Category: Digital

A public relations crisis can happen at any time to any company, and while circumstances vary wildly, it is important to be prepared. How a company responds to a crisis will affect whether the issue fades away or further aggravates the situation. With how fast news spreads in today’s world, you have to be ready. Having a crisis management plan in place for if or when a PR crisis happens is crucial for confident actions and positive outcomes. 

Public relations crisis management is a process an organization undertakes to mitigate the impact of a significant event that poses a threat to the organization. So what could constitute a PR crisis? It starts from one or more things, like people, personnel, partners or products. You never know exactly what it’s going to be, but you should examine all the ways your business interacts with different variables and be ready for the unpleasant surprise. Let’s say it was a customer issue that has now gone viral on X, formerly Twitter. Does your customer service department know to whom to elevate the situation? Does the situation need a statement or would it make things worse? Sometimes drawing more attention to an issue can escalate the situation, whereas in other scenarios it may be important to publicly state what you are doing to resolve it. These are just some of the questions our PR team at Smith Kroeger can help answer, as well as plan workflows and decision-making processes around to help build the foundation of your PR communication philosophy and process.

Speed-to-information is critical when a PR crisis arises; every minute counts when people are waiting for you to respond. It’s important to draft example statements to have on hand for potential issues, that way your company is prepared with a solid starting point when something arises. You need to understand who is affected by the situation, whether it’s employees, news media, customers or others. Once you understand who is affected, you should follow your PR communication process with language that corresponds to your overall communication philosophy. It’s also important to understand how your leadership wants to react based on what the situation requires.

Once you have determined your next actions, whether it’s a statement or otherwise, you must monitor news and social media channels, be proactive and know where the story is going. What you should not do is send out a press release and think you are done. Many times you will be contacted for follow-up questions, which is something Smith Kroeger can help you prepare. Throughout a crisis, our PR team can help monitor what news channels are reporting, how social conversations are evolving and what additional potential impacts may be in store – and help plan what to do next.  

While a PR crisis can be very stressful, our team of PR specialists can guide you and your business every step of the way. If you are interested in learning more about our PR services, please fill out a contact form on our website.

Are you interested in re-engaging potential consumers? Does your company want a higher conversion rate? Well then website retargeting is the marketing tactic for you and your company!

What is Website Retargeting?

Website retargeting is an online advertising strategy used by marketers and businesses to re-engage potential customers who did not take actions, such as a purchase, on your website, often termed a “conversion.” These ads can be placed all over the internet for past visitors to see. However, unlike regular advertisements that everyone can see, retargeted ads will only show up to those who have visited your website. You might be asking, “How does that work?” It can work through two different types of site retargeting: pixel-based and list-based.

Pixel-Based Site Retargeting

Pixel-based retargeting uses browser cookie technology. The term “pixel” comes from the small piece of code added to your website. When a new visitor comes to your website the code embeds a “cookie” (pixel) into the visitor’s browser. The cookie then stores the site visit, what you looked at, things you put in your cart, etc. The cookie will then track future web activity and will display ads for your business on other possible websites.

List-Based Retargeting

List-based retargeting is typically used on social media platforms  that allows you to retarget people in your business contact database. The advantage is that your ads can be highly customized, but can cause some challenges. There is quite a low match rate between B2B contact lists and social platforms. It can be tricky because most social media accounts are connected to a personal email address, not a business email address.

Advantages of Site Retargeting

There are many advantages from using site retargeting. For one thing, it can increase conversion rates, helping to turn a higher profit for your business. Site retargeting can also improve  brand recall and recognition.  The more people see your online ads, the more likely they are to recall your brand and engage with it.

Finally, it is a cost-effective way to advertise your brand and products. Because site retargeting already narrows down your target audience to an audience that has already shown interest in your brand or products, site retargeting usually costs less per click than other types of advertising.

Want to re-engage website visitors  in an easy and cost-effective way? Click the contact button to reach out to us!

Did you know that 47% of email recipients open an email based solely on the subject line*? Even so, subject lines often aren’t given the forethought they deserve. With that in mind, here are a few tips for crafting subject lines that will boost your open rates.

1. Be brief.

Statistics show that more than half of all people check email on their mobile devices, most of which can only display 30-40 characters. That means you need to make your subject lines short or risk truncation.

2. Be compelling.

Use active verbs and power words that evoke urgency and build interest. Entice people to open your email with benefits, offers, humor, trends, teasers or intriguing questions.

3. Be personal.

Your email marketing service can provide segmentation options that let you personalize subject lines based on user information like demographics, behaviors, locations or psychographics. Grouping customers in this way enables you to develop subject lines that are relevant and inspire engagement.

4. Avoid being spam.

The occasional emoji is OK but using all caps is not. There are more than 200 trigger words, phrases and symbols – considered manipulative, hyperbolic, cheap and worse – that can send your email straight to spam. Take a moment to look them up and be wary of using them.

5. Test and analyze.

Find your winning subject line formula by doing A/B testing (another function provided via your email marketing service). Vary length and content to see what gets the best open rate. There also are a number of online subject line analyzers that will check and score your copy. Some are free; some are not.  

If you’re still unsure of your subject line writing skills, contact Smith Kroeger. We can help you put together an email marketing campaign that’s sure to move the needle for your business.

* Source: Tidio 2020

As we all know by now, social media marketing is a powerful tactic that businesses can use to increase brand awareness, generate leads, connect with consumers and drive engagement. In the following infographic we highlight several important social media statistics that you need to know to help your marketing team develop an effective social media strategy.

At Smith Kroeger we keep on top of important statistics that may impact our clients’ marketing efforts and work with them to implement solutions to ensure their digital strategies result in maximum success. If you have questions or are interested in digital services for your business, we’d love to hear from you.

When the team at Anderson Roofing approached us about a website redesign, we were eager to help carry out a successful redesign. Many of the concerns they communicated to us are shared by other business owners across different industries who have a website. Excited about the ways we were going to be able to help Anderson Roofing improve and strengthen its online presence, our development team quickly got to work. 

The following outlines the pain points we identified and the solutions our development team delivered.

Our website looks outdated compared to our competitors.

In our article Staggering Website Stats You Need to Know, we revealed that 75% of people base the credibility of a business on how its website looks. The clean, modern, professional design that we crafted was not only intended to better reflect the Anderson Roofing brand, but improve consistency, usability and readability across the new website.

Our website does not accurately reflect the full range of services we offer.

As with many businesses, services offered change as time goes on. In this case, Anderson Roofing had expanded its services to include siding and gutter repair and installation. We advised Anderson Roofing on the key content to include on these important new service pages and how best to incorporate them into the site navigation.

Our website does not include lead generation forms.

To assist with lead-generation efforts, we strategically added contact forms and calls to action throughout the newly designed website. The contact page is the most obvious place to put a contact form. So to maximize conversions, we placed another contact form above the fold on the home page, making it visible immediately and eliminating the need for scrolling. This is ideal for potential customers who already know what service they need in regard to roofing, gutters or siding.

Our website is not secure.

Security is crucial to every website today. As of 2020, the No. 1 Google ranking factor was secured websites (HTTPS vs. HTTP). To avoid low search rankings, exposure to data breaches and loss of potential customers, we make it a priority to secure every website we develop. So the Anderson Roofing team can rest easy that its online presence and investment are now protected. 

Our website is not mobile-friendly.

With the growing usage of smartphones and tablets, it’s no surprise that website design needs to be effective on multiple devices. In our article Staggering Website Stats You Need to Know, we shared that 40% of people will switch to a different search result if the first one is not mobile-friendly. To prevent Anderson Roofing from losing potential customers to its competitors, we crafted a custom design that is not only responsive, but looks good and functions well on all screen sizes.

Our goal with any website redesign project is to have a solid understanding of the client’s goals and work in partnership to figure out how we are going to achieve them. We look for opportunities to overdeliver and strive to develop websites that exceed our client’s expectations. If you are interested in website redesign services, we’d love to hear from you.

Check out the redesigned Anderson Roofing website at andersonroofingne.com.  

FURTHER READING

When Is It Time to Consider a Website Redesign?

New Website Launch: Bellevue Public Schools Foundation