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Inbound Marketing Archives - Page 5 of 6 - Back9 Creative
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Category: Inbound Marketing

Is Professional Photography Really Worth It?

Posted on by Phil

Getting work done by the professionals means that you get top-quality results. But it also means that you pay top-quality prices. With the ability to find free use images online and to purchase high-quality stock images, is there still a good reason to hire a professional photographer? Stock images are helpful in a pinch or in certain situations. But using them to save money can actually cost you more in the long run. We go into detail about this in our blog post about Stock vs Original Photos.  So is professional photography for your business really worth it? The short answer is yes.

And the long answer? Yeeeesssssss.

 

Quality over Velocity 

Everyone knows the phrase quality over quantity. It’s better to get a few of something good than a bunch of something not good. But quality over velocity is just as important; it’s important to get something high-quality that takes time than something inferior right now. Getting something now is the business model that stock image sites rely on. For a few dollars each, you can get high-resolution images that you’re allowed to use commercially. Sounds good, right?

That is, until you notice that a lot of other people had the same idea. Stock images run the risk of you and a rival using the same picture to represent something, which takes away credibility from your brand if potential customers find out. And even though the images are of good quality, people tend to recognise when an image is a stock photo. So if you want to seem genuine, original photos are best.

 

Original Vs Professional Original 

You might be thinking “I have a decent camera, I’ll take the original pictures myself!” And if you have the skills and the equipment, it’s a great way to cut costs. However, a flip-phone camera in a 20 -year-old phone isn’t going to represent your products well. Many modern-day smartphones have decent cameras for everyday use, but still pale in comparison to a trained eye using top-notch gear.

For a professional photographer, there’s more thought that goes into an image than deciding whether it should be portrait or landscape. Ideal dpi, focal length, lens type, light and shadow, distance and angles, modelling and more are considered before a photo shoot. You’ll also get unmatched consistency in style which brings an air of cohesiveness and unity to your brand.

 

Does professional photography REALLY make a difference?

It’s true that a lot of thought goes into staging a shot. A professional photographer considers dozens of variables before they press the shutter button. However, sometimes pro shots are overkill. You don’t actually need a 195 gigapixel image that lets you zoom in from a mile away for anything you sell. But there’s a difference between getting the best picture money can buy and the best picture for your specific goods and services.

Photographers have more skills than pointing and shooting, especially when people are involved. Take this experiment for example, where a real photographer and an actor took pictures of people and the difference in results. Getting the subject comfortable and in a good position can be tough. A good photographer is also well-versed in editing to make the end result look even better. Going through the results, choosing the best one, and modifying them without taking away the “realness” is a complicated task. But makes for a better final product.

 

Should I have ALL of my pictures done by a professional then?

That depends on your specific industry and business. Using professional pictures for your products or for something that represents the services you offer is the best option. For example, photos for a website banner. But if you have literally thousands of products, that can a little hard to get them all. Even some of the big box stores don’t go into that much detail. With that many products, we recommend breaking them down by category (especially if you have/want to have an online store) and using one professional image to represent each category at a minimum.

Corkier CaseBut candid photos and in-the-moment pictures help give your personality too. You don’t need to call in a pro to take a picture of accidentally matching outfits two team members wore or crazy moments like when a cork shoots out of a champagne bottle and lands neatly in a partially-open glasses case (Try that again, Phil!). Pictures for social media and quick shots are fine to be done with what you have on hand. There’s no reason to wait to try and stage everything for a professional arrive when you’re just going to stick it up on Facebook or Instagram!

When thinking about paying for a photographer, just keep this mantra in mind: For your site they delight, and for social you don’t shell.

 

What kind of professional photos do you take?

With a photographer on staff, we can include photo shoots as part of a marketing package or do them as a standalone service. Along with product photos, we’re also able to do scenery shots, event shoots, and most anything that you need. We can even do your staff photos and help your team members take a picture they’ll be pleased with and proud to display on your website.

With our help, you can have original, high-quality, professional pictures that will entice customers to your company and keep them interested and in awe when they see the fantastic way your images represent the actual product.

Ad-hoc one-off advertising seldom bears fruit

Posted on by John Tatu

Advertising in isolation is unlikely to lead to results

Putting all of your advertising budget into a single campaign on one platform is a lot like playing the stock market. If you put everything into a single stock, there’s a chance that it will boom and you’ll have huge returns. But there’s a larger chance that you’ll have small gains or even losses. Instead, most financial experts suggest diversifying and putting smaller amounts of money into several places or choosing a stable mutual fund.

Advertising works in the same way. There are tons of places you can put your ad these days. You can put it on Google and target a specific audience. You can sponsor a social media post for better exposure. You can buy a short spot on the radio. Make a video ad on YouTube. Reserve a small column in a newspaper. Take a page in a local magazine. You can even have a large billboard with your company name on the side of a building or on the wall of a gym. But no matter the case, one-off advertising rarely works. With so many options, how do you know where to invest your limited budget to maximise you return?

I tried ______ advertising once; it didn’t work

Ads have a lot of power, especially when done right. They’re the reason we buy diamond engagement rings, use mouthwash, and shower every day, sometimes more than once. And the campaigns that made these cultural norms weren’t just one and done; they were hammered down far and wide until people accepted them as normal and expected.

Because of this, you can’t measure the effectiveness of advertising from a single one-off experiment. “I tried a radio ad once. I spent $300 and got nothing back.” It’s something that we hear a lot. And we don’t disagree that your experience is true. But there are a lot of variables that could have made it ineffective, such as:

  • Does your target audience typically listen to the radio?
    • And if they do, are they listening at the times your ad ran?
      • What about the specific station?
    • Did you run your ad by people outside of your company before it went live?
    • Was there an offer or promotion included?
    • Did you make it clear how your product would benefit the listener?

There are a lot more factors that could explain why the ad could have failed. And that’s just for radio ads. What about all the other mediums out there?

Exposure is a key element for effective marketing

A recent study by Nielsen suggests that it takes a person 5-9 exposures to a brand to resonate. At this point, most people become aware of your brand and what you offer. An ad campaign that launches on multiple platforms is more effective, but be careful—Too much exposure is bad too and can make people sick to death of hearing about you and swear off doing business with you for good.

A strategic, targeted approach is best

So, if one-off advertising is likely to fail, how do you succeed? Choosing the right platforms for your ad campaign is crucial, as well as appropriate distribution of your budget. But which platforms specifically?

The hard truth is that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all model. Just like your business is unique, you advertising should be customised just for you as well. Maybe your audience doesn’t listen to the radio because you sell shoes to teenagers who prefer a music subscription service, people who think AM somehow stands for breakfast. Or maybe Snapchat is ineffective because you offer mould inspections to homeowners. Focusing on the right platforms is much more efficient than the shotgun approach where you try to hit everything with a small piece of spending.

What if I don’t know my market for sure?

When you have a specialised product—something like men’s fireproof overalls—you already know who your market is; men who at risk of being on fire often (so most men). But knowing your target audience isn’t always so straightforward. Your target market and your target audience may not even be the same. Sometimes, who you think buys your products and services and who actually uses them aren’t the same group. And focusing on the wrong group might mean you’re missing out on a good amount of potential revenue.

Failure to find the right audience is a major reason why a lot of new, smaller businesses fail. Connected to that, Investopedia and many other financial outlets agree that not investigating the market is the number one reason why businesses fail. But that doesn’t mean going into a competitive industry means you’re destined for failure, not when you have something special that the competition doesn’t. Letting people know that you have something different and better is the hard part. And how can you do that? Through proper advertising.

Proper advertising can make all the difference

If you’re thinking of concentrating all of your advertising money into a single channel or have tried it before and think it’s pointless, you may want to reconsider. Especially if you have local competition, the difference between success and failure can come down to simply letting them know you exist and have something good to offer.

Proper advertising is a lot more complicated than talking into a microphone for a few minutes and sending the slightly edited product to the local radio station to put on when they please. And it’s possible even with a small budget. It’s about having your money work smarter and harder, like building a website to be a productive employee instead of napping half the day away.

What makes an effective ad campaign then? Know who your audience is and how they make purchase decisions. Focus on the right part of The Buyer’s Journey. Create relevant ads that provide useful information—and discounts don’t hurt either!

What if I don’t have time for all this advertising?

If you’re a business owner, you probably don’t have much time for sleep, let alone taking the time to learn about the right way to advertise on all of the different platforms that can help you. If that’s the case, we’re happy to help.

We believe that even small businesses should have the opportunity to do big marketing and can take over your advertising efforts to maximise your budget usage. That way, you can focus on what your business—what you do best—while we do what we do best, helping businesses like yours grow and expand.

Customer Reviews: The Positives and Negatives

Posted on by Phil

You are what (Reviews Say) You Do

Until the internet gained popularity, it was difficult to accurately research the quality of products. Some publications had professional reviewers, but besides that and word of mouth, there wasn’t much to go off of. But now, anyone and everyone can be a reviewer. That means anyone can accidentally harm businesses they love through online ratings too. And not just for deciding which ice cream scoop gets the roundest, most consistent scoop. Customers can review businesses too—and what they say can make all the difference. This means customer reviews should definitely be a part of your Marketing Strategy

 

Positive reviews are a crucial metric

According to recent data, over 90% of customers people check reviews before making a purchase or deciding which business to use. And while scores typically fall on a five-star scale, there’s really only two regions; 1-3 stars are bad, 4-5 are good. Fall under 4 stars, and most people start to get nervous and look towards competitors. Get under 3, and you’d better be an essential service with no competitors or a franchise of a major corporation that already has brand recognition. Yes, they can be that important.

But as a smaller or local business, you likely won’t get such luxuries. Upset or angry customers are also three times more likely to write a review than someone who had a positive experience. So, if you have a small business that could greatly benefit from positive reviews, how do you help them come in while reducing the effect of negative experiences?

 

Method 1: Respond quickly

Despite your best efforts, there’s always going to be someone who gets upset with you for some reason. And if they’re emotional and upset, there’s a good chance they’re exaggerating—or even posting for the wrong company with a similar name. Responding quickly and offering to make the situation right can mitigate these reviews and might even make the reviewer reconsider updating the rating.

Turning on notifications when a new review is posted is probably the easiest method of preparation. Once you get the notification, plan your response and act calm and professional. And remember, you negative reviews often show you where you can improve! Your response can be a chance to address any wrongdoing on your part, or if there’s nothing that can be fixed, show others that you are friendly and reasonable.

 

Method 2: Ask for reviews

Asking for reviews can be effective, even though it might seem a bit pushy. If you use a database like a CRM, with a little foresight you can keep track of people who had positive experiences. Sending an email them, asking them to share their experience means you have low risk of getting a negative review. In fact, it provides an opportunity to earn some positive ones.

If you prefer old-school methods, you can try asking in person. Or giving a business card or a handout that has a link to your review page. Keep in mind that without any kind of follow up, people forget. The easier you can make it for them, the more likely it will work.

 

Keep your reviews on your site!

By putting a widget that pulls reviews onto your site, you immediately establish credibility. Even if you don’t have a 5-start overall rating, that’s okay; some marketing experts even claim having some negative reviews is better than all positive because it makes you seem more authentic. So embrace the negatives and turn them into a positive using them to your advantage—but don’t go out looking for them!

The Buyer’s Journey, Simplified

Posted on by John Tatu

Being a customer is simple. You need something, so you go and buy it. Job done! Okay, it’s usually not so simple, is it? Especially not for big purchases. When you’re spending a few week’s worth of pay on a product, you make sure that it’s exactly what you want. It’s a good price, it’s highly reviewed, it looks cool, whatever it is you care about. In this case, the destination is the destination, or making a purchase. The path to making a purchase is complex. We cover it more in our article What is the Buyer’s Journey, but we’ve simplified the process here.

The simplified buyer’s journey

What are the steps a buyer takes, and what do they need to make that decision? Well, they need some dollars of course. But everyone goes through a series of steps when they’re considering a major purchase. To keep it easy, we’ll call them 1, 2, 3, because most of us can at least count that high. And to make sure everyone can understand the steps, we’ll use a product we all use, know, and love. Pizza. Again.

Step 1: Awareness

The first step is admitting you have a problem. And that problem is that it’s been far too long since you’ve had pizza. It might have even been a full week! You’ve identified the problem, and you know that it’s an emergency that needs to be solved as soon as possible. But where do you get it from? Bring on step 2!

Simplified Buyer's Journey to get PizzaStep 2: Consideration

Meat Lovers with BBQ swirl vs Meat Lovers without BBQ swirl. Meat Lovers with extra bacon vs Meat Lovers with double extra bacon. There’s so many choices, which one do you pick? At this point, you’re doing research to decide what pizza is the best option.

Do you choose one of the pre-made specialities, or do you add extra sauce so you can classify it as a vegetable like the American school lunch program does? (It’s true!) By this point, you know you’re eating pizza and narrow down the choices to which Meat Lovers is best for tonight.

Step 3: Decision

For the final step, you’re looking over your cart to make sure you have the maximum number of free toppings and are about to choose delivery or take away. All you need to do now is check to see if you have a promo code for free delivery and you’re good to go. And then finally, you can put that pizza in your oven. Your mouth oven that is.

Why do these steps matter?

I'm Out -- Simplified version of buyer who's had enoughAny sales process should recognise the buyer’s journey and salespeople especially should understand it too! When you build a website – your website should be your best salesperson, after all it is working 24/7.  That being said, it’s important that you have the buyer’s journey in mind right from the initial design, which is why you should build custom. Not doing this can be confusing or off-putting and can make your customers look elsewhere. For example, when you first go to the site to order your pizza, you don’t want a popup that asks if you want to go to your cart, because you haven’t put anything in there yet. Likewise, you don’t want an ad that asks “Have you thought about pizza for dinner?” right before you push the button to confirm your purchase. And you don’t want them to go when they’re so close!

A well-designed website employing an inbound strategy guides buyers through these steps so that they can make the decision you want. That might mean calling you and setting up an appointment or coming into your store or buying a product directly from the website. This means that your site needs do more than have pretty pictures. Careful consideration needs to go into design, word choice, usability and more in order to be effective. Sound like a lot to do? Then let us do it for you! Get in touch or give us a call and we’ll be happy to make you an awesome custom website where the buyer’s journey ends in adding funds to your wallet – so you can buy more pizza!