The Social Otter

Completed this website for a really awesome female-powered real estate team! https://modernrev.com/

Another website redesign complete! Check out the new website for www.metrointegratedhealth.com. The goal for this one was to take their existing website with lots of content and format it in a more visually appealing and digestible format for customers. Also, to make booking online easier by providing multiple ways to book. Finally, we wanted to highlight their experience and professionalism by using a "clinic" style design with straight lines, clean and simple design, and... flat colours. Let me know your thoughts!

A quick glance at a website redesign I did for a pet food store in Red Deer - Tail Blazers. The goal of this project, was first was to create a website that was easier for the owners to manage on the back end (compared to the archaic builder used before) while designing something more playful but modern and easy to navigate for customers. Check it out and view the final product via the link below as we have made some more small edits since this video ... New Website - https://tailblazersreddeer.com/ Thanks again to Tail Blazers Red Deer for working with me on this amazing project!

For any small business owner who are looking for help during this time, Facebook may have a program for you! https://www.facebook.com/business/boost/grants

Today I wanted to share a win from one of my new clients! A local company who was shut down due to the pandemic and feared their business would close forever. So we began working together in late March and by April 2nd had a website & social media ad campaigns up and running. Today, only 3 weeks later, they have made 85 sales worth a total of $10,324! Total ad investment = $924. That's a 10.54X return on ad spend meaning every $1, they make $10.5 back. ... The most rewarding part is seeing how excited this guy is every day now. He said to me the other day "Garron, I haven't woken up with this much energy or enthusiasm since I was in my 20's. And now I see a future for the business, not just a daily grind." All I can say is I am really blessed to be able to help people during tough times like this and it makes really happy to be able to doing what I do!

What do you think about this pop up banner design I made for @ozone_fx ? Check them out at the red deer home show with @carpetonerd for some special offers this weekend!

Your website design impacts your business in more ways than you might think. Having a powerfully designed, well thought out website can help you close more deals and build confidence in potential customers, long before you ever talk to them. Huge shoutout to @naturebeewraps for getting their business into Red Barn and for a MASSIVE month online so far! Only 11 days into September and we have already matched our total revenue from August. It feels great helping local businesses grow and helping the amazing owners have their business become everything they dreamed of.

Today an article we wrote for DashThis on whether Facebook Or Google ads is best for your business was featured on their page. Check it out and let us know if it provided you with any insights!

Awesome #Friday news for my #mortgagebroker client! If your not investing in digital marketing, your missing out on opportunities to get slam dunks like this!

Today’s brilliant ad award goes to Ikea!

Another beautiful website project completed! Check out this one for VNO Exteriors in Red Deer. They are one of the best siding companies in Central Alberta and we wanted to help them show it! Have a look at this site and give them a follow on Facebook at VNO Exteriors. www.vnoexteriors.com

We had an awesome time working on this project with Steel Pony Farm and loved creating something that truly represented his brand, what he believes in, and displays the high-quality product he offers. Have a look and let me know your thoughts on the design! www.steelpony.ca

Humour marketing and creativity at its finest haha

When you’re crushing it for a client with their ads it feels awesome! #GoogleAdDomination

One of the most rewarding parts of online marketing is when you finally nail a system down that is helping get more clients consistently for businesses. The real reward comes from knowing that their business is thriving and they can live a more comfortable life because of it! These are the messages I love getting. Check it out

The design of your social media page heavily influences your customer's perception of your brand and helps you build credibility with prospects. Take a look at the redesign we did for Borlé Bros. Contracting Corp. to help launch their campaign for a tiny home! Go check them out and enter for your chance to win the tiny home here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/tiny-house-for-you--2#/

Looking for more catchy graphics for your Facebook ads? Check out this recent design we did for 9Round Red Deer to help promote their new year's offer!

What do you think of this logo transformation we did for a client? She came to us looking to get a new website that would showcase her brand better. After our introductory call, we discovered that her current branding was not designed to speak to her target audience. We took a step back and did a rebrand (Colours, wording, missions, goals, and more) and got this new logo designed. Her audience is females from 18-45 who want to learn how to incorporate fitness into their busy lifestyle rather than swinging from one diet to another. Her main goal is to help women love themselves while feeling strong and empowered. Rate this logo transformation from 1-10 below and go give her a follow! Renew U Fitness & Lifestyle Coach

Three really interesting tactics/changes by major brands. Which one do you think was the biggest mistake? Ps. Wendy's is killing it on social media! LOL Who would have ever thought a fast food joint would be dishing out the hottest content on Twitter?

What do you think of these flyers we designed for our client? The goal is simple, clean, and informational. Check them out and give them a follow on Facebook!

Our faithful pack leader, Garron Rinkel, recently got asked by the reporting software company, DashThis, for his advice to new digital marketing agencies on best practices providing for reporting to your clients. They decided to feature one of his pieces of advice in their latest article. Check it out under "Piece of advice #34: Give your client a call"

Congrats to Marcy Dunphy and Meagan Hazlewood on the launch of their new business, SeedSowGrow! Super cool to see how fast they were able to put a business together. They worked incredibly hard and now have a lot to show for it! Check out their website at www.seedsowgrow.com Also, thank you for choosing to work with us on this project there’s a bright future ahead for these girls

HUGE news today with Google. Recently, they announced the complete phasing out of Google+ (Who no one really used anyway). But now they have announced a new feature that is taking your Google My Business page Social! With Google posts, customers can now see deals, offers, and events going on at your business from Googles search result page, thus eliminating the need for customers to needing to visit your social pages. Today they announced customers will be able to "follow" ...your GMB page now and receive updates on new offers, events, and more. PLUS, this is likely going to become a ranking factor for businesses. If all of this information is new to you and you want a 15-minute call to learn more about how you can use this for your business, send us a message and we will schedule a time!

Looking to grow your brand by running ads to local customers? Check out this video ad we are running for 9Round Red Deer. IF you are looking for a killer workout in an environment where you wont get in trouble for kicking and punching things to let all your inner stress out.... Check them out!

Influencer marketing is one of the most innovative ways for your brand to grow it's awareness authentically. Not sure what influencer marketing is or how to hire one? Check out this guide

Google search is a great place for customers to find the product or service they are searching for. Recently, however, there has been a noticeable increase in users searching for what they need with a question. This is why having a solid SEO strategy that involved blog writing and infographics to help answer these questions is becoming more and more important. For example, if your users search "How much do I need to retire?" A financial planning organization would want to h...ave an article with the answer to this question. This allows you to educate your customer, put your brand in front of them, and ask them to get in touch with you! Do you have this as part of your marketing strategy? If not, give us a call to discuss how we can add this to your marketing portfolio!

Retailers said they were directing 35% of their spend to Google search and display, 18% to Facebook and 15% to Amazon. That means over 60% of ad budgets are now being spent with major online platforms.

"Don't judge a book by its cover" may be a great phrase for books and people, but when it comes to your website... customers are judging! On average, a customer forms an opinion about your business in under 50 milliseconds based on your website. With the abundance of great websites, the tools to create one, and the lack of time customers have, they have become less tolerable of a poor website design. Check out the two below and see how the different websites change your opi...nion about the business. The only difference is the design. If you think your website could use a boost, give our team a message for a free audit and analysis.

A powerful tool just became even better!

The future is here! 32% of customers say that they’ll walk away from a brandeven a brand they loveafter just one bad experience, according to a 2018 analysis by PwC. As we move forward into the digital age, customer experience is more important than ever! If you are not sure, try asking your customers what they like or dislike about your website using a poll on social media. This is a great way for your brand to start moving forward.

When marketing to customers on search platforms, it is important to know these 2 things: 1) What keywords they are searching 2) The intent of each of those keywords. Knowing #1 is great, but being aware of #2 is what helps you create sales and landing pages that convert customers into buyers.... Take a look at this great resource you can use to walk you step by step through landing page design. If you don't know where to begin, give our team a call and we can help get you started on the right foot.

Great design builds great brand authority. Check out this design we created for Steel Pony Farm. This 4x6 recipe card design will be sent out with all of their fresh produce boxes. The goal is to get their loyal customers more engaged online and to help spread the word about their superior product. Let us know your thoughts on the design and then go give their page a follow!

So great to see one of our clients raise over 40K for STARS this weekend! What an amazing community. We are so proud to be a part of helping them grow. Give their page a follow if you live in Alberta!

Check out this simple landing page design we created for Ritual Conditioning. Simple, straightforward, and effective. Give them a like on Facebook and if you're looking for a unique gym experience in Edmonton, give them a try! http://www.ritualconditioning.com/promo/

An authentic style video we produced for Whispering Pines! Check it out and follow their page.

Have you been stressing over a significant decline in your organic reach? You've likely heard that Facebook "did something" that changed the game but are not sure what? Well, you are right! Check out how organic reach has declined over time. Why? Because as organic reach decreases, businesses are forced to pay in order to reach their customers (Which is in Facebook's best interest. We can't blame them). "So I should ditch my organic strategy?" NO! ... Having an organic social strategy is critical for the times when loyal customers are looking to further engage with your brand, site visitors are looking for more information or investors are trying to better understand your business. Unfortunately, none of these scenarios account for the person that hasn’t had exposure to your business or the distracted shopper that has forgotten about your products or offerings they previously discovered through search. We help brands create effective paid strategies that put their brand on the offense when it comes to customer acquisition. If you want to learn more, shoot us a message with your questions!

It used to be easy to capture peoples attention on Facebook by simply running an ad... WOW! How times have changed. Everyone is rushing to the internet for their marketing now (Which is great since that's where customers are spending most of their time). But how do you stand out from all the other companies? One word... Branding! Have you looked at your brand lately and asked yourself these questions?... 1) Who is my ideal customer? (Age, gender, location, interests, sources of information, hobbies, personality, ect) 2) What is the message I want to communicate with them? (Your copy, tone of voice, structure and more) 3) Does my brand resonate with them? (Does your offer help them solve their pain points?) These are some of the questions we dive in deep on when we are developing a campaign for your business. And with digital marketings ability to Micro target customers at a granular level, it's the best place to start investing in today so that your business can thrive in the next few years.

Stories are what gives a customer a reason to choose you over your competitors. When your product or service is not differentiated greatly from others in the market, learn to tell stories better than your competition and watch what happens!

As an entrepreneur, you know reviews are important but do you know how they actually impact you business? Heres 3 reasons why you should focus on generating new, high-quality reviews! 1) They improve your rankings in local search engines 2) They determine which search results actually get surfaced. 3) They dramatically impact consumer purchasing decisions. ... Google is one of the most popular (possibly #1) places that customers go to find new products and services. Often when customers reach here, they are ready to make a purchasing decision. But the gap between what a customer reads online and when they make a buying decision is very narrow - A customer will decide yes or no almost immediately based on the first 1-2 reviews they read. So as a small business, your online reputation is extremely important! According to one survey, 84% of shoppers said they trusted an online review as much as a recommendation from family or friends. Want to know more? Read the rest of the blog post here! https://www.thesocialotter.ca//how-online-reviews-are-eith

Doing Google Ads can be highly effective for capturing buyers at various stages of the buying cycle. Here’s a chart we use to brainstorm relevant search’s your customers are making for your business. Note: it applies to more than just artificial grass

It is a gold mine waiting for you to start mining!

Top 2018 Trend: Reviews (Forbes) Organic traffic from SEO continues to be one of the best sources of web traffic for many businesses. While there are a lot of elements involved in ranking, the number of reviews you have is a key factor. Google looks at your Google reviews, Facebook reviews, Yelp reviews and more. Why would Google want to prioritize a business in the search rank that has a one-star rating?... While your reviews are essential for search engine rankings, they can also make or break a sale for you. According to research, half of the adults under the age of 50 regularly check online reviews before purchasing a new item. What will they find? I hope a substantial amount of positive reviews that makes the decision easy. Put together a solid plan for getting reviews for your business. Be careful not to incentivize people (as this is not allowed), but instead have a system for asking for reviews. If you don't already have a plan, check out-out Local Listing Pro Tool that helps your generate reviews, respond to reviews, and gets you listed on 21 different review sites. https://www.thesocialotter.ca/local-listing-pro

#WhatDoYouThinkWednesday I want to hear from you, which platform do you think is the most valuable marketing tool for small to medium businesses looking to grow and why?

#MondayMarketingMemo A quick one for you today! Today's memo is around frequency. Consider your own experience when buying a product.... How many times did you see that brand, product, or it's marketing before making a purchase? For most of us, it's more than 5 times AT LEAST! Successful marketing comes down to consistency. You have to consistently deliver your customers with engaging marketing that keeps your brand top of mind. Just because you have a successful business now doesn't mean everyone knows about you or that you're hands down the first choice... Coca-Cola spent 3.5 BILLION! on marketing in 2015. Which was an increase from both 2013, and 2014? Just because they know they are #1 doesn't mean they stop marketing. They understand that customer engagement is key to success down the road. With advertising, Facebook ($0.25), LinkedIn ($0.75), and Google ($2.75) have some of the lowest cost per 1000 impressions of all advertising when compared to the newspaper ($32.00), magazines ($20.00) and radio ($8.00). If you want to learn more about how Digital Advertising and how the social otter can save you money and make you money at the same time, contact us! www.thesocialotter.ca

When it comes to digital marketing, there are pros and cons to both. We want to know which you focus on and why? We focus on paid advertising because: - You reach new customers who don't follow your business. - You can be highly targeted.... - You can provide a direct call to action button - You get in-depth data that helps identify your most valuable customers. - You can "by-pass" the NEW Facebook + Instagram popularity algorithm. - You can attract new followers to target with unpaid strategies later. We still place high value on unpaid strategies because the truth is they work best when paired together but I have found the ROI of paid ads to be much higher for our clients. We want to hear from you what your experience has been! To learn more about paid advertising online and to work with us to develop highly profitable campaign visit www.thesocialotter.ca

Here's why it's important to have your business listed online! 82% of local searchers follow up offline via an in-store visit, phone call or purchase (TMP / comScore) 74% of internet users perform local searches (Kelsey Group) 61% of local searches result in purchases (TMP / comScore) ... Are you listed online in the most important places? Scan your business here to find out! scan.thesocialotter.ca

Want to upload photos to Instagram from your computer? Here's how!

#MondayMarketingMemo! R.O.I..... The term we hear every day over and over. But for GOOD REASON! ... Any poker players here? Imagine... you are at a table and every time you put $500 down you lose... This happened 3 or 4 times in a row. But then you start putting $800 down and get $1200 back 3 times in a row! Which one are you going to do next hand? The same is with marketing. Sometimes it can be expensive to implement a successful digital strategy. However $500 with no return is a lot more expensive than $800 with a $1200 ROI. Today, evaluate your old school marketing (Radio, TV, Flyers, and more) and ask yourself, what is my ROI from these? To see some of our success stories and clients with the highest ROI, visit www.thesocialotter.ca

#WhatDoYouThinkWednesday #WDYTW Share the little change you made that has helped your business grow recently!

TOP 4 Secrets: 1) Schedule Posts 2) Stick to 2 or 3 platforms 3) Turn on notifications 4) Never stop learning!... With the Social Otter, we take care of all 4 for you! We tell you the most valuable platforms, we stay on top of the latest algorithm changes that affect your small business, and we help you manage your community so all you have to do is drink your coffee and focus on your favorite parts of your business!

Have you seen the new changes coming...again. Facebook announces to reduce the amount of page post reach in 2018 and to focus on generating more personal connections first. Now, live video and paid content will be more important than ever. If you rely on Facebook as a primary traffic generator, this is a key to all the upcoming changes in 2018. Facebook wants to increase the quality of the time spent on their network. Which means showing more posts from friends and less from... business pages... UNLESS the page content is meant to generate a conversation. In this case, page content will still be shown. This is why Facebook live is becoming more critical and the amount of user engagement that takes place during live videos will determine your success. So does this mean its time to get rid of Facebook pages? NOT A CHANCE! Your business page is still a great way for customers to see the behind the scenes of your business. It helps strengthen your brand identity and it allows followers to get to know your brand in a non-invasive/"sales-y" way. The key will be using high quality PAID ads to drive traffic to your page. Then, having a good amount of high-quality content for the users to look at once they arrive. Do you have a strategy in place to be a Facebook leader in 2018? Get a free strategy call with The Social Otter! Just contact us through our website www.thesocialotter.ca and we can set up a time to review your plan... or create a new one!

#MondayMarketingMemo Buyer Intent... When you're trying to grow your business and devising a successful marketing campaign, try to think about your most valuable customers and where their intent will be highest. ... We recently spoke to a dog toy/product business and she wanted to hand out flyers to peoples mailboxes and at the supermarket. Now there are a couple of apparent issues right away! It's not likely that everyone at the supermarket or who you give a flyer to is going to own a dog... So that's wasted money right away! That flyer will end up in the recycling without any consideration given to it. However, if she went to a local dog park or near her local pet store, there is a jackpot! I guarantee 99% of people entering at the dog park and a very high % of people at the store will own a dog. That means fewer flyers thrown out and less $$$ wasted! THE SAME GOES FOR ONLINE MARKETING! Google, Facebook, & LinkedIn all have buyers with very different intent. It's unlikely a person will go to Facebook to find a plumber. And it's unlikely that you're going to go to Google to mindlessly scroll for entertainment. So TODAY, ask yourself, are you marketing to your customers where their buyer intent is high? www.thesocialotter.ca

Ever consider Instagram as your primary selling tool? If you're on the fence, find out how Instagram has stepped up its marketing game in 2018 for e-commerce.

Number 6 is big for 2018! #GrowYourBusiness2018 #Marketing #DigitalAdvertising #JumpOnIt!

Some great trends to add to your paid and unpaid strategy in 2018!

#WhatDoYouThinkWednesday #WDYTW Will Voice Dominate 2018? We recently posted a video about the potential voice has for marketing and why it is making a strong argument to be the dominant marketing tool in 2018. What are your thoughts? Where will voice fit in this year? Will your business be using it?

A lot of people have heard about how voice is going to change the marketing landscape in the future. Get key insights for your brand to consider when developing your business in 2018 in order to capitalize on this trend down the road.

Google and Facebook ads could completely change your business in 2018. See which one you should be using here!

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you all have a great day and get to enjoy a winter wonderland today!

This is going to be big for small businesses!

Monday Marketing Tip Instead of trying to sell your product and pushing people to buy it ... Try communicating with your customers by showing them your product and then allow them to express what they think about your product and start a conversation with your brand. Be sure to reply to all of their comments and just like that, you've created a live, interactive, and engaging Q&A session that will have customers selling themselves.

Here are your top trends to take advantage of in 2018 to make your business stand out!

There are so many social media platforms out there, which one do you believe will be the top platform for small businesses in 2018? We believe Facebook and Instagram will still dominate the social media landscape for small business marketing.

Here are the 7 key reasons to start making online marketing your primary focus in 2018.

The ability to master this technique is what separates good from great in marketing. Learning how to engage people in your product by giving them content that they cannot resist is an incredible skill. One of our favorite examples is Red Bull and their marketing of extream sports and adrenaline as their brand oppose to selling the actual benefits of their energy drink. So today's #TuesdayThought is, how can you go beyond your product and market it better? Message us if you want help with your brand!

What are your thoughts on this?

Wildlife photographer captures adorable moment when a river otter decided to slide down a snowy hill at Yellowstone National Park. http://abcn.ws/2kAZgkZ

The top 2 priorities for small businesses to succeed when is comes to marketing are 1) How you communicate with your customers and 2) what you communicate to them. You can spend thousands of dollars delivering your message to people through a platform that doesn’t reach your target customers and you will get no return. So discovering where you customers are located first is critical. Once you achieve that, you craft the perfect message to resonate with your audience and you will hit the jackpot (and spend less money doing it!). So if you feel your marketing is not working for you ask yourself... am I communicating my message to them through the proper platform. #marketing #communication #marketingtips #digitalmarketing #socialmediamarketing #smallbusinessadvice #smallbusinessowners #thesocialotter

This article may be frightening to some small businesses. However, what it means is that branding is critical, effective/affordable advertising is key, and there is more opportunity to separate yourself from the competition! If you have any questions about how this will affect your business, let us know and we can help create you a solution that fits your budget.

We are a proud partner with Hope Lives Here Animal Rescue Society. We are animal lovers and are always willing to help find these animals their new homes! Check out their page to see the puppies and animals they have for adoption! Alayna Astle and her team are an absolute pleasure to work with and I recommend anyone who is looking for a new furry family member to go see her first.

Brand building and visability is the foundation to everything! Digital platforms are an amazing way to connect with your customers in a non-sales way and to define yourself from the rest of the pack. An interesting stat we read recently is "There are over 55 million small businesses on Facebook, and only 4 million of them pay to advertise on social platforms". Maybe now is the perfect time to start sharing your brand with the world to stand out from the pack. What could it change for your business? We don't want anyone to drown in the sea of average branding. Separate yourself from the rest and never miss a customer because they didn't know you exist. The tools are all here, let's chat and see if digital marketing is right for your brand. Message us to schedule a free consultation call.