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Grants for Growing Your Business online

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Are you looking to implement e-commerce capabilities for your business? By implementing an e-commerce strategy for your business online, you can effectively attract more customers and grow your business.

The Canada Digital Adoption Program is helping businesses:

  • get online
  • increase sales
  • adopt security software
  • connect with customers
  • improve social media marketing
  • improve user experience for online customers
Eligible businesses will receive up to $2,400 to help with the costs related to adopting e-commerce.
To Learn More about the grant and to see if you’re business is eligible, please contact us.
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4 Ways to adapt during the Covid-19 pandemic

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These are unprecedented times. Hundreds of thousands of Canadians have been laid-off, thousands of businesses have closed and many of these will never open again, and many other businesses are struggling to survive and adapt to these, and temporary, market conditions.But there are things that businesses can do to mitigate the impact and take advantage of these changes.

Here are 5 ways to take advantage of the changing conditions:

1. Adding E-Commerce to your website:

With so many businesses closed and people asked or ordered to remain at home, shopping online has increased significantly.  Even if you can’t offer online shopping through your site, we can also help to upgrade your site to be able to communicate with people online via chat. Don’t let this massive move to online sales pass you by. Act now, give is a call or send us a request and learn more about our E-commerce services.

2. Improve your Social presence:

If you don’t currently have a social media presence, you should. And if you do, then this is a perfect time to let you customers know what you are offering during the Covid-19 crisis. Screen time is increasing dramatically and the more your customers see your messages online, the more likely they are to reach out and work with you. We offer comprehensive Social media strategy and advertising programs for any budget.

3.Power-up your Search results:

As more people are staying home and searching for products and services online, now is the right time to ensure that your website is optimized for search. It’s also the right time to engage in online ads to improve your search rankings. Contact us for a free consultation and estimate, and read more about our digital marketing service.

4. Update your business information:

With all the changes happening during the crisis, are people aware of any of your new operational changes? Google is the first place people are going to check on your hours of operations or other important information, so make sure you have your “Google My Business” listing set-up. The listing is free, and we can help you get set-up.

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The Dog is here to help during the COVID-19 crisis

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During this incredibly difficult time of COVID-19, we at Straydog salute our health-care workers and and all the others on the front line that are doing their best, working long hours and sacrificing their own safety to fight the spread and find the cure for the COVID-19 virus. Indeed, these are challenging times, many businesses have closed their doors, of many of which may never open again. For all of our past, current and future clients, we want you to know that if you need our services, we’re here to support you.

We continue to be fully operational, with all of our staff working from home in self-isolation and available to support you with your all of your website or graphic design needs. Of course, we understand that this is not business as normal, however, we want you to know that should you need immediate or urgent support, we’re here for you.

We will get through this. We are a nation of great knowledge, resources and community spirit, and together, we will win. Do your part, be responsible, don’t gather in groups, keep your distance from others, reach out by phone, text, or Facetime to friends, neighbours and acquaintances, we’re all going to need a lot of support…..and don’t forget, wash your hands.

 

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Creating Brand Advocates

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Brands love having celebrities and social media gurus in their corner, but it’s the everyday fans and customers who ultimately make or break a brand.

Creating brand advocates should be a significant part of your social media efforts. Every brand wants large numbers of followers and fans promoting them on social channels, but few companies are willing to get out of their own way and do what it takes to gain true advocacy.

It’s about developing relationships. Continually, companies build elaborate social profiles and develop advertising campaigns with the hopes of gaining more fans. We often see this with companies that simply do not have a social media strategy… and then they wonder why no one spreads the word about their brand.

What does it take to turn followers of your brand into advocates?

It’s about getting personal and reaching people.

First of all you should gain an understanding of why people should care about your company or product, stand up for you or share their experiences. To figure this out, turn it around and ask yourself the same question about brands you like; the ones you tell your friends about. You will likely think; it was a good product, your like what they stand for, they treated you well and were responsive to your needs.

Most marketers are focused on trying to assign a dollar value to each Facebook fan or Twitter follower instead of paying attention to the fact that, without the brand engagement and interaction that takes place in these mediums, the value of each user is greatly diminished. With a precise Social media strategy of what you exactly want to achieve, combined with the knowledge around personal brand connection, customers will indeed buy more and promote your brand.

Building advocacy means offering something more compelling than a nice Facebook page or Twitter profile. When your customers find you via social, they’re looking for an opportunity to build an emotional connection.

How to encourage brand emotion

Respond promptly to messages or customer feedback, make an effort to reach out and thank individuals for sharing your content, be transparent and appreciate your customers. Like any friendship, brand advocacy is not a numbers game, it’s the natural byproduct of developing good relationships, providing great consistent service, and delivering on your brand promise. Give your audience an experience that stands out, don’t be too routine and stand out from the competition! Make it a part of your culture and brand DNA to be social and engaging.

When you have found your brand advocates, make sure they’re heard. Brand advocates deserve to be recognized.

Here is an infographic about brand advocacy:

brand-advocates-social-media-infographic-vancouver

 

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Pinterest for Business & Brands

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Pinterest is a social network, but it’s much different than most — Pinterest allows you to express your brand’s personality in a visual way. People want to know brands on an intimate level and get a sense of their style and values, and Pinterest is the perfect platform!

Pinterest gives you the incredible opportunity to show another side of your brand and provide particularly relevant content through curation. In this article we will give you the insight you need to start evaluating the potential of Pinterest for your business & brand and how you can effectively raise awareness for your brand, drive traffic from Pinterest to your website, and connect with current and potential customers.

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest pintrest.com is a rapidly growing social networking website that allows users to post and share images and videos on “pinboards” (a collection of “pins,” usually with a common theme). Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web.

With Pinterest you can browse pinboards created by other people and brands, allowing you to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.

Pinterest is like an online scrapbook, set up a Pinterest bookmarklet and you can start pinning images you find on the web to the bulletin boards on your page. People can choose to follow you (similar to Twitter) and can comment on and like  your pins (like Facebook).

Who’s Using Pinterest?

Pinterest users are shopping at Sephora, Victoria’s Secret and Nordstrom. Their favorite magazine is Good Housekeeping, 1-in-5 have purchased an item they’ve pinned, and about 40% of them have drank wine in the past month.

The majority of the users on Pinterest are female. In fact, the breakdown is actually quite staggering. Almost 70 percent are female. Pinterest is the 17th most popular site in Canada.

How to Create a Pinterest Brand Strategy

1. Develop a Target Audience Profile

Developing a Pinterest profile should start with brand strategy. Before you create your boards and pins you should determine who the individuals are that you’re brand wants to reach. Don’t underestimate the importance of this exercise because the more you know about your target customer, the more successful you’ll be in connecting with them via Pinterest.

2. Brand your Pinterest Account

Create a Branded Profile

Complete your Pinterest profile including your brand logo and description of your business using keywords when possible. You’ll also want to add your location and website URL.

Brand your Pinboards

When naming your Pinterest boards, get creative! Represent your brand’s personality and think more personalized titles than “My Board 1” or “Things we like”…

Use your Brand’s Tone-of-Voice

When pinning an image, be sure to take full advantage of providing your own original description of the pin and speak in your brand’s distinct tone-of-voice.

3. Pin Relevant Brand Content

You’ll need to decide what content will be relevant for your brand’s target audience. Think about your buyer personas when you’re deciding whether or not to pin something. Ask yourself, “Would my ideal client find this useful, educational, entertaining, or inspiring?” If the answer is yes, pin away! If not, keep looking for something that fits one of these categories.

You should also look for content that’s already being shared on Pinterest and that is relevant to your brand and business. Pinterest isn’t just about pinning your own images onto your boards. Like other social platforms, you need to share other people’s content too, so think about the value of re-pinning that relevant content for your audience. This provides value through curation.

How to Become a Pinterest Leader

When you think of Pinterest as a tool for becoming a source of information and ideas, rather than a place to hawk your wares, you will be far more successful on Pinterest.

Focus on the idea that Pinterest can:

  • Help you learn the intimate needs and wants of your ideal customers
  • Help you create your ideal customer profile
  • Allow customers to get to know your brand and develop trust

Using Pinterest & Cross-Promoting

  • Add the Pinterest ‘follow’ button to your website – Much the same as Facebook and Twitter.
  • Pinterest etiquette clearly states that it’s not a platform for self-promotion.
  • Use of Hashtags – much like on Twitter, you can use the # next to a keyword in the description of the pin to give it more prominence
  • Encourage users to comment – Ask for an opinion in your pin description and invoke a great response.

Whole Foods, a Pinterest Case Study

Whole Foods uses Pinterest to create a scrapbook for healthy living by pinning all sorts of things that customers would enjoy. Whole Foods is a Pinterest leader in that they’ve positioned their brand at the forefront of health and vitality.

Their Pinterest Boards provide recipe inspiration, tips for growing organic fruit and vegetables and mixes in general interest topics for fans to engage around. Whole Foods pinners “followers” are extremely active, with 49 boards and almost 1,300 pins they have almost 75,000 followers.

Check out Straydog branding on Pinterest

 

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Top 10 Digital Brand Tools

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Keeping your brand on top of what’s popular and trending is not easy. With these top 10 tools your digital brand will be in-the-know and aware of what’s happening in the world instantly.

From hot keywords searches on Google to what’s trending on Twitter or Facebook and what’s going viral on YouTube this very moment. Day by day and even minute by minute. Never get left in the dark again!

Google Trends

With Google Trends, you can compare the world’s interest in your favorite topics. Enter up to five topics and see how often they’ve been searched on Google over time. This is great for looking at relevant terms, as well as the best time to start ramping up (or slowing down) your digital marketing efforts for any particular keyword phrase.

Google Trends Hot Searches

With Hot Searches, you can see a snapshot of what’s on the public’s collective mind by viewing a stream of the fastest-rising search queries of the day. Click on any top keyword, and you’ll see a search volume index chart showing searcher interest over the past 24 hours. You’ll also see snippets of the top Google results for that keyword for news, blogs, and Web searches. Perfect for looking at upcoming trends that might provide ranking and traffic opportunities.

Google Trends for Websites

Enter in a URL and see what else that site’s visitors are searching for, along with other sites they have visited. This gives you a good dose of competitive intelligence and visitor engagement and interests.

Google Insights for Search

Compare search results by location or time ranges and filter by geographical locations, search type (products, news, and images), and even by categories. Compare and filter up to five terms at a time. While raw search volume numbers are helpful to select one term over another, this information can help you target each phrase based on the specific search market. When and where the searches are being performed can be valuable information for targeted ad delivery.

Wordtracker Top Keywords

This provides two lists of the top 500 most searched keywords within the last 48 hours and 365 days. Search volume for each phrase is provided as well. Another tool that is good for looking out for upcoming trends for you to capitalize on for your brand’s Search Engine Optimization.

TweetStats

It features two charts that show what is trending on Twitter: one for today’s top 10 trends and another for currently trending. This information can help you get involved in the most important, vibrant, or talked about conversations of the day, opening up new avenues for networking and engagement.

Trendsmap

Want to know what people in your (or any) area are tweeting about? This shows trends based on geographical locations. Using this data, you can get in touch with local tweeters that share similar personal or business interests. Great local networking tool!

Like Button

Shows you what is being liked across the Internet right now. Filter by what is popular, news, entertainment, and much more. This is Facebook’s version of TweetStats, giving you a few more filtering options to narrow down your search to what is important to you or your business.

YouTube Trends Dashboard

The hottest videos on YouTube can be found on the Trends Dashboard. You can filter by location and age, sort by most shared or most viewed, and even compare how videos trend for different audiences. Not just for entertainment, these videos can also help you see what is catching people’s attention and what audience they most resonate with. Video demographic research!

BuzzFeed

Find out what content is getting socialized the most across the Web. View by category, drill down to the 20 most viral for the week, or see what’s just launching that’s making a buzz. This is another opportunity to see what people are talking about, what’s going viral, and to engage with the audience that’s most suited for your needs.

Check out our Vancouver branding & web design studio for more on digital branding!

 

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How to find Brand Influencers

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There is little doubt that a small but influential group of consumers can have a disproportionate effect on the reputation and success of companies and brands.

Think Twitter or Facebook – a smaller network of effective social media followers is far more powerful than a thousand twitter followers who do not provide any value. Brand influencers are crucial to reaching the community because they drive interactions. Brand influencers create a
word-of-mouth sensation, as 83% of consumers trust the opinion of a friend or respected figure over a advertisement.

What are brand influencers?

Brand influencers could be potential buyers or may be so-called “value-added influencers” such as journalists, academics, industry analysts, trendsetters or those with extensive social circles. If you can find these individuals, there are no limits to your brand’s reach.

How do you find brand influencers?

You need to start with a strategy. In order to have a strategy you must understand the players and therefore identify those who can maximize your influence. For years, advertising has trained marketers that noise equals success, which isn’t true. Getting the attention of influencers who have built authority with a target audience and have earned trust in communities relevant to specific businesses is what yields the best return.

Recent research conducted by Ipsos across 23 countries globally shows that Brand Influencers tend to be more highly educated than average, with above average income. They are also more socially active and informed. They are present in all age groups, young and old, but are more likely to be men than women in most countries – but not in all.

Types of brand influencers

  • Experts: These are the authorities in a certain subject, and people look to these experts for information, advice, and guidance.
  • Activists: influencers get involved, with their communities, political movements, charities and so on.
  • Connected: influencers have large social networks
  • Impact: influencers are looked up to and are trusted by others
  • Active minds: influencers have multiple and diverse interests
  • Trendsetters: influencers tend to be early adopters (or leavers) in markets
  • Conference and event speakers: Trusted & respected by others
  • Positional Influencer: is often in the person’s inner circle. Friends, family, spouses are all examples of positional influencers.

How to engage Brand Influencers

Social Media

Unlike direct marketing or old school PR, the goal of social media is to influence entire groups of people. The goal is not only to target one individual, but also his or her surrounding community. That is one of the reasons that, unlike direct marketing, the overall effectiveness of social media is not as easy to measure and has mixed opinions on value.

Connect with relevant brand influencers

Choose those with expertise, engage them and build a relationship. Talk to people who express a liking towards your business, if they say good things, get them involved.

Connect with negative brand influencers

If someone has a bad experience with your business or shows loss of interest, make certain to keep the dialogue going. Don’t just say, “Thank you.” and part ways, ask more questions and find out why — you may be able to change their mind.

In conclusion

The Brand Influencers are the antithesis of the passive consumer and will quickly translate their beliefs about your company into words and actions – and the effect of their opinions are likely be felt far and wide. Remember that you’ll have to give up control of your message and trust your influencers to tell the brand story through their words.

With instant technology such as social media, you have limited control of consumer conversations about your brand, but if you can focus on effective influencer strategies rather than effective control strategies, you will be infinitely more successful.

For more insights into Brand Influencer strategies, visit our Vancouver Branding Studio ->

 

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