Brian J Wallace Brian J Wallace

Brian started with The AD Leaf in January 2021. Brian and his team work with businesses and organizations to identify their marketing needs and goals, and consultant them on strategies and tactics to execute and achieve those needs and goals. He received his Advertising and Business degrees from the University of Florida. Brian has spent the last 20+ years in the media and digital marketing field working with local, regional and national clients of all sizes, from restaurants, auto dealerships, home service businesses to jet makers! He is a data-driven and analytical digital marketing enthusiast with a proven track record for developing, executing and optimizing marketing solutions that increase sales and drive market share. He currently sits on two non-profit boards, AAF Space Coast and Trinity Fitness Space Coast. Brian is a native of Long Island NY and has also lived in Southern California and North Virginia. He now enjoys living in sunny, warm Florida with his wife and two daughters.
people connecting

What is Marketing?

Posted on | by Brian J Wallace
Advertising, Marketing

Do you own or run a company? Do some people say you should market your business? But what is Marketing? 

It About Connecting

The definition of marketing is the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising. What marketing is really about is connections. Connecting your brand, product, or service with an audience’s desires, wants, and needs. Marketing solves, provides answers, and can offer a promise. An effective promise will help you attract new customers, paving the way to increased sales, revenue, and profitability. However, be mindful of delivering on those promises. Missing the mark of false claims can quickly sever that connection. 

people connecting

The Gap

What is your business’s current state? How many clients or customers do you have? How widgets do you sell a week/month/quarter? What are your monthly sales? Step one in planning a marketing campaign is understanding your current state.

The next step is identifying what your desired future state is. How many clients or customers do you want or can handle? How many widgets would you like to sell? In 30/60/90/120 days? Desired monthly sales?  

The place between the current state and the future state is the gap. Marketing fills the gap, is the bridge from the current to the future. Marketing is not an expense. It’s an investment in the present and future growth of your business.

Investment and Not an Expense. 

a bridge connects

I often hear from businesses that they don’t “believe” in marketing or advertising. Well, did you know that marketing and advertising are not a religion? No, seriously, they are not 🙂 When you hear this, they really mean that they don’t believe it is an investment but rather an expense. Marketing is an investment. Including digital marketing: Ex. SEO, Google Ads, Social Media.  And what you put in is what you receive. And much like financial investments, it is something you have to let work and grow over time to achieve a meaningful yield. An expense is a line item on your balance sheet. Something you will probably look at with angst and find a way to reduce. An investment is an action and effort to realize gains. One is aligned with anxiety, and the other with hope—an investment in you, your employees, and the future of your business. When you see marketing as a growth vehicle for your business vs. another payment, you will start to see and enjoy results.

 

help to grow

The AD Leaf Can Help!

Contact us today to help develop and implement a successful campaign! Talk to one of our experts here at The AD Leaf! To schedule a free consultation with our team, call us today at 321-255-0900.

Marketing for E-Commerce Businesses in

Abandoned Shopping Carts: Tips to Increase Conversions

Posted on | by Brian J Wallace
Advertising, Ecommerce

Have you ever done some online shopping, got all the way to checkout, but didn’t click buy?

You’re not alone. In fact, more than 80% of online shoppers are likely to abandon their shopping carts prior to making a purchase.

Now in all fairness to the e-commerce industry, a large portion of cart abandonments are simply a natural consequence of how users browse e-commerce sites – many users will be doing window shopping, price comparison, saving items for later, exploring gift options, etc. These are largely unavoidable cart and checkout abandonment that retailers need to account for.

However, there are a number of things you can do as an online retailer to recover these lost sales and boost your conversion rate. Here are some tips on how to recover abandoned shopping carts:

Use Retargeting Ads

Retargeting lets you stay engaged with potential customers, even after they’ve left. Retargeting or Remarketing is a form of behavioral targeting where users are targeted on websites based on specific actions taken or not taken on the advertiser’s site. Tracking codes are placed on pages of your site to identify users as being interested in specific product services.

Retargeting ads are a great way to increase conversions by reminding customers of what they were interested in and enticing them back to your site with a special offer or discount. Retargeting can be done through several different channels, but the most common is display advertising on sites like Google Display Network or Facebook.

Send Reminder Emails

Email marketing can be a great way to recover abandoned shopping carts and boost sales. By sending reminder emails, you can reach customers who may have forgotten about their items or simply need a little nudge to complete their purchase. There are a few different types of reminder emails you can send:

  • Cart abandonment email: These are sent to customers after they add items to their cart. This type of email can include product recommendations based on the items they viewed on your site.
  • Discount email: Offer a discount for customers who abandoned their cart to incentivize them to come back and complete their purchase.
  • Browse abandonment email: Send an email to customers who have visited your site but didn’t add anything.

Offer Live Chat or Customer Support

Interacting and engaging with visitors to your website while they’re there can make a big difference in whether or not they convert. If you have the ability to offer customer support or live chat on your website, that can be a great way to help increase conversions.

Make sure your website is mobile-friendly

A huge portion of online traffic now comes from mobile devices, so it having a mobile-friendly website is more important than ever. If your website isn’t mobile-friendly, that could be one of the reasons why people are abandoning their shopping carts.

Never give up on your websites visitors.

Having customers get close to the finish line and not completing can be frustrating, but just because a consumer left your website doesn’t mean you lost the sale. By implementing some of these tips, you can start recovering abandoned shopping carts and increase your conversion rate.

Need help recovering abandoned shopping carts and increasing leads for your business?  Contact us today! Talk to one of our experts here at The AD Leaf Marketing Firm LLC.! To schedule a free consultation with our marketing teams, call us today at 321-255-0900.

branding design

Properly Brand Your Business

Posted on | by Brian J Wallace
Marketing, Public Relations

Branding your business successfully is to perpetual be in the process of identifying, creating, and managing the cumulative assets and actions that shape the perception of your brand in all stakeholders’ minds. Branding is a perpetual process because it never stops. People, markets, and businesses are constantly changing and your brand must evolve in order to keep pace. There is a structured process to branding, one where you must first identify who and what you want to be to your stakeholders (internal and external customers), create your brand strategy to position yourself accordingly, and then constantly manage everything that influences your positioning.

Your positioning must be translated into assets (e.g., visual identity, content, products, ads) and actions (e.g., services, customer support, human relations, experiences) that project it into your stakeholders’ minds, slowly building up that perception.

“Brands are essentially patterns of familiarity, meaning, fondness, and reassurance that exists in the minds of people.” – Tom Goodwin.

When it comes to branding your business, there are a few key things you need to keep in mind if you want to be successful. First and foremost, your brand needs to be unique. It should stand out from the competition and be immediately recognizable. Secondly, your brand needs to be consistent. You need to use the same colors, fonts, and logos across all of your marketing materials. And lastly, your brand needs to be relevant. It should appeal to your target audience and reflect the values of your company.

Perception of a Brand

Also known as reputation. This is the association that an individual (customer or not) has in their mind regarding your brand. This perception is the result of the branding process or lack thereof. Branding is absolutely critical to a business because of the overall impact it makes on your company. Branding can change how people perceive your brand, it can drive new business, and increase brand value – but it can also do the opposite if done wrongly or not at all.

Creating a Brand

The first step is to create a brand strategy. This will be your foundation and will guide all of your branding decisions moving forward. Once you have your strategy in place, you can begin to create your visual identity. This includes things like your logo, color palette, and typography.

Your visual identity should be unique and reflect your brand’s personality. It should be consistent across all of your channels, from your website to your social media accounts.

Building Brand Awareness

Now that you have a strong foundation and visual identity, it’s time to start building brand awareness. There are a number of factors to keep in mind.

First and foremost, your content must be high-quality and informative. It should be shareable and relevant to your target audience. You also need to make sure you’re using the right keywords so that people can actually find your content.

Another important factor is SEO. This stands for “search engine optimization” and heavily influences how your business is found and displayed on Search Engines. Make sure to do your research and utilize relevant keywords in your titles and descriptions.

Once you have all of that taken care of, you can start promoting your content across different channels. This could include social media, email marketing, or even paid advertising. The important thing is to be consistent with your branding across all channels.

Tips and Tricks

Email

  • Create your signature.
  • Find your font.
  • Find your color.
  • Add your social branding/handles.
  • Spelling, always double-check your words. Add a quote that helps people remember you.
  • DO NOT leave “sent from my iPhone” !
  • Or “excuse errors”. Don’t make them.

Phone & Voice Settings

  • Setup your voicemail.
  • Keep your voice mail concise and consistent across your organization.
  • Don’t have a full mailbox.

Social Media

  • Create a social media policy.
  • Make sure everyone in your company is on the same page when it comes to social media.
  • Be consistent with your branding across all platforms.
  • Use hashtags, but don’t overdo it.
  • Engage with your audience.

Final Thoughts

To successfully brand your business you need to keep consistency as the foundation. You also should have a strategic communication standard, with all internal stakeholders (including employees) understanding and projecting your message to all who interact with your business, ultimately managing your company’s customer-facing communication. And wherever you choose to market or be visible, be sure that customers and potential customers know it’s YOU, whatever the format, platform, or medium.

Now that you’ve learned a little about how to brand your business, put these tips into action and see the success for yourself! With a little effort, you can create a strong and recognizable brand that will help your business grow.

The AD Leaf Marketing Firm Can Help!

Need some help to help develop and implement a successful branding effort, contact us today! Talk to one of our experts here at The AD Leaf Marketing Firm LLC.! To schedule a free consultation with our marketing teams, call us today at 321-255-0900.

How do you determine the right budget for marketing?

Posted on | by Brian J Wallace
Advertising, Marketing

Determining the right budget for marketing your business all starts with a fundamental question. Do you view marketing as an expense or an investment? An expense is a line item on your balance sheet. Something you will probably look at with angst, and look for a way to reduce. An investment is an action and effort to realize gains. One is aligned with anxiety and the other with hope. I hope, (see what I did there?) you see your marketing budget as an investment. An investment in you, your employees, and the future of your business.

Now that we have the right perspective, let’s get started. When you are thinking about your marketing budget, it is important to keep in mind all of the potential touchpoints a customer has with your brand. These touchpoints could be online or offline and include but are not limited to:

Marketing has become very fragmented, with so many choices for the consumer to engage with. It is important to be where your target market “lives” and to be consistent with your message across all channels.

Now that we have considered some of the potential touchpoints, let’s look at some other key factors.

What are your goals?

Who is your target market?

What is your competition doing?

And, what is unique about your industry, product, or services?

All of these factors play a role in how much you should spend on marketing. As a general rule of thumb, the more established your company is, the lower percentage of revenue you need to spend on marketing (between 5-12%). Startups and early-stage companies should spend a higher percentage of gross revenue on marketing. The same can be said when introducing a new product or service line.

Once you have a good understanding of your goals, target market, and competition, you can start to develop a budget. Begin with estimating the cost of each marketing activity. These costs can include:

– Advertising

– Publicity

– Events

– Collateral (e.g., brochures, website)

A marketing budget should also include an allocation for research, whether it’s customer surveys, focus groups, or market analysis. Other considerations in developing a budget include:

– Sales goals

– Overall company objectives

– Economic conditions

As you can see, there are many factors to consider when developing a marketing budget. The most important thing is to be always ready to evaluate, adjusting for peak seasons, competition, and the appetite of the marketplace.

What are some other factors you take into account when developing a marketing budget? Connect with us and let’s discuss.

Determining the right budget for marketing can seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. There are many factors to consider when allocating funds for marketing, let our professional marketing consultants help you plan and reach those gains.

The AD Leaf Marketing Firm Can Help!

Are you a business owner in Melbourne or anywhere else in the country? Do you want to take your marketing to the next level? Talk to one of our experts here at The AD Leaf Marketing Firm LLC.! To schedule a free consultation with our marketing teams, call us today at 321-255-0900.

Video Production

Digital Video Has Replaced Traditional TV.

Posted on | by Brian J Wallace
Advertising, Marketing

Has digital video replaced traditional television?

Digital video is so prevalent that it’s changing the way viewers consume content. Today’s digital environment is changing the way that consumers watch TV. Nearly half of American households are now subscribing to at least one digital streaming service like Netflix to watch their favorite programming. Since 2013, the number of people leaving cable for good has outnumbered those who are joining.

This transformation in the way that people consume media has significant implications for businesses that want to reach their local audiences through video ads. Digital video trends suggest that digital video is already replacing television when it comes to marketing to today’s consumers.

50% of Americans now get their TV content from online streaming services.

In a recent article from the Harvard Business Review, it is stated that digital video has replaced traditional television. In fact, as of last year, over 50% of Americans now get their TV content from online streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu. This trend is not going to slow down anytime soon either because 85% percent of millennials report they would rather watch videos on YouTube than on regular TV. So how does this affect businesses? Well for starters, you need to be able to create high-quality videos if you want your company’s message to resonate with your target audience.

Digital video has changed the marketing world.

Did you know that more than 1/3 of all online activity is spent watching videos?  Today’s consumer is watching more digital video content than ever before. Just as digital video is changing the way that individuals consume media, it is also changing the way that businesses market to their ideal buyers. Many brands are delivering video ad content to their target audiences through a variety of online channels like YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok, and other social media channels. This offers a powerful platform for reaching new consumers in their target audience.

What’s more, is that many consumers prefer this type of content. An Animoto survey reveals that four times as many consumers would prefer to watch a video about a product rather than read about it. A HubSpot survey also found that 86% of businesses use video as a marketing tool, increasing slightly from 85% in 2020.  As digital video continues to increase in popularity, it will be increasingly important for brands to make sure that they are taking advantage of this opportunity to expand their online reach.

The digital video impact.

The transition away from television and toward digital video is good news for small to medium-size businesses that are trying to reach a more targeted audience. Brands can take advantage by creating unique and relevant video content that is targeted toward their ideal customers. Rather than showing one commercial to everyone like you would with a television spot, digital video allows you to optimize your budget by targeting the specific internet users that are most likely be interested in your product or service.

For instance, let’s say that you are offering a service that is aimed at young professionals in your target area. You can create quality digital ad content with messaging and imagery that appeals to this population. Use the sophisticated targeting abilities offered by different channels and platforms to make sure that your video content is delivered to those who are most likely to use your product and services.

The AD Leaf Marketing Firm Can Help!

Are you a business owner in Melbourne or anywhere else in the country? Do you want to take your marketing to the next level? Talk to one of our experts here at The AD Leaf Marketing Firm LLC.! To schedule a free consultation with our marketing teams, call us today at 321-255-0900.

Are You Marketing to the Right Audience? 

Posted on | by Brian J Wallace
Marketing

Are You Marketing to the Right Audience? 

They say 90% of advertising doesn’t work, and the tricky part is identifying which 10% does. I’m not sure about the 90% number, but I would agree that not all advertising works or is efficient. It often boils down to reaching the right audience(s) and reaching the right audience at the right time. The truth is the consumer has more sources than ever before to think, decide, and purchase. However, there may be only 3-5 marketing channels that are actually moving the needle for your business, reaching the right marketing audiences.

A New Perspective  on Marketing

Most people think of themselves as a one-person focus group. While personal perspective makes for interesting conversation, you should focus on customer insights backed by reliable marketing expertise when it comes to your business. Our agency works with clients across many industries and regions. We use our diverse knowledge to implement effective, customized strategies to fit our client’s needs and budgets. The AD Leaf works hard to not only improve clients’ sales and business figures in Melbourne, FL, and elsewhere, but we strive to build relationships and develop thoughtful strategies to help their companies grow from the roots up.

Take A Fresh Look at Your Audience

Sure, you may know who your top customers are and where they live, but do you know how to apply that information? How to maximize your marketing dollars with that knowledge?  And while you may be able to rattle off your best customers, products, and top zip codes, you may also be missing out on a big opportunity to grow your business by attracting new customers. Purchase intent data alongside demographic and geographic data can reveal new opportunities to grow and diversify your customer base. And your sales.

Even if you’re spot on regarding your target audience, you could be missing key ways to reach them more effectively when they’re most engaged. This is where media insights, psychographic data, and behavioral data come into play.

Maximize Your Marketing Spend

When you understand more about both where you might be missing the mark on the target audience and what your ideal audience is interested in, you can more efficiently target your marketing budget. This can provide you with a more focused marketing strategy with an advertising budget maximized towards the right audience.

The AD Leaf Marketing Firm Can Help!

We understand that findings the right audiences for your marketing aren’t always a simple task. We’re here to help! Are you a business owner in Melbourne or anywhere else in the country? Do you want to take your marketing to the next level? Talk to one of our experts here at The AD Leaf Marketing Firm LLC.! To schedule a free consultation with our marketing teams, call us today at 321-255-0900, or complete our contact form.