Is it Time To Update Your Website?

When you work in web development, one of the most common questions you’ll get asked is How do you know when it’s time to update your website?

A manufacturing client of ours recently came to us about updating their website. While the website we created for them last year has been doing well, they were ready for some changes. Our client identified a perfect opportunity for a restructure to their product pages: While on sales calls, he realized that his company’s site should be organized more by industry and not product category. Over the last several weeks, we have collaborated with him to make this possible, and we are looking forward to making his job easier!

This caused us to start thinking about other reasons that it might be tell-tale signs that your website needs some TLC. Let’s dive in!

Time Flies When You’re Having Fun

Over time, if you have a live website and your business is doing well, it can be easy to forget that your online presence needs love and attention. Let’s cover a few instances of reasons to update your site:

  1. Your website is not SEO-optimized.
    • It’s assumed that most websites and their content are optimized for positive SEO results, but we also understand that this is not something every small to medium business knows about. Without proper SEO optimization, your website will not show up in Google searches as readily or won’t initiate enough conversions for you, among many other negative impacts. SEO optimization is one of our main services and we’d love to chat with you if SEO makes you say, “huh?”
  2. Your website traffic has slowed down.
    • If you’re tracking your website’s traffic, and you see that visitors, interactions, and conversions have been dwindling over time, your site might be due for some changes. While many factors go into why traffic may have slowed, it’s important to also keep up with the times. A digital audit is a perfect way to figure out where areas of opportunity are. You can also utilize remarketing techniques to bring visitors back to your website and close your conversion loop.
  3. Your website is not mobile-friendly.
    • 52% of online traffic is done on mobile devices. Check out how quickly mobile has taken over in the graphic to the right! That means that no matter how gorgeous your website is on your desktop screen, it’s vital to check how it looks on various mobile devices. If you have even the slightest feeling that it’s not easy to navigate while on a cell phone or tablet, it might be time to check your mobile settings and devise an update plan.
  4. Visual trends have changed.
    • All smart marketers know that following trends is a necessary nuisance. The trick is to accommodate trends in your visual identity without subscribing fully to them. This allows your branding and “look” to fit in with what’s popular without expiring too quickly. For instance, if an image slider on home pages is a successful visual addition, it’s a quick edit to make without compromising the current integrity or branding you have.
  5. You’re not using form fills, subscription sign-ups, or value add options.
    • If a prospect visits your website but doesn’t take anything away from it, have you really captured their interest? If your site doesn’t have a newsletter sign-up form, you’re missing out on engaging with prospects in the long run. Not sure about email marketing or email lead gen? We can help you with that! Other value add examples are downloadable PDFs and case studies—don’t forget to make downloads a conversion goal in your Analytics account! This allows you to gather even more information about potential customers. 

All Things Considered

There are dozens of reasons why you need to update your website. Whether it’s simply a matter of “it’s been too long” or you want to drive more qualified leads into your sales funnel, your website deserves an update. Think of it as an online, living extension of your brand and company. Provide it with the right development and attention, and you’ll see ongoing positive impact.

Do you still feel like your website needs some TLC and aren’t sure where to start? Let us know! We love helping businesses explore and identify their options. Click the link below to drop us a line.

Seasonal Marketing Strategy Tips

We were looking at our calendars this week and realized that fall is almost upon us! Autumn officially starts on September 23rd this year, and we’re ready to hunker down in cooler weather. It has us thinking about new beginnings and fresh starts. How can we refresh our strategy in the new quarter? How can we prepare for changes that our clients are facing?

Season Swap

During summer and warm weather, people tend to spend more time outside and at activities. With longer days comes longer playtime, so consumers don’t spend as much time online. That means as the weather turns, so does your luck. The more time your ideal customer spends online, the higher the chances are that they’ll discover you.

How is your follow-up going? As the weather cools, so do many of your leads. Don’t forget to reach back out to leads you first connected with in early summer. Email marketing is the perfect solution. We can integrate with your leads lists and set up immersive automated drip campaigns to re-engage your chilly prospects.

It’s also time to consider changing up your messaging. For example, the more relevant your remarketing ads are, the more likely consumers are to click them. Now is the perfect time to swap out your stock photography and test a new fall campaign against your summer results. Need help with your retargeting or remarketing strategies? Give us a shout.

Follow the Trends

While most people assume that summer is their most costly season, data shows that it actually falls second behind winter. For e-commerce businesses, fall is the perfect time to start addressing digital marketing strategies as we enter a lull in consumer spending. If you’re in front of them even when they’re not in a spending frenzy, you’ll be at the top of their minds when winter hits.

Just as school starts back up in the fall, so should your self-evaluations. Don’t forget that your website deserves a good grade on its report card. We perform digital audits that provide our clients with a comprehensive health check-up on their website, PPC, and SEO projects. If something needs to be fixed, we’ll help you take the necessary steps to achieving that A+.

Additionally, you must be aware of the #PSL trend, right? If you’re starting to think that every company and their cousin is using PSL jokes in their marketing, you’d be correct! Pop culture trends are some of the easiest to incorporate into your digital marketing efforts.

If you’re feeling fired up about fall and would like some direction on your digital marketing for the new season, reach out! We’d love to start a dialog with you and identify any areas of opportunity that we could assist you with.

Client Case Study: Leveraging PPC Tactics

Welcome back to our blog! We’ve shared a lot about email lead gen lately and we wanted to jump back to another topic near and dear to our hearts: PPC advertising.

One of our clients wanted to increase their website leads by leveraging pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. They are a non-profit company, so we knew that it was extremely important to be good stewards of their budget.

With our guidance, they were able to increase their advertising budget to accomplish this. However, we needed to make sure that this additional spend wouldn’t drastically increase their cost-per-lead (CPL).

And we had good news for this client! Through our proprietary approach to PPC advertising, we have driven leads at an increase year-over-year while also keeping their CPL low. With an additional spend of 33%, Decantery achieved a 27% increase in leads while only increasing the CPL by 4.61%.

You’ve Got Mail: Leveraging Cold Outbound

In our third installment of our blog series called “You’ve Got Mail,” we’ll be covering how to leverage totally cold email outreach. If you want to kickstart a new sales program with email lead generation, you’ve come to the right place! Don’t forget to check out our previous posts: You’ve Got Mail: Leveraging Existing Prospects and You’ve Got Mail: The Basics of Email Lead Generation.

LIKE A NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK

Sometimes, searching for the right leads to target can feel like a wild goose chase, or finding a shiny and tiny metal object amongst a large pile of hay. But, if you know the general vicinity in which to search, you’re on the right track. That’s how we view email lead generation: cast a targeted net, and you’ll catch promising leads.

CATCH BUT NOT RELEASE

You might feel that sending out cold emails to strangers (prospects) doesn’t sound like the most effective way to get new leads in the door. You might be afraid of your emails being marked as spam. You might even be worried that you’ll accidentally email the wrong person. But here at Decantery, we have email lead gen down to a science.

Let’s go over how we make magic out of email lead generation:

  1. We discuss the specific industries and titles that you want to target for conversations
  2. We cull lead sources for prospects fitting your perfect parameters
  3. We create customized email templates for you, complete with several follow-ups and direct, engaging calls to action (CTAs) that entice even your most elusive prospects
  4. We email these prospects on your behalf through our automated drip system, plotting out weeks’ and months’ worth of follow-ups
  5. You sit back and watches leads to flow into your inbox!

Our clients have already seen great success with these efforts. We love providing our clients with qualified leads all while taking time and stress off their plates.

Does that sound enticing? Would you like to benefit from having more time on your (or your sales team’s) hands? Let us know! Click the “contact us” button below and we’ll be in touch!

Not-So-Corporate Headshots with Virginia Harold

Every employee deserves to feel like a diva at their company. Having professional headshots taken of your team not only give your employees amazing Linkedin profile photos but also fosters a sense of investment. Investing in your employees is one of the best ways to build a strong company.

But, let’s be honest—traditional corporate headshots are a bit out of fashion. Enter photographers like Virginia Harold, whose fresh take on company photos is one of the main reasons that Decantery hired her to take ours.Virginia is a photographer based in Saint Louis, MO, but she grew up in Hawaii. Her work reflects her love of lush, intimate scenes from her time in Hawaii, and she is also inspired by architecture and light. A major focus of Virginia’s work is weddings, but she also likes to take stunning photos of plants. In fact, she has an entire series called “Dreamy Plants,” and we agree that they’re deliciously dreamy.

Earlier this spring, Virginia treated us to a morning of laughter and photography for our headshots. We followed up with her recently to chat about the shift away from the traditional, static company photos of the past.

1) There’s been some movement away from the traditional corporate headshot – what do you think caused this shift?
A lot of our first impressions and interactions are done over the web these days, which is why I think photography has evolved and blossomed so immensely. I think people are really seeking connection with others and are looking for something human and relatable in photos.

2) What do you think is an advantage of using lifestyle/casual/true-to-life portraiture is over the traditional, stoic headshot?
A headshot is an opportunity to portray more than a clinical ID of someone–it can show personality, environment, warmth and really offer a welcoming energy. Making these photos in the workplace and subtly showing some of the environment can say a lot about the person and the company. For example, having a plant in the background of a photo might subconsciously say that this is a “green” company, if that makes sense.

3) If an office wants to prepare for non-traditional photos, is there anything they can do to prep?
Having a clean lounge-like area is the key. A couch or a comfortable chair will make for a great setting for individual and group shots. Have some fresh coffee on hand for employees.

4) Does taking non-traditional headshots come with more challenges than traditional “sit and shoot ’em” style headshots (like a stool in front of a backdrop)?
Taking non-traditional photos is definitely less formulated than the traditional shots, so it does require a lot of in-the-moment problem solving. With traditional shots, it’s pretty much the exact same every time–It does require more equipment, like bringing in a background and lights. With non-traditional shots, I’ll still bring a light source with me just in case, but if there is ample window light in the right place, I will absolutely go for that first, since it is more natural looking and easier to use.

5) What time of day do you prefer to do portraiture like this?
If we are shooting indoors, any time will do. I personally like morning shoots. Most people are feeling fresh and we can drink some coffee and start the day off in a fun way.

6) Last but not least, Snickers or Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups? 
Reese’s all the way!

Thanks again to Virginia for capturing some wonderful images of our team!

Please be sure to visit Virginia’s website for her stunning portfolios and contact information.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

You’ve Got Mail: Leveraging Existing Prospects

We covered Decantery’s email lead gen offerings on a recent blog post, but we want to dive more deeply into the two main options that we cover. Those are: Leveraging Existing Prospects and Leveraging Email Lead Gen for Cold Outbound Efforts. Today, we’ll cover Leveraging Existing Prospects. Thanks for joining us!

C’MON ON BABY, LIGHT MY (LEADS) FIRE

When a prospect has gone cold, sometimes it can feel like you’re out of options to reignite that lead. If you’re absolutely certain that you would make a beneficial partner to the prospect you’ve lost, it’s vital to follow-up with them. However, following up with prospects takes skill, creativity, and confidence. And that’s why we talk about “the art of the follow-up.”

Let’s say you have a sales team member who feels that a large number of their cold leads would be worth reconnecting with, but already has a lot on their daily plate. It can be difficult to break away from the task load of brand new, promising leads! This is where we can help.

ROUND ‘EM UP & LET ‘EM LOOSE

Decantery has a method of doing this for clients. We partner with clients to send highly personalized, custom emails to leads that have gone cold. The only thing (basically!) that our clients are responsible for is rounding up their cold leads and providing them to us. Let’s dive into how this works:

  1. Our client provides CSV files of prospect emails that were once-promising but now cold
  2. We create customized email templates for the client, complete with several follow-ups and direct, engaging calls to action (CTAs) that entice even your most elusive prospects
  3. We email these prospects on our client’s behalf through our automated drip system, plotting out weeks’ and months’ worth of follow-ups. 
  4. The client sits back and watches leads to flow into their inbox!

Sounds amazing, right? We think so, too. One of our email lead gen clients has seen incredible success with this method. It makes the stress of keeping in contact with seasonal opportunities a piece of cake, minus all the work and calories. 

Curious about our email lead gen services? Drop us a line by clicking the button below—we’d love to learn about your business goals! Please also stay tuned for our next blog post on Email Lead Gen for Cold Outbound Efforts.

You’ve Got Mail: The Basics of Email Lead Generation

Digital strategy takes a village and a variety of tools. That’s why we believe it’s important to always be adding new tools to your belt. If SEO is your hammer, make sure PPC is your screwdriver. What’s missing? How about your email marketing mallet? Let’s talk about how adding email lead generation—aka email lead gen—to your tool kit can take your efforts to the next level (not sorry for the pun).

A Quick Overview of Email Lead Gen with Decantery

Email lead gen allows you to replace cold calling with emailing, freeing up your sales folks to work on more pressing tasks. We cover a few of the main reasons you’d leverage email lead gen for your business over here on our website, but we’ll recap briefly below:

  • Forget manually building email campaigns! We can help you build automated drip campaigns that run on their own and free up your time.
  • Do you have a sign-up sheet on your website that you’d like to take more advantage of? Email lead gen can help keep your ideal consumers up-to-date and informed about your offerings.
  • Entice potential partnerships. Build and maintain B2B relationships more easily via personalized email marketing.
  • Heat up those cold leads you have sitting around! If a prospect has disappeared on you, let our email lead gen efforts reignite them for you with thoughtful messaging and consistent, automated follow-ups.
  • Tune into your consumers’ behavior. Use their predictable actions to send email messaging based on their actions, which showcases your investment in the relationship you’ve built thus far.

We’ll be covering a couple of these topics more in-depth soon! Please stay tuned for our upcoming blog posts that dive more deeply into Leveraging Email Lead Gen for Existing Prospects and Leveraging Email Lead Gen for Cold Outbound Efforts.

If you’re ready to shake up your marketing efforts with a dedicated team of digital strategists, reach out! We’d love to chat about what you’d like to accomplish with your digital marketing.

Welcome to the Neighborhood: Cherokee Street

Decantery is proud to be a local & small business, and we especially love the area we work in. You’ll find us typing, developing, and optimizing away on Cherokee Street in the South City area of Saint Louis. Learn more about the neighborhood we call home!

La Calle Cherokee

Cherokee Street is well-known for its vibrant and diverse residents, many of whom are Hispanic. This gives the neighborhood an amazing variety of shops, restaurants, and businesses. Delicious, tacos with a generous margarita to wash them down? Stop by Tower Taco for some grub. Craving tres leches cake? Check out Diana’s Bakery for sweet treats.

A Little Bit of Everything

Cherokee has become a hub of small businesses, both in brick and mortar and other capacities. Some of the most beloved businesses on the street have had several iterations before landing on Cherokee. For instance, Whisk: A Sustainable Bakeshop started as a cupcake booth at the nearby Tower Grove Farmer’s Market before opening its storefront on Cherokee in 2012.

This stretch of several blocks also features Cherokee Antique Row—this corridor of the street has several storefronts with clothing, household decor, and more from decades past. Starting at Jefferson, take a stroll East along Cherokee to check out all these amazing shops, and find yourself at the world-famous Lemp Brewery.

While talking about Cherokee, we can’t skip over Nebula, Saint Louis’ first coworking space. Decantery calls this nearly decade-old space home! This unique location provides a location for independent contractors, small businesses, and “unconventionally employed” folks that create an incredible hub for work, meetings, and more.

Keepin’ it Clean

A new effort in the area aims to keep Cherokee street cleaner than ever. Nebula resident and office neighbors, EFS Energy, partnered up with Decantery, Nebula, and the Cherokee Street Community Improvement District to start a new event called Cherokee Street Trashy Hour. The purpose is to bring together community members, residents, and businesses for a quarterly evening where everyone walks up and down Cherokee Street, picking up any trash they see. Afterward, everyone unwinds and gets to know each other at a local business over drinks or dinner. Thus far, we’ve had two successful events, and we’re planning our third! If you’re in the neighborhood, or a fan of Cherokee Street, please like our Facebook Page to follow along, RSVP to future events, and more!

We hope you’ve learned a little bit more about our lovely neighborhood, and we encourage you visit very soon!

Consumer Habits: What’s A Digital Footprint?

Lately, we’ve been trying to get into podcasts around the Decantery office. And we’re not talking just the self-love, motivational kind. Podcasts present another avenue for learning! We covered the what and why of podcasts in a previous blog post as well.

We recently checked out The Sales Evangelist’s podcast with Victoria Romney, Founder & President of ModernMarca and all-around marketing superwoman. She offers some great insights into how to select a digital marketing firm for your company, what mistakes to avoid when engaging digital marketing, and how everything you do leaves a digital footprint. We especially liked that highlight—consumers are constantly creating digital trails. Harnessing the power of understanding the behavior of those trails, and therefore your consumers, will lead to greater success.

At Decantery, one of our main focuses is on understanding consumer behavior through SEO strategies. Through diligent testing and behavior research, we’re able to identify exactly what your consumers are searching for, and align your digital marketing efforts appropriately. We pride ourselves on truly becoming partners with our clients, so that you feel that we’re an integral part of your team. A client’s success is always our main goal.

If you’re ready to shake up your marketing efforts with a dedicated team of digital strategists, reach out! We’d love to chat about what you’d like to accomplish with your digital marketing.

The End is Near: Is It Time To Dismantle Digital Marketing?

Google is turning 21 years old this September. That’s right—sound the alarm, the tech giant is finally old enough to drink! However, it feels like Google and its comrades have been around forever. Let’s take a peek into history and see how things have changed in the last two decades.

Happy Birthday to Digital Marketing

Digital marketing, as a coined phrase, and as a tactic, was born in the 1990s. In terms of the quickly shifting Digital Age, the early 1990s feel like ancient history! Advertising web banners appeared in 1993, but with the birth of Yahoo, search engine optimization (SEO) began running full steam. By the late ’90s, Google introduced AdWords and AdSense, and the sprint for digital marketing became an all-out marathon.

While the “internet bubble” burst in 2000, it looks like we have a digital marketing bubble also about to pop. Because of the variety of marketing efforts that must be taken to advertise to customers, companies have had to adjust by creating and constantly updating several departments and teams. But what if all those groups combined forces and took marketing head-on, Avengers-style?

Taming the Marketing Monster

Consider all the avenues of marketing one company must tackle: digital (SEO, remarketing, etc), print (magazines, newspapers, etc), physical (billboards, bus stop shelters, etc), and social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc). Marketing has become a new-age Hydra, one giant mythical lead generation creature with too many heads that seems to be constantly sprouting additional noggins. Each marketing avenue must inform the other, especially when it comes to data and measuring results. If they’re not working in unison and communicating effectively, gaps will occur.

So how do we become Hercules to slay the beast?

Back to Basics

If we tried to neatly list out all the components of digital marketing, it wouldn’t be, well… neat. Consider all the avenues mentioned above—and multiply that by at least 10. The industry uses buzz words like “holistic marketing” to suggest that we have the marketing monster’s many heads all on leashes and walking like a well-trained pup. When the leashes get tangled, you have gaps in marketing efforts appear.

One of the biggest gaps in marketing data is the measurement of consumer relevance. A tough question that Marie Gulin-Merle, Calvin Klein’s chief marketing officer and PVH’s chief digital officer poses is “How do we prove that we provided the right content to the right consumer at the right time?” Positive consumer experience drives positive consumer impact on a company’s marketing bottom line. One way to ensure this happens is to make sure your overall marketing efforts are effortlessly connected visually and with content.

Here at Decantery, we believe in the idea of holistic marketing, but we put focus on effective and time-tested tactics. From creating smooth, extremely user-friendly websites to A/B testing ads for your business’ Google listing, we view digital marketing as marketing. We position ourselves as an external team that always has your best interests in mind, and look for ways to close gaps in the marketing map.