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.

3 Ways That Redirects Are Hurting SEO Efforts

Posted on March 28, 2019 | by Brian J Wallace
Marketing, Search Engine Optimization

Every SEO specialist knows 301 redirects are necessary from time to time. But are they affecting your other search engine optimization efforts?. 301 redirects could be slowing down page load time or possibly sending search engine crawlers on a windy road to nowhere. 301 redirects can be important for certain cases like you renamed a page on your website so you need to redirect all the old links to the new one? Or maybe you put your blog into a subdirectory? While redirects are helpful, all redirects carry a degree of risk for SEO, not just 301 redirects. Any type of 300 redirect even canonical redirects carry a certain amount of risk. At The AD Leaf ®, we are specialists in finding out why your website isn’t ranking as well as it should be which helps your SEO in Melbourne FL. Here are three ways that redirects could be hurting your SEO efforts.

Redirect Chains

A redirect chain is a series of redirects that go from one URL to another, forcing people and search engines to wait until there are no more redirects to step through. It’s also important to acknowledge how this would drastically increase page load time and decrease the quality of your site to search engines. A single redirect already has an impact on your websites load time. Now add to that the fact that some redirects may be going through multiple redirects just to call one URL. It’s common for 301 redirects to stack up over time if your dev team isn’t properly communicating with each other. Maybe you created one to fix a spelling mistake in a URL slug, then your co-worker created one because the changed the slug completely, and then a few months later another one gets added because the blog section was switched to a subdirectory like www.yoursite.com/blog. Wow, that’s 3 redirects which is 2 more than what’s necessary.

Unnecessary Redirects

Websites tend to collect 301 redirects over the years, and no one really thinks too about cleaning them up because “it’s not hurting anything”. Well, that’s where you’re wrong, when your .htaccess file starts to grow because of redirects, your load time suffers significantly. Each time a URL is called by a web browser or search engine crawl bot, every single one of those redirects is checked to see if it matches the requested URL and if it needs to be redirected somewhere else. The absolutely kills your load time and tremendously hurts your SEO rankings.

Redirect Loops

Redirect chains are not to be confused with redirect loops, which is where URL A redirects to URL B then URL B redirects back to URL A. What this does is causes an infinite loop of URLs redirecting to each other continuously until your web browser eventually gives up and errors out. The same thing goes for search engine bots that crawl your website, they will eventually give up and stop crawling your website which decreases your domain authority and severely hurts your SEO rankings.

Redirects can be helpful but can be extremely dangerous when it comes all that hard work you put into your SEO efforts. We specialize in this field and we have the tools and expertise necessary to help drive your business’s success by improving your search engine ranking and correcting all those harmful 301, or even the dreaded 302, redirects. Learn more about what we have to offer your business and contact us to plan out and design a strategy for SEO in Melbourne FL.

Just Having a Website Isn’t Enough Anymore – Web Design in Melbourne FL

Posted on March 21, 2019 | by Brian J Wallace
Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Website Design

As a small business owner, you’re most likely aware at this point that you need a website to succeed and build your business. If you aren’t aware of this, then I have a tip for you. You need a website to succeed in 2019. Every type of business has competition and with the way technology is going, most and more websites are popping up every day which is making it harder for your website to stand out. Consumer behavior adapts to the current technology and that is what’s shaping how we advertise our businesses. A perfect example of this is the Yellow Pages. As more and more households began to use the telephone directory to find local products and services, business owners realized advertising in it was necessary for people to find their business. Advertising in the Yellow Pages was the standard operating procedure for most businesses. It made perfect sense since the majority of households used the directory on a daily basis. Then came the world wide web and a new disruption to the commercial status. As more and more consumers realized they could find what they needed online faster and more effectively than a phone book, behavior shifted away from using the printed directory and now it’s close to impossible to find a copy of The Yellow Book. Not staying updated with the current can ruin a business and the same goes for the functionality and website design.

Small businesses can’t expect that just having a website will give them a competitive edge. Now, small business websites need to accomplish more than just being a placeholder. They need to provide value to customers. If you’re looking to up your website game, here’s 5 things successful small business websites need to do to rise above the competition.

Mobile Responsiveness

Responsive web design has been an essential part of website design for several years. Responsive web design will make your website mobile-friendly by improving how it looks on devices with both large and small screens and will increase the time visitors spend viewing your website. We live in a society where most people have a smartphone in their pocket and because of this, it is important for your website to be easily viewable on their device. Responsive web design stats show that it’s wise to appeal to both desktop and mobile viewers. In fact, the number of mobile viewers now outnumbers desktop. This number will continue to rise as global smartphone accessibility continues to increase.

Regularly Updated Content

One of the biggest game changers in recent years is the increasing importance of quality and relevant website content. Search engines like Google and Bing have become content hungry machines and are looking for long quality content. Fresh and new content will help you show up on the radar of search engines a lot faster than other methods, and keeping a regular blog is one way of increasing your authority in your industry. Increasing your ranking in search engines is extremely important because that helps people find your website before your competitor.

High-Quality Images

Useful, high-quality images will attract more visitors to your site by increasing your site’s SEO value and decreasing your website’s bounce rate. But did you know that your site’s increased user engagement can also result in longer visit times for users, allowing you more time to sell your product through both the content and the images? To better help improve lead conversion, you’ll want users to hang out on your website as long as possible. Your images help to tell the story of your business and explain the services your business offers by providing easy to understand information that pleasant to look at.

Social Media Integration

Small businesses can gain a lot and really improve their web presence by integrating with social media. Not only do social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram serve as general hangouts, they also provide your business with opportunities to spread its message and connect with your targeted audience. Now when most people think about social media integration they think about share buttons on blog posts. That is an important part but it doesn’t just have to be blog posts that can get shared. Other options are integrating your social media feed to your home page, adding those share buttons to other pages like your services or products, and adding follow and like buttons to the footer of your website. Ultimately, social media integration in website design is about getting customers involved in your content.

Eye-Catching Design

Choosing the appropriate color combinations and layout for your website are the most important aspects when it comes to your website. Choosing the correct colors and layout has the ability to generate a positive impact on potential customers and as a result, make the visitor stay longer. Like we discussed before, getting your website visitors to stay longer increases your chances of converting visitors into customers. Creating a website visually appealing is one of the most important things for your website because if your website is ugly or uses conflicting colors, it will deter visitors and potentially send those potential leads to your competitor.

Now that you know why just having a website isn’t enough for your business, let the AD Leaf Marketing Firm help your company get on track by redesigning your website! We will collaborate with you to cultivate your unique brand, improve your internet presence, exposure, and client base. For more information about the benefits of website design in Melbourne FL and anywhere else, contact us today at info@theadleaf.com or give us a call at 321-255-0900.

Using Google Ads PPC Campaigns For Businesses

Posted on March 20, 2019 | by Brian J Wallace
Marketing, Pay Per Click

Google Ads Management Melbourne FL

Although there are many businesses launching their websites online on a daily basis, digital advertising has certainly become more competitive. However, through the use of Google Ads, it is much easier to market your products and services to a vast amount of people. Everyone, including the baby boomers, uses Google to search for information, products, and services online and you want to be the business that comes up first in the search results to market to them. What better way to reach your targeted audience fast by using Google Ads platform. If you, as a business, are not using Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns to market your products and services, we believe you are doing yourself a disservice. In this post, we would like to show why you should use Google ads for your business.

Google Ads Helps To Increase Leads and Customers.

If you set up your PPC campaigns correctly and visualize what keywords your potential customers are searching for, there’s a great chance they will see your ad on the first page of Google and inquire about your products and services. For example, if you’re a plumbing business, you can set up your campaign for customers who are looking for emergency plumbing repair. By adding buyer keywords into your campaign, this can help to increase your leads from customers looking for that particular service.

Google Ads Is A Flexible Platform

With Google Ads, you can set up your daily budget and bids to whatever your heart desires. Also, if you know who’s your buyer persona for your products and services, you can set up your campaigns in a manner that specifically targets them. For example, let’s say again you’re a plumbing service company in Chicago, Illinois and you’re looking to target people who live in certain zip codes the local area. You can add the zip codes of your choosing into Google Ads which can help you to better target them while simultaneously using your daily budget and bids wisely.

You Can See Fast Results With Google Ads

Even though we believe all businesses should use SEO for their websites, it is, however, a long-term strategy. With Google Ads, you can see immediate results once you’ve optimized your campaigns with the correct ads and buyer keywords and it goes live. Once you let your campaigns run for a week, you can see the data that the platform gives you and you make adjustments along the way.

You Can Find Out More About Your Market

Gone are the days where you had to use traditional methods like sending out flyers and postcards to find potential customers. With the internet in full force, using those methods are very costly because everyone is essentially online using their smartphones to find information, products, services, and solutions to their problems. With an optimized Google Ads campaign, you can be right in front of your market and the good news is you only pay when someone clicks on your ad and not because it’s being shown during the day and night.

Now that you know why a Google Ads campaign is right for your business, let the AD Leaf Marketing Firm help your company get on track by setting up successful PPC campaigns in Melbourne FL! We will collaborate with you to cultivate your unique brand, improve your internet presence, exposure, and client base. For more information about the benefits of Google Ads, Bing Ads, and other advertising platforms in Melbourne FL, contact us today at info@theadleaf.com or give us a call at 321-255-0900.

Graphic Design: Hand lettering

Posted on March 16, 2019 | by Brian J Wallace
Graphic Design, Marketing

Graphic Design in Melbourne FL

When most people think of graphic design in Melbourne FL, they think about keeping up on current trends, thousands of dollars in high-end graphics cards for super monster computers, not to mention the years and years of schooling it normally takes just to learn to be proficient in the graphic programs to hopefully, possibly, one day make a decent living doing what they love.

Just like with almost anything in Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, if it seems too complicated, there just might be a better way… Well, there is.

Remember when we were little kids, we would spend aimlessly for hours with construction paper and big fat markers just making random circles, shapes, and maybe even signing your name repeatedly because you have no idea, you might be a famous artist one day and you will have to sign a lot of autographs.

Well, that child sitting on their bed with those dollar store markers and construction paper at this stage is closer to a lucrative career as a graphic designer than the few who believe that just by having the new Wacom – Cintiq Pro 24 Creative Pen and Touch Display, for the low price of 2850.00 will get their graphics game to the next level. It’s the artist not the paintbrush, or in this case the marker. So we are going to dive a little bit onto hand lettering and other lower-tech disciplines.

Calligraphy, hand lettering, and typography are the terms designers use to differentiate styles of the same thing, attractive lettering.

Calligraphy is a discipline like none other, hours and hours of writing letters in a specific way that demands close and unbroken attention to eventually build up a muscle memory that will allow you to convey themes and emotions through the simply the alphabet. This skill is rare and therefore always in very high demand.

Hand lettering, as with all art requires discipline, however, it’s an adjacent kind of discipline to calligraphy. Calligraphy demands strict light upstrokes and dramatic thick down strokes were in hand lettering it is more like whimsically drawing the letters as opposed to formally writing them. In the last two to three years hand lettering has virtually exploded on the scene from quotes, t-shirts, coffee mugs, and just anything else you can simply write and want to convey a sense of fun and whimsy while still being legible and aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Most companies that have hired hand lettering artists pay very well for the skill that the artist has spent years cultivating.

Typography is an art solely on how you spread, change, resize, adjust the spaces between the letters, or the weight of the letters in a fun, dynamic, and interesting way to have the meaning of the words to come across with simply a typeface or font. This skill is critical for logos, once the logo is established, then the trademark can be created and you are then well on your way to a full brand. This is used heavily in advertising when attempting to convey a meaning. You will see this used well with motivational quotes on social media pages such as Pinterest or Instagram.

Type designers create the fonts in a way that when used together, in most cases, are seamlessly legible or bold. The best example of this is every word currently on your screen at this very moment. Every letter on this screen was meticulously constructed for the use of reading large amounts of these letters in a page and not be distracting or hard to read. It is not uncommon for the wrong font to be used on a paper and that paper can give the reader a headache or even feel ill. On a similar note, when using a bold font that is distractingly ornate people lose interest in the paper simply because the psychology of the font clashed with their interest of the subject matter.

No matter what font you read through, it was designed painfully and thoughtfully by a type designer to convey an emotion or to not distract from the meaning of the words used. The best type designers can help convey meaning with the look and style. Type designers make the fonts, graphic designers utilize topography and know how to use the font.

If you go this route as a designer and learn the programs needed to create the fonts the fonts can be placed on anyone, or all of the thousands of sites that sell fonts and this asset it only for the right to use it, you can sell the same font over and over again creating an amazingly fun passive income to fuel your future endeavors. Now that is fantastic for that kid sitting on their bed with some big markers and big dreams.

With Graphic Design in Melbourne FL and by following this information, you can also be on the right track to attracting your customers and becoming memorable. At The AD Leaf ®, we can create any design that any company would be proud of. For more information about our graphic design in Melbourne FL solutions, contact us today at info@theadleaf.com or give us a call at 321-255-0900.

Social Media Marketing Spotlight: Facebook

Posted on February 22, 2019 | by Brian J Wallace
Marketing, Social Media

Facebook In a Flash:

2.32 billion active users per month
5+ billion messages are posted on Facebook Pages per month
Facebook has been translated into 100+ languages

Have you seen “The Social Network”? It shares the story of a Harvard student who endures a hard breakup and creates a website where you can compare pictures of your classmates to farm animals. He created this site by hacking into Harvard’s student database, and with a few tweaks decides to utilize this software to compare pictures of students against each other instead of farm animals, which is meant to be less demeaning somehow. We go on to learn that this student, Mark Zuckerburg, and the website, which was dubbed “Facemash” evolves to become the social networking site we know and love, Facebook. While the scenario of a scorned boyfriend creating this website as payback for his girlfriend dumping him isn’t entirely true, it is true that Mark Zuckerburg created “Facemash” long before Facebook was even a twinkle in his eye.

“Facemash” was launched by Mark Zuckerburg is July 2003, but was later changed to “TheFacebook” on February 4th, 2004. At the time, membership was available to Harvard students exclusively but was eventually expanded to other colleges by September 2006. The name was derived from a student directory featuring photos and basic information of students attending Harvard at that time. The school distributed paper sheets called “face books” to students to help them get oriented with their peers on campus.

On October 1, 2005, Facebook expanded to twenty-one universities around the world. After allowing access to these universities, they began allowing access to high school students and later, large companies such as Apple Inc. and Microsoft. By February 2011, Facebook had become the largest online photo hosting site and expanded to 2,000+ colleges and 25,000+ high school throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland. By October 2011, over 350 million users accessed Facebook through their mobile phones, accounting for 33% of all Facebook traffic.

Today, Facebook is the third most-visited website in the world. According to PEW Research Center, 66% of Facebook users access the site on a daily basis. In an average day, an American spends 58 minutes on Facebook. Mobile access has jumped from 33% in 2011 to 88% in 2018. It has grown to become an important discovery platform for the modern consumer, with 78% of American consumers purchasing a retail product they found through Facebook.

Isn’t Facebook only for grandmas who share pictures of their cats and grandchildren?

The short answer is, “no”! Facebook continues to be the top platform for both Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Consumer (B2C) models. According to Hootsuite’s 2018 Global Barometer Report, a whopping 98% of B2C companies use Facebook in addition to 89% of B2B companies. This is significantly higher than the business-oriented platform LinkedIn, where B2C usage averages around 46% and B2B usage averages around 86%.

Can you imagine having access to a platform where your product, service, or business can be presented in front of 1.47 billion people for 58 minutes a day? We’re going to share 5 key things your small business can be doing to utilize Facebook.

Provide Authentic Content

Facebook, as a social networking site, is just that… it’s SOCIAL. Chances are, you yourself have a personal Facebook account and fall into the category of people who access the site on a daily basis. Think about your personal usage of the website. As you scroll through your newsfeed, do you stop and look at the stock photo of a Caucasian model smiling way too big holding a water bottle that’s poorly photoshopped into the photo? No. Does that make you want to buy said water bottle? Definitely no.

The general audience on Facebook is looking for authentic content that they can relate with. Be realistic with the photos you’re sharing of your product or service. Feature your product in the day-to-day life of your consumers. Share a photo of your son playing with your water bottle in the yard. Take a snap of a soccer player using your water bottle on the sideline of her playoff game. Show off your water bottle on the beach with a beautiful sunset in the background. The social world of Facebook thrives on what are called “lifestyle” photos, stylistic photos of life.

Don’t be “Salesy”

Like we mentioned before, think about your personal use of Facebook. Do you stop for the post that says “Buy this great product now or you’re missing out”? Probably not. It’s not attention grabbing nor does it really tell you WHY you’re missing out. Think about why people need your service or product. Are they workout junkies who should have your water bottle because it’s specifically designed to fit in the cup holder on a treadmill? That means you’re selling convenience, the ability to make their day more efficient, and the comfort of knowing they don’t have to feel embarrassed while they awkwardly hold their water bottle while running. Are they a soccer mom on the go? That means you’re selling durability that won’t break when handling 3 kids on the way to school, a money saving solution knowing they won’t have to replace this water bottle in a month, or the hope that they’ll actually go to the gym after they put the kids to bed instead of plopping down on the couch to watch Netflix… again. The age of “call to actions” such as “Call Now!”, “Buy Now!”, and “Click Here!” are gone. Dive into why your product could bring someone comfort, convenience, or peace of mind.

Pay Attention to Your Insights

Did you know your Facebook Business Page can tell you your number of followers, where they’re located, and how old they are? If not, you’re missing out on a crucial tool that will help you build your customer base. Take a look at the “Insights” tab at the top of your Facebook Business Page and learn about your performance. This will help you fine tune the content you’re sharing and help you learn about who your product is really appealing to. You might think your water bottle is designed for the middle aged blue-collar man who is working out on his way home from work, but after looking at your insights you might be surprised to learn that your biggest demographic is college-aged females who are trying to create a new routine in a new phase of their lives. This might lead to you design a separate product line geared towards your new found audience! Measure your performance and pay attention to what’s working. It will lead to higher sales in the long run.

Take Advantage of Facebook Ads

Now that you’ve identified an audience, you’ll be elated to learn that Facebook Ads allows you to hyper-target who your content is shown to. Do you want to show an ad of a young female using your water bottle on a treadmill to women ages 18-25 in New York City who have an interest in running? With Facebook Ads, you can do that. Do you want to encourage men between the ages of 45-55 who own their own business to visit your website? With Facebook Ads, you can do that. There is a Facebook Ad campaign for just about every goal you could possibly think of. Since it’s start launch in November 2007, Facebook Ads has expanded immensely. It’s can be a daunting task to tackle Facebook Ads and ensure your money is being spent wisely but don’t worry, that’s what we’re here for. We have watched the growth and development of Facebook Ads throughout the years and take pride in being Facebook Ads Certified. We’ll work with you to identify an audience, develop an ad campaign, monitor and provide statistical updates, and maximize the use of your dollar.

ENGAGE

Captain Picard from Star Trek was spot on when he said “ENGAGE”! Social platforms always have been and always will be centered around being social. If your audience is taking the time to message you, comment on photos, or share your content on their personal page, the least you can do is respond to that. This might seem like a no-brainer, but it’s difficult to get wrapped up in creating and producing content. Facebook will ultimately give preference to those who are most active on it’s platform. Your Facebook message response time, responsiveness to comments, and frequency of posting are all factors that Facebook takes into consideration when decided how many people to show your Facebook page to.

There are your five way to grow your small business via Facebook. Sounds easy, right? It’s okay to say, “No way! Who’s got time for that?”. Chances are you’re busy running your business, manufacturing a product, building a network, or managing your employees. That’s where we come in. We want to help you grow your business and it just so happens that we also love Facebook.

Whether you need help setting up a Facebook Business Page, can’t figure out how to decipher your insights, or want to run a full-blown Facebook Ads campaign, we would love to help! We enjoy collaborating with our clients to build a campaign unique to you, positioning your business for success. Call us today to talk with your very own Facebook expert, 321-255-0900.

5 Key Benefits of Managed IT Services

Posted on February 22, 2019 | by Brian J Wallace
IT Services

Does your business have an IT Department that is running thin? Your employees are busy, which is great because that means that business is booming, but do they have too much to do? Are they having to work overtime to get what needs to get done completed on a daily basis? When you have a booming business, IT Staff plays a very key role in keeping things running smoothly everyday. Think of how much smoother your business would or could run on a daily basis if you outsource your IT Management and could use your in-house IT staff for more tasks on a daily basis. Having an outsourced Managed IT service would clear up some of your current staff’s time to do other tasks.

Here are 5 Benefits from using Managed IT Services:

IT employees are a valuable asset in your company no matter what the size. Being connected to the Internet, connected to other employees or staff members via email or even calling another employee on the phone can be easily taken for granted until all of a sudden, these things are no longer working. When your business only has one IT person on staff this can hinder a business significantly when something needs to be fixed. Having Managed IT Services can help you with these problems when they do arise. The in-house staff would be able to help you get this situation handled because your Management IT Staff would be handling the “bigger” things off site for you on a daily basis.

Computers and Cloud Servers can be a great asset to your business. They keep you connected to the internet and store needed files for you and your employees. Unfortunately, these assets can be very unpredictable. Servers can go down, get hacked and computers can have trouble connected to Wi-Fi. These can be things that could be very costly to your business. This is going to cost your business extra money because your IT Staff is now working on getting these issues fixed for you, taking up time in their day. When you are running a business, you have to think about your budget, whether it be the monthly budget or the quarterly budget. Keeping this budget as steady or consistent as possible is always the key goal. When you are fully aware of what your monthly expenses are going to be, you can be more at ease while running your business. Managed IT Services Melbourne FL will come with a monthly price, but this price will be consistent based on the services that you choose. Having this consistency can not only give you piece of mind about the technology that you have in your office, but piece of mind when it comes to you company’s financials.

In 2019, being someone that recycles and takes care of the environment can be looked at as a good thing to be doing. Society might see you as someone that cares about the environment and that you are doing things to create a better environment for your town or city. When you hire remote or non-onsite employees you can also be seen as decreasing your business’s carbon footprint. Having a Managed IT department would mean that you would only have a select few or even just one employee that would have to travel to work every day. Being a business that cares and makes a clear effort to care about the environment will always arise good within the community that you do business in.

When problems arise with the technology that you are currently using in your everyday business, they tend to arise at the most inconvenient times. You are about to walk into a new client meeting, about to have a conference call with a new business partner or even small issues that happen to occur at exactly 8:00 A.M. on a Monday morning. When these problems arise, you have no choice but to reschedule or stop what you are currently doing and “fix” these problems, so you are able to move forward with your day. With having Managed IT Services, your services and managed IT staff could have predicted or even foreseen the problem arising and be able to fix the issue or concern before it became a major issue. Managed IT services would be monitoring your entire network 24/7. They are looking for the patterns of the good and the bad. If they foresee a pattern that might end up as an issue, they can address this concern before you even notice a hiccup in your business. Sometimes your Managed IT service is going to take care of an issue and you will never actually hear about it. Having staff that is monitoring your technology for issues 24/7 can be a major business benefit.

When you bring together people from all walks of life you automatically bring together different personalities to the table, but you also bring together people from different education backgrounds. The same can be said when you have Managed IT services. When your in-house IT staff already has a collective wealth of knowledge you have a great advantage. With this, having an outside Managed IT service can double or even triple this wealth of knowledge for your business. You now not only have the minds of a few staff members but of many staff members. When problems do arise, you will not only be able to utilize your in house staff but utilize the minds of your Managed IT staff to come together and fix the concern or problem.

These are just a few key benefits of having a Managed IT Services Melbourne FL for your business. The list can be endless when it comes to the different services that can be provided. When you find yourself thinking about hiring another IT staff member, certainly consider what Managed IT services might be able to do for the expansion of your business.

If you would like to hear more about what Managed IT Services Melbourne FL that The AD Leaf ® provides, please call us directly at 321-259-0900. We look forward to hearing from you and what we can do for your business.

Social Media Marketing Spotlight: Instagram

Posted on February 15, 2019 | by Brian J Wallace
Marketing, Social Media

Instagram In An Instant

*1 billion+ accounts are active worldwide every month
*500 million+ accounts are active worldwide every day
*80% of those accounts are following a business

If these staggering facts don’t raise an eyebrow and have yourself asking ‘what does this have to do with me as a business owner?’ then you may just want to close up shop right now. In all seriousness though, with a social media platform that boasts a colorful Polaroid-esque icon, you must know that you’re getting ready to dive into a wonderful world of visual immersion!

Launched in October 2010 for iOS, then later in April 2012 for its Android counterpart, Instagram has millennials arranging the perfect plate of food before taking one bite and snapping selfies from 4 different angles so that they can use that warm-glow filter that makes their skin look flawless. Users can create their own view of reality and only share what they feel is most worthy to their world of followers.

It’s even turned into a game for those in the ever-changing pop culture world. @World_Famous_Egg created an Instagram account for the sole purpose of getting users to like a photo of a plain brown egg to surpass the likes on a baby photo posted by popular gal pal Kylie Jenner. When the egg prevailed with more than 50 million likes in January 2019 over her 15 million likes, her response was cracking an egg on the sidewalk. That still got nowhere near as many likes.

Where Pop Culture Meets Business

The whole egg fiasco is only one example of the influence that a dedicated Instagram account can have. Obviously, this is about as ridiculous as you can get, but the point is that it worked in a big way! If users are going gaga over that photo of your dog napping or the mini video of the guy next door mowing his lawn in his underwear, why can’t a business visually brag on their goods and services to bring in new, soon to be faithful customers?
Forbes has said that “Social media has created this intense desire and opportunity to share what we learn. Most of us enjoy sharing ideas, especially when there’s a video or a photograph or drawing.” These are the posts that go viral, not wordy posts or status updates. The best part about Instagram for small businesses is that it does not discriminate against the type of business you are either– be it a mom and pop shop or a big e-commerce brand. As long as you are consistently enticing potential clientele with the visual wonders of your goods and services, there is no doubt they will be falling in line to purchase time and again.

A Few Helpful Hints

One more fun fact for the doubters: 25 million businesses are reaching customers on Instagram! Type in the name of the closest competitor in your industry. Chances are they have a flourishing profile with eye-catching imagery, helpful information for consumers, and a following that is already purchasing. Good news is you are not too late in the “game” as Instagram and other social media platforms are constantly evolving and finding new ways to help businesses succeed. Follow a few simple steps to get started:

The Perfect Profile

One thing remains constant across most popular social media sources and that is a company needs to start with an uncomplicated, straightforward profile page with easy access to contact information and a clear idea of what type of business they are. Make sure your branding is consistent across the board with an Instagram for small business handle that matches your business name, a logo or other image that best represents the company, and a mini bio that lets the users know what you are about.

Talented Targeting

Think about your typical consumer. Are you a chic boutique looking for young hipsters to buy your one of a kind creations? Or are you a local bar with craft beers on tap and giant TVs on the wall coaxing hard-working blue-collar men in for a round after a hard day’s work? Before posting anything on your Instagram for small businesses, make sure the visuals and the captions are custom crafted to spark an interest in your target audience. Keep it simple and use niche hashtags that you know will be searched for. #rockclimbing brings up more than 3 million images of world travelers with daring mountain top views. #coloredhair offers over 1 million photos of amazingly colored and inspirational hairstyles. Find some perfect tags that fit your business model and those eager searchers who are looking for your type of company will find you!

Visual Awareness

With the emergence of free and easy to use photo and video editing tools, you have full creative license when it comes to what you post. Establish the look for your page by staying consistent with colors, filters, and the physical content you post. This does not mean that a chic boutique should only be posting the same boring photos of clothing laying on a table. Those are great for a hard sell, but it’s perfectly OK to spice things up with images of your customers strolling downtown in your signature collection or shots of the staff in the store enjoying their jobs. No matter what you post, make sure it is visually appealing!

Collaboration & Calls-To-Action

Remember not to talk AT your potential clientele. Talk WITH them. Engage them in conversations about your goods and services, ask questions and bring up topics that will get people interacting with your content, and even offer contests that encourage users to like, comment, and share posts. Don’t be afraid to throw in some easy instructions to get them closer to that final sell. “Visit our website and sign up for our newsletter to get 15% off your first order!” “Tell us who your favorite television star is for a chance to win a $10 gift card towards your next car service!” There are many options to get your followers converting to customers without saying “BUY BUY BUY!”

Marketing Magic

This is the part where you do your thing and we do ours! A business owner has much to do when it comes to keeping the shop going, the workers happy, and the clients wanting more. Not to mention the bookkeeping, the problem solving, and the trailblazing of new and interesting products and ideas! Devote your time to business development while we devote ours to the strategy and implementation of awesome marketing magic!

To get started on an Instagram for Small Business profile, or jump head first into a full-blown social media marketing campaign, call the experts at The AD Leaf ® Marketing Firm at 321-255-0900. We truly enjoy collaborating with our clients and offering our amazingly imaginative social platform expertise in order to position your business for ultimate success.

Why Your Business Needs SEO Melbourne FL Services?

Consumers Are Searching Online

According to this article, over 70% of consumers search online for products and services before they buy.

What does this tell you?

It means that consumers are becoming intelligent because they are better informed all because of the power of the internet.

The business that has the right content and information that solves the consumer’s problems will win their trust as well as their business.

Having well-constructed content and an SEO-optimized website can certainly help increase your business’ traffic and to land new customers.

Having an SEO-Optimized Website Is A Long-Term Asset

Many local businesses tend to focus on PPC (Pay Per Click} campaigns to reach new clients.

Although we agree that launching a PPC campaign is beneficial for your business, it can be expensive if you don’t have a substantial budget.

With SEO, you are building an asset that can last you long-term.

Think of your business like growing a garden.

To have your crops grow, you have to water and nurture it on a consistent basis.

This same concept applies to building your website with SEO.

By writing awesome content and optimizing your website with effective SEO techniques, you’ll build up your website so it drives more and more customers to your business.

Your Competitors Are Building Their Website

This is the number one reason why your business needs SEO.

If your competitors in your local area are implementing SEO to their website and you’re not, your business will end up on the losing end.

When it comes to SEO, you want your website to end up on the first page of Google for your relevant keywords and long-tail phrases.

By not using SEO, you will lose potential leads and customers by your competitors who are smart enough to hire professional SEO specialists to assist in increasing their traffic and their income. Don’t let this be you.

Conclusion

Now that you know why your business needs SEO Melbourne FL services, you are wise enough to know that not only having a website will help your customers find you, but it needs to be SEO-optimized if you want to out-market your competition in your local area.

If you, as a business, are in need of SEO Melbourne FL services and you don’t have the time to do this yourself, contact The AD Leaf ® Marketing Firm where our professional SEO specialists will perform effective SEO Melborune FL techniques and strategies to help your business and website get to the first page of the search engines which will lead to new customers and increased revenue.