Hall Davis Marketing Strategies

10/01/2021

Any of this sound familiar? Want to know how to fix these issues? Read my latest blog post: https://halldavismarketing.com/2021/09/28/top-marketing-pain-points-and-how-to-fix-them/

09/22/2021

A few days ago I went Googling for a list of Connecticut journalists on Twitter. I couldn't find one, so I decided to make my own. Here's a link to the list:

Looking to connect with Connecticut media on Twitter? Look no further! Below is a list of journalists on Twitter at many of the major media outlets in the Nutmeg State, including print dailies, TV, radio and magazines. If there's someone I should add, or if I made a mistake, please send me an email....

09/09/2021

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08/16/2021

Have questions about SEO? This post has answers!

07/13/2021

Here’s a tip that comes form my old journalism days: use the “blank paper test” for blog, email newsletter, or social media headlines.

What is the “blank paper test?” It means you should take your headline and write it on a blank piece of paper, then ask yourself: Does this headline make sense? Does it make you want to click? If so, it passes the “blank paper test.” The best way to explain this is to give some examples. To start with, let’s imagine we’re writing a blog post for a garden shop about new perennial plants that are in stock. Consider the following two headlines, each on a blank sheet of paper:

New Perennials

Vs.

New Perennials in Stock to Give your Garden Max Color

Which of those two headlines are you going to click on if you see it in an email newsletter, on Twitter or in Google search results? The answer is probably No. 2.

To summarize, the blank paper test forces you to view your headline as a piece of Internet content that is separate from the context of your website. The text of the headline has to be written with enough context to grab people and make them want to click.

Sometimes people get cute with headlines, which can work in a printed piece like a newspaper or magazine where the headline is right next to the copy. But clever doesn’t always work online. For example, what would you think if you saw this headline:

Feeling parched?

What if instead you saw this:

Feeling parched? Check out our new line of flavored bottled waters

If you have a clever phrase in mind, try pairing it with a sentence immediately following it that provides the needed context.

Next time you sit down to type out a blog post, pause to consider the “blank paper test.” It will help improve your click-through rates and drive your SEO.

06/28/2021

Sometimes we get so caught up in creating content we forget the fundamentals, like a CALL TO ACTION.

What is a call to action? Inviting your audience to call you, email you, buy now, schedule a consultation - these are all calls to action. If you want to convert (and of course you want to convert), you need to include a call to action.

Want to find out how you can incorporate more calls to action in your marketing? Message me! (See what I did there?)

06/15/2021

I see a lot of Facebook and Instagram advertising mistakes. Like a lot.

Just because Facebook and Instagram make it easy for you to boost or promote a post doesn't mean you should. Social media advertising works. However, it can be a waste of money if you aren't careful.

Here are common mistakes I see:

1️⃣Boosted posts that fail to consider the wider audience. A post that works for your followere isn't necessarily going to work for people who aren't familiar with your brand. Any advertising messages should be tailored to the audience you are trying to reach.
2️⃣Targeting the wrong geography. I have seen this before and it makes me so sad. 🙁If you're setting up an ad on Facebook or Instagram make sure you're picking the right geographical target.
3️⃣Spamming people by spending too much. More is not always better! If you have a small target geography, you should have a small budget. Don't over spend because you risk alienating people who get annoyed seeing your repetitive ads.

Those are my pet peeves when it comes of social media advertising. What questions do you have?

06/08/2021

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06/02/2021

A lot of businesses do email marketing. But many of them are missing out on a key feature. If you aren't looking at email as a part of your SEO strategy, you are blowing an important opportunity. More info. to come in my stories.

05/26/2021

New to marketing or just need some fresh ideas? Swipe to see my list of 50 marketing ideas for CT small businesses. What looks intriguing? What did I miss?

05/19/2021

What is a hashtag?

I hear this question from business owners all the time. Most of the time when I attempt to answer, I can see the person's eyes start to roll into the back of their head. 🤯 It's kind of a tough subject to wrap your mind around if you aren't using social media on a regular basis.

I'm hoping a well-thought-out post like this one will help make it clearer. Here goes! 🤞

Think of a hashtag as a way of identifying what a piece on content is about. That piece of content could be a regular post, a story, a reel, etc. You can give any piece of content up to 30 labels, or hashtags.

If you've ever broken out a label maker for some heavy organizing you know that a labeling system is only good if you use it ruthlessly. If you only label some of your shoe boxes, but not all, then the system breaks down pretty quickly. The same is true for hashtags. That's why it's important to label each piece of Instagram content with hashtags and to be thoughtful about how you apply them. Don't use the one day and the next. You want to be consistent over time, aligning your brand with relevant hashtags.

You might be thinking, "Okay, I've used some hashtags, but so what? What good does it do me?" 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♂️

The power of the hashtag is that it can lead NEW customers to you. People on Instagram often follow hashtags. I'm interested in cross-country skiing 🎿 so I follow on Instagram. As a result I see all the posts that are tagged with that hashtag. And if someone selling cross-country skis did a post with that hashtag, I would see it and possibly buy those skis.

Sounds like a pretty good sales tool, doesn't it? 💰

Hopefully that explanation helps. Another day I'll go into how to pick hashtags. What questions do you have for me?

05/12/2021

Do you have questions about how Google Search or pay-per-click campaigns can help your business? I can help, and now I have a certification to prove it. 😁