Do Businesses Really Need Blogging? Yes, Yes They Do!

What do a toothpaste brand, a furniture company, and a farm equipment manufacturer have in common? They all have a blog on their website! And if you own a business, you should start a blog, too. 
But “Why?” you might ask. Why do Crest toothpaste, IKEA, and John Deere write a blog? Does anyone actually read it, and does it do any good for marketing? 

The answer to all those questions is a resounding “Yes.” 6.9 billion searches are sent to Google every day, and 70,000 searches every second. Every month, 135,000 people search, “Why is the sky blue?” and 49,500 people ask, “Why do cats purr?” Imagine how many people must be searching about home or commercial technology in your area. When they hit ‘Enter,’ does your website show up? 

That’s what blogging is all about. It connects your company to an audience that’s already looking for information and, ultimately, your services. Below, we’ll dive into why blogging matters and how it can help your AV and custom integration business thrive.

SEE ALSO: 5 Effective Ways to Engage Your Existing Audience 

Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to attract new customers and retain existing clients

Is email marketing still relevant in a digital environment dominated by social media posts, interactive ads, and mobile campaigns? While email is one of the oldest forms of digital marketing, in recent years the strategy feels like it’s become overshadowed by newer, flashier ways to grab peoples’ attention online, like social media and Google Advertising. 

Don’t get us wrong — these strategies are important as part of an integrated digital marketing plan. But the data (and consumer input) reveals that robust email marketing has yet to fall out of style. Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective strategies to put your products and services in front of consumers, has the highest return on investment of all digital marketing channels, and is unmatched in its ability to drive direct traffic to your website or landing page. 

And your clients are on email — more than 90% of people over the age of 17 use email, and 99% of consumers check their email daily (some admit to checking over 20 times a day). 

Trust us when we say that email marketing isn’t dead — far from it. Keep reading to learn why.

SEE ALSO: Surprising Email Marketing Statistics That Will Make You Rethink List Segmentation

Make sure your website performs at its best with regular TLC

A whopping 88% of online consumers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience. Bland design, outdated images, lackluster copy, slow loading speeds, a broken site feature, spam articles, poor mobile optimization — all these elements can send your visitors running for the hills (or into the arms of your competitors).

Luckily for you, working with a web hosting and maintenance provider can help you solve the website issues listed above and keep your site secure and running smoothly 24/7. It’s time to stop thinking of your website as a static product and start recognizing that it’s a living, dynamic asset that requires regular care and maintenance to perform at its best.

Keep reading to learn more about why you need routine web maintenance services — and what can happen without them.

SEE ALSO: Avoiding the Nightmare Scenario: Why You Should Regularly Backup Your Website

Spend $99/month on your website and use the remaining funds for active digital marketing

In a digital-first era, your company can’t compete in the technology market without a robust and engaging web presence. And in an ideal world, you would have the funding available for an SEO-optimized Mercury Pro website and full suite of digital marketing services to support it. 

But what if the annual marketing budget is just not there? Any amount of research will tell you that a brand-new, custom website could easily surpass your entire budget for the year. If that’s the case, how do you balance funds between a new website and ongoing digital marketing to optimize the budget and achieve a return on investment (ROI)?

At One Firefly, we recognized that many of our dealers face this issue year after year and end up compromising one way or the other. That’s why we created the Atlas Website Landing Page, an affordable website solution that allows you to improve your online presence, invest in active growth strategy, and see measurable ROI from your marketing — all within budget. Keep reading to learn more about the strategy behind Atlas and the feature lineup included in our Atlas solution.

SEE ALSO: The Power of Live Chat: 4 Reasons Your Website Needs a Chat Service

Learn how reviews help you cultivate an online presence that customers can’t resist

A positive reputation is one of the most valuable business assets you can have. In a world where customers have unlimited access to the web to perform thorough research and competitor analysis before making purchasing decisions, your business needs to have a stellar online reputation to convince people that you’re the right fit for their needs. 

Over the past several years, reading online reviews has become an integral part of the buyer’s journey. The presence of good reviews and testimonials is proven to help businesses maintain a good reputation, earn customers’ trust, and drive purchasing decisions.

Keep reading to learn three ways reviews help grow your business!

SEE ALSO: The Power of Live Chat: 4 Reasons Your Business Needs a Chat Service

Did you know that website visitors are more likely to return to your site if live chat is being offered?

Live chat is the fastest, most convenient, and easiest way for website visitors to connect with your brand. It’s a fantastic tool for engaging consumers in real-time while they’re perusing your product and service offerings. In addition, having a manned chat service on your website ensures that visitors’ first point of contact will be with a real person — which is an invaluable asset toward building strong and trustworthy relationships with potential new customers.    

Keep reading to learn four benefits of adding a live chat service to your website!

SEE ALSO: Working With A Marketing Agency: Interview Part 4 (An Inside Look From The “Lead Concierge” Chat Team)

Industry Leading SEM Services Now Available To ALL Integrators

SEM or search engine marketing involves driving traffic to your website by paying for ad space on search engine platforms such as Google. Using SEM, you are paying Google to show up in front of your competition when those highly targeted customers are searching for your services or products. You can even pay to show up whenever someone searches for your competitor’s business name!

SEE MORE: Can Your Business Benefit From an SEM Campaign?

How to Write Persuasive Content for the AV Industry

Learn 3 tips for writing AV and technology-focused content that’s engaging, impactful, and memorable

Persuasive writing tells a story and creates an emotional connection with your audience. This is true across all industries, including the AV and technology industry. In a compelling piece of technology-focused copy, your audience is the main character, their desires, needs and pain points are the conflict, and your products and services are the solutions.

We have emotional connections to the technology we use daily. Technology helps us communicate with family and loved ones around the world, make our living environments more inviting and comfortable, feel safer, and access entertainment that brings enjoyment to our lives. The key to writing compelling, impactful AV content is seeking out those emotional connections and bringing them to the forefront of your audience’s mind.

Technology-focused content can be as persuasive, impactful and emotional as content about health, wellness, art, literature, or love. Below, we have three tips to help guide the creation of AV content that resonates with your target audiences.

SEE ALSO: Engage Your Customers With Language That Speaks Directly To Them  

Watch out for these marketing mishaps that One Firefly is sharing with us over the next few months. In Part 1 of this series, we talk about how important it is to own your own accounts and data when it comes to Google Analytics.

Over the course of the next four months, we’re going to feature multiple horror stories and describe how to protect your business from falling victim. We will prepare you with questions you should be asking your internal team or marketing agency. As they say, knowledge is power and we want to empower you to know how to protect your rights and your intellectual property as it relates to your brand and marketing.