Category: Website Development

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Consumer & Healthcare Creative & Production Digital Targeting Services Healthcare Media & Analytics Retail Tourism Hospitality Convention Website Development
photo 1417733403748 83bbc7c05140 1200x600 c default
photo 1417733403748 83bbc7c05140 1200x600 c default

Retargeting has been described as “turning window shoppers into buyers,” something that every business craves.
But this actually isn’t the best analogy – perhaps more of an overeager sales clerk who helps you in the store, then accompanies you to several other stores, all the while telling you what you’re missing out on.

You may call it a little creepy. The sales associate may call it being pleasantly persistent. Digital marketing experts call it a smart, effective method to encourage customers to learn about a product or business, and then be reminded about it later, and once again for good measure.

For those aren’t entirely sure what retargeting is, the short version is that it’s the ability for an advertiser to “follow” you when you visit their site, and have their ads appear on other pages you visit after you’ve departed. The frequency varies, but it explains why ads reappear for places you just visited on the Web or social media, even though the site you’re currently connected to may not have anything to do with that particular topic.

Far more than mere coincidence, (or in case you might have envisioned an advertiser with an unlimited budget who is keenly aware of the sites you visit), retargeting is a way to constantly remind customers about a particular business.

It also works: according to CMO, Adobe’s marketing blog, businesses typically see a 2 percent rate of people visiting and buying. But when retargeting is in place, all sorts of good things can happen, including a 400 percent increase in ad response, and 3 out of 5 buyers saying they notice ads on other sites. Those are impressive results.

Retargeting also isn’t terribly annoying – 25 percent of people surveyed had a positive or very positive reaction to seeing extra ads, compared to 19 percent who dislike them, and 57 percent who are neutral on the notion of retargeting.

For marketers considering adding the practice to your greater digital strategy, here’s what you should know:

How retargeting works

The mechanics of retargeting ads are pretty simple. On your home page or any inside page, you include a bit of invisible Javascript code at the footer. When visitors arrive at your site, your script will send a browser cookie to their phones or desktops. When they visit other pages in the future, the cookie will instruct the page to call and display your ad in one of the page’s available ad slots.

Retargeting requires working with a remarketing company, which usually is a member of common digital ad exchanges, and can help you craft your message. Social media channels like Facebook have their own process for targeting or retargeting, which can include ads on the right –hand column, or in your news feed.

When you establish your retargeting campaign, you’re able to configure how often your ad is displayed, be it every time visitors go to another page; or possibly, every fifth site they visit; when a certain keyword shows up (such as shoes). This also begs the question, “Does that style of ads end if the customer goes back to your site and buys something, or does it expire after a week or longer?”

AdRoll, a popular online provider, has confirmed that different subjects can require different timing when setting-up your unique campaigns. It recommends that people seeking travel info should be retargeted immediately, while those who are more interested in specific retail goods may not need to see these ads as frequently.

Some retargeting services allow you to get even more hands-on in your ad. ReTargeter, another option, said some people prefer self-serve campaigns, where they design all the aspects of their program, from the sizes of ads to where they appear. This may be better for your budget, however it may elicit more of a technical challenge than seeking a full-serve provider. The following include different types of retargeting, with varying strategies for various industries:

Health Care Retargeting

A Pew Research study stated that 72 percent of Internet users tried to find health info during the past year. To counter the sometimes “iffy” results on various sites, there are also a variety of useful resources that have a stake in providing searchers with adequate details, including community health providers, along with plenty of pharmaceutical companies who don’t want anyone to forget their product.

According to HealthCareCommunication, retargeting allows health info seekers to do their homework, while returning slightly more educated about a specific topic. For instance, an individual may visit a site for their local doctor or hospital to learn about a particular procedure, and then, in turn, visit other sites to explore the topic further. Following all of this research, seekers will be prepared to be return to their initial site, hopefully with more knowledge.

Providers are advised to include a call to action – ask people to do something – and not have a retargeting campaign last longer than 30 days.

Hospitality/Tourism Retargeting

We’re all familiar with the frugal traveler who goes out of his/her way to spend as little as possible when on the road. On the other hand, there are those who stimulate the local economy with plenty of purchases of food and lodging, car rentals, souvenirs, and other expenditures. Either way, much of a traveler’s research is performed online, especially when comparing prices and making reservations.

If you’re a travel business, Trooz, a travel marketing site, suggests that a retargeting service can help you partner with other related businesses, especially of the higher-priced variety. That way, if you represent an inexpensive B&B, you may still target customers who visit airfare or local travel sites. In addition, you might also consider a service that includes international visitors.

Restaurants, another part of the industry, also have the potential to reap benefits. Restaurantnews.com confirms that those who click on your ads will already be familiar with you and what you offer, resulting in a stronger lead, rather simply than trying to tell the world that your brand exists. Throw in a coupons or a deal, and position your company in an even more exciting manner to fellow restaurant fans.

Retail Retargeting

Here’s where retargeting/remarketing really is a winner. If an item catches a shoppper’s eye, but he/she say “better not,” retargeting gives brands a second, third, and even fourth chance to talk the potential buyer into their purchase. Since so much of shopping can be deemed an impulse buy, a merchant can retarget shoppers by frequency alone, with phrases such as, “Are you sure?”, or, “Are you still thinking about these snazzy boots?” In addition, retargeting can be used to highlight items in an online shopping cart that that a prospective purchaser may have abandoned. With a reminder that the items are still waiting to be purchased, it’s not as difficult to successfully complete the transaction.

Based on the popularity of retargeting, there’s plenty of potential to include it as component of your marketing plan. Some experts warn not to rely too much on this singular service at the expense of other marketing options, but it has the potential to help extend your reach and politely nudge your audience in a desired direction.

Still have questions about retargeting, and considering a potential partner to lend industry expertise to your campaign? Contact our team of digital marketing experts to help close more sales – and drive-up revenue – for your brand.

To check out more of our media planning strategies, visit our Media services page.

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Audience Audience Segmentation Branding Content Marketing Conversion Optimization Creative & Production Digital Targeting Services Environments Implementation Media & Analytics Strategy & Positioning Website Development
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marketing2 1200x600 c default

Whether making a last minute push to meet year-end numbers or simply subscribing to the reality of “use it or lose it,” most retailers pick up the pace when it comes to their Q3 and Q4 marketing methods. Wondering how to aim for and achieve the best possible results? Consider these seven proven ways to maximize your retail marketing allocations.

1. Better your blog

Unfortunately, many retail business blogs miss the mark when it comes to achieving their full potential. Why? Because they exist out of a sense of obligation, as opposed to as an extension of a company’s overall business strategy.

Blogs are cost-efficient, highly effective marketing tools….unless they’re left to languish, in which case they offer value to neither you nor your consumers. Conversely, a well-executed blog can help you build engagement and foster consumer loyalty while also enhancing SEO rankings and search results. Stop thinking of your blog as your website’s “ugly stepsister,” and start thinking of it as more of a fairy godmother of sorts — with the magical potential to generate sales leads.

2. Look harder at search engine marketing

Odds are, you promote your website via Search Engine Marketing (SEM) throughout the year. However, did you know that Q3 and Q4 offer the enhanced opportunity to take a closer look at your conversion rates? Are your average costs per lead and conversions meeting your expectations?  If not, consider where your efforts may be failing.

For many organizations, the critical element is poorly-designed landing pages which fail to generate search marketing ROI. After all, different campaigns have varying search optimization parameters. Taking the time to customize each campaign can yield powerful results right when you need them.

Also, keep in mind that while starting new campaigns may not yield realizable ROI by year’s end, maximizing your existing processes and programs has the potential to improve outcomes.

3. Focus on Facebook

While social media in general presents valuable opportunities for marketers, Facebook takes second place only to Google when it comes to worldwide net digital ad revenues. When was the last time you evaluated your Facebook advertising approach? Whether you’re looking to cast a wider net or increase sales, Facebook offers a captive audience to savvy advertisers.

Not only that, but Facebook’s robust analytics allow you to target your audience, choose from different ad formats, and understand your results through reporting, tracking and measuring capabilities. If your marketing efforts are going awry, these metrics can help you take swift, corrective actions.

4. Go for growth

While dwindling resources may compel you to trim expenses, it’s also important to keep an eye on the prize: building value. This doesn’t necessarily mean cutting costs, but instead amping up accountability. Execution-driven strategies position you to demonstrate the effectiveness of your retail marketing campaigns, and information management is a critical part of the process.

Today’s retail marketers have access to more actionable data than ever before. Demonstrable results are not only essential to assessing ROI, but also to making any last minute adjustments to move forward in the most productive way during retail’s busiest season.

5. Optimize email efforts

On that note, heading into the holiday season, it’s particularly important to deliver content to consumers via the most appealing and accessible means. While social media gets the lion’s share of attention, email remains a preference for many in your target market.

But not just any emails. From delivering coupon codes to informing recipients about upcoming in-store and online flash sales, emails can drive both traffic and conversions.

And don’t forget about the importance of mobile. Responsive, aesthetically pleasing email messages can also further optimize Q3 and Q4 outcomes.

6. Count on content

The typical 21st century consumer doesn’t want a hard sell; he/she wants value. As consumers prepare to open their pocketbooks during the season of giving, give them a gift of your own: meaningful content that either answers a question or enriches their lives in some essential way.

Content should be consistent, relevant, unique, and focused on making the entire shopping process more accessible and user-friendly. When designing your content strategies during Q3 and Q4, keep in mind that the best content is not about completing a sale, but about telling a story that engages consumers and bolsters your brand.

7. Cultivate the consumer experience

We can agree by now that contemporary customers are all about value over hype. With consumer confidence harder to come by than ever before, retail marketers can position themselves for success by earmarking Q3 and Q4 funds for enhancing efforts to understand what motivates their customers and deliver on these insights.

Don’t overlook the power of omni-channel marketing. Relevant real-time content delivered via a consumer’s preferred mode of communication has the potential to increase both sales and consumer engagement.

Finally, Q3 and Q4 also offer an ideal opportunity to nurture your leads. Are you doing everything you can do — in the most direct, targeted way — to get better ROI out of your lead generation?

As the calendar year draws to a close, retail marketers are greeted with unprecedented opportunities to put their end-of-year retail marketing dollars to optimal use. These seven techniques are sure to help you focus your marketing efforts where they’re least likely to overdraw your resources — and most likely to generate ROI.

Our team of retail marketing experts understands the challenges of doing more with less – and we’re poised to assist you in doing just that! Contact us today to schedule a consultation!

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Audience Consumer Insights Creative & Production Media & Analytics Media Analysis & Measurement Website Development
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Data Mining 1200x600 c default 1

In today’s fast-paced, technologically charged environment, it should come as no surprise that every company we interact with – whether digitally or in-person – is collecting information about us. The team at BIGEYE’s Florida marketing agency knows that the more apps we download, the more time we spend perusing websites, and consequently, the more frequently we utilize rewards cards, the more we’re allowing the companies we interact with to increase their knowledge of us. The overarching purpose: to better understand how we use products and services produced and proffered by these businesses. For many years, this process, called data mining, was mired by privacy considerations. After all, how much about my purchasing habits do I really want a large, national brand to gain access to? With a little forethought, the answer has become much clearer: the more these companies know about us, the more capable they are to cater to our needs.

Before an influx of digital tools made it easier to gain insight into consumer behavior and purchasing preferences, businesses had to do quite a bit of “guestimating.” For example, it might be safe to assume that you sold 10 cupcakes over the course of a week if your inventory confirmed 10 fewer cupcakes than you had at the start of the week. But, what does that really tell you about who you sold those cupcakes to, and when during the span of the business week they were sold? This is where a well-defined loyalty program comes in.

When companies are aware of the exact products that you’re purchasing, and how often your transaction history includes these items, programs are better tailored, offering the goods and services that align best with your buying preferences. For instance, if your retailer knows your preferred toothpaste brand, then you’re probably a prime target when that brand comes out with a new floss or toothbrush. The retailer can offer you a discount that you’ll actually use, and as a result, you may end up with a fabulous deal on an innovative new product.

While this two-way street of business to consumer benefit has been standard practice in the marketing world, it’s taken on a new life in the age of big data. Using another retailer example, this is why Amazon is better equipped to recommend books that I might enjoy – after first becoming familiar with my current penchant for non-fiction, or why Facebook is able to directly target ads toward me – all based upon websites that I’ve visited previously.

[quote]There is a point-of-sale challenge, however – this data is much more difficult to capture during the customer’s in-store experience.[/quote] From an online perspective, Amazon has the benefit of being able to share products with its users that may be of interest to them – both while shopping and throughout the checkout process. On the flip side, while at a brick-and-mortar store, by the time you’ve reached the register, it’s often too late. As a result, retail businesses must strive to capture this data using other means. Here’s a sneaky little secret: logging-on to a store’s wifi, or accessing their app while you’re visiting a retailer, your consumer data – including your movements – may be captured, allowing for discovery of those merchandising displays that may have caught your attention.

Further developments in this space include data processing cameras that help map consumer preferences, including capabilities such as customer identification, with additional technology to recognize consumers each and every time they return to the store. While 77% of consumers claim to find this type of in-store tracking intrusive, what they may not realize is that they’re already being tracked through online purchases, mobile phone and social media usage, and many other daily activities. So, why should the in-store exchange be any different, particularly if it results in improved services and enhanced customer experience?

Yes, retailers are seeking personalized information about their consumers, just as the old adage of “knowing your customer” implies. Truly, however, most are really interested in obtaining these purchasing details primarily so they may create an unparalleled consumer experience – one that is more enjoyable and efficient shoppers, whether online or off. As a result, and in congruence with the resurgence of rewards programs, customers benefit from additional discount offerings, free samples, and other services targeted toward these uniquely personalized needs.

Need assistance in reaching prospective customers by employing an effective tracking program? Contact us today to partner together to score BIG returns for your business!

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Conversion Optimization Creative & Production Media & Analytics Search Engine Optimization Website Development
Optimizing Your Website Experience for Conversions 1200x600 c default
Optimizing Your Website Experience for Conversions 1200x600 c default

A client I once worked with offered a series of language classes for a relatively low rate, yet the business had an extremely low conversion rate relative to the number of people who visited the site. This was one of the most affordable language programs in town, but conversion rates were at a dismal 4%. He came to me for help in pinpointing why so many people who visited the site would leave before “converting” or in layman’s terms “purchasing classes.”

When I audited his website, I discovered that there were no fewer than seven steps in the conversion process. And, that didn’t count the third-party payment system in place, which had a defective user experience as well.

Since the language classes were a primary source of revenue, I suggested simplifying the checkout process. By making it super simple to go from the homepage to the checkout page, visitors would be more likely to do just that.

Online conversion marketing describes the process of converting site visitors or browsers into paying customers. While a business can’t force a person to spend money with their business, they can do things to help reduce friction in the purchasing process, which often leads to greater sales.

For the client, I suggested his business start by placing a clear call to action on the home page. “Learn More” offers a clear direction that anyone can understand. We integrated this call to action module to a prominent spot the home page, where visitors from any device could see it. However, we didn’t stop there. Using several different tools, we tested different layouts to determine the placement of the call to action to get the most clicks. We discovered that when it was just below the central image on the page, this drew the most attention for the audience. We even experimented with colors, ultimately finding that blue had the greatest impact on getting people to click the “Learn More” button.

Then, instead of providing page after clickable page of information on the class options, we opted to include relevant information (and ONLY relevant information), as well as a “Sign Up Now” button on the second page. No longer would it require seven clicks to move a person from the home page to the checkout screen. Now, the user would be able to get there in two clicks.

With the advice of the team at our Orlando marketing agency and a little bit of website redesign, conversion rates went up 40% in a matter of weeks. This added significant revenue to the company’s bottom line, all with minimal investment.

If your business’s conversion rates are under 100%, then there’s always room for improvement. Try looking for areas of friction on your website, and work closely with a user experience designer who can help optimize your website for conversions. And, if you’re still stuck, reach out to the team at our Orlando marketing agency, who can help you learn to optimize your webpage for success.

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Campaign Creation & Development Creative & Production Website Development
Venturing Beyond the Fold in Website Design 1200x600 c default
Venturing Beyond the Fold in Website Design 1200x600 c default

It’s time to have the talk- yes, the talk about scrolling. Everyone does it. You do it. We do it. Your grandmother does it. We all scroll through web pages- especially if we love the content. One of the biggest concerns brands have regarding their website is content exposure. The big question is, “Are visitors scrolling through my website or just glancing above the fold?”

Scrolling is Habitual

Today, scrolling down web pages is second nature to many computer users. [quote] Apple felt so confident in this statement that they removed the scrollbar from their recent Mac OSX update.[/quote] Scrolling plays a key role across all social media platforms. The 1.82 billion social users prefer to expose themselves to more and more content by scrolling through feeds. Sites that have parallax scrolling features have the cleanest conversions in terms of usability across desktop and mobile platforms.

Exploring Below the Fold

Back in the golden age of print media, newspapers would be folded in half on newsstands, and the top half was designated for the juiciest news to a grab reader’s attention and the same goes for websites. The information you want your audience to see should be placed at the top of the page, but it is important to follow certain design principles to keep visitors intrigued to keep scrolling for more. Major brand website’s like that of Burberry have less content above the fold to encourage users to venture beyond the fold by use of its alluring hero image. CX Parners notes: “ The screens show two different design treatments for the hero slot on the homepage. The surprising thing we have learnt was that actually having less above the fold (one large content block as opposed to 2 smaller ones) encouraged exploration below the fold.”

Less is More

Adopting a cleaner and simpler style, such as parallax scrolling, will not only make your website better-looking, but it will also assist in positioning your brand as modern, up-to-date, and innovative. If users visit your site and are curious in the content you have above the fold, they will scroll away. However, to ensure website visitors are doing what you want them to do, be sure to follow design principles including less is more, avoid horizontal lines, and avoid in-page scroll bars.

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Looking to optimize your site layout? Let BIGEYE improve your website to be even more user friendly! Contact us today, and we can guide your vision toward success!

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Content Marketing Copywriting Creative & Production Website Development
The Role of Design in Marketing
The Role of Design in Marketing

I recently subscribed to an email list for a friend’s business. But, when I saw the first email newsletter, I found myself very uneasy. The business deals with photography and design, and yet the email that landed in my inbox was a bare-bones, plain text email. You’d think someone like that would put more care into the message he’s trying to convey — maybe I need to tell him that the team at our Orlando marketing agency has a few ideas to help him understand the role of design in marketing.

Now, in marketing, each of us has our strengths. I understand that a copywriter at our Orlando advertising agency shouldn’t necessarily be counted on to design a document, or a strategist doesn’t need to know a ton about website development. But I do think design should permeate through all areas of business.

It’s important to have consistency in all brand assets. This doesn’t just mean print ads, but applies to internal and external marketing tools including sales decks, memos, website design, social media and, as you saw above, the email experience. The goal here is to make sure you’re telling the same story across all platforms. This will make it easier for people to identify your brand, and they can then follow along for the ride when they see your emails or your Facebook posts. And, it just looks nice!

Thinking about my friend’s photography business, he probably has a number of excellent assets to help sell the story of his business. He’s asking people to spend a lot of money to use his services, and while having an email signup list is a great first step, that list also needs to reflect the essence of the brand he wants to create. A plain text email? I see plain text emails all the time. What I want is for you to really wow me! Use these visual techniques to help entice me to choose you over competitors.

[quote]BIGEYE created a responsive web design for Arsenal Venture Partners that produced the ideal interaction they were hoping for. Check it out![/quote]

Your website should be a reflection of your business. The assets you put on your site and photos that you choose are all ways you market yourself, so it’s important to take care in what you’re presenting to the world. This even goes into the user experience of the site – you need to make sure that if you have a shopping cart feature, it’s easy to use, and that if you have a ton of content on the site, it’s easy to navigate. For some reason, people tend to overlook these essential aspects in trying to design websites —but these days, you can’t afford not to think about them because they translate to real ROI.

Recently, I heard about the Barbarian Group, an innovation agency in New York highly focused on design. True to the brand, when they moved to a new office, they emphasized the importance of design. As such, they created a massive single sharable desk as a place for people to keep ideas flowing. It’s a testament to the fact that design truly permeates every aspect of the business – even in the workplace setup.

The team at our Orlando marketing firm knows the value of design, and would love to help you create and execute design-oriented marketing strategies. Contact us to set up an appointment to learn about how we can help you!

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Creative & Production Media & Analytics Search Engine Optimization Website Development
3 Ways to Use Google Analytics to Improve Your Website Experience
3 Ways to Use Google Analytics to Improve Your Website Experience

For business owners who have never used Google Analytics, the breadth of customer data available can seem overwhelming. However, Google Analytics is an incredibly powerful tool for businesses of all sizes. It allows marketers an in-depth perspective of how people are using a company’s website, which can lead to much broader implications for branding, SEO strategies, Google AdWords strategies and homepage insights.

I recently had a client who was interested in a homepage redesign. From the outset, it was clear to me that his business’s marketing team didn’t fully understand the relationship between marketing and website development. After looking at his webpage analytics, I realized a homepage redesign would be crucial to his business’s success. His site was not optimized for mobile, even though 50% of his website visitors came from mobile devices. The site experience was very targeted for the male viewer, even though nearly half of his page viewers were female. And, perhaps most shockingly, his page loading speed was 12 seconds, far higher than the 2-3 seconds it should take to access a page for the first time. That offered a terrific insight as to why his page bounce rate was over 86 percent, in spite of the interesting, relevant content posted on a daily basis. Armed with this knowledge, we knew what steps to take in creating a website that would result in a better user experience.

[quote]If you want to know whether your webpage is effective, Google Analytics is quite simply the best place to start.[/quote]While there are entire webinars dedicated to successfully using Google Analytics (I suggest checking out Google Analytics Academy), the team at our advertising agency in Orlando can suggest a few things to check immediately to help garner insights about your business’s performance.

 1. Bounce Rate

The bounce rate indicates any time a site visitor looks at only one page before leaving the site. If your business’s homepage is experiencing a high bounce rate, it’s important to try to figure out why. It might be that your site isn’t optimized for the mobile or tablet experience, or that you aren’t offering clear calls to action that would encourage people to continue exploring the site. A web tool called Optimizely allows businesses to quickly and easily test homepage elements to try to improve these metrics.

 2. Average Visit Duration

Again, if people are coming to your page but not staying on very long, there may be a problem with your landing page experience. However, it may also be that there is a mismatch between the content that is driving people to your site and audience’s actual interests. For example, a “clickbait”headline will succeed in getting more people to your site, but people will leave quickly if the headline isn’t supported by interesting content.

 3. Conversion Rate

Conversion rate metrics offer insight into the number people who visit your website, against the number of people who actually “convert.”Conversions typically apply to e-commerce purchases, but can also measure the number of people who sign up for your email blasts or the number of people who book a reservation using the website. If these numbers are low, you may wish to test the effectiveness of various calls to action, play with the visual imagery or experiment with different types of content marketing.

4. Behavior Flow Report

The behavior flow report presents a visualization of how website users navigate from one page or event to the next. This report provides insights into the content on your site that’s driving engagement, and also helps identify potential content issues. Use the segment drop down to segment traffic and better understand how those segments flow through the site. You’ll see how search traffic (for example) flows differently through your site than mobile traffic. The dimensions drop down allows you to narrow results by referral source or medium, and even shows flow from specific keywords. This feature can help identify how visitors from a particular keyword engage with and convert on your site. Data geeks unite around the behavior flow report – it’s a gem.

In need of some expert Google Analytics expertise to ensure both an increase in website traffic – and an overwhelmingly positive user experience? Contact us today for a consultation!

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Creative & Production Media & Analytics Search Engine Optimization Website Development
7 Tips to Help Your Resort Bookings Skyrocket 1200x600 c default
7 Tips to Help Your Resort Bookings Skyrocket 1200x600 c default

In the era of the internet, it’s easy for the most amazing resort experiences to get lost in the endless stream of advertising and digital content. With so many resort options, resort marketers who truly want to break through the noise have a variety of tools in their arsenal to help them make the most of their advertising dollars by helping them recruit the customers — often times customers who become repeat visitors, coming back again and again, year after year.
Here are seven resort advertising tips – courtesy of your friends at BIGEYE – to help your bookings skyrocket.

1. Invest in search engine optimization

In a highly competitive space like the resort industry, it is important to ensure people can actually find your business in the midst of all the other websites out there. In this industry in particular, tailoring your website’s content to make sure your site appears in organic search is a great way to attract attention to your site.

2. Experiment with Google AdWords and Facebook advertising

AdWords is a great way to give your business an extra boost in terms of search. Marketers can set their own rates and can also bid on keywords. By using such a service, marketers can experiment with images, call to actions and landing pages when testing on Google AdWords. This type of advertising can sometimes takes a little experimentation to get it just right, but, if it makes sense for your business to try it, AdWords users often experience excellent results.

Similarly, Facebook Ads allows users to select keywords and set rates for their campaigns. Facebook also offers hyper-targeted approaches, offering ads targeted directly at users based on their interests (i.e., travel, leisure) and location.

3. Optimize your webpage

If you’re still working with the website someone designed for you in 1996, chances are your page isn’t optimized for the web. In terms of optimization, there are numerous approaches. One is to design the site for SEO purposes, so that it appears highly-ranked in organic web searches, but sometimes this isn’t the most visually-pleasing approach, and may result in high bounce rates. Therefore, experimenting and testing items such as the placement of a call to action, the page aesthetic, and placement of keywords and phrases can help you nail down what works best for your site visitors.

Also, be sure to optimize your site for mobile and tablet experiences using responsive design. In doing so, you can create an easy-to-use site that looks good no matter what platform.

4. Collect email addresses, front and center on your homepage

Email marketing is here to stay, mainly because people who use it see results. They’ve found they’re able to reach their users directly in their inboxes, which is a great way to keep users up to date about deals and happenings at the resort. Implementing an easy email collection box is a great way to increase the number of people who see your email blasts.

5. Optimize your emails

Optimizing your email experience will improve the number of people who click through the email to the site. Even factors such as the subject line and the time of day they receive the email can have a major effect on whether people take the time to look at them. Then, once they do open the email, what do they see? If the content isn’t optimized for mobile and tablet devices, users could decide not to view the email if it takes too long to load or looks garbled.

6. Invest in customer service

In the digital age, customer service and marketing are inextricably linked. A happy customer is the best marketing tool your resort can have, as that customer is likely to share their experience with their friends or on social information sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor. Make it easy for the user to provide feedback and to talk to a real person when they have questions or suggestions for improvement.

7. Try ad retargeting

Once a person does visit your page, they may be interested initially but could get distracted from the ultimate goal of purchase as they move on to other items. A relatively new technology called retargeting uses the viewer’s browsing habits to store information, allowing brands to position their ads in front of the user at a later date on a completely different website. The idea is that the person may be inspired at that later time to purchase the good or service they’d only thought about before. Resorts can capitalize on this, as it often takes people some time to decide they want to book a vacation, and retargeting can help put the experience right in front of them, over and over again.

Taken together, these resort marketing factors can ensure more visitors come to your site and spend more time there, which will inevitably result in more bookings. The team at our Orlando marketing agency thinks that resort marketers that are already taking these steps to improve the booking experience are at a distinct advantage, as is reflected in higher booking numbers.

Contact us today and we can help you implement a number of these helpful tips for your resort!

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Branding Creative & Production Implementation Messaging Strategy & Positioning Website Development
Why your brand should consider developing an app
Why your brand should consider developing an app

It’s a new year, and people around the country are working hard to keep their resolutions. Be it trying to smile more, have more fun or save money for that big vacation, resolutions are typically admirable goals that, if reached, can grant more positivity and joy to a person’s life.
At our advertising agency, we think one of the most awesome things about living in a world of smartphones and digital technology is that there are tons of apps to help us reach our goals. These are apps that help us manage our budgets, our fitness goals and our work-life balance.

The great thing about the digital economy is that marketers are able to use app development to find creative ways to tap into these tools to help integrate digital products with their marketing strategies. When brands pick up on a need for their audiences, they can effectively develop apps to help provide a service while also marketing their own brand.

Take, for instance, Mint, which is a great tool for helping budget and save. Because it is able to provide a useful service to users, it can also strengthen its brand by partnering with major banks to help provide recommendations and advertising. Anyone resolving to save money in 2014 can use Mint to help plan for the future, and can also get tips on personalized banking options and experiences.

Those who’ve resolved to lose weight this year can use help from a number of apps, but none is as highly regarded as the Nike Fuel Band app and it’s partner device. Nike, a company once known only for its shoes, spent significant time and money on research and development to become a lifestyle brand. In doing so, it created a device that acts as a pedometer that syncs with a smart phone app, allowing people to easily monitor their progress and share with friends. This innovative technology goes far beyond what a shoe company has to offer, but at the end of the day, more people working out also equals more shoes sold by Nike. Plus, that doesn’t include the massive amounts of data Nike is capturing about its users. This is why Nike will remain a leader in the athletics and fitness space for a long time.

[quote] Want to check out a success story in the mobile app market? BIGEYE teamed up with The Daily Mom to develop a unique and sophisticated app that reached the Top 25 Downloads Position on iTunes. [/quote]

Finally, there are numerous apps that help people with education. For instance, language companies like Rosetta Stone compliment their foreign language programs with immersive apps. In doing so, they not only provide a service to their users, but are also accessible to beginners who might be interested in partaking in the full program at a later date, but for the moment simply need to learn where to find the bathroom.

Take a tip from our brand marketing agency: Marketers should look to this these inspirational ideas for app utility to figure out what kinds of apps might help their users and their audiences. Doing so not only acts as great marketing, but also helps provide a service to users. In turn, those new products can help the brand grow into something bigger than itself.

In search of a little more expert advice to strategize app development for your brand? Contact us today to schedule a consultation!

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How Website Optimization Can Help Grow Your Business
How Website Optimization Can Help Grow Your Business

Remember the first days of the Internet, when it felt as though every single person had a Geocities page, full flashing graphics and crazy clip art-inspired interfaces? This was in an era when search engine technology was miniscule, which most of us now rely upon.
In this day and age, there are many more options for businesses to build impressive web pages. But all the features in the world won’t necessarily make for a better website: the key lies between optimized design and optimized content. The team at our Florida marketing agency is ready to break down ways for business owners to do both – here, BIGEYE brings you a few thoughts regarding web optimization, and how it can help grow your business:

Website optimization:

Designing a great website requires a calculated mix of graphic design and user experience design. Most companies that have great graphic teams may be lacking in the UX department, meaning that even if a website looks beautiful, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s easy to navigate.

One solution to this is to enact user testing on your website, both throughout the development process and periodically after the site launches.[quote]Google Analytics offers powerful tools to help track users’ behaviors once they reach a website.[/quote] A high bounce rate may mean that your Google AdWords strategies are misleading, or that your site takes too long to load. Business owners can also test website functionality by asking about user experience through survey data or even informal questioning. Collecting qualitative and quantitative data as to friction points can help business owners find ways to ease user concerns. Some small businesses note massive increases in conversion to sales after installing quick and easy fixes such as a call to action on the front page or seamless shopping cart functionality.

Business owners can also optimize their websites using tools like Optimizely, which helps facilitate A/B testing to see which website designs work best within a given user base. Additionally, data mined using Moz can help boost the SEO ranking of your website through design optimization in accordance with Google’s search algorithm.

Content Optimization:

Even the most beautifully designed website isn’t going to gain search engine traction if the content isn’t optimized. Website content optimization doesn’t just depend on the actual text on a website, but also is contingent on metadata, tags and a whole host of other facets that content writers can read about at Moz.

The number one rule of SEO website optimization is to avoid tactics that seem slimy, such as linkbaiting practices and poor-quality, keyword heavy content. These will seriously damage SEO rankings, and it may take a long time for a domain name to recover after losing rankings due to bad practices.

Companies can also improve SEO rankings by blogging. Focusing on a few keywords and posting about relevant topics pertaining to that field can give companies even more opportunities to appear in organic search.

Site content is just the start of search engine optimization; Moz and a host of other companies offer packages to help optimize the backend of your website using a variety of tools and facets, many of which are updated frequently to reflect constantly-evolving search engine ranking algorithms.

Our Florida ad agency hopes you can use these tools to help optimize your site to get more money for your dollar. While website optimization in some cases may be a large investment, it can have a major payoff when it comes to the bottom line.  For more information as to how your business can optimize its website, please contact BIGEYE’s Florida advertising agency.