Posted by Melissa Thompson

You might think that marketing your gun business online is just like any other digital marketing effort, but the nature of guns makes it a little more challenging for gun operations to make an impact online.

Some of the most popular social media websites have some very specific rules regarding the presentation of firearms, making it a little more difficult for gun sellers to make an impression on certain mediums.

However, there are still plenty of opportunities for you to get your gun business out there on the web. Take a moment to read through a few tips for marketing your gun store online, and start making digital connections today.

Invest in the integration of proper SEO

Marketing your gun store online will take some strategic design. You need to make your pages appealing to Google’s search engine, and SEO will teach you how to tackle that goal.

Search engine optimization will teach you how to create digital marketing content that ranks well in the SERPs (search engine results pages), and ranking well in the SERPs means that your content will be first in line when users search relevant keywords or phrases.

Setup some automated email marketing

Email marketing is one of the most powerful digital marketing tools a gun store owner can utilize to draw in business. Just don’t fall into the snare of sending out a one-size-fits-all newsletter. It’s more effective to personalize your approach to email marketing.

It may seem like a tall order, but there are plenty of software assistants to help your business setup automated and personalized email disbursal. Find an email marketing application that will fit the needs of your business today.

Social media marketing is still possible

Though Facebook has certain roadblocks in place for matters involving firearms, there are still ways your business can utilize the platform for marketing. There is no ban against organic shares or posts. Build your social media profile, and fill it with highly shareable information.

Build quality content through a blog

Content is an important aspect of digital marketing. When you have more quality content, you have more of a chance to catch the attention of passing users.

Build a blog that is well-written, and post entries that teach readers something interesting about your business or the industry in general. Give readers a reason to come back for more.

Aim your digital content towards mobile users

Throughout your entire digital marketing campaign, you need to make mobile optimization a standard. Mobile users are the majority online today, so your content should be created to cater to the versatility of mobile access to the web. Make it easy for mobile users to view and manipulate your pages.

Posted by Melissa Thompson

So you’ve decided that creating a great digital marketing plan is the best idea for your business to reap the benefits of digital transformation. However, turning that plan Into a reality is something of a different matter. Because the fact is, having a plan is great, but implementing it and benchmarking it against other possible routes of promotion and advertising are critical steps to making sure that your company made the appropriate professional and financial decisions.

So consider the steps that might get your digital marketing plan accelerating forward. First, if you aren’t already a specialist in the field, consider hiring a consulting service. You can get a lot of great advice and an incredible return on your investment if you hire the right people. You can also dive into the sales funnel. Research it and understand it so that you know why digital marketing is important in the first place if you’re trying to turn touchpoints into paying customers. And lastly, it’s important that you recognize how businesses are adapting to new supply chain issues. If you can figure out how to apply digital marketing to your recovery plan, then you’ll be one step ahead of the game. 

Hire a Consulting Service

Whenever you’re trying to do something complicated and important, hiring a consulting service is one way to approach your desired goal. For example, you could hire Path Digital Services & Consulting as a direct method for improving your digital marketing plan. A short conversation can save you hundreds of hours of work and thousands of dollars’ worth of expenses. It’s all about finding the right company to point you in the direction that makes the most sense in context. 

Dive Into the Funnel

You probably already recognize the importance of the overall sales funnels for your company. The next thing to do is research further into that idea so that you know where digital marketing fits in. The way that promotions and advertisements work has changed dramatically in recent years, so staying ahead of the curve is specifically important these days. Your digital marketing plan can essentially be the top of the funnel that turns clicks into customers. 

Recognizing How Businesses Are Adapting To New Supply Chain Issues

Right now, the worldwide business landscape is changing. If there was already a digital transformation taking place, now it has been accelerated exponentially upward. If you look at how companies are dealing with the pandemic regarding sales plans, you will see a lot of uncertainty. Don’t let your brand fall into this trap. Move forward into this new normal with techniques that will engage and delight your customers, and you should have no problem fitting into the current climate. 

Posted by Melissa Thompson

If you’re not really up to date on the world of digital marketing, now is as good a time as any to start learning.  Digital marketing is the future of marketing, and your business won’t have much of a chance to survive long-term without the benefits of digital marketing.  

So where do you begin learning what is essentially another language?  Take some time to read through a brief compilation of a few general digital marketing tips for your business, and start planning your next move today.  

Build an excellent business website

Your business website is your first line of connection with the digital population.  The build of your business website will make the difference between relevance and irrelevance online.  

Make sure you truly understand the basic elements of a well-built website, and work regularly to keep your pages up to date.  You can do a lot with a whole website, so make the most of the digital real estate.  

Learn the ins and outs of SEO

Google’s search engine is the directory of the web.  Search engine optimization teaches you how to design content that will rank at the top of the results pages when users search terms that relate to your operation.  

The most important part of identifying your digital content is designing with relevant keywords and phrases in mind.  For instance, this website selling bear-resistant garbage cans of all types uses the words “bear-resistant”, “garbage”, “trash” and “bin” several times on just one page of their site.  

Hop aboard the social media bandwagon

Social media is a heavily populated space online, and your marketing efforts will be well-served by such a large outlet to consumers.  Setup a profile for your business on just a couple of social media platforms, and work to maintain your presence on those sites.  

Your social media presence should always be relevant and fresh with new content.  Offer special deals for loyal followers, and don’t be afraid to run a giveaway on occasion to stir up interest.  

Work to create email connections

Email connections are another great way to stay relevant in the minds of consumers.  You can use your business website, social media presence, blog posts, and other online stations to grant users an opt-in opportunity for your mailing list.  

Your business should also gather email connections from customers, so you have the opportunity to reconnect with individuals later on down the line.  

Build everything to suit mobile users

Mobile access is the first choice of millions of users online.  Designing your digital content to meet the needs of mobile users gives your business the flexibility to appeal to a much wider digital audience.  Place mobile optimization at the top of the list in every digital marketing effort.

Posted by Melissa Thompson

What started as a way for a bunch of university students to communicate quickly grew into a global platform, with the emergence of Facebook, which was followed by the other social media giants like Twitter and Instagram. There are literally billions of people who use social media platforms and many of them order products or services via social media pages, making it a very powerful marketing tool, and one that you simply cannot afford to overlook.

Social Media Marketing

There is a specific sector of digital marketing that is exclusively social media, and the very first thing you should do is create accounts with Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; then with regular posting of quality content in text, image and video formats, you can gradually create a following. This is something you should outsource to a leading digital marketing agency, who can help you to put together a digital marketing plan that incorporates multiple strategies that include social media.

Posting the Right Content

If, for example, you run a busy restaurant, you can post informative blogs on fine dining in Sydney and list important social events, while also asking your customers to give you their menu ideas, which is a really good way to engage your client base. If you run a plumbing business, you can post informative blogs about all aspects of plumbing; how to unblock a drain, reasons for drain blockages etc, along with a list of the services you offer.

Online Videos

You could commission a video production company to create a few ‘how to’ videos to help customers get the most out of your products, or create a short film that introduces your team, which allows the customer to make a personal connection. There are many ways that you can use video on your social media pages, and the emphasis should not be on promoting your products, rather on providing useful information that is industry related.

Calling in a Professional

If you want to get the most out of social media, talk to a leading digital marketing or SEO company, as they have the know-how and the tools to help create a large following that will certainly result in more sales. Twitter, for example, can be used by a consumer to source a product or service and if you have a following on that platform, you are bound to benefit.

Engaging with the Consumer

Social media gives the consumer a voice and successful social media marketing is all about engaging the online user, and if you focus on providing a second-to-none service, social media will spread the word and that will enhance your reputation. You can create polls to find out how your customers feel about your service, inviting them to make some suggestions on how things can be improved and generally try to create dialogue with your clients.

Every single business needs social media and if you do not include this sector in your marketing, you are losing out on a very lucrative marketing avenue.

Posted by Melissa Thompson

Motivation is a term that may not have been used much in the workplace some years ago, but now it’s a huge talking point. More power is shifting to employees and it would be fair to say that the situation is a lot healthier than it ever has been.

For today’s post, we have spoken to multiple business owners and senior management who have tried to raise motivation levels in their organization. We haven’t been able to name names for obvious reasons, but the results are definitely worth a read.

Invest in people, not projects

OK, you probably also need to invest in projects, but the first business owner we turned to said that this was one of the biggest lessons she had ever learned.

To provide some context, she owns a public relations company that has between 25 and 30 staff at any given time. At first, her sole emphasis was about investing in projects, but something was missing. She quickly found out that employees were clockwatching, and had no real investment in projects.

Then, she turned a to a people-centered approach. She insisted that all managers within her team held weekly one-on-one sessions with their direct reports, whilst also making sure that every employee had a personal development plan. It’s resulted in plenty of internal promotions but perhaps surprisingly, her business turnover has grown by 33% since implementing this two years ago.

A smaller example focused on collaboration

Of course, the first example was quite radical. Some companies might be too big, or just don’t have the resources, to invest in each and every person like the above. Sure, it’s something that most would like to do, but in reality it’s difficult.

This is what we found out when we spoke to a small business owner in Manchester, UK. They owned a printing company, with just six employees on their books.

The nature of the business meant that constant employee development was difficult – they weren’t growing fast enough for this.

However, there was nothing stopping them getting more involved. The managing director said to us, “Just making people feel involved in projects has been the best thing for us. Every single person in our team collaborates, and this means that they feel invested. We’ve stuck with the same team for three years since going with this approach, so it seems to be working.”

“I banned meetings”

This was one of the more interesting conversations we had. This time, it was with a mortgage company who had 150 people employed with them, spread over multiple departments.

An employee satisfaction survey revealed that most were sick and tired of meetings. Most found that they just couldn’t get things done – and received the brunt of manager criticism because of this.

As such, the MD made a striking point to ban meetings. Sure, “there might be some extreme exceptions”, but overall meetings were banned. Instead, they were replaced by quick chats over a desk, and this has improved morale of employees significantly.

Goal setting is key

This was one of the least surprising examples for us, with one owner simply telling us that goal setting was key to their success.

This was a company who started out small, but expanded rapidly. It meant that they missed the corporate-appraisal style that a lot of big firms had. In doing this, most of their employees didn’t have goals.

Now, every single recruit is given annual goals. These can be split to be more granular depending on the manager, but the main rule is that these yearly goals have to both be set, and reviewed.

And some just rely on candy…

For this final example, we spoke to a manager of a HR consultancy company in London.

In this case, his advice was simple – he relied on candy. That’s right, there were no expensive tricks here, simply making sure that licorice candy and other favorites are readily available was his top tip.

He went on to say that he had experimented with more advanced methods, such as away days and even beer Friday, but when it came to the crunch most employees just wanted to feel “looked after” day-in-day out. Candy was his best way to do this.