Use audience extension to reach your target audience online

Audience extension advertising campaigns, also known as retargeting, are advertisements that are placed online on sites other than the client’s own.  These ads can be targeting specifically to the client’s target audience and show up on top web sites such as CNN and Auto Trader.

Website browsers such as Google Chrome use cookies to track user data including demographics such as age and location, as well as interests, purchases and more.  When an audience extension campaign is set up, digital marketers can assign certain parameters to the ads, such as show to people in zip codes A, B and C, display to people ages 18-40, etc.

Audience extension campaigns ensure that only people in the client’s target audience are being exposed to their message, which is cost and time efficient. And, because the campaign is charged only when the ad is served, no advertising dollars are wasted on people who would most likely not be interested or being charged regardless of if the ad is actually displayed or not.

And the client picks the budget, so they are guaranteed not to spend more than they want.

Content marketing tips for small businesses

By Jenny Hopkins

jhopkins@journalnet.com

Content Marketing is a way of communicating with your customers and potential customers without selling. Instead of selling your products and services you are providing valuable information and content in order to build brand loyalty and awareness.

It's a tactic that is used by many large brands, including BarkBox.com. BarkBox is a service in which the subscriber receives a box monthly filled with dog toys and treats for his or her canine companion. A percentage of the proceeds are donated to canine rescue groups and animal shelters. BarkBox also produces a newsletter that features news stories about dogs and the animal rescue groups. The newsletter is not selling their product, but provides a service by giving subscribers feel-good stories about something that interests them – canines.

Content marketing also helps your website get picked up by search engines like Google. Search engines use “bots” to “crawl” the web and catalog elements such as keywords in order to create their search rankings. If a website does not get updated the “bots” have no reason to come back to the site and it will drop in the search rankings. Sites that are updated more frequently appear higher in search rankings, so creating fresh content for your site plays a crucial part in getting your site recognized by search engines.

Of course we don't all have time to create a weekly or monthly newsletter, and hiring a content marketer is not in the budget. But there some things you can do right now to create fresh content, some of which you may already have.

1. Shoot a quick video: Content marketing does not have to be text-based. It can be photo and video too. Try taking a quick video that features a new employee or a behind-the-scenes of your business. How-to videos are huge right now, so try creating a quick how-to video that relates to your business or service without directly selling it. You don't have to be a professional videographer to do this, every cell phone has a camera built in nowadays, and there are countless free video editing apps available on Google Play or the App Store. Just remember to not make the video too long, a minute or two is good, any longer than that and your viewers are likely to lose interest.
2. Add some history about your business: You already know how, when and why your business got started, and of course you're proud of it, so why not tell the world! Write a mission statement, a little information about the inspiration behind your business's beginnings, or a time-line of events and milestones.
3. Add photos: Take some quick behind the scenes photos of your staff or a step in the process of creating whatever product or service you offer. Did your business recently have an employee retreat or volunteer in the community? Take some photos to post on your website and social media. Show your human side.
4. Use curated content: Create a round-up of links to articles that relate to your industry. Save your audience time by bringing the best articles and information regarding your service or product to them in one place. If your business is home décor, for example, create a list of articles about the latest home design and Do-It-Yourself trends. Make sure you link back to the original source.
5. Encourage user-generated content: Wouldn't it be great if you could get people to interact with your business or service for free? Well, you can, but only if you ask for it. Try prompting your audience to share a photo of themselves enjoying your product or service or asking them to tweet about how your product or service has benefited them. Don't be vague, pick a specific theme. Going back to the home décor, for example, you could ask people to share a photo of their best fall decorating projects. Use a hashtag that corresponds with the theme to encourage others to participate. You'll get more response with some than others, but don't get discouraged, try different prompts until you find the ones that click. Try offering a prize for participants to increase participation. Pick a random participant to win or offer a discount to all.

Get more marketing tips and find out how ISJ Media can expand your digital reach at www.isjmedia.net

How to use Pokemon Go to attract customers

By now you've heard of Pokémon Go, unless you've been living in a cave or stranded on an island in the south Pacific.  Driving through Pocatello yesterday I saw tweens and teens walking around in groups, eyes glued to their phones (even more so than usual), looking for the cute little animated creatures.

DMR reports that 78% of Pokémon Go users are between the ages of 18-34 and there are 20 million active users daily in the United States alone. This is a huge opportunity for small businesses!

Here's the basics of how Pokémom Go works:
A Pokémon, or pocket monster, is an animated animal-like creature. There are different types and

One of our tech guys getting in on the fun.

some are more rare than others. When a player downloads the app and signs in, the game uses the GPS on his or her phone to create a virtual map of the area.

The goal is to catch as many Pokémon as possible, so players walk around and using the map, find where the Pokemon are hiding. When the player gets in range of the Pokémon the app uses the camera function on the player's phone to put an animated picture of the creature in the scene, so it looks like it is really there.

When the player gets close enough to a Pokémon, they try to catch it by throwing a PokéBall. See that red and white ball in the photo to the right? Players swipe the phone screen to toss the ball and catch the Pokémon. But it is not as easy as it sounds, the Pokémon move! If you miss you have to throw another PokéBall, and you only have so many.

To get more PokéBalls and other fun add-ons, players visit PokéStops, which are marked on the virtual map created on your phone.

Players can visit PokéGyms to battle other players, use incense that attract rare Pokémon and level up as more and more are caught.

What is SEO and how does it apply to my business?

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is making sure your company ‘s website and web presence is optimized for a user’s mobile experience.

With more people than ever using their mobile devices rather than desktop computer for Internet surfing, having a prominent and user-friendly mobile presence is critical.

SEO includes: Making sure your web site looks great on a mobile device. Sure your web site looks great on a desktop computer, but how does it look on your phone or tablet? Try it out.  Is it easy to use? Is it “clunky?” When your customers come to your mobile site are they going to get frustrated and leave for your competitor’s site?

Also, Google’s new algorithm won’t pick up sites that aren’t optimized for mobile on a mobile search. In other words, if a user searches for “pizza delivery” on his or her iPhone, and your pizza business does not have a mobile website they won’t see you.

Also, recent research done by a group of SEO Professionals reports that long form, in depth content is more likely to rank highly in a Google search than short, brief posts. Read more about the study here.