Make the Most Out of Your Virtual Events!
COVID brought a whole bouquet of challenges for businesses worldwide; small businesses in the GTA are not immune to it. These challenges have forced businesses to rethink, adapt, and evolve the way we operate. The rise of Work-From-Home culture, virtual events, and ramped up digitization are a few such examples. The practice of holding events virtually isn’t new, however, the practice has gone mainstream in the small business community in recent times. With the accelerated adaption, laying the foundation of best practices surrounding hosting and attending virtual events must be addressed.
The given strategy will indeed turn your virtual event valuable:
- Create an online Event page for your webinars:
You must create an event named page/profile on the social media sites.
- 🠚 LinkedIn event pages are crucial for awareness and engagement. The features encourage the audience to sign up or register for the event. With the help of the page, you can invite all of your connections, start a discussion, and manage your attendees. Your connection can also share the event with people outside of your network which assists in boosting your visibility and organic reach. Your connection can attend the event directly with Just one click or you may ask them to fill out a form to save their data. Even the interested attendees can add this event to their calendar directly by clicking on the page's feature.
- 🠚 Facebook Event pages easily connected with Facebook Live which allows you to promote your live stream on an event page. When you create a new event page, it appears in the timeline of your page's followers. Attendees can attend one events tab on Facebook and share it with friends. One can easily connect the event to their smartphone by the events calendar feature.
- To increase visibility, keep creating posts for both LinkedIn and Facebook event pages with all small or big announcements. This helps in generating excitement and lets the audience see what they can look forward to.
- One can also be updated with the latest events with the help of websites like Eventbrite. It has features like online ticketing and getting a personalized experience. Eventbrite is a portal where people post about online or offline events. It allows people to come and look over the information about events organised in their localities. Organisers can post these events for free or paid.
- Promote on channels that target your audience
Market your event on the right channel. Let’s say you are hosting an event for a clothing brand; will you promote it on LinkedIn? Of course not, we all know that LinkedIn is a professional platform. So, segmenting your audience’s media preference will be effective for your event. It will allow you to decide on the right channel to send your event-related message.
- Have a series of webinars for interested guests to come back
Host periodic sequences of the webinars with the same main topics. A series breaks down one main topic into its segments or connected concepts with a chain of webinars. Also, having the same host can bring consistency to the audience. Host a series where you have multiple episodes with new presenters. Remind the audience by describing the next episode in detail at the end of each session.
- Focus on the lighting of your room while attending events
Lack of proper lighting is a very common mistake noticed in online events. To have a productive event, focus on being engaging. You can’t connect with your audiences with dull lighting. You can use multiple sources of lighting while hosting. Watch your lighting position, too much lighting can wash out your face. Don’t forget to test it before going live.
Also, you can get equipment like ring lights to equalize the reasonable light. If you wish to put light evenly over the subject, use artificial lights. It highlights your face rather than the background. The balanced lighting can instantly enhance your video calls, meetings and virtual events.
Grab your hands on these super affordable lighting solutions for brightening up your virtual events:
- Use a creative background as a backdrop
While you are conducting an event, would you want the audience to notice your surroundings rather than what you are saying? You can use the banner of the event or the logo of your brand as a backdrop. It will eventually place your brand image in the audience’s mind. You can also use the blur tool to focus on yourself. Adding these backdrops not only makes you look professional but also acts as a branding tool.
Also, you can also use some of the terrific office backgrounds available at online stores. It will allow you to always be ready for video calls with these perfect backdrops.
Whether you want a classic office background or a bit modern touch, here are the best options for your virtual event background:
Use these products to renovate your work from home space and give a proper professional feel while hosting virtual events.
- Choose the right platform for conducting the event
Look up the myriad of features while selecting the desired platform for your event. Choose a platform that allows you directly to broadcast your event on different social channels. With the help of this, you can easily stream your videos to other platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn. Make sure the platform has the option of raising hands. Features allow the audience to appreciate what you are saying by just raising hands and clicking thumbs up icons. There are different platforms available out there with similar features, some of those are Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Zoom, etc.
- Send a thanks note to all attendees.
Don’t forget to send a follow-up email within 24 hours of the event. Thank all of your event’s attendees with a friendly tone. Thanks to them for attending the webinars and providing the resource with information. Use a catchy subject line with an event feedback email. You must attach a link to the virtual events to add more value to them.
In a nutshell, there are quite a few tips we have covered above. Hopefully, these tips and tricks will help you make meaningful connections in the virtual event. With all the information, we hope you are more than prepared to gain productivity while working on the Webinars. If you are looking for consultancy in Virtual Events marketing, Book a consultancy with MarketinGROW now!
Digital Marketing Trends in 2022
- Cryptocurrency integration is growing exponentially – Quite a few businesses have started accepting currencies such as Bitcoin as a mode of payment. There are quite a few advantages of integrating cryptocurrencies as a mode of payment. Cryptocurrency transactions are far more secure as compared to credit and debit card transactions. However, cryptocurrency integration also comes with its range of challenges. A cryptocurrency is irreversible and has its own tax implications. Regardless, the crypto market has seen an exponential surge and is expected to continue to grow in similar fashion.
- B2B influencer marketing is on the rise!– Several tech giants such as Adobe have jumped into the trend of using influencer marketing in the B2B space. As per Business Insider Intelligence, Influencer marketing is expected to see a whopping global spending of around $15 billion in the year 2022. It is highly recommended that businesses try to collaborate with influencers in their space to unlock the seemingly enormous potential that B2B influencer marketing has to offer.
- LinkedIn continues to serve as a gold mine in the B2B space– LinkedIn is undoubtedly one of the most famous social media platforms in the world. Unsurprisingly, LinkedIn is the most widely used social media platform among Fortune 500 companies. If utilized to its fullest potential, LinkedIn can generate plenty of business opportunities for your brand.
- Customers are increasingly concerned about data privacy– Marketers have to establish a strong relationship with their customers, especially when customer data is involved. It is understood that customer data is required in order to run ads seamlessly and provide useful information. However, that is irrelevant for the customer. At the end of the day, the customer is still left wondering how his/her personal data could be misused. This is where marketers need to be extra cautious. A more smart approach would be to be completely honest to customers regarding data usage.
- Avoid being the “jack of all trades”– In today’s marketing world, several online businesses have established a very ‘thin’ presence on their social media channels. Smart Digital marketers, on the other hand, focus on a single channel, meticulously planning on how to dominate in that specific channel. It is highly advisable that marketers today focus on quality rather than quantity
- Establish an unparalleled user experience– No matter how many SEO ‘tricks and tips’ you know, unless you are not able to provide users with a seamless user experience, you are bound to see a high bounce rate on your website’s landing page. Instead of only focusing on making your website “SEO friendly”, spend more time on understanding your buyer persona and create an appropriate user experience.
- Facebook is here to stay experience– Facebook has been disregarded by several online businesses in recent times owing to the growing interest in Instagram, Snapchat and Tiktok. Regardless, Facebook is still one of the largest social media platforms for Online Sales and Advertising. Furthermore, Zuckerberg recently announced the introduction of Meta, a totally unique concept which will use Virtual reality to help people connect with each other. Hence, it is recommended that marketers not bet against Facebook!
REBRANDING 101
Wondering how to and when to upgrade your brand to attract new customers, or stay in sync with the existing ones? MarketinGrow, brings you a blog that will help you decide how and when to upgrade or change your brand approach. Let’s start!!
What do Netflix, Amazon and Apple have in common? They’ve evolved with changing times. Change is a common part of any business cycle, irrespective of whether you are a small large business. And some hard times such as the current virus pandemic and also bring with it a good business opportunity.
Most small businesses and entrepreneurs start off as an idea and idea that converts to profit. But to make it sustainable and succeed in today’s economy if your brand can’t share the same values as your audience it’s non-existent to them. Given that you face competition not only local but global and your customers are often lured either directly or indirectly through different means, making it your responsibility to make your brand stand out.
And that’s exactly why a business reinvents itself. This doesn’t mean the core values of the business or the brand have to change but just changing how you offer the product can be a good enough strategy for a small business.
According to Shawn DuBravac, a Small Business expert and author of “Digital Destiny” DuBravac says, “it’s important for a small business to constantly innovate and re-innovate the organization, from what they offer, the value it provides to how they treat their employees” especially if you are an e-commerce or technology-based firm that fear larger corporates overshadowing your product innovation and re-innovating what you offer keeps your customer profile growing.
When should a business rebrand itself?
Typically, a firm would be advised to rebrand or renovate every 5 years to stay in sync with their customers. But there are other scenarios that may be a no brainier such as image crisis or financial crisis.
But one time a small business can re-innovate their existing product or services is when there is a global slow down. This is the time most small businesses take a hit but a smart brand would know how to be a winner in such situations by providing value and need.
How do you reinvent for a small business?
If you choose to reinvent and rebrand it’s a crucial step. In requires a strategy, goal and finances and most importantly time to support a successful rebranding. We will give you a step by step approach to doing this below:
- Know when to change – for a small business timing is everything. Change or reinventing doesn’t have to be just because we told you so, but also based on calculated facts. Like your personal finances such as paying for your children’s college tuition or a new mortgage. Things don’t come easy and rebranding halfway is never a good idea. Make the changes subtle and scale up accordingly to what you think you can handle or hire an agency that understands your market and its demographics to help you with it while staying on a budget.
- Know your customers – both existing and the target audience. Knowing how to get your existing customers to accept a new image of your business is half the war won. Since we want to grow the business you have to take into account the existing customers and survey their needs and wants and strategies ways with your marketing team for an approach that will be accepted by the existing customers. While it also is able to lure potential customers in.
- Make use of technology – An easy way most firms are able to evolve their brand image is to do this is via social media talk to your audience see what they like and what can be incorporated in your brand image and voice keep evolving with technology and use it to benefit your brands such as videos ads or AI. This doesn’t have a direct impact on the customers but subtle enough to encourage new audiences and traffic to convert into loyal customers.
- Make the transition smooth: evolution did not take place overnight nor does your brand growth. Constant evolving and renovation are the laws of nature too and is most easily accepted rather than an overnight change in the brand itself. This will also help you handle the transition in a much-organized manner on a personal level instead of feeling overwhelmed.
- Stick to the plan – often even when customers seem to take the new brand image quite well it’s the owners, we notice finding it hard to let go of old habits or approaches. Given that some companies have been doing business a certain way for a number of years change can be hard. As owners feel they are letting go of a part of themselves and often tend to switch gears, this is directly counterproductive to all the effort you have put in so far and leaves your customers employees and partners confused as to what you are planning which is never a good sign for a brand image.
Easy ways to reinvent your brand
Change your voice – instead of selling your product sell its value, people will remember stories, not the slogans. What customers look for online be it through SEO or social media is for products similar to their likeness. If your product matches what they are looking for you have a sale. Send a message that resonates with the target audience, make your new voice acceptable and engaging with its viewers.
Change the medium – businesses are never constant, imagine you are a café owner your menu would have to incorporate those items that your customers are most likely to buy or include take-away options. Similarly, while reinventing your brand if you often opted for traditional advertising opt for new mediums such as social media, email and blogs that are more engaging and get a lot of traction required for a business to keep growing.
Incorporate technology – the biggest gift 21st century has to offer is the constant evolution of technology, for a small business in Brampton or Mississauga this may seem like uncharted waters but with the right team and approach incorporating AI as chatbots or analytics, studying your customers and what’s engaging them the most can be life-changing. Technology and level the playing field for all businesses big or small. So, use it in the best possible way that can benefit your business.
Hire a digital marketing agent or agency– most of our clients are those who have been in the industry for close to a decade or more looking for a wider visibility and access to their clients. Being in the field of marketing made us understand how a marketing agency is able to access, define and strategies your business plan in order to make a smooth transition with the least amount of stress or confusion.
Start with simple transitions – rebranding doesn’t have to be hardcore, simple subtle changes can make a lot of difference when we speak of a small business. From changing your website look and feel, creating an app to a simple logo and graphic changes can help customers engage with your brand much better than a complicated or out of date approach. Start simple keep it subtle to see how customers react and scale up gradually.
How much does rebranding cost a business?
On average, rebranding would cost 10-20% of your marketing budget. In Canada, rebranding can cost a small business anywhere between $1000- $20,000. The numbers may and will differ depending on what your idea of rebranding is? Is it just a simple website change or adding technology and social media to the mix or changing the logo? Starting off may sound risky and scary since you have put in so much effort creating your business but with the right marketing team and approach this risk would very well translate into a good business investment that translates into bigger more visible profits for your business.
Want to know how to start the evolution of your brand? We have it all covered for your contact or book a consultation with MarketinGrow to know-how.
MARKETING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (MAP)
In light of the recent events we want to ensure our community and its small businesses in Brampton, Mississauga and surrounding GTA are still able to function at their level best. COVID-19 has caused businesses to rethink and strategize their current marketing strategy. MarketinGROW offers its support by launching a limited time Marketing Assessment Program aka MAP. MAP is a complimentary service by MarketinGROW that has been designed to provide small businesses with much-needed momentum when it comes to optimization and analysis of their current business plan and marketing efforts.
This includes:
1. Website Audit 2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) analysis 3. Social Media Marketing Analysis 4. Lead Generation Strategy
Book your free slot today. Let’s come out of this lock-down stronger and more efficient than ever!
COMPLIMENTARY ASSESSMENT FORM
Fill the form & we will get back within 24 hrs
THE PERFECT E-COMMERCE STRATEGY FOR YOUR SMALL BUSINESS
Thinking your small business needs an e-commerce store? Do you feel its time you own an eCommerce store to match demands or access new audience? MarketinGROW presents Strategic approach to help ease planning and launching your eCommerce site.
But first, Let us assure you, you are on the right track! It’s the 21st century and everything you need is on the internet. Favorite snacks from your childhood or a bridal dress everything is one click away.
Next, you may be looking for an easy e-commerce strategy to help you get started, hence this blog. Before we get started, it’s important keep in mind global audience means global competition. Even if you are not trying to compete with them, the customers may lean towards an outsider’s product due to a variety of reasons like: better website, easier checkout or better online ratings. The perfect eCommerce strategy considers all relevant factors that may directly or indirectly affect your business.
MarketinGrow provides an easy way to keep your existing customers and attract new ones to keep reading to know more.
How to set up an e-commerce site for a small business?
- Pick a niche and Research your market
- Pick a niche product(s)
- Create a brand and business
- Get an online store
- Attract your customers online
- Time to Advertise and marketing
- Post-launch care tips
- Pick a niche and research the market.
First things first, whether you are an online or offline store, you need to know the market. Research if it’s a good model for an e-commerce store and what is your competition like?
Consider the below points as crucial to making a profit on your investment;
- Are you able to warehouse the product?
- Will it be drop shipped or periodic shipping?
- Will the product need a special license?
- Is it easy to market and advertise?
- Are there buyers looking for the product with no good purchase options?
- Who does this product target?
- What are the price and the options your competition offers?
Pick a niche product
Apart from the basic research, it’s also important to start off simple start with few products or a single product scale up when you see the demand rising this helps avoid unnecessary expenses and gauge the market without investing heavily in it. Take for example Kylie’s lip kits the brand started off with a single product and limited Colors and now has spanned into a whole range of skincare and skin products. It’s a classic example of niche product testing.
Create a brand and business
Your brand has to be ready to take on the online scene. At the 11th hour, you can’t afford a copyright issue with the logo or an investment into a brand image that doesn’t match the target audience that you are selling too.
Follow the checklist below to start with;
- Pick a business name
- Register your business
- Get required registrations such as employment ID, tax number, licence and permits.
- Keep a list of suitable vendors ready
- Create a logo
- Create visuals that resonate with your brand image and it’s persona helping your audience relate and engage with your brand.
Get an online store.
The majority of the population today purchases a product after searching for it online and looking for reviews. Notice how bloggers “review” products all the time? That’s because there is a demand by customers to educate themselves before they make a purchase.
Creating an online store is easy. There are multiple websites that let you use a template and choose the URL you think best. Usually, these websites would charge upwards of $100 for basic features and design.
Alternatively, you can opt for Marketingrow’s $45 /m plan that lets you cancel anytime and provides a custom design and SEO content helping you gain better visibility.
Attract customers to your online store
Many small businesses struggle with this. We often get asked “how can i attract customers to an e-commerce store for small business?” or a new venture.
The answer, there is no simple method that will just get you customers over night. But there are some pointers that help your store operate and attract customers-
- Develop keyword driven strategies – if a customer is not able to find your product via a simple search engine search they are most definitely visiting the next best option. Aka your competitors. Pictures, content and the store itself needs to be Search engine friendly so it is easy to track and navigate.
- Have a website– having a website let’s you add more information about your business, engage with customers and over time add more products that they can navigate and shop through. This also helps in making your store rank better and stay more visible online.
- Content marketing- although the goal is to sell, your site needs traffic and for that it needs to have relatively good content that can drive traffic and lead to conversions.
Time for advertising and Marketing.
No online effort is ever complete without Digital marketing. How do you get your product noticed online? How can you get more sales on a e-commerce website? Or how to generate traffic on to your website? Digital marketing answers all of these queries.
Digital marketing helps a business gain popular among its audience and constantly stay visible and in the minds of the public so they are motivated to make a purchase.
Let’s talk about what does digital marketing and it’s strategies offer for e-commerce?
- E-mail marketing – helps create a list of leads and mailing addresses you can can connect and engage with time to time with offers, discounts and new products.
- Social media marketing– through FB ads and engagement over social media your product gathers high visibility to your niche audience. Keep in mind every business is very different and social media offers various platforms to reach them. For example LinkedIn for B2B and Facebook for B2B and B2C.
- Google and online search– google ads, google my business page, reviews on online portals and search engine optimization. May sound overwhelming for a small business owner to do but that is exactly what digital marketing agencies like MarketinGrow provides to its customers, all round optimization for best results.
- Back linking – anything from related sites reviewing or talking about the advantages of your product and services to listing it on pages that already has good traffic is a good start. Back linking basically does this for your business.
Feeling ready?
Now that you know how to get started with an e-commerce site. What are you waiting for? Alternatively, you can get in touch with us or book an appointment. All you have to do is have an idea of what your website and brand persona is so we have a clear idea of the persona and it’s target audience. Leave everything else up to us from research to marketing we will do it for you.
Also check out lite.marketingrow.com to buy your website and have it up and running in less than a few weeks time!