it above the fold. This means placing the CTA in the upper portion of your webpage or email, which is immediately visible without requiring the reader to scroll. By placing the CTA above the fold, you ensure that users encounter it as soon as they land on your page, increasing the chances that they will engage with it.

Another effective placement for CTAs is at the end of blog posts. When users reach the end of an informative or engaging blog post, they are likely to be primed for action. By placing your CTA here, you provide a natural transition point for your readers to take the next step, like subscribing to a newsletter or exploring related products or services.

Landing pages are also ideal locations for CTAs. These dedicated pages focus on specific offers or campaigns and are designed to convert your visitors into leads or customers. Placing a CTA prominently on your landing page ensures that your users are directed towards the action that you want them to take without distraction or confusion.

You should also consider integrating CTAs in your email newsletters, which can be highly effective. By including a clear and compelling CTA in the body of your email, you provide a direct path for readers to follow, whether it's visiting your product page, registering for an event, or making a purchase. Placing CTAs in email newsletters capitalises on the engaged audience that has already shown interest by subscribing to your emails.

It's important, however, to consider context and relevance when using and placing CTAs in your marketing material. The rule of thumb here is to ensure that your CTA aligns with the content surrounding it and matches the reader’s expectations. For example, if your blog post discusses a specific product or service, the CTA should offer further information or an opportunity to purchase that product or service. Adding a CTA that takes people to a YouTube video of your annual staff awards won’t be effective in this case.

An action-oriented CTA uses strong, imperative language to encourage your reader to take a specific action. These CTAs are effective for driving immediate action.

Examples:

"Buy now and save 20%!"

"Book your free consultation today!"

"Start your free trial now!"

"Get started in just three easy steps!"

"Subscribe to our newsletter for exclusive offers!"

A benefit-focused CTA highlights the advantages or outcomes that readers can expect by taking the desired action. These CTAs appeal to their self-interest and showcase the value they will receive.

Examples:

"Boost your productivity with our time-saving software!"

"Unlock a healthier lifestyle with our fitness program!"

"Transform your skin with our revolutionary skincare products!"

"Get the body you've always dreamed of with our fitness equipment!"

"Discover the secret to financial freedom. Join our investment program!"

An urgency-driven CTA creates a sense of urgency or scarcity to encourage immediate action. These CTAs capitalise on FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and encourage readers to act quickly.

Examples:

"Limited time offer! Shop now before it's gone!"

"Only 2 seats left! Register for our workshop now!"

"Hurry, sale ends tonight! Don't miss out!"

"Get early access to our exclusive event. RSVP now!"

"Last chance to grab our special discount. Order now!"

An interactive CTA engages readers by inviting them to participate or interact with your brand. These CTAs can enhance user experience, increase engagement, and build a connection between the reader and your brand.

Examples:

"Take our quiz to find your perfect skincare routine!"

"Try our interactive demo to see our product in action!"

"Spin the wheel for a chance to win exciting prizes!"

"Explore our virtual tour to discover our stunning locations!"

"Create your own customised design with our interactive tool!"

A social proof CTA leverages testimonials, reviews, or endorsements to build trust and credibility. These CTAs showcase positive feedback from satisfied customers, boosting confidence in the reader's decision to take action.

Examples:

"Join thousands of happy customers. Start your journey with us!"

"Read what our clients are saying about our services!"

"See why industry experts recommend our solution!"

"Discover why our customers rate us 5 stars!"

"Join our community of satisfied users. Sign up now!"

A personalised CTA tailors the message based on the reader's preferences, behaviour, or demographic information. These CTAs create a more personalised experience, increasing relevance and engagement.

Examples:

"Welcome back, [Name]! Check out our latest offers just for you!"

"Based on your interests, we recommend these handpicked products!"

"Get your free style guide customised to your fashion preferences!"

"As a loyal customer, enjoy this exclusive discount on your next purchase!"

"Complete your profile and receive personalised content straight to your inbox!"

A curiosity-provoking CTA generates intrigue and compels the reader to click or explore further to satisfy their curiosity. These CTAs leverage the power of mystery and the desire for new information.

Examples:

"Uncover the secret to success. Click here to find out!"

"Discover the hidden benefits of our new product line!"

"What's the #1 skincare ingredient you've been missing out on?"

"Unlock exclusive insider tips and tricks. Click to reveal!"

"Find out how this simple hack can transform your productivity!"

A confidence-building CTA addresses potential concerns or objections readers may have, reassuring them and building trust in your brand. These CTAs instil confidence and remove barriers to taking action.

Examples:

"Try it risk-free with our 30-day money-back guarantee!"

"See why we're rated #1 in customer satisfaction!"

"Join our community of trusted experts in your industry!"

"Get a free consultation to address all your questions and concerns!"

"We've helped thousands of customers like you. Start your journey today!"