With the start of a new decade, many businesses are evaluating their digital marketing plans and considering where improvements could be made for the next ten years moving forward. Regularly assessing, analysing and rectifying your marketing processes are important actions that encourage good marketing outcomes.

The fact of the matter is that trends do change. Audiences do change. Direction does change. Therefore, your marketing needs to be altered to stick to these ever-swerving paths too.

For some businesses, 2020 could mark the perfect year to initiate a company re-brand. If your digital presence is lacklustre, underperforming or misrepresentative of your business, then flipping things on their head could be the most effective way to encourage change.

However, most businesses will discover that they do not need to act so drastically. Perhaps some things only need to be tweaked in order to rev up the sales engines.

One of the best ways to rejuvenate your business is to engage with quality web developers and revive your website. A few pokes, prods and pinches from professional website designers might be exactly what you need to re-attract a stale audience or establish your brand in a complex scene.

In 2020, there are various trends and necessities that local web designers are swaying towards when creating new websites. As a trusted digital marketing firm in Australia, we keep up-to-date with all website trends in order to deliver the best website development services to our clients. Below are some of the key pieces of advice we have for businesses across Australia who are looking to amplify their online presence through a revitalised website.

Keep it clean.

In the past few years, we have seen many popular brands favouring simpler and cleaner web designs. The reason for this is to present a modern, confident and relaxed aesthetic which can encourage viewers to trust the brand. At the end of the day, there is no need to over-complicate your website if it is not necessary. Additionally, a simpler website will often result in quicker loading speeds for your pages, and therefore improved audience retention.

Focus on the important things.

Your home page should emphasise the most important values, services or products associated with your brand. These features should be demonstrated through the wording and imagery. Keep in mind that within the first three seconds of viewing is when your audience makes their impression of you, so you need to ensure that your message is plastered front and centre. If your purpose is confused, your audience will be too!

SEO is your best friend.

Never underestimate the importance of search engine optimisation during the creation of a website. Not only should you consider incorporating keywords where possible, but the backend of your site must be established in a way that is readable and likeable by search engines.

Make it easy for the viewer.

Key information should never be difficult to find on your website. Including links wherever possible will allow your audience to easily navigate through the site and unveil the details they require. It will also improve your bounce rate and encourage viewers to continue viewing the site for as long as possible. If you sell products, the purchasing process should be so simple that a monkey could buy from you. If you sell services, the Book Now button must be prominent on every page within your site.

Consider landing pages for your targeted campaigns.

While the visual beauty and effectiveness of your website is paramount, it still might not be the perfect answer for securing customers. If you are creating social media campaigns or engaging with digital advertising, it could be more effective to send your target audience to a landing page rather than your generic site. In doing so, you are strictly directing their purchasing journey and ensuring that all content is relevant and relatable to them.

Leave it to the professionals.

Website creation and website management are challenging tasks. As a business owner, it is likely that you are too busy with the operational and financial aspects of your business to get caught up in digital marketing. Most companies find it is more fruitful and relieving to pass the job of website maintenance onto a professional marketing team.

For a complete website refresh, you will need to work with a popular website developer nearby. The best website developers in Sydney will have also have an in-house search engine optimisation team who can ensure your site is created with optimal search-ability and functionality.

The skilled team at Generate Your Audience have assisted hundreds of business across New South Wales and Australia to design websites that are guaranteed to draw clientele. For a comprehensive digital marketing company that provides social media management, website design, SEO and more, get in touch with one of our team members.

Many financial analysts are strongly predicting that Australia will be impacted by a recession in the new decade. Some are stating that this may occur as early as 2020.

There are a number of indicators that suggest our country is teetering on the edge of recession. These include a stall in wage growth, a stagnant property market and poor retail sales. Arguably, the economy is already in complete turmoil.

Other countries across the globe are also experiencing a confusing economic period, including the United States and United Kingdom. Once these countries hit rock bottom, there is no denying that Australia could follow suit.

Even those who deny the probability of a recession admit that Australia’s economic climate will take a turn for the worst. Both consumers and businesses are going to feel the strain.

What does a recession mean for retail and service-based businesses?

Tough financial times will influence how and where the public spends their money. Spending in the retail industry will almost certainly decrease, and most service-based businesses will feel the pinch too.

If businesses fail to navigate their evolving markets and reach their audience, their financials will start heading southbound. In the last-minute desperation to secure clients, they will offer hefty discounts on their products. Unfortunately, reducing prices does nothing but cheapen your brand and reduce the value of each individual sale.

It is possible to continue thriving in a recession, but you need to already be developing a strategic plan for moving forward.

How can you prepare for a decrease in market activity?

Because there is strong evidence to suggest that Australia is going into recession, you should already be planning for how this could affect your business.

In this perplexing period, some business owners will panic about their potential upcoming loss of sales. As a result, they will reduce their business expenditure and put a halt to many of their marketing efforts. While this may sound like a good short term solution (reducing your expenses to make up for lower sales), it is not a smart idea for long term business sustainability.

In fact, we highly recommend that you ramp up your marketing efforts in order to create a loyal customer base that can sustain you throughout the recession. It is much easier to acquire clients now, rather than once the economic downhill has truly begun. Our suggested plan of attack for all retail and service-based businesses includes the following actions:

1. Secure clients and customers right now.

A strategic marketing plan will draw clients to your business right now, while they still having spending on the mind. This is not a time to fade into the background – it is a time to bring much awareness to your brand name and solidify yourselves as top competitors in the market. You need to take action and build a strong customer base before it’s too late.

2. Build stronger relationships with your current customer base.

The customer base that you have now will be the lifeboats keeping you afloat during the recession. Take the opportunity to nurture these clients now so that they remain faithful albeit the complex financial turns.

3. Plan for interesting competitor activity.

A recession can cause much chaos. Your competitors are probably going to do some crazy things. If you are mentally prepared for this, you can ensure that you don’t make the same mistakes. Just because your competitor lowers their prices, it does not mean you have to as well. In fact, maintaining your price points shows confidence in your service or product quality and it could showcase you as a more stable, reliable option for customers at this challenging financial time.

4. Identify the need for your product or service, and market this.

There are some things that people need, whether or not they have the money to spend on it. Food and water are two of those things. As a business, you need to establish why your customers should continue to purchase your product, even if financial times are tough. This comes down to the core functions of your product or service. If you are offering important and valuable products, then you already have this covered.

Acquiring clients through effective marketing.

Marketing in the modern-day is challenging. Therefore, you could benefit from having a professional marketing team striving for the same goals as you.

The best digital marketing agencies will offer a range of services to drive your sales objectives, including content marketing, email marketing, search engine optimisation, social media management and web development.

As a trusted digital marketing agency in Australia, we understand how to dominate your local market and be well prepared for a recession. Contact us today to discover how we can get a greater reach for your company and start to solidify your client base.

Statistics state that there are more than 50 million businesses who have created business pages on Facebook. Additionally, it was recently estimated that there are more than 25 million businesses registered on Instagram.

There is no denying that almost every business across Australia is using social media as part of their marketing strategy. Time and time again, social platforms prove to be an excellent space for attracting both B2B and B2C interest.

Although, to achieve success on social media, it is critical that you outline a plan and purpose. Randomly chuckin’ words onto the web will not help you. But strategically targeting potential clients with tactical words and visuals can.

All marketing plans will look different, depending on how limited or extensive your resources are. However, all marketing strategies should consider the seven elements below and incorporate these into a plan moving forward. When you are building a social media plan from scratch, it is important that you dwell on the below considerations and ensure they are addressed at one point or another.

1. Overall aims with your social media.

First of all, you need to contemplate and discuss your primary and secondary intentions by engaging with social platforms. Perhaps you are trying to attract clients online to your services? Maybe you are wanting to generate brand awareness through social media? Alternatively, you might be hoping to sell products or event tickets. There could be multiple reasons you want to be on social channels.

Continually referring back to your goals will make sure that are staying on track and producing content that relates back to your ultimate intentions.

2. Goals for six, twelve and twenty four months.

Realistic and measurable goals are imperative for tracking progress and giving your content producers purpose. Your goals could be reflective of how many posts you want to strive to make over a period of time, or they may be more results-driven and indicative of how many customers/clients you want to entice.

Between different industries, goals will vary largely. Without ever using social media before, it might be difficult to understand what an attainable goal could be. Sometimes it is best to watch your success over one or two months to get an idea of your social media potential, and then make some goals based on your initial success.

3. Your budget for social media.

Majority of Australian businesses have entirely diverted their marketing budget from traditional forms of advertising, and they have placed it into digital mediums. While we strongly believe that social media and other digital advertising is the future of marketing, we understand that forcing your entire budget into the online world can be daunting.

There are a variety of ways to organically reach an audience, as well as spending money on paid advertisements.

4. The platforms you intend on using.

Popular social media platforms to consider in a social media marketing strategy are:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• YouTube

It is worthwhile being flexible in your approach to social media, as new trends and popular platforms are continually arising. If you are willing to adapt your marketing strategy as time progresses, you are opening yourself to optimal success.

5. The frequency you intend on posting.

As the most popular marketers in Australia say, content is king. The time and effort placed into your digital marketing strategy will largely depend on your resources. It will also vary depending on the return you are hoping to gain from your efforts. Active businesses will generally post around three times per week, but small businesses starting out on social media might only aim for once per month.

6. The style and tone of your content.

If you have gone through the process of branding your business, you will have a general idea of what tone and style your content should be. Remaining ‘on brand’ will assist with general brand awareness and consistency between all of your marketing efforts. In regards to types of content, videos are known to perform well on all social platforms. However, the power of good copy and bold images should not be underestimated.

7. What consultants you will engage with for assistance.

Unless you have a sizable in-house marketing team, the problem you will encounter is that you are too focused on your specific business niche to understand the ins and outs of social media.

Instead of wrangling your brain to understand the platforms and obtain genuine results through social media, it is sometimes best to hand the task over to social media professionals.

If you are yet to set yourself up on digital platforms, you have a lot of catching up to do. However, there is no need to panic. It is never too late to establish and grow an audience online. Especially with the help of one of Australia’s best marketing consultants, you will be digitally set up in no time.

The team at Generate Your Audience are confident in our social media strategies that attain admirable results for all of our clients. We also offer a greater range of digital marketing services, including website development and search engine optimisation. Drop a line today and find out how our service offering can be beneficial to you.

Sales. Sales. Sales.

They are everywhere. Especially during the holiday sales period, it is difficult to walk anywhere beyond the front door of your house without seeing a bright red sale sign. As many people have encountered in recent years, the sales are now creeping closer to home, as Black Friday often equals a bombardment of digital marketing emails from e-commerce businesses.

Every year, Black Friday bargains get more intense, and businesses are starting to feel the anxiety months before it all begins. The pressure on both physical retail stores and e-commerce stores to deliver unbeatable discounts is immense.

Many of our clients are often subject to the stress of Australia’s biggest retail weekend. As it is now approaching the end of October, we suggest you start thinking about your Black Friday and Cyber Weekend as soon as possible. If you are yet to begin the planning, this is something you should look into immediately.

It is true that holiday sale periods an opportunity not to be missed, but they also produce a sense of panic where brands can overreact in a haste and make poor business decisions.

What is Black Friday and Cyber Weekend?
First of all, we should address what these occasions actually are.

In 2019, Black Friday is set to take place on Friday 29^th November. The Cyber Weekend will run from this day up until Monday 2^nd December. Some businesses, however, will decide to start their sales earlier or continue them beyond these dates.

The sales holidays are predominantly celebrated by retail businesses, where discounts of up to 75% are sometimes offered entice eager customers into buying.

What digital marketing should you do for Black Friday and Cyber Weekend?
Regardless of whether you have an e-commerce store or a physical shop, a strong digital marketing plan is crucial in the lead up to the holiday sales period. Once you have decided upon what items you will be discounting, and how much you will be discounting them by, you need to establish a plan for marketing these sales.

To put it simply, your customers will not know about your bargains unless you advertise to them. In order to get a return on Cyber Weekend, you need to put in a little effort to begin with. Some marketing tactics you may like to consider include:

• Professional website redesign for the weekend and week leading up.
• Email marketing campaigns.
• Search engine optimisation strategy.
• Google Adwords campaign.
• Social media marketing campaigns.
• Content marketing

The most important focus for your Cyber Weekend sales should be having a reliable, high-performing website that will manage the influx of customers with ease. There would be nothing more disappointing than discovering your website has crashed, and you cannot obtain any sales at all. Most businesses find that it is beneficial to engage with a reputable local marketing company that specialises in e-commerce stores. With professionals on your side, you should be able to achieve anything.

Our golden tip for deciding upon your Cyber Weekend discounts.
With so many businesses heavily reducing their prices over the sales weekend, you are likely to feel the pressure to do so too. Every business wants to be providing the lowest bargains, as they believe that it is the only way to secure customers in the competitive market.

Having worked with various industries in the marketing space, we know that drastically lowering your prices will not achieve anything positive for your business in the long-term. Although it may secure a few extra customers over the weekend, it will not necessarily do any favours for your brand.

Our piece of advice is: do not get involved with the war on discounts.
It is a never-ending spiral downwards (and that is obviously not where you want your business heading).

As a business, you should be able to stabilise or raise your prices as your consumers come to terms with your quality, and your brand awareness and popularity grows. Set your focus on the uphill, rather than the downhill.

Ultimately, reducing your prices too far can result in various negative outcomes for your brand. If you drop your prices too far, you may suffer the following consequences:

• Your brand appears ‘cheap’ in the public’s eyes.
• Your customers will always expect low prices moving forward.
• In future, your customers will wait for more exorbitant sales before purchasing anything.
• You will not be making enough profit from each individual item.
• There is still a good chance that your competitors will drop their prices lower than yours.
• The ‘price hunting’ customers that you attract from sales are not reliable or idealistic customers. Instead, you should be seeking high-paying, quality-focused consumers.

Providing some form of discount during Cyber Weekend is important for drawing some attention and excitement to your brand. However, the prices should not be desperately low.

If you need assistance establishing a strategic marketing plan for Cyber Weekend, you can get in touch with an expert from our specialised marketing team. Generate Your Audience has much experience in the e-commerce space, and we have guided various businesses to sales period success.

In the world of social media and technology, controversies are constantly arising. Typically, debate will develop around the most popular apps and creatively designed platforms. In some cases, the argument will surround the core features of the app, but other times it may reflect on how society is destructively making use of or reacting to the app.

As one of your key social media marketers and analysers, it is our responsibility to stay abreast of relevant app trends and digital news. To develop the most effective and current-day digital marketing strategies, we ensure that we have a comprehensive oversight of all technological activity.

The most recent app to start a societal debacle has been TikTok. Millions of people have downloaded it, thousands of people love it, and thousands of people loathe it. In order to give a comprehensive review of the TikTok app, we are investigating what the application actually does, why it has risen so rapidly to fame, and why people are arguing against it.

What is the app TikTok?
According to its description on the App Store, TikTok is a destination for creating and sharing “short-form videos that are exciting, spontaneous and genuine.”

The chief function of the application is the ability to easily create short music and lip-sync videos of around 3 to 15 seconds in length. Within the app, a variety of popular trends have emerged, including meme creation, comedic lip-syncing and duets.

Originally, the developers (ByteDance) released the application in China and named it Douyin. It was developed within 200 days and reached 100 million users within one year of being available for download.

Once it had dominated the Chinese market, the developers re-released the app as TikTok for the Western audience. It became available for download in September 2017.

Interestingly, a similar application named Musical.ly was already existent, allowing users to create short lip-sync and comedy videos. Having been released in 2014, Musical.ly had already attracting a sizeable user base of predominantly young Americans. As a means of combatting competition, TikTok decided to purchase Musical.ly and merge the two applications together. Users of each application were amalgamated to the one app: TikTok.

Why is TikTok so popular?
There is no denying that TikTok has generated much attraction in the digital space. In late 2018, the application became one of the most downloaded apps in the United States. According to some statistics, it was the most frequently downloaded app in America in October of 2018.

Marketing professionals agree that a variety of concepts allowed the platform to obtain such popularity:

• The comedic nature of the app allowed it to become a viral trend.
  Memes being created on the app were then shared to other social media platforms, which ultimately acted as advertisements for TikTok.
• Incorporation of common social features.
  Following other social applications, TikTok included a number of typical features into its design: hashtags, content feeds, filters, profiles, sharing ability.
• Endorsement by a number of celebrities.

High-profile personnel, such as Ariana Grande, began using the application and sharing the videos. It influenced their following to also use TikTok.

• Merging of relevant competition.
  By purchasing similar applications, such as Musical.ly, TikTok effectively removed any possible competition for users.
• Short, simple and fast-paced design.
  Videos made on TikTok cannot be longer than a minute in length. Alike to the popular app, Vine, this fast-paced nature ensures no attention spans are lost.

What is the controversy over TikTok?
As should be anticipated will all far-reaching social platforms, TikTok has been subject to a range of controversy.

Notably, the app has been heavily accused of:

• Privacy issues.
  Concerns have been raised that children using the app could have communication access to strangers and potentially predators.
• Cyberbullying concerns.
  Some users have reported being cyberbullied on the platform.

• Copyrighting music.
  The platform has been criticised for not paying royalties to artists whose music is being used on the app.

In the United States, there were apprehensions that the application could be stealing and sharing data from America to China because the parent company was of Chinese background. In Indonesia, the application was banned because it was said to expose inappropriate content, such as pornography. Supposedly, the Indian government have also attempted to ban the app.

Ultimately, most social media critics agree that the controversy over TikTok is minimal when compared to that of other social media giants. Considering the popularity of the app, the criticism is actually rather insignificant. TikTok have even made admirable attempts to reduce negative feedback, including the ability to make profiles private.

Do we think you should be worried about using the app? No more than any other digital application.

Our recommendation, as one of Australia’s leading digital marketing brands, is to stop criticising the app, and start taking note. TikTok’s developers have been commendably strategic and innovative with their approach.