Hard Facts

Have you ever seen an ad on your Facebook and wondered, "why am I seeing this?" Well, Facebook answered this consumer inquiry with the appropriately named 'Why Am I Seeing This Ad' feature, now available on sponsored posts. The one thing they didn't consider-- that you can't just be a little transparent, you have to be entirely translucent! I'm going over what issues this update caused, as well as how Facebook is working to resolve it in today's episode of Hard Facts!

Good marketers need to be on the lookout for new, innovative and lucrative places to put our ad dollars. It's about finding the best ROI, not what everyone else is doing. Amazon is trying to provide more avenues for advertiser to find this success with new metrics and reporting, providing extremely important info such as... -where our ad budgets are being spent -what audiences we're reaching -what ads are working best for us. But as balance requires, the more Amazon begins to cater to advertisers-- the more difficult it will be to rank well organically. That's why I'm covering all the latest Amazon updates, as well as 7 Tips for maintaining high organic results in today's Hard Facts!

We live in a world of instant gratification and the only way to ensure you're providing that to your customers or clients is by being available to them 'round the clock-- but who can do that?! No one, and luckily-- no one has to. Chatbots work as your 24/7 team, fielding questions and inquiries from the people you value most. In this week’s episode of Hard Facts, I’m showing you how they work, who offers the best free trial bots & MORE!

Wondering how to start 2019 out on the best foot possible? Well if you've been avoiding building a video marketing strategy all year, now is the time. Video advertising is slated to continue its growth of 26%, year over year, and if you don't start working this powerhouse medium into your marketing strategy-- your audience is going to outgrow you. I know the new year is right around the corner, but don't stress! I'm breaking down which videos are right for your objectives, as well as things like how to bid and why. Check it all out in today's episode of Hard Facts!

Google is adding some additional skills and tools to Alexa's repertoire that, while appealing to the multi-tasker in all of us, could have negative effects on our email campaigns as marketers. Now with the capacity to read, compose and delete emails, Alexa has power over whose emails get read-- and whose don't. Consider how many graphics-based emails you've sent this year. This is how many emails your audience WOULDN'T have received through Alexa's new audible feature. Without making a few updates to your emails, they will CONTINUE to not get ready, which is wasted budget you can't afford. Watch today's episode of Hard Facts to learn the two tips you ABSOLUTELY NEED to avoid any disruption within your email marketing due to the latest Alexa update. Watch now!

Did you know 88% of all consumers research before they purchase and more importantly— 86% are influenced by the customer reviews they read!? That means nearly ALL of your customers are checking you out online before they buy, and if they read something they don't like... there goes your chance. Managing the reputation of your business online is paramount to ensuring the success of your business as a whole! Yet so few put in the time necessary to monitor what is being said about them online. Lucky for us, there are plenty of great tools available that can help with this process. I've researched them all and found the top 5 tools for online reputation management & I'm sharing them in today's Hard Facts! 1- Reputology: lets you review multiple rooftops under one primary account, so if you've got one more than one store you can keep you monitoring organized! 2 - ReviewTracker: notifies you about reviews you receive across the web, as well as provides segmented reporting so you can get the most out of your dat

Stop sprinting to create content to stay relevant-- grow your business with WEBINARS, the content that keeps on giving! Webinars allow you to share your knowledge with your audience again and again. There are many software out there that allow you to upload your recorded webinars as if they're live, and a few will even continue to syndicate it for you! In this week's Hard Facts I'm showing you what software to create your webinars, as well as how to ensure you're creating webinar content you audience ACTUALLY WANTS! Watch todays episode now for all the tips & tricks!

The time for modesty has long since passed and it's time to flaunt your expertise. Building a strong PR strategy is paramount to sales in that it introduces you to your audience as an... expert! That's how PR strategies differ from ad strategies; the objective of a PR campaign is to build an organic connection with your audience. How do we start building this connection? Lucky for you, there are 3 extremely simple tools you can utilize in your quest: 1- Establish Your Expertise Find websites that post content relating to your industry and see if they offer interviews or guest posting. You'll get in front of their audiences, as well as have a link to send your current audience of where they can see you published. A great tool for this is HARO, or Help A Reporter Out. Sites like HARO all you to connect with journalists covering topics in your industry. You can segment by general topic and receive leads directly to your inbox. You can find ALL SORTS of opportunites on HARO; from niche podcast to the New York Tim

Earn More Leads With Google My Business & Facebook Offers! Once the holidays are even slightly in our sights, no matter what industry-- all businesses scramble to make offers that'll keep their customers buying until the very last moment of the season! But-- you could be selling more, all year 'round with... Facebook Offers! Facebook Offers allows you to turn an organic post into a sales opportunity, by adding some targeting options as well as a CTA to your post. You can even segment the CTA you choose based on who you're talking to; so you can connect more directly with those seeking you out. You can do something similar with your Google My Business page! Add photos, updates, and offers to your page-- it's like having a free website! When someone searches for your business, they'll see all the information you've shared on your Google My Business page. While you can't segment on Google My Business like you can on Facebook, it still goes a long way in connecting with potential customers. I'll show you exac

While there are many metrics you should keep in mind when evaluating your marketing, the price of your Cost Per Lead can be a good indication of the successfulness of your campaigns. When conversions go up, CPL should go DOWN. In order to increase conversions and decrease your Cost Per Lead, follow these three tips: 1- Identify Your Lead Whether it's an appointment-booked or a call-made, you need to determine what a lead means for your business. I'll share with you what lead types are most important to review by platform. 2- Create With Your Customer in Mind Conversions increase when bounce-rates decrease, so there are things you can do entice your viewer to stay on the page; like if someone clicks your display ad, they should see similar messaging and creative on the landing page they reach. 3- Stop Wasting Your 'Thank You' Page Once you've gotten a visitor to achieve a desired action, don't just say 'thanks' and end the conversation! Give them a reason to stay on your site and drive them further down the fu

You may think I've lost it for saying this.... but- STOP CHASING LEADS! Chasing leads is a waste of time & ad dollars, but there are opportunites on Facebook you're not using that can increase sales while decreasing the time you spend chasing! #1- Lead Ads While many say that lead ads still require major follow up, there are some procedural changes you can make when creating your lead ads that optimize your ad. Consider the way you're wording your question-- it needs to engage your audience while also achieving your end goal of learning something specific about a given customer. Ask tactful questions that help qualify your leads-- so you can spend less time vetting the leads you've chased down. #2- Messenger Ads This ad type is a great way to achieve a 1-on-1 conversation with your audience, and so few advertisers are utilizing it. The easiest way to utilize this ad type is by employing a messenger bot to handle following up on customer conversations-- but nothing beats the human touch. If you have someon

If you’ve ever stayed with a company for more than a few years, you know that sometimes after working hard and rising your way up— it’s common to reach a point where it feels you’ve gone as high as you can go. Creating opportunities for growth from within your organization can be difficult, but it’s absolutely necessary when we’re trying to grow as PROFESSIONALS! If the company you work for isn’t pushing you forward, there are ways you can make that happen on your own. You don’t need to stay trapped under the glass ceiling! In this week’s Hard Facts, I’m going to share with you my tips on creating growth opportunities within the organization you work in— as well as what to avoid when trying to climb that professional ladder.

While criticism is often hard to hear, when it comes to our businesses or our work-- customer feedback is equivalent to GOLD! Hearing out your clients or customers offers a critical perspective of what it is you do. This is near impossible to gather internally, as we're often too close to our products or services to be able to see the ways in which they might need tweaking. However, soliciting feedback can sometimes prove difficult and can even have adverse effects on the way a given consumer views you-- when done haphazardly! In this week's Hard Facts, I'm going to be sharing with you all the ways in which you can solicit customer feed back in a constructive and appropriate way that leaves your customers feeling like they're going to get a return on their investment of their feedback. Some of these tactics include: 1- Hosting a survey Surveys can help you and your business gather quantitative feedback from those you are already doing business with. You want to be specific with the questions with you ask in t

Did you know Instagram is one of the best platforms to use when trying to get your brand discovered? 60% of users say they use Instagram when looking for new products or services! That means Instagram is often where your audience sees you... FOR THE FIRST TIME! Which means it's imperative you're utilizing all that Insta has to offer to reach as many potential customers as possible. Features such as... - Hashtags - Geotargeting - Stories - & more! make you EVEN MORE discoverable on the platform-- when used correctly! So in today's Hard Facts, I'm showing you exactly how to build an audience using Instagram, AND have an organic conversation with that audience. I'm also sharing a few of my personal pro-tips!

When it comes to finding shoppers, Pinterest is the place to be. Promoted Pins and Rich Pins drive exponential traffic in comparison to other social media platforms. Traffic driven from Pinterest earns, on average, $58.95 more than traffic driven from Facebook and Twitter, and this makes sense when we consider the fact that 93% of Pinterest users utilize the platform to plan purchases. Paid advertising on the platform can earn you even more than that $50+ bucks, because 50% of users proceed to purchase after viewing promoted pins. That means in theory, you could start turning half of your impressions into sales! Rich pins are a bit more time consuming but easy on the wallet, so they're great for advertisers on a budget! These featured pins allow you to provide more information with your pin, but just enough to make viewers want to go to your website-- and they can with the simple click of a button. I'm breaking down EXACTLY how to create, utilize and promote Promoted and Rich Pins in today's Hard Facts, as we

This isn’t your Grandfather's workforce anymore.

I’ve got a test for you this Hard Facts Friday- make a search that your business SHOULD rank for and click through the pages of hits until you reach your site.   Were you ranked on the 1st page of Google? If so- you’re an SEO master and I applaud you.

Google My business has just upped their Insights game, and YOU need to be taking advantage of what they’re offering. Within Insights on your Google My Business page, you can now see… 1- What your competitors are doing. 2- What search queries your customers are making to reach YOU. I’m breaking down how you can leverage these details on your Google My Business profile and your marketing as a whole in today’s Hard Facts!

If you're like me, you can spend hours on Pinterest; researching, curating and finding inspiration for nearly anything under the sun. And while it's a platform I put considerable energy into, I found I wasn't getting that much engagement, and traffic was hard to come by.  Then I did some research... Turns out I was skipping 7 KEY HACKS for getting the ULTIMATE SEO VALUE out of each of my pins! Chances are... you are too. But have no fear, Hard Facts Friday is here, and I'm breaking down these 7 hacks for you from start to finish. 

Pinterest is one of the best platforms for business to be one because it's not just another social media site; it's a visual search engine! That means the opportunities for capturing the attention of potential customers is much greater! Continuing with out Pinterest parade, I wanted to focus today's Hard Facts on setting up and optimizing your Pinterest business page. Whether you already have an account or have no idea how to get started, I'll show you how to set up your business page, as well as go over what benefits you get for doing so! We'll also be going over... - how to verify your website with Pinterest - how to organize your content -SEO best practices for Pinners All that and more, so hit play!