Do You Need to Rebrand?

A brand does so much more for your business than simply provide a “look” or logo. A brand is an important tool that differentiates your company from its competitors and establishes a tone for consistent communications.

Not sure if your brand is strong enough to stand out in the crowd? Here are 3 signs it’s time to consider a rebrand.

1. Your Brand Is Your Logo

A brand provides the overall feel of your business that you would like to convey to everyone involved with your company, from potential investors to potential customers. There is no way to accomplish this with only a logo! A brand identity is composed of several elements, and establishes guidelines for visual and verbal communications.

A brand identity document includes:

• Logo: a mark used to identify an organization or product
• Color Palette: the various colors and accents to be used in visual communications
• Typography: lists which fonts to use in various communication scenarios
• Graphic Collateral: graphic elements consistently used to complement your logo
• Word Cloud: a list of words that best represent the buying experience and differentiate the product or service
• Brand Rationale: a document establishing the tone of written communications

Your brand is bigger than your logo– it’s what differentiates your business from competitors. If you haven’t spent time thinking about and establishing what that is, it’s time for a rebrand!

2. Customers Confuse Your Logo, Signage, or Ads With Competitors

If your logo is easily confused with others in your industry, you’re never going to be able to stand out for the great work that you’re doing! While a logo can often indicate the types of goods and services offered, it should also have artistic elements that add personality to the brand and distinguish it from competitors.

 

There is more to representing your brand in an advertisement than simply using your logo. The color, style, and types of imagery used to advertise for your business should be consistent and easily recognizable, allowing for quick processing by those who are familiar with your brand.

The messaging you use to talk about your products or services should also be consistent– remember that every post that your business makes on social media reflects your brand. Make sure that you’re building a brand that your customers can relate to, and that adds value to your business. Consider creating a word cloud of adjectives and some nouns that you feel like capture the essence of your brand, and then consistently use these in your content. Try this free world cloud generator to get started.

3. Your Business Has Grown

Maybe you didn’t need a brand identity when you were working out of your home office, but now that your business has grown, there’s a lot more to think about. How will you help your employees convey what makes your business unique to new customers? If you’ve added new products or services since your founding, it’s almost certainly time for a rebrand– reevaluating existing verbiage is critical when entering new markets.

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Ready to Rebrand?

The team at Liquid Creative is ready to help you create a new brand for your business! We will go through our initial research process (known around here as “discovery”) to understand what differentiates your company from its competitors. From there, we’ll create a brand that conveys that message, and sparks a connection with your desired customers.

Start standing out with eye-catching graphics and compelling copy– learn more about branding with Liquid Creative.

What is Company Culture, and Why Does it Matter?

Company culture has become quite the buzz word lately… But what does it really mean? Company culture is what governs non-transactional workplace interactions. For instance, whether your office is collaborative or competitive, a slacks-only environment or sandal-friendly, pen-drop silent or playing the latest hits, is all determined by your company’s culture. It’s the combination of policies and unwritten rules that make a workplace “uptight,” “laidback,” or anything in between.

Company culture has become crucial to attracting top talent and keeping worker’s engaged. Gallup’s 2017 State of the Global Workplace report found that 67% of employees are “not engaged” at work. This recent drag in productivity has caused HR managers to reevaluate how they are motivating individuals, and create new policies aimed at increasing workplace flexibility, autonomy, and camaraderie.

Team Building Tips

We have a small (but talented!) group here at Liquid Creative, so having a close-knit team helps us keep our employees motivated, our open office space productive, and our work its most creative. Here are some team building activities that we use to keep our company culture strong that you can try out with your team!

1. Weekly Culture Hour

Our weekly culture hour is a chance for our team to take a creative break, share some laughs, and enjoy a planned activity together. Here are just a few of our activities that you can adapt for your office.

• • Milkshake Bar: We nominated the person with the best blender to bring it into the office, and then made delicious milkshakes with gourmet toppings. Cheers!
  • Outside Time: Our office is just down the road from Sweetwater Wetlands Park, so we drove there for a nice midday walk.
  • Play a Game: Our team’s favorite game to play together is Heads Up!

     

     

     

2. Bring Your Dog to Work Day

People love pets. If no one is allergic, allowing quiet, well-behaved dogs in the office can brighten everyone’s mood!

3. Celebrate Milestones

Acknowledging important professional and life milestones makes your employees feel appreciated. We always celebrate our teams’ yearly work anniversaries, birthdays, and weddings with an in-office gathering. We are lucky to have some wonderful and enthusiastic chefs on our team, so we rarely have to cater!

4. Hold a Friendly Competition

Our teammates give each other “snaps” for helping out, and at the end of the quarter the teammate with the most snaps is declared winner! Snaps can be given for serious accomplishments, such as writing an awesome new ad, or for something silly, like bringing in donuts.

 

 

 

 

5. Try Something New Together

Getting out of your comfort zone together can be an exciting, and bonding, experience! Our team went to the Gainesville Circus Center, where they took their talents to new heights. Check out this article on Gainesville team building activities from The Business Report of North Central Florida for more local ideas!

6. Have A Night On the Town

Out of office gatherings are the best way to get to know the people who are most important to your team, such as significant others or close friends, outside of work. You may think to yourself, “why does that matter?” It does if you want to create the type of culture where your employees know that you care about them as people. From a more bottomline-focused perspective, providing opportunities for your employees to cultivate friendships can reduce labor turnover.

Going to see a play, band, or attending another special event is always a fun time! We recently took our team and their significant others to see The Wolves at the Hippodrome Theatre.

7. Host Your Team

On the same note, hosting your team in your home is a great way to let them know that you care about them as people. We have an office holiday party held in our President’s home each December, where we play games, enjoy each other’s cooking, and exchange secret Santa gifts.

8. Dress Up

It’s so much fun to dress up as a group! This year our team has dressed up for our Christmas in July party, October 3rd (otherwise known as Mean Girls Day), and Halloween!

9. Volunteer Together

Volunteering is perfect for team bonding, because it gets everyone out of the office to do something meaningful together. Try to find a cause that matters to everyone in your office. Our team went “trick or treating” at the Humane Society of North Central Florida for Halloween.

Get Started with Team Building!

Now that your armed with these ideas, you’re ready to plan your team building events! Start using team building to increase workplace camaraderie, improve employee motivation, and enhance your company culture.

 

Happy National Read a Book Day!

Our team gets super-inspired by reading, so we decided to put together a list of book recommendations to share for National Read a Book Day! Let’s all pick up a good book today!

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

“Easy to read and incredibly funny, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is about the awkwardness of Eleanor’s human connections and how those instances don’t seem to bother her in the slightest. Everyone can relate to Eleanor is someway and you can’t help but fall in love with her blind confidence”

-Justine Myers, Account Coordinator

When you are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

“Need a pick-me-up? This book of hilarious short stories will leave you gasping for air through fits of tear-inducing laughter. When I was younger, I used to try and be sneaky and stay up past my bedtime, reading whatever book I was obsessing over at the time. Whenever I’d read David Sedaris I got majorly busted– I could not stop myself from cracking up! Now, I continue to be inspired by the way Sedaris is able to fill life’s most mundane moments with his unique comedic flare. If you haven’t yet, definitely give his books a try. They’re super easy reads and so much fun!”

-Caitlin Harder, Copywriter & Digital Marketing Strategist

Lobster Is the Best Medicine by Liz Climo

“A dear friend of mine gifted this book to me for my birthday years ago and its charm and sincerity warmed my heart. It’s an adorable collection of comics about friendship that’s guaranteed to make you smile and brighten your day.”

-Emily Purvis, Graphic Designer

Sex, Dugs, and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman

“Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs is a hilarious deconstruction of all things pop culture with a critical and smart eye. Subjects include Saved By The Bell, The Sims video game, and kittens.”

-Hector Del Valle, Art Director

An Invisible Thread by Laura Schroff & Alex Tresniowski

“An inspiring read based on a true story of a child living on the streets of New York City. It’s surprisingly uplifting!”

-April Schroeder, President

Let’s get reading!

We hope we provided a good variety of titles for you to try out. Whether you like comics, poems, or novels, reading is a great way to get your creativity flowing, today and every day! Happy National Read a Book Day!

 

 

Life at Liquid

We are so excited to have Justine Myers join our team as Account Coordinator. Justine excels in her new role because of her passion for helping clients’ visions become a reality. She uses her exceptional organizational skills to manage our creative team’s schedules, ensuring that all client work in completed on time, and in accordance with client direction. She’s also a hoot to have in the office!

Returning to Gainesville

Originally from Gainesville, Justine recently moved back home after obtaining her two degrees – one of which she earned in England! She spent four years in Tallahassee at Florida State University for her Bachelors of Science in Criminology and her Bachelors of Arts and Sciences in Psychology, and then two years at the University of Exeter in England where she earned her Masters of Science in Social and Organizational Psychology.

An Interest in Company Culture

During her Master’s Degree, Justine gained analytical skills that taught her how to utilize multiple perspectives when creating a strategy for improving an organization’s ways of working, company culture and employee morale. She now uses this insight to provide ideas and strategies for Liquid’s team internally.

Travel & Hobbies

When Justine is not relishing in her coworkers’ constant banter at work, she enjoys spending time travelling. When asked how many countries she’s visited, she says, “22, I think?”

Her other passions include: tennis, daily yoga, writing her travel blog, finding any alternative music festivals nearby, singing at the top of her lungs, talking to her two dogs as if they are humans, skydiving (or finding anything that gets the adrenaline pumping) and eating (pretty much the only good reason to travel!).

Fun Facts About Justine

What is your absolute favorite food?

Ice cream… I can eat ice cream any time of the day. No fruity flavors though.. must include chocolate.

What is currently your favorite app and why?

Headspace, this beautiful Englishman’s voice teaches you how to meditate without falling asleep. After even a five minute session I experience a surge of energy!

If you were famous, what would you be famous for?

Comedy, I hope.. I feel like comedians live the most normal ‘famous people’ lives and I am about that.

Make A Content Calendar with Liquid Creative!

Keeping up with posting regular content across social media platforms can be challenging for any business owner or marketing manager. A content calendar is a useful tool to help plan what you will share and establish consistent messaging, ultimately allowing you to develop a social media strategy that will maximize post reach and engagement. Follow these 7 steps to make a content calendar that adds value to your brand.

Before we get started, you can download our content calendar template. You’ll see there are columns for date, time, purpose, copy, hashtags, links, graphics, and boosts, and that a different sheet is used for each platform.

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1. Select Relevant Social Media Platforms

Creating business accounts on social media platforms that are relevant to your industry will enable you to reach your target audience, but creating profiles on irrelevant platforms will waste your time and hurt your brand. So, how do you choose which platforms to focus your energy on? The answer– as with many things in marketing– is research. Before you make a content calendar, you should find out where your customers are online and the best way to get there. A good place to start is seeing what your competitors are up to.

2. Plan Timely Posts

Creating timely posts is critical for both engagement and conversions. It’s important to have a strategy behind the dates, times, and frequency of your posts. You can use platform insights to find out the days of the week and times of day that your audience is most likely to be active. Check out any competitors’ accounts, and think carefully about what you need to communicate to customers about your business. For instance, if you hold events or have timely sales, you should begin advertising over social media weeks in advance, or longer. Then, you should continue posting about the event as it approaches. Make sure that you are sending out friendly reminders, but not clogging followers’ newsfeeds.
Some ways to tell you’re oversharing:

• You’re losing followers
• Engagement is declining
• You’re posting for the sake of posting

3. Establish Clear Purpose

So, how do you avoid posting for the sake of posting? There should be a clear purpose behind each of your social media posts. Try to write posts with different purposes behind them to keep your content calendar diverse. The more purposes you can incorporate into one concise post, the better.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Provide a Timely Update: Announce an event, sale, opening of a new location, or other timely update
• Drive Website Traffic: Advertise a product or service with the goal of driving traffic to a specific webpage
• Educate Your Audience: Teach your audience about a product’s application or an aspect of your business services
• Demonstrate Expertise: Show your followers you’re an expert in your field with relevant and helpful information, such as how-to videos or, let’s see, an insightful blog post, perhaps? 😀
• Spark Engagement: Different platforms have different algorithms, and engaging users will help your content show up in their newsfeeds (tip: Instagram story polls earn easy engagement)
• Showcase Company Culture: Connect with followers and potential employees by providing a peek into your company’s unique culture

These are just a few basic ideas to get you started on your social media strategy. And remember, you can write your posts with more than one purpose in mind as long as you can keep the messages concise. The purpose of the post will determine where it links to, or if you shouldn’t have a link at all. If you’re posting to wish your customers a happy holiday, that isn’t the time to link to your website. Use a variety of purposes to prevent engagement from declining, and avoid planning many “sales-y” posts in a row when you make a content calendar.

4. Write Engaging Copy for Each Platform

Every post that you create should fit into your brand’s story. If you’re finding it hard to envision what exactly your brand’s story is, it might be time for you to rebrand. The copy you write should have a tone consistent with your brand, and its message should be driven by the purpose you have determined for the post.

You should also write different copy for different platforms. While Twitter is the only widely used platform with a character limit, there are other factors to consider. For instance, Instagram does not link to external pages other than on promoted posts and bios, and is a largely visual online community. Your copy for Instagram would be more concise and possibly more playful than your copy for Facebook, and would likely have a different call to action. When you make a content calendar, do some research so that you’re aware of effective call to action messages for the different platforms. Effective call to actions are a critical part of any marketing campaign, and should be used in your social media strategy.

5. Use Strategic Hashtags

Utilizing hashtags is the best way for companies to extend their organic reach on social media platforms, gain followers, and earn engagement. You should keep a list of hashtags relevant to your industry and location, and use these as they are relevant to your posts. For instance, if you are a hairdresser in Gainesville, Florida, you can browse Instagram to find the hashtags local Gainesville salons and residents are using to showcase their styles. Try adding hashtags as a comment on your post, instead of as a caption, to avoid cluttering the copy.

Here are some hashtags relevant to the Gainesville, Florida area:

• #theswamp
• #bestofgainesville
• #gnv
• #gainesvillebusiness
• #gainesville
• #gainesvillefl
• #gainesvilleflorida

Be sure to avoid using the same hashtags over and over again unless they match the post, otherwise users may request not to see your content for a specific hashtag, which could cause the algorithm to lower your reach.

Here, you can see that a user created a post and used the hashtag #Gainesville. Liquid Creative follows the Gainesville hashtag, so it showed up in our newsfeed. If we don’t think this post is particularly relevant to Gainesville, we can hit the “Don’t Show for This Hashtag” button.

 

When a user does this, a nice message thanking them for their feedback appears in their newsfeed in place of the post.

This feedback is used to block this account from appearing in my newsfeed for the hashtag, and likely lowers the reach for the post on that hashtag across the entire platform. Taking the time to research relevant, high traffic hashtags pays off. Learn how to increase your Instagram engagement with this quick read.

6. Post High Quality Graphics

Posting high quality, branded graphics to your account is not only important for consistency and professionalism, but also for communicating a clear message to your audience. Color alone increases brand recognition by 80%, and graphics are often able to deliver a more digestible and engaging message than copy by itself. This is especially critical on social media, where shares can greatly increase both your audience and the credibility of delivery. In general, you are more inclined to be interested in and trust a post that was shared by your cousin than a post that was shared by a company. It’s easy to measure your impressions with digital marketing, making high quality graphics an even more worthwhile investment.

One third of online time is spent watching video. It’s officially time to recognize the trend and invest in quality video content. Try to include different mediums when you make a content calendar, such as infographics, videos, and GIFs.

7. Promote Your Posts

As social media platforms have become more saturated with content, they’ve tweaked their algorithms to show users the most relevant posts. Most platforms now prioritize content from personal accounts over business accounts, causing reduced organic reach and engagement.

Facebook’s prioritization has been part of a big PR push. Zuckerberg announced in January 2018 that the algorithm would begin showing users more content from “friends, family, and groups.” This decline in organic reach on Facebook and across platforms has inspired companies to invest more in paid digital marketing efforts.

Social media platforms offer extensive data tools that enable advertisers to effectively reach their target audience. With a paid digital marketing campaign, you can target a “lookalike” audience of customers who are similar to those that already like your page. This shows your post to the audience most likely to take interest in your product or service. Incorporate promoted posts when you make a content calendar for the best return on your time spent developing a social media strategy.

Make A Content Calendar

Now that you know the basics behind social media strategy, it’s time to make a content calendar! Use the columns to plan out the date and time, purpose, copy, hashtags, links, graphics, and boosts of your posts, and add to the columns if there’s something else you want to include. If you’ll be running different ad types, add a column to keep track of that as well. We recommend using Excel or Google Sheets, and using a different sheet for each social media platform.

We’ll Handle Your Social Media Strategy

We’re the experts on Gainesville social media strategy. We’ve been managing social media for Gainesville businesses since 2011, and use our local knowledge to create engaging content that appeals to Alachua County residents. Focus on running your business, let us handle your social media strategy. Give Liquid Creative a call at (352) 600-5050, or visit our website to learn more about our social media management, digital marketing, branding, graphic design, and website development services.

Adapt to the Algorithm, Grow Your Instagram Presence

Instagram’s rapid growth has cemented its place as the cornerstone of a solid social media strategy, but has also caused the platform’s algorithm to quickly change. Instagram reached 800 million active monthly users in September 2017, a 100 million increase since that April. As a result, the newsfeed has evolved with the growth in user base as the company works to improve the user experience. 

So, how do we adapt to this changing algorithm?

Instagram is evolving with its growth by generating news feeds that contain the content that the algorithm deems most applicable to the user. This is largely measured through engagement– which poses a problem for businesses that are new to the platform or have few followers. Basically, the more engagement you already have, the easier it is to get more because your posts will show up in more news feeds. Fortunately, there are several tactics to get your posts appearing in more news feeds that don’t require gaining new followers, though you will definitely pick some up along the way.

Increasing Engagement– Even with Few Followers

Try these 5 simple strategies to boost your Instagram engagement, even if you don’t have many followers.

1. Share Instagram Stories

While you should have a solid content strategy for your Instagram posts, Instagram story views are a great way to indicate that your followers are interested in your content, and will increase your chances of your posts showing up in their newsfeed. Use the polling feature to further take advantage of this opportunity while receiving your customers’ valuable opinions!

2. Post When Followers Are Online

Some of the top factors the Instagram algorithm considers are the number of likes and comments received and how you engage with users. When you have few followers, it’s especially important to monitor overall activity metrics and post at the times that they are most active.

3. Engage With Users

Many business owners are surprised to learn that the algorithm also accounts for their reaction time to users’ comments and direct messages. Make sure that you are consistently monitoring the platform and remaining responsive to capitalize on your increased engagement.

4. Craft the Perfect Captions

Crafting the right caption is key to connecting with your audience and driving engagement. Make sure that your captions are concise and are written in the tone of your brand. 

5. Use Relevant Hashtags

Hashtags will expand the reach of your posts and connect you with new users. They’re even more critical now that users can follow hashtags. If they follow the hashtag that you use, your post can show up in their news feed regardless of whether they actually follow you.

Here are some hashtags that are relevant to the Gainesville, Florida area:

• #theswamp
• #bestofgainesville
• #gnv
• #gainesvillebusiness
• #gainesville
• #gainesvillefl
• #gainesvilleflorida

Grow Your Instagram

If you combine these tips with a strong content strategy, you will be well on your way to growing your Instagram presence, and gaining more brand recognition.

Need help managing your social media strategy? Liquid Creative is a full-service marketing agency in Gainesville, Florida with the local insight to effectively target residents of Gainesville and the greater Florida area. Call Liquid Creative today at (352) 600-5050, or visit our website to learn more about our social media packages!

 

A Passion for Gainesville Graphic Design

Originally from Fort Pierce, Florida, Emily Purvis has been a Gainesville local since 2010. In 2017, she earned a degree in Graphic Design from Santa Fe College, where she discovered her love for typography.

In her free time, Emily loves to travel, cook, collect records, and spend time with family. She loves to exercise and recently started cycling the Hawthorne Trail with her husband, Brad, on the weekends. One of Emily’s great loves is music, and she goes to concerts as often as she can.

Emily is thrilled to be a part of the team at Liquid Creative and is looking forward to delivering quality work to our awesome clients! As someone with a passion for Gainesville graphic design, it means a lot to her to be able to put her creativity to work for her community.

Fun Facts About Emily:

• Emily has seen every episode of The Office (US) so many times she’s lost count and can speak fluently in quotes from the show.
• She follows 12 different donut accounts on Instagram.
• She practices yoga every morning in her living room with her cat, Roland.

Absolute Favorite Food?

Cheeseburgers! Public & General serves up my current favorite burger.

What Do You Totally Geek Out Over?

The Sopranos. I’ll never be able to listen to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” the same way again!

Describe Yourself In a Hashtag.

#hungry

Improve Website SEO with these 4 Tips

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is always evolving, making it difficult for marketers and entrepreneurs to keep up. While staying on top of the search engine results pages requires a lot of research and know-how, there are a few tried and true methods to improve website SEO. Here we will review four of the classics that are still relevant today.

Use Your Social Media Accounts

Creating a strong social media presence will inherently improve your SEO, while you can also use your content to drive traffic to your site, increasing your site’s ranking by boosting its click-through rate. Social media also presents the opportunity for other pages to share your content, creating links that build your credibility. Expressing interest in community events and pages through social media will improve your local rankings by establishing your involvement, so engage online with businesses in your area as much as possible.

Update Your Google Places Page

As local searches become more prevalent, Google Places is now critical to a successful SEO strategy for the consumer goods and services industries. To be registered on the Google Places index you will need a physical address, and must provide in-person customer service.

When you create your Google Places page, make sure to fill out all the fields, not just those that are required. The complete information will enhance your credibility and improve your ranking. Keeping your hours updated, using relevant keywords, and uploading pictures and videos will all help optimize your page, along with adding a service area for those that operate SABs.

Create Internal and External Links

Google actually pays attention to how efficiently your website is laid out– though this is probably not purposeful. The Google “crawlers” that search your site for keywords will not access pages buried deep into your site. Minimize the clicks it takes to get to each of your pages to enable the crawlers to gather more data for search engine results. Linking to external pages will improve your site’s credibility in Google’s eyes, demonstrating that you utilized outside resources to inform your content.

Use Intuitive Design and Engaging Content

The more words and phrases your page has that relates to the user’s query and the longer a user spends on your site, the higher your ranking will be on the search engine result page for that query. Search engines algorithms pick up on a page’s keywords to calculate its ranking results, and then determine if the page was a good fit for the query largely based on how long users spend on the page.

An intuitive and aesthetically appealing design will help your users find the content that they are looking for, and remain on your site for longer. Generating engaging content will further increase dwell times, because the longer that a visitor spends reading your page, the longer their dwell time. Strong content is critical to implementing keywords naturally in your text, and to establish Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) keywords. Though they sound complicated, LSI keywords are simply words or phrases that relate to your existing keywords, establishing strong context and improving your search engine rankings. You can use this free tool to find LSI keywords.

The Results

Use Google Analytics to gather data on your web traffic, and determine the effectiveness of your SEO efforts by the available metrics. Some key indicators to monitor include number of users, dwell time, and top pages viewed.

Website SEO for the Gainesville Area

The technical nature of SEO can make it difficult to implement, but these tips will send you in the right direction. If you need help with website SEO, give Liquid Creative a call at (352) 600-5050. We are always happy to answer any of your questions about SEO, graphic design, web development, digital marketing, and any other marketing topics you would like to discuss!

If you’ve been watching your organic website traffic dwindle, you’re not alone. Noticeable decreases in organic click through rates (CTR) are occurring across industries due to several contributing factors; from 2015 to 2017, organic search results on the first page saw a 25% average CTR decrease on desktops, and 55% on mobile devices. To analyze this issue, we’ll start from the beginning.

Understanding website traffic: What is organic click through rate?

Your website traffic from search engines is made up of two key components: paid and organic traffic. Paid traffic is made up of users who visit your website from an ad, while organic traffic comes from users who found your website without one. CTR measures the popularity of your website by taking the number of people who click on your page for a given search query and dividing by the number of people who viewed it. In formula form: # of clicks/# of impressions

Why is click through rate important?

CTR indicates how many people have clicked on your page, and strongly affects Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Though CTR is not the only factor, Google realizes that the pages people click on the most are probably the most applicable to the query, and ranks them higher in search engine result pages (SERPs).

Why are organic click through rates falling?

To take a comprehensive look at the problem, we will discuss three reasons organic CTR is falling, and what you can do to maintain your website traffic.

1. Increased Ad Volume & Space

Back in 2010, Google’s pay per click ads only contained a header and URL, and about five organic results appeared above the fold on a desktop. Today, pay per click ads include a header, meta tags, URL, and often ratings and links to top pages– causing them to take up more space. Due to the increased number of paid ads displayed and their larger size, fewer organic results appear above the fold. For product searches, it may be reduced to none due to paid ads and the Google Shopping carousel. This becomes even a larger issue on mobile devices– because of the smaller screen fewer results are displayed.

2. Labeling Changes On SERPs

Half of adults don’t recognize if what they’re clicking is an ad, and that number rises to 70% for teens. Back in 2000, all Google ads had a shaded yellow background, making it clear that they were promoted pages. Now, ads are only distinguished by the small green “Ad” logo to the left of the website’s url, as pictured in the above screenshot. Though users may prefer to select an organic result, many are unaware that they are clicking on a promotion.

3. Featured Snippets and Voice Searches

Featured snippets, sometimes referred to as “answer boxes,” have made it harder and harder to get customers to scroll down SERPs. So, what is a featured snippet?A featured snippet is essentially an answer to a query pulled from what Google deems to be the most relevant website, and is displayed at the top of the SERP. This same type of algorithm is also used for voice searches. Fortunately, this feature will mainly affect information-based pages; there will not be a featured snippet that recommends a specific product or service.

Three steps to increase your organic website traffic

• Research strong keywords: Determine what words and phrases are most relevant to your company by using tools such as Google AdWords’ Keyword Planner
• Develop a content strategy incorporating your keywords: Once you have established your keywords, begin generating content that utilizes them and demonstrates strong context; you can use your keywords to find the right LSI (context) keywords using this tool
• Share content on social media: Growing your social media presence will inherently improve your website’s SEO; if used correctly your social media channels will drive traffic to your site, creating leads and further enhancing SEO through increased users and engagement

Capture paid website traffic

Even if you perfectly optimized your website and did these three things tomorrow, it can take Google about a month to improve a small website’s position on SERPs. If you’re looking to increase your website traffic today, paid digital advertising is the best option. Though paid advertising will capture traffic quickly, it’s important to develop a long-term strategy for generating organic website traffic.

Need a hand?

If you’re not sure where to start, or feel like you’ve tried everything but still can’t increase your website traffic, we’re always happy to help! Give Liquid Creative a call today at (352) 600-5050, and take the first step towards having an awesome, optimized website!

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This year, April Fool’s Day was mostly stuck in Easter’s shadow. However, the opportunity to capitalize on a day of shenanigans was not overlooked by some of the big brands in the consumer market.

Let’s take a look at 3 of our team’s favorites, and why they’re so genius!

[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ layout=”1_1″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” link=”” target=”_self” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” undefined=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” hover_type=”none” border_size=”0″ border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” margin_top=”30″ margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”no”][fusion_text]

[fusion_youtube id=”WLLm2jar57w” alignment=”right” width=”” height=”” autoplay=”false” api_params=”&rel=0″ hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=””][/fusion_youtube]1: Beautiful Bond Salon

In partnership with Instagram influencer and self-proclaimed Dog-Dad, Topher Brophy, Petco began advertising their new service to make “parents” look like their “animal children.” The advertisement opens with Brophy, whose resemblance to his dog is funny to viewers who don’t recognize him, and even more engaging to those who do. The video is hilarious and relevant to the industry, but does not call attention to any of the advantages of Petco’s actual goods or services.

So does beautifulbondsalon.com provide any benefit besides engaging users with the Petco brand?

While the company does not use their ad to promote differentiating factors that contribute to their brand’s value, they did collect data and generate leads by creating a website for Beautiful Bond Salon. They can analyze the site’s traffic to determine the demographics that this type of humor appealed to, and their button to book an appointment pulls up a short form requesting the user’s name, email, and pet type – providing clear lead and segmentation opportunities.

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[fusion_youtube id=”KfWx2-QkEdI” alignment=”right” width=”” height=”” autoplay=”false” api_params=”&rel=0″ hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=””][/fusion_youtube]2: Jäger Balm

In this 1:15 spot, Jägermeister advertises its new “Jäger Balm,” infomercial-style.

But what makes this ad so great?

While this clear play on words and humor are clever, this ad is particularly impressive because the company was able to use a joke product relevant to their industry to explain the benefits of their real product – Jägermeister.

The salesman in the video describes Jäger Balm as bold yet balanced, sweet, bitter, fruity, and spicy. He also mentions its German origins and that its ingredients include a blend of 56 botanicals. These are all key features that Jägermeister uses to differentiate its real product.

The “Product” page of their website reads, “Every German masterpiece contains equal parts precision and inspiration. Bold, yet balanced, our herbal liqueur is no different. Blending 56 botanicals, our ice-cold shot has always been embraced by those who take originality to the next level.”

Jäger Balm is not only relevant to the company’s industry, but also reinforces Jägermeister’s existing messaging.  

… And it gets better.

When you dial the 1-800 number on the “infomercial” screen, callers are offered a 10% discount on their 3-bottle tap machine. Good going, Jägermeister!

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[fusion_youtube id=”blaL64WbI2s” alignment=”right” width=”” height=”” autoplay=”false” api_params=”&rel=0″ hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=””][/fusion_youtube]3: Honda Sixth Sense

Honda’s prank also did a great job of advertising their existing product, but made sure to keep it brief. The ad primarily focused on the humor of their new app, “Honda Sixth Sense,” designed to prevent distracted walkers from making collisions.  

For the first ten seconds, the narrator introduces the issue of pedestrian collisions, and introduces Honda’s existing sensing technologies that will allow them to expand into this new market. They show a clip advertising their vehicles’ sensing capabilities for about three seconds:

The video continues to explain the services offered by their “Sixth Sense” app, relating each to the existing sensing technologies of their vehicles. They show a young texter being alerted when he begins to veer of the sidewalk, explicitly referencing lane departure warnings, and then as he casually navigates obstacles with his “collision system”– all while staring at his phone. The ad then completely centers on the comedy, introducing a premium feature that enables users to receive a warning when someone they don’t want to run into is nearby.

In the end, they brought it back to the Honda brand, using the tagline “Creating Safe Mobility Solutions.”

Honda addressed the two biggest concerns with comedic advertising.

The two main concerns while using humor in advertising are that it will not “land” with the intended audience, and that the viewer may remember the joke but not the brand behind it.

This ad was clearly targeted towards a younger audience, and by honing in on what type of humor would relate to them, Honda avoided the first common pitfall. To ensure viewer retention of the company advertising, Honda continuously weaved their branding and product features throughout the ad. They were able to successfully retain humor while incorporating key messaging, and ended on a tagline that called attention to Honda’s focus on safety.

We love to talk ads – check out our blog to see what marketing topics we’ve been buzzing about lately! You can visit our website to learn more about our agency, or give us a call at (352) 600-5050.

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