Current Projects – 2022

Current Projects – 2022

2022 is looking like a big year.

I’m continuing a few things.

In 2022, I’ll continue building a micro marketing agency with the goal of giving real estate professionals access to digital marketing and advertising that’s 10X better than what their competition is doing. And I’m doing more freelance writing — working with interesting companies on their content strategy and production.

I’m also starting some new things.

In 2022, I’m creating a marketing playbook to catalog and give other marketers access to some of the tools, frameworks, resources, and concepts that have accelerated my career. And I’m building a content strategy blueprint to help you make your content more intentional and effective.

Why you’re here.

You’re reading this because you want something different from what everyone else is offering. That’s why I’m here too — to do something different by helping you get better results through smarter strategies. I believe that when it comes down to it, every business has one goal in mind — to deliver exceptional experiences to their customers while building and growing a healthy bottom line. It’s just how they go about doing that that differs between businesses. And we know how important it is not only getting but keeping customers happy so they keep coming back again and again!

My goal is to help you find what works best for you while saving time and money along the way. There are 2 main ways I can help you with that:

1.) Digital Marketing:

If you’re just starting out, I’ll help you establish a solid foundation with the right mindset and tools needed for success so your business can successfully leverage best-in-class digital marketing from the beginning. If your business is up and running or you already have most things figured out, I’ll help streamline what’s working so it doesn’t break down on you.

2.) Content Marketing:

If you’re just starting out with content marketing, I’ll save you from making common mistakes and show you how to make a more intentional impact on your business by designing a smarter strategy. If your content strategy is already up and running and you’re producing content on a regular basis but it’s not performing as well as it should, I’ll help you identify where it can be more effective so the right types of customers are attracted to your brand and become loyal, long-term customers.

Next steps.

If you’re interested in taking your marketing to the next level in 2022, let’s set up a time to chat.

Or just follow me on LinkedIn to follow along the journey.

Stop Being Just Another Company. Become A Brand By Telling Stories.

Stop Being Just Another Company. Become A Brand By Telling Stories.

With just forty dollars to his name and the clothes in his suitcase, Walt moved to Hollywood in 1923. He also had a vision — a dream of something much larger than himself. By the end of his career, he had become one of the most iconic entrepreneurs, showmen, and producers of all time. Even beyond his lifetime, Walt Disney’s legacy continues to grow to new heights.

Stories are what connect us as a society.

Stories are the foundation of society’s largest institutions. Religions, companies large and small, and the very founding of nations are all based on stories.

These stories are also the basis of connection between people and companies.

In 1976, Steve dropped out of college and followed his passion for computers. This was at a time when technology was changing rapidly and being formed by those who truly loved it. He used this passion to start Apple Computers and eventually build it into an empire. And now, Steve Jobs is seen as a visionary founder and a legend in the tech community.

Apple started by revolutionizing the computer industry. Then they transformed the way we listened to music, with the iPod. Then the iPhone. And later, the iPad. Innovation after innovation led Apple to become the world’s most valuable, most profitable company today.

Innovation is in Apple’s DNA. It’s part of their narrative and part of their story. When we buy an Apple product, we are buying the story of the company and becoming a part of it.

Great brands connect with people on a level deeper than just the products they sell. They tell great stories through their history, their people, and their products. And everything ties into a greater narrative.

Whether a literal narrative, such as Disney, or a set of values or mission shared throughout the company, there is always a story. The key is to bring out that story as in a way that draws people in.

Boost your potential by tapping into this power. Tell your story, engage your audience, and turn your customer base into a fan base.

Companies sell products. Brands tell stories.

How we doubled online revenue (+104.6%)

How we doubled online revenue (+104.6%)

The Project

Working with a metal cutting supplies company, we made some changes to their main online store. When taking the assignment, online sales had been on a steady decline for the last 3 years and had reached an all-time low. The main goal was profitable sales growth.

The Timeframe

6 months. I took ownership of the project, effective December 14th, 2015. The first 2 weeks mostly consisted of research, so my measurable start date was January 1st, 2016. The project lasted until June 30th, 2016.

What we did over the next 6 months…

Research: Conducted user research, through a variety of methods including email and phone interviews. Provided front-line customer service to understand the customer and get first-hand experience.

Analysis: Utilized the eCommerce platform’s back-end analytics. This platform provides snapshots of various metrics that we leveraged to make decisions. We were able to keep close track of what indicators were moving and when.

Email Marketing: The company had a Constant Contact account set-up, but it was underutilized (averaging 1 email/year). So, we created a small collection of action-triggered email follow-up series. We tied the Constant Contact API into the BigCommerce platform to set these series to auto-trigger. Examples of follow-up campaigns: welcome packet after a purchase (giving access to informational resources). Abandoned cart notification with a 10% off coupon (for new customers). And 30-day follow-up emails asking them how the product is working and seeing if they need any more. Customers who purchased specific types of products would be placed on different product-oriented lists.

Paid Ads: First off, we set up conversion tracking. Next, we optimized for CTR and CPC. After tracking these for a while, we found a few interesting stats:

  1. When customers clicked directly to the e-commerce website, they were unlikely to convert.
  2. Referral traffic from the company’s main website was much more likely to convert.
  3. Visitors who came to the main website through Google Ads and were referred to the ecommerce site had the highest conversion rates.

So, we funneled the budget more towards ads that would focus on prospects who were “ready to buy.” And brought them to the places with the highest conversion rates.

UX: When the website was built, 5 years prior, the tools available were not as advanced or powerful. It had a rather complicated shopping UX, with several repetitive steps. I took this 8-step process, over the course of 4 pages, and simplified it down to a 2-page process with 4 steps. There was a similar issue with the checkout UX: multiple pages, repetitive information input, etc. This was a main factor leading to the astronomical cart abandonment rate (96-98% abandoned). The other main factor leading to the high abandonment rate was the payment options. To improve this aspect, we simplified the checkout process to a 1-page checkout and added the option to pay credit card directly on the page.

The Results

Over the course of those 6 months, we implemented all the above items plus several other, smaller initiatives. The results that we got from our efforts beat the estimates and goals that we had set. During the 6-month period, we saw the following KPI changes:

  • Revenue +104.6%
  • Conversion Rate +775%
  • AOV +54.08%
  • Cart Abandonment -27.2%

All the initiatives we ran to increase these numbers only brought up expenses by a nominal amount. We achieved these results mainly by re-allocating current budgets and utilizing tools that were already being paid for.

Tools & skills used

  • eCommerce Analysis
  • Analyzing Metrics/KPI’s for actionable insights
  • Conversion tracking and optimization
  • Paid Ad Management (creation, analysis, and optimization)
    • Google AdWords
    • Bing Ads
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Researching, analyzing, and writing industry-specific copy
  • Content Creation/SEO
  • Email marketing campaign creation
  • Marketing Strategy and Planning
  • Team Collaboration

Comments or questions? Place them in the comments below.