Case Study: Increasing Organic Growth and Event Bookings for Anna Maria Island Venues, a Premier Destination for Weddings and Corporate Events

Overview

Anna Maria Island Venues, a part of the Chiles Group, is a renowned destination for weddings, corporate events, and memorable gatherings along Florida’s Gulf Coast. In 2020, we partnered with Anna Maria Island Venues to enhance their digital presence and lead generation, focusing on increasing organic traffic and boosting inquiries for mid-week weddings and corporate bookings. Through a comprehensive digital strategy, we aimed to drive meaningful results and build a sustainable growth foundation.

Strategy & Implementation

2020 Initiatives

1. HubSpot Optimization: Improved the client’s HubSpot platform with advanced email automationand a refined on-site lead generation strategy.
2. SEO Audit and Optimization: Conducted a thorough SEO audit to address key gaps and implemented an optimization plan to increase the client’s online visibility.
3. Paid Ad Spend Strategy: Redirected ad spend toward highly targeted digital channels to capture qualified leads.

2021 Initiatives

1. Content & Social Media Revamp: Launched a new approach to content marketing and social media engagement, enhancing brand awareness and audience reach.
2. Sales Funnel Optimization: Created a streamlined sales funnel for the sales team, enabling efficient lead nurturing and conversions.
3. Website Chatbot Integration: Introduced a chatbot on the website, facilitating real-time engagement and seamless communication with prospective clients.
4. Mid-Week Wedding Push: Executed a targeted campaign for mid-week weddings using paid media, social posts, and long-form content, driving significant interest and bookings.

Results

Organic Traffic Growth

• 2020: Despite an initial 13% YOY traffic dip, our SEO efforts yielded a 243% increase in organic traffic. Visits surged from 2,385 in 2019 to 8,203 in 2020, setting a new benchmark for high-quality, converting leads.
• 2021: Organic traffic continued to climb with a 160% YOY increase, reaching 20,941 visits—an 82% uplift from 2020. Our ongoing optimization strategy kept organic traffic as the highest-converting channel.

 Form Submissions Growth

• 2020: Form submissions from organic traffic jumped by 126%, growing from 97 submissions in 2019 to 220 in 2020.
• 2021: Further optimization led to an additional 69% increase in form submissions, reaching 372 by year-end—a testament to our refined lead generation strategy.

Conclusion

Through a targeted, data-driven approach, we transformed [Brewery Client]’s online presence, achieving sustainable growth in organic traffic and lead conversions. By harnessing strategic SEO, optimized content, and enhanced lead generation tools, we positioned them as a go-to venue for weddings and corporate events. This comprehensive strategy not only drove impressive results but also established a scalable foundation for continued growth.

Client: Baxter Brewing
Objective: Increase email list and drive foot traffic to their on-site pub/restaurant
Campaign Duration: 6 weeks per campaign iteration
Budget: $500 per campaign

Campaign Goals

To support Baxter Brewing’s growth goals, the campaign aimed to expand their email list for ongoing engagement and increase foot traffic to their Lewiston, Maine, pub.

Target Audience

The campaign targeted individuals aged 21+ within a 30-mile radius of Lewiston who enjoy craft beer and local dining experiences, aligning with the profile of a typical Baxter Brewing patron.

Strategy and Platform

We utilized Meta (Facebook and Instagram) lead generation ads, allowing for seamless user experience by capturing leads directly on the platform. Leads were then exported to Baxter Brewing’s email database for ongoing communication.

Creative and Lead Magnet

The creative assets included:

• Static Graphics showcasing the pub’s food to visually engage potential visitors.
• Carousels to highlight Baxter Brewing’s unique offerings.

The incentive—“Enter to win a $100 gift card to the pub”—was designed to resonate with local interest, creating a strong motivator for users to submit their information.

Results

The initial campaign achieved significant success, generating over 700 leads and reaching more than 15,000 unique users with an average cost per lead of $0.71. Due to its effectiveness, Baxter Brewing has continued running multiple iterations of this campaign, which have now collectively resulted in over 2,500 leads and reached more than 60,000 users, driving notable brand awareness along with robust email list growth.

Key Takeaways

• Compelling Lead Magnets: When incentives resonate with audience interests, they can drive strong engagement and loyalty.
• Cost-Efficient Audience Growth: With precise targeting, low-budget campaigns can yield high-value results.
• Long-Term Brand Impact: By engaging the local audience repeatedly, Baxter Brewing has created a lasting and expanding presence in their community.

At IOI Ventures we are committed to our clients’ success and helping small businesses win. We are goal driven, focused on details and always innovating new ways to work with our customers.

We could go on and on, but we think it’s better if you hear from one of our current clients, St. John’s Northwestern Academies, a boarding school in Wisconsin that has seen a 40 percent increase in enrollments and a 400 percent increase in social media reach since our partnership.

With that, we welcome Eric Sanchez, Director of Advancement at SJNA, one of the key decision makers and close partners in the success of the IOI and SJNA relationship.

Q: What challenges were SJNA facing that they needed to address with IOI’s help?

A: SJNA internal changes in recent years have led to the need to improve digital strategies. The vital partnership with IOI has immediately impacted multiple areas. By leveraging digital channels, like social media, HubSpot, and search engines, IOI has optimized the way our target audience can reach us and engage SJNA. They have also assisted in creating engaging content, optimizing the website, and using email campaigns to help us bridge our message with current and new audiences.

Q: What factors influenced your decision to side with IOI rather than a larger agency?

A: I have worked with a lot of large firms in the past. The relationship loses its personal touch, and you become just a number. Working with IOI and their team is the complete opposite. Personal attention and dedication are where they shine. We have formed a partnership, and Adam and Marisa have worked exceptionally with us.

Q: What immediate impacts did you notice from partnering with IOI?

A: IOI has made a strong impact with quick wins, and a strategic mindset that will lead towards SJNA’s long term success. For example, IOI and their team have immediately right sized/improved our digital and social media strategies, modernized our website, connected our core community of constituents, and introduced new users to our website and school. 

Q: How satisfied were you with choosing IOI compared to previous agencies you may have worked with?

A: There is no comparison. IOI is a true partnership with an exceptional team of professionals. I could not be more enthused about working with them.

Q: What would you tell or recommend to a prospective business about your experience with IOI?

A: I highly recommend IOI for its outstanding customer service, knowledgeable team, and vision of partnership and success.

What Does Success Look Like

In the dynamic world of digital marketing, success is not a one-size-fits-all concept. At IOI Ventures, we understand that each client’s vision of success is unique, and our approach to achieving it is just as personalized. Our strategy, “What Does Success Look Like?”, is designed to align our marketing efforts with your specific business goals and objectives.

Understanding Client Goals:

Effective digital marketing starts with a clear understanding of our clients’ aspirations. Through in-depth discussions, we delve into what each business aims to achieve, allowing us to craft strategies that are not only cutting-edge but also perfectly aligned with individual visions.

Analyzing and Reporting on Analytics:

At the core of our strategy is a strong emphasis on data. Regular analysis and detailed reports keep us and our clients informed on the progress, facilitating adjustments to strategies as necessary. This approach ensures that every campaign is underpinned by robust data, optimizing outcomes.

Establishing Marketing KPIs:

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) serve as our navigational tools. Setting specific, measurable KPIs provides a framework for accountability and growth. From enhancing website traffic to boosting conversion rates and customer engagement, these KPIs keep our strategies focused and results-driven.

Additional Metrics for Gauging Progress:

Customer Engagement and Feedback:

• Understanding audience reactions and interactions offers valuable insights. We monitor social media activity, comments, shares, and direct feedback to better comprehend customer preferences and behaviors.

ROI Analysis:

• Evaluating the return on investment is pivotal. We assess the financial efficiency of our campaigns against the revenue they generate, ensuring our clients receive optimal value from their marketing investments.

Brand Awareness and Reach:

• Expanding brand visibility is a key metric. We track search engine rankings, brand mentions, and social media followers to measure the impact of our branding efforts.

Conversion Rates:

• A vital aspect of our strategy is turning visitors into customers. Focusing on conversion rates helps us refine our tactics for driving sales or specific actions.

Long-Term Client Relationships:

• At IOI Ventures, enduring client partnerships is a hallmark of our approach. Sustained collaborations are a sign of trust and satisfaction with our services, indicating mutual growth and achievement.

Conclusion:

IOI Ventures is more than a digital marketing agency; we are a strategic partner committed to realizing your business goals. Our approach goes beyond mere metrics, focusing on creating strategies that resonate with unique client objectives and leveraging informed decisions for continued growth and strong, lasting relationships.

In the world of social media, staying current and engaging with your audience means tapping into trending holiday topics. Whether it’s Halloween, Thanksgiving, or even National Donut Day, there’s always a holiday around the corner to provide fresh opportunities for content creation. Here are a handful of ways to make the most out of trending holiday topics to boost your social media presence: 

Early Bird Gets the Worm

The first rule of capitalizing on trending holiday topics is to start planning your content well in advance. Keep a well-organized content calendar that highlights upcoming holidays and events relevant to your audience. This ensures you have time to plan and create content well in advance. Early engagement can build anticipation and excitement among your followers.

Know Your Audience

Understanding your audience’s preferences and interests is paramount. Different holidays resonate differently with various demographics. Make sure you research what holidays matter most to your followers, be inclusive, and align your content accordingly. You don’t want to ruffle feathers or have your account suspended. 

Monitor Trends

Stay up-to-date with current trends and conversations surrounding the holiday. Follow relevant hashtags, join relevant social media groups, and pay attention to what influencers in your niche are doing. This will help you identify the trending topics, challenges, and conversations to engage with in your holiday-themed content.

Create Valuable and Relevant Content

Don’t just jump on the holiday bandwagon for the sake of it. Ensure your content provides value to your audience and is relevant to the holiday. If it’s Thanksgiving, offer cooking tips or share stories of gratitude. If it’s Halloween, create spooky DIY tutorials or share costume ideas. By providing valuable content, you’re more likely to engage and retain your audience.

Utilize User-Generated Content

Encourage your followers to contribute to your holiday content by sharing their experiences, stories, or creations related to the holiday. User-generated content not only boosts engagement but also creates a sense of community and trust around your brand. For example, you can run a Halloween-themed contest or challenge where your followers can submit their own spooky creations. Share and celebrate the best entries on your social media channels to build a sense of community.

Host Holiday-Themed Contests and Giveaways

Kickstart the holiday season with a jolt of excitement and festive engagement. Hosting contests or giveaways infused with holiday themes is a brilliant strategy to immerse your audience in the joyous spirit of the season! 

Encourage your followers to take part in fun challenges or friendly competitions, all while dangling tempting holiday-themed prizes as delightful incentives.  Whether it’s wickedly cool Halloween merchandise, generous discount codes, or the promise of exclusive content, these giveaways can work their magic and create buzz across your social media channels.

Be Visual and Creative

People are drawn to eye-catching visuals and creative content. Use high-quality images, videos, infographics, and other multimedia elements to make your holiday content stand out. Experiment with creative storytelling techniques and interactive content formats like polls, quizzes, and live streams to engage your audience.

Leverage Holiday Hashtags

Hashtags are your ticket to reaching a broader audience interested in the holiday. Research and use relevant holiday-themed hashtags in your posts to increase discoverability. Popular Halloween-related hashtags like #Halloween, #SpookySeason, or #TrickOrTreat can help expand your reach.

Stay Authentic

While it’s important to align your content with holiday themes, remember to stay true to your brand’s identity. Authenticity resonates with audiences. If your content feels forced or unrelated to your brand, it can turn off followers.

Are you questioning how social media can benefit your company? Many businesses feel that social media is the least important or effective of the marketing methods, therefore it is usually given the least amount of attention.

This lack of direction usually leads most social media accounts to flounder, but with the right love and affection (such as the kind your business would get from IOI), social media can be a powerful driver in recruiting new customers and keeping past and current customers engaged and active.

Recently, IOI Ventures took over social media control for our client, St. John’s Northwestern Academies, an independent, private college prep school in Wisconsin. SJNA had a strong base of past alumni and parents that they had already tapped into, but they were not making significant strides in using social media to actually benefit their business by attracting new users to their page.

The Plan:

At IOI, we came up with the plan to strengthen SJNA’s accounts by focusing more on the content and ideas that would drive new prospective families to the campus. We needed to focus on capturing new potential customers to help boost business while still keeping our current parents and students informed and up to date on campus life and student events.

Sending More Users to the SJNA site:

Our first step was to capitalize on our audience and push them to our sjnacademies.org home page. Since taking over the SJNA socials in April, their website conversions from social media are up over 500 percent with Instagram and LinkedIn contributing over 1,000 percent increases. We did this by implementing more directed CTA’s in our posts and creating a link tree for Instagram which helped propel that 1,000 percent increase. With these new and simple fixes in place, their accounts began to grow and become a far more useful tool in recruitment.

Generating a more influential online presence:

The next step we took on for SJNA was to reach a new set of eyes. We began growing their account by using more targeted fixed hashtags, creating collab posts with local brands, following and interacting with more accounts in our genre, and using more directed content and CTA’s. In the first five months, these changes garnered over a 300 percent increase in total reach across our entire social network. SJNA’s Instagram account has seen the largest jump with nearly a 50 percent increase in just six months of IOI oversight.

Armed with these tactics and tricks and a legitimate planned social media strategy, you can grow your businesses social

Life often takes unexpected turns, and in my case, the journey from being an athlete and coach to a Marketing Account Manager has been nothing short of transformative. While it might seem like sports and marketing are worlds apart, the skills and lessons I learned on the field have profoundly influenced my professional life. In my short five months on the job, I’ve already seen so many instances where my experiences as an athlete and coach have helped me excel in my role as a Marketing Account Manager.

Goal-Oriented Mindset

In the world of sports, setting and achieving goals is fundamental. Whether it’s running a faster mile, hitting a certain number of home runs, or improving your shot, athletes constantly strive for improvement. This goal-oriented mindset directly translates to the world of marketing, where setting and achieving objectives is equally essential. As an account manager, I’ve learned to set clear, measurable goals for my team and clients, just as I did as an athlete. This mindset has not only helped me stay focused but also ensured that my marketing campaigns have a clear direction and purpose.

Teamwork and Collaboration

Team sports teach invaluable lessons about teamwork and collaboration. As a former athlete, I understand the significance of working together to achieve a common goal. This experience has been particularly beneficial in my role as an account manager, where cross-functional collaboration is often key to success. Whether it’s coordinating with graphic designers, content creators, or data analysts, my background in sports has taught me how to communicate effectively and leverage the strengths of each team member to achieve optimal results.

Resilience and Adaptability

Sports can be physically and mentally demanding, requiring athletes to bounce back from setbacks and adapt to changing circumstances. This resilience and adaptability are valuable traits in the fast-paced world of marketing. In my career, I’ve faced unexpected challenges and shifts in marketing trends, but my background in sports has helped me remain composed, pivot when necessary, and find innovative solutions to problems.

Leadership Skills

As both an athlete and coach, I’ve had the opportunity to develop leadership skills. Whether I was leading my team on the field or guiding fellow athletes as a coach, I learned how to inspire, motivate, and mentor others. These leadership skills have been indispensable in my role as an  account manager, where I provide guidance, direction, and support to team members in need. 

Time Management and Discipline

Athletes are often required to balance rigorous training schedules, competitions, and academic commitments. This demands excellent time management and discipline. These skills have carried over into my marketing career, where juggling multiple projects, meeting deadlines, and staying organized are essential. My ability to manage time effectively and stay disciplined has greatly contributed to my success in the marketing industry.

The journey from being an athlete and coach to a marketing account manager may seem like a leap, but the skills and lessons learned in the world of sports have been invaluable in my professional life. The goal-oriented mindset, teamwork and collaboration, resilience and adaptability, leadership skills, and time management and discipline acquired through sports have all played a significant role in shaping me into a successful marketing professional. So, whether you’re on the field or in the office, remember that the skills you acquire in one arena can often be transferred to another, helping you excel in unexpected ways.

At the 2023 NBA Draft, IOI had a very special relationship with one of the newest members of the Golden State Warriors. Brandin Podziemski is a 2021 graduate of St. John’s Northwestern Academies, one of IOI’s newest clients. Brandin was selected as the overall 19th pick in the first round, and SJNA was not equipped to provide the level of coverage needed surrounding an event of this magnitude. 

Luckily, IOI already had a blueprint for success with SJNA thanks to our experience just a year prior at the 2022 NBA Draft when Keegan Murray, an alum of another IOI client DME Academy, got selected as the No. 4 overall pick.

Goals: 

St. John’s Northwestern wanted to increase brand awareness and drive media engagement all while bringing the attention and recognition a first round pick deserved. SJNA always wanted to reach the local community and national media by promoting the story through various news outlets. Finally, they wanted to leverage Brandin’s time at SJNA by building out long-form pieces that would drive traffic to their website and increase interest in the academies.

Strategy:

The draft was taking place June 22 and we knew we needed a strong clear strategy prior to June 1 in order to accomplish the goals set forth by SJNA.

Despite having been a recent graduate and successful alumnus, SJNA wasn’t connected with Brandin on social media. We began interacting with him and his NCAA program, Santa Clara University, to develop trust and foster the relationship.

We developed a social media content plan outlining the month of June leading up to the NBA Draft. We focused on highlighting Brandin’s impressive statistics, extensive awards, and all his recognitions by utilizing feed posts and stories to drive engagement through polls and open-ended questions.

In order to drive traffic to the SJNA website, we built out a landing page highlighting Brandin and his accomplishments. We also developed multiple long-form blog pieces, which we distributed to both national and local media outlets, in preparation for the draft 

Ahead of draft night, we organized local media and community members to attend a watch party hosted by SJNA. This provided a backdrop for quality coverage from local media and created excitement and buzz around the future of SJNA athletics.

As the draft began, we planned to provide live coverage through social media utilizing the countdown feature, polls, and open-ended questions. We also prepared to post a final long-form blog post added to the link to our social media posts, continuing to drive traffic to the SJNA website.

Outcome:

On draft night, we ramped up our social media with a series of posts and stories and also continued closely monitoring any related content. Once his name was called, we posted content congratulating Brandin and began interacting with his alma mater, Santa Clara University, Brandin himself, and the Golden State Warriors. 

Two local media television crews turned up to the NBA Draft watch party and shared footage of the night on their live broadcasts and social media accounts, which we reposted to the SJNA social media accounts. On the national level, Brandin gave us a boost when he  flashed the lining of his jacket to reveal a St. John’s Northwestern logo and commented on his appreciation of the school live on the ESPN broadcast.

Thanks to our newly developed social media relationship with Brandin, he is now following SJNA on social media and is liking, commenting, and sharing nearly all our posts to his page. With his now nearly 42k followers, this contributed to a huge boost in our numbers. 

In the month of June alone, we saw an increase of Facebook and Instagram reach at 256,432 (increase of 622% month-over-month) and 59,368 (increase of 566% MOM) accounts reached, respectively. We also gained 70 new Instagram followers and garnered 2,466 (increase of 36% MOM) profile visits with content about Brandin being 6 out of the 10 top performing posts for the month.

Overall, the 2023 NBA Draft was a success for not only Brandin and his family, but for St. John’s Northwestern Academies as well. We met and exceeded the goals we had set for the event and are confident we will continue to drive brand awareness, increase web traffic, and see a rise in social media engagement as Brandin undoubtedly shines for the Golden State Warriors. 

The FIFA Women’s World Cup has become an influential sporting event that goes beyond the boundaries of the soccer pitch. With its widespread popularity and exceptional talent on display, the tournament has left a lasting impact on the sport’s growth in the United States. Let’s look at how it has impacted internet searches.

1. Surge in Search Volume – According to Google Trends data, searches related to soccer in the United States experienced a substantial increase during the FIFA Women’s World Cup compared to previous years. The tournament’s occurrence led to a sharp rise in search volume, indicating a heightened interest in soccer-related topics across the nation.
2. Regional Interest – Analyzing search data by region reveals intriguing insights into the geographic impact of the Women’s World Cup. Soccer has traditionally been more popular in certain states, but the tournament managed to pique the interest of regions less associated with the sport. States like California, New York, and Texas, which typically exhibit a high interest in soccer, witnessed a surge in search activity during the Women’s World Cup. Moreover, states with lower soccer interest, such as Utah, Oregon, and Wisconsin, experienced significant increases in soccer-related searches during the tournament, showcasing the event’s nationwide appeal.
3. Rising Interest in Women’s Soccer – The FIFA Women’s World Cup has undoubtedly contributed to raising awareness and interest in women’s soccer. Google search trends indicate a notable spike in queries related to women’s soccer during the tournament. People searched for information about the players, schedules, match results, and even women’s soccer leagues and events beyond the World Cup. This surge highlights a shift in perception, with more people recognizing and appreciating the talent and achievements of female athletes in the sport.
4. Player Searches – Individual players became breakout stars during the Women’s World Cup, and their exceptional performances led to increased search interest. Players like Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, and Rose Lavelle saw a significant uptick in online searches during the tournament. Not only did fans seek information about their playing careers, but they also explored their off-field activities and advocacy efforts, further engaging with the sport and its personalities.
5. Social Media Impact – Social media platforms played a vital role in driving internet searches related to the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Memorable moments, spectacular goals, and emotional celebrations spread like wildfire on social media, leading to higher search volumes as people sought more information and videos of these events. Additionally, hashtags related to the Women’s World Cup trended on platforms like Twitter and Instagram, encouraging fans to engage with the content and search for further soccer-related topics.
6. Long-Term Impact on Youth Participation – One of the most significant impacts of the Women’s World Cup on internet searches is the potential long-term effect on youth soccer participation. As more children witnessed the excitement of the tournament and the achievements of their female role models, interest in playing soccer has likely grown. This interest might translate into more searches for local soccer clubs, training programs, and resources, as parents and children seek ways to get involved in the sport.

The statistics speak volumes about the FIFA Women’s World Cup’s impact on internet searches for soccer in the United States. The tournament has driven a surge in search volume, expanded interest in women’s soccer, and captivated the attention of regions less traditionally associated with the sport. Players have become household names, and social media has played a pivotal role in sparking curiosity and engagement. Moreover, the tournament’s influence may extend to long-term effects on youth participation, as a new generation of soccer enthusiasts emerges. With each Women’s World Cup, soccer’s presence and popularity in the United States continue to grow, solidifying the tournament’s status as a catalyst for change within the sporting landscape.

In the world of marketing, it’s no secret that there are a million acronyms that all seem equally important to remember. You’ve probably felt like you’re swimming in a hypothetical alphabet soup at times, but let us clear things up by telling you about one of the most important and influential acronyms and how IOI uses them to measure success for our clients.

KPI, or key performance indicator, is a type of performance measurement we use to evaluate the success of a campaign or specific project- in this case, social media. We use them to track the progress toward a specific marketing goal, understand the performance of social media posts, and make adjustments to achieve success.

We began managing all social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn) for St. John’s Northwestern Academies in April 2023. Prior to this, their onsite team managed the strategy, content planning, and posting across all channels.

We narrowed down the important KPIs that we wanted to focus on. This included post time and date, the format of the post, impressions (Instagram), reach, engagement, success rate, and follower growth. 

SJNA primarily posted content as it came in throughout the week, but never considered the content’s format, the time of day, or calls to action. Our goal was to increase engagement and reach by using content that would perform well and drive traffic to the website.

Three things we implemented in April that contributed to continual platform growth over the course of four months included:

1. Tailored the content to meet the needs of our followers: We shifted the type of content that was posted from individual photos to photo/video carousels and reels. This led to an increase in engagement from 14.95% in April to 36.52% in just one month.
2. Posted during time windows when followers were most active: After recording our posting times for one month, we discovered the times garnering the most engagement were between 10-11 am and 4-6 pm. Although the engagement growth is slow, it continues to be steady, increasing by an average of 10 engagements month over month.
3. Audited current hashtags and adjusted based on reach: All hashtags can’t be winners and many people will argue that they don’t serve a purpose at all, but we beg to differ! By tracking the engagement on each post and following the analytics, we were able to see which hashtags performed well and which hashtags were underperforming. Utilizing highly engaged hashtags in future copy gave us the opportunity to reach and engage with potential followers while promoting SJNA’s brand.

In the past four months, we have increased the following on SJNA’s Instagram by 18% and LinkedIn by almost 7%. The success rate of our posts across channels also increased from 4.19% to 4.88% in one month.

KPIs can seem overwhelming and it takes time to see true growth in the metrics. To determine which KPIs you should be measuring, evaluate your business goals and objectives to narrow down the analytics that matters most to your progress.

An engaging webinar not only increases participation among your audience but leads to a better outcome overall. To make your webinars more interactive and valuable for your audience, consider implementing the following strategies:

Set clear goals: Define the objectives of your webinar and clearly communicate them to your audience. This will help participants understand what to expect and stay engaged throughout the session.

Know your audience: Research and understand your target audience’s interests, needs, and preferences. Tailor your content and delivery to meet their expectations, addressing their pain points and providing practical solutions.

Interactive content: Incorporate interactive elements such as polls, surveys, quizzes, and Q&A sessions. Encourage participants to share their opinions, ask questions, and play an active part in the webinar. This involvement fosters engagement and creates a two-way conversation.

Visual aids and multimedia: Utilize visually appealing slides, images, videos, and graphs to enhance your content. Visual aids help reinforce key points, break up monotony, and make the webinar more visually stimulating.

Engage with storytelling: Incorporate storytelling techniques to make your content relatable and memorable. Narrate relevant anecdotes, real-life examples, or case studies that resonate with your audience. Stories evoke emotions, capture attention, and facilitate better retention of information.

Collaborative activities: Encourage group activities or breakout sessions where participants can collaborate and share ideas with each other. This fosters a sense of community and allows attendees to learn from their peers, enhancing the overall value of the webinar.

Use interactive tools: Leverage interactive tools such as whiteboards, annotation features, or live chat to promote engagement. These tools enable participants to actively participate, ask questions, and provide feedback in real-time.

Time management: Plan and manage your webinar’s timing effectively. Structure your content into digestible segments with breaks in between to prevent information overload. Respect participants’ time by starting and ending the webinar on time.

Follow-up and resources: Provide additional resources, handouts, or links to relevant materials after the webinar. Follow up with participants through email or social media, addressing any unanswered questions or concerns. This post-webinar engagement reinforces the value of the session and encourages future participation.

Remember to continuously seek feedback from your audience to improve the quality of your webinars. Analyze participation metrics, conduct surveys, and engage in post-webinar discussions to gather insights and refine your approach.

​​In today’s digital age, having a well-designed and functional website is crucial for any business or individual looking to establish a strong online presence. While there are various DIY website builders available, hiring a professional web developer or designer can make a world of difference. These are the top five reasons why you should consider hiring a professional (cough, cough, like IOI) to build your website.

1. Customized and Unique Design:
   One of the main advantages of hiring a professional to build your website is the ability to have a customized and unique design. Professional web designers possess the knowledge and expertise to create visually appealing layouts that align with your brand identity. They can tailor the design to match your specific requirements, ensuring that your website stands out from the competition. With a distinctive design, you can create a memorable user experience that leaves a lasting impression on your visitors.
2. User Experience Optimization:
   User experience (UX) plays a critical role in the success of any website. Professional web developers understand the principles of UX design and can create websites that are intuitive, easy to navigate, and user-friendly. They consider factors such as page load times, mobile responsiveness, and clear call-to-action buttons to enhance the overall experience for your site visitors. By providing a seamless and enjoyable browsing experience, you increase the chances of converting visitors into customers or clients.
3. Technical Expertise and Functionality:
   Building a website involves more than just aesthetics. It requires technical expertise and knowledge of various programming languages, frameworks, and content management systems (CMS). Professional web developers possess the necessary skills to ensure that your website functions smoothly and efficiently. They can integrate advanced features and functionalities, such as e-commerce capabilities, database management, secure payment gateways, and interactive elements. A professional’s technical expertise ensures that your website is not only visually appealing but also fully functional.
4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO):
   Having a beautiful website is pointless if it doesn’t rank well in search engine results. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a crucial aspect of building a website that drives organic traffic. Professional web developers have a deep understanding of SEO best practices and can optimize your website’s structure, code, and content to improve its visibility in search engines. They can implement proper meta tags, headings, alt tags, and ensure that your website loads quickly. By hiring a professional, you increase the chances of your website being discovered by potential customers or clients.
5. Time and Cost Efficiency:
   While it may seem tempting to save money by building a website yourself or using a DIY website builder, it can quickly become time-consuming and costly. Professionals have the experience and efficiency to create a website more quickly and effectively. They are aware of potential roadblocks and can troubleshoot issues efficiently, saving you time and frustration. Moreover, investing in a professional website from the start can save you money in the long run by avoiding costly redesigns or fixes that may be required with a DIY approach.

Hiring a professional to build your website offers numerous benefits that extend beyond just appearance. From custom design to enhanced user experience, technical expertise, SEO optimization, and time efficiency, professionals bring a wealth of knowledge and skills to ensure that your website is a powerful tool for your business or personal brand. While there are costs associated with professional web development, the long-term benefits far outweigh the initial investment. So, when it comes to your online presence, entrust the task to a professional to create a website that leaves a lasting impression and helps you achieve your goals.

This case study explores how IOI Ventures successfully executed a lead generation campaign on Facebook to generate more leads for 3 Keys Brewery’s email list. By leveraging the targeting capabilities and extensive user base of Facebook, IOI Ventures devised a strategic campaign that effectively reached and engaged the brewery’s target audience, resulting in a significant increase in qualified leads.

Objective:

The primary objective of the campaign was to expand 3 Keys Brewery’s email list and gather valuable leads for future marketing initiatives. We aimed to maximize the impact of Facebook’s vast user base and sophisticated ad targeting options to reach individuals who were likely to be interested in craft beer, good food, and a nice atmosphere, all at an affordable price.

Strategy and Execution:

Identifying the target audience: We collaborated closely with 3 Keys Brewing & Gastrobrew’s team to define its ideal customer persona. Tom and Gabe from 3 Keys identified key characteristics and demographics, such as age, location, interests, and engagement with similar brands.

Ad creative development: IOI Ventures crafted visually appealing and engaging ad creatives that showcased 3 Keys Brewery’s unique offerings, including high-quality images of their craft beers, brewery ambiance, and special events. The ads were designed to evoke curiosity and encourage users to take action by signing up for a chance to win a $100 gift card.

Precise targeting and ad distribution: Utilizing Facebook’s advanced targeting options, we narrowed down the target audience based on geographic location (Bradenton, Florida), age, interests, and behavior patterns related to craft beer and brewery visits. By ensuring precise targeting, the campaign could effectively reach individuals with a high likelihood of becoming valuable leads.

Ongoing monitoring and refinement: During the 30 days campaign duration, we closely monitored the performance. Tracking metrics such as click-through rates, conversion rates, and cost per lead. We continuously refined the campaign by adjusting targeting parameters to optimize results.

Results:

IOI Ventures’ Facebook lead generation campaign yielded exceptional results for 3 Keys Brewery:

Increased lead volume: The campaign generated a whopping 809 leads during the 30 days we were running the campaign. 

Higher lead quality: The leads acquired through the campaign are all leads within a 15 miles radius of 3 Keys Brewing and Gastrobrew. These new leads are much more likely to stop in now that they are more aware of the restaurant. 

Cost-effective results: The cost per lead was only $0.53, indicating efficient campaign management and optimization. Our total spend was $425.66 for a total of 809 leads.

Enhanced brand exposure: Our campaign’s reach and engagement resulted in a wider audience discovering 3 Keys Brewery and increased brand awareness within their target market of Bradenton, Florida.

Conclusion:

Through a strategic lead generation campaign on Facebook, IOI Ventures successfully assisted 3 Keys Brewery in expanding its email list and connecting with a broader audience of craft beer enthusiasts. By leveraging Facebook’s advanced targeting capabilities and continuously optimizing its campaign, we achieved significant improvements in lead volume, lead quality, and cost-effectiveness. This case study demonstrates the value of leveraging social media platforms for lead generation and highlights the importance of well-defined targeting, compelling ad creatives, and ongoing monitoring and optimization for campaign success.

Mobile-Friendly Website Redesign Boosts User Experience and Increases Traffic for 200×85

200×85, a youth hockey organization, partnered with IOI Ventures to redesign their website in 2022. The objective was to create a new website that enhanced branding, drove leads and was mobile device responsive to provide a seamless user experience to users whether they were at home or at one of their events. In this case study, we will analyze the results of the website redesign project in terms of audience metrics and behavioral metrics.

Audience Metrics

The 200×85 audience was niche but has been growing over the years incrementally. Since the site redesign, the company has seen a 10.09% gain in users from Q1 2022 to Q1 2023. In addition to this pure volume gain, new users have grown 8.44% from Q1 2022 to Q1 2023, exemplifying that the website has been able to attract new visitors who were not previously aware of the company’s offerings.

Behavioral Metrics

The website redesign project has also positively impacted how users engage with the website. Visitors are exploring more pages and interacting with the content. Page views have increased by 12.33%, and the pages per session metric has increased by 12.25% from Q1 2022 to Q1 2023. These metrics show that the user experience seems to be improved, they’re finding the new site easy to navigate and the content more exciting.

Another important metric that reflects the success of the website redesign project is the increase in mobile users by 16.66%. This metric indicates that the new website is responsive and mobile-friendly, making it easier for the visitors to navigate through the website on their mobile devices. The increase in mobile users also shows that the website redesign project has been successful in providing a better user experience to the visitors.

Conclusion

The website redesign project has been a success for 200×85, and the key metrics analyzed in this case study prove that the site has increased the company’s online presence. The partnership between 200×85 and IOI Ventures has resulted in a website that is engaging, informative, and user-friendly.

Recently, I made the decision to transition from an in-person office job to a fully-remote position. It was going to be my first time working a job that didn’t require me to be in a stuffy office every day, but I had no idea how the process actually worked. Commuting to my living room was definitely a culture shock in the first few weeks, but a handful of simple changes to my routine made the transition a lot smoother than expected.

If you’re currently hoping to leave behind your archaic corporate office but can’t see yourself working from home, here’s a few tips I learned that will help you ditch the cubicle.

Recently I was interviewing a candidate for a position and we got to talking about standard operating procedures (SOPs). This candidate said something to me that shed new light on why having good SOP’s are essential for a growing business. “Clear is kind!”, she beamed. “When you are clear with me I can provide my best for you.”

It’s no surprise marketers everywhere have leaned into the wide range of softwares and AI tools available today. Data and automation are such powerful pillars to lean on, but every once in a while we need to broaden our scope. Let’s zoom out a little bit, and do an audit on WHO we should be, HOW to create an ideal client experience, and WHEN to take a quick break from the numbers and shift our attention to the bigger picture.

Here are five human elements AI can’t bring to the table.  

1) Be present. Show up! When’s the last time you showed your face on a Zoom call, or took your client out to lunch? If you don’t prioritize your working relationship, they won’t either. There’s a trickle down effect with everything and if you put in the time, they will too. “I just feel like we need more pizazz in our posts” is a human conversation, and we should be there to have it. 

2) Be approachable. YOU teach people how to treat you. We are more in control of the information we receive than we think. “Our client seems happy, they haven’t said anything” is an easy thing to tell yourself. Or, “I can’t force them to be more honest than they’re willing to be.” But – are you approachable? If they give you truthful negative feedback, do you seem willing to receive it? Presenting a polished, professional front during your meetings is good – but being viewed as “one of them” is even better. Break down the barrier. If they’re not happy, you want them to seek you out for advice – not secretly Google other initiatives (or companies) behind your back.

3) Break from the routine. Throw some darts at the wall every few weeks. Did you see something interesting while scrolling Instagram? Have an interesting shower thought? Make sure these thoughts don’t fizzle out. Carve out some time for a brainstorming session during your check-ins, or toss an “anything goes” doc in the shared drive. It’s great to hit a stride and continue to do what works, but if you bury your head in your AI-driven marketing regimen, you may miss a simple TikTok trend that would give your client’s social media a breath of fresh air.

4) Provide human insights. There’s no reason to labor over things that technology does quicker, and frankly, better. Let Excel crunch the numbers, you can even let ChatGPT create a list of competitors. Instead, spend your time supplementing these services with meaningful feedback. “Here’s a chart showing your website traffic” is an AI insight. “Your clients shouldn’t be bouncing from the home page so quickly, I just don’t think the font feels inviting enough” is a human insight. 

5) Be honest. Brands don’t always know what’s best for them. It’s tempting to take on a client that wants 5k new Instagram followers, and is willing to pay for it. But, is that really where they should be focusing? AI might be able to create a social media growth plan, but we have the perspective and context to make tailored recommendations based on our experiences. “How to gain 5k followers in 6 months” is an AI prompt. However, saying “Your target market doesn’t use social media effectively and your new followers likely won’t convert to measurable sales” is a human recommendation. Or, since we’re “being honest” – “Your market is a bit boring for Instagram, let’s try Linkedin”. 

There’s no doubt that AI tools and data softwares have revolutionized the world of marketing. As users of these tools, we have the opportunity to shift our focus from “busy work” to providing a creative, insightful, and personalized experience to our clients. Let’s make sure we maximize that at all times. 

To put a bow on it – I asked AI to “create an infographic for a blog post about marketing tips and tricks”, and got this image below. Could it pass as a stock photo? Sure. But is it effective? Does it send a clear message? Is it useful for this blog post? Let a human decide.

Format your content to fill a variety of digital spaces

In this ever growing digital landscape, there are a variety of social media platforms to post content to. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and the list goes on and on. But before you figure out what platforms to use to help expand the reach of your content, the quality of your content must be finalized. You can post something everyday across numerous social feeds, but if what you are posting isn’t easily consumable or aesthetically pleasing, your audience won’t engage with it. If your content isn’t good, people will not want to spend their time reading or sharing it, no matter where you post it. 

Next, you must also figure out the format of your content. For example, if you were to post a link or text driving to an article on Twitter, you might want to create a video or use photos to call attention to that very same piece of content on Instagram. Twitter is more of a text-heavy interface, where Instagram is more visuals-focused. Another example is if you have a short-form content video for a platform like TikTok, that video might not be applicable to gain traction on Facebook. Understanding your content is important, but also understanding the platforms you are posting it on is just as crucial to its success. In a sense, understanding the behavior of users on certain platforms. For more “fun” content, Instagram and TikTok may be your best route. For more informative pieces, Facebook and Twitter are always safe bets. 

How we added 10k new followers in a quarter of the time it took to acquire the previous 10k

In September of 2020, we launched brand new social channels for one of our clients. They had no social media presence previously, so when we created an Instagram account their total number of followers was zero.

After a little over two years, the following on Instagram eclipsed the 10k mark. It took almost 600 posts, stories, videos and Reels to get us there, but the account had reached a significant milestone. The next 10k came much quicker than the previous 10k, as we reached the 20k follower benchmark in just seven months. Not only that, but we achieved that feat producing a mere fraction of the posts it took previously.

Between September, 2022, and March, 2023, we posted 250 times on Instagram. Of those posts, 90 percent of them were in the form of IG stories or Reels. Why is that important? Because in August, 2020, the platform made a significant pivot towards pushing Reels in an attempt to compete with the rise of short-form video platform, TikTok. Over the next few months, Instagram feeds would take on a whole different experience.

The growth that we saw in the past six months is likely a direct result of catering our content to the platform’s recent changes. While both engagement and impressions dropped year-over-year — common for most accounts on the platform after IG’s changes — our number of followers soared. Six of the last seven months, we added more than 1,400 new followers to our audience. It wasn’t that more people were seeing our content, it was that our content was being consumed better by people interested in what we produced. Because we were producing Reels, the algorithm better served our content to people with similar interests. Our Reels were showing up in people’s Feeds and in the Explore page because we had optimized the content for the platform. 

IOI Culture

Building and maintaining a successful start-up requires much more than just hiring the right individuals. It demands a clear understanding of the workplace dynamics and a commitment to working together towards a common goal. That’s why Erika Conklin, the Chief Happiness Officer at IOI Ventures, recommended The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Pat Lencioni to the entire group prior to their gathering in Florida. This book is an excellent resource for any group of people who want to become a more cohesive unit.

The group of 15 teammates learned some valuable lessons that helped them strengthen their bond and work more effectively. Here are three of the key takeaways from their experience:

Trust is crucial.

The foundation of any successful organization is trust. Members must be able to rely on each other and feel safe enough to be vulnerable. They must know that they can depend on their colleagues to support them, even when things get tough. To build trust, members need to communicate openly and honestly, and they must be willing to admit when they make mistakes.

Conflict can be healthy.

Many people view conflict as a negative thing, but it can be a sign of a healthy team when members feel comfortable enough to voice their opinions and express their disagreements, it can lead to better decision-making and more creative solutions. However, it’s essential to handle conflict in a constructive way, so it doesn’t become destructive.

Commitment is necessary.

Once the group has established trust and dealt with conflict in a positive way, it’s time to commit to a common goal. Each member needs to understand their role in achieving that goal and be willing to put in the effort required to make it happen. It’s essential to create a shared sense of purpose so that everyone is working towards the same end result.

Jared Antista, CEO of IOI Ventures, expressed his thoughts on seeing everyone resonate with the different chapters in the book. He said, “It was incredible to see each individual engaging with the book and identifying with the different scenarios presented in each chapter. I was particularly pleased to see the team’s willingness to build trust all while encouraging healthy conflict resolution. We still have work to do, but I am confident that we are on the right path to becoming a more cohesive and successful unit.”

In conclusion, the book “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” by Pat Lencioni has been instrumental in helping our team at IOI Ventures understand the importance of building a cohesive team. By focusing on trust, healthy conflict resolution, and alignment toward shared goals, we have been able to work more efficiently toward achieving our objectives.

As an account and sales manager, I’ve learned firsthand how demanding it can be to balance the responsibilities of managing multiple client accounts and fulfilling your role in your own company. Juggling tasks like creating sales processes, managing direct sales, and handling day-to-day administrative tasks can quickly consume your time.

In this blog, I’ll share my experiences with effective time management strategies, tools, and techniques that have helped me stay organized and maintain a healthy work-life balance.

• Utilizing Tools for Project Tracking and Communication

Managing multiple client accounts requires prioritizing tasks, deadlines, and communication. Thankfully, there are various tools available to help with this. Here are some of the tools I’ve found most helpful:

Although the IOI team is small, we are very mighty. Our time in Philly and Atlantic City solidified that we are continuing to move in the right direction and that there are only more clients to partner with, more challenges we can overcome together, and more goals to crush. If there’s one thing IOI loves, it’s an excuse to get together and celebrate.

We kicked off the New Year in the best way we knew how – a team trip.

Are we surprised that the trip started out with an FAA system-wide outage, affecting every team member’s flight? While most were able to hop on a later flight, a handful of us hopped in the car and made the six-hour drive to Philadelphia. Talk about being committed to the cause!

Some hours and multiple Philly cheesesteaks later, the whole team was on the ground and ready to rock and roll. IOI kicked off the week at the U.S. Soccer Coaches Convention in Philadelphia where we partnered with our Norwegian client, Spond, and States Soccer to host a happy hour for coaches and potential partners. It was a great opportunity to meet current and prospective clients for IOI and a chance to mingle with other entrepreneurs who share similar visions. Not only did we leave with some great new connections, but we also created lasting memories with our team.

What do you get when you combine a passion for sports, an entrepreneurial spirit, and kids? Under Armour Flag Football Leagues. IOI Ventures has partnered with Under Armour’s Flag Football team to expand their footprint and grow the number of flag football leagues across the country.

The partnership encourages families to sign their children up to play, as well as generate leads for new league operators. Without league operators, Under Armour can not expand its program. Challenge accepted.

Goals:

IOI worked closely with the Under Armour Flag Football team to draw up a paid media campaign to drive leads for league operators. They expressed a goal to onboard 10 new league operators this year. With a rigorous vetting process and high turn-down rate, IOI was challenged with driving a significant number of qualified leads to try and yield just one league operator per month.

Strategy:

To achieve this goal, we knew that we needed to increase the volume and quality of the leads coming to their “Start A Flag Football League” landing page (a past IOI website project). 

IOI’s account management team worked with Under Armour to settle on a budget and regional targets for league operators. The IOI paid media team then worked with the Account Manager on a detailed paid media campaign brief outlining the goals of the client, their target audiences, geographics, keywords, custom URLs for tracking, headlines and descriptions for context in the ads. 

Additionally, IOI’s creative team worked with photo assets from the client to refresh the visual elements of the ads.

Results:

In just 31 days, IOI was able to generate 930 leads at a cost per lead of $7.04. Because of the close attention to detail around audience targeting and geo-fencing, the quality of the leads was confirmed when the client told us that they were onboarding 10 new league operators and had 5 more ready to onboard shortly thereafter. 

As a result, Under Armour Flag Football moved their proverbial goalposts back a bit. Their new goal for the year is now 30 league operators – and we are confident that we’ll get them there.

What is the first thing to make an impression on users when they visit a website? If you guessed the design, you would be right! Nearly 94% of first impressions are related to a website’s design and almost 48% of website visitors attribute website design to a business’s credibility. 

Challenger Sports is an organization that is passionate about delivering high-quality soccer camps and learning experiences for youth soccer players and their families of all ages and ability levels. Although they had this vision for their business, their website was not designed in a way that made it easy for users to find and register for camps. They were experiencing an 80% drop in camp registrations due to poor user experience, inability to search and find a camp easily, and was not optimized for mobile devices.

Goals:

IOI worked closely with the Challenger Sports team to develop goals and a pathway to achieve them. Their first goal was to increase annual camp revenue to $7.9M with 45,000 registrants, which would be a 20% increase in growth year over year. They also wanted to reduce the high drop-off rate on the website.

Strategy:

To achieve these goals, we knew a new website and camp search experience would be crucial. IOI built a custom camp finder making it easier for users to search and register for upcoming camps. We also developed cohesive branding and messaging through the website as well as more calls to action that encourage users to contact Challenger Sports through the integration of HubSpot forms.

Aside from website updates, IOI developed a full marketing strategy with the goal of pushing soccer camp registrations. This included a $5,000 budget allocation to Google and Meta ads directing to the camp finder. This campaign also included four email blasts and four social media posts promoting the new website and camp finder, along with long-form content that lives on the site. We doubled down on all these efforts by adding a registration camp banner to all email blasts and Regional Director’s email signatures.

Results:

The Challenger Sports website and camp finder redesign launched at the end of January 2023 and recorded a 22% increase in camp registrations year-over-year in the first 45 days. It also created and collected 878 new contacts in HubSpot. From IOI’s marketing efforts alone, this strategy led to 1,258 camp registrations and $274,215 in revenue.

With the partnership between IOI Ventures and Challenger Sports, all initial goals for this campaign were met and exceeded. The updates to their website and camp finder pages have made the customer experience smoother and have led to more leads and registrations.

Our team at IOI can definitely understand how overwhelming it is to hear that the Universal Analytics we have all grown to love is suddenly just leaving in 2023. Analytics, numbers – these tell the story behind sales and leads, so this information is absolutely crucial for you and your business to understand!

Not to worry – IOI has you covered on what to know about migrating from Universal Analytics to the new GA4. 

For starters, what is GA4?

• The successor to “Universal Analytics”
• Entirely new reporting interface and tracking script
• Significantly improved machine learning for modeling & predictive analytics
• Greatly enhanced (if you don’t want to repeat)audience builder (integrated with Google Ads!)
• Custom reports (not dashboards)
• Up to 30 goals (and you can delete them)
• Privacy-first approach to tracking

GA4 offers enhanced measurements that is prompted during the setup of a GA4 property that automatically tracks:

• Scrolling
• Outbound Clicks
• Search
• Video Engagement
• File Downloads

• Create a new property

To create a new property, you will need to have account level access! Give your new property a name and select whether your stream will be populating via IOS app, Android app, or website.

• Set up data collection

In this case, we will begin setting up data collection via a website. To do this, you must add the Google tag to the <head> of the homepage. There are various ways to do this via plugin or manually. 

• Activate Google Signals

This is a required step that enhances marketing and reporting. Audiences created in GA4 that are published to Google Ads can serve ads in cross-device-eligible remarketing campaigns.

• Map custom events/ migrate goals and conversions 

Doing this lets you build a historical record in GA4 while still being dependent on UA until the switch.

• Migrate audiences

Migrating audiences across from your UA property to GA4 lets you identify the same user groups based on your GA4 data. This can then be exported to your linked Google Ads account to address the same use cases. You can create up to 100 audiences per GA4 property, and these audiences will automatically update everywhere rather than requiring you to select the destination. You’ll need to manually recreate these audiences in your GA4 property to migrate them.

Are you struggling to sell high-ticket items or services? Are you unsure how to effectively market and pitch these products? If so, you’re not alone.

In this post, we’ll discuss some key strategies and tips for selling high-ticket items and services, so you can start closing more deals and increasing your revenue.

First, let’s define what we mean by “high ticket.” As Daniel Milstein, Founder and CEO of Gold Star Mortgage Financial Group, says, “A high-ticket item is typically defined as a product or service priced at $1,000 or more. This is commonly used in sales and marketing to refer to luxury goods, high-end services, or specialized equipment that require significant investment”. (Entrepreneur Pres, 2011).

Selling high-ticket items requires a different approach. The customer’s decision-making process is often more complex, and the stakes are much higher.

The first key strategy for selling high-ticket items is to focus on building relationships with your customers. By taking the time to understand your client’s needs, pain points, and goals, you can tailor your pitch and marketing efforts to address those specific issues.

Building trust and credibility with your customers is essential when selling high-ticket items, as they need to feel confident in their decision to invest a significant amount of money. Ask questions, be genuine, and keep the focus on them. 

Key strategy number two –  be an expert in your field. When you’re knowledgeable about your industry, you can confidently answer questions, provide guidance and establish trust with your clients, ultimately building confidence in your brand. 

Investing in your own education and development can go a long way in helping you become an expert in your field. In a world with information at our fingertips, take advantage! Listen to podcasts, keep up to date with your industry by reading books and articles, or go a step further and look into certifications and online courses. Lastly, don’t underestimate the value of your team; lean into your colleagues. A different perspective can go a long way.

Another essential strategy is to create a sense of urgency and exclusivity. High-ticket items are often considered a luxury or a significant investment, so potential customers may hesitate to pull the trigger without a sense of urgency. One way to convey this urgency is to use limited-time offers, such as discounts or bonuses, for customers who make a purchase within a specific timeframe. 

Creating a sense of exclusivity when selling high-ticket items is important. This can be done by limiting the number of available products or offering a VIP experience. This creates a sense of scarcity, which can motivate potential customers to act quickly.

It’s crucial to remember that selling high ticket items is a process. It may take several interactions and follow-up calls to close a sale, so it’s imperative to be patient and persistent.

Building a strong relationship with your customers, staying on top of your field, and creating the impression of both urgency and exclusivity will directly impact your ability to close more sales, generate more revenue and build more loyal customers. (and why stop there, maybe that new loyalty program).  It’s a win, win!

We’ve all said it a million times over. Let me just google that.  In just a second’s time, you will have the answer to “where is the best pizza near me?”  

When the name of a search engine becomes a verb, it’s pretty clear that it’s a big deal.  According to an article written by Meg Prater for HubSpot, Google controls a little more than 92% of the search engine market share worldwide. That includes 72% of the desktop market and 92% of the mobile search engine market.  In a world where information can be readily obtained in the palm of our hands, we need to take advantage of it. 

This is where the importance of SEO  comes into play and why you do NOT want to ignore it. 

Increase your visibility

As cited by the Entrepreneur Store, 53 percent of all website traffic comes from organic search.  As Google is the preferred search engine for most users, increasing visibility will directly impact your SERP (Search Engine Page Result).  It’s no surprise that the higher ranked your SERP, the more likely a user is to click on your link. In fact, in a study conducted by Backlinko, the #1 result in Google’s organic search results has an average CTR of 27.6% and is 10 times more likely to receive a click as opposed to the page in the number 10 spot. 

Optimizing your SEO will help you move up those rankings and reach the customers that are trying to find you. 

ROI

Although it may seem daunting, improving your SEO is a simple way to improve your business’ success without a large investment.  Paid advertisements can be costly and with ever-changing algorithms, may be a bit tricky.  You can take matters into your own hands with optimizing SEO.  In increasing your visibility as mentioned above, you want to appeal to the masses.  Identify keywords that are relevant to your business. Regularly publishing good and authoritative content that appeals to your audience and contains the keywords that users will be searching for is half of the battle. 

Credibility

Let’s be honest, if you find yourself in the deep dark place of page number 2 with your SERP, the user perceives this as a lack of credibility.  We know this isn’t true, but if they aren’t giving you that click that you’re looking for, they will never find out for themselves. Improving your SEO and climbing those rankings will in turn increase your credibility with your audience and yield more credible leads to your site. 

Google may run the search engine world, so let’s make the best of it.

Achieving a business goal can be a challenging task, but it is essential for the growth and success of any organization. Here are some tips on how we at IOI set ourselves up for success and hold ourselves accountable.

As the new year begins, businesses are setting marketing resolutions to help them achieve their goals for the year ahead. Here are some common resolutions businesses may make and tips on how to achieve them.

1. Increase brand awareness: Many businesses want to increase their visibility and reach in the market. This can be achieved through a variety of tactics, such as social media marketing, content marketing, and influencer marketing. To increase brand awareness, businesses should focus on creating engaging content that resonates with their target audience and finding ways to amplify that content through various channels.
2. Improve customer engagement: Another common resolution is to improve customer engagement. This can be done by creating personalized content and experiences, responding quickly to customer inquiries, and providing exceptional customer service. Businesses can also use customer data to create targeted marketing campaigns that speak directly to their audience.
3. Boost website traffic: Many businesses aim to increase the number of visitors to their website. This can be done by improving the site’s search engine optimization (SEO) and creating valuable content that attracts visitors. Additionally, businesses can use paid advertising to drive traffic to their site.
4. Increase conversions: Once a business has increased website traffic, the next step is to convert that traffic into paying customers. This can be achieved by optimizing the website for conversions and creating effective calls-to-action. Additionally, businesses can use A/B testing to determine which elements of their website are most effective in driving conversions.
5. Measure and optimize performance: Lastly, businesses should set a resolution to measure and optimize their marketing performance. This can be done by using analytics tools to track key metrics such as website traffic, conversions, and customer engagement. Businesses can then use this data to make informed decisions about which marketing tactics are working and which ones need improvement.

As we move into 2023, it is imperative that we learn from a few key marketing trends from 2022. Here are the top five essential marketing trends to keep an eye on that will retain their value into the New Year:

1. Personalization:

With the proliferation of data and the advancement of technology, personalization has become a focus for marketers. Personalization tactics can apply to emails, ads, and recommendations based on customer behavior and preferences. This strategy will help strengthen your brand’s relationship with your customers.

2. Artificial intelligence:

Artificial intelligence (AI) will continue to expand its presence in the marketing industry. You have probably already encountered chatbots and other AI-powered tools. These tools can help improve customer service and assist with tasks such as content creation (copywriting, graphic creation, voiceovers, etc). Artificial intelligence is becoming more and more reliable and can actually boost efficiency in the workplace.

3. Video marketing:

• Video continues to be a popular and effective marketing tool, with an expected rise in live streaming and virtual events meaning more and more people will be able to consume your content from more and more places around the world. The days of needing to be in person to attend an event or see a show are over.  
• Have you been on any social platforms recently? Short 15-60 second video clips called “snackable content” are dominating the feeds.

4. Social media marketing:

 Social media platforms will continue to be a part of any marketing strategy, focusing on creating engaging content and utilizing paid advertising to reach target audiences. It is important to figure out which channels work for your brand and really focus on that one rather than spreading yourself too thin on multiple platforms.  It is imperative to capture the attention of your audience as quickly as possible. The audience’s attention span is dwindling!

5. Content marketing:

Providing valuable and informative content to customers will continue to be critical to the success of any marketing strategy. Blogs, articles, podcasts, and other forms of content are assets your brand can use to educate and engage customers.

The signs of a good article are that it is engaging, informative and entertaining.

So…you’ve been tasked with writing an article on a certain topic. Excitement to get things going is palpable. A variety of thoughts and ideas are swirling around your head and you are eager to put them onto the page. 

The time comes to sit in front of your computer…and nothing. All those ideas you had a few minutes ago? Gone. The excitement you were feeling? That has been replaced by frustration. But it’s not the time to panic. There are a few tips and techniques to avoid the pitfalls of getting an article off the ground and to ensure the content you are putting out is the best it can be. 

1. Draw the reader in from the get-go.

The opening of your article doesn’t need to be a long-winded paragraph of text. Instead, grab the reader’s interest right off the bat with a couple of quick sentences. Your reader wants to be able to tell whether or not reading the article will be worth their time within the first 15-30 seconds. 

Prove to the reader that you value their time and that your work provides value to them.

2. Keep it short and simple.

In the ever-growing digital landscape, people are often consuming content on either their phone, tablet, computer etc. If they are met with large blocks of text, it is an immediate turn off. 

Short paragraphs are enticing, showing the reader that the information within is easily digestible. When a reader finishes one, they want to continue to the next, as each completed paragraph begins to feel like an accomplishment. 

Breaking down your article also conveys a more conversational tone to the overall piece. The breaks between paragraphs are akin to breaths while speaking. Have the words of the article keep the reader engaged with a strong pace, allowing for a natural flow of understanding and grasping of what is being read.

And since you want to keep paragraphs light and concise, ensure the words you choose follow suit. Eliminate lengthy words when shorter ones will get the point across just as easily. You aren’t in high school anymore, trying to fill out a specific word requirement for an essay. 

Have fun with it!

 Just because you avoid long or heavy-handed words doesn’t mean your content has to suffer. Keeping things short gives you the space to use punchy words, jolting the reader occasionally with some extra flair to keep them wanting more.

3. Answer the key facts

Ideally every good piece answers who, what, where, when, and why. By answering these questions, it allows the article to take on a form of its own, becoming a thing of substance rather than a bland collection of words. 

Begin with an overall theme or idea for your article, and build up to your main point by answering who, what, where, when and why. The content itself will convey answers to the very questions readers may be asking themselves.

One of the worst things your reader can be is bored, and a bored reader won’t give your article any attention. Don’t write just for the sake of writing. Ensure that your piece has a purpose or fully envisioned idea behind it. 

Keywords, Keywords, Keywords

With so much consumption of content carried out on digital devices, it can be hard to stand apart from everyone else. As a result, priority has been placed on keywords in recent years. 

What is a keyword? As HubSpot defines them, 

As marketers, your website is the first thing we look at before we start any kind of marketing efforts. We dive into how it’s performing, how easy it is to navigate as a customer, and ultimately is it set up for success of the business. When we first started working with our client, Challenger Teamwear, about 4 months ago, we noticed right away we needed to create a landing page that not only was easier to navigate as a customer, but provided opportunities to contact them and capture the leads information. If not, any money or marketing efforts we push there would be money down the drain.

In an effort to show them how quickly and easily this can be done, we immediately went to work on building out a simple lead gen landing page focused on attracting and converting leads. Adding in multiple opportunities to contact and capture a lead’s information through Hubspot forms.

This is where the fun began. We started to show how effective a customer driven landing page, with Hubspot form integration and some key marketing pushes, helped increase $29,448.73 in sales over 4 months. In total, this added up to 145% ROI for our client. 

The breakdown of what we did: 

• Pushed $3k in paid dollars monthly to the new landing page
• Created and scheduled 4 email blasts monthly linking out to the landing page
• Created new social accounts (FB & IG), a content calendar each month, along with a linktree to link out to the new landing page

The end result after the first 4 months: 

• • Total $12,000 in ad spend over 4 months

• 561 new leads

• • 33 new deals and 16 closed/won deals totaling in $29,448.73 worth of revenue
  • Investment gain: $17,448.73 
• Total of 145% ROI

The above ultimately catapulted them into building off what we started and increasing marketing efforts: More landing pages specific to each sport they offer, FULL Hubspot integration for marketing and sales as well as additional campaigns throughout holiday months to capitalize on sale opportunities. 

Additional Campaign efforts included: 

• • Year End Clearance Landing page with over 250 products from Under Armour & Adidas and a 2 email/social push over a one week period

• Over $2,900 in sales on the first day 

• • Black Friday Spiritwear sale which included 2 emails/social to each Organization’s pages plus a digital flyer with QR code for the Organization to push out on their end. All over a one week period
• Over $2,000 in sales 

And this is just the beginning! We are only 4 months into the relationship, and have no doubt that this will continue to improve and increase revenue for their company. Hello happy client!

How retailers can leverage social media to capitalize this holiday season

Online retailers cashed in big during the 2021 holiday season. Adobe reported that ecommerce topped out at $204 billion (yep – billion with a ‘b’) during November and December alone. 

In 2022 however, that number is expected to drop by nearly 16% due to the challenging economic climate. All of this is to say that online spending is still a major factor this holiday season, but the competition is going to be tougher than it was last time around. 

A decrease of $30-bil is no small change – but we’re optimistic that our clients can still secure a piece of that $170 billion dollar holiday pie. With that in mind, here are 5 tips to step up your social game so you can capitalize this holiday season.

1) Do your homework

Homework, market research, spying on the competition…it doesn’t matter what you call it. The point is that you need to figure out what your competition is doing and why they’re doing it. 

Are they crushing it on a specific platform? Did they tap into a new audience? Take a peek at the paid and organic social campaigns that your competitors are running and figure out how you can make them better.

2) Keep descriptions short and sweet

What problem does your product or service solve that the competition can’t? Write out the answer to that question in as few words as possible. Then, write it again in even fewer words. 

Consumers are being fed more ads than ever before and their patience for branded B.S. is waning thin. They don’t want to read the next great American novel, they want to know whether or not your product or service is right for them. 

Ditch the long sentences and clunky captions, use short form copy that gets to the dang point.

3) Leverage UGC

Consumers want to hear from real people before making a purchase. In fact, 93% of users say that online reviews had an impact on their buying decisions. 

Tagged in photos of people using your product? Have an awesome review on your website? Great – that’s called user generated content (UGC), and you can use it to your advantage. Studies show that campaigns with UGC convert at a 28% higher clip than those without, so we urge you to give it a go this holiday season.

4) Optimize for mobile

Salesforce discovered that mobile devices accounted for 58% of orders. That means – (and you should listen closely here) you need to optimize your mobile storefront. 

Whether you’re using a social media plugin like Shopify or you’re driving users back to your website, it’s paramount that images, videos, buttons, and forms are legible on smaller screens and accessible within a few scrolls and taps. 

5) Make checkout smooth

If customers have made it to this point, then we know your ad campaigns are doing their job. Close the deal by making check out as painless as possible.

The 2021 Baymard study showed that 18% of abandoned carts were due to complicated checkout processes. Customers don’t want to jump through hoops to place an order – limit the amount of required form fields and relax with all the pop ups. 

Not sure if your check out process is a pain in the you-know-what? Pretend that you’re a customer who’s visiting your site for the first time and run through the process yourself.

The World Cup is one of the most-watched sporting events. More people tune in to see the matches than those who view the Olympics! To put it into perspective, it is estimated that over 19.977 million people, across three television platforms (FOX, Telemundo, and Peacock), tuned in to watch the USA vs. England group stage match, making it one of the most watched men’s matches in World Cup history.

It goes without saying that an event of this magnitude is likely to have a high social media presence. When you factor in the teams’ and players’ engagement, plus the engagement of fans around the world, social media is an important and powerful tool during the World Cup. All that to say, what is the true impact the #WorldCup has had on social media and how can it be leveraged to drive engagement to your business?

In general, the World Cup breaks social media records every four years. In 2014, there were 672 million tweets dedicated to the dramatic semi-final between Brazil and Germany, resulting in more than 200 million interactions from 66 million users. The 2022 World Cup will likely break more records, with 74.2% of viewers already stating they will be on social media during the matches with 52% saying they will most likely follow a brand, team, or player they were exposed to during the game.

Twitter is one of the most explosive social media platforms during the World Cup thanks to the user’s desire to have real-time updates. They can quickly and easily tweet out their thoughts, frustrations, and elation or catch a clip of an incredible goal or save. It’s their one-stop shop for all the information they need, especially when they aren’t in front of a television to watch their favorite team compete.

Another platform that sees a lot of action during the World Cup is Instagram. We’ve all seen something hilarious or exciting happen on live television only to have it show up on Instagram or turned into a meme within two minutes. The World Cup is no exception. Within seconds of the USA’s win against Iran, multiple celebration videos and advancement graphics were already up on the US Soccer Men’s National Team Instagram account. The access users have to information solely from social media is mind-blowing.

If you are not quite sold on the power of social media, consider this… in anticipation of the World Cup, Christiano Ronaldo’s Instagram following has grown by 47% just this year, earning him not only the title of the most followed soccer player in the world but also the most followed person on Instagram, period. Ronaldo’s total audience makes Portugal the most followed team in the 2022 World Cup. (For reference, his account currently has over 506 million followers)

So let’s cut to the chase. What does this mean for your business and how can you use the impact of the World Cup on social media to leverage your company?

• Join the conversation

This is a huge opportunity for you to engage with potential customers. One unique quality about the World Cup is that it’s a globally unifying experience. It’s the one time fans from around the world will be participating in a singular conversation.

Capitalize on this engagement by tying your business to the topics they’re talking about. Ask users to participate in a conversation by posing relevant questions and inviting them to take action.

• Use relevant hashtags

It’s a tale as old as time. The debates over should you or shouldn’t you have been part of the hashtag conversation forever. Hashtags give your business the opportunity to cross paths with users who share common interests, but who might not otherwise follow you. Capitalizing on trending hashtags and topics is instrumental in a social media plan, but is especially essential when a global event is capturing the attention of users around the world.

• Stay informed

It’s no surprise that what’s trending now won’t be trending tomorrow. Staying on top of the most current and relevant information related to the World Cup will increase your chances of engagement. In the ever-changing landscape of social media, being “in the know” will keep you one step ahead of the competition.

Tools that should be in every good digital marketer’s back pocket

Digital marketing is a BIG industry and our team here at IOI Ventures specializes in quite a few areas, so it’s important that we work smarter, not harder. None of us can manufacture more hours in the day, so there are a few tools that we use to make our jobs a little easier and allow us to over-deliver for our clients.

In this season of giving thanks, I am sharing THREE digital marketing hacks for which I am truly grateful.

• Canva

Before we dive into any of this, let’s set the scene for a moment:

You have just purchased HubSpot for the first time, or you’ve had HubSpot for a while, but noticed you aren’t really using it to the fullest potential (if at all). With an eager sales and marketing team looking to dive in deeper, you want to make sure everything is in order prior to letting your team loose, but don’t really know where to start.

As you look at all of what HubSpot has to offer, you find an overwhelming amount of tools and resources that you know can improve your business process, but don’t know exactly how to set them up. You try to set some of these things up on your own, but ultimately can’t figure out how to best mold your sales process to HubSpot, so you start thinking about pulling the plug on a formal CRM altogether. 

One of our five non-negotiables for social media at IOI is ‘No comment or DM goes unresponded.’ As leaders in the social space, we’re constantly looking for ways to get our followers to engage with our content. So when they do, we have to re-engage with them.

Small-business brands don’t have the luxury of an ESPN or Nike or Netflix that draw thousands of comments, responses, retweets and shares simply by hitting ‘post.’ For those of us with a more niche audience of 200-300, or even a couple thousand, any engagement is gold. It should be treated as such, whether those comments are positive or negative.

No engagement is bad engagement, in my book. Someone responds positively to your post and says, “Yes! I love it.”… Great! What specifically do they love about it? Them expanding upon the post in their own words adds more substance. “Oh this sucks”…I’m sorry you feel that way, what can we do to improve? It’s an opportunity for you to go deeper into your own content. If they respond, great. Now one comment turned into three comments. If they don’t respond, at least we tried. Not to mention, the next person to come across that piece of content now sees we have the decency to respond and engage.

How Bad UX is Hurting Your Business

The average American visits over 130 web pages in a day. This may feel like a large number, but there are approximately two billion websites on the internet.. Do you know what your customer thinks of your website? Focusing on a positive user experience (UX) is necessary. Below are four reasons bad UX is hurting your business.

Website Abandonment

When a visitor exits your site before completing the desired action, like completing a contact form, joining a newsletter, or making a purchase, this is considered website abandonment. Though several factors can contribute to web abandonment, proper UX can help limit the opportunity for abandonment. 

Remember UX is how your customer feels throughout their experience, and the need to provide them with relevant information is imperative. If your company sells a software product, but the website does not clearly state compatible devices or clearly defined product features, the customer may be missing relevant information in making a purchase.

Brand Perception

A website needs to reflect your brand. Providing your visitors with the experience and information they need to become loyal customers more often than not starts on your website. According to Virtual Window, 48 percent of people claim web design is the number one way they determine the credibility of a business. No one wants their business to look the same as the rest, but ensuring best practice standards when creating your website can provide a sense of trust.

Best Practices Every Social Media Manager Should Follow

When it comes to managing social media accounts, you can either “check the box,” meaning you do the bare minimum, or you can follow some “best practices,” which should set you up for success.

IOI Ventures strives to reach optimal levels of engagement while also growing social media followings for our clients, and these are the best practices that help us reach those goals.

• Every graphic/video your account posts should be “on brand.”

While we love variations in content and appreciate creativity, it’s important to keep your brand guidelines in mind. That means that you should aim to have your logo present, stay relatively consistent in regard to colors and fonts and keep the proper tone for your audience.

• Never let your stories completely expire on Instagram.

Instagram stories help engage with customers on a more personal level and help you jump to the front of the top of their feeds. Feed posts may help educate customers and attract new business, but are more polished. Your stories should still ring true to your brand but are a more authentic and down-to-earth depiction of your organization.

• Respond to comments and direct messages quickly and personally.

As a matter of principle, you should have automated responses when possible along with an internal strategy for engaging with customers who are sharing their thoughts or asking questions. While it’s probably unrealistic to expect brands to have 24/7 coverage of their social media channels, there is an expectation from a customer or client that they will receive a response within a few hours of their submission. Remember, the key to capitalizing on social media is engagement, so you need to make sure to ENGAGE with your audience.

BONUS TIP – While it can sometimes be unnerving to receive a negative review, comment, or DM, you should still respond. Often times these are great ways to learn how to better serve your clients and can help alleviate some customer service issues. If they are just trolling you, feel free to mute or block them. 

• Give your audience a CTA (call-to-action) as much as possible.

Whether you want someone to comment, share, click on a link, or leave a review – whatever the call to action is, you need to ask for it (and provide links). Depending on the platforms and depending on the structure of the post, certain CTA may be more appropriate than others. But do not miss an opportunity to get engagement or drive traffic to your website.

PRO TIP – Instead of using a third-party “link in bio” service, create a mobile-friendly page on your website to use as your Instagram bio link tree. The page can simply contain buttons linking to internal pages, and articles or can serve as important referral sources for partners.

• Hashtags are always helpful.

Six Steps To Building A Custom URL

So you want to create a campaign? Great! But what are the best practices for measuring its success? I’m going to walk you through the steps to ensure you can create a results-driven campaign.

Let’s say you have a page where you’re driving users to and promoting some type of camp or event. How do you measure the success of this URL and page you’re trying to push? How do you know where these leads come from? Most people would just copy and paste the link wherever they’re advertising it, but I want to show you there is a much more efficient and effective way of doing this.

There are two things you can do to optimize how you can measure the success of your campaign. 1) You can build a new, custom URL. 2) You can shorten your URL using a tool like Bitly or the google shortener mentioned below!

Google URL Builder

Steps To Building Solid Client Relationships

If you’re working directly with clients, then you understand how important building that relationship is! Whether they are new or old clients, it is vital that you not only grow those relationships but keep them lasting for years to come. Here are some key areas that will help you along the way. 

One of the main components of any client relationship is strong communication.  If you do it well, it will trickle down to all the other areas that help form a strong connection. With communication, you want to make sure you are always open and clear with what you are trying to say. Break things down so that it is simple and easy to understand. Make sure you are timely with your responses, ask questions, be extremely transparent and always follow up post-discussion. 

Another important piece to building solid client relationships is managing expectations. Everyone has their own deadlines, to-do lists, etc., so making sure you are all on the same page with action items and deliverables is crucial. I recommend always documenting things in writing, (i.e., email). This helps keep everyone accountable and on track with what needs to be done as well as who is responsible for each actionable item. You never want to play the guessing game. Confirmations are important and if you don’t get them, follow up. 

Additionally, it’s good to know when to stop and say, ‘hold on, we have one too many requests, which one is the priority to get done first?’ Always saying yes can get you into trouble. Making your clients happy is top priority, but being open and honest with what you can/can’t do within a specified timeline is better than overpromising and not being able to deliver. Knowing that balance and communicating it clearly will benefit you in the long run. 

If you are thoroughly communicating and managing expectations then you are on your way to building trust with your client. They ultimately came to you as a knowledge expert in your field. Be that expert but stay humble in your knowledge. Be willing to educate, help and support, but also open to ideas and information. Building trust can take some time, but is one of the areas that will take a good client relationship to a great client relationship. 

Lastly, it’s important to get to know your clients. Yes, we are all busy bees working hard and we need to keep on task, but being personable goes a long way! Spend the first two mins of each conversation catching up. Take the time to get to know them, their likes and dislikes.  Showing that you care about them as an individual instead of just a job that needs to get done, will give that extra “special” touch.

At the end of the day it’s important to remember that you are all on the same team working towards the same goal! Be there for your clients, stay positive and keep the line of communication open, always! 

Looking for more inside information on building connections with your clients? Make sure to click the link below! 

Prospecting Best Practices

What is prospecting, and why is it so important for your sales process?

As your marketing efforts generate new leads, your sales team is tasked with identifying which of those leads are qualified prospects for your product or service. This part of the sales process is called prospecting, and when done effectively, it can significantly impact your business. 

Find the good leads, and you’re all set. Sounds easy enough, right?  If this were the case, we’d all be rich! But, on the contrary, according to HubSpot reports, 42% of sales reps named prospecting the trickiest stage of the sales process. 

Let’s go through some best practices when it comes to prospecting.

What’s a Telltale Trait of a Bad Marketer? Being Anti-social.

So your social media presence needs a revamp, but where do you start? It may seem like a daunting and tedious task to audit your social media accounts across each platform, but we promise your efforts will be rewarded!

A social media audit is a useful tool that gives you insight into whether your social strategy aligns with your overall business goals and it isn’t as scary as it sounds! It can help measure your success and will identify strengths and weaknesses that will give you an idea of where you can improve and the steps you can take to take your business to the next level.

1. First things first, make a list of all your social media profiles. This will give you a high level view of which platforms you have a presence on.
2. Next, identify the goals you have for each platform. Since each one is different, you’ll need to determine how you should best use each.
3. Ensure your branding and language are consistent across all platforms. This helps represent your brand and create an awareness of who you are.
4. Analyze your social media insights. You can spot trends and understand the analytics behind what you’re posting.
5. Determine your top-performing social posts. You’ll be able to identify what’s working well and what needs improvement.
6. Figure out where your social media traffic is going. Once they navigate to your platform, where are you sending them and what are you asking them to do?
7. Look at your demographics. Review who your customers are, what age groups are present on each platform, the various locations around the country/globe that are driving the most traffic, and when they’re most active. This is important in helping you tailor your content to your audience.
8. Research new social media platforms. Social media is constantly evolving and new, popular platforms are always popping up. Being on the forefront of up and coming social platforms is a great way to elevate your brand.
9. Finally, using what you’ve learned from your audit, come up with actionable items and objectives that you’d like to achieve.

While the thought of performing a full-fledged social media audit seems intimidating, it will leave you with a laser-focused strategy for each of your social media channels. It will also allow you to optimize your social media marketing efforts in a proactive way.

A lesson in productivity from a full time a certified ad-hoc specialist

My name is Marisa Malts, I’m the Director of Account Services at IOI Ventures, and this article is going to show you how I get sh*t done.

I’ve been working at IOI since the start – back when we had five employees and just one Slack channel, and every employee was doing a little bit of everything. As one of IOI’s first AM’s (that’s industry slang for ‘account manager’, btw), I was able to help figure out what this role looked like and how it could positively impact our clients. 

So what does an AM actually do? 

Basically, AM’s work hand in hand with up to 5 different clients to understand their wants, needs, and overall goals. After meeting with a client, they use their marketing toolbox to establish strategy,  translate their notes into tangible objectives, and then delegate tasks to different members of the IOI team.

Long story short: clients tell the AM what they want to accomplish, and the AM rallies the troops to make it happen.

An anonymous source once said, “Your future is created by what you do today, not tomorrow.” I’ve got no clue who said that but it’s a quote that rings especially true in the world of being an account manager, so for all intents and purposes I’ll just credit the quote to good ol’ Jared Antista.

So without further ado, here are 3 methods I use on a day to day basis to help me get sh*t done. 

The Ivy Lee Method 

To #Hashtag or Not to #Hashtag

Before we get into the nitty-gritty details, let’s talk about what hashtags are. Previously known as the pound sign (#), the hashtag is a great way to make your content discoverable. They initially gained traction and were widely used on Twitter, but now can be found on every social media platform.

A hashtag can be any keyword or phrase associated with your social media post that is searchable by those who are interested in a topic. It helps draw attention to your posts and encourages interaction.

Why Goal Tracking is Necessary To Optimize Your Marketing Efforts

Google Analytics can be a bit intimidating. But when it comes down to it, we need GA to track everything. Without these numbers GA gives us, we don’t really know how well a website or a paid ad is performing.

There are so many layers to Google Analytics, and you may be missing out on all GA has to offer. Goal tracking on your website, in my opinion, is a must in measuring the success of your business. Goals are objectives you set in GA that you have for your website and GA is able to tell you how many people have fulfilled this goal or objective and the path a user may have taken to get there. I know this may seem a bit confusing – so let me break it down.

When a user performs an action that you defined as a goal, GA records that as a conversion. This conversion is could be 1 of these 4 types:

• Destination
• Duration
• Page Visit
• Event

A destination goal keeps track of anytime a user goes to a specific URL. These are ideal for thank you pages, confirmation pages, or PDFs.

A duration goal keeps track of how many users stay on your website for a specific amount of time. For example, you can set the goal to track a visit that’s below a specific amount of time. 

A page visit goal tracks the number of pages each visitor sees before they leave. 

An event goal is when a desired action is completed. You can track just about anything with events such as external link clicks, downloads, time spent watching videos, social media buttons, etc.

When you set up an event, you define it with a category, action, label and value. You can use as many or as few of them as you want. The event goal will only trigger if the event matches each one you have defined. So if you only define the category, the goal won’t care about the others. But if you define all four, then the event must match for the goal to trigger.

Google Analytics is an incredible tool to monitor and analyze, but without the data that goal tracking provides you, it’s almost impossible to evaluate the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. As a web developer and designer, I speak from experience when I say, goal tracking allows you to get the most out of your website!

Hey there, I’m Marisa, the Director of Client Services for IOI Ventures. Today, my exciting topic… standard operating procedures. I know I know. So exciting, right? I mean, who decides to become an entrepreneur, who says I’m going to open a business and because I am so passionate about standard operating procedures. Not many and I totally get that because it doesn’t sound fun and it doesn’t sound like something that you want to put your time into.

Today. I am hoping to convince you otherwise. I have two reasons for you today on why you should make standard operating procedures a part of your business.

Number one: time, we think it’s very time-consuming to create these things. And yes, it requires an upfront cost of time. But time is our most important resource. And if you put it into things like standard operating procedures upfront on how you want things done in your business, so that your team can understand you and what’s happening there. It will save you so much time later on.

We talk a lot about the idea of something being rinse and repeat. We have some spirited conversations here about whether or not ‘rinse and repeat’ is a bad thing.

And I would argue that no it is not.

I would say rinse and repeat on creativity. Yes, terrible. But rinse and repeat in procedures that you can do over and over and over again to free up mental space for you and your team creates more time to have in creative endeavors and less time in how do I do this again, or what’s the best way that we should do this?

Stop reinventing the wheel and create a standard operating procedure!

Everyone Can Be An Influencer.. With Our Help

Picture this: You’re a small business owner and just opened your very own Instagram account. Followers are increasing but engagement is lagging… what should you do? People keep talking about these things called Reels but you have no idea what that is. Then you call IOI for help and we explain everything you need to know about Instagram Reels! 

Let’s get right into it, what is an Instagram Reel? Reels are videos up to 60 seconds where users can record and edit clips together, and dress them up with popular music, stickers, and other effects that are included on Instagram. Once you get your perfect Reel, you can share it to your feed, on a story, or on the Explore page.  What makes Reels so amazing is that it allows businesses to show off what their brand is about in a new, creative, and interactive way. It challenges the creator to come up with more exciting and new content to show users who they really are. 

According to Instagram itself, Reels are the most popular feature across 50 different countries! With that being said, here are the basics to making your first Reel. 

Step 1: Come up with a content plan, what are you trying to portray to your audience with this video.

Step 2: Begin shooting your video, you are able to patch together clips and delete ones that didn’t make the cut. 

Step 3: Add your music and effects to really make the Reel stand out. 

Step 4: Preview and share your new Reel!

When creating your first Reel, it is important to know these tips. For instance, you are able to make these videos on several different platforms but the algorithm will always favor Reels made directly on Instagram itself. The app wants to keep it in-house and doing so can help make your video viral. Also when considering audio and other effects, make sure you go to the Reels tab on Instagram and check out the trending audio, effects, and filters that other creators are using. This is going to make your video even more favorable to the algorithm. Hopping on the most up-to-date trend and applying it to your niche won’t hurt either! Remember to size the Reel to the right dimensions too; 1080 pixels by 1920 pixels for the best performance possible. 

Now just as the algorithm will favor specific aspects of your video, it can also penalize you for it. Instagram does not like blurry videos due to low resolution, videos with borders around them, or videos made on other platforms that have watermarks. It is important to stay up to date with the community guidelines or Instagram will remove your video as well. 

After taking in all of the information above and you’ve posted your Reel, of course, you want to know how well it is performing. The easiest way to do so is to go to the Insights tab on your profile (your Instagram should be a business account FYI). Or you can look at each Reel individually. The insights will show you the amount of likes, comments, shares, saves, amount of plays, and our favorite, interactions. Now you will know what is working and what you can improve on!

Life Moves Pretty Fast. If You Don’t Stop And Look Around Once In A While, You Could Miss It…. 

Ferris wasn’t wrong and this certainly holds true for the digital marketing world. What proved to be effective last year or even last month, may not be successful today. It’s our job as marketers to stay on our toes and remain one step ahead of competitors in the busy digital space.

Working with several clients that are looking to expand their franchises nationwide, we ran into some roadblocks in our strategy that had proven to be effective just months prior.  Privacy changes making a huge impact on social media advertising, as well as the ever evolving algorithm taking longer to convert,  it was imperative that we pivot quickly to yield results for our client.

We turned to Facebook and their job posting feature..

With Facebook job posting, you can find candidates where they are spending most of their time – on Facebook. It is still comfortably the most popular social network in the world, boasting more than 2.9 billion users.

Not only can Facebook help you reach a wide audience, it can also target those who are already fans of your brand. If someone likes your company page, your job listings will appear on their news feed. So by using this  feature, you are attracting prospects who already have greater brand loyalty towards you than cold candidates. And have I mentioned one of the biggest perks? It’s FREE.  Of course there are ways to throw some money behind your listings to give it a boost but it’s certainly not mandatory.

Our client was looking to expand into 11 areas within the US.  We were able to create job listings for each location and in one month’s time, we were able to nurture 80+ candidates within our CRM.  Coupled with optimizing their site and cultivating those leads, we were able to help launch at least 4 new leagues in the locations that our client was hoping to infiltrate. 

In an industry that’s constantly evolving, IOI prides itself on being proactive to change.

When it comes to building a website, WordPress is a standard that shows up on every “Top 10 Website Builder” list. Whether or not it is the top site builder, 43.2% of all websites on the internet are built on WordPress (W3Techs, 2022), including 36.28% of the top 1 million websites (BuiltWith, 2022). There are many benefits to the WordPress platform, but one of the biggest is the platform’s excess of themes, plugins, premium add-ons, and overall adaptability. 

There are several options for page builder add-ons in the WordPress platform, Beaver Builder is one of the leaders. Pairing Beaver Builder with WordPress can be intimidating at first, but this combination opens the doors to endless creative possibilities. With many options, it is important to keep best practices in mind, and responsive layouts are growing more and more important as the rise of mobile web traffic continues to grow.

You’ll find varying metrics on mobile versus desktop traffic. Statista claims 48% of global web traffic is mobile, whereas Perficient estimates mobile to make up 68% of web traffic. Regardless of the exact number, your site will receive traffic via mobile devices. According to Hubspot, 93% of people have left a website because it did not properly display on their device.

Beaver Builder is an excellent solution to ensuring responsive web pages that will properly display on every device. Responsive editing is a feature that Beaver Builder allows you to make edits that only affect one type of screen dimension. There are a few ways to enter responsive editing mode:

1. Go to the menu dropdown and select “Responsive Editing”.
2. Use the keystroke by pressing “R” on your keyboard.
3. Within the editing pane, click the device icon to toggle to a new view.

Once you enter responsive mode, take time to focus on proper font sizing, margins, padding, and other edits to ensure the page displays correctly. Once done editing, it is important to preview the layout on all displays before publishing, by selecting “Preview Layout” in the menu dropdown or using the keystroke “P”.

Another feature that can help you level up your mobile presentation is Visibility settings. In the editing pane for rows, columns, and modules there are three visibility settings which include breakpoint, stacking order (columns only), and display. Breakpoint allows you to determine which devices an object displays on. Stacking order allows you to change the order of columns in a row as displayed on a mobile device. The display feature provides multiple options for whether the object shows or not.

Whether it is your home, landing, or checkout page, ensuring your WordPress site is optimized to be responsive to your clientele’s devices is critical. Site traffic that can easily navigate on all device types will result in more conversions and lower bounce rates.

As marketers, we find ourselves looking at data day in and day out. We look for trends in consumer behavior and how we can target specific interests. What if I told you there was a cyber hub where millions of people laid out their VERY specific interests for you to tap into? And better yet, for your content to reach them in an organic format, even if it’s paid for! 

Let’s talk Pinterest.Before we dive into how you can use this platform for your content,, here are some demo specs that’ll blow your mind:

Social media has been tough sledding as of late. Engagement on “The Big Three” – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter – has come to a screeching halt while TikTok seems to be the one major driver of engagement among platforms. TikTok is still very much in the learning stages, though, and many of us are trial-and-erroring our way through content for the platform.

I recently shifted a third of my budget towards TikTok advertising, boosting both pre-existing and new posts, and netted big, big results in a short amount of time.

With this ‌client, our main focus is building an audience on social media. That will eventually lead to site traffic and lead generation, but the primary focus is growth. Growth on TikTok almost relies on “going viral” and hoping one of your videos blows up to 10K, 50K or 100K views in order to have any significant type of impact on followers and engagement. That can be quite the challenge to find the secret sauce in what makes one video pop and another flop.

As new and fresh as the platform is, TikTok advertising is uncharted waters for many of us and there’s much to be learned in terms of what works, what doesn’t and how to maximize success on varying budgets. What I did to help boost engagement and impressions was simple: Boost some of our best-performing posts from the past while also putting resources behind any new content we shared. I found that a little bit goes a long, long way!

83K views, 96K views, 159K, 221K!! We had good content all along, but organic reach just wasn’t quite taking off like we had hoped. Sprinkle in some paid, and posts started erupting. Our audience grew by 10 percent, profile views spiked, shares shot through the roof. The account was finally gaining some traction on the platform with very little monetary resources behind it.

Now, CPC and conversion numbers look grim on the surface. But remember, none of our paid ads were geared towards driving people to a site or lead generation (yet). No links or landing pages were included in any of our paid ads. The motivation was strictly audience growth and awareness. We certainly didn’t have an end goal in terms of registrations, purchases or form fill outs (yet).

Now that I know a bit more about TikTok advertising as a whole and the ROI it can produce, the focus can shift to those other metrics. I can spend the next few months benefitting from the overall awareness of the account, and use future ads that are more geared towards linking back to our site, driving leads and purchasing behaviors.

Continue to push the envelope of digital media and marketing with IOI Ventures today!

Usually, when you first join a new company, you walk into the office with the first day jitters, awkwardly trying to find your desk and shake hands, juggling all of the items you have in your hands between papers, your laptop, lunch, etc.  But, we’re in 2022 and everything is online now. My experience joining a digital marketing firm has been much different than the example mentioned above.  My “first day” consisted of me sitting in my apartment with a button down shirt and sports shorts on. My first interaction with everyone from the company was when I clicked on the team’s “Google Meet” link. It was a far different experience than any other job I have ever had. 

We had a team wide meeting with 15 plus people all crammed onto my 14″ laptop screen. Only one person can talk at a time so it makes your voice heard even more because everyone is listening to what you have to say. 

In the digital landscape, you really need to try hard to create personal connections with your co-workers because the only times you’re talking to them is when you have a scheduled 15-30 minute video meeting on the calendar so you need to make every minute count. On the flip side, it is also more convenient because if you need to ask someone a question you can either Slack them or drop a video meeting link and within seconds you’re sharing your screen pivoting between different projects. 

Working remotely for a digital marketing firm has taught me a few things, 

• Communication is more important than ever.
• Trusting your co-workers is just as important.
• It’s ok to reach out to your teammates for updates on projects that you are both working on. 
• It is imperative to start organizing all of your files instantly, or you will feel like you are drowning every time you try to find a photo, video, email or word document from days prior.
• It’s ok to work in your underwear if you want to.
• Google / Youtube university is your best friend.

Working in a digital marketing firm for the last 3 months has taught me how to wear many different hats whether it be talking to clients, creating graphics, performing initial keyword/SEO research, editing photos, creating email campaigns, configuring workflows in HubSpot and organizing social media posts just to name a few. 

In my situation, what really made it feel like a successful onboarding was the over communication and the green light from “higher-ups” to ask questions if/as needed. When there are so many moving parts, it is very important to try first and if you can’t figure it out, ask questions after. 

Follow IOI on whichever social media platform you prefer to find out where IOI takes me next!

Let’s face it – marketing and sales will always compete for the title of “MVP,” and both can make some pretty strong arguments. We often hear the “without marketing there’s no brand, no following, and no leads!” or the “without sales, there’s no deals, no customers, and no revenue!”  At IOI, we view the two as a kick-ass team, and when in sync, can be a game changer for a growing business.

So – should there really be a “collision” between marketing and sales? The answer in our book is no! 

To know how they sync, let’s break down a few core functions of both sides, that in part, represents the potential customer journey. 

1. Establishes your brand, communicates your message, and puts your products and services into words. 
2. Creates engagement and curiosity – generates prospects and builds your ideal audience. 
3. Nurtures your prospects – warms them, helps identify those who are most interested, etc. 
4. Learns your customer – asks questions, collects key information, etc. all relevant for the sale. 

1. Makes it real and authentic for the prospect – people NEED human interaction.
2. Makes it personal – people need to hear and see how exactly your product/service will solve their problems.
3. Creates credibility and trust- people need help and guidance. A good salesperson shows why your company are the expert and offers value to your prospects that marketing cannot. 
4. Qualifies or disqualifies prospects- a good salesperson can quickly determine whether a prospect is qualified or not. The ability to disqualify a lead quickly is invaluable and can save thousands of dollars wasted on selling to the wrong audience. 

Let’s bring it home by using the youth sports industry as an example. Today’s youth sports space is as saturated as it has ever been. The number of leagues, camps, tournaments, pclubs, online programs, etc. seem to increase daily, and many are promoting the same value proposition. Families often research all the options for their kids before even engaging with a salesperson.

An effective marketing strategy (website, digital content, paid ads, email campaigns, etc.) successfully sets your brand at the top of mind of your target audience, clearly differentiating you from the competition. 

Your sales team must come in and be the difference. It’s not enough to just explain your programs and services- everyone does it. You MUST connect with your prospects on an emotional level and earn their trust. Parents need the assurance that you believe in your product, and that you’re going to help them reach their goals. Combine this with the valuable insights gathered by marketing, and you’re set up for success. 

I’m often drawn to this quote that truly sums it up: “Despite the complexity of technology, selling is still relationship management. Buyers may prefer brands, but they reserve loyalty for people.” – Tom Reilly, Sales Expert and Trainer.

Picture this, it’s May 2014 and I am preparing to walk across the stage at my college graduation. Primed and prepped to receive my hard-earned degree in Elementary Education. Fast forward 8 years and I’ve never set foot in an elementary classroom, let alone written a lesson plan. So what changed between then and now?

A recent study found that only 27% of college graduates work in a field related to their major. Instead of moving into a role involving something they studied in college, they’re widely dispersed across a variety of industries and fields, moving in and out of different careers during their first, second, and third jobs.

You’re often taught that the culmination of your college education is summed up by finding a great job in your field of study and staying there until you retire. Unlike the Baby Boomer Generation who will likely stay with the same employer for 20 years, the average person will have 12 jobs in their lifetime, many of which have no relation to their degree field!

So let’s ask the most obvious question, did you waste those four years of your life working towards an irrelevant degree?

Despite what you’ve been taught, your degree doesn’t determine the trajectory of your career. Working towards your degree helps lay the foundation for essential skills that will put you on the path to where you want to be in the future. It also helps you figure out what you are and are not passionate about. 

Generally, those who pursue a job outside their field of study are framed as individuals who are highly motivated, driven, open to and capable of change, and are willing to learn. All of these characteristics lead to great employees!

Straying from the path you had mapped out for your life can be scary, but, take it from a person who walked the road less traveled; it can be the best decision you ever make.

Oftentimes when creating a page for a website, we have a lot of information we want to push out to a user, but someone may not know where to start. With summer coming up, a lot of companies are starting to push summer camps for kids! It’s important to organize a web page to get the most bang for your buck – especially if you are driving users there from a paid ad!

We’ve put together a great resource to learn more about  putting together a web page that has the best interest of both you and your user!

Let’s use a summer camp for example:

High Level Overview

• What is your camp/event about? What can someone expect if they send their child to camp?

Registration Link

• These registration buttons (or whatever CTA you choose) should be placed in a couple different places on your web page, but making the registration link visible on the top of the page is very important!

Details

• What specific age groups?
• Can both males/females attend?
• What are the specific dates and times?
• How much does this camp cost?
• Who are you leaving your child with?
• It’s important to include what specific coaches will be in charge and teaching
• Building the trust between the parent/guardian and whomever is going to be with the child all day is important, especially if you’re selling a premium camp!

FAQs

• The bottom of the page is where you can include common FAQs that parents would probably want to know, but not important enough to include in the Detail section of the page such as – what will the child be offered to eat, group size, registration deadline, etc.

Contact Form

• Don’t forget to include a contact form! This is crucial in having a line of communication for those users that may be interested in your camp, but need to speak to someone directly before purchasing

What does confidence mean to you? Confidence is one of the key psychological capabilities underpinning the development of excellence, especially in work. Getting into a new career can be nerve-racking, especially if you just do not know where to begin. As you are navigating through your career, make sure you are building confidence in your work along the way. Unsure of where to start? Let me tell you what has helped me. 

First things first, do your research! Ask yourself, what do I already know about the job I am doing and what more can I learn? Get comfortable with knowing your skillset and see what was accomplished before your time. See what you could do differently now. Understand your clients, their needs, their tones, and what makes them unique. This will help you in the long run. 

Now that you have a good understanding of the direction your position can go, utilize individuals in your community and on your team. Join LinkedIn groups of people in the same field as you and be open to learning from others. Lean on these people as a support group. Like-minded individuals can help you stay motivated and on track. However, never disregard the people who may think differently than you because they might be what you need to try a different approach with your clients. 

You will always hear the sayings “practice makes perfect” or “fake it til you make it” …both are very true when trying to get comfortable in your career. The more you immerse yourself in what you’re trying to accomplish, the more practice you will get – gaining confidence as you go. Just don’t kill yourself over the attempts that are not satisfactory. Remember, to be great at something, you have to be bad at it first! 

Ultimately, when you feel you have a good understanding of the company you work for and the clients you manage, it is easy to make the right decisions. Surrounding yourself with a supportive team that you can bounce ideas off and brainstorm with makes a big difference. Using the tools mentioned above will help you dive right into your responsibilities and make a big impact in your position.. Don’t hide from what makes you uncomfortable. Embrace it. Try all of this and you will feel like a new person at work and see your confidence building in no time!

5 stars, it’s synonymous with quality and success. But what about the dreaded one star review? Recent statistics show that even one bad review can impact your business and as you can imagine, with each subsequent piece of negative feedback it will continue to snowball at an alarming rate!

So what can you do in the wake of a negative review?  Your first instinct may be to ignore it.  In almost all cases, inaction is NOT the way to go.  Think about it, let’s say you’re looking to go out to dinner. The restaurant you’ve been dying to check out has a dreaded 1 star kiss of death from Megan. Megan was unhappy with her dining experience and has decided to let the world know online.  But in reading Megan’s seething words, you see that the restaurant has not only responded to her rant in a professional, non confrontational manner, but they have taken steps to ensure that they will do their best to remedy the situation and improve moving forward.  

Now imagine you read that same review and there’s radio silence. What would you be left feeling about the restaurant and how it conducts business? I’m guessing it wouldn’t be all the warm and fuzzy feelings. How you handle negativity will make the difference between strengthening customer loyalty versus damaging your bottom line. 

What is put out in the ether will live there seemingly forever. As marketers, we at IOI know that not only is content important – but also how you handle the good, bad and the ugly, matters. Leading with integrity and attentiveness to our clients is what we take the most pride in.  The reality is that consumers are more inclined to voice their negative opinions before the positive ones. It’s easy to hide behind a screen, right? In dealing with these situations head on, it shows that you are committed to remaining, not only loyal to your customer but also to your company.

Communication has continually grown from the first email in 1971 to the present. Emails have evolved throughout the years, becoming a critical tool for many businesses to connect with their audience. The ability to collect data on the audiences’ interactions with the emails is one of the reasons email marketing has been valuable. It is no secret that businesses are always looking to utilize technology to gather important information about their audience to increase conversions and generate more revenue.

Email marketers now face a new obstacle that will require a shift in email strategy. This obstacle is Apple’s Mail Privacy Policy Protection (MPP) which became available to Apple users in September 2021. So, what is it? Apple’s MPP is a new feature that provides the option to protect privacy by hiding the IP address and preventing email senders from seeing who opened the email.

For those of you that laugh because you have been seeing a massive increase in your open rate, congratulations you have already seen the impact of Apple’s MPP. Essentially the MPP loads the email in the background, this will make it appear as opened from a randomly generated IP address, meaning the email will appear opened regardless of any action by the user. 

A report by Campaign Monitor showed an increase of 3.5% in average open rate and a decrease of 3.6% in average click-to-open rate from 2020 to 2021. So, is it time to panic and abandon email marketing? NO! It is time to shift thinking on the measurement, optimization, and creation of email campaigns.

These changes only apply to users of Apple Mail, and measurement from your audience on other platforms can still be viewed in the more traditional sense. When analyzing email performance, understand that any metric factoring open rate has been skewed. Metrics like “click-to-open” rates will likely appear down so do not panic. 

Platforms that offer delivery time optimization, email triggers, and user flows that rely on users opening or clicking on specific components of an email will need to be adjusted. Geolocation dependencies are another feature that is impacted. Be aware of how your email platform is currently being used and ensure you adapt.

Understanding Apple’s MPP is the first step one, adapting to accommodate is step two, and step three is evolving to flourish in the ever-changing landscape. At IOI, we are always here to help our clients understand the landscape of email marketing and thrive in reaching their customers.

There truly is beauty in planning ahead! It allows you to pivot when necessary and act preemptively instead of reactively. One of my favorite reasons to make a content plan a month or two in advance is to get that non-negotiably-necessary birdseye view on what your brand is showcasing in the cyberworld. This omni view usually sparks creativity for me, it shows the gaps in the plan and where you can truly make an impact. So get your content calendar out and plan next month with me.

Let’s start with the basics, your promos, sales, discounts, etc; sprinkle them in throughout the month. Next, are there any HYPER-relative hashtag holidays to tap into? Maybe your product is ice skates, and it just so happens that next month is *hypothetically* #NationalHockeyMonth. You should probably get an action shot of a player in your skates in there. It’s also #worldpoetryday, we can make this work: Roses are red, violets are blue, ponds are still frozen, let’s get new skates on you. While looking at #HashtagHolidays you come across #PiDay and #nationalpotatochip day, we can most definitely SKIP those, there is a certain inauthentic tone that comes through when trying to force your brand into a space created for STEM folk and Fritolay.

This tone also applies when speaking to socio political movements. Perhaps the leadership in your company doesn’t see eye-to-eye on specific issues so it’s safer to stray away and stick to what you know AND do REALLY REALLY well. If your entire team shares a vision for positive change and maybe even a specific movement this is where you can plant a seed. For example, let’s think twice about posting a random #BLM post if we haven’t addressed any inequality issues in the past. On the other hand, if you are an active supporter, donor, or volunteer for United We Dream; let’s give them a spot on the calendar… and another when #NationalImmigrantsDay comes around. Setting the stage for activist posts solidifies your standing behind the holiday rather than seeming insensitive with another ‘one off’ post.

Now, we’ve got our promos, our hashtag holidays, our insert your brand in the community, what’s left? U-G-C! The content that your SUPER happy customers are flooding you with because they just can’t get enough of your product! Give them a spotlight to shine under while they’re out there in the world making your products look G-O-O-D!

Facebook? Check. Twitter? Yep. Instagram? Haven’t really posted in months but they’ve got one. Most partners we work with hit the check box on the “Big Three” social media platforms. FB, IG and Twitter have become a necessity for just about all small business or start-up companies in America. The most overlooked and undervalued platform for many of the partners we work with, however, is YouTube.

Working in digital media, we certainly understand and appreciate the platform that’s been around since 2005. However, it’s a difficult one for the average business owner to justify investing in. That’s where we come in.

For the better part of a year, one of our youth sports partners’ YouTube channels went relatively unused. In nine months, we had posted just one time. So for six weeks, we committed ourselves to more video content. Thirty-six videos in fact, and while that only netted us about 1,500 views and 6,500 impressions initially, the effects of our efforts were felt for the next six months. It was 11,000 impressions. Then 14,000 impressions. Then 33,000 impressions. Those 36 videos led to more than 23,000 views and 100,000 impressions – and continue to compound with each passing day.

So, here you are, you’ve invested quite a bit of money into creating leads.  Your website is optimized, social media and paid ads are working. Leads are coming in daily.

You know you’ll get to the leads, eventually …  Trying to reach the important ones first and answer as many questions as you can. Some want to know more about your service, others are ready to purchase right away.

It’s a good problem to have, but still- it’s a problem.

Every good strategy needs a plan and tool.  Many of these tools have trials or beginner products that allow you to use the technology for a low monthly price (sometimes even free).

I recommend starting with these tools:

• CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive)
• Email Service (MailChimp, Constant Contact)
• Form Builder (Hubspot, Formstack)

Integrate your contact list with your new tools.

This can be time consuming, but creating the right fields and relationships will avoid you having to manually input hours of data from a spreadsheet to your CRM.

Should you use Automations?

How many emails are you sending?  How big is your marketing budget?

Similar to segmenting your contact list to optimize your business needs, having automations reply to contact requests and answer FAQs move your customers down the purchasing path a lot quicker.

Not every lead is the same.  You need to pay close attention to that.   A potential customer asking for business hours should be handled differently than a customer inquiring about pricing.

Rank your leads according to your business needs and goals.

If your business goal is to sell a certain amount of product.  Rank leads tied to that product higher than general inquiry leads.

By having your leads qualified and ranked you will close the sales cycle time by anticipating objections with content directed right at the clients needs.

It will take more than just one email or a sales call.

On average it takes about 8-10 contacts before a customer will make a buying decision.

Make that journey easier for them by developing tailored engagement campaigns that address their needs.

Here are two types of engagement campaigns that will motivate your audience to act:

• Activation Campaign.  
  • The goal of this type of engagement campaign is to give the buyer a sense of urgency to purchase the item before they miss out.  FOMO.
• Nurturing Campaign 
  • The goal of this type of engagement campaign is to give the buyer general FAQs, features and benefits and differentiators will be pointed out.

Both types of campaigns usually last 7 days with 3-5 Touches.

Now that your campaigns are up and running and you start to get feedback.

Listen to your customers.

• What are they saying about the product?
• What are they saying about the service?
• Engage your audience with post purchase surveys and feedback directed campaigns.
• What is your team saying?  Are sales and marketing working together?

If you are in sales and marketing, you might want to consider getting help.  It’s easy to fall into an echo chamber when you are the only voice in the room.

Once you have data, act on it.

A/B test your emails and engagement efforts to ensure you are speaking to your audience in the right way.

Now that you have your audience primed, time to ask for the sale.

It’s best to be simple and plain with your request.

For example; if you have taken the time to read this entire blog, it would be a good idea to set up a free consultation with IOI to discuss how implementing some of these ideas can help you grow your business.

In most sports, there is a defense and an offense that you must master before you become a champion; the same holds true in marketing. An individual must utilize their left brain, the analytical ‘defense side’, and their right brain, the creative and snazzy ‘offense side’, to become elite and produce a final product that is calculated, while also pulling at emotions. No matter if your profession is in sports or as a marketer, being diverse in your skillset is critical to your success. Please let me clarify as I am sure that statement produced several thoughts and questions for you.

If you are predominantly a left-brain thinker, then you understand full-well the scientific side to marketing; thriving in this environment by focusing on analytics, rather than relying on your gut or emotions. Words such as users, sessions, pageviews, segmentation, and trends account for a large portion of your vocabulary, with data, forecasting, and consistent optimization being your primary focus. You most likely set clear objectives within your budget, track key metrics, and analyze the results, to determine which strategies are providing you with the most wins. The scientist in you leaves no room for guesswork as the data support every decision you make, from the structure of your campaign, to what time of day you are sharing targeted content through social media.

The benefit to taking a scientific approach, filled with analytics, careful calculation, and consistent adjustment, is that your marketing strategies are always trackable and you are kept accountable for what you implement within a campaign. As more and more businesses are shifting towards data-driven marketing strategies, it is crucial for you to keep your left brain strong.

On the other side, if you are mostly a right-brain thinker, the artistic portion that marketing requires fits perfectly in your wheelhouse as you communicate through emotion and probably utilize Canva or Adobe tools daily. It is safe to say that you are unique, creative and use your own intuition to guide your decision-making that flips generic material into engaging content; capturing the minds and hearts of many. You are aware of the importance of data and the story it tells, but are confident your ability to create can not be found in a spreadsheet, nor in a report, but on a blank canvas for your imagination to take over. The artist in you forms deep and meaningful connections with your target audience as you grasp the concepts of desire, fear, frustration, and other intangible qualities that make us all human.

The advantage of marketing with an artistic mindset, centered around color, texture, and emotions, is that your horizon will expand greatly; pioneering new strategies and the opportunity for you to think more extravagantly. Design work in the marketing world may be viewed by many as more of a traditional strategy, but still has a large impact in campaign performance as it is important for you to keep your right brain active.

With attention spans being extremely short, expectations sky high, and technology evolving quicker than ever before, the combination of using your left and right brain will aid you in becoming a champion at your craft. For proof, ask our team as we have found the correct mixture to this way of marketing.

A step-by-step guide for any user who wishes to take their Facebook business to the next level.

So you’ve created a Facebook Page, planning out your social media content, and you’re probably ready to start promoting your business and engaging with clients, right?

Before you move forward, there is just one last essential key element you need to take care of in order to set your account up for success: a Facebook Business Manager.

Manually adding team members to a Facebook Page can be tedious, without even mentioning privacy and security risks. That’s where the Facebook Business Manager comes in, it allows businesses and digital marketers to collaborate and securely manage Facebook Pages and Ad Accounts all in one place.

Facebook Business Manager might seem confusing or intimidating, but fear not! We have put together a detailed guide on how to create one, manage it, and other tricks that will benefit your business. Let’s start!

What is Facebook Business Manager?

Facebook Business Manager is a free tool that allows you to manage multiple Facebook Pages, assets and Ad Accounts, as well as Instagram accounts and product catalogs, in one place.

It also allows you to grant full or partial access to team members based on their role and add marketing partners (such as IOI Ventures) to help manage your business, as well as easily revoke access for people who do longer work for you. This is a convenient way to share access with multiple people without giving them ownership of your business assets.

Your Business Manager is a central space to manage your business, separate from your personal Facebook profile, so you don’t have to worry about mixing your business and personal content.

From a paid media perspective, this is an effective way to manage your Facebook Ad Account and keep track of your ads and post-performance, which makes it easier to organize your efforts, and build different custom audiences for different ad campaigns (in case your business is targeting multiple audiences).

Who should create a Facebook Business Manager account?

Anyone can use Business Manager, whether they have a small or large business, but you certainly need one if:

• Your business has a marketing team.
• You manage assets.
• You use a vendor.
• You need control over access and permissions.
• You want to keep your business secure.
• You need business-level insights and reporting.

Now that you have an understanding of Facebook Business Manager and the benefits of this incredible tool, it’s time to go to the most important part of this article: the setup of your account!

How to Create a Facebook Business Manager

Before you begin, make sure that you have access to the personal Facebook account you utilize to manage your Facebook Page. After you’ve retrieved your login information, you also want to make sure your business hasn’t already  created a Facebook Business Manager account. The last thing you need is a duplicate!

Your website is an extension of your physical business – which is why it is the most important! Usually, when you want to learn more about a company, you search them on Google to find their website. Check out these tips below to be certain your website is running as smoothly as you would have your physical business operation!

SEO stands for search engine optimization and is the process of improving website traffic via keywords on a page. SEO is so important because it gives your website more visibility to potential customers! When SEO is strong, it will rank higher on search engines.

Whatever it is you want customers to do, make it easy for them with a call-to-action, such as ‘Click Here’ or ‘Learn More’. Make sure it’s as easy as a click or two to get your visitors to your desired outcome. You can emphasize your call-to-action by placing it somewhere prominent on the page, using a different colored button that stands out, or by putting it in a callout box.

As your primary marketing tool, your website is the face of your organization. Put your logo in your site’s header so it is visible on EVERY web page, not just your homepage. By utilizing the color scheme on your site, it helps to reinforce your brand!

Include buttons on your website to allow your users to find your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and any other social media platforms you use. Social share buttons allow you to get your own followers and likes directly from your website!

Make sure your site is mobile-friendly! Globally, 68.1% of all website visits in 2020 came from mobile devices. Check your site on a smartphone and various mobile device types to be sure you are providing the best mobile experience possible. You can also check that your site is mobile responsive by grabbing the corner of your browser window and dragging inward. If the content on the screen responds to this change by adjusting to the screen size, then it’s mobile responsive. This gives you a good idea of what your site looks like on mobile-typically when shrunk down, content blocks will appear stacked and the “hamburger” menu will replace the regular desktop menu.

It’s that time of the year again.

While we think a lot about personal new year’s resolutions to exercise more, eat healthier, etc., have you thought about a new year’s goals for your business?

Yes, it’s cliche, but it’s also super important.

If you don’t program your GPS, how can you get to your destination?

Establishing goals for your business is the best communication tool to your employees, vendors and partners.

The best marketing agency in the world can’t help you if you don’t know where you want to go.

So where do you start?

This is important because you need to know where your business is today.

Questions to consider:

• What were your most successful products/services, and why??
• What did you do really well in 2021? What could you improve on?
• What is your company the best at?
• How many leads did you get in 2021 and how did that compare to the prior year?
• Do you know your close ratio? What is it? What should it be?
• What opportunities, if any, did you leave on the table in 2021?
• How did your team perform in 2021?

From here I encourage you to think about what you’d like to see accomplished in 2022 and beyond.

• Are you launching a new product or service?
• How much do you want to grow and can you grow in 2022?
• Do you want more of a certain type of client?
• Is there a specific vertical market you’d like to expand into?
• Can you enhance or create better systems or processes for your team to maximize results?
• What does growth look like to you this year?

Be specific.

There are several social media planning and reporting tools out there, such as Sprout, Hootsuite, and Coschedule. However, these tools can be very pricey and thus, not affordable for small businesses and nonprofits. To circumvent this issue for our new client, a small soccer club in Florida, we researched, tested and rolled out a new tool called Later.

Remember the mantra “I think I can, I think I can…”?

My kids have been the center of my world before they were even born, and of course, for the past eleven years. I knew when and if I was able to become a mother, that there was no way in hell that I was putting my baby/babies into daycare. I was lucky enough to be able to make that decision with my family, and become a reliable, always available mother to my children, there for every milestone!

Flash forward eleven years, I now have an eleven year old tween girl (yup, eye-rolling hormones) and an adventurous, heart attack inducing, eight year old boy. I’ve also tiptoed back into the working world again – the remote world that is. My dear friend, and CEO at IOI, Jared Antista, (let’s not boost his ego too much), had faith in me and hired me to help his company, IOI Ventures, as an Account Manager.  My ego has taken several blows in the process, as I’m pulled in multiple directions, and a lot of times, I simply struggle to keep up with the pace of a digital marketing company.

That said, I’m also renewed, feeling a different sense of purpose. I’ve been able to connect with the most amazing team, spread across the United States, and feel like that former Bentley Dean’s list student, contributing to something beyond my family. I am so grateful to have a safe place to learn and grow, with a team that is compassionate, smart, and caring.

Over the past six months, I’ve learned a lot. I work with two accounts, Carousels Icery, a franchise mobile dessert business that is growing like crazy, and Under The Lights Flag Football, powered by Under Armour; that brand speaks for itself.

Here are my top three tips for those stay at home moms that want back into the business world:

• 1 Ask Questions 

Even when I think it’s a dumb question, I still ask it. If I don’t know, I don’t know, and I’ve found that my team doesn’t fault me for that. It’s my job to learn it and remember. The great news today is that Google is pretty smart, I can often find a solution from the world wide web.

• 2 Just care 

I’ve had a lot of conversations with Jared. In the Account Manager role, especially at IOI, it’s simple: we care about our customers. That means answering John’s texts, from Under Armour, as soon as I can (all hours of the day) and getting back to Corey, at Carousels, quickly, even if I don’t know the answer, because he values communication. I simply care and often that buys me time to ask my questions, get the support from my team, and provide good solutions and answers.

• 3. Have Faith 

Being a mom is hard. Being a stay-at-home mom, and a working mom, is even harder. These past six months have been crazy, but I love the opportunity that I have. IOI has taught me that good people do exist, and that there are opportunities for the generation that took time to raise their families.

My advice to anyone thinking about taking that leap of faith, jump right in. Your kids will admire you, and you might just amaze yourself, and find a new purpose.

5 Things Your Homepage Needs to Start a Relationship with Consumers

The saying that first impressions last a lifetime may make you think of dating, however, when it comes to your business, your website is most likely the first direct impression that potential consumers will have. Every successful business is trying to build, maintain, or promote its identity, and what better way to achieve this than putting your best foot forward on the internet.

Often, the first impression of your brand for consumers will be through search engines, backlinks, or social media. Let’s think of these as dating applications. Customers know what they are looking for and platforms will present them with all the suitors, ready to fulfill their needs. It is up to the consumer to swipe through all these suitors and come to a decision. How do they do this? They check out your dating profile, or in this case your website.

Let’s get into five things you can do on your website to start a strong, and long-lasting, relationship with your customers.

You probably wouldn’t go on a first date in sweatpants and a mustard-stained hoodie (no offense if you would), so don’t present your company as anything less than a perfect ten online. High-quality photos and videos are the best way to dress your site up. Keep in mind who you are trying to attract, and include the types of content that will appeal to your audience.

There is nothing more uncomfortable than awkward silence on a date. You’ll never find out if you have a real connection if you don’t start the conversation. It is critical to ensure you have clear, personable, and powerful messaging on your home page. Catch their attention with a short powerful message and then dive into your story. Remember, you are just meeting this person, they do not know all your friends, your parents, or your history, so don’t bore them with all these extra details.

You may be attractive, awesome, and funny, but you will risk ruining any form of connection if you take over the conversation. Your home page needs to present what your consumers want to know about you, not just what you want them to know about you. Additionally, you need to make sure that they have a chance to speak, by understanding how to navigate through your site to learn more about you. Broken links, looping paths back to the home page, and missing information, are all red flags. The homepage of your site needs to have a strong menu, sitewide searchability, and, an organized hierarchy of information that will help the consumer get to know you.

Today, you can connect with people through countless platforms. When you go on a date and have a great time, you probably want to see that person again. The only way that is happening is if you ask. It is imperative that your homepage is consistently asking your consumer to stay in touch by joining your mailing list, following on social media, or even providing your business address so they can stop by. There should be some caution taken here, after all, you don’t want to be the creepy date that seems desperate. Make sure if you have pop-ups, that they utilize cookies, so people do not receive that pop-up too frequently, which can lead to a higher bounce rate, or in dating terms, being blocked.

Would you wear the same outfit on a first and second date? NO! So why would your website be static? Ensuring you have dynamic content like blog articles, new products, or seasonal promotions, is not just a great way to stay fresh, but is also good for your SEO.

So what are you waiting for? It’s time to make yourself digitally dateable.

Why business cards for the digital age are a must

Have you been in a situation when you don’t have a piece of paper to exchange contact information with a potential client or future prospect? Sure, you can type out your information on someone else’s phone, or ask them to text you theirs if you’re fortunate to have the time (and patience)… but wouldn’t it be easier if you could quickly send a business card in a digital format?

While discussing more innovative ways to capture leads, we identified a gap in converting a prospect into a client. There was a general frustration that developed from seeing the volume of interested patrons wanting to book event space but most lacked follow-through in the booking process. Once the tour was over, everyone got a business card, and then the waiting began, hoping the phone would ring. The conversion rates were terrible.

In researching ways to make connections faster, IOI introduced a digital business card. A fresh new way to network by replacing the old paper business card with virtual cards. The concept allows for an easy and effortless way to share and save contact information with a single tap to another cell phone. With customization of card content, images, banners, and style the digital business cards don’t require downloading an app. Instead, when you tap another phone, it shares your business fast and conveniently. Your profile holds all your social media links, contact info, and in this case, the lead form. My client was not only able to share his information but also capture event lead details immediately. There was no longer waiting and hoping…What once was a cold lead, now became a hot lead!

What’s more, CRM integration, Facebook pixel, and Google Analytics will soon be available to generate profile analytics. Now is the time to reach new audiences, capture more leads, and stay ahead with a virtual business card!

Are You Integrating Enough Video Content into Your Social Media Channels?

Nowadays we’re all too familiar with getting lost in a good social media scrolling session. As marketers, we ask ourselves every day, “how do we get consumers to linger on our message a little longer.” We’ve tried making that message a little louder, bolder, and catchier, but as more social platforms enter the digital marketing arena, it has become apparent that movement in the content makes us pump the breaks. With Facebook and Instagram’s algorithm favoring video, as well as newcomer Tik-Tok, taking the video content game to the next level should be a priority for all brands.

An overall, go-to marketing tool for us is Canva, and its new mobile-video template makes video content creation a breeze. You can use one of the pre-built templates with animations to add still images and video to create some engaging content in under three minutes. These insights show the performance results of a photo vs a video, with the video metrics on the right.

The tools are out there and, in a tik-tok world, you don’t want to be caught living in myspace times. Join the reel world and go live, share your story, or put your best boomerang forward.

Have any questions about integrating video content into your social media channels? We’re your experts and we’re happy to help.

One of the biggest challenges in social is driving users from Instagram to your website in a fluid, effective way.

We post a lot of blogs on our client’s websites, and we like to push these through their social channels. The three major ones we utilize are Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. IG, however, presents challenges in that links are not available or clickable organically IN the post itself.

In fact, the same link posted on our Twitter and Instagram accounts produced a nearly 1:1 result in terms of traffic to the site, despite our IG following being SIX TIMES the size of our Twitter following.

Instagram is our largest audience, and the users we target, are far more active on this channel than other social media platforms. It was crucial we reached this group.

A text-heavy content piece doesn’t translate well to a visual medium like IG. So, I looked at our newest blog post, which was 1,200 words. I asked myself, ‘What’s the most important thing I want the reader to remember?’ Boiled it down to one quote from an interview; five words… I blew it up in big, block letters, overlaid it on top of a photo that was appropriate to the content, and posted it.

We saw a 3x increase in traffic from IG-to-website and a 4x increase in time on site. By giving the IG user just a taste of the overall content, we not only garnered more attention but more quality attention as well.

Making your content appropriate for each channel is crucial to maximizing results. The average Instagram user may not want or have time to read a 1,200-word blog post, but would still find value in the article’s biggest bullet point. Got a podcast? Pull the most important sound byte. Video from a presentation? Cut and post the biggest lesson. Those who see it will still get great value, and those who really value it will look to find more.

Have any questions about driving site traffic from social? We’re your experts and we’re happy to help.

What is the most difficult thing we face as marketers?

Generating enough traffic and leads?

Creating a solid user experience on your website?

Developing consistent content that engages current and prospective customers?

All tough challenges of course, but one of the most difficult obstacles our clients continuously face is tying these marketing efforts back to ROI (Return on Investment). We can run all the paid ads we want, create all the content we want, and generate all the leads we want, but what’s the use if we aren’t tracking what happens to those leads once they enter our marketing and sales funnel?

Enter: HubSpot