 Everybody loves a cautionary tale. This is a brief lesson to illustrate how AdWords Express works and how it can all go wrong.
In an ideal setting, AdWords Express is an excellent tool. As we explained here, Google created it to be an easy way to do PPC with little knowledge of the nuts and bolts of PPC. The trouble is that it relies on Google's ability to determine what your website is actually about, and by so doing, Google creates its own keyword list. The inherent problem with this is that most websites are not ready for this because 1) they're built/coded incorrectly so Google can't actually "read" the content of the site, and/or 2) the content of the site is irrelevant to the actual purpose of the site (yes that happens). A client of ours (for other services, not including PPC at the time), a new car dealer, created an AdWords Express campaign a few months before we met. Just like it's supposed to do, the AdWords Express machine skimmed the client's website and determined which keywords to target and where to serve ads to (geographically). This is where it all went wrong. As is typical, AdWords Express generated a list that had an OK percentage of truly relevant search terms, such as specific car models, etc. However, this list was totally bogged down by completely irrelevant search terms (keep in mind, we're selling NEW cars here) such as "big a** trucks," "RV hauler," "1954 Ford Truck Parts," and "military surplus." To make matters worse, this car dealer, located in northern Utah, was paying to serve these ads to areas completely outside of its market. We're talking to areas bordering Nebraska, Arizona, and Canada. The geography was grossly overextended. AdWords Express was working exactly as designed here, yet there were clear instances of waste. Upon auditing the campaign, we discovered that over 98% of the budget had been COMPLETELY wasted. For a small business, their budget had just bled out about $10,000 in precious marketing dollars. This highlights several important lessons about AdWords in general. First, an intimate understanding of the ins and outs of search engine marketing is critical to success and limited waste. Second, assuming that 15 minutes of work is enough to achieve the success of your business' marketing plan is a huge gamble. And third, there is no substitute for experience. After reporting the results of our audit, we were immediately tasked with fixing the hemmoraging AdWords problem. We instantly turned things around, and the results showed in the results: the client began setting monthly sales records, and the metrics of the PPC were outstanding (500-800% better click-thru-rates over what's average across ALL of Google's PPC ads). The $10,000 lesson was a significant one: sustainable success comes only when you surround yourself with people who are experts at what they do. Special Note: We are always happy to do a free, comprehensive audit of your PPC campaigns. Contact us and we'll dig into the data for you to show you exactly how you're doing. About us: Level 11 Online Marketing is a fast growing digital advertising agency that is becoming known for disrupting the status quo. We specialize in digital advertising, video production, SEO, SEM, advanced analytics, custom web solutions via website design & implementation, social media strategies and conversion optimization. Headquartered in Utah, you will find Level 11 team members in Utah, Washington, California, Idaho, and Colorado. We have the best creative minds in the industry backed up by the most talented software developers and video production teams which leads to powerful, efficient advertising campaigns. If you have questions, comment here or email us at info@level11.io today!  What makes a successful entrepreneur? This list will certainly have a few things that are your strengths already, but maybe there's a few things you need to improve on. Either way, these are 11 traits that are characteristics attributable to the most consistently successful entrepreneurs.
1 - They dream BIG Successful business owners have vision for what they can create. They can visualize not only the end result of their effort, but the steps required to get there. They believe in their abilities and are not afraid to push the limits. 2 - They execute Ideas are a dime a dozen, but actually carrying out one's dream takes guts and skill. Creating something and having demand for it isn't an automatic endeavor. One must know how to create not only a product, but a market for the product. The HOW (how will our new product succeed and become a sought-after product) in value creation is just as important as the WHAT (what our new product is... you think it's the best thing since sliced bread, but is it?). 3 - They take baby steps Bootstrapping is critical, but it doesn't just deal with money. Yes, your money is limited, but so is your time, your people, and even your energy. Creating and following a plan will make life much easier. Incremental progress is far more sustainable in the long run than a sprint. 4 - They ask for help Find a mentor. Even the great business leaders of today nearly always have a mentor to which they can confide. Ask people who have achieved what you want to achieve how they did it. Perhaps even people in your same line of business will be willing to help you. Either way, successful people naturally want to help other people who strive for exellence, so there's definitely someone out there who would want to help you. 5 - They spot opportunities Think outside the box. Some of the most successful ideas were almost laughable when first introduced, but the successful entrepreneurs behind the ideas knew their value and didn't let small minds stop them from achieving big dreams. 6 - They're confident Fear and doubt are the greatest stumbling blocks to success. Entrepreneurs will find most success when they believe in what they're doing and use their passion to fuel their innovation. 7 - They're nimble Mistakes are inevitable. The difference between winning and losing in business, is while losers simply fail, winners fail and LEARN. Learning from failure will allow the successful entrepreneur to make necessary changes and get on the right path. Nobody cares about the failures when the end result is a successful venture. 8 - They're not afraid Risk is inherent in new venture creation. Fear of failure stops many people from even starting a new venture or trying new things. Successful entrepreneurs understand risk, yet they mitigate that risk the best they can while carefully navigating every step in their new venture creation in order to ensure the best possible outcome. 9 - They build strong teams Surrounding yourself with the very best people is the best way to ensure your success. The successful entrepreneur knows that quality people are crucial to prolonged success. Find people who are even better than you at certain things, and you'll get a lot farther with your new business than you otherwise could have. 10 - They let go Learn from failure, and let it go. Recognize when you have too much to do, and let go of some responsibilities (delegate!). Successful entrepreneurs know when letting go is the right thing to do. 11 - They learn and do it all again Successful entrepreneurs are constantly trying to learn more and master their craft. While constantly striving to create successful ventures, the successful entrepreneur will keep getting better and better while recognizing more opportunities for new venture creation. The never ending cycle is where we get the term "serial entrepreneur," which is a person who has refined their ability to create value, and does so over and over again. About us: Level 11 Online Marketing is a fast growing digital advertising agency that is becoming known for disrupting the status quo. We specialize in digital advertising, video production, SEO, SEM, advanced analytics, custom web solutions via website design & implementation, social media strategies and conversion optimization. Headquartered in Utah, you will find Level 11 team members in Utah, Washington, California, Idaho, and Colorado. We have the best creative minds in the industry backed up by the most talented software developers and video production teams which leads to powerful, efficient advertising campaigns. If you have questions, comment here or email us at info@level11.io today!  It seems like everybody everywhere is always on their phone. People comsume media very differently today than they did even a few years ago, and as a business, it's critical that you are taking advantage of mobile advertising. Social media platforms such as Facebook have an insanely captive audience, and we have troves of data about this audience that allows us to very efficiently and aggressively target your ideal audience. Facebook is a very valuable tool that many of our clients use, and here's some amazing facts about it!
1 - Facebook’s ‘Like’ button used to be the ‘Awesome’ button. Facebook engineer Andrew Bosworth said that he and other engineers were enthusiastic about the “Awesome” button, but that the idea was ultimately vetoed by Zuckerberg in 2007. The site eventually settled on the “Like” button, a decision that Bosworth said was met with a decidedly lukewarm reception. (source) 2 - Facebook stores approximately 300 PETABYTES of user data on its servers. There are 1 million gigabytes in a petabyte. The entire written works of humankind, in every known language (including Latin and other historical languages) from the dawn of recorded history, would occupy approximately 50 petabytes. Think about that for a minute. (source) 3 - In 2014, the alleged global economic impact of Facebook was approximately $227 billion. However, this statistic (and the methodology behind it) has been called in question by several leading economists. Whether you buy Facebook’s data or not, there’s no doubt that Facebook has had a serious impact on economies around the world. (source) 4 - Facebook’s user base grows by eight people per second, or 7,246 people every 15 minutes. Some naysayers have foretold of Facebook’s impending demise, but aside from boasting the largest user base of any social network in the world by a gigantic margin, this statistic proves Facebook is still growing. (source) 5 - In 2015, Facebook boasted 22% of WORLDWIDE mobile Internet advertising revenue. That means almost one-quarter of all advertising revenue generated from mobile Internet ads in a single year went to Facebook. (source) 6 - There are now more than 2 million active advertisers on Facebook. The popularity, impact, and cost-effectiveness of Facebook ads has made the site one of the most popular online advertising platforms in the world, and its upward trajectory seems likely to continue. (source) 7 - Facebook ads targeting custom audiences have 14% lower cost-per-click and 64% lower cost-per-conversions than ads utilizing interest- or category-based targeting, on average. In addition, Facebook ads using custom audience targeting had conversion rates 387% higher than ads only using demographic targeting. (source) 8 - Every minute of downtime outage costs Facebook approximately $24,420. The “prolonged” outage that lasted for 19 minutes in August 2014 cost the company almost $427,000 – and you thoughtyou were pissed when Facebook goes down. (source) 9 - Posts published between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. EST receive approximately 88% more interactions on average than posts published at other times of the day. Also, ending posts with a question lifts interactions with those posts by an average of 162%. (source) 10 - In September 2014, Facebook users watched a collective 1 billion videos per day. Today, that figure is more than 4 billion – and 75% of these video views occur on mobile devices. (source) 11 - Videos are the most-shared content type on Facebook. On average, videos receive 89.5 shares per video, significantly higher share counts than photos or text-based posts. (source) BONUS! - Posting just once or twice per day on Facebook yields an average of 40% more engagement than posting three or more times per day. This shows that, despite marketers’ best efforts to beat Facebook’s rapidly declining organic reach, you can’t just use brute force to make yourself heard. (source) Thanks to Wordstream Blog About us: Level 11 Online Marketing is a fast growing digital advertising agency that is becoming known for disrupting the status quo. We specialize in digital advertising, video production, SEO, SEM, advanced analytics, custom web solutions via website design & implementation, social media strategies and conversion optimization. Headquartered in Utah, you will find Level 11 team members in Utah, Washington, California, Idaho, and Colorado. We have the best creative minds in the industry backed up by the most talented software developers and video production teams which leads to powerful, efficient advertising campaigns. If you have questions, comment here or email us at info@level11.io today!  Marketing isn't just billboards and television anymore. The internet has become a part of daily life for people everywhere, and now serves as the primary source for gathering information and looking for products and services. We are here to help you turn the internet into the greatest asset you've ever had for lead generation and business growth. Here's 11 more amazing facts about Google AdWords:
CLICK HERE to learn more about our Search Engine Marketing services. About us: Level 11 Online Marketing is a fast growing digital advertising agency that is becoming known for disrupting the status quo. We specialize in digital advertising, video production, SEO, SEM, advanced analytics, custom web solutions via website design & implementation, social media strategies and conversion optimization. Headquartered in Utah, you will find Level 11 team members in Utah, Washington, California, Idaho, and Colorado. We have the best creative minds in the industry backed up by the most talented software developers and video production teams which leads to powerful, efficient advertising campaigns. If you have questions, comment here or email us at info@level11.io today!  Search Engine Marketing is all about connecting you with people that are looking for you, even if they don't even know anything about you yet. You can spend every cent you have on your website, but it serves you no purpose if nobody knows your website is there. Search Engine Marketing is all about getting people to your site. The juggernaut of SEM is Google AdWords, and our teammembers are AdWords Certified and are incredibly successful at helping organizations of all sizes achieve tremendous ROI from their SEM investments. Here's 11 amazing facts about AdWords:
CLICK HERE to learn more about our Search Engine Marketing services. About us: Level 11 Online Marketing is a fast growing digital advertising agency that is becoming known for disrupting the status quo. We specialize in digital advertising, video production, SEO, SEM, advanced analytics, custom web solutions via website design & implementation, social media strategies and conversion optimization. Headquartered in Utah, you will find Level 11 team members in Utah, Washington, California, Idaho, and Colorado. We have the best creative minds in the industry backed up by the most talented software developers and video production teams which leads to powerful, efficient advertising campaigns. If you have questions, comment here or email us at info@level11.io today! CLICK HERE to learn more about our Search Engine Marketing services.  In our previous post HERE, we detailed why organic reach on Facebook is so very low (this took up numbers 1-6 of the TOP 11 List). Now, we'll show you how you can increase your organic reach on Facebook! Here's 7-11 of the TOP 11 List of solving the organic reach challenge! For reference, you can learn more about what organic reach is right HERE.
7 - CONTENT IS KING Having excellent, quality content is so important because whenever people engage with your page, they'll be more likely to see your page in their News Feed later because of algorithms Facebook has in place. Creating content that will get people to like, share, and comment will be a game changer for you. 8 - LEARN ABOUT AND USE FACEBOOK INSIGHTS This nifty little tool will help you learn more about your audience. Play with it and you'll soon start seeing that it sheds a lot of light on your audience. When you understand your audience, you can tailor content to them that much better. 9 - KEEP AN EYE ON THE COMPETITION Watching what your competitors are doing (post frequency, content, likes, shares, etc) will help you catch on when something is working well. It also is just a good rule of business to keep an eye on your competition. There are some third-party tools out there that help monitor your competitors, so check them out if you could use more insights on your competition: BuzzSumo, Simply Measured, and Social Bakers. 10 - BUILD A COMMUNITY Focus on your users, not yourself. If every post is salesy - pushing your product - you'll lose audience. Post useful content and build up a two-way line of communication with your audience. Give away value for free, and they'll recognize what you're really worth. 11 - BE CONSISTENT AND DON'T GET LAZY Consistency goes a long way. This isn't to say that you need to post all the time - we're simply saying that whether it's best for you to post three times a day or three times a month, be consistent. Being lazy won't help either. There's ways to literally buy followers, but you'll be banned in a hurry, not to mention you're pretty crazy for thinking that your bought audience will be in any way interested in what you have to say (really, having a thousand new followers tomorrow that in no way are interested in you, or more likely aren't even real people, will not make you a cent). All in all, success in solving the organic reach challenge is all about content. High-quality content that promotes audience engagement will help you in maximizing your organic reach right away. About us: Level 11 Online Marketing is a fast growing digital advertising agency that is becoming known for disrupting the status quo. We specialize in digital advertising, video production, SEO, SEM, advanced analytics, custom web solutions via website design & implementation, social media strategies and conversion optimization. Headquartered in Utah, you will find Level 11 team members in Utah, Washington, California, Idaho, and Colorado. We have the best creative minds in the industry backed up by the most talented software developers and video production teams which leads to powerful, efficient advertising campaigns. If you have questions, comment here or email us at info@level11.io today!  No you're not imagining things... there just really aren't a lot of people that are seeing your Facebook posts. It's like every time you click "POST", Facebook is saying "shhhhh". Well, this is all because of declining organic reach. To learn more about what organic reach is, click here. In this post, we'll examine why organic reach is disappearing (and in the second part of this TOP 11 Series List, we'll see how you can improve your organic reach).
1 - TOO MANY POSTS IN THE NEWS FEED Facebook needs users to have a good experience because user experience translates directly into $$$. A Facebook study found that 1,500 posts appear in the average user's feed daily, with that number approaching 15,000 for very active users. Because Facebook's goal is to show engaging content, all posts are not created equal. As we often say, CONTENT IS KING. The News Feed sorting algorithm, EdgeRank, analyzes over 100,000 indicators, so everyone has to earn their spot in the feed of users. 2 - POOR ENGAGEMENT TORPEDOS YOUR REACH EdgeRank has tracked the decline of organic reach. 16% in 2012, 10% in 2013, 6% in 2014, and now 2-4% in 2016. Brands that struggle to connect with their audience have been hit the hardest. 3 - LARGER BRANDS HAVE LOWEST REACH Many brands still maintain a reach of 4% (even better in some instances), but for pages with 500k+ likes, 2% organic reach is the norm. Some Facebook sources have even unofficially advised some managers to expect that reach to approach 0%. 4 - PAY TO PLAY Advertising is Facebook's primary source of revenue, and not surprisingly the rate of organic reach is inversely related to the stock price of the company. Some brands simply haven't made the jump to paying to increase reach, so their reach has suffered. 5 - CONTENT IS KING Socialbakers analyzed over 4,000 brand pages and nearly 700,000 posts, finding that video is the most effective way to reach audience. In the best circumstances, video's organic reach can approach 8.7%, followed by Links and Text Only posts at 5.3% and 5.8% respectively. At Level 11, we use video for many clients and have seen incredible success from it in terms of ROI. Learn more about that here and here. 6 - RELEVANCE TO YOUR TARGET A case study for Castrol Motorcycle Oil measured a social media campaign. The first phase relied totally on organic reach for six months. It delivered 5,000 fans, 26,000 social interactions and a reach of 2.7 million. However, only 20% of those fans were located in the US. The next phase incorporated paid reach, and this time added 36,000 new fans, half of which were in the US, while reach hit 14 million. The content was the same - tailored to a specific audience - but the paid reach was focused on North America, which made all the difference. To finish this TOP 11 Series List, go HERE to learn about how to increase your organic reach on Facebook! About us: Level 11 Online Marketing is a fast growing digital advertising agency that is becoming known for disrupting the status quo. We specialize in digital advertising, video production, SEO, SEM, advanced analytics, custom web solutions via website design & implementation, social media strategies and conversion optimization. Headquartered in Utah, you will find Level 11 team members in Utah, Washington, California, Idaho, and Colorado. We have the best creative minds in the industry backed up by the most talented software developers and video production teams which leads to powerful, efficient advertising campaigns. If you have questions, comment here or email us at info@level11.io today!  This whole "internet" thing really isn't a fad. It's here to stay, and it has become a part of the lives of nearly every person on the planet. As a brand, your efforts in engaging with your audience can be very profitable and worthwhile. Social media platforms, such as Facebook, provide an incredible soap box for your brand (when used correctly). That being said, there is a cruel fact that many are still unaware of:
THERE ARE NO FREE RIDES! We'll refer to Facebook as our example. Many businesses post regularly on Facebook. That can be very helpful, yet the organic reach of these posts is suspect at best. Organic reach is defined as the number of people your post will reach through unpaid distribution. Translated, organic reach defined is how many people will see your post when you simply put it out there without paying to "boost" the post. In 2012, organic reach per Facebook follower was around 16% - it's currently around 2-4% depending on how many follow the brand. This means that your post will be seen by a fraction of the people who are already interested in you! This quagmire of a situation isn't due to Mr. Zuckerberg's greed or anything like that. Facebook is simply a marketer's dream due to the high amount of user information available, so the demand for eyeballs means that PAY TO PLAY is the only way to ensure you are winning audience over your competition. Putting some money behind your posts will automatically drastically increase your reach, often with minimal investment. We at Level 11 take it even farther with our incredible tools that help our clients get reach that they couldn't get by boosting posts on their own. In review, organic reach is how many eyeballs your content will get without putting money behind it, and while organic reach is incredibly low, very modest investment can ensure your audience expands dramatically. Learn more about SOLVING THE ORGANIC REACH CHALLENGE right HERE and HERE! About us: Level 11 Online Marketing is a fast growing digital advertising agency that is becoming known for disrupting the status quo. We specialize in digital advertising, video production, SEO, SEM, advanced analytics, custom web solutions via website design & implementation, social media strategies and conversion optimization. Headquartered in Utah, you will find Level 11 team members in Utah, Washington, California, Idaho, and Colorado. We have the best creative minds in the industry backed up by the most talented software developers and video production teams which leads to powerful, efficient advertising campaigns. If you have questions, comment here or email us at info@level11.io today!  There are many things we have to be thankful for in the USA, so we decided to put together a list of things that make us feel pride in the red, white and blue. It would be easy to make a list a mile long, (I mean we had to leave off apple pie, John Denver and mountains for crying out loud) but these are our top 11, what makes your list?
About us: Level 11 Online Marketing is a fast growing digital advertising agency that is becoming known for disrupting the status quo. We specialize in digital advertising, video production, SEO, SEM, advanced analytics, custom web solutions via website design & implementation, social media strategies and conversion optimization. Headquartered in Utah, you will find Level 11 team members in Utah, Washington, California, Idaho, and Colorado. We have the best creative minds in the industry backed up by the most talented software developers and video production teams which leads to powerful, efficient advertising campaigns. If you have questions, comment here or email us at info@level11.io today!  From the acclaimed television show The Office, here's the TOP 11 Michael Scott quotes, where the famed manager clearly was praising the good people at Level 11 Online Marketing. We humbly accept the accolades, as well as acknowledge his amazing understanding of digital marketing.
1 - SOMETIMES I'LL START A SENTENCE AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE IT'S GOING. I JUST HOPE I FIND IT ALONG THE WAY. Our ability to plan for your future is what allows us to evaluate and take advantage of marketing opportunities for our clients to grow their businesses. Our experience, combined with our data-driven approach, allows us to help you avoid those moments where you wonder just what your investment in marketing is actually doing for you. There's always a direction and purpose to what we do. 2 - I LOVE INSIDE JOKES. I'D LOVE TO BE A PART OF ONE SOMEDAY. We're always aware of what's going on. New tools and techniques are always coming available for us to help you establish a more profitable online presence. You have no doubt seen another brand and couldn't help but envy what they've accomplished - we help you reach your goals and become a business that others admire and look up to as well. 3 - I AM BEYONCE ALWAYS. Beyonce has been a very successful artist for a long time. We're just that good. We set trends and help our clients do the same - achieve the kinds of success they previously could only dream of. 4 - I UNDERSTAND NOTHING. It's ok to admit when you don't understand something. Digital marketing is confusing and daunting, so we simplify things for you and help you learn and understand everything that we're doing to help you. We don't want clients to feel like they're in the dark. 5 - I'M NOT SUPERSTITIOUS, BUT I AM A LITTLE STITIOUS. We don't have to do the same thing for every client every time. Frankly we never do, because everybody is in a unique position. That being said, there are very successful tricks we have up our sleeve that we've never been shy about using in the right situation. Past experiences can have a huge effect on future successes. 6 - I AM AN EARLY BIRD AND A NIGHT OWL... SO I AM WISE AND I HAVE WORMS. We have a passion for online marketing. At literally any hour of the day, we have members of our team working for our clients. Because digital marketing is so dynamic, success can only come through consistent, smart, and aggressive effort. Our drive to create value for our clients separates us from our competition in very real ways - average digital ads typically get just 2-3% of the engagement of our digital ads, and our search engine marketing generates 500-800% MORE TRAFFIC than what is average across ALL of Google. 7 - WOULD I RATHER BE FEARED OR LOVED? EASY, BOTH. I WANT PEOPLE TO BE AFRAID OF HOW MUCH THEY LOVE ME. We do not stop until our clients become raving fans. The success of our clients is everything to us, and we absolutely love that nearly all of our new clients are REFERRALS, because it shows how much our clients trust us. 8 - I LIKE WAKING UP TO THE SMELL OF BACON. Bacon makes the world go around. In many ways, it makes everything better. We do the same with our clients. More often than not, their businesses are already successful and poised for growth. What we bring to the table is that little extra bit of magic to accelerate things and take them to the next level. We help our clients not only achieve their goals, but exceed them. 9 - IT'S NEVER TOO EARLY FOR ICE CREAM. Sometimes a client will have assumed that a particular marketing method is too much for a business of their size, or that the results we've had with other businesses won't translate to theirs. We love helping our clients of every size take advantage of the tools that huge corporations and worldwide brands use to establish themselves. Don't assume that just because you just have a local clientele and a small shop that you can't use modern methods to grow. With so many tools our there, we know we can find something to fit you and your unique situation. 10 - FOOL ME ONCE, STRIKE ONE, BUT FOOL ME TWICE... STRIKE THREE. We are incredibly dynamic in our approach. Occasionally something (gasp!) won't go as planned, and an adjustment needs to be made. Luckily, we're always monitoring what we're doing for our clients, and when we hit a bump in the road, improvements are made right away to ensure smooth sailing for the duration of the campaign. Nothing gets past us, because we invest heavily in the necessary technology to continually refine our approach while continually improving client ROI. 11 - THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID. Michael Scott loves us, and so does everyone else that gets the opportunity to work with us. When that friend of yours says you should contact Level 11 because we're the best, do it because that's what she said! Once we've had a chance to help you, you'll agree that our unique approach is just what you need to get your digital house in order and turn the internet into your most effective source of business! About us: Level 11 Online Marketing is a fast growing digital advertising agency that is becoming known for disrupting the status quo. We specialize in digital advertising, video production, SEO, SEM, advanced analytics, custom web solutions via website design & implementation, social media strategies and conversion optimization. Headquartered in Utah, you will find Level 11 team members in Utah, Washington, California, Idaho, and Colorado. We have the best creative minds in the industry backed up by the most talented software developers and video production teams which leads to powerful, efficient advertising campaigns. If you have questions, comment here or email us at info@level11.io today!  LeBron James to the Lakers?
Fresh off a historic performance in the NBA finals where he led the Cavaliers to their first NBA Championship, LeBron James may never suit up for his hometown of Cleveland again. A free agent this summer, LeBron has the option to stay in Ohio or jump ship to play in another city of his choice. Miami and New York are two obvious destinations, but recently, the Los Angeles Lakers have reportedly emerged as the frontrunner to sign James. As a storied franchise with a young core and new head coach Luke Walton leading the way, L.A. has suddenly become much more attractive to the King. Already on a huge high from the recent Championship, fans in Cleveland may just have their hearts ripped out again like they did 6 years ago when LeBron left town to join the Miami Heat. Or maybe not. Here at Level 11, we are definitely not NBA insiders, in fact we are far from that. Our goal is to help you build your business through the power of digital media, and we know how to do it right. The story related above was crafted not to stir up any rumors about LeBron leaving Cleveland, but to teach how to create engaging content. Blogs, Facebook posts, videos, and other content has the potential to engage your business with a massive audience if it is done correctly. On the other hand, if done in a dull or boring manner, you can lull your audience to sleep and slow your engagement rates to a crawl. Below, we will give a few easy suggestions to help your business create compelling content. It all starts with a great headline. Whether it's a short or long, your headline needs to grab attention and tell a story in such a way that it pulls someone in to read it. By including both LeBron and the Lakers in this headline, people will click on it without even considering that the source isn't affiliated with sports at all. Sports analyst Dan Patrick spoke of this phenomenon when he said, "Los Angeles gets clicks." Think of big Brands, big names, or popular cities, places, or topics that are likely to have strong interest. In our LeBron story, we employed the technique of “newsjacking,” where you piggyback off the attention of the news onto another item. So why did we choose LeBron and L.A.? That man and that market are as big as it gets in the basketball world and millions of people follow them passionately, always searching for the latest news on their favorite player or team. If you are going to effectively newsjack, choose stories that you know will lead you to your customers. So whether that big topic is a national brand or a local celebrity, building your content around those iconic subjects will boost traffic almost every time. Lastly, make it fun! Sure, it's best to "give away" insight in your industry in your posts or videos, but focusing your message only on your latest model or brand new service can be difficult to read sometimes. Using current events or other examples in your content can help to illustrate a point and grab people's attention. Think of how the LeBron story in this post pulled you into this "exciting" subject of creating content! So it still remains to be seen who King James will be suiting up for in the next NBA season, but whether it's in Cleveland or in L.A. (we're still holding out hope for Utah Jazz!), you can be sure Level 11 will be all over the story. Well, at least you can be sure you'll see a catchy headline about it from this blog where we've newsjacked that story and taught some important content creation principles with it! About us: Level 11 Online Marketing is a fast growing digital advertising agency that is becoming known for disrupting the status quo. We specialize in digital advertising, video production, SEO, SEM, advanced analytics, custom web solutions via website design & implementation, social media strategies and conversion optimization. Headquartered in Utah, you will find Level 11 team members in Utah, Washington, California, Idaho, and Colorado. We have the best creative minds in the industry backed up by the most talented software developers and video production teams which leads to powerful, efficient advertising campaigns. If you have questions, comment here or email us at info@level11.io today!  Digital marketing is a discipline that already attracts more than it's fair share of snake oil salesmen. Resellers, middlemen, and pretenders abound (about 90% of SEO companies are resellers, by some counts), which leads to tons of broken promises and unfulfilled agreements. Within digital marketing as a whole is Search Engine Optimization, or SEO (go HERE to learn more about what SEO is and why it's valuable). Simply put, SEO is all about attracting people to your site by having 1) quality website construction and 2) quality, relevant content. If your site is up to par and has what a person is looking for, search engines like Google will be more likely to refer people to you.
SEO companies are often amateur, 1-man shows that are "side projects" at best, where the so-called "expert" claims to know the secret sauce needed for a #1 ranking, when in reality they have no idea how SEO works. What we want to accomplish in this post is to empower you with 11 things you can look for to know if your current or prospective SEO agency is full of it - a relationship doomed to fail. 1 - THEY PROMISE INSTANT RESULTS The most common irresponsible claim of "SEO companies" is that they can get you to the top overnight. These companies are spamming the heck out of businesses trying to prey on owners that don't have an understanding about SEO. There are plenty of people out there who believe the hype and want to fast-track themselves to the top of the organic search rankings. Sure, there's bound to be some keywords that you could rank for relatively quickly, and your company name should rank #1 with a few things done right, but true SEO results take time. It's not uncommon for results to take months, if not years, to happen. It's a very naïve to think that you can have instant results, especially considering all of the variables that impact SEO. Don't fall prey to the false promise of a SEO agency promising you the world. 2 - THEY HAVE SPAMMY LINKS DIRECTED AT THEMSELVES Ahrefs, Open Site Explorer, and other backlink analysis tools will help you evaluate an SEO company's site. Maybe 10% of SEO companies will have solid ratings that indicate they're good at what they do. The rest? Busch league. If an SEO company has no links or poor quality links, how could they help you? 3 - THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE SUCKS, OR IS NON-EXISTENT Today, you have to be on social media in some way, and SEO agencies certainly need to have a strong presence there. It is a display of their ability to create quality content and engage with an audience. Your SEO agency needs to be able to do just that for you, so why work with them if they cannot do it for themself? An under-the-radar agency that avoids social media isn't looking for legitimacy or long-term impact, it's looking to make quick money and sell out fast before doing it all over again. 4 - THE GUARANTEE A #1 RANKING FOR SPECIFIC KEYWORDS Understand that there will always be demand for specific keywords. Strong brand keywords like "iPhone" or "weight loss" will always be nearly impossible to own. There is simply too much demand and authority already in place that your SEO agency won't slay that dragon. Guarantees are impossible to make in the first place, so guaranteeing a ranking for a specific keyword is insanity. What is possible is incremental progress and local authority. Don't sign up with an agency that promises the world. 5 - THEIR BLOG IS PATHETHIC If creating quality, relevant content is an essential component of SEO success, and a SEO agency has a blog that's full of bad content, or worse yet, they don't have a blog, look elsewhere for SEO help. Imagine what drivel they would create for you if they can't even do something good for themself! 6 - THEY WON'T OR CAN'T EXPLAIN WHAT THEY'RE DOING There is NO secret sauce, voodoo, magic, trick, or back door to SEO success. Shady, fly-by-night companies use this talk all the time in order to avoid explain what they are, or more often aren't, doing with your SEO. We already know how to achieve SEO success: quality website construction, quality content, and good relationships with other sites that result in quality links. If your current or prospective SEO agency isn't transparent, you should walk away. 7 - THEY DON'T DISCUSS GOALS BEFORE STARTING How will they take you where you want to go if they don't know where you want to go?! Is your objective to generate leads? Push traffic to your web store? Gather e-mail addresses? This is the very first thing that needs to be known. Your goals will dictate keywords, content strategy, campaign execution, etc. To accomplish anything worthwhile, your goals must be clearly defined, and if they don't ask about your goals, you should say goodbye. 8 - THEY'RE CHEAP For possibly some select businesses, a website could maybe be ranked for a few hundred bucks a month. Let's think about the numbers for a moment - content will be a few hundred bucks; links are easily each hundreds of dollars; and we still haven't mentioned labor and overhead expenses. True, legit SEO agencies are often in the range of $3k - $10k per month. If it's too good to be true, it's not true. 9 - THEY CLAIM TO KNOW A GUY ON THE INSIDE This bursts the bubble of a bunch of SEO agencies, but there isn't ONE SEO company that knows the secret algorithm or that knows a guy that works in Google that skews results in their favor. For Google, SEARCH IS SACRED, so they will never allow anyone or anything to interfere with the integrity of the search results. 10 - THEY'RE UNREACHABLE it's unfortunate, but many SEO companies are actually side gigs of the operators. These people want some income on the side, but aren't willing to invest the necessary time to master their craft, and therefore, more often than not, leave dissatisfied and disillusioned ex-clients in their wake. To see if you're dealing with a company that's more of a full-time SEO agency, test them with e-mails and calls. If they don't answer or are delayed in responses, that's your red flag. 11 - THEY TALK AUTOMATION Back in the early 2000's, content scrapers, link building software, and other automation tools were commonplace. These days, those tools will get your website penalized faster than you can say something that doesn't take very long to say. Many SEO agencies will claim their automation is key to their low prices. Curating quality content is not an automated task. And ask for a sample report - you can check the links they've built to see if they look like they were made by some automated software. Mention of automation should ALWAYS immediately remove an agency from contention. Conclusion There will always be bad apples out there, but this list should help you avoid being taken for a ride with SEO agencies. NO agency ANYWHERE can guarantee results, because there are simply too many variables out of anyone's control. Your website should be one of your best salesmen, if not THE best, so don't leave it or your SEO up to amateurs. Make sure beforehand that you're dealing with a company that will do honest work, not try to game the system, and is willing to help you understand what SEO strategy they're employing. Of course, we here at Level 11 do SEO for many of our clients, so we're more than happy to answer any questions you may have, and show you what we've done for our clients. About us: Level 11 Online Marketing is a fast growing digital advertising agency that is becoming known for disrupting the status quo. We specialize in digital advertising, video production, SEO, SEM, advanced analytics, custom web solutions via website design & implementation, social media strategies and conversion optimization. Headquartered in Utah, you will find Level 11 team members in Utah, Washington, California, Idaho, and Colorado. We have the best creative minds in the industry backed up by the most talented software developers and video production teams which leads to powerful, efficient advertising campaigns. If you have questions, comment here or email us at info@level11.io today!  1 - KitchenAid mocks Obama's grandmother KitchenAid makes a mean mixer and other appliances, but it made a huge mistake by tweeting about President Barack Obama during the 2012 presidential debates. KitchenAid’s official account posted a tweet that implied President Obama’s grandma died because she knew how badly his first term would be (Obama’s grandma passed right before his election in 2008 and he’d mentioned her during one of the 2012 debates). KitchenAid apologized right away and fired an employee that had made the tween from the company account instead of a personal account. 2 - A landlord's Facebook requirements backfire Tenants of the City Park Apartments told KSL that a “Facebook addendum” showed up taped to their doors Thursday night. The contract required tenants to friend the City Park Apartments on Facebook within five days, or be found in breach of the rental agreement, though some of the tenants already signed a lease agreement months ago. The document also includes a release allowing the apartment to post pictures of tenants and their visitors on the page. Current and potential future tenants were very turned off by the requirements, and potential legal battles are on the horizon.  3 - DiGiorno’s #WhyIStayed debacle DiGiorno dominates it's pizza segment, and has done quite well with social media in the past, but in 2014, the company mistakenly made light of domestic violence by failing to understand what the #WhyIStayed hashtag was all about. The tweet came across as insensitive to victims of domestic violence, not to mention unintentionally comedic.  4 - MTV Australia too far at the Golden Globes During the Golden Globes, MTV Australia sent out an astonishingly offensive tweet, asking "Where are the English subtitles?" while America Ferrera and Eva Longoria were on stage. MTV has always pushed the limits of appropriate content, but somehow even this went too far. An expected generic apology followed.  5 - American Apparel celebrated the 4th of July with Space Shuttle Challenger While known for its edgy ads, even this pushed it. In 2014, American Apparel posted an image of the space shuttle exploding on its Tumblr stream, accompanied by the hashtags #smoke and #clouds, to celebrate the Fourth of July on its Tumblr stream. The company removed the image, but the damage was done. There was an apology, and one of its “international social media employees” who was born after the tragedy got the blame. Still, it’s hard to imagine how anyone could mistake the image as being fireworks.  6 - Total Beauty fails at the Oscars Failing at the Oscars ensures a large and captive audience (just ask Jennifer Lawrence after her fall on the Oscars stage). Total Beauty, an online publication, learned the hard way after it somehow confused Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey in a tweet. Both are high on the list of people you should not only recognize, but that you should not upset.  7 - Coca-Cola picks a fight with Russia It’s never a good thing to upset the Russians. Leave it to Coca-Cola to do so when it sent out a tweet featuring a cartoon with a snow-covered map of the country. That's a good way to relate your brand with a specific audience, right? A closer look reveals that the map’s actually outdated, missing Kaliningrad, which was added to Russia following World War II. The Russians weren't too thrilled, leading to a trending topic on Twitter, #BanCocaCola.  8 - The racist Microsoft Twitter bot Sometimes, it's just gotta be hard being so smart. Microsoft once made an "AI" Twitter bot that would learn from its users through conversation. Quickly, trolling users turned the bot, "Tay" into a pretty rude racist in just a few hours. Microsoft's research team quickly deleted the tweets and put the project on pause.  9 - Delta Air Lines doesn’t get Ghana There are Delta flights to Ghana’s capital, Accra, but it doesn't know much else about Ghana. When the airline tried to congratulate Team U.S.A. for beating Ghana 2-1 during a 2014 World Cup championship match, a seemingly innocuous tweet became a point of mockery. In the tweet, Delta showed the score with a silhouette of a giraffe behind “1” for Ghana and the Statue of Liberty behind “2” for the U.S. Users quickly pointed out that there are no giraffes in Ghana. Delta then did what any company does when being publicly humiliated by going into damage control mode. Somehow, Delta messed things up even more when it referred to its incorrect tweet as its “precious” tweet instead of its “previous” tweet.  10 - Entenmann's screws up following the Casey Anthony verdict Public sentiment was really raw after Casey Anthony “Not Guilty” murder verdict. Likely wanting to score some extra exposure by riding the wave of the trending hashtag #notguilty, baked goods manufacturer Entenmann’s messed up big time. This predictably backfired, and after public ridicule, Entenmann’s deleted the tweet and apologized, ”Sorry everyone, we weren’t trying to reference the trial in our tweet! We should have checked the trending hashtag first”... “Our #notguilty tweet was insensitive, albeit completely unintentional. We are sincerely sorry.” Nice try to sweep it under the rug, but a huge lapse in judgement.  11 - Kenneth Cole uses political unrest to promote a sale During the uproar that occured in 2011 in Egypt, Kenneth Cole alluded to the unrest being likely related to the new clothing collection. Knowing how unstable and deadly such situations can be, it's incredible that KC thought this would be a good idea. A pathetic apology afterwards got very little traction given the history of KC's divisive social media content. About us: Level 11 Online Marketing is a fast growing digital advertising agency that is becoming known for disrupting the status quo. We specialize in digital advertising, video production, SEO, SEM, advanced analytics, custom web solutions via website design & implementation, social media strategies and conversion optimization. Headquartered in Utah, you will find Level 11 team members in Utah, Washington, California, Idaho, and Colorado. We have the best creative minds in the industry backed up by the most talented software developers and video production teams which leads to powerful, efficient advertising campaigns.
If you have questions, comment here or email us at info@level11.io today!  How did he do it? No doubt that Barack Obama made history and rewrote the book when it comes to campaigning in the 21st century. Against all odds, a mostly unknown senator from Illinois was remarkably effective in two extremely hard fought campaigns. How did he possibly do it twice?! These politically-based questions are asked everyday by those who marvel at this man’s rise to power or, conversely, by his biggest critics. Whatever your political perspective may be, we have the answer for you: an efficient and effective online marketing campaign.
President Obama took notice of the shifting landscape of traditional media channels and devoted a record amount of his marketing budget specifically to online advertising. While his opposing candidates embraced more common and trusted avenues such as television and radio to reach the masses, Obama took a leap of faith into an new medium--and the gamble paid off immensely. His digital team concocted an efficient and extensive strategy that proved to be the difference maker when voters took to the polls. Their plan was simple, but extremely effective. A responsive website that was rich in content and invitations to donate or share was the home base for the movement. Compelling video ads reached many and conveyed emotion in a way that created a relationship between him and the voters. Timely, relevant, and actionable content was pushed through social media channels, creating a buzz and awareness amongst millions with every like and share. As all these parts worked together, this strategy produced the greatest bang for advertising buck any campaign in history had ever enjoyed. While Obama ran a nimble and adaptive campaign (for example, using digital ads and cable TV ads to target specific demographics in certain counties in key states), Mitt Romney marketed like it was 1999, running a "Mad Men" style campaign (this is in reference to the popular TV show about an ad agency in the 60's) where he predominantly used broadcast TV stations to blanket entire states with the same message. This contrast in marketing approaches had a huge impact in the outcome of the elections. Today there is no such thing as a digital strategy anymore, just strategy in a digital world. The Obama campaign was the first to politically capitalize on the reality of the shift of the population to digital media. Marketing is all about getting your product in front of customers, and in the digital world we now live in, we can do that more effectively than we ever have before! So the next time you hear someone ask a question like, “How did Obama win back-to-back elections?” make sure they know it might have had as much to do with his digital marketing strategy as it did his plan for healthcare reform. It is clear that marketing today is certainly more complex than it was a few years ago when all you needed to do was place ads on radio, yellow pages, newspapers, and billboards to reach the entire market. Today's fragmented, digital media landscape can be intimidating, but as was the case with Barack Obama, it can also provides some incredible opportunities to meaningfully engage with your customers like never before. You can still try to market like we’re in the 90's, though as Mitt Romney discovered, that strategy just doesn't pay off the way it used to. About us: Level 11 Online Marketing is a fast growing digital advertising agency that is becoming known for disrupting the status quo. We specialize in digital advertising, video production, SEO, SEM, advanced analytics, custom web solutions via website design & implementation, social media strategies and conversion optimization. Headquartered in Utah, you will find Level 11 team members in Utah, Washington, California, Idaho, and Colorado. We have the best creative minds in the industry backed up by the most talented software developers and video production teams which leads to powerful, efficient advertising campaigns. If you have questions, comment here or email us at info@level11.io today!  According to Forbes, there are three facts that small business owners must appreciate - (1) Small business owners are experts on what they sell, how it’s used, the industry, etc., (2) Customers want access to what experts know, and (3) Increasingly, customers expect a closer connection to experts.
A blog can deliver all of this! The chief marketing brain at Red Branch Media, Maren Hogan, said “One of the best marketing strategies for a small business is blogging”. A blog allows you to provide prospects and clients with informative, non-salesy content that they are looking for! By producing valuable content, one to two times a week, you can begin to establish your company as an expert in a desired field. A blog can also positively impact your SEO; meaning the more you blog, the more traffic from Google you will receive. And depending on the quality of content you are producing, you may even generate new sales. It will also help expand your online community that you have worked so hard to grow. Business owners normally have two excuses when it comes to blogging - “I’m not a good writer” and “I don’t have time”. We’re here to tell you, those are both poor excuses! Yes, maybe you aren’t an amazing writer but your customers actually prefer that - meaning they are looking for an easy read, no big, complicated words and thoughts. And once your blog platform is setup, creating new post is really quite easy. As you begin to blog regularly, you will be surprised how quickly new content ideas will come to you. Whether you already have a blog or are starting one today, the key is to produce value, useful content that your readers are looking for! Ultimately, blogging will “help you build online communities where you connect with current and future customers in a way that’s increasingly more relevant to them than your website”. We help clients from many different sectors with their blogging needs, whether they just need a start or they just want us to manage all the content creation for them. We're always happy to help! Thanks so much for coming to us at LEVEL 11 Online Marketing to learn more about the awesome world of digital marketing! If you have questions, comment here or go to the contact tab. Resources: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jimblasingame/2014/03/03/what-is-a-blog-and-why-should-small-business-care/#3356876924bd http://www.cio.com/article/2376444/online-marketing/8-expert-online-marketing-tips-for-small-businesses.html If you're not up to speed with the lingo of online marketing, it can be really hard to keep up when you're learning about what online video advertising can do and how it works. We've all been in situations where we have no idea what's being discussed, so we know it can be embarrassing and exhausting. To help you out, here's a simple list to give you just a little head start (so that at the very least, you're able to follow the conversation and everything doesn't go right over your head):
TOP 11 TERMS TO KNOW ABOUT DIGITAL VIDEO ADVERTISING 1 – IMPRESSIONS The number of times an Ad has been served (see Ad Serving), regardless of action taken by user. 2 – VIDEO VIEWS A stat that shows how many times someone who had the Ad served to them (see Ad Serving) actually watched a significant portion of the video. Often stats can also break down how many watched 25%, 50%, or 75% of the video as well. 3 – AD SERVING A stat that shows the Ad has appeared on the end user’s device. 4 – CALL TO ACTION Text within the Ad, or a graphic like a button, which invites the audience to take action. 5 – CLICK THRU RATE (CTR) Reported as a percentage of total impressions, this statistic shows how often people who are served an ad end up clicking on it. 6 – CONVERSION When launching a campaign, we determine a specific action or set of actions we want audiences to take. Each time a member of the audience takes this action, it is counted as a conversion. Examples could include filling out a contact form or completing a purchase. 7 – CONVERSION RATE A percentage calculated by dividing the number of people who completed a conversion by the number of clicks the Ad received. 8 – GEOGRAPHIC TARGETING Targeting an audience based on ZIP codes, cities, counties, etc. 9 – DEMOGRAPHIC/PSYCHOGRAPHIC TARGETING Targeting an audience based on demographic data or interests, values, attitudes, or lifestyles. 10 – RETARGETING/REMARKETING Serving Ads to people who have previously visited your website. 11 – PRE-ROLL AD A pre-roll video ad is one that forces the viewer to watch the Ad before they are allowed to view the video they intend to see. Thanks so much for coming to us at LEVEL 11 Online Marketing to learn more about the awesome world of digital marketing! If you have questions, comment here or go to the contact tab. We are proud to introduce you to LEVEL 11 Online Marketing! As you explore our site, you'll be able to learn more about our team members and the services we offer. We want to talk to YOU and invite you to reach us through the "contact" tab. We wanted to take the time here to show you some of the unique ways that LEVEL 11 is uniquely positioned to offer your business both world-class exptertise and a level of service never before seen in the world of marketing. Here is the very first list of our "Top 11" series!
TOP 11 REASONS LEVEL 11 WILL ROCK YOUR WORLD 1 – EXPERIENCE Top to bottom, our team is full of rock stars that have established themselves as true experts. With clients ranging from Zagg and PoolTables.com to Netflix and Nike, our team has helped businesses of all types reach their goals. 2 – BACKGROUND The path to creating LEVEL 11 began in consulting, where we would simply work with business owners to help them understand their market better and how to grow their buessiness to where they wanted it to go. That same consultative approach exists today, and our clients continually comment on how refreshingly different our approach is when compared to typical "ad agencies." 3 – CONTINUAL EDUCATION The world of online marketing is constantly changing, and it pays to work with a partner that stays on top of things. Marketing is our passion, so the constant flow of new tools and techniques is something that we love to learn about and employ for our clients' benefit. 4 – SPECIALIZATION Our team is comprised of experts in a wide array of fields, and we leverage those specific skills in crafting and managing comprehensive marketing campaigns for our clients. For example, that means that if you need help with pay-per-click (Search Engine Marketing - more on this in future posts), your project will be overseen by someone who has managed campaigns for both local businesses as well as national brands. 5 – NO OVERHEAD OR DEBT Yes this makes a big difference for you! From day one, we've been very smart and conservative with how we operate our business. What this translates to for you is that your advertising budget actually goes towards advertising, NOT towards servicing debt or paying for office space. 6 – VALUES We insist on being honest and ethical in all of our client interactions. What's important to us is not only do you trust us enough to sign up with us in the first place, but that we earn your trust every single day as we aggressively and efficiently grow your business. Hard work and smart work are what you deserve from your marketing partner. 7 – ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT Growing business is what we do. Regardless of what sector you're in, we are all about growing what you've worked so hard to create. We constantly search for new opportunities for our clients, and that can mean big things for you. 8 – TRANSPARENT New clients often tell us that they're not used to actually seeing hard data on their marketing. More often than not, their marketers had left them to rely on anecdotal evidence to essentially guess what the impact of that big check they cut really was. We want you to know what you're getting from your investment, so we'll pull back the curtain and really give you an inside look at how our efforts are benefitting you. 9 – HONEST You're not paying us to sugar coat things, or to always say yes. We will always be straightforward with you, because our primary goal is to grow your business. We bring our consultative approach into everything we do, and will strive to develop an intimate understanding of what you do and what it will take to take your business to the next level. 10 – PRESENT We are not anonymous and you won't be left for months wondering where we are or what we're doing. We take a very active role in growing your business. Regular meetings and conversations ensure that we're always on the same page. 11 – ROI We know your marketing budget is precious, and that in a very real way you see your online marketing efforts as an investment. Your Return On Investment is mutually beneficial, because while you're making more money, we're proving our value to you, ensuring a long relationship. This is the end goal and end result of everything we do - yes, online marketing can be ridiculously complicated, but our unique approach will ensure that not only do you understand what we're doing, but that you'll be more profitable for having chosen to work with us. We are LEVEL 11 Online Marketing, and we make digital marketing easy. Thank you so much for coming to LEVEL 11 Online Marketing to learn more about us and how we can help you succeed in growing your business through the awesome world of digital marketing! Questions? Comment below or click on the contact tab. |
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